Dense smoke billowed, and flames danced. Gu Xiaoer sat on the ground feeling every breath so difficult, and even her consciousness became unclear. She wanted to cry for help, but as soon as she opened her mouth, thick smoke poured in, silencing her completely.
Was rescue no longer possible?
"Xiao Er..."
Through the layers of dense smoke and fire, a familiar sound of a cello reached her ears, bringing with it a man's deep, muffled groan.
Gu Xiaoer tugged at the corner of her mouth, smiling. She knew her consciousness was blurred; how could she hear Da Luoluo's voice at this time? He should be asleep, or racking his brains writing a review paper, right?
Unexpectedly, their meeting yesterday turned out to be their final farewell...
Scenes from yesterday flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern, remembering him childishly confronting Su Jiaxuan. Sigh, if only she had been a bit more assertive then and explained things clearly, maybe he wouldn't have gotten mad...
"Xiao Er! Where are you? Answer me quickly!"
The familiar voice got closer and closer, as though right beside her. Gu Xiaoer smiled as if to say, what a petty man, so domineering even in her last moments of memory.
"Gu Xiaoer, where the hell are you?! If you dare to die, believe it or not, I'll make everyone here join you in death!"
Ever since Han Luoli had entered the building, he hadn't stopped calling out for Gu Xiaoer's name, even though choking smoke filled his lungs repeatedly, he refused to give up. After being choked, he took a deep breath against his wet jacket and continued to shout.
At this moment, his biggest worry was that Gu Xiaoer might be unconscious in some corner, missing the optimal time for his rescue.
Struggling to climb to the fourth floor, Han Luoli lifted his gaze toward the higher floor's staircase, his look becoming somewhat fixed. Even though flames were clearly curling around him, his entire bloodstream felt as if it had been injected with ice, shivering from the cold.
The staircases to the fifth and sixth floors were severely damaged, and even for him, it was hard to go up, let alone that delicate little girl.
"Sir, the upper floors have collapsed severely, you can't go up there anymore!" Just then, a rescue firefighter saw Han Luoli rushing forward heedlessly and quickly tried to stop him.
"Get out of the way!"
"Sir, please cooperate with our work! We have requested a helicopter to rescue the people on the sixth floor. Now, we must ensure everyone's safety; we can't just watch you go to your death!"
"Get away!"
Not willing to waste a single second, Han Luoli lifted his leg and, like a madman, kicked aside every obstruction, rushing towards the sixth floor at the highest speed possible.
At the entrance of room 602, the fire swirled, a complete mess.
Han Luoli only took one look, and it felt like all the muscles in his body had dissolved. The door lock had been broken, and a single forceful kick could cause the whole entrance to collapse.
He knew better than anyone what that meant.
His blood seemed to stop flowing, and Han Luoli had never feared disaster like he did now. It was as if he could feel Gu Xiaoer struggling hard inside the door; he stretched out his hand, but the intense heat forced him to pull back.
"Gu Xiaoer!" he stood at the door, his voice hoarse, coughing, calling Gu Xiaoer's name.
The girl lying on the floor opened and closed her eyes, confused, yet she seemed to truly hear Han Luoli's voice—real, just outside the door.
"Da Luoluo..." She tried to make a sound, but found it completely swallowed by the flames, pitifully small.
She swallowed dryly, her mouth so parched it couldn't even produce saliva, her heart and lungs hurt unbearably.
"Xiao Er!" The voice persisted.
She really heard Da Luoluo's voice, it wasn't a hallucination!