The Fire

The western sky turned orange and it will get dark in a few minutes.

When Officer Zhou Ming arrived at the northern side of the city, the shop lots were still caught on fire and it seemed as if the fire has gotten bigger. A deep frown appeared on his face as he observed his situation.

At the city center, the people were shouting and screaming with excitement as they enjoyed the street performance as well as the festivity. But over here at the northern side, the screaming was not from excitement, but fear and desperation.

The building continued to burn with red flames. The people who were nearby the area started to run to get to a safer place. Cries for help and despair over losing the place to live as well as their source of income.

Firefighters ran over in haste as they carried buckets of water in both hands. However, that amount of water does not seem to be enough to put off the fire.

A firefighter came out of the raging fire, carrying a crying child in his arms. An elderly man with white hair hugged a packaging closely to his chest. His face was dirtied with soot and the corner of his blue sleeve was torn.

Officer Zhou Ming accessed the surroundings and found that the fire was a little bit strange. It seemed to him as if the shop lot got caught on fire a little bit quicker and they only grew bigger.

At this time, a few groups of soldiers patrolling nearby had responded and came to aid the firefighters to put down the fire. They took a glance at the big fire and turned around to find a bucket to carry water.

Seeing that a shopkeeper came out from the shop lot behind him, Officer Zhou Ming stopped him on track and asked, "Can you tell me exactly what happened here?"

The old man was about to curse when someone held him back. However, he stopped himself when he saw the uniform on Officer Zhou Ming's body. He took a deep breath to calm down.

Turning his head, the old man then pointed at a spot a few meters away from them. "The fire started from there. They were lighting up the lanterns on the street when there was a small explosion."

Officer Zhou Ming's expression grew dark at the mentioning of an explosion. "An explosion? But we don't hear anything about an explosion."

The watchtower did not report anything regarding an explosion.

"I was standing out here to watch as they light up the lantern when it happened. I saw it," the old man spoke. "It was not a big explosion, and it sounded more like a firecracker. But the impact threw that person who lit up the lantern two shop lots away. How do you think the fire caught on the shop lots and spread as quickly as this? Officer, it was because of that explosion, ah."

Officer Zhou Ming recalled the explosion at the big lantern construction site and his mind whirled to find out the connection between the two incidents. The last time, the Emperor had instructed Prince Yi to investigate the explosion and they had concluded it as an accident.

But were they really accidents?

His suspicion spread and Officer Zhou thought that this incident was not something simple.

After getting the information he wanted, Officer Zhou Ming let the old man leave and moved to help those in need. Although the northern side of the city was not as crowded as the city square, there were too many victims involved in this incident.

Soon, a few more soldiers who had heard the messages from the watchtower came over to aid the situation. Some were helping the firefighters to help with the fire and some were helping the civilians to escape the fire.

The sky had turned dark when the fire was finally put out.

On the side of the street, the people firefighters and the people who were helping to put off the fire sat down to rest. Some of the civilians who had run away earlier returned to look at the situation.

Their cries and grieving continued as they looked at their burned down shop lots.

A while later, some soldiers started to carry out a few dead bodies. The crying continued as they mourned for the loss of their loved ones. It was supposed to be a happy day for them, but nobody knew that there would be an incident like this. The people were gathering and heading towards the city square to join the festivity, but none of them knew what had happened to the people here.

Officer Zhou Ming sat down on the ground to catch up his breath. He looked at the firefighter who was resting beside him and smiled. Just like that, the two of them began to discuss the incident.

At this time, a civilian walked over to pass around a cup of drinking water.

"Actually, this fire could have been put out earlier. We received the order to head over to this area to help, but with the crowd blocking our path, it was not an easy thing for us to pass through. Hence, we came here a little bit later and the fire has spread wider," The firefighter said. He downed his water in one go and turned to Officer Zhou Ming again. "Officer, where are you from?"

"Me?" Officer Zhou Ming chuckled. "The Department of City Security."

The firefighters gave Officer Zhou Ming a look over and smiled brightly. "It turns out that people from various departments were sent over to help us put out the fire. Earlier, I run into a group of soldiers from the Fifth Squad."

Officer Zhou Ming did not have to hear the rest of the story when the firefighters told him that the Fifth Squad was sent over by the higher-ups to help with the situation.

Although the fire was big, they did not need the people to send over a squad who was supposed to be patrolling the western regions of the city to help them.

Without the Fifth Squad patrolling around the west, then who will look over for the safety over the west region?

Officer Zhou Ming had a bad hunch and he immediately stood up to leave. Just as he was about to run over to the west region to check the situation, his eyes caught the sight of someone in a mask.

It was not unusual for anyone to be wearing a mask during this festivity. However, this mask was special. It was a sign that this man was one of Prince Yi's people.

Officer Zhou Ming slowed his pace and the two of them accidentally bumped into each other.

Tightening his grip on the piece of paper in his hand, Officer Zhou Ming went over to a secluded area to read the message. Just then, Wen Ping appeared beside him with an anxious expression on his face.

Officer Zhou Ming ignored the man and read the messages from Prince Yi first. His expression gradually changed and he lifted his head to look at Wen Ping.

"Master." Wen Ping lowered his head.

"What happened to that boy, Xiao Feng?"

Wen Ping hesitated before he told his master about the news he received.

A deep frown appeared on Officer Zhou Ming's face. He clenched his hand into a fist and crumpled the paper in his hand. "I don't believe that Xiao Feng is running away. He does not seem like that kind of person."

"Then, Master, what do you want to do?"

"Wen Ping, you help and find that boy first. Find out what happened to him before His Highness's people get to him," Officer Zhou Ming said. "When you find him, protect him. I want to interrogate him first before we decide on anything."

"But Master, His Highness had—"

"I know what His Highness had commanded," Officer Zhou Ming cut him before he finished his words. "That is why you have to find him first and bring him over to me."