Chapter 41 Yu Xiaogang’s Barbecue
"Ah——!!"
Flames instantly engulfed Yu Xiaogang’s entire body!
His black robe ignited, his hair gave off a burnt smell, and his skin was racked with the excruciating pain of being burned!
He scrambled up from his chair in a panic, frantically slapping at the flames on his body, then grabbed a book from the table, attempting to use it to extinguish the fire.
But the flames were unusually stubborn and the temperature was extremely high.
The pages of the book curled up and charred instantly upon touching the flames, failing to extinguish the fire at all.
Worse still, after spraying Yu Xiaogang, that crimson figure made a nimble turn in mid-air, aimed at the bookshelf against the wall, and spewed another mouthful of flame!
"Boom——!"
The bookshelf was instantly ignited!
Those precious books, notes, and materials quickly turned to ash in the flames!
Thick black smoke billowed upward!
The fire Dragon looked at its "masterpiece" with satisfaction, a thought stirred in its mind, and its form vanished instantly.
The entire process, from spewing fire to vanishing, took no more than two or three breaths.
In the office, only the burning Yu Xiaogang and the burning bookshelf remained.
"Help——!!!"
Yu Xiaogang shrieked, rolling frantically on the ground, attempting to extinguish the flames.
But his black robe was made of cotton, which was highly flammable; instead of going out, the flames only grew stronger as he rolled.
Just then, rapid footsteps came from outside the office door.
Tang San had originally intended to come find his teacher to go have lunch together.
He had just reached the third-floor corridor when he heard his teacher’s screams, followed immediately by the strong smell of burning.
"Teacher?!"
Tang San’s expression changed drastically; he rushed to the office door in a few strides and shoved it open!
The scene before him made him gasp.
The bookshelf was blazing, black smoke filled the air, and Yu Xiaogang was lying on the ground, covered in fire, rolling and screaming in agony!
"Teacher!"
Tang San’s eyes were splitting with rage! Almost instinctively, he channeled his Soul Power, his first spirit ring lit up, and vines of Blue Silver Grass surged wildly from his palms!
"Blue Silver Binding!"
Several vines darted out like spirit snakes, winding around Yu Xiaogang’s legs, attempting to drag him out of the flames.
But Tang San’s control over Blue Silver Grass was not yet skilled enough.
The vines did indeed grab Yu Xiaogang’s legs, but during the dragging process, the paralytic toxin of the Datura Snake seeped along the vines and into Yu Xiaogang’s body.
Yu Xiaogang was already physically weak, and at this moment, being scorched by fire, he was in unbearable pain.
As soon as the paralytic toxin invaded, he instantly felt his limbs stiffen, his movements came to a near standstill, and he couldn’t even roll anymore!
"Not good!"
Tang San also noticed the abnormality. His face turned deathly pale, and he hurriedly retracted the Blue Silver Grass vines.
Watching his teacher’s struggling figure in the flames, he was burning with anxiety, his eyes bloodshot, breathing heavily like an ox!
This was his teacher!
He had personally said that a teacher for one day is a father for life!
And he had almost harmed his teacher!
What to do?! What to do?!
Tang San’s brain raced.
Water! He needed water to put out the fire! But where would there be water in the office?!
He suddenly remembered there was a restroom at the end of the corridor! There should be water there!
Tang San turned and dashed out of the office, rushing toward the restroom at the end of the corridor at top speed.
He pushed the door open; the space inside was small, and several wooden buckets were placed against the wall. He rushed over to look, and his heart instantly sank.
Only half a bucket was filled with clean water, which looked like it was used by the cleaning staff to mop the floor.
The other buckets—they were all urine buckets, emitting a pungent, stinking odor.
But at this moment, he couldn’t care about that!
Tang San gritted his teeth, grabbed the half bucket of clean water with one hand and a urine bucket with the other, then turned and rushed back to the office!
The flames had already spread to the ceiling, and the thick smoke was so choking that one couldn’t open their eyes.
Yu Xiaogang lay on the ground; the flames on his body had diminished slightly but were still burning, and he was already on the verge of death.
