CHAPTER 214: CHAPTER 214 ICE SEAL(5)_1

"Daddy, wait for me!" Shangguan You called out loudly, her body once again vanishing from the spot in a flash. Everyone was so busy fighting the fire that nobody noticed her disappearance.

"Old Shangguan, you have a wonderful granddaughter; and Hao, you have an excellent daughter," Yu Zhibin sighed, looking at his entire Yu Family of eight caught in the blaze. Were they finally going to act?

"My granddaughter is naturally excellent. No one can compare to her," Shangguan Zhi stated proudly.

"Old Shangguan, we’re all about to die. Your Shangguan Family still has a sole heir, but my Yu Family is truly finished. Let Zifeng marry little Youyou; it would help our Yu Family preserve its lineage," Yu Zhibin said, his face filled with profound sadness.

COUGH. COUGH. COUGH.

"COUGH, COUGH. Grandpa, we’re all going to die," Yu Zifeng choked out, opposing the idea. "Little Youyou deserves a better life. Why force her into the Yu Family?" He looked around at the raging fire. He had lost all hope; they were really going to be burnt alive. The temperature in the room was rising, and the fire was drawing ever closer.

"It’s precisely because we’re going to die and our Yu Family line will end that we want little Youyou to marry you! She can light incense for us later. After all, once you’re dead, if little Youyou meets someone she likes, she can still marry. As long as she remembers our Yu Family and lights some incense for us, that’s enough. Surely you don’t want to die so miserably, with no one to remember you, no one to even light incense for you?" Yu Zhibin’s face was drenched with sweat. He had inhaled too much smoke and felt extremely unwell.

"Alright," Shangguan Zhi declared. "We’ve been comrades for decades, fought together on battlefields. Now, we shall die together in this fire. Your Yu Family may be wiped out, but our Shangguan Family still has a successor. Whether or not little Youyou can avenge us, from now on, she will be the daughter of both our families."

"Agreed," Yu Zhibin said, and their hands clasped firmly.

"We didn’t die on the battlefield; instead, we’re going to burn to death here. Now we are in-laws, and our old grudges can finally be settled," Shangguan Zhi said.

"Exactly," Yu Zhibin agreed. "If the Yu Family and the Shangguan Family manage to escape this, all past grievances are canceled. We’ll be one family."

"Agreed."

Shangguan Yu with Yu Jiaqi, Shangguan Hao with Yu Jiayong, and Shangguan Qing with Yu Zifeng—all six shook hands, simultaneously wiping away generations of bitterness between the old and young.

"AH, Brother, fire, fire!" Yu Zijin screamed as the flames reached her. In that instant, not just her, but everyone else in the Chess Society was alight.

Huge flames rolled in, their fiery tongues engulfing everyone. Many, like Yu Zijin, had their clothes and hair catch fire. Chaos and panic erupted.

"ARGH! ARGH!" Agonizing screams tore through the inferno. One person caught fire, then another. More and more people were burning, their screams echoing far into the dark night, a horrific, eerie sound.

"Zijin!" Yu Zifeng lunged towards her, desperately trying to extinguish the flames on her body. The space was confined, everyone crowded together. With Yu Zijin ablaze, others nearby also caught fire and stumbled into those still untouched. The fire spread with terrifying speed, growing more intense by the second. Some, in their terror, ruthlessly pushed away those who were burning, fearing the flames would hasten their own deaths.

"Brother, fire, fire!" Yu Zijin cried out, frantically slapping at the flames consuming her.

"Yu Zijin, don’t be afraid!" Shangguan Qing shouted, swiftly joining Yu Zifeng to pin her to the ground and smother the fire.

"Zijin, stop moving!" Yu Zifeng tore off his outer coat and beat at the flames on her body. In their desperate efforts to extinguish the fire, both Yu Zifeng and Shangguan Qing abandoned their usual gentleness, their hands striking Yu Zijin forcefully.

They managed to put out the blaze that had been growing fiercer on her. The other members of the Shangguan and Yu families also helped those around them who had caught fire. They were all from privileged backgrounds; though they couldn’t help everyone in that confined space, facing death, they each did what they could.

"AH! AH!" Yu Zijin shrieked in pain, tears streaming down her face, yet she preferred this agony to being burnt alive.

"Are you alright? Here, put this on," Shangguan Qing said, looking at Yu Zijin’s charred hair and tattered clothes. He quickly removed his own jacket and wrapped it around her.

"Thank you." Yu Zijin looked at Shangguan Qing. She saw the sweat dripping from his forehead, heard his sigh of relief. Her heart inexplicably tightened.

"Quick, over here! The fire’s spreading!" Shangguan Hao yelled, shielding Shangguan Zhi and Lady Shangguan as they retreated to a corner.

Yu Zifeng and Shangguan Qing, one on each side, pulled Yu Zijin along, rushing to the corner. Terrified, Yu Zijin threw herself into her mother’s arms, bursting into tears.

"Daddy, we’re all going to die, leaving little Youyou all alone. Will she be lonely?" Shangguan Qing asked. His face was flushed from the fire’s intense heat, yet cold sweat dripped from his forehead. He gazed at the ever-growing inferno and spoke faintly.

"When we’re gone, the Lin Family will take care of her. Mengjie will look after little Youyou too. As long as little Youyou can live well, I’ll be at peace," Shangguan Hao said. His resolute face showed no fear, only heartache. His only regret in this life was failing Lin Mengjie and little Youyou.

"Without us, there’s still the Lin Family, so we can depart with peace of mind," Shangguan Zhi stated gravely. Little Youyou will avenge us.

"Depart with peace of mind? How can we?" Liu Ruoling sobbed. Looking at the raging fire and thinking of Lin Mengjie’s current situation, her heart ached with even greater sorrow. Without me, little Youyou will never again feel a mother’s love.

"Mommy, Aunt Lin and the Lin Family will take good care of little Youyou," Shangguan Qing and Shangguan Yu said, flanking Liu Ruoling protectively.

"Mengjie, she..." Liu Ruoling choked back her words, overcome by a fit of coughing from the intense heat and thick smoke. A fleeting expression of pain crossed Shangguan Hao’s brow as he remembered the gentle, cheerful woman from his memories. An inexplicable sense of loss washed over him.