In the master bedroom of the small supermarket, the room where Xu Fei slept.
No matter how much Wu Jun stomped on the flames, he couldn’t get the fire under control.
In less than a minute, the bedroom had nearly turned into a crematorium furnace.
Wu Jun and Xu Fei were huddled in the southwest corner of the room, with him shielding her.
"Wu Jun, I’m begging you, let me be on the outside! Your leg is burned! It’s all my fault, let me go out." Seeing the ginkgo-leaf-sized patch of burned skin on Wu Jun’s right calf, Xu Fei burst into tears.
Just a moment ago, a standing coat rack in the corner had toppled over, nearly striking Xu Fei. Wu Jun, with his quick reflexes, pulled her away, but the scalding-hot main pole of the rack struck his calf.
"It’s nothing, doesn’t hurt at all. Just stay put and don’t move." Wu Jun gritted his teeth, hissing in pain as he held Xu Fei firmly in place.
A sharp, drilling pain shot up from his calf. After being exposed to the smoke for so long, he felt oxygen-deprived and dizzy. His back, directly facing the fire, felt like it was about to be roasted until the skin split and oozed fat.
Although he wasn’t a vain person, he didn’t want to suffer extensive burns. The psychological torment of living with ugly scars for the rest of his life, even after escaping the inferno, would haunt him forever.
Wu Jun was in a terrible situation.
’Right! The fire extinguisher!’
Wu Jun remembered the Water-based Fire Extinguisher the saleswoman with the surname Rong had given him when he bought the bed.
Even though it was small and wouldn’t do anything against the massive blaze before them.
However, spraying it on your body created a protective film that was highly effective at preventing burns.
"Stay put, don’t move. I’m going to get something," Wu Jun said, comforting Xu Fei before turning around.
The solid wood bed, which had cost several thousand yuan, was of decent quality. Despite being engulfed in flames, it hadn’t collapsed and was still standing firm.
Wu Jun picked up the coat rack’s main pole from the floor—it was already hot to the touch—and crouched down, moving closer to the bed.
Once he was near the bed, he used the pole to probe underneath it. He managed to knock the small Water-based Fire Extinguisher out from under the bed. Success.
He tested it with his fingers. It was hot, but bearable. Wu Jun grabbed the handle of the Water-based Fire Extinguisher and returned to the corner where Xu Fei was.
"Xu Fei? Xu Fei?" Wu Jun had been gone for less than half a minute, but when he returned, he found her with her eyes closed, head lolling to the side, slumped against the wall. He called her name a few times with no response. She had passed out from inhaling too much smoke.
In the face of the emergency, Wu Jun couldn’t afford to hesitate. He reached out, ripped off Xu Fei’s bra, and tore it in two.
He soaked the pieces with the Water-based Fire Extinguisher, giving one to each of them to use as a mask. Then he sprayed the extinguisher’s contents onto his palm and evenly coated both of their bodies.
He had to admit, the expensive stuff was worth the price. After they were fully coated, he could feel a cooling sensation.
Wu Jun raised his hand and glanced at the phone bound to [Resource Tycoon]. There were still 20 seconds left on the mission countdown.
’Why is time passing so slowly? Every second feels like a year!’
Although the roasting heat on his back wasn’t as intense as before, his head was getting dizzier and dizzier. Wu Jun felt like he was about to collapse.
"Wu Jun and Feifei are still in there! Don’t hold me back, I’m going in! Let go of me!"
"Let me in!"
A few heart-wrenching shouts came from outside the supermarket. In his daze, Wu Jun recognized the voice of Auntie Xu.
"Old Xu, calm down! The fire’s too big, let’s just wait for the firefighters!"
"Old Xu, don’t be rash! If you go in, you’ll just get trapped yourself."
"This damned property management! The life-saving fire hydrant is just for show! It’s useless when we actually need it. I’ll make them pay for this!"
"Don’t just stand there! Grab basins, grab buckets! Hurry up and fight the fire!"
"Old Xu fainted! Someone help!"
Outside the supermarket, a commotion grew as more and more voices joined the fray.
Wu Jun shook his head, a sliver of clarity returning to his mind. He lifted his arm with some difficulty and glanced at the phone bound to [Resource Tycoon].
’It’s over. The in-game mission is over.’
Wu Jun’s spirits lifted. Without bothering to check the results, he operated the phone. His finger paused over the Summon Farmer option for a second, but then he suddenly changed his mind.
’Breaking the window to get out, or putting out the fire... the latter seems more important.’
Besides, he had a way to extinguish the fire quickly.
He operated the phone, tapped on the inventory, and selected "Withdraw." He aimed the camera at the room and entered the quantity: 1,000 bags.
THUD THUD THUD!!
A thousand bags of rice materialized from the void and crashed down into the room, instantly extinguishing the fire.
The temperature in the room dropped significantly. It was still hot, but the searing sensation was gone.
Just as Wu Jun finished extinguishing the fire with his phone, an anxious voice called from the window, "Boss Wu! Feifei! Can you hear me? What’s the situation in there? Say something!"
Wu Jun recognized the voice of Xu Fei’s uncle-in-law, Cui Zhishen.
Wu Jun shouted toward the window, "Xu Fei passed out from the smoke! I’m okay! Find a way to get the window open!"
More and more people were gathering outside. Hearing the crowd milling around the window, Wu Jun abandoned his plan to Summon a Farmer.
The fire in the room was now out, and the rice he had withdrawn from the game had blocked the doorway, preventing more smoke from entering from outside. Much of the thick smoke inside had already dissipated, so the situation was no longer as critical.
"That’s great! As long as they’re okay!"
"A true blessing in this disaster!"
"Thank heavens! Boss Wu, hang in there! Old Dong has already gone home to get a portable cutting machine. He’ll have the window open soon."
It was now past one in the morning. Between the lingering smoke and the fact that the lights were out due to the fried circuits, the visibility inside was extremely poor. The crowd couldn’t see the situation in the room clearly, so they only breathed a collective sigh of relief after hearing Wu Jun’s response.
To avoid unnecessary explanations, Wu Jun operated his phone again and recalled most of the rice back into the game, leaving only a few dozen bags to block the doorway.
By now, the burning materials in the room had been crushed to a pulp by the dozens of tons of rice Wu Jun had summoned from the game. There was no danger of the fire reigniting.
SCREEE! After less than three minutes, a piercing sound erupted from the window. The portable cutting machine had arrived.
Five minutes later, the crowd of rescuers outside managed to tear a large opening in the security bars on the window. Wu Jun asked Cui Zhishen for two jackets, wrapped Xu Fei up tightly, and passed her out through the opening.
Then, Wu Jun limped as he climbed out of the window. He directed the crowd to carry Xu Fei to a well-ventilated area. After a full set of emergency procedures—pinching her philtrum, CPR, and artificial respiration—Xu Fei was revived.
There was no joy of survival. Upon waking, Xu Fei’s tears flowed like a spring. So agitated she could barely speak, she told people to call an ambulance, crying that Wu Jun was burned.
The crowd had noticed Wu Jun’s awkward limp earlier but had assumed he’d just bumped into something. After hearing Xu Fei’s warning, they hastily called a burn hospital.
The fire truck, police car, and ambulance arrived one after another.
After a brief questioning, Wu Jun was taken to the Shimen City Burn Hospital.