Chapter 128 Explosion

Chapter 128 Explosion

1:00 AM, Longhu Villa District.

Late at night, the villa area, usually silent and deserted at this hour, was now in chaos. The blaring of police sirens, ambulance alarms, and the clamor of voices intertwined, erupting like oil spattered with water.

Residents who should have been asleep were now gathered in their pajamas in the villa garden, gesturing toward a nearby villa with looks of horror and sympathy.

A column of black smoke rose into the sky. The once elegant villa now lay in ruins—its outer walls stripped bare, windows shattered into fragments scattered everywhere, and the front door blown clean off, its whereabouts unknown. Flickering flames could still be seen inside.

The carefully curated home was now shrouded in black.

"The Liang family... what a disaster. How could something like this happen out of nowhere?"

"After a blast like that, I wonder if anyone survived..."

"Doubt it. The firefighters pulled them out motionless."

"Maybe they were just unconscious..."

"Doesn’t bode well. There were two explosions..."

"..."

Yue Lingchuan and Captain Ma stood at a distance, their expressions grim.

The woman who’d called it in, in flimsy pajamas, spoke anxiously:

"We went to bed early tonight, but just as we were deep asleep, there was a sudden 'boom'—an explosion! It scared me awake! My heart raced, my mind went blank, and the whole house shook, the ground trembling! Before I could process it, there was another 'boom'! That’s when I freaked out, thinking it was an earthquake or something, and rushed outside. Then I saw the fire next door, flames licking the sky!"

She shuddered, recalling it, hugging her arms against the chill. "I was scared out of my mind. But then I realized—there were people in that house! So I called the fire department right away!"

Yue Lingchuan turned to her. "What time did you hear the explosion?"

"Well..." The woman faltered. Just then, her housekeeper brought her a coat and quickly interjected, "Around 12:15, give or take."

The housekeeper, a fortysomething woman with a kind, plain face, added, "When we ran out and called the fire department, it was exactly 12:20. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes from hearing the explosion to making the call, so it must’ve been around 12:15."

Captain Ma asked, "You’re certain you heard two explosions?"

Both nodded emphatically. "Yes, absolutely."

Captain Ma: "How long was the gap between the first and second explosion? Do you remember?"

"Seconds, maybe."

"I woke up from the first explosion, and before I could process it, the second one hit."

"At most, two or three minutes apart."

Yue Lingchuan and Captain Ma exchanged a look, sighing.

Captain Ma muttered, "What a nightmare..."

The woman had reported the incident at 12:20 AM. Firefighters arrived at 12:31 AM. Now, at 1:26 AM, the fire still hadn’t been fully extinguished.

Earlier, firefighters had risked entering the villa while the flames were still manageable and rescued all seven occupants.

Ambulances rushed the victims away, but the medics quickly confirmed that five family members showed no signs of life. One housekeeper was still breathing but barely, while another, who had been in a second-floor corner room, was in slightly better condition.

Yet the injuries were devastating.

The ambulance quickly took them away, using every possible lifesaving measure en route, but by the time they reached the hospital, the family of five couldn’t be revived, and neither could the barely-conscious nanny.

All of them suffered burns and injuries from the explosion's shockwave, but the actual cause of death was asphyxiation.

The only remaining nanny, who had been in the corner, was still fighting for her life.

After an hour of intense effort, the fire was finally extinguished, but no one rushed in right away, fearing lingering hazardous fumes in the air.

Xu Yanting from the Trace Examination Unit, suited up in full protective gear, conducted air quality tests and detected harmful substances such as carbon monoxide and sulfides. His initial assessment:

"It was an explosion caused by a gas leak."

Xu Yanting removed his mask, taking a deep breath of fresh air, and said, "The gas must’ve leaked and met an ignition source—a flame or spark, triggering the explosion. The explosion then caused the fire, and the fire further heated the remaining gas in the tank, setting off a secondary blast. That’s why they heard two explosions."

Captain Ma frowned. "At this hour, what ignition source could there be? Were they even awake?"

But that didn’t make sense either—if they were up, they’d have smelled the gas.

Yue Lingchuan pondered. "An ignition source..."

"It’s summer. Everyone’s burning mosquito coils this time of year, no?"

Captain Ma stroked his chin. "Are you suggesting the explosion was caused by a mosquito coil?"

"That’s not impossible."

Xu Yanting turned to look at the charred remains of the villa. "Once it’s safe, we’ll move in. If it really was a mosquito coil, we should find unburned traces."

Captain Ma nodded, then added, "The Liang family of five, along with two nannies, all lived on the second floor, while the kitchen is on the first floor. No wonder they missed the signs."

"Gas leaks from old pipes or busted tanks happen all the time. On the surface, it looks accidental."

Yue Lingchuan crossed his arms, jaw clenched, silently studying the scorched ruins.

Captain Ma glanced at him. "What do you think?"

Yue Lingchuan tapped his fingers against his arm, his gaze cold. "The timeline’s off."

Captain Ma chuckled. "Right, the timeline really doesn’t add up."

Xu Yanting, listening to them, mused, "If it really was a gas leak, in a relatively enclosed space like the kitchen and living room, with an ignition source present, the gas would’ve hit explosive levels fast... But the explosion happened around 12:10 or later. Even if we push it back an hour or two, to around 10 or 11 p.m., that’s still way too late..."

Why would they mess with the gas tank that late?

And why would the tank just spring a leak?

Xu Yanting was skeptical.

Yue Lingchuan turned to the woman who had reported the incident. "Do you know what time they usually had dinner?"

The woman stared blankly. "How would I know?"

But the nanny spoke up. "I knew their nanny, Sister Wang, pretty well, so I do know a bit."

"They have three kids—the oldest is in high school, and the other two are in elementary and middle school. Since the kids get hungry after school, they usually have dinner early, around 6 p.m."

Captain Ma asked, "Did they do midnight snacks?"

The nanny shook her head: "Their family doesn't have the habit of eating late-night snacks. Occasionally, Sister Wang would make some snacks in the afternoon and leave them in the fridge. If the kids got hungry at night, they'd just grab something from the refrigerator."

"Sister Wang once told me she's only responsible for three meals a day. If she had to prepare late-night snacks too, she'd definitely ask for extra pay."

Xu Yanting made a skeptical noise: "Then is it possible that one of the kids got hungry in the middle of the night, tried to make food themselves, and fumbled with the gas controls, causing a leak?"

The nanny hesitated for a moment: "No way. Their kids aren't exactly spoiled, but they've never stepped into the kitchen since childhood. I doubt they'd even know how to turn on the gas."

That doesn't add up.

According to her account, the Liang family had dinner around six o'clock, and after that, no one should have touched the gas tank again. So from around six to past midnight—a full six hours—with an open flame present, does it really take that long for an explosion to occur?