The six men climbed the stairs. The temperature on the seventh floor was so high that they could feel a noticeable difference with every step they took. This was an extremely rare phenomenon, proving that the fire on the seventh floor was far more intense than it had appeared from outside.
To avoid finding themselves without water on the seventh floor, they brought up the two hose lines from the sixth floor. Deploying fire hoses was a skill that required years of training, and running them vertically between floors was the most difficult technique of all. They had to minimize the length of hose wasted while maximizing its efficiency. Every additional corner reduced the water pressure and spray velocity a little; every unnecessary detour narrowed the area the water could reach. A hose line was their weapon on the fireground, and the more effectively they could use that weapon, the greater their chances of victory.
Only one of the fire hydrants in the seventh-floor corridor was functional. Ren Yi didn’t dare send his men inside to look for another one, since they could easily get lost. Three hose lines would have to suffice.
The moment they opened the emergency exit door, an overwhelming wave of radiant heat struck them like a man-eating demon, scorching their willpower. Ren Yi was even forced to stumble two steps backward.
It was too hot. There was no way they could get inside.
Sun Dingyi extended a temperature gauge through the doorway. “Fuck, it’s nearly eight hundred degrees even out here.”
“Then it’s at least two thousand degrees inside the fireground.” Ren Yi crouched on the floor, hesitating.
To conserve oxygen, they had all removed their masks. There was smoke in the stairwell too, but if they crouched low enough, they could still breathe, barely.
“Captain Ren, what do we do?”
Ren Yi shook his head. “We definitely can’t go in at this temperature. When it gets this hot, a flashover can’t be far off.”
“If it flashes over, the floors above might be impossible to save.”
Liu Hui suggested, “What if we smash all the windows around the perimeter? That might disperse the fire.”
Sun Dingyi analyzed the situation. “If we smash all the windows, the fire will just rush out through them and spread upward. Won’t we end up with the same result?”
Ren Yi switched to the command channel. “Captain Chen, how’s the evacuation going?”
Chen Xiaofei replied, “There are hotels and office buildings above us. At least two or three hundred people are still trapped. The height of the buildings makes searching much more difficult. We won’t be able to evacuate everyone anytime soon. Can you get the fire under control?”
“…When will the water cannon be in position?”
“I was just about to tell you. The water cannon will be ready very soon.”
“It’s already impossible to enter the seventh floor, but if we have a water cannon, we can try.”
“You can direct that water cannon yourself. What’s more, Yan Jue’s team has managed to free up another high-pressure hose line.”
“Excellent.” Ren Yi looked at Liu Hui. “We’ll do what you suggested and smash all the windows around the perimeter. That should bring down the temperature at the center of the fireground. With the water cannon, we can temporarily suppress the fire’s upward spread. We should be able to find a suitable moment to lower the fire shutter.”
Since no one could enter the fireground to break the windows, they would need the firefighters outside to assist. Ren Yi contacted Gao Ge and confirmed that his team had completed its task and returned to ground level. He then instructed Gao Ge to lead his men and use the aerial ladder to break the windows on the east and west sides of the seventh floor.
Soon, the water cannon began blasting the flames in the connecting passage. Before long, Gao Ge had completed his task as well. The fire began to disperse through the windows on the east and west sides, and Yan Jue personally brought a hose line up on an aerial platform truck, positioning it outside the western side of the seventh floor and directing the water into the building.
But the temperature inside the fireground wasn’t going to drop immediately. All they could do was wait.
After about five minutes, Sun Dingyi took another temperature reading. The temperature had indeed fallen.
“Good. Let’s go in.”
“Wait.” Liu Hui looked at Li Sa. “Captain Ren, we all know what it’s like in there, but Li Sa doesn’t. This is her first time entering a real fireground. She shouldn’t be thrown straight into something this dangerous.”
Li Sa frowned. “During training, when have I ever not been with you guys? I know what it’s like in there.”
“Training and actual operations are worlds apart,” Liu Hui said anxiously. “Besides, you’re a woman, and your physical strength is already close to its limit.”
“Squad Leader Liu, I think I’m in a better position than you to know whether I’ve reached my physical limit.”
“Do you think I’m arguing with you for the sake of arguing? You—”
“Stop fighting. You’re wasting time,” Ren Yi said. “Li Sa just helped me lower the shutter on the sixth floor. She has her own advantages. Besides, she should have more oxygen left than anyone else.”
All the air cylinders had the same capacity, but each person consumed oxygen at a different rate. Put simply, body size, physical exertion, and emotional fluctuations determined how much oxygen someone used. Li Sa naturally had an advantage in body size, her physical exertion was lower than that of the male firefighters, and she had gone nearly two minutes without using her SCBA while on the sixth floor.
