20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 717: Fire and Water Are Merciless
In the Qingqiushe store, snoring sounds were heard one after another.

The clerk at the counter turned over, rubbed his eyes, walked to the counter in the dark, picked up the chamber pot, and urinated.

Outside, the wind was howling, shaking the doors and windows. The waiter shuddered, put down the chamber pot, listened for a while, and didn't find anything unusual, so he went back to the low bed and lay down in his clothes.

The brothers in the hall were all holding weapons. There were more than twenty strong men, and there were people keeping watch on the streets. Even if the Jiang family attacked at night, Qingqiu Society would not be completely defenseless.

Thinking of this, my heart felt much more at ease, and I gradually became confused again.

But not long after, his nostrils suddenly twitched twice.

In his sleep, he wiped his face carelessly and couldn't help mumbling, "What's that smell?"

Although the doors and windows of the store were closed, the wind was strong and the smell of kerosene quickly seeped in through the window gaps.

Not only the waiter smelled it, but slight coughing sounds were also heard from other corners of the lobby. However, everyone was half asleep and half awake, so it was difficult to distinguish them accurately for a while.

As time passed, the pungent smell became stronger and stronger, finally waking up a few Koreans.

"Ayisi, what's that smell? Do you smell it?"

"I smelled it too. Was it kerosene that was spilled?"

"You idiot, the kerosene lamp was hanging on the beam, how could it spill?"

"Wait, why do I feel like this smell is coming in from outside?"

Soon, Song Lucheng was awakened by the discussions of the crowd.

"What are you arguing about?" The eldest brother sat up suddenly, and before his brothers could reply, his nose immediately became nervous. "Hiss, what's that smell?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the brother beside him stood up and walked towards the door, muttering curses: "I'll go out and take a look."

It’s not that everyone has never smelled the smell of “kerosene”, but people have just woken up and their minds are still blank, so they don’t think about it at all.

Song Lucheng had long determined that there would be a fight between Qingqiu Society and the Jiang family, but a fight is a fight, and he never expected that it would be a fire attack.

After all, arson is a major crime at any time, and once it is carried out, it can easily lead to a situation that gets out of control.

What's more, Xita is a disputed area. If things get out of hand, how will the Jiang family end it?

Song Lucheng couldn't figure it out, so naturally he was unprepared.

It was not until the man walked to the door that he suddenly woke up and shouted, "Oh no! It's kerosene!"

Follow your words!
As soon as Song Lucheng shouted loudly, the whole hall suddenly became as bright as day!
The fire started from the window frame beside the door and quickly spread around, like two fire dragons, entangling Qingqiu Society, baring their fangs and claws, and roaring with all their might.

But in the blink of an eye, the doors, windows and roof outside the store were all on fire!
The raging flames instantly broke through the paper windows and licked the beams and bed boards in the store frantically. It was like a mad beast, searching for anything that could burn.

The incident happened suddenly and without any warning!
Everyone was in great confusion. The swords, guns, sticks and clubs in their hands were no longer useful. They were panicking and were all running around in the hall.

When the Korean stick who was near the door saw the fire, he just wanted to break the door open as quickly as possible and rush out of the sea of ​​fire to escape.

Unexpectedly, it would have been better if he hadn't pushed the door open. Once he pushed it open, the fire took advantage of the wind and immediately spread through the entire lobby of Qingqiu Society.

In panic, the flames on the door panel suddenly rushed to his eyes, like a whip, and hit the Korean stick hard in the face. His two eyes were burned by the fire, and the pain was piercing. His vision immediately blurred, and his hair and eyebrows were instantly ignited.

The Korean boy covered his eyes and tried to rush out, but just as he took a step, he heard a "crack" and the plaque of Qingqiu Society fell down with red charcoal fire, hitting the back of his head. He kicked his legs and fainted on the spot. Sawdust and sparks followed, and his clothes instantly caught fire.

Immediately afterwards, several iron kettles were thrown into the store with a "clang clang clang" sound outside the store.

The iron kettle was originally filled with kerosene. Even though it had been emptied out, there was still some residue left. As soon as it passed over the fire wall in front of the door, it immediately caught fire and turned into fireballs that fell into the lobby of Qingqiu Society.

"Snap-crack-clang!"

Soon, the entire store began to be filled with terrifying explosions.

The doors and windows had long since turned to ashes, leaving only the surrounding earthen walls still struggling to hold on.

Waves of thick smoke rose into the sky, and cries for help like ghosts howling like wolves could be heard from the Qingqiushe store.

