Unable to bear witness to the loss of life

What on earth is happening? How did the fire start?" 

"Is there a pond nearby? Quickly, find a way to extinguish the flames!" 

"Why is the smoke so thick and acrid?" 

"..." 

Lin Xi, Tang Ke, and the new students from the Medicine and Pharmacy system, along with others who had come for the medical care course, hurriedly rushed toward the burning buildings, creating a chaotic scene. 

In just a moment, flames had already erupted from the rooftops of most buildings, the inferno raging with extraordinary ferocity. 

Even from a distance of at least a hundred meters, Lin Xi felt a wave of heat wash over him, and between the buildings, a nauseating yellow mist began to rise, pungent and overwhelming. 

"Liang Yanzhao, what has happened?" Suddenly, Lin Xi spotted a newcomer in a blue robe from the Zhi Ge system. Although he was not well-acquainted with him, having only heard his name, Lin Xi approached him without hesitation. 

Liang Yanzhao, panting and in a state of panic, looked at Lin Xi and said, "We arrived not long ago, the instructor hadn't arrived yet, and then the fire broke out." 

"What course are you taking?" 

"Pulse diagnosis." 

"How many of you were present when the fire started?" 

"There were over thirty of us." 

"Over thirty?" 

In the midst of this brief exchange, a sudden explosive sound echoed, and Lin Xi turned to see a wall on the second floor shatter under tremendous force, splintered wood flying outward. A dark figure emerged from the inferno, carrying two students. 

It was a stout middle-aged instructor, his hair singed at the tips. Yet, after kicking down a wall and landing with a commanding presence, he remained remarkably calm, simply instructing the two black-robed instructors nearby, "There are still six inside; I'll go in, you two flank me!" 

"Boom!" 

As soon as those words left his mouth, the ground trembled slightly, and his body shot upward like a projectile, re-entering the gaping hole he had just created. 

The two black-robed instructors who had just arrived from the gray hall paused momentarily upon hearing the stout instructor's command, but without hesitation, they darted into the raging flames like two black arrows. 

The swirling tongues of fire within the inferno parted as the three black-robed instructors surged forward. 

This scene stirred both Lin Xi and the other new students, offering them a glimmer of reassurance. 

With three instructors present, it indicated that although the lecturer had not yet reached their classroom, he was already within the vicinity, and the mention of "six more" naturally meant that six students remained trapped in the blaze. 

Lin Xi recalled a remark made by the one-eyed black-robed instructor: even the less capable students of Qingluan Academy would stand out among the border troops, so surely these three capable instructors could rescue six students without difficulty. 

However, the flames grew fiercer, and the acrid smoke began to spread, making it increasingly difficult to breathe. 

Yet amidst the crackling fire, a gust of wind emerged, and within moments, the three black-robed instructors almost simultaneously burst forth from the fire. 

One soared like a flying boulder, another floated like a falling lotus leaf, and the third shot forth like a sharp arrow... Their appearances exuded an unusual calm, yet a glance exchanged among them revealed their expressions had turned grave. 

Lin Xi's breath caught slightly as he instantly grasped the gravity of the situation. 

The stout middle-aged instructor emerged from the second floor, holding one student, while the gray-haired woman on his left carried two, and the older, sallow-faced man on his right also bore two. Even in Lin Xi's world, a physical education teacher could easily deduce that five individuals had been rescued. 

Thus, six minus five left one remaining. 

As the three black-robed instructors set the rescued students down, they prepared to re-enter the inferno. "I'll go," a calm voice interjected. Following the sound, Lin Xi and the others turned to see another black-robed woman had arrived at the fire scene. 

This woman, with slightly disheveled hair, was familiar to Lin Xi and the other new students; she was the bookish figure who had appeared alongside Xia Yanbing during the grand examination, clutching a thick book with a black cover. 

At this moment, she still held a scroll in her hand, her brow furrowed and her complexion pale, as though she had been buried in books for too long, away from sunlight. Yet upon hearing her voice, the three black-robed instructors nodded in silent agreement. 

As they nodded, the bookish young woman lightly pushed off the ground, her entire form radiating a brilliant golden light as she soared into the air. 

A pale blue light shot from her hand, forcing all flames to part as she dove through a window, vanishing from sight. 

In the distance, shadows darted across the hillside, with numerous instructors from the academy rushing toward the fire. 