“Right. I still have 23% left,” Li Sa said.
“We’re short on manpower. At a time like this, we have to trust our teammates. Let’s go.”
Ren Yi put his mask back on, pushed open the emergency exit door, and bent low as he entered the fireground. He had developed a sense of the environment and their orientation, so he led the others straight north.
The seventh floor was where the fire in Building B was burning most fiercely and completely. All the fury of the flames that had spread from Building A, with nowhere higher to rise, had accumulated on this floor. To make matters worse, the seventh floor housed bookstores, toy shops, and sporting-goods stores. The stalls were numerous and densely packed, and practically everything was combustible. They used their hose lines to clear a path as they advanced, but whenever they couldn’t force their way through, they had to take a detour. Most of their time was lost navigating around the obstacles.
Thanks to their earlier tactics, the temperature inside the fireground had dropped considerably. But it had only fallen to a level at which they wouldn’t be literally boiled alive. The heat penetrated every pore, giving them the bizarre impression that they were already cooked. The searing radiant heat was a form of torture that drew no blood, its pain gnawing at their bodies and souls from every direction. They gasped and coughed incessantly, and walking in a crouch consumed enormous amounts of energy. By the end, they were practically crawling on their hands and feet.
Ren Yi knew they couldn’t endure these conditions for more than a few minutes. Everything depended on this attempt. If they still couldn’t find the shutter within two minutes, he would have no choice but to declare the mission a failure and order an immediate retreat while they still had enough strength to get out.
Just as they struggled forward, Chen Xiaofei’s anxious voice suddenly sounded in their earpieces.
“Ren Yi, Ren Yi!”
“I’m here.”
“There are trapped civilians on the seventh floor of Building A. It looks like a father and son, trapped near the connecting passage.”
“What?” Ren Yi exclaimed in surprise. “Building A… cough, cough… wasn’t everyone evacuated from Building A?”
“They may be security guards who didn’t make it out in time,” Chen Xiaofei said gravely. “Because of the distance and angle between the buildings on the western side, the aerial platform can’t get close to the connecting passage. The truck has to be moved to the north side, but more than forty fire engines and over a dozen water trucks are already tightly positioned at the scene. It’s difficult to move them. Yan Jue says it’ll take at least six or seven minutes. The father and son won’t last long enough to wait for the platform. Ren Yi, you’re the only people who might be able to save them now.”
“Building A has been burning for… almost an hour, and someone is still alive?” Sun Dingyi coughed violently.
“Yes. Cough, cough. We’re almost at the connecting passage.” Ren Yi quickened his pace and crawled forward.
Through sheer force of will, the six men endured pain approaching the limits of what the human body could withstand and finally reached North Gate 1. They could make out the connecting passage ahead, but they still couldn’t see the father and son.
“Liu Hui, Ding Qing, Xiao Cai, provide support with the hose lines. Li Sa, stay by the manual release lever. As soon as we’ve completed the rescue, lower the shutter immediately. Sun Dingyi, come with me and take a look.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ren Yi and Sun Dingyi jogged toward the connecting passage. At last, they saw someone on the other side through the raging flames. His cries for help were repeatedly torn apart by the wind and fire, making them terribly faint. He had already suffered severe burns in several places, yet he was still holding an unconscious child tightly against his chest, shielding him with his body.
“Help… please, save my son… Somebody, help me!”
The man’s anguished, desperate cries pierced everyone’s nerves. The water cannon was currently suppressing the fire in the connecting passage, keeping the flames from burning too fiercely. But for Ren Yi to cross over, they would have to turn off the water cannon.
Ren Yi said, “Captain Chen, I can see them. Turn off the water cannon first.”
Chen Xiaofei took a deep breath. “There are lots of stalls in the connecting passage. The moment we turn off the water cannon, the flames will surge again. You have to make the round trip as quickly as possible.”
“Understood.”
Sun Dingyi grabbed Ren Yi and shook his head. “Captain Ren, it’s too dangerous to cross.”
“But we have to save them.” Ren Yi looked at the stretch of connecting passage and the building burning furiously on the other side.
He was afraid. Anyone would be. That was a building already engulfed in a fully developed fire, capable of mercilessly devouring anything that approached it. He couldn’t imagine how that father had managed to struggle through such a hell and survive long enough to run out and call for help. Even a fully equipped professional firefighter might not have been able to do it.
Perhaps the strength of a parent’s desire to protect their child was even greater than their own instinct to survive.
“Captain Ren.” Just as Ren Yi was about to set off, Li Sa suddenly asked, “How much air do you have left?”
Ren Yi paused. “Enough.”
“Switch with me.”
