"Xiao He, are you okay?"
Liu Rulan and the others walking ahead hadn't been hit by this "rainfall" attack, so they all turned to ask Xiao He, who had become half-drenched.
Xiao He expressionlessly pulled out the soaked tissue paper, wiped his cheek, and said calmly: "I'm fine."
Hehe, did they think he had resigned himself to fate?
Well, that was true, because he really had no tricks left.
"Cough cough—what's going on—"
Over there, Tong Junhui and Cheng Bei, who had just opened the door a crack before being forced to close it again, simultaneously stepped back. They were also drenched by the water falling from above, but they had no time to worry about that, instead first touching the door handle.
"There's still time! The temperature isn't very high!" Cheng Bei quickly analyzed in his mind, "Someone stuffed a wet towel in the doorway!"
Someone had completely blocked the door gap with wet towels from the inside to prevent the smoke from spreading outward and alerting others passing by in the hallway.
And now that such a large amount of smoke had already formed, yet no alarm had sounded inside, it seemed the fire alarm system inside had long been disabled.
The people inside...
Cheng Bei opened the door again, and a huge cloud of thick smoke began pouring into the hallway. But his mind was entirely focused on the people inside the room, and he actually wanted to rush in recklessly to save them despite the danger.
"Calm down, don't go in rashly!"
Tong Junhui grabbed the other's arm while closing the door to slow the smoke spread, saying urgently: "With such thick smoke inside, you won't be able to see anything if you go in!"
"Tong Junhui, what exactly is going on?"
Liu Rulan and Shu Han dodged the spraying fire sprinkler heads and quickly walked to Tong Junhui's side, while Xiao He threw the used tissue into a nearby trash can, then retrieved a fire extinguisher, fire blanket, and gas mask from the fire safety box installed in the hotel hallway.
Of course, to be precise, it was actually a filtered fire self-rescue breathing apparatus, but its purpose was the same here, so he just called it a gas mask.
"Is someone inside? What exactly is the situation?"
As he spoke, Xiao He handed the fire extinguisher to Tong Junhui and Shu Han, then gave a set of fire blanket and gas mask to Cheng Bei: "How many people inside?"
Cheng Bei was surprised by Xiao He's calmness and composure, but there was no time to explain anything. He quickly opened the fire blanket and gas mask, saying solemnly: "Should be one person, a very important person. We must save her!"
Xiao He also put on a gas mask: "Okay, Brother Shu, you use the fire extinguisher from the periphery. Sister Liu, find staff to help open the hallway water valves. This brother and I will go in together to rescue people."
"Ah?"
This time the others were dumbfounded.
Liu Rulan saw that this brat Xiao He was acting recklessly again at such a time and instantly became anxious: "No! It's too dangerous! No one knows what the situation is like inside!"
Shu Han also said anxiously: "What are you going to do? This is too dangerous!"
"No, no, no, it's too dangerous. Both of you, please wait in a safe place! We've already called the fire hotline! Staff will be up soon to open water valves and pull hoses to extinguish the fire!"
The hotel staff who had rushed over upon hearing the news were also anxious and tried to stop Xiao He and Cheng Bei.
"Based on the current situation, the fire should have just started not long ago. The fire won't be very large yet and hasn't covered the entire room. There's still time for everything. If there's an explosion later, or if someone is near the ignition point, then the more time we delay, the more smoke they'll inhale, and they'll be in danger then!"
"I must go save her!" Cheng Bei glanced at Xiao He, "Don't come."
Then he directly pushed aside the staff, resolutely opened the door, and rushed in without hesitation.
The moment the door opened, thick smoke spilled out, making everyone's eyes water. Everyone was forced to retreat. Tong Junhui and Shu Han wanted to squint and rush to the doorway to try to find the ignition point for firefighting, but they were also choked by the smoke to the point of near suffocation, completely unable to straighten up. They could only cough while retreating with the people around them, planning to first get gas masks from other fire safety boxes.
In just that instant, everyone felt as if an invisible hand was tightly choking their throats, making breathing completely impossible.
Only after retreating more than ten meters down the hallway could everyone finally catch their breath.
But then, Liu Rulan's gaze quickly scanned the people around her, and while coughing, she gritted her teeth and shouted: "Xiao! He!"
This damn brat, not a single moment of peace!
-
When Cheng Bei broke into the room, the visibility inside was still acceptable—it hadn't been completely swallowed by thick smoke. He could roughly observe the situation at the scene:
The living room showed obvious signs of struggle. The nearby sofa was the main ignition point, though the cause of the fire was temporarily unknown. Its burning had ignited the nearby wallpaper and curtains by the window, causing the fire to further spiral out of control, spreading to most of the living room. Other items were also gradually emitting white smoke due to the high temperature and could spontaneously ignite at any moment.
Cheng Bei's expression grew increasingly grave. In his peripheral vision, he seemed to see something. He looked down at the bloodstains on the floor, then quickly lifted his feet and rushed toward where the bloodstains led—
A man lay in a pool of blood, condition unknown!
Cheng Bei paused briefly, a flash of confusion in his eyes. He quickly crouched down to check the other's pulse—very weak, but thankfully the person was alive!
Who was this person? Where did he come from? Where was the real target? What had happened at the scene?
But there was no time to think about these questions—he had to get this person out first!
"Thump thump—"
Heavy stomping sounds came from behind Cheng Bei.
Cheng Bei turned his head and saw that strange young man from earlier had still followed him in.
Xiao He stopped stomping and gestured toward the bedroom direction to Cheng Bei, then pointed at himself and tapped his finger toward the man on the ground.
Cheng Bei understood.
He would go to the bedroom to find the person, while Xiao He would stay to carry this man out.
Cheng Bei immediately nodded, then without hesitation turned and ran toward the bedroom.
Xiao He efficiently picked up the person on the ground.
But when he saw the other's face, Xiao He was momentarily surprised.
Cheng Hongwen!
Xu Youyou and Ran Yunrui's agent!
What was he doing here?
Although when he saw Tong Junhui and Cheng Bei earlier, Xiao He had roughly guessed that all this was related to Kemingen and the "Silent Search" production team, and even vaguely guessed that the person Cheng Bei wanted to save was Xu Youyou—after all, after Xu Youyou emerged, she would definitely seek protection from others, and the only ones connected to Kemingen would certainly be Dong Zeng and Feng Zhengyang from the "Silent Search" production team.
But Xiao He never expected that Cheng Hongwen would also be here!
Since Xu Youyou's incident, their agency had quickly cut ties, terminated the contract, and discarded Xu Youyou, afraid of being associated in the slightest. So Cheng Hongwen had long ceased to be Xu Youyou's agent.
Then why was he here?
Looking for Xu Youyou?
Xiao He was full of questions, but when he saw the knife wound on Cheng Hongwen's neck, he didn't dare delay at all. Covering the other's neck with his hand while carrying the person, he rushed outside.
"Xiao He!"
Just as Xiao He rushed out, he ran straight into Liu Rulan.
Seeing Xiao He safely emerge, Liu Rulan breathed a long sigh of relief. But before she could speak the scolding words she had prepared, she was greatly startled by the bloody person in Xiao He's arms.
"Cheng Hongwen?" Liu Rulan blurted out, "What is this guy doing here?"