Chapter 25 Qin Mansion Fire

Is it going to rain?

A wet, sticky sensation, like an icy snake, dragged Qin Jiao into the depths of darkness. He waved his hands to struggle but couldn't get free.

"No, it's not going to rain—it's the scorching heat coming..."

Qin Jiao felt trapped in a deep dream, unable to wake up. The earlier wet and sticky sensation had vanished, and he was dragged into another hellish abyss. The flames evaporated the cold sweat on his body, flames grew wildly in the wind like bared fangs, and black smoke rushed like ghosts.

Scorching, burning, dry, icy, sticky, suffocating... Qin Jiao, torn back and forth by various sensations, felt that in the next second the King of Hell would take his life. He was lost in the dream, unable to wake up, until—

Slap!

A heavy slap landed on Qin Jiao's face.

"Qin Jiao, wake up! Fire!"

Qin Jiao startled awake and opened his eyes! He saw towering flames and a disheveled He Zhao. Beside him, Cong Shuang had her hand raised, ready to slap him again if he didn't wake up.

"How could there be a… cough, cough…" As soon as Qin Jiao opened his mouth, he was choked by the thick smoke and started coughing violently.

"Don't talk now—let's go!" He Zhao pulled Qin Jiao up and grabbed Cong Shuang, then they ran outside.

The fire spread recklessly with the howling wind, consuming most of the Qin residence. Qin Jiao's bedroom in particular was almost surrounded by raging flames. The roof tiles couldn't withstand the fierce heat and exploded into the air with earth-shattering blasts.

The fire was imminent, blazing sky and earth! Burning beams kept falling, sparks grazing Qin Jiao's face. "Watch out!"

He Zhao kicked open a burning window frame. Qin Jiao's heart tightened. The three kept running outside. Fortunately, they ran into no further danger and escaped the sea of fire, disheveled but safe.

"Sister, are you okay? And you, He Zhao?" The first thing Qin Jiao did after escaping was to check Cong Shuang from head to toe, then he quickly circled He Zhao twice.

"I'm fine, cough cough, just choked a bit." He Zhao coughed twice. Beside him, Cong Shuang quickly waved her hands to show she was fine too.

Qin Jiao looked at the sea of fire with lingering terror. Outside the Qin residence, neighbors awakened by the noise came with buckets to help, but the flames towered into the sky, water turned to steam, and the fire dragon raged out of control.

"Wow, sister, you're something! You even brought out this clothing chest at such a critical moment." He Zhao exclaimed in surprise.

Qin Jiao: ?

Following He Zhao's gaze, Qin Jiao saw the bamboo-carved crabapple clothing chest that Xie Nai had left with him lying on the ground.

By then, Cong Shuang had stepped forward and picked up the chest. "Sister, you..." Qin Jiao was both surprised and scared. "Why did you bother with this? Even the most valuable clothes aren't worth more than a person's life!"

The young master's face was dirty, his eyes were red, and his whole body trembled slightly. "It's alright, young master. This chest was right next to your bed, so I just grabbed it on my way out."

Pushing the chest into He Zhao's arms, Cong Shuang quickly signed to comfort Qin Jiao: "I know my limits. I won't let myself get hurt."

"No! Next time you're in danger, don't worry about anything else, not even me. Just protect yourself!"

Qin Jiao couldn't help but think fearfully: what if Cong Shuang had tripped over the chest in the fire just now? What would have happened to her...

"Sister, promise me you'll put yourself first from now on." Seeing that Cong Shuang didn't respond, Qin Jiao said again.

But deep down, Cong Shuang thought: How could I possibly not care about you? Yet seeing Qin Jiao's emotions spiral out of control, just like when his mother Xiao Ning died years ago, Cong Shuang felt a pang in her heart. "Alright, I promise you." Then she gently hugged him.

Cong Shuang comforted Qin Jiao, and soon he calmed down. The young master let out a heavy sigh. Seeing that the fire was beyond saving, Qin Jiao asked a middle-aged man to report it to the authorities.

Fortunately, the Qin residence was in a remote area with no close neighbors, so the fire wouldn't spread and endanger the surrounding buildings.

Seeing that Qin Jiao had no intention of putting out the fire or trying to save the mansion, the neighbors gradually drifted away. After thanking them one by one, Qin Jiao leaned against the ginkgo tree in front of the mansion and watched the blaze...

Dawn arrived, bringing faint morning light.

The night passed in panic, and the rain that had been brewing under the black sky never fell.

"Let's go. I still have some silver on me. We'll find an inn to clean up first and come back when the officers arrive." He Zhao said softly.

"How did it suddenly catch fire? And I was sleeping too soundly." In the flickering firelight, Qin Jiao muttered to himself.

He Zhao replied: "I don't know why it caught fire, but you really slept deeply. You should thank tonight's bowl of plum sweet soup. If I hadn't been stuffed and gone out for a digestive walk, you all would have been done for tonight."

In the evening, He Zhao had drunk too much of that plum sweet soup. After returning to his room, he couldn't sleep at all, so he decided to go out for a stroll. Just after he left the mansion for a short walk, he saw the Qin residence on fire.

He flew back to the Qin residence using his lightness skill, splashed a cup of tea to wake Cong Shuang. Then the two went together to call Qin Jiao. But Qin Jiao was sleeping too deeply; the tea couldn't wake him. In the end, Cong Shuang took action and slapped him awake from his chaotic dream.

"Could I have been drugged?" Qin Jiao speculated.

"That's possible." He Zhao thought to himself that both Qin Jiao and Cong Shuang had probably been drugged, but Qin Jiao had inhaled more, otherwise, normally, a person couldn't sleep that soundly.

Qin Jiao: "Who exactly wants to kill us?"

"Who knows? Let Xiao Nianzhang investigate. By the way, should you tell Xie..." He Zhao was about to ask Qin Jiao if he should inform Xie Nai of their situation, when his peripheral vision caught that the chest in his arms had opened, revealing a jade hairpin that had broken into two pieces.

He Zhao exclaimed: "Qin Jiao, look! It seems there's a note hidden inside this jade hairpin."

"What note?" Qin Jiao was stunned. This chest had never been opened since it was brought back from Zhao Xiu Lou, and the jade hairpin was also a gift from Zhao Xiu Lou. How could there be a note inside?

By the firelight, He Zhao took out the broken jade hairpin. Cong Shuang took over the chest. Qin Jiao saw the hairpin clearly in the firelight.

The hairpin was made entirely of white jade, with delicate bamboo patterns carved on it. Qin Jiao remembered that this hairpin had been worn by Miss Xun Xi of Zhao Xiu Lou during the day.

He Zhao carefully took out a small note from the broken end of the jade hairpin. The note read: "Zhao Xiu Lou, hides a bloody case, on the ninth of the eleventh month, fair souls depart."

Beside him, Cong Shuang excitedly tugged at Qin Jiao's sleeve!

"The ninth of the eleventh month? Today is the ninth day of the eleventh month."

"This Zhao Xiu Lou is indeed suspicious!" He Zhao said angrily.

Qin Jiao's brows remained furrowed. He took the hairpin and note from He Zhao, and upon careful observation, discovered that the jade hairpin had traces of being glued back together.

Qin Jiao's eyes widened in shock. He Zhao glanced at the broken hairpin and said: "You're not mistaken. This jade hairpin was originally broken, and the handwriting on the note is deliberately crooked. It seems someone deliberately sent you a message."

"A broken hairpin message... who could it be? Xun Xi?" Qin Jiao bowed his head in thought for a while, "And is this note really meant for me?"

----------------------------------------