Book 2 Chapter 11 - Not Willing to See Lives Lost
“What exactly is going on? Why is there a fire?”
“Is there water nearby? Hurry up and find a way to save them!”
“Why is there such strong and pungent smoke?!”
“...”
Lin Xi, Tang Ke, the Medicine Department new students in the same gray academy building, as well as the new students from other departments who came for Medical Care from the other departments sped towards the scene of the flames. An uproar immediately erupted here.
In just a moment’s time, most of the buildings already had flames frolicking above their roofs, the intensity of the flames exceptionally fierce.
When he was at least a few hundred meters from the flames, Lin Xi already felt a wave of surging heat rush towards him. Moreover, between these buildings, there was some greenish-yellow smoke rising as well, extremely pungent.
“Liang Yanzhao, what happened?” Suddenly, Lin Xi saw a blue-clothed Self Defense Department new student. Even though he wasn’t too familiar with this person, only knowing his name, Lin Xi couldn’t be bothered with all of this right now, immediately rushing over to ask.
Liang Yanzhao wiped at his sweat in confusion, in a panicked state as he looked at Lin Xi, saying, “When we just arrived, before the lecturers even came, everything went up in flames.”
“What course were you attending?”
“Pulse Taking.”
“When the fire started, how many people were inside?”
“Thirty something in total.”
“More than thirty?”
After a few sentences, a great pa sounded. Lin Xi turned around, seeing a wall burst under explosive force, pieces of wood flying everywhere. A black figure carried two new students, leaping out from the cave of flames.
This was a middle-aged lecturer with a stout and shorter nature, his hair now roasted, a bit scorched. However, after kicking straight through a wall, landing on the ground steadily in a powerful manner, his was still extremely cool-headed, only directly telling the two black-robed lecturers who weren’t too far off below directly, “There are six more, I’m heading towards the center, you two take the left and right!”
Dong!
After this extremely simple sentence had just been spoken, the ground seemed to tremble slightly. Like a rock launched from a catapult, he sprung up from the ground, leaping back into the second floor opening he previously smashed open with a kick.
The two black-robed lecturers who came from the gray hall Lin Xi came from had already reached this place a bit earlier. When they heard this stout middle-aged man’s words, they didn’t seem to have any hesitation, shooting out like two black arrows, one to the left, one to the right, charged into the flames in a duty-bound manner.
Tongues of flame flared out from within, actually pushed aside by the strong winds these three black-robed lecturers produced.
This type of scene left Lin Xi and all of the new students moved. At the same time, they also felt a bit more at ease.
With three lecturers here, this meant that when Liang Yanzhao said their lecturer hadn’t arrived yet, it was just that they didn’t enter the classrooms yet, they were already inside the building. Meanwhile, when this lecturer said there were still six more, it naturally referred to there being six more new students in the flames.
There was one line the single-eyed black robed lecturer surnamed Tong said that Lin Xi remembered extremely clearly; even if they were lower rung students from Green Luan Academy, in the border armies, they would still be like swans among chickens. Thus, if these three academy lecturers who were who knew how many times stronger than normal students wanted to save six students, it shouldn’t be too difficult, right?
The flames became stronger and stronger, the pungent smoke that made it hard for one to breathe also starting to spread.
However, there were wind sounds coming from the raging inferno.
Whoosh!
After just fifteen minutes or so, three black-robed lecturers rushed out from the flames at nearly the same time.
One was like a boulder flying through the sky, one like a fluttering leaf, one like a vicious arrow… the three black-robed lecturers’ figures still gave one an exceptionally calm feeling. However, when these three black-robed lecturers exchanged a look, their expressions immediately became extremely ugly.
Lin Xi’s breathing stopped momentarily, instantly understanding where the issue was.
The middle-aged lecturer who came out from the second floor just like before was carrying one person, the gray-haired woman to his left had two people, while the one to his right with a slightly older looking, waxen yellow complexion also had two in his hands. Even if it was the physical education teacher from Lin Xi’s world, he would be able to tell with a glance that there were only five students.
Then six minus five, meant that there was one left.
The three black-robed lecturers lowered the students they were holding, about to rush back into the flames.
“Let me.” Right at this time, a moderate voice sounded. When they followed the sound, Lin Xi and the other saw that a black-robed woman had arrived unknowingly when.
This black-robed woman’s hair was slightly messy, not unfamiliar to Lin Xi and the new students of other departments at all. It was precisely the woman who appeared with Xia Yanbing and the others during the great entrance examination, the bookworm researcher who had a thick black book in her hands.
Right now, this black-robed woman was still holding a scroll in her hands, her brows furrowed, her complexion a paleness that seemingly hadn’t seen the sunlight for a long time. However, when they saw this black-robed woman, heard her speak, the three black-robed lecturers immediately stopped talking, nodding their heads.
