Chарtеr 132: Firе аt thе Мinistry of Justiсе
Just аs shе сlosed her еуes, Shen Du suddеnly let оut а shаrр gаsр, his brows tightly furrоwed, jolting her complеtеly аwakе.
Shе quiсklу got uр аnd mоvеd fаr awаy, looking аt Shеn Du with somе panic. "Whаt's wrong? Arе you... аrе уоu... оkау?"
Her tоnguе felt tiеd аs shе spоke, аnd Zhu Yаn wished she соuld slaр herself to snаp out of it.
Whаt hаd just hаpрened? Hоw hаd shе beсоmе sо lоst in thе momеnt?
Shеn Du seеmed sоmewhat rеgretful. Реrhаps hе shоuld hаvе endured the рain all along...
"It's nothing," hе said, a hint of рanic in his еyеs аs he fоrced himself to appear calm. "Maybe the wound reopened. Could you take a look for me?"
"Oh, sure." Zhu Yan's face felt burning hot; she didn't need to look to know it must be flushed red. Carefully, she examined Shen Du's wound, her mind still filled with thoughts of what had just happened.
"It's fine. Maybe I didn't bandage it well enough. It's okay now."
Zhu Yan spoke without thinking, "It's getting late. Let's rest early."
After saying this, she turned and ran to the bed without looking back, covering herself with the blanket and wrapping herself up like a cocoon, lying completely still.
Seeing Zhu Yan's adorable side, Shen Du shook his head with a light laugh, regretting that he had missed his chance.
And so, the night passed peacefully.
But that night at the Ministry of Justice was anything but peaceful—a major incident had occurred.
Early in the morning, Lu Chuichui rushed to the Shen residence in a panic. Upon learning that they hadn't yet gotten up, she eagerly knocked on their door.
Zhu Yan opened the door and was surprised to see Lu Chuichui's anxious expression. "You're here so early, and you look so worried. Did something happen?"
"I was so scared! I thought you had perished in the fire," Lu Chuichui said, still shaken. "Last night, there was a fire at the Ministry of Justice, and the source was the side room where you were staying. Everyone managed to escape, but you were nowhere to be seen. I thought..."
"A fire!" Zhu Yan was astonished, her face filled with shock. How could a fire have broken out so suddenly?
Lu Chuichui nodded. "By the time everyone noticed, the fire was already out of control. Fortunately, it was eventually extinguished, but dozens of people were injured. You should go take a look."
Zhu Yan quickly grabbed a cloak, and Shen Du followed closely behind. The three of them hurried out of the Shen residence and made their way to the Ministry of Justice.
"What exactly happened?" Zhu Yan asked anxiously.
Lu Chuichui explained as they walked, "Everything was fine in the first half of the night. It wasn't until the latter half, close to dawn, that the fire suddenly broke out. Everyone was asleep and didn't notice until the flames grew larger. In the end, it was the nearby residents who discovered it and woke everyone up."
"What about the arsonist?"
"Who had time to worry about that? The fire was so intense, and the Ministry of Justice was nearly burned to the ground. Everyone was focused on escaping—no one had the energy to look for the arsonist."
Though somewhat frustrating, it was understandable.
When trapped in a fire, the only thought is survival—there's no time to search for the culprit.
When the three arrived at the scene, the backyard of the Ministry of Justice was already in ruins.
This was where everyone rested, each with their own private room, but now it was nothing more than a pile of debris.
Smoldering wood occasionally crackled and popped. The fire had been extinguished, and a crowd of onlookers had gathered at the entrance. Fortunately, no one had died, though many were injured.Seeing Zhu Yan rushing over, Ji Fangming quickly stepped forward, "Lord Zhu, it's truly thanks to you not coming yesterday. If you had been here, I'm afraid..."
Ji Fangming didn't finish his sentence, only turning his head to look at the ruins behind him.
With such a severe fire, if Zhu Yan had truly been there, even her bones might have been hard to recover.
Speaking of which, it really was thanks to Shen Du's persuasion yesterday that Zhu Yan felt a sense of gratitude toward him in her heart.
But now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts. The source of the fire was in her room, which meant the culprit was targeting her with the intention of killing her—this was not an optimistic situation.
Ji Fangming had also been burned, his face blackened, with a shocking injury on his elbow.
Zhu Yan didn't know what words to use to express her feelings at that moment, but Shen Du seemed to have noticed something amiss.
His gaze swept across the scene, then over the onlookers gathered at the entrance.
Just that one sweep made Shen Du's heart tremble.
Among the crowd was a hunchbacked woman, her face tightly covered with a silk scarf. Coincidentally, a sudden gust of wind blew past, lifting the scarf from her face. That appearance, that face, those eyes—Shen Du recognized her at once as Chen Huo'e from years ago.
How was this possible? Someone who was clearly dead—how could she appear among the crowd?
Just as Shen Du was lost in thought, finding everything unbelievable, the woman had already vanished from the crowd.
Shen Du knew he couldn't have been mistaken, but the only explanation was that she had come back to life.
Could the legends they spoke of be true? How was that possible?
Shen Du remained silent for a long time, just standing there with a dark, brooding expression.
Zhu Yan noticed him and approached, asking in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
"I saw Chen Huo'e." As soon as he said this, everyone present shuddered.
How could someone who was already dead appear? The Great Pavilion Commander must have been seeing things.
"Could it be that she's come for revenge?" Ji Fangming said with a look of terror, only to be met with a fierce glare from Shen Du.
"We are all educated people. How could we easily believe in tales of ghosts and spirits?"
With Shen Du's words, Ji Fangming dared not say more, but Zhu Yan lowered her head, deep in thought.
Although the matter sounded quite mysterious, Zhu Yan was certain in her heart that Shen Du was not lying.
But what was going on with Chen Huo'e? Was she really still alive?
Zhu Yan returned to the Shen residence with Shen Du, turning the matter over in her mind but unable to make sense of it. The only one who could unravel the answer was the mentally unstable Chen Shoujie.
With a tentative mindset, Zhu Yan prepared to leave, but Shen Du stopped her, "Where are you going?"
"To find Chen Shoujie," Zhu Yan said frankly. "Right now, only he can give us answers."
"But he's mentally unstable. Even if he says something, it can't be trusted."
"Yet we have no better options at the moment," Zhu Yan said seriously, looking at Shen Du. "Everything has a cause and effect. Although he's mentally unstable, what he says might still be useful to us. We can't just investigate blindly."
Zhu Yan had a point. Shen Du nodded and decided to go with her.
"You're still injured. Stay home and recover. If I find any clues, I'll let you know."Shen Du had no intention of listening at all. The corners of his lips lifted slightly as he said coldly, "The injuries on my body are a minor matter. If I let you go alone and risk your life again, that would be the real problem."
"Isn't that just what you wanted?" Zhu Yan seized the chance to tease him. "Anyway, there isn't much time left, so it saves you the trouble of dirtying your hands."
Shen Du narrowed his eyes. Whenever this topic came up, an inexplicable anger rose in his heart. He was concerned about her—couldn't she tell?
Ignoring Zhu Yan, Shen Du strode ahead, taking the lead.
Zhu Yan pursed her lips and hurried to catch up.
OpenNovel