Ren Yi and the other officers, including He Xun, changed into the bulky fire-protective suits. It was easy to imagine that manually closing the fire shutters would require them to get close to the flames, and their standard flame-resistant uniforms simply wouldn’t be enough.
“Gao Ge, Sun Dingyi, once you enter Building B, take a few people to look for usable fire hydrants first.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The smoke inside is thick, and the layout is complicated. Everyone must make sure they have a teammate nearby at all times. No one is allowed to act alone. If you find yourself separated from the others, press your alarm immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ren Yi led the team toward Building B while keeping an eye on whether Yan Jue’s high-pressure water cannons were in position.
As they passed a fire engine, he spotted Gong Yingxian standing off to one side, watching him without moving. His deliberately composed expression was betrayed by the anxiety in his eyes.
Ren Yi didn’t stop walking, but he took off his thick gloves and gave Gong Yingxian a thumbs-up.
Gong Yingxian’s head drooped under the unbearable weight of it all, and his heart clenched painfully.
He didn’t want to see Ren Yi walk into a fireground. He didn’t want to watch the man he loved approach the nightmare that had haunted him all his life, again and again, while he himself endured the torment of every passing second. Yet it seemed he would never escape the fear and despair that fire had inflicted on him. Fire had taken his family and destroyed his childhood. Now it was constantly fighting him for Ren Yi, too. The most hateful, most tragic part was that there was nothing he could do to stop it.
If he could, he would use every means at his disposal to keep Ren Yi away from fire and danger. But he knew he couldn’t.
He couldn’t stop a man from fighting for his beliefs.
After giving Gong Yingxian one last, lingering look, Ren Yi forced himself to turn away. He knew Gong Yingxian was worried about him. He understood exactly how that felt. When he was a child and his father went out on a call, he and his mother would be unable to sit still, tossing and turning all night.
He had once asked his father why he insisted on doing such dangerous work.
His father had answered, “Someone has to do it.”
Someone has to do it. Why couldn’t that someone be me?
Yan Jue’s voice came through the radio, confirming that the water cannons were in position. Ren Yi took a deep breath.
“Move out.”
He led the firefighters into Building B through the south emergency exit.
The center of the first-floor lobby had a seven-meter-high open space. Since the smoke and flames were rising upward, the conditions here were actually somewhat better than they had expected, despite the lobby being closest to the fire’s point of origin.
“Gao Ge, take a few people and look for water. Report back once you find some.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ren Yi secured a rescue rope around himself and tossed the other end to He Xun.
“Sun Dingyi, come with me to scout ahead. He Xun, stay here with the others for now. Keep in touch, and report any developments immediately.”
“Okay.”
The two of them, tethered together by the rope, walked into the thick smoke.
“The fire shutter at the connecting passage is at North Gate 1. You’ve memorized the map, right?”
“Got it,” Sun Dingyi replied.
“We’ll feel our way along the walls and use the pillars as reference points.”
Smoke billowed around them, and visibility grew worse the farther north they went. In an environment like this, it was almost impossible to maintain a sense of direction. They could only rely on the floor plan and their understanding of the building’s layout to estimate where they were.
“Firefighters! Is anyone there?”
As they walked, the two men took turns shouting.
The farther they went, the hotter it felt. They knew they were heading in the right direction.
Through layer upon layer of smoke, the crimson glow of the flames grew larger and larger in their eyes.
Suddenly, a series of explosive bangs erupted not far away. Both men reacted with the instincts drilled into them through training and threw themselves to the ground. But the explosions didn’t stop. They kept going off one after another, like a string of firecrackers, seemingly coming from every direction. The unpredictable blasts had the two men pressed against the floor, afraid to get up.
“How are you two doing?” He Xun asked over the radio.
“No idea what the hell just exploded.”
With a clatter, a hard object fell beside Ren Yi. He turned his head and saw an aluminum can that had burst apart, apparently something like hairspray.
Once the explosions finally stopped, the two men struggled to their feet.
“Of all the equipment we have, this suit is what I hate the most,” Sun Dingyi complained.
“I think it’s pretty cool. Makes us look like astronauts.”
“Astronauts get to float around. We feel like we’ve been filled with lead.”
“Then take it off.”
“Tsk, tsk. Listen to yourself. Is that something a human being would say?”
“Save your breath. We need to conserve our air.”
Ren Yi led Sun Dingyi around the scattered flames, steadily pushing forward.
“North Gate 1 should be ahead. I can’t see the shutter from here. We’ll have to get closer.”
“The fire ahead is too big. We can’t get through,” Sun Dingyi reported over the radio. “Captain Gao, have you found any water?”
“Only one fire hydrant has water.”
“Feel your way along the wall and come over here. We’re near the third pillar.”
“Captain Ren, we’ve found one too,” a firefighter from Sanning Station reported.
He Xun issued his orders. “Good. Pair up and search the perimeter of the flames for injured people. The rest of you, follow me to North Gate 1.”
A few minutes later, two hose lines joined up with Ren Yi’s group.
“North Gate 1 is just ahead. We need to push closer before we can see how to lower the shutter. Give me one hose line. Anyone who isn’t wearing a fire-protective suit stays behind.”
Ren Yi and Sun Dingyi gripped one hose line, while He Xun and his firefighters took the other. Together, they opened the water and advanced against the raging fire.