"Teacher! Hold on!"
Tang San rushed to Yu Xiaogang’s side and first poured the half bucket of water over his head!
"Splash——"
The clean water poured onto the flames, making a "hissing" sound as white smoke billowed.
The flames were noticeably smaller, but not yet completely extinguished.
Tang San glanced at the remaining urine bucket in his hand, gritted his teeth, and splashed the entire bucket of urine onto him as well!
"Pfft——"
The yellow liquid poured onto Yu Xiaogang, mixing with the clean water and ash, emitting an indescribable, strange odor.
But the effect was significant; the flames were completely extinguished.
Tang San couldn’t care about the pungent smell, tossed aside the buckets, reached out to grab Yu Xiaogang’s arm, and dragged him out of the office with all his might.
Some students and teachers who had heard the news had already gathered in the corridor; seeing this scene, they were all stunned.
Yu Xiaogang lay on the ground, soaked through, emitting a bizarre odor mixed with the smell of burning and urine.
His black robe was burned to tatters, revealing the scorched, blistered skin underneath.
More than half of his hair was burned away, and his face was blackened, looking like a black preserved egg.
He looked incredibly miserable. But he was still alive.
Tang San knelt beside him, shouting in a hoarse voice: "Someone come quickly! There’s a fire! Put out the fire! Call a healing-type Spirit Master!"
Several teachers reacted and hurriedly ran to fetch buckets of water.
Soon, several buckets of water were splashed into the office, and the flames on the bookshelf were extinguished, but the bookshelf and the books on it had already burned down to nothing but half a charred frame and a pile of ashes.
The thick smoke gradually dispersed.
Yu Xiaogang struggled to sit up.
He first looked at his charred hands and tattered clothes, a flash of pain crossing his eyes.
Then, as if remembering something, he suddenly turned his head to look inside the room.
When his gaze landed on that pile of ashes and the charred frame, his whole body froze.
Those——they were his research notes, the crystallization of his years of hard work, the Foundation of his theories——
Gone.
All gone.
"No——!!!"
A shrill, beast-like howl echoed throughout the corridor!
Yu Xiaogang scrambled into the office, threw himself before the pile of ashes, his hands trembling as he tried to scoop something up, but his fingers only touched charred fragments and flying ash.
"My research——my——my theories——"
His voice was broken, and for the first time, such an intense, profound expression of pain appeared on that zombie-like face.
"Why——why did it turn out like this——"
He suddenly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at the few teachers at the door holding buckets, his voice sharp as a knife.
"Why didn’t you arrive sooner?! Why?! If you had come earlier, my books wouldn’t have been burned! It’s you! You are the ones who caused this!"
The few teachers looked at each other, their expressions turning ugly.
One of the middle-aged male teachers snorted coldly and threw the bucket heavily onto the ground: "Yu Xiaogang, are you being unreasonable? We rushed over as soon as we heard the commotion and even helped you put out the fire! Your office caught fire, and you blame us for arriving late?"
Another female teacher also frowned and said: "Exactly. Besides, this fire of yours started suspiciously; we haven’t even asked you what exactly is going on yet."
"You——" Yu Xiaogang still wanted to say something, but a sharp pain in his chest caused him to cough violently.
Although the burns on his body were not fatal, they were not light either, and combined with his agitated emotions, it aggravated his injuries.
Tang San hurriedly stepped forward to support him: "Teacher, please don’t get agitated! Your injuries are important!"
Yu Xiaogang gave a miserable laugh, tears sliding from the corners of his eyes, cutting two tracks through the soot on his face.
"It’s gone——it’s all gone——it’s all gone——"
He sat slumped on the ground, his whole person looking as if his Soul had been extracted.
Seeing this, the few teachers shook their heads, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
The students in the corridor were also dispersed, leaving only Tang San supporting the devastated Yu Xiaogang, along with that office, still emitting lingering smoke and in complete disarray.
In the distance, behind the window of a private room on the third floor of the restaurant, Jiang Bai slowly withdrew his gaze.