"What is happening?" an elderly bald man arrived, his black robe adorned with silver stars, revealing him to be a professor at the academy. 

"The fire ignited inexplicably, and one student remains unaccounted for—Assistant Professor An is inside," the three black-robed instructors quickly explained, bowing to the stern-faced bald professor. 

"Assistant Professor An... she has already become an assistant professor?" 

Lin Xi's eyes widened slightly at this revelation, for the bookish woman appeared to be only in her late twenties... and an assistant professor at Qingluan Academy was equivalent to a deputy provincial governor in status. 

Upon hearing that Assistant Professor An was inside, the bald professor's expression softened, and he seemed to relax, no longer speaking, merely squinting at the flames. 

The fire intensified, casting a crimson hue across the sky, and even if the blaze were to be extinguished swiftly, most of the wooden structures would already be reduced to ruins, rendering further rescue efforts futile. 

"Boom!" 

Suddenly, a small building collapsed, sending countless burning splinters and embers flying. 

Yet, Assistant Professor An had still not made an appearance. 

As time dragged on, the anxiety among the new students grew increasingly palpable. 

"Crack!" 

The wall of the third room from Lin Xi's left suddenly crumbled, and a burst of cold light, accompanied by fierce flames, erupted from within. 

The bookish Assistant Professor An reappeared before everyone. 

Both her sleeves had been reduced to mere remnants, exposing her delicate arms, yet the remaining fabric bore no signs of scorching, as if she had severed parts of her attire with a sharp instrument when the flames threatened to engulf her. 

With her arms exposed, Lin Xi clearly saw that the pale blue light in her hand was a thin, flexible blade, now coiled gently around her right arm. 

Her slightly disheveled hair, her pallid yet slightly flushed face, the wide sleeves of her black robe, and the soft blade entwined around her arm created an astonishing aesthetic that Lin Xi could scarcely fathom. 

In her other hand, she grasped a frail young man clad in a red academy uniform. 

This youth from the Engineering system was slightly more slender than Lin Xi, with one side of his face charred black, his eyes closed and utterly motionless, resembling a mere bundle of straw in Assistant Professor An's grasp. 

"It's futile... he mistakenly took the wrong route and hid beneath a table against the wall on the ground floor... by the time I found him, it was too late..." 

As she faced the approaching black-robed instructors and professors, Assistant Professor An shook her head. Her tone was reminiscent of reading, and her expression retained a bookish demeanor; however, the rigidity of her face belied a deep sense of helplessness and sorrow. 

All the new students, who had yet to fully process the situation, felt a chill wash over them. 

Lin Xi stood transfixed, staring at the motionless, frail Engineering student in Assistant Professor An's grip. 

Though he did not know this lifeless boy, his youthful and innocent visage mirrored his own. 

Although he was acutely aware that many young men, like Li Kaiyun, arrived at Qingluan Academy with lofty dreams of serving the empire, he also understood that many would ultimately spill their blood on the empire's borders, yet this was the first time Lin Xi had directly confronted the reality of death... a vibrant life extinguished before his very eyes. 

In that moment, he resolved to take action. 

"Assistant Professor An," amidst the astonished gazes of everyone, Lin Xi stepped forward, looking earnestly and gravely at the woman with exposed arms, "When you found him, had he been hiding beneath that table on the ground floor all along?" 

"Eh?" Assistant Professor An furrowed her brow, gazing at the approaching Zhi Ge student in confusion, before nodding. 

Before the other professors and instructors could urge him to leave, Lin Xi softly called out, "Go back!" 

... 

As the scene shifted once more, Lin Xi and Mon Bai found themselves running out of the gray hall of the Medicine and Pharmacy system. 

The stout middle-aged instructor had burst through the second-floor wall like a projectile... then the three black-robed instructors re-entered the inferno... Having experienced this moment before, Lin Xi felt no surprise. 

In this chaotic scene, he did not linger where he had previously paused but instead made his way down the slightly sloped hillside, arriving at the two-story wooden building where Assistant Professor An had ultimately found the Engineering student. 

"Lin Xi, what are you doing!" 

As he spotted Assistant Professor An approaching with a scroll in hand, the moment the three black-robed instructors leaped from the fire, Lin Xi clenched his teeth and charged toward the wooden building, flames already licking out of the windows.