When Chen Xiao uttered those two words, his eyes were resolute. Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaotao instinctively released her grip.
Yes, Tang Ying.
Tang Ying, who had gone through thick and thin with Chen Xiao on the island, and who had even saved Chen Xiao's life! If it weren't for the small bottle of cell repair fluid that Tang Ying brought, which kept Chen Xiao alive until the very end, Chen Xiao would have been dead long ago.
"Don't worry, it might be nothing. Maybe it's just some kind of electrical circuit explosion. I'll go back and see if there's anything I can do to help. If nothing's wrong, I'll come back as soon as possible." Chen Xiao said quickly, trying to sound casual, and gently hugged Zhang Xiaotao, leaving her under the tree.
"Wait!" Zhang Xiaotao suddenly gritted her teeth. She quickly reached into her bosom and pulled out a small sachet with a red thread tied to it. She rushed to Chen Xiao's side and swiftly slipped the sachet around his neck. Her expression was clearly uneasy, but she forced a smile: "I know you're not an ordinary man. I won't let myself become a burden to you. But be careful. And… remember, there's another woman waiting for you here!"
She quickly kissed Chen Xiao on the lips: "I've been making this sachet these past few days, it's not finished yet. I was planning to give it to you when it was done..."
Chen Xiao squeezed the sachet; it was very soft. He nodded solemnly and said, "Stay here and don't wander off. I'll be back to find you soon!"
After saying that, he turned around and his body suddenly shot out like a roc. With one leap, he easily darted forward more than ten meters. After landing on the ground, he bounced up again and quickly disappeared into the night.
Most of the Autumn Palace had been reduced to a sea of fire! Chen Xiao had just rushed to the gate of the Autumn Palace's residence when he saw flames bursting out from the gate, surrounded by a cacophony of voices, screams, shouts, and cries of agony.
The buildings at Akikichi Palace are mostly simple brick and wood structures, so once a fire starts, it spreads extremely quickly! Chen Xiao had just reached the entrance when he saw several figures staggering out of the flames. They were all servants and guards of Akikichi Palace, their clothes tattered, with burn marks on their bodies, covered in soot, their faces disheveled and panicked. Chen Xiao rushed over, grabbed one of them, and shouted, "What happened?"
The person he grabbed paused for a moment, then shouted a few words. Chen Xiao then realized that he didn't speak Japanese and asking wouldn't help, so he simply rushed into the room.
As soon as you enter, you feel a wave of heat sweep over you. Looking around, you see flames everywhere. The two bamboo groves in the yard have become the area where the fire is spreading. Large areas of bamboo groves are burning, and the flames are spreading at an eerie speed!
The deafening explosion startled Chen Xiao awake. He immediately looked in the direction of the sound and saw a huge fireball flying from the left, as if falling from the sky, landing in the center of the Akikichi Palace and exploding with a bang, sending sparks flying everywhere!
Someone is attacking!
Chen Xiao immediately realized that the corridor leading to the Akikichi Palace had been destroyed by fire and collapsed. He leaped up and jumped over the burning building. As he landed, he felt a ball of flames fall to one side. Looking up, he saw a beam collapsing with flames. Chen Xiao quickly struck out with his palm, and a powerful mental force split the beam in two. He took the opportunity to dart through the middle, but sparks still landed on him. After landing, he rolled on the ground and quickly patted his head and body a few times.
There were even more people in the inner courtyard. Fortunately, there was an artificial pond in the inner courtyard. At this moment, there were about a dozen servants of Prince Akikichi, who were carrying wooden buckets and trying to fill the pond with water to put out the fire.
The main hall Chen Xiao had seen during the day was half collapsed, and the remaining half was creaking and groaning amidst the raging flames. The surrounding area was filled with the noise of people, and it seemed that new flames were constantly erupting. Clearly, these people carrying wooden buckets were no match for controlling the fire!
"Stop! Stop it all!" Chen Xiao grabbed a servant carrying a bucket of water and shouted, "Get out of here! The gate is blocked! Don't you all want to live?!"
He shouted several times. Then came Chen Xiao's most infuriating problem—no matter what he shouted, the servants at the Akiochi Palace didn't understand Chinese. Some even tried to shove him, seeing him trying to stop the firefighting. Chen Xiao, of course, wouldn't bother with these clueless people. He quickly pushed aside the people in front of him and rushed inside. He ran to a corner of the courtyard, grabbed a rockery, lifted the rock—which was taller than him—high up, and slammed it down hard onto the burning hall.
With a deafening crash, the main hall collapsed under the weight of the boulder, beams fell, and the building crumbled. The fire was immediately smothered beneath. Chen Xiao knew this was only temporary; the building was constructed of brick and wood, and the fire would soon reignite.
The surrounding servants stared at Chen Xiao in horror—was this guy even human?! Such a huge artificial mountain! And he just picked it up and threw it away!
"Listen up, all of you!" Chen Xiao switched from Chinese to English. Fortunately, many of those who served as royal attendants at Akihito Palace had received advanced training and could understand English.
