Chapter 1353 - 1029: Escaping Alive

Lu Xiao looked at him. Whether it was the thick smoke stinging her, or something else, her already bloodshot eyes burned hot, as if a rush of heat surged up, flooding her sockets.

She bent down, looking at that face that had long since twisted into something hideous and terrifying.

All along, this was what this man had been to her; in truth, she had never really seen him clearly, because he was not Xiao Yuansui, and she did not believe that Wang Shaoji’s younger brother could be any good thing either—just another beast of the same lair.

She had thought she had enough experience to see through every man, but everything that had just happened, for the first time, made her begin to doubt him, and even herself.

She spoke, her voice hoarse from the smoke: "Wang Shaoqiu..."

At those three words, Wang Shaoqiu’s already diffused gaze suddenly flickered, as if a soul that had already entered Hell was being called back; he lifted his lids, looking at that impossibly alluring face amid the billowing smoke and flashing flames. It seemed to be the first time he had seen her eyes, when turned upon him, without strangeness, disregard, distance, or disgust.

"Heh—"

From his throat, already completely blocked, there came a faint sound, half like a laugh, half like a soft sigh.

Then, he closed his eyes.

Lu Xiao was still standing in place, numb, but time and what was happening around her did not allow her to remain numb. Cries of alarm, screams, bodies falling, people fleeing—without cease. Just as she dug her fingers hard into the wound in her palm again, finally clawing back her senses to turn around, Li Miao and Gao Chen happened to come up beside her.

"Miss Lu Xiao!"

The moment Li Miao opened his mouth, he sucked in a lungful of thick smoke, choking him into a bout of coughing. Gao Chen beside him hurriedly covered his mouth and said in a low voice: "We must go, if we don’t go now it’ll be too late!"

As he spoke, several of the still relatively strong Turkic soldiers had already risked it to dash out of the sea of fire.

The ones remaining either shrank back in fear of the flames, so terrified they didn’t know what to do, or had already been choked senseless by the smoke, gradually bending and crouching down, their coughing growing weaker until they slowly collapsed onto the ground...

If they didn’t leave now, it really would be too late!

Gao Chen’s eyes were reddened from the smoke as well; he didn’t so much as glance again at Wang Shaoqiu sprawled on the ground, only said to Lu Xiao: "We have to go!"

Without waiting for her to respond, the two of them each grabbed one of her arms.

Lu Xiao did not speak, did not even struggle; following their pull, she turned around. By now the flames had already spread along the path the tung oil had just flowed, consuming most of the stone chamber, and had even reached the coffin on the stone dais. But at such a life-and-death juncture, who would still care about that? As more and more people around them collapsed, there was no room for hesitation!

Li Miao and Gao Chen were drenched in sweat, but it was instantly dried by the scorching heat. The flames that nearly leapt onto their bodies seemed about to roast the oil out of their skin. The two drew a deep breath, and almost involuntarily tightened their grip, hoisting Lu Xiao fully up between them.

Just as the two were bracing themselves to carry this weightless woman and dash out of the fire, at the instant the flames swept toward her, Lu Xiao, almost by instinct, turned her head and looked back one last time.

The entire stone chamber was already filled with smoke and flame.

In that one glance, she could only barely see, under the shroud of billowing smoke, Wang Shaoqiu crumpled in a corner like an empty burlap sack. His face was ashen, his eyes wooden, as if he had already breathed his last, yet as if a single thread of life still remained, for in that instant when Lu Xiao looked back, it seemed the firelight flickered once in his eyes, that gaze which had always disgusted her, that almost-pleading look, blazing bright for one last instant—before it finally went dark forever.

At the same time, the scalding sensation all over her body made Lu Xiao feel as if she had fallen into Hell, but she clenched her teeth and forced the scream that was about to burst from her throat back down, and felt the world spinning wildly.

They had finally broken through the flames!

It was like being reborn, almost like returning to life as a new person. On this side of the stone chamber, in the burial tunnel, everyone was panting in great gasps. The two guards who had shielded Lu Xiao, after setting her down, exhaled in relief and immediately began patting out the flames that had caught on their clothes; when they met each other’s gaze, they couldn’t help but break into laughter.

Lu Xiao, however, stood there somewhat numbly.

She did not move at all, did not even feel the scorching heat on her body; it was Shang Ruyi and Wo Xue who came forward to help her tear off the singed ends of her hair and the corners of her clothes stained by the flames.

Shang Ruyi said: "Are you all right?"

"..."

Lu Xiao looked at her; her throat worked, and at last she said: "I’m—"

But before she could finish, her fiery, burning throat felt as if it had been slashed by a knife, and she could not force out another word. At the same time, the flames had completely filled the entire stone chamber, where, from time to time, came the shrill screams of those who had not escaped in time, before they gradually faded, leaving only bursts of charred stench that poured out with the thick smoke, quickly surging back into the burial tunnel!

Someone shouted: "Run!"

In truth, there was no need to shout. Some people, the moment they had rushed out of the stone chamber, had already started frantically running back the way they had come. The quickest to react was Ashina Zhuxie, who led Lei Yu at the head of the group; by now, only their backs could be seen.

Wo Xue hurriedly pressed down on Shang Ruyi’s back to lower her, then said: "Princess, we must go too!"

Shang Ruyi nodded and grabbed Lu Xiao’s hand.

And so the group bent at the waist, heads lowered, scrambling like rats driven by cats, tripping and tumbling as they fled back along the path they had come. Fortunately, there was only this one pitch-black burial tunnel that led out; otherwise, in their panicked scurrying, they might not even have known where they were running.

No one knew how long they ran before they finally saw a shaft of light shining down from the air ahead.

Although just now everyone had been racing each other in their haste, the moment they saw the light, that chaos and disorder seemed suddenly dispelled. Even with billowing smoke still surging up behind them, everyone gradually calmed. Ashina Zhuxie led Lei Yu in climbing up the rope hanging down, with Li Miao and Gao Chen right behind, guarding Shang Ruyi, Lu Xiao, and Wo Xue as they ascended, and then the rest all scrambled over each other to climb up.

As soon as they returned to the surface, nearly everyone collapsed.

Shang Ruyi sat down on a meditation cushion that had already been overturned, her face pale, saying nothing. Wo Xue, having steadied himself, took two deep breaths to calm his nerves, then immediately went behind her to rub her back. Shang Ruyi’s face flushed redder and redder until at last she spat out a mouthful of phlegm laced with black flecks, followed by a violent fit of coughing.

Everyone was coughing in a great tangle.

And just as they were all steadying themselves and catching their breath, Ashina Zhuxie suddenly darted forward, seizing Zuo Tian as he clambered up out of the pit.

"You—"