Libraries have been a symbol of civilization since ancient times, because they carry human knowledge, wisdom, experience and problems. For example, ancient wonders like the Library of Alexandria can be said to be the coordinates of Mediterranean civilization for centuries. And this school library, which is neither too big nor too small, means more to the people who traveled to this world. It is not only the only link between these abandoned people on Earth and their hometown civilization, but also the foundation of their existence in this strange world. Celinda Nerazzel Arias was right. Knowledge is power, and the library is the source of power. This fire burned not only the wealth of knowledge, but also directly burned the foundation of Xiao Chen and his survival.
When people in the modern world enjoy convenient online searches and read books on tablets while lying down, libraries seem to be somewhat outdated and forgotten. However, here, it represents the advantages of thousands of years of civilization. It is everyone's biggest trump card, allowing them to stand on the shoulders of giants and move forward.
So even though Xiao Chen and Luo Ling were very tired, they still tried their best to run to the door of the library. The small square outside the library was full of people running back and forth. Some people brought fire extinguishers from a distance, some brought water in buckets, some rushed out of the fire with books in their arms, some shouted for help at the top of their lungs, and some stood there at a loss, completely not knowing what to do.
Heat waves were rolling in the air, flames were bursting from the houses, and an atmosphere of tension and panic was spreading among the crowd. Xiao Chen could imagine that if these books were burned, this disaster would severely shatter the confidence that everyone had just built up.
The fire started from the library on the first floor on the west side of the building. It has just spread to the reading room on the west side of the second floor and the office on the third floor, but has not yet spread to the lobby and the east side of the library.
When Xiao Chen was thinking about what to do, he ran into a few people whose bodies were scorched black, stumbling out of the library. One of them looked seriously injured and was carried on someone's back. Xiao Chen ran up to him and asked, "Classmates, are you injured by the fire? Are you serious?"
"Mao Kai led us to pull apart the bookshelves, creating a gap and slowing down the fire, but he was hit by the fallen bookshelf and may have injured his leg," said one of them.
"I see Dr. Feng over there, you guys go over there and let her take a look." Xiao Chen pointed them in the direction, and they supported each other and ran towards the doctor.
"Their efforts may help save a few more books, but they won't slow down the fire much." Xiao Chen said in a deep voice. He looked at Luo Ling and said, "Give me those two scrolls."
"You don't know the effect of the scroll, so don't rush into it." Luo Ling disagreed.
"Listen, I can feel that one of the scrolls is filled with water power. After experiencing those storms, no one understands the feeling of water better than me." Xiao Chen stretched out his hand, "Trust me."
The two looked at each other for a few seconds. Luo Ling knew that Xiao Chen would not change his mind, so she took out the scroll from her bag and handed it to Xiao Chen, "Go... but don't do anything stupid."
Xiao Chen handed the "Shadow Scroll of the Sea of Consciousness" to Luo Ling, snatched the bucket of water from the student who was carrying water nearby, poured it over his head, and then rushed into the fire scene with the scroll.
The fire had not yet reached the lobby on the first floor, but the air was already scorching hot. Many people were busy putting out the fire. Xiao Chen stood hesitantly at the door leading to the library. The choking smoke and fierce flames blocked all vision, just like the legendary gate to hell.
He actually had no confidence at all. Although he could feel that the water power in the scroll was real, how could he know what kind of magic it was, let alone what effect it would have when activated. He felt like a primary school student, holding a small pistol, facing an ancient beast.
The only thing he was sure of was that without a fire truck or water supply from a fire hydrant, and with the means they had at hand, the only fate of the library would be to burn to the ground tomorrow morning.
This was a gamble, a matter of life and death as well as an opportunity to pass on civilization. However, when all of this was placed on Xiao Chen, the weight was heavy.
However, history always needs people who carry heavy burdens. Xiao Chen didn't have this feeling before, because he was just a beneficiary of the protection of martyrs and heroes, but here, he took up the burden. So, Xiao Chen went in.
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When Li Jia rushed to the library door, his heart was full of worry and doubt.
Today was supposed to be a good day for him. When Serinda was leaving, Li Jia impulsively gave her a jade pendant that he had been wearing around his neck. The pendant was engraved with a statue of Guanyin. It was of good quality and had a lot of water. It was a birthday gift from Li Jia's grandfather when he was one year old.
Serinda took off a chain from her neck and gave it to him. The chain looked very simple, with a pendant made of white shells, strung on a simple metal chain. It was unknown what kind of shell it was, but the surface was probably worn smooth due to long-term wear. Although the valuable jade pendant was exchanged for this seemingly worthless thing, Li Jia wanted to howl with joy. Wasn't this just an exchange of tokens? It made him feel that all his previous efforts had finally paid off.
When he came back, he was still fantasizing about how he and Serinda would end up together, but as soon as he walked out of the storage room, he saw the library on fire in the distance.
It couldn't be such a coincidence, right? He couldn't believe that this was Serinda's doing. She was so innocent and lovely, and she didn't have any means of setting fire. Li Jia denied it over and over again in his heart, but he couldn't get her out of his mind. At this time, two people came over, carrying a stretcher. The person on the stretcher looked familiar to Li Jia.
"Mao Kai?" Li Jia ran over, stopped the stretcher, and anxiously pulled the hand of the person on the stretcher and asked, "Tell me quickly, what happened? How did the fire start?"
The boy carrying the stretcher in front shouted angrily, "What's wrong with you? Mao Kai's leg was broken while trying to put out the fire. It hurts so much. We have to rush to the hospital."