The wind was blowing hard, and countless fire snakes were dancing wildly in the house. The oil lamps on the beams were ignited and then exploded, spreading a rain of fire that poured down on the heads of a few unlucky people.

Waves of heat covered the sky and earth, building a fence around Qingqiu Society.

It was too late. The Korean sticks in the store could no longer escape from the sea of ​​fire.

Many people fell to their knees, coughing violently. Every breath felt like a thousand arrows piercing their hearts. The thick smoke penetrated their throats, tracheas, and lungs, moving through their bodies like a sharp blade.

They soon lost consciousness and collapsed in the rubble, waiting quietly for the fire to consume them.

Song Lvcheng's eyes were burning and tears kept flowing out. He could not see the situation clearly. Fortunately, he reacted the fastest. When the fire started, he rushed to the counter and immediately picked up the teapot and tea bowls on the table and poured them on his head. Although it was just a drop in the bucket, it was better than nothing.

He hurriedly looked for water, not to put out the fire, but to get himself soaked and then find an opportunity to rush out.

Gaoli Street was filled with mud houses and sheds, so fire prevention measures were taken on a normal basis. However, the water tanks were all in the backyard, and the fire spread too quickly, leaving no time to put it out. They had to run away first.

Just when I was feeling flustered, I suddenly kicked something with my foot, and then my mind raced, and I suddenly remembered - it was the chamber pot that was always available in the store!
Song Lucheng was delighted and quickly squatted down and felt around.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he touched the chamber pot, he found that someone else was fighting with him for it!
The clerk at the counter lay on the ground to avoid the thick smoke, holding on to the chamber pot, and refused to let go, saying something of his own:
"Brother... cough cough cough, this is my pee..."

"Fuck you!"

At the moment of life and death, what’s the difference between yours and mine?
Song Lvcheng raised his leg and kicked the waiter away, picked up the chamber pot and poured it over his head. Then he bent his waist, relied on his understanding of the layout of the Qingqiushe store, stretched out his hands, and ran to the backyard to feel the way.

I had just taken a few steps when I heard the guy howling behind me, and his hair was already burning.

Song Lucheng didn't care about anything and felt no guilt at all. He just ran for his life towards the backyard.

He stumbled all the way, his trouser legs were burned, and smoke was coming out of his head. He finally arrived at the door to the backyard, but was nearly knocked to the ground by a heat wave.

Song Lvcheng forced his eyes open, only to see a wall of fire in front of him.

In this situation, there was no other choice but to fight to the death. Song Lvcheng gritted his teeth, endured the severe pain, and without the slightest hesitation, he immediately pushed the ground with his left foot and rushed forward without caring about anything.

There was a loud "clang" and the clothes on his body suddenly caught fire. At the same time, a cool evening breeze finally penetrated into his chest as he wished.

Song Lvcheng knew that he was saved, but not completely saved. The flames on his body had not yet gone out, and had already penetrated his clothes and pierced his flesh. A burnt smell rushed into his nose.

He hurried to the northwest corner of the yard, lifted the wooden board on the water tank, and dived in.

"Wow--"

The water was icy cold and flowed out along the edge of the tank.

Song Lvcheng choked hard and almost couldn't recover. He struggled to climb out of the water tank.

However, the water tank was not shallow and was upside down. It would be easy to dive in but difficult to climb out. What's more, he had burns on his body and his hands were not very flexible.
Instead of being engulfed in the flames, he managed to escape, but ended up drowning in a water tank?
This is such a frustrating way to die!
Unexpectedly, when Song Lucheng was struggling to survive and was about to collapse, a big hand suddenly reached out from behind him and pulled him out of the water tank.

"Cough cough...cough cough..."

Song Lucheng held the edge of the jar with both hands, spat out a few mouthfuls of water, turned his head, and suddenly froze in place.

But he saw a teenager standing next to him, holding his neck with his hands, and asked his companion sideways: "Uncle Yang, is it him?"

Yang Lazi came over and carefully identified him for a while before asking tentatively, "Song Lucheng?"

Song Lucheng was stunned. Knowing that the situation was hopeless, he simply stopped struggling and just nodded dejectedly.

"Oh, you've changed your appearance!" Yang Lazi said jokingly, "Boss Song, what happened? Why didn't you come to work today?"

Everyone burst out laughing.

Song Lucheng didn't understand, he only knew that the other party was from the Jiang family. He subconsciously looked around and saw that there were only about ten people in total.