The moment they nodded, this bookworm-like young black-robed woman’s feet already lightly tapped on the ground. Her entire body seemed to flicker with yellow radiance, starting to rush upwards.
A fine, blue-colored cold radiance left her hand. All of the flames before her were forced out, and then after passing over windows one after another, her figure already disappeared from everyone’s view.
In the distance, black figures were moving about the mountaintops, many academy lecturers alarmed, hurrying towards the scene of the fire.
“What happened?” A bald elder hurried over, silver stars embroidered on his black robes. He was clearly an academy professor.
“A fire suddenly started, one new student still missing. Associate Professor An is inside.” The three black-robed lecturers all gave this strict-looking bald professor a bow of respect, quickly explaining.
“Associate Professor An… she was actually already an associate professor?”
When he heard what they said, Lin Xi’s expression couldn’t help but stare blankly for a moment. It was because that bookworm-like girl only looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight… meanwhile, Green Luan Academy’s associate professors, in the outside world, were equivalent to Vice Provincial Supervisor rank.
Meanwhile, when he heard that Associate Professor An was inside, the bald professor’s expression also eased a bit, seemingly also calming down, no longer saying too much, just narrowing his eyes as he examined the flames.
The flames began to burn greater and greater, dyeing half the skies red. Right now, even if the great flames could be quickly put out, most of the wooden buildings had already been burned to ruins, so putting out the fire was already meaningless.
Hong!
A small building suddenly collapsed, countless pieces of burning wood and sparks rushing out.
Associate Professor An didn’t appear from the flames even after all this time.
As time went on, the moods of all the new students here became more and more tense.
Ka!
The walls of the third room to Lin Xi’s left were blasted through. A blast of cold radiance rushed out together with a wave of raging flames.
The bookworm-like Associate Professor An appeared before everyone’s eyes once more.
There was already only a small part of her sleeves left, exposing two fine arms, but the rest of her sleeves didn’t have any burned traces, as if as soon as some parts caught on fire, they were immediately cut off by her with a sharp tool.
Only when those two fine arms were revealed did Lin Xi see that the cold, faint blue radiance was a fine flexible blade, currently wrapped gently around her right arm.
In that instant, the slightly messy hair, somewhat pale face, spacious sleeveless robes, and the soft blade wrapped around her fine, jade-like arms, gave Lin Xi a type of unimaginable astonishing sense of beauty.
The arm that didn’t have a flexible blade wrapped around it was holding a youngster in a red academy uniform.
This Natural Arts Department youngster’s figure was slightly weaker than even Lin Xi’s, half his face pitch-black, eyes closed, not moving at all, as light as a bundle of straw in the associate professor’s hand.
“There’s nothing that can be done… he ran in the wrong direction, hiding under a table over there… when I found him, it was already too late…”
When she saw the black-robed lecturers and professor walk over, Associate Professor An shook her head, her tone still like that of reading text, the expression on her face like that of a bookish fool. However, on that face that was a bit stiff, there was still a sense of helplessness and bitterness.
All of the new students who were just about to cheer in joy immediately felt their hands and feet becoming ice-cold.
Lin Xi stared blankly at the completely still skinny Natural Arts Department student.
This Natural Arts Department student wasn’t someone he recognized, he knew nothing about his background and origins, but his appearance was tender and underripe just like Lin Xi’s.
Even though he understood extremely well that many young and underripe youngsters came to Green Luan Academy while cherishing a sense of commitment and loyalty to the empire like Li Kaiyun, and that in the future, many of them would have their blood scattered across the empire’s borders, this was the first time Lin Xi witnessed death in this world… a life disappeared before his eyes just like that.
At this time, he decided what he had to do.
“Associate Professor An.” Under everyone’s shocked sight, Lin Xi walked over, looking at this black-robed woman with exposed arms before him, asking with a serious voice, “When you found him, had he been hiding under the wall leaning table inside the wooden building the entire time?”
“En?” Associate Professor An frowned, looking at this Self Defense Department new student who walked over in confusion, nodding her head.
Without waiting for the other lecturers and professor to tell him to move aside, Lin Xi quietly shouted, “Return!”
…
The surroundings changed, returning to when Lin Xi, Meng Bai, and the others first ran out of the Medicine Department’s gray building.
The middle-aged stout lecturer was like a catapulted boulder, bursting out of the second floor wall… then, three black-robed lecturers rushed into the flames again… Because Lin Xi had already experienced all of this, he didn’t feel a trace of shock.
However, in this chaotic scene, he didn’t stop where he did last time, instead following the mountain’s side, arriving before a two-storey wooden building where the associate professor ultimately found that Natural Arts Department student.
“Lin Xi, what are you doing?!”
The moment Associate Professor An appeared with a scroll in hand, the three black-robed lecturers leaping out from the nest of flames, under Meng Bai and the others’ shocked cries, Lin Xi clenched his teeth, charging straight through the wooden building’s window, into the raging flames.