# 1174
Chapter 1175: The Fire Disaster Reappears
Linjiang City, outside the Night Watch garrison, a stretched Lincoln slowly started up.
Wu Quan lowered his head, sitting alone at the very edge of the car seat. Lin Qiye sat beside him, his spiritual power monitoring the surroundings at all times.
Lin Qiye glanced up at the two youths and the young woman on the opposite seat, as motionless as wooden statues, then turned to look at Wu Quan:
"What's wrong with them? Did you forcibly possess them?"
Wu Quan shook his head. "No. Though I can possess their bodies, I can't possess their spirits... I can only control things that have form."
"Then what's this..."
"Do you want to know?" Wu Quan raised his head, gazing into Lin Qiye's eyes. "I, Qingzhu-ge, and these two... do you want to know the truth about that fire disaster all those years ago?"
"I do."
"I'll tell you, but you have to trade me information about Qingzhu-ge's whereabouts."
Wu Quan's expression was incomparably serious, faint glimmers dancing in his eyes.
Lin Qiye's eyes narrowed slightly. "Is this... the purpose of your surrender? Just to find out where he is?"
"Does that matter?" Wu Quan retorted.
"The current outcome is already what you want. You can take me wherever you want. Just tell me where Qingzhu-ge is, and I guarantee I'll be quiet the whole way. I definitely won't cause any trouble."
Lin Qiye stared at him for a long moment, then finally nodded:
"Alright."
Wu Quan had already become a supernaturally gifted individual, not an ordinary person anymore. Combined with his relationship with Shen Qingzhu, there was no longer any need to keep him in the dark.
"But I don't trust words. I only trust what I see for myself." Behind Wu Quan, a thumb-thick black rope, like a swimming serpent, slid out from beneath the black intersecting chairs. One end coiled around his index fingertip, while the other end waved in the air.
Lin Qiye curiously examined this swimming creature for a moment, confirmed there were no issues, then nodded:
"Alright."
He extended his index finger, connecting with the [Memory Swimming Worm]. The next moment, the scenes around him twisted rapidly!
...
Two figures ran desperately through a dim alleyway!
Crimson-red flames ignited the black night sky. In the courtyard not far away, several building silhouettes were already completely engulfed in roaring flames.
Lin Qiye's perspective merged with that of the young Wu Quan. He sprinted with all his might through the alley on his thin legs, but he could never catch up to the少年 racing ahead.
Judging from the outline of the boy's back, that was unmistakably Shen Qingzhu four years ago.
Wu Quan followed close behind Shen Qingzhu as they burst into the orphanage, stopping in the courtyard. Both looked up, and the firelight painted their faces red.
The standalone small dormitory ahead had already been completely consumed by the raging inferno. Faintly, one could still hear the children's increasingly weak cries, as well as Old Liu's violent coughing.
And in the midst of this burning inferno, at the top of the small dormitory, a twisted flame face loomed, flickering in and out of visibility.
"What the hell is that..." Shen Qingzhu frowned, staring at that flame face, his expression grave.
Wu Quan, only eleven years old, was sheltered behind Shen Qingzhu, watching that fire face in terror. His small face had gone pale.
Just as the two of them were frozen by this bizarre sight, the children's cries inside the dormitory gradually faded away, the coughing grew weak to the point of silence. Only the crackling of flames devouring the building echoed through the empty courtyard.
Shen Qingzhu's expression grew increasingly grim.
"Stay here! I'm going to save them!"
He gritted his teeth, randomly grabbed a scalding iron rod from beside him, ignored the flame face above, and fearlessly charged straight into the inferno!
However, the instant his figure reached the dormitory entrance, snake-like tentacles of fire extended from the blaze, swiftly grasping for Shen Qingzhu's limbs.
Shen Qingzhu's eyes constricted. Gripping the iron rod, relying on years of fighting experience and combat instincts, he nimbly dodged several tentacles. Right then, a flame-wrapped load-bearing pillar弹from within the building, striking his chest head-on!
Boom—!
With a dull thud, Shen Qingzhu's body was sent flying like a kite with a severed string, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Qingzhu-ge!!" Wu Quan screamed, sprinting to his side.
Shen Qingzhu's lips bled. He braced himself against the ground with both hands, stumbling as he tried to rise, but several fire serpents had already slithered to his feet.
A flash of resolve crossed Wu Quan's eyes. He quickly picked up the fallen iron rod, stood before Shen Qingzhu, and from somewhere found the strength to forcefully smash back two fire serpents.
"Watch out!" Shen Qingzhu forcefully tackled Wu Quan to the ground, evading the attacks of several more fire serpents behind them. Had they been even half a second slower, Wu Quan's body would have been pierced through again.
He wide-eyed, roaring at Wu Quan beneath him:
"The hell are you doing?! Are you trying to die?!"
Wu Quan lay on the ground, teeth clenched tight. Firelight danced in the reflections of his eyes. Stubborn determination was written across his childish face.
Shen Qingzhu glared furiously at that bizarre face above the inferno, snatched up the already bent iron rod from the ground, and like a madman, charged straight toward the third-floor rooftop.
He planted his feet on the rooftop's edge, his figure briefly soaring into the air. Those sharp, fierce eyes blazed with killing intent as he raised the iron rod in his hand, bringing it down hard upon the flame face before him!
Swish—!
The iron rod touched the flame face yet passed through it as if it were nothing. Physical attacks could not affect it in the slightest.
Shen Qingzhu's pupils contracted sharply. His body mid-air lost its fulcrum, and he tumbled headfirst into the inferno below.
"Qingzhu-ge!!"
Wu Quan, upon seeing this, couldn't control the tears streaming from his eyes. His heart-wrenching screams echoed across the sky.
At the same time, wisps of Chaos black light rippled around his body. His anxious eyes crept with black intent, becoming deep and mysterious!
Just as he desperately tried to charge into the flames, a roar sounded from within the fire!
A vacuum domain swept across the surroundings, completely draining all the air from the courtyard. The flames covering the buildings and that bizarre fire face in the sky instantly vanished into nothing.
An unprecedented suffocating sensation gripped Wu Quan's heart, making him dizzy and nearly sending him sprawling. Fortunately, this suffocation lasted less than two seconds before the air returned.
Black embers swirled in the superheated air. In the midst of the ruins, a figure slowly rose.
He clutched a child from the wreckage, stumbling forward, but after just two steps, he tripped and fell.
Wu Quan swiftly crossed the scattered debris, running to Shen Qingzhu's side. At this point, his clothes were already tattered and torn, his face covered in dust. Even after falling to the ground, he still clutched the child in his arms with死.
"Wu Quan..." Shen Qingzhu spoke in a hoarse voice, one trembling hand gripping Wu Quan's衣角, gazing at him in a daze.
"Go save them quickly... The ambulance will be here any second... None of the little brothers and sisters... can come to harm..."
The words fell, and with his spirit completely exhausted, Shen Qingzhu fainted on the spot.
"Qingzhu-ge!"
Wu Quan shouted, immediately checking his breathing. Only after confirming he was still alive did he relax slightly.
But when his palm landed on the nose of the child in Shen Qingzhu's arms, his body trembled almost imperceptibly!
No breath, no heartbeat...
He pried open the child's mouth—inside was nothing but smoke and dust.
This child was dead.
He had already died before Shen Qingzhu managed to save him out.
Wu Quan knelt in the silent ruins, staring at the unconscious Shen Qingzhu and the dead child he clutched protectively to his chest, standing there like a statue.
Some people die, but not completely...