Chapter 108: Fire

Chapter 108: Fire

Changgong was just a child. How could Lin Yunwan think of leaving first, then letting him follow?

The fire in the Buddhist hall started to grow.

She frowned, "Changgong, you go out first."

Lu Changgong firmly helped her to the window, saying, "Mother, hurry. It must have been difficult to set up tonight’s situation. Don’t let your efforts be in vain."

Lin Yunwan broke into a cold sweat.

It wasn't for any other reason, but because everything had gone smoothly up to tonight, without a single misstep, except for Changgong, this child! Yet, with just a few words, he had struck at her vital point.

She always knew Changgong was smart and filial, but she didn't realize he... had more cunning than she thought.

He was just a ten-year-old child, after all.

As a mother, this made her very worried for her son.

Lu Changgong, with unexpected composure and urgency in his voice, pushed Lin Yunwan out, his movements decisive: “Mother, if you don’t get out now, the fire will reach my feet.”

Of course, this was an exaggeration. The Buddhist hall, being more spacious than ordinary rooms, wasn't burning that rapidly.

But the flames behind them were already frighteningly intense.

Lin Yunwan went out first, and as soon as she landed, someone was there to receive her. Lu Changgong gave her a faint smile and then closed the window!

"Changgong! Changgong! What are you doing! Come out!"

"Changgong! Come out quickly!"

Lin Yunwan was frantic!

Since her rebirth, she had never lost her composure like this. She pounded on the window, using her authority as a mother to coerce him: “Changgong, if you still acknowledge me as your mother, come out!”

Fearing Changgong might misunderstand and think she was abandoning him, she hastily added, “I won’t leave you alone…”

She had naturally considered an escape route for him as well!

Lu Changgong, his palm on the window latch and his forehead against the window, said softly, “Mother, I know you wouldn’t abandon me…”

“But if you ‘die’, then I’m gone too. Your ‘death’ won’t be flawless anymore.”

“Mother, I’ll be fine, please go quickly…”

"Changgong... Changgong! You don’t have to risk yourself for me!"

Lin Yunwan anxiously thought about breaking the window.

But the person inside had stopped talking to her.

"Madam, if you don’t leave now, it will be too late!"

The person behind her kept urging her to move.

Inside, Lu Changgong, smelling the smoke, gradually couldn't hear Lin Yunwan's voice anymore.

He couldn’t do anything else, but he had to stay in the same room as his “dead mother.”

Back at the ancestral hall.

Old lady Lu was already in bed but couldn’t sleep, so she got up to chant scriptures.

"I don’t know why, but I wake up as soon as I lie down tonight."

Mrs. Yan set up the wooden fish and came to sit down, saying, "Maybe it's the cold weather!"

Old lady Lu hummed in response, closed her eyes to chant, feeling inexplicably uneasy.

There was some noise outside the courtyard. Mrs. Yan went out to see and found Lu Zhengliu had arrived, still in his outdoor clothes and reeking of alcohol, as if he had just returned from outside.

"Young master, why have you come?"

At this hour, the doors were all locked. How did the young master get in?

Puzzled, Mrs. Yan watched as Lu Zhengliu didn’t speak to her but glanced at the empty wing room, walked past her, and directly confronted Old Lady Lu, demanding, "Grandmother, did you send Ge Baor and Yunwan to the family temple together?"

His face was grave and extremely troubled.

Old lady Lu put down the wooden fish, looked up at her grandson, and asked with a frown, "She said she wanted to serve the mistress, and Yunwan didn’t send her back. What are you so anxious about!"

Lu Zhengliu angrily asked, "Aren’t you afraid she might harm the mistress?"

"Don’t you realize how people outside are slandering the Lu family, and yet you dare to place her beside Yunwan!"

Old lady Lu coldly snorted, "You’re overthinking it."

She put down the wooden fish and began to fiddle with the prayer beads on her wrist, saying, "If anything happens to the mistress, she’ll be the first one unable to escape. She wouldn’t dare do anything."

Lu Zhengliu was still seething with anger, unable to vent his frustration.

Old lady Lu then said soothingly, "Who else besides Ge Baor can recognize that jade pendant? You? You couldn’t find it. Let her try."

"Yunwan can't possibly stay in the family temple forever. If she doesn’t come out soon, Changgong should stop studying and just stay with her in the temple."

"I don’t think she’ll last much longer there; she'll be back soon. Zhengliu, don’t worry too much."

Lu Zhengliu didn't feel the same way!

He turned abruptly, fixing Old lady Lu with a stare, "Grandmother, what if something happens to the mistress of the Lu family at this critical moment? What will you do?"

Old lady Lu was taken aback.

What if...

If the worst happened, she was helpless! Lin Yunwan couldn't have any trouble at this time.

"I will go... to bring her back."

Lu Zhengliu left angrily, knowing he couldn't bring Lin Yunwan back, but deciding that retrieving Ge Baor first was still a good move.

Watching Lu Zhengliu's angry departure, Mrs. Yan sighed and asked, "Old lady, should we persuade him or not?"

"Let it be. He has a point; let him go fetch her."

Old lady Lu, still preoccupied with the jade pendant, muttered in annoyance, "Where on earth did she hide that pendant!"

She wondered if Ge Baor had found it.

Mrs. Yan sighed again, "Stop worrying about it, it's time to rest."

Old lady Lu nodded, her grandson's commotion actually making her feel sleepy.

She yawned, half-closing her eyes as she entered the bedroom to sleep.

Just as she lay down, not yet asleep, a sound came from the second gate.

Mrs. Yan jumped, saying, "It sounds like the cloud gong!"

Old lady Lu immediately sat up, counting the gongs – one, two, three, four...

"Something has happened!"

Mrs. Yan felt a chill, knowing three gongs signaled a happy occasion, but four gongs meant a major disaster!

She hoped the young master's ominous predictions hadn't come true!

Old Lady Lu's heart sank, and she stood up in her shoes, saying, "Quick, help me out to see what’s happening!"

The mistress and servant hurriedly changed clothes and rushed out to ascertain the situation.

The Lu family temple was engulfed in thick smoke, with white fumes billowing from the roof, alarming the neighbors.

Ge Baor, carrying a bucket of oil, was stunned by the fire in front of her.

"What's happening here..."

She hadn’t even had the chance to set the fire, so how did the temple catch fire!

Could Lin Yunwan have accidentally knocked over a candlestick, causing the blaze?

It meant... even the heavens were helping her!

Ge Baor was ecstatic but, seeing the bucket of oil in her hand, started to panic.

Now that she didn’t need to act herself, she couldn’t let anyone see her carrying the oil.

She needed to leave quickly!

As Ge Baor turned around with the oil, she saw a cold, dark face.

"Ah Zheng... you... you..."

Why are you here in the middle of the night!

Lu Zhengliu, looking at the bucket in her hand and smelling the scent of oil, asked with a trembling voice, "Ge Baor, what are you doing? Is anyone inside the temple?"

Ge Baor opened her mouth, but couldn't find the words to speak.

Of course, there was someone inside; she had locked the door herself, not even a fly could escape!

"Fetch water! Fetch water!"

The old nun and young nuns, seeing the blaze, banged drums and gongs to alert the neighbors for help. The Lu family members living nearby, seeing the family temple on fire, scrambled to find buckets of water.