The twelve Challengers on site had many cards that could save people, but Ye Qi's teleportation card was the most useful. Upon hearing Captain Yu's words, he immediately handed the teleportation card to Shao Qingge: "My teleportation card can teleport 50 meters at a time, and after upgrading, it can take two people with it!" Shao Qingge nodded: "Understood."
The long-legged woman handed her jumping card to her companion who wasn't blind, saying, "You know how to use this card. It makes your legs grow longer quickly and allows you to jump like a zombie, covering a distance of 8 meters each time. It should be very convenient for rescuing people."
Curly-haired Woman took out a card and handed it to Old Qi: "This displacement card of mine can speed things up, Old Qi, you take it."
The group quickly distributed the rescue cards. The key question now was: how to create an opening in the ring of fire?
After harvesting the wheat, the villagers would tie it into bundles and arrange them in the shape of a ring in the field. They would then hold the Autumn Harvest Festival in the center of the ring. Grandma Qin threw torches onto the wheat ears; the dry ears were highly flammable, and with the wind, a ring of fire quickly formed, enveloping all the villagers. Since the field itself also had a large amount of unharvested crop, once the ring of fire formed, an entire acre of land was completely burned.
Granny Sun and Mrs. Qin stood motionless in the fire.
Grandma Qin coldly watched the panicked Villagers, her smile growing increasingly maniacal. She laughed in a hoarse voice, "Hahahaha, it's finally over! My poor Xue'er, Mom will be here to keep you company soon!"
Granny Sun's face was illuminated by the firelight as she coldly observed the scene with an expressionless face.
Hearing Old Madam Qin's maniacal laughter, Yu Hanjiang frowned even more. He stood outside the circle of fire and observed the fire for a moment, then whispered, "The fire is spreading towards Liuxi Village. We need to rescue people as soon as possible, or the entire village could be burned down."
He turned to look at everyone and said decisively, "Those of you who got the Teleportation Card and the Jump Card are the fastest to act. Go to Villager's house right now and fetch a few buckets of water to put out the fire!"
Upon hearing the command, the three immediately took action. Shao Qingge took Ye Qi's teleportation card. The initial card could carry 100 kilograms of weight at a time, but after the upgrade, it could carry 150 kilograms. He moved all the water tanks stored at the nearby Villager's house as quickly as possible.
The man who could do zombie jumps carried several buckets of water, leaping eight meters at a time, and was able to quickly return.
Old Qi also carried several buckets of water, using a gliding motion close to the ground to move them. His movement card was similar to roller skates, allowing him to accelerate, turn, and jump, making it very flexible to use.
While the three went to fetch water, Yu Hanjiang kept a close eye on the fire. Just then, Xiao Lou suddenly had an idea and whispered in Yu Hanjiang's ear, "The two cards we got in Plum Blossom 3 might come in handy."
He took out two cards from his card holder: " Power Bank " and " Hair Dryer." These were cards he had drawn from the couple's card holder during the poker game in Plum Blossom 3, and hadn't used yet. The Hair Dryer's effect was to blow objects of a certain weight a distance, while the Power Bank could charge electrical cards and immediately reset all of their abilities.
Yu Hanjiang's eyes lit up: "You mean, use a hair dryer to move the flammable material away and create an opening in the fire?"
Xiao Lou nodded and handed the card to Captain Yu: "Give it a try."
Yu Hanjiang decisively took the two cards, strode forward, and aimed the hair dryer at the burning pile of wheat.
He activated the hair dryer skill, and suddenly the large swathe of burning wheat ears were swept up and blown more than 50 meters away in an instant, creating a small gap in the fire circle large enough for the two of them to pass side by side.
Yu Hanjiang then used the power bank to reset the hair dryer's skill, and a large patch of wheat near the gap was blown away again.
A gap appeared in the fire circle, about 3 meters in length. All the flammable materials were cleared away, and the fire gradually subsided. Shao Qingge, who was carrying water back, happened to see this scene. He immediately went forward and splashed the water from the water tank onto the gap!
Old Qi and the young people also returned and worked with Shao Qingge to put out the fire. In the blink of an eye, the fire was completely extinguished through the three-meter-wide gap. Everyone poured water to create a firebreak. Yu Hanjiang immediately ordered: "Everyone, wet your clothes with water, cover your mouths and noses, and prepare to rescue people!"
Everyone did as instructed, and the blind Challenger quickly cooperated by tearing off his scarf, sleeves, and other items, wetting them, and handing them to everyone.
Besides the raging fire, the most terrifying thing about a fire is the thick smoke. Inhaling the smoke can easily lead to unconsciousness. Since they have to rescue so many Villagers, they definitely need to do a good job of protecting them.
After the five of them were ready, Yu Hanjiang turned to Xiao Lou and said, "The task of comforting Villager, whom we rescued, is now in your hands."
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll go and call the village chief over."
Yu Hanjiang gently patted Xiao Lou's shoulder, then turned and strode quickly towards the fire. Wearing speed boots, he said to Shao Qingge as he walked, "You have a teleportation card, which is for rescuing fat people and those with strong builds. I'll rescue the children; everyone else, rescue whoever you see. Let's move!"
Five people rushed into the fire together.
The raging fire caused the temperature inside the fire circle to rise sharply. Some Villagers ' clothes were set on fire, and they screamed in pain. The cries of the children were deafening. The entire fire scene was like a living hell!