Li Jia didn't listen to him at all. He kept asking Mao Kai, who had his eyes half closed: "You were in there at the time. Where did the fire start? Tell me quickly!"
"The library... the one we encountered... the library, the fire started suddenly, it was very fierce, and the rest... I don't know." Mao Kai replied reluctantly, enduring the pain.
"Let's go, don't pay attention to this lunatic." The classmate behind pushed Li Jia away and ran away hurriedly carrying Mao Kai.
Li Jia walked towards the library in a daze, recalling the scene of Serinda's disappearance. A voice in her heart said: Serinda couldn't have done it. Another voice asked: What's impossible? One voice argued: This matter has nothing to do with me. Another voice smiled bitterly: You brought the person here, how could it have nothing to do with you
The more Li Jia thought about it, the more confused he became. When he saw Luo Ling staring at the door with a serious expression, he grabbed her and said in a crying voice, "Teacher Luo, Teacher Luo, can the fire be stopped?"
Luo Ling turned her head and looked at him, somewhat puzzled by Li Jia's expression. Under Luo Ling's gaze, Li Jia felt a little uneasy and took a step back uneasily.
"Xiao Chen hasn't come out yet, I have to go in." As she said this, she handed the "Shadow Scroll of the Sea of Consciousness" to Li Jia, "Hold it for me, and don't look at it." Then, she poured water on herself and rushed into the fire, leaving Li Jia looking at her back in horror as she was engulfed by smoke and dust.
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Xiao Chen covered his lips and nose with his wet sleeves and ran all the way from the lobby to the third floor. He thought that water flows downward, so he should release the scroll at the highest point. The smoke was heavy, his eyes were sore and tears were flowing, and his throat was coughing, but he still bent his body and touched the burning offices at the end of the corridor.
However, when he was still four or five meters away from the open fire, Xiao Chen felt dizzy and unable to continue. He knew that if he went any further, he would not be able to concentrate on releasing the scroll, and he would more likely suffocate to death.
He opened the scroll, held it horizontally in front of his chest, and then put all his thoughts aside and put all his energy into it. Although he felt the power of water in the scroll, he found it difficult to understand the meaning of the complicated diagrams on the scroll. They required him to operate his mental power according to certain rules, but he didn't understand. The layers of patterns were like shackles to him. Xiao Chen tried to break through these rules, but the mental power he controlled was far from enough.
Xiao Chen was sweating profusely, like a starving person who was told that he couldn't eat until he finished praying before sitting at the table. He even forgot the heat in his body, but felt the burning anxiety in his heart.
Meditation space! Yes! If my own strength is not enough, can I use that uncontrolled power? He remembered the practice in the sea of illusion. The violent power was lawless and boundless. He recalled and felt that the sea slowly formed and churned in his mind; he endured and accumulated, and the sea became bigger and bigger. Until he had a splitting headache and couldn't bear it anymore, a gate was rushed open, a shackle was broken, and endless spiritual power, like overwhelming sea water, poured into the scroll in his hand.
The diagram in the scroll was shattered instantly, and only the part that summoned water was activated, amplified, and exploded by this overbearing mental power! If ordinary magicians use scrolls like lighting a lamp with oil, then Xiao Chen's action is like throwing a match into an oil barrel.
A blue light appeared, and the first drop of water appeared in the void. Then the rushing water turned the surroundings into a world of water.
Luo Ling saw from behind Xiao Chen that he seemed to have opened a gate in the void in his hand, connecting to a big river. The water dragon swept over and knocked her to the ground in an instant. Luo Ling knew that the impact of the water was very strong, so she quickly retreated to the corner and held the wall. Soon the water flooded up, and she first heard the door of the office being rushed open, and then the window was rushed out.
The water came too fast. The speed at which the water poured down from the elevator shaft, stairs and windows could not keep up with the speed at which Xiao Chen summoned the water. In about a minute, the water had flooded Luo Ling's neck.
"Xiao Chen, that's enough, stop now." Luo Ling shouted to Xiao Chen who was still standing in the water, but after calling several times, he didn't respond at all. Xiao Chen seemed to be in a state of high concentration, deaf to his surroundings, and didn't even notice the water gradually flooding over his nose. Luo Ling wanted to swim over to pull him, but the huge force of the water made it impossible for her to swim upstream.
Luo Ling gritted her teeth, dived down and fumbled around, and found an ashtray that was washed towards her in the corner. She stepped hard on the water to reveal one arm, and threw it at Xiao Chen's back.
There was a loud bang, followed by screams and the sound of gulping down water...
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Li Jia and many other people witnessed this miraculous spectacle. Suddenly, a strange sound of water came from the burning library. After a while, water broke through the windows and gushed out, first on the third floor, then from the inside and the outer wall to the second and first floors, and finally a huge wave of water rushed out of the library's door, and many people who were fighting the fire inside were swept out. The fire was quickly extinguished, but the water continued to flow for a long time. When the library stopped gushing out, the water in the small square in front of the door had already exceeded the ankles.
Are you saved
Li Jia suddenly went crazy and rushed into the library. When he reached the door, he saw Luo Ling supporting Xiao Chen as he walked out.
Li Jia quickly supported Xiao Chen and asked, "Why...why is your head bleeding?"
Xiao Chen looked at Luo Ling helplessly, only to get a roll of her eyes in return. She sneered, "What a fuss! Haven't you seen a work-related injury?"