This Girl On Fire

Snorting, Xiu Rong found the Master of this House stupid.

She had this inkling that the Master was a shaman but unfortunately, he wasn't an advanced shaman like her.

That's why he can't do it with his limited skills.

Her ears heard him perfectly fine when he muttered to himself that he just had to twist the knobs of this stove.

Why can't he manifest the fire in these circles when he claimed that it would produce fire? Narrowing her eyes at this 'stove', she pressed her fingertips lightly on these golden circles and bulky curved spikes.

Her eyes rose in question when she found out that they were cold to the touch.

Xiu Rong clicked her tongue and shook her head.

It was either the Master of the House was a bogus shaman or he didn't have enough knowledge when it came to spells that would apply in this world.

If he was neither of the two, why did he have to act like he had the moral high ground when he was the stupid one?

Xiu Rong bet she was better than him so she could probably pull it off in one go.

She frowned as she patted the burner as if asking it to be good to her so that she could try and do it at her first attempt.

Next time, the Master of the House would think twice about underestimating her abilities as a shaman.

She chanted a prayer to her ancestors—if she still had one after leaving all her gu' in the previous world--so that they may guide her on what to do.

As the pad of her thumb and her forefinger settled on the black thing her Master called 'stove dials', she pushed hard before twisting it rapidly to the direction of the arrows encircling the knob.

For her first try, flames ignited as it danced around, tracing the golden circles in a soft glow—blue hues mixed with orange.

Parting her lips, Xiu Rong watched the circle of flames in amazement.

She couldn't believe this was true. Xiu Rong had proved herself to be a powerful shaman.

It was such pretty sight that made her grin from ear to ear.

She had done it!

Of course, she was ecstatic!

Xiu Rong jumped up and down in front of the stove with pride and excitement about her success.

Jutting her chin in arrogance, she twisted the knobs to the left and she only stopped when she heard a strange hissing sound coming from the box and covered her nose and mouth with her hand.

All those giddiness turned into smoke when it literally turned into smoke.

Her nose smelled the scent of rotten eggs from earlier, see tendrils of smoke and hear the crackles of something burning?

She felt something warm on her wrist before it escalated into a level of 'scorching hot'.

Eyes widening, Xiu Rong glanced down at the hand which covered her mouth.

It took her a few seconds to realize that the loose hem of her Hanfu's right sleeve caught the fire coming out of the burner!

She must have not pulled her sleeve right away when she increased the intensity of the fire from the stove.

It had set her clothes ablaze without warning! Xiu Rong tried slapping the orange flames with her other hand but it hurts like hell so she resorted to flapping her sleeves so hard like it was a bird's wing about to take flight.

Pausing, she stared at growing flames speechless and she was panicking that she couldn't produce a single coherent thought.

It did the opposite effect and it grew even more.

Pacing around, Xiu Rong tried to search for something… anything… to extinguish them.

"Water… Water..." It was the first thing that came to mind.

Pulse raising, Xiu Rong muttered with rasping breaths as she glanced around searching for water but there was no liquid around except for her tears or saliva.

That wouldn't be enough to put the fire out.

She paced around as she continued shaking the fire off as it burned the sleeve, hissing when the flames licked her hand.

Thankfully, it didn't burn her skin yet but it was almost there.

Xiu Rong's other hand clutched her belt and loosened them with her free hand.

Should she take her clothes off?

No. No. No.

Before Xiu Rong could even scream for the Master to come to help her with her sleeve, she heard a deep growl, "I told you not to touch anything, you silly girl!"

Turning her head around, Xiu Rong wailed as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Help me!"

As if on cue, noises blared in the chaos and it didn't stop.

Not even covering her ears would make it go away!

A miracle happened after a few seconds.

The gods have heard her prayers.

It rained inside the house but the sprinkle of water wasn't enough to make the flames vanish.

The man moved towards her in three long strides but instead of putting out the fire in her sleeve, the man shoved her aside and twisted the knobs first to turn it off.

"Where are you going?" Xiu Rong yelled, trailing after him in desperation and following him to the wall. "I'm here, Master!"

There was nothing but a corner there.

Was there a hidden path where they stood since the man was staring at some red large tube attached to the wall?

The man was calm about the whole thing as he tugged at the fire extinguisher and placed it to the ground while he crouched in front of it.

Her voice raised into a whimper as she held back another scream from the burns on the back of her hand. "What are you doing?"

He lifted a hand in a warning, "Let me read the instructions of the fire extinguisher first."

"Extinguish what??!!"

"Shut up." He snapped without looking at her as he focused on the metal red tube, his eyes skimming over the drawings and letters. "I'll do this quick."

"Wha—"

He aimed the extinguisher at her form.

"Close your eyes and mouth."

The Master held the red tube, pulled the pin, and pointed the nozzle before releasing the lock.