The water meeting the flames produced enormous amounts of steam. The scene was as hot as hell, and Ren Yi could feel sweat pouring down his body like a river.
Ren Yi shouted, “Yan Jue, aim the water cannons at the first floor! Building B, first floor, North Gate 1. We’re advancing toward North Gate 1.”
“Understood.”
Yan Jue’s two high-pressure water cannons blasted the fire in the first-floor connecting passage from outside, temporarily suppressing the flames.
Seizing the opportunity, they gripped their hose lines and charged forward, shouting as they went, forcing a path through the arrogant wall of fire.
When the entrance to the connecting passage finally came into view, Ren Yi said, “He Xun, hold this position. Leave one hose line and half the men here to secure our position. I’ll go and try it.”
“Okay.”
Fighting fire required both intelligence and courage. In a place engulfed by smoke and flames, if everyone pushed too deep into the danger zone, the fire could surge back and cut off their escape route. Someone had to remain outside the main engagement area to protect their way out.
In his first few years as a firefighter, Ren Yi had made precisely this kind of potentially fatal mistake. Eager to rescue someone, he had rushed into a dead end with a hose line. The hose burned through, and the flames behind him merged into an impenetrable wall. If his fellow firefighters had arrived just two minutes later, he would have been dead.
Ren Yi, Sun Dingyi, and the others continued using their hose line to carve a path through the fire. At last, they reached North Gate 1 and saw the shutter above the entrance.
Enduring temperatures that were approaching the limits of what the human body could withstand, Ren Yi moved closer. The glass cover over the shutter’s manual release lever had already melted. He tried reaching in to pull it, only to discover that his gloves were too thick for him to get a proper grip. He pulled a crowbar from his waist, wedged it between the release lever and the wall, and pressed down with all his strength.
A grinding creak came from overhead. The shutter’s locking mechanism released, and the entire door slammed down with a tremendous crash.
Several cheers rang out through his earpiece.
Ren Yi also breathed a sigh of relief and reported, “The first-floor fire shutter is down.”
Fire shutters could typically hold back a major fire for two to three hours. They were a highly effective means of compartmentalizing a fire and preventing it from spreading, giving the team enough time to carry out further operations.
“Get a few people from the mobile unit over here to put out some of the fire on the first floor. We still have to go upstairs. There are six more shutters to lower.”
The group withdrew to a safe area. Based on what they had learned at North Gate 1, Ren Yi explained the shutters’ locations and how to lower them, then divided the firefighters into three teams. He, He Xun, and Gao Ge would each lead one team, with each team responsible for two shutters.
After the teams were assigned, they set out with their equipment. Ren Yi and Sun Dingyi headed for the sixth floor.
The sixth floor housed clothing stores, and the fire was much more severe than on the first floor. For one thing, the space was crowded with combustible materials. For another, there was no open atrium like the one on the first floor to allow the pressure to escape. Smoke and flames had accumulated below the ceiling. The moment they stepped onto the floor, they were hit by a fierce wave of heat.
Sun Dingyi checked the fire hydrants in the corridor and exclaimed happily, “Great! Both of these outlets have water.”
Cui Yisheng lowered the hose he had been carrying over his shoulder, connected it to the hydrant, and unrolled it in one swift, practiced motion.
“The layout here is much more complicated than on the first floor, but the structure is the same. Keep to the walls and look for the pillars. Liu Hui, take your three men and search in the opposite direction for anyone who needs rescuing. Use the hose to guide your way. Never let go of it, no matter what. Retreat immediately if you encounter danger.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ren Yi thought for a moment. “Li Sa, you’re coming with me.”
“Yes, sir!”
The group split up and went their separate ways.
With shops lining the area on all sides, they tried to follow the walls but kept veering off course. The smoke was so thick that even through their visors, they could barely see a few meters ahead.
Ren Yi and Sun Dingyi worked together to open the hose line, clearing a path for the others.
Cui Yisheng asked uncertainly, “Are we going in the right direction?”
“At least we’re definitely heading north,” Sun Dingyi replied, glancing down at the compass. Their forearms were equipped with LCD panels integrating various functions.
“Firefighters! Is anyone there?”
“Firefighters! If anyone can hear us, please respond!”
From a considerable distance away, they could hear their teammates in the other group calling out.
They continued in this direction for several minutes. The flames ahead grew increasingly fierce, making it impossible to pass.
“North Gate 1 has to be right ahead.”
“But the fire is too big. We can’t get through!”
Suddenly, a strange noise came from overhead. Ren Yi looked up and saw something dark swaying in the thick smoke.
“Get out of the way!”
Ren Yi shoved Cui Yisheng, who was closest to him, aside. The two of them crashed to the floor.
A row of spotlights came crashing down from above with a loud bang, landing exactly where they had been standing moments earlier. And that wasn’t the end of it. Pieces of the ceiling began falling in all directions.
The group scrambled and rolled into a corner, huddling together in terror as they waited for the debris to finish falling.
Ren Yi sucked in a sharp breath. “Is everyone okay?”
“Y-yes, we’re fine.”
Just then, Liu Hui’s urgent voice suddenly crackled over the radio.
“Captain Ren, we just heard someone calling for help! We haven’t found them yet, and A-Wen is missing!”