It was not enough for these people to smash Qingqiu Society's business alone, but no one expected that they were not here to smash it, but to destroy it. With one fire, they burned down Song Lucheng's business, which was his livelihood.

Looking back, half of Qingqiu Society's shop had collapsed, and the hall in the back hall was also caught on fire. In addition to the burnt smell, there seemed to be a faint smell of smoke in the air.

There were several corpses lying on the ground. It turned out that Song Lucheng was not the only one who escaped by chance. There were several other Koreans who arrived earlier and faster than him. However, when they arrived here, they were all intercepted and killed by Jiang family's "Xiangzi".

Before Song Lucheng's power could be established, it was completely wiped out by Jiang Lianheng.

It’s too late to regret now.

"Alright, alright, stop looking!" Yang Lazi waved and urged, "Come on, Boss Song, let's talk it over!"

Song Lvcheng still didn't understand, so he had to guess and ask in very awkward Chinese: "Meet Jiang Lianheng?"

Yang Lazi sneered and asked, "Are you worthy?"

Song Lvcheng shook his head unwillingly, repeating in Korean: "You can't end this, you are crazy, all crazy..."

Before he could finish his words, he saw a figure running hurriedly in the night in the distance. He came closer and said in a hurry:
"Brother Dong asked me to come over and urge you to hurry up. Has the Korean stick come out yet? If not, forget it. Hurry up, Shuihui and Lao Chai will be here soon!"

"He's here!" Yang Lazi pointed at Song Lvcheng and shouted to his brothers, "Brothers, call it a day. Take this Korean bastard away and retreat!"

After saying that, he turned around and smiled at Hai Xinnian.

"Master, it's getting late, let's go back first!"

Hai Xinnian nodded, but didn't let go. He pointed at Song Lvcheng and said, "My godfather told me to watch him!"

"Okay, okay, then let the young master watch over us and we'll follow you." Yang Lazi turned around and shouted, "Brothers, we're all watching. Song Lvcheng was arrested by the young master Hai. Do we all have any objections?"

"No no!"

No one dared to take credit for the work, and quickly waved their hands. Then they looked around at Song Lucheng and quickly evacuated the ground of the West Tower in the northeast direction.

Not long after they walked out, the shrill police whistles and the gongs of the folk water festival were finally heard in the streets not far away.

The early spring winds were still strong, pulling the flames rapidly toward the northwest.

Gaoli Street was littered with thatched huts, rotten wood and tiles, and straw huts with earthen walls. Almost everything caught fire at the slightest touch, and before long, half of the street was on fire.

The Peninsula expatriates living in the Xita area ran out one after another, including men and women, old and young. They witnessed the raging fire demolishing the houses, but they were helpless and had to hide in the corner far away, just like the situation when their homeland was lost, they could only watch helplessly, even a little confused.

Long before the fire broke out, Park Tae-hoon had been knocking on doors to warn his compatriots and urge them to escape.

Therefore, except for Qingqiu Community, there were no casualties in the neighborhood.

However, seeing their own houses destroyed by fire, many people could not help but burst into tears and wailed, and the cries of children seemed particularly real and harsh.

Hai Xinnian ran out of the Xita area and heard crying in the distance. He suddenly felt uneasy.

He turned around and saw that the fire was growing bigger and bigger. Even though he was standing in the same place, he could feel the waves of heat coming towards him, baking his whole face tight and making his eyebrows curl up, making it difficult to relax.

The area surrounding Qingqiu Society was engulfed in flames, causing half of the street to tremble and shake in the light and shadow.

The heat wave lifted the carbonized beams up to mid-air, then fell down with a loud bang, splashing large pieces of sparks that were barely visible in the thick smoke.

The scorching flames turned the night sky purple-red and seemed to be spreading.

This was the first time in Hai Xinnian’s life that he saw fire - real fire!
The sound of gongs and whistles became more frequent. The Chinese and foreign patrol fire brigade was rushing over at full speed, but the fire brigade organized by the public had arrived first. The smoke was getting thicker and thicker, and it seemed that the firefighting work had already begun...

"new year--"

Zhang Zhengdong came over from behind, frowned and asked: "What are you looking at? It's time to go!"

Hai Xinnian turned sideways, looked at Uncle Dong, then looked at the raging fire on Gaoli Street, and suddenly he felt heavy in his heart and a little breathless.

However, he said nothing, asked nothing, just turned around, responded, and then quickly followed Dongfeng and the others into the night...

(End of this chapter)