“Everyone’s running low. Control your breathing and conserve what you have.” Ren Yi pressed the radio button. “Shut down the water cannon.”
“Captain Ren!”
Ren Yi took a deep breath. They had trained in breathing techniques, and in critical situations, special breathing patterns could effectively conserve oxygen. This was exactly the kind of moment they had trained for. Without the father and son, he might have abandoned the mission and led his men back to safety. Reaching this point had already been incredibly dangerous, and the return journey would be a tremendous challenge in itself. He couldn’t consume other people’s oxygen just to protect his own life.
The moment the water cannon stopped, Ren Yi summoned all his strength and charged toward the other side. Sun Dingyi directed his hose line at the flames in the connecting passage, covering Ren Yi as he ran.
As Ren Yi charged onto the connecting passage, he sensed that the structure was vibrating strangely.
The passage was constructed from reinforced concrete and glass. After burning for so long, the steel reinforcement had probably already deformed. The glass was more heat-resistant and still appeared intact, but the water cannon had caused considerable damage. First, the water pressure was enormous; it was not unusual for such force to collapse roofs or break through floor slabs, let alone damage a connecting passage. Second, the water cannon had been switched on and off repeatedly, causing rapid cycles of heating and cooling that accelerated the materials’ contraction and deformation.
But Ren Yi couldn’t worry about any of that now. He ran as fast as he could to the other side and found the man by the doorway, his body already on fire. The man was lying over his son, using his own body to shield the child from the licking flames.
“Help… help…” The man was barely alive.
Ren Yi rushed over and frantically slapped at the flames on the man’s body, but it was already too late.
Trembling, the man pushed the child in his arms toward Ren Yi.
“Save… save my son…”
The child was tiny, looking only three or four years old. Despite being in such a hellish inferno, he had miraculously suffered few visible injuries. But his breathing was weak, and he had clearly inhaled a large amount of toxic smoke.
Ren Yi scooped him up and shouted, “I’ll take your son back first, then come back for you! Hang on, brother!”
The man shook his head. His soot-blackened face was streaked with tears that had dried in the heat, and there was no life left in his eyes.
“Go… just go…”
Ren Yi removed his own breathing apparatus and fitted the mask over the child’s face, letting him breathe a few mouthfuls of air. When he tried to put the mask back on himself, he discovered that his air cylinder was nearly empty.
Ren Yi cursed. Then he simply removed the heavy SCBA equipment altogether.
When he turned around, he saw that the flames in the connecting passage had surged again, merging into a continuous wall of fire.
Clenching his back teeth, Ren Yi tucked the child into the front of his protective suit and stepped into the sea of flames, with no other choice.
The flames seared his skin. The agony felt as though countless wire brushes were scraping away layer after layer of his flesh. He couldn’t stop himself from crying out in pain.
But he had barely run a few meters when the connecting passage began to shake violently. The reinforced concrete and glass started breaking away. His eyes widened in horror as he sprinted toward Building B, toward the hope of survival just ahead.
“Captain Ren!”
Sun Dingyi and the others watched as Ren Yi burst out of the flames with the child in his arms, only for the connecting passage to begin crumbling apart. Their eyes were bloodshot. They would have given anything to grow a pair of wings and fly to him.
With a deafening crash, the middle section of the connecting passage broke off completely and slammed into the sixth-floor passage below. This triggered a chain reaction, smashing straight through the fourth-floor connecting passage as well.
The violent shaking nearly knocked everyone on both sides of the passage off their feet.
Ren Yi skidded to a halt. Ahead of him lay a gap he couldn’t possibly cross. Behind him was a raging inferno with no way out. Beneath his feet was the remaining half of the connecting passage, which could collapse at any moment.
He couldn’t describe the despair he felt.
Down on the ground, Gong Yingxian’s eyes were fixed on Ren Yi’s every move. There was not a trace of color left in his face. Fear was like an invisible hand clamped tightly around his throat. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t breathe. He knew that if Ren Yi couldn’t escape today, there would be no one left in this world who could stop him from plunging into the abyss.
Sun Dingyi ran to the broken end of the connecting passage on the other side. With hands cracked and bleeding from the heat, he struggled to tie a stone to a rope.
“Captain Ren, catch this!”
He threw the rope across.
It landed on the connecting passage. Ren Yi bent down to reach for it, but he had inhaled too much toxic smoke, and his strength was already at its limit. The moment he bent over, he collapsed to his knees and couldn’t get back up. With great difficulty, he managed to tie the rope around the child’s waist.
Liu Hui roared, his eyes red. “Tie yourself on! Tie yourself on!”
