In the small supermarket, on the folding bed in the spare bedroom.
Wu Jun was sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt an incredible heat, kicking off the thin blanket covering him.
He still felt hot after kicking off the blanket. The intense heat had jolted him awake.
"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..." Just as he regained a sliver of consciousness, a pungent odor made him choke and cough violently. Wu Jun was instantly wide awake, his eyes snapping open.
What he saw made him jump in shock.
’Smoke? Where is all this smoke coming from?’
The small room was now wreathed in smoke, looking just like an opium den from decades ago. He saw it was all seeping in through the cracks around the door.
’It’s a fire.’
The terrifying thought flashed through his mind.
Without even taking the time to get dressed, he leaped to the floor and bolted for the door.
He reached for the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
’What the hell?’
Wu Jun’s heart leaped into his throat. ’It can’t be, can it?’
’I didn’t even touch anything... Did she have to be this cruel?’
CRACKLE! The sound of intense burning erupted from outside, and more and more smoke poured in through the cracks around the door.
The door was locked tight and wouldn’t open, so Wu Jun turned to open the window.
He yanked on the window, but it wouldn’t open either!
"Fire! Someone... COUGH, COUGH... Help! Fire!" At this life-or-death moment, Wu Jun yelled frantically. The moment he opened his mouth, he was choked by a mouthful of smoke. The acrid sensation was just like taking a drag directly from a chimney.
The small room Wu Jun slept in was stocked with all sorts of daily necessities: toilet paper, towels, mops, toothpaste, and toothbrushes—it had everything.
Wu Jun ran back to the shelves, grabbed a mop, and prepared to smash the window glass to get some air.
’If this keeps up, I’ll choke to death even if the fire doesn’t get me.’
CRASH!
He had just grabbed the mop when a loud noise erupted behind him. Wu Jun turned to see that the glass in the window had somehow shattered.
"Thanks, buddy! Go get help, call the fire department!" Wu Jun’s heart leaped with joy. He shouted to the person outside, then ran to the bed, grabbed his phone, and prepared to call the police.
He unlocked it with his fingerprint. But just as he pressed the "1" on the keypad, Wu Jun’s eyelid twitched. He saw several flaming, unidentified objects being thrown in from outside the window!
Wu Jun was dumbfounded. He thought an ally had arrived, but he never expected that the person outside was actually trying to take his life!
CRACKLE!
The many flammable items in the small room were instantly ignited by the burning objects and burst into flames.
At this critical juncture, Wu Jun couldn’t be bothered with calling the fire department anymore. By the time they arrived, he’d probably be cooked well enough to be served with a sprinkle of cumin and chili powder.
’With all this commotion, someone else will surely call the police. I should just focus on how to get out of here alive!’
He snatched the phone linked to [Resource Tycoon] from the bed, unlocked it with his fingerprint, entered the game interface, and tapped [Summon Farmer]!
A game notification appeared: [Current Resource Guardian mission is in progress. Summoning failed. The mission will end in six minutes, after which summoning will be available.]
"Son of a bitch!" Seeing the notification on his phone, Wu Jun wanted to scream. ’Talk about kicking a man when he’s down!’
’At a time like this, I can’t even summon a Farmer!’
Since Wu Jun’s supermarket was on the ground floor, the windows all had security bars. You’d need to know the Bone Shrinking Skill to have any hope of climbing out.
The door was locked tight. It was too late now for Wu Jun to regret not taking a professional lock-picking class.
The fire inside was growing larger, the temperature was rising higher, and his skin felt like it was scorching.
The smoke from the burning daily supplies grew thicker and more pungent.
’I can’t just sit here and wait to die. I have to rely on myself at a time like this. If I wait any longer, I’m going to be turned into smoked meat!’
Wu Jun turned, his eyes fixed on the door. He gritted his teeth and charged. As he neared the door, he leaped, twisted his body, and slammed into it with an Iron Mountain Lean!
BAM! The door, already warped from the heat, flew off its hinges from the force of his shoulder, and he tumbled to the ground with it.
He rolled with the momentum, landing on the door panel. A searing, burning pain shot through his shoulder and back, and Wu Jun cried out as he scrambled to his feet.
Once he was up, he looked out into the main area of the supermarket, which was burning even more fiercely, the flames raging.
Wu Jun: "..."
’This is like escaping an opium den only to land in Tai Shang Laojun’s Alchemy Furnace.’
"Help, it’s on fire! COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..." A cry for help suddenly came from Xu Fei’s room.
Wu Jun spun around to look at Xu Fei’s bedroom door. Without a moment’s hesitation, he bolted over, covering the distance in a few large strides. He yanked on the door, but it wouldn’t move.
"Xu Fei, open the door! It’s me!" Wu Jun yelled frantically toward the room.
"Jun... COUGH, COUGH... I can’t open it... COUGH, COUGH, COUGH."
Xu Fei’s tearful voice came from inside the room.
"Get away from the door! Don’t stand near it!" Wu Jun yelled to Xu Fei. He took a few steps back, then charged forward and kicked the door with all his might!
BAM! The door burst open, and Wu Jun rushed into the bedroom.
Crouching in a corner in a state of panic, Xu Fei saw Wu Jun burst in and instantly felt like she had a pillar to lean on. She cried out and threw herself at him, her face, already streaked with tears, now smudged with soot into a mess.
Xu Fei was only wearing a set of pajamas, while Wu Jun was in nothing but a pair of boxers. However, neither of them had the spare thought for anything inappropriate; staying alive was the only thing on their minds.
"Don’t be afraid, I’m here. Everything will be okay." Wu Jun comforted her, patting her smooth back. Xu Fei finally stopped crying.
"Jun, what do we do now? The fire outside is so big... are we trapped?" Xu Fei glanced out into the small supermarket and saw that the fire had grown more intense, blocking any path of escape. She found herself somewhat regretting having "given up halfway" last night.
Wu Jun reassured her, "Don’t let your imagination run wild. We’ll definitely be okay."
After calming down from his initial panic, Wu Jun felt a chill in his heart, even though he was surrounded by a sea of fire.
The window in the spare bedroom being smashed from the outside, and those unidentified burning objects being tossed inside, made him realize something...
The fire in the small supermarket tonight was no accident. Someone was deranged enough to commit arson, wanting to kill both him and Xu Fei.
The first suspect that popped into Wu Jun’s mind was He Qingfeng, the CEO of Meng Zalang.
After all, the conflict between Hongyun Rice and Meng Zalang had been escalating for a while now. And just today at the rice expo, he had thwarted Meng Zalang’s schemes and even signed a sixty-million-yuan order.
Other than him, Wu Jun couldn’t think of anyone else who had a motive.
Shielding it from Xu Fei’s sight, Wu Jun glanced at the phone clutched in his hand, the one linked to [Resource Tycoon].
’Three minutes. In three more minutes, I can summon a Farmer from [Resource Tycoon]. As long as we can hold on for three more minutes, Xu Fei and I can be saved.’
The security bars on the window were a net of death for him, but for the game’s burly and immensely powerful Farmers, they would be as flimsy as a spiderweb. He couldn’t deal with them, but they could.
Fortunately, the fire hadn’t yet spread to Xu Fei’s bedroom. The smoke was just getting thick and was a bit choking. If they opened the window to let it out, holding on for three minutes should be no problem.
CRASH! Another loud noise echoed.
Xu Fei screamed in terror, hugging Wu Jun even tighter.
Wu Jun’s head whipped around to look at the bedroom window.
Several more burning, unidentified objects were thrown in from outside the window. The curtains and the bedding in the room were instantly ignited.