Chapter 37: The Right To Remain Silent.
As he opened the door he almost had a heart attack as Xue ran toward him and jumped up. She was a big dog but it didn't make a difference. She thought she was small enough to be carried so as Haru awkwardly held her to stop her from falling she licked his face.
"Stop it already!" He put her back on the floor. She began to jump at his legs in protest but stopped as he walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. She jumped up beside him as he switched on the TV. Around half an hour went by of Haru browsing random channels to try to find something interesting when he decided enough was enough. Everything on the god damned thing was boring. He walked to the kitchen and took the note that Zen left earlier in the morning.
He flipped it over and pulled out a pen. "I will be back soon." He wrote on it and left it on the table as he made his way back outside. He didn't really feel comfortable waiting around and decided he wanted to take a walk. He left Xue inside and began to walk back down the long road. It took a while to travel this way. But he carried on anyway reaching the gate and letting himself out.
He walked out into the street as cars zoomed past him. He walked down the main street until he reached a dark alleyway. He looked down and it seemed like something was drawing him closer. It felt weird to him so he used his spiritual sense. The Qi in the surrounding area was thick and there was a slight scent to the air. He knew what it was immediately. Someone was refining a pill.
He walked down the alleyway to find himself stood in the same park he had been the week before. Was this a shortcut to get there? That explains why Zen walked Xue twice a day. This alley would cut at least twenty minutes from the route he took last time. He looked around but didn't notice anything but the scent of the pill was getting stronger. He followed it into the woods until he found an old abandoned fishing lake. It had a building in the middle of it but it was in rubbles it looked like it had been left like that for at least fifty years.
He put the scenery to the back of his mind as he tried to find the source of the smell. He used his spiritual sense and a small thin line of Qi could be seen. It was leading into the run-down shack. What have I signed myself up for? He thought as he began to walk towards it. He threaded his way between the trees and made it to the entrance. He stopped for a moment as he heard breathing coming from the inside.
It sounded like whoever it was inside was struggling to refine the pill. He looked in through the remnant of a window and saw an old man sat on the ground in front of a pill furnace. He looked to be in his late sixties and was wearing a blue suit along with a red tie. He was too well dressed to be living in this shack so Haru couldn't understand what he was doing.
He watched for a moment until there were a loud bang and bits of rubble shot into the air before raining down. The man passed out almost instantly as the fire began to spread towards his unconscious body. Haru walked inside and picked the man up into his arms. He struggled to get a hold of him since the man was quite a lot taller than him. But he still managed to carry him out of the wooded area and back to the main part of the park. A few people saw what was going on and immediately went running over to see if he needed help.
"What happened?!" A couple who both looked to be in their early twenties came running over. Haru placed the man on the ground trying not to injure him anymore. "I'm not sure, I found him inside a burning building in the woods. When I got there he was already unconscious." He pointed over the billowing smoke emerging from the trees. "It's okay my boyfriend is a doctor. Help him, darling." She tugged on his arm.
"I don't think this is appropriate for me to do. I'm still an intern. Make sure you call for an ambulance and fire service." He said in protest as he made his way over to the old man lying on the ground. He knelt down next to the man and put his ear up to his chest. He held it there for a few moments. "His breathing sounds normal. He shouldn't have inhaled too much smoke. He is lucky you got there before he started to suffocate." The man praised Haru as he went on the check his airways.
"We need to put him into the recovery position. I need your help with this. I will turn his body and support his spine whilst you move his legs." He walked Haru on how to do it. Even though he knew how to do it. It was nice to have a doctor instead of doing it himself and becoming liable if he injured the man. The doctor turned his body and Haru slowly moved his legs.
The man was now lay on his side and the man turned on the flashlight. He opened the man's mouth and shined it in to look at his throat. "The is no carbon build up anywhere and his airways are clear. " The man said to him and then sat down and sighed. "All we need to do is wait for the medics to arrive. Who would have thought I would end up working on my first day off." He laughed to himself.
"Thanks for the help. I wasn't sure what to do when I found him." Haru said as he relaxed a little. He didn't want to see a fellow cultivator die like this. It would be an embarrassing way to go. A few minutes went by. Haru sat in silence as the doctor kept a close eye on the man's condition.
A few minutes went by before the doctor's girlfriend came running back toward them with two medics. "He's just over here!" She shouted as she ran over to her boyfriend. The medics arrived shortly behind her carrying a stretcher and a bag filled hit medical supplies. "What happened?" One of them asked as he knelt over the old man and began to inspect the situation.
Haru was just about to tell them but the doctor spoke first. "He was found in the woods by this boy." He pointed to Haru and then carried on speaking. "Apparently there was a fire inside a building and he went over to look and found the man in the building. I'm an intern at the north district hospital so I did a basic check on him. There doesn't appear to be any signs of smoke inhalation. But I can't tell what made him pass out." He spoke again.
"I have to do a check myself but where is the fire?" The medic asked. The doctor looked toward Haru. "Oh, The fire. There is a hut in the middle of a lake in that direction." Haru pointed to the massive cloud of smoke now erupting like a volcano.
A few more minutes went by as more and more people began to show up. The doctor who was the first one on the scene walked over to a few police officers and began to talk with them. Haru stayed next to the man as the medics put a respirator on him and lifted him onto the stretcher. The took him back out to the front of the park.
Haru was just about to follow behind him but then he spotted the firefighters running in toward the fire in the wood that was now spreading. "Does anyone know who started this god damn fire? I'm going to kill whoever it was. I was lucking forward to a date with my wife!" One of them shouted as he ran towards the blazing inferno. Haru didn't know what to do so he approached one of the police officers.
"Excuse me. Is there anything I should do now? I was the one who found the man in the woods." He was confused. He had never been in an emergency situation within the civilian world. He looked over to his left as he saw the doctor point in his direction. The two police officers walked toward him and the other police officer.
"Put your hands behind your back. You are under arrest for suspected arson and reckless endangerment. You have the right to remain silent but anything you do say can and will be used against you in a court of law..." What is going on?!