Ren Yi knew that both broken ends of the passage were dangerously unstable. Pulling him across would require at least three adults to step onto the connecting passage, which certainly couldn’t bear that much weight. If they could get the child across, that alone would be a miracle.
After securing the rope, Ren Yi summoned every last ounce of strength and threw the child across.
The child fell over the broken edge of the passage. His tiny body dangled from the taut rope, suspended more than twenty meters above the fiery inferno, swaying helplessly in the air. He looked so fragile and insignificant.
Sun Dingyi immediately began pulling the child up. But the rope caught on a jagged edge of broken glass and began to fray as they hauled it upward. It was a fire-rescue rope designed for exceptional strength and toughness, but even it couldn’t withstand being repeatedly sliced by a sharp edge. The child was still some distance away from them, and the rope was about to snap!
Ren Yi lay sprawled on the ground, staring intently at the child. The physical agony and mental torment seemed to be fading away. He knew he was about to lose consciousness. Within two minutes, he would be dead, either from the heat or from suffocation.
He didn’t want to die. But… but when he had chosen this profession, he had spent a long time preparing himself mentally for this moment.
It was simply much harder to accept than he had imagined.
He wanted so badly to live. His father was waiting for him. Gong Yingxian was waiting for him. Gong Yingxian… he must be down there on the ground, watching him. If Ren Yi died, the wounds of Gong Yingxian’s childhood would surely be torn open again, and this time, they might never heal.
But he truly had no strength left. There was nothing more he could do.
At least, let the child live…
“Squad Leader Sun!” Li Sa’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?!”
Sun Dingyi grabbed another rescue rope, secured it to his own harness, and threw the other end to Liu Hui and Ding Qing. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he leaped off the connecting passage and caught the child in his arms.
Ren Yi stared at Sun Dingyi. A faint spark of strength seemed to flow back into his body, and he struggled, desperately struggling, to get back on his feet.
“One, two, three! Pull!” Liu Hui and the other three hauled on the rope with all their might.
But this rope couldn’t escape the same fate. The entire broken edge was lined with razor-sharp shards of glass. And now that the connecting passage was bearing the weight of five adults and one child, it began making terrifying noises again.
Sun Dingyi realized that his own rope was about to give way, and the connecting passage itself was on the verge of collapse. He lifted the child with one hand.
“Pull the child up! Get the child up first!”
Ren Yi watched the heartbreaking scene unfolding not far away, but he could do nothing except shout desperately, “Pull harder! Hurry, get them up!”
“Save the child first! Hurry! That’s an order!” Sun Dingyi roared.
Liu Hui clung to the rope with all his strength, gritting his teeth.
“Li Sa, go… go pull the child up!”
Li Sa crawled on her stomach to the broken edge, leaning half her body out over the gap as she reached for the child.
Summoning every last bit of strength, Sun Dingyi lifted the child upward. Li Sa grabbed the child’s arm and pulled him up, then carried him to safety.
With a loud crash, the connecting passage sagged another few inches. From where Sun Dingyi was hanging, he could even see the steel reinforcement bending. His eyes filled with despair.
“Liu Hui, the passage won’t hold! You all need to retreat!”
Ren Yi stared hopelessly at everything unfolding before him. On one side was the connecting passage, about to break apart. On the other was Sun Dingyi, about to fall. Ren Yi had gone stiff as a stone, unable to force a single word from his throat.
Liu Hui and the others didn’t retreat even a single step. They continued hauling with all their strength. The connecting passage groaned like a dying creature as the concrete cracked and the glass fell away.
Tears streamed down Sun Dingyi’s face. He reached for the buckle on his harness.
“Don’t…” Ren Yi stretched out his hand helplessly.
Sun Dingyi let out a furious roar.
“In our next lives, we’ll still be brothers!”
He undid the buckle. His body fell like a bird with broken wings, plunging into the smoke and flames below.
“AAAAAAAAAH—!”
Ren Yi let out a piercing, anguished scream.
“Squad Leader Sun!”
Liu Hui and the others broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Li Sa, who had just returned after carrying the child to safety, frantically dragged them backward.
“The passage is collapsing! It’s collapsing!”
At the very last moment before the connecting passage broke apart completely, Li Sa managed to drag the men back into Building B. They watched helplessly as the passage fell away, disappearing into the flames along with their brother, never to be seen again.
Ren Yi lay on the ground, a deathly wail of grief escaping his throat. His heart felt as though it were being torn apart. He couldn’t tell whether what was happening was reality or a nightmare. His eyelids grew heavier, and his breathing weaker. Eventually, he could barely muster the strength to move a finger.
The people on the other side were shouting desperately for him, but their voices sounded so far away.
By the time Yan Jue’s aerial platform truck arrived, Ren Yi was already on the verge of losing consciousness.