At that moment, Gu Shi Yi clenched her teeth, quietly lifted her head, and pulled out a log from the stove, only to toss it into the pot of boiling oil above her,
"Boom..."
With a sound, the pot of oil that had been bubbling away burst into flames as soon as it encountered the fire, and the flames shot up to the ceiling of the cabin. Fire is the greatest fear of a wooden boat, and with the pot of oil fueling it, it took mere moments before flames had spread throughout the entire kitchen, igniting everything flammable. Thick smoke began billowing immediately, pouring out of the small cabin door. The two old women lying unconscious on the ground awoke in a fit of coughing, opened their eyes to see the room ablaze, and started screaming in terror,
"Water's flooding in! Water's flooding in!"
Only then did Gu Shi Yi feign being choked awake, leaping up and shouting,
"It's on fire! Run for your lives!"
She grabbed one of the old women, who scrambled out of the cabin in a panic, and the three of them made it outside. Seeing the disorderly sprawl of people on deck, the two old women were startled, but there was no time to hesitate—the fire was chasing after them, spreading to the second floor through the cabin door,
"Fire! Fire! Put it out!"
The shrill cries of the two old women tore through the calm of the river surface, and Gu Shi Yi joined in the shouting, turning to slap the faces of those on the ground,
"Slap slap slap..."
"Wake up! Wake up!"
A few people were roused by her slapping, and upon seeing the great fire, they too started yelling in panic. Soon, nearby boats were alerted, and people began rowing over...
"Help! Somebody help! Help!"
Gu Shi Yi and the two old women cried out over the river, their voices carrying far into the quiet night. As the fire grew fiercer, more and more people awoke, either by shouting or choking. There were those who yelled, those who rushed into the cabins to rescue their possessions, and the more cowardly who jumped straight into the river. The splash of their jumps reminded others, and soon, one after another, people were jumping into the river, creating non-stop plopping sounds as if dumplings were being dropped into boiling water...
Gu Shi Yi didn't jump; instead, she followed a few daring bodyguards to the second floor, shouting about saving people, yet her eyes darted around, spotting the fortune tree placed in the center of the hall. She rushed towards it shouting,
"Water's flooding in! Run! Run for it!"
There were many lying prostrate in the hall, but she didn't have time to mind them. Stepping over a pile of men and women's bellies, heads, arms, and legs, she made her way over,
"Run for it! Water's flooding in! You all need to run!"
Some people began to get up, crying out in a panic, scrambling downstairs only to be forced back by the flames reaching for the stairway...
Meanwhile, Gu Shi Yi, while still shouting, casually grabbed a chair and threw it hard against the flowerpot-sized porcelain jar,
"Clang..."
With a sound, the porcelain jar shattered, spilling mud and sand on the floor, and from within fell a hand, the flesh rotted away. However, amidst the decaying flesh, one could still see a sizeable ruby ring. Gu Shi Yi was overjoyed upon seeing it,
"I truly thought after all this chaos, this thing would be lost. Who would have imagined it would still be on her hand..."
Truly, it was as if the master had blessed her!
Gu Shi Yi tore off a piece of her clothing, covered the hand with it, and pulled the ring off the rotten hand. Looking around, she noticed that the entire hall was engulfed in thick smoke, and the men and women who had risen were now frantically running upstairs. Gu Shi Yi spotted the lady in red, who was amidst the crowd, desperately pushing towards the stairway, struggling with several flower boat girls in the narrow space where only one person could pass, pushing and shoving each other,
"Get out of the way! Let me go first!"
"Let me through first!"
In the midst of the chaos, a tall and burly man charged through, bellowing,
"All of you, get out of my way!"
With that, he pushed aside the women on either side, knocking all the girls to the ground and stepping over them to rush up the stairs. Seeing this, those behind followed suit, trampling over the bodies of the girls on the ground to get upstairs. Gu Shi Yi watched clearly as the lady in red was the most heavily trampled, several feet landing squarely on her chest. By the time the crowd surged up, most people had left the hall, and when Gu Shi Yi checked again, the lady in red was bleeding from the corner of her mouth,
"Save... save me..."
When the lady in red saw Gu Shi Yi approaching, her eyes brightened, reaching out to her. Gu Shi Yi hesitated for a moment, let out a sigh, then helped her up. Without further words, she supported the woman as they rushed to the third floor. Behind them were three other girls. As they reached the safety of the third floor for the time being, people had already begun jumping from the balcony. The burly man jumped into the water with a splash, creating a high surge...