"The fire has already surrounded this place! If you don't want to die, run out the back door now! The front door is blocked by the fire! If you stay here, you will all be burned to death soon!"
Chen Xiao roared several times, and the servants stared at him in astonishment, many witnessing him sabotage the firefighting efforts. Some even doubted his actions. But just then, two men, their bodies ablaze with sparks, stumbled in. One of them had his hair on fire. As soon as he entered, someone quickly poured a bucket of water over him. He screamed a few times, his body covered in burns, but finally managed a frantic shout: "Outside! Outside! Fire! The corridor is blocked!"
Upon hearing this, everyone became truly frightened. Without Chen Xiao's command, the servants swarmed into the back courtyard, scattering buckets, brooms, and other items all over the ground.
There was a door leading directly from the backyard to the outside. The servants ran so fast that Chen Xiao didn't even have time to grab one of them to ask where the princes were before they all rushed out in a swarm.
Chen Xiao gritted his teeth, picked up a bucket of water and poured it over himself. Then he picked up a cotton quilt from the ground, which must have been left by the firefighters. It was also soaked in water. He put it on and glanced around. He vaguely remembered that Tang Ying and the others lived on the right side of the house during the day...
Chen Xiao looked to his right; most of the houses had collapsed, and the passageway resembled a fire door, with flames constantly leaping outwards. This sea of fire had already spread out, probably stretching for a hundred meters or so. He gritted his teeth and rushed in.
As Chen Xiao rushed into the fire, he immediately felt a tightness in his chest. The thick smoke almost made him faint. He snapped back to reality and remembered common sense: many people who die in fires are not burned to death, but suffocated by the smoke and dust that enters their lungs! With this in mind, Chen Xiao held his breath, identified his direction, and rushed headlong to the right.
He possessed immense strength, and with a soaked cotton blanket draped over him, he smashed through several walls of fire like a human tank. Though he stumbled and staggered, tripping over the rubble, and nearly being crushed by a piece of ceiling that collapsed from above, he finally emerged from the inferno after running a hundred or so steps!
This is the true inner courtyard of Akiyoshi Palace, where the princes reside. It is located on the southern side of the palace, closest to the hillside.
Upon entering the courtyard, Chen Xiao felt a sense of calm. The courtyard didn't seem to have been affected by the fire yet.
Moreover, this inner courtyard is located on the edge of Akiochi Palace. Once you leave this courtyard and cross the wall, you'll reach the hillside, so there's no need to worry about the fire spreading and engulfing the area.
Chen Xiao just barged in and saw that the fire hadn't spread to the courtyard, and there was no fire in the courtyard. But as soon as Chen Xiao stepped in, he suddenly stumbled, his foot went soft, as if he had stepped on something.
He stepped aside, threw away the quilt that had been dried by the fire, and looked down to see that his shoes were covered in blood!
Since he changed into Tang suits, he had also been wearing a pair of Chinese cloth shoes he bought in Chinatown. Now, the shoes were covered in bright red bloodstains, causing Chen Xiao to freeze in surprise.
The flames behind them raged fiercely, but on the other side of the courtyard, not a single lamp was lit; the light flickered intermittently in the firelight. Chen Xiao turned to look, and his heart immediately went on alert!
What he had just stepped on was a corpse!
The corpse was dressed in a gray-blue servant's uniform, and a wooden bucket lay on the ground beside it, as if it had been about to be carried to put out a fire. There was also a small pond in the courtyard, but the water was running water, spring water drawn from the mountain.
Chen Xiao approached the corpse and took a look. His expression immediately changed!
This was a female corpse. What shocked Chen Xiao was that she hadn't been burned to death at all! There wasn't a single charred mark on the body, but it looked as if she had been cleaved open by some sharp weapon. From the left shoulder down, her entire upper body had almost been split open! The death was horrific and gruesome, with blood flowing all over the ground! No wonder his cloth shoes were stained red when he stepped on it earlier.
The dead man was not burned!
Chen Xiao was once again certain of his guess!
It seems someone's after Akikichi-no-miya!
The inner courtyard was eerily silent, devoid of any human presence, save for the crackling sounds of the flames. Chen Xiao, growing increasingly anxious, rushed to the door of one of the houses and shouted, "Miss Sato! Takeuchi Yako! Tang Ying! Tang Ying! Tang Ying, where are you?!"
He shouted loudly, but there was no response whatsoever!
Chen Xiao immediately noticed that the curtain at the entrance had fallen to the ground. Upon climbing the steps, he discovered that the curtain had been cut in half! He became alert, clenched his fists, and cautiously stepped inside. As soon as he entered, he was hit by a strong, pungent smell of blood!
Chen Xiao's heart sank. He turned around, raised his hand, and with a flick of his mind, drew a burning stick from a distant fire and used it as a torch, waving it around the room.
With that sudden movement, Chen Xiao couldn't help but gasp!
dead!