Yu Hanjiang's eyes darkened—wearing speed-enhancing shoes that allow him to run five times faster, he swiftly rushed to the two children, picked one up in each arm, and flew out of the fire like a gust of wind.
The two children, their clothes on fire, were crying loudly. Realizing they were suddenly lifted into the air and being carried away, the two children were terrified. Yu Hanjiang ran extremely fast.
In the blink of an eye, she carried the child back to the tree and brought him to Xiao Lou's side: "I'm leaving him to you."
Upon seeing this, the village chief immediately used water to extinguish the flames on their clothes. Xiao Lou held the two children's hands and gently comforted them, "Don't be afraid, we're here to rescue people, and Uncle Village Chief is here too."
Liu the Fourth said, "Xiao Qi, Xiao Rui, be good, come to your fourth uncle."
Upon hearing the familiar voice, the two children wiped away their tears and walked to the village chief's side.
The girl choked back tears as she said, "My mother is still inside..."
The boy also pleaded, "Please save my mother! I beg you!"
Xiao Lou said softly, "Don't worry, someone has gone to rescue her, your mother will be out soon."
Old Qi glided along the ground, pulling a woman out of the fire. The woman initially struggled desperately, crying out, "Let me go! My child..."
Liu the Fourth stepped forward and shouted, "Third Sister-in-law, your child is over here!"
The woman hesitated for a moment, then stopped resisting. After Old Qi led her to the tree, the two children immediately rushed over and hugged her: "Mommy!"
The children's voices caused the woman to break down in tears. She hugged the two children tightly, her body trembling violently. Liu the Fourth whispered in Xiao Lou's ear, "This is my third sister-in-law. My third brother passed away early, and she raised two children on her own. It wasn't easy for her."
Hearing this, Xiao Lou couldn't help but feel sad. It's easy to imagine how difficult life must be for a blind woman raising two children.
Fortunately, her children are all safe.
Beside them, Shao Qingge used his teleportation card to lead two burly adults to the tree. The two men, unaware of what had happened, only felt a gust of wind and were suddenly transported dozens of meters away. The flames and smoke were gone, and a large amount of oxygen flooded their mouths and noses, causing them to clutch their chests and cough desperately.
Just then, Xiao Lou's gentle voice rang in their ears: "Brothers, please rest over here. We're here to rescue people."
The two looked bewildered. Realizing the other person was a stranger, the man immediately asked warily, "Who are you?"
Xiao Lou said, "We are from out of town."
Liu the Fourth chimed in, "They are all good people; they came to save everyone."
The two recognized the village chief's voice and were filled with surprise: "You're Fourth Brother?" "Fourth Brother, weren't you kicked out? Granny Sun said you colluded with outsiders to steal our things..."
Liu the Fourth roared, interrupting him: "Do you guys have any brains? You actually believe Granny Sun?! She's going to burn you all alive!"
The two fell silent at the same time.
Just then, Liu Qing rushed over. Granny Sun had left her to take care of Huihui, who had just given birth. Hearing screams and cries outside the village, she went out to investigate and saw a large amount of thick smoke rising from the southeast of the village.
Liu Qing immediately left the village. A raging fire had broken out in the farmland. She saw Xiao Lou and the others standing under a tree, so she hurriedly ran over to ask what was wrong: "Fourth Uncle, what happened?"
Liu the Fourth gritted his teeth: " Granny Sun and Aunt Qin set fire to the Autumn Harvest Festival, saying they would burn everyone down with them!"
Liu Qing's expression suddenly changed. She had long noticed that Granny Sun was acting strangely, but she couldn't figure out why. Now, looking at the raging fire in front of her, she finally understood the reason for Granny Sun's recent abnormal behavior.
Liu Qing said anxiously, "What should we do? Nobody can see! The fire is getting bigger and bigger!"
Xiao Lou said, " Xiao Qing, could you please do me a favor?"
Liu Qing looked at him warily: "Who are you?"
Liu the Fourth said, "Trust them, they're here to rescue people. Third Sister-in-law and her two children were just rescued by them."
Xiao Lou smiled and nodded: "Yes, we want to save people, but Villager doesn't trust us. Everyone is struggling and running around in the fire, which only wastes rescue time and can easily burn themselves. Xiao Qing, please tell everyone to trust us, stay where they are, and cooperate so we can get everyone out of the fire as soon as possible."
Liu Qing looked at the little girl next to her, whose face was covered in dust. The little girl choked up and said, "Sister Qing, it was that uncle who saved me."
Liu Qing nodded and walked to the edge of the fire, shouting loudly, "Uncles, aunts, and grandmas, it's me, Xiao Qing! We're trying to save you. Please don't run around, stay where you are, and someone will bring you out of the fire!"
She repeated it twice, and the Villagers, who were running around like headless flies in the fire, finally quieted down.
They don't trust others, but Xiao Qing is trustworthy.
When Grandma Qin and Granny Sun saw five strangers rush in to rescue people and heard Xiao Qing's voice, their expressions changed drastically.
The old lady Qin shouted sternly, "Who dares to cause trouble?!"
Without saying a word, Yu Hanjiang threw the white silk at her.
The white silk was stretchable and could precisely bind people. Grandma Qin and Granny Sun were standing together when Yu Hanjiang threw out the white silk, instantly binding the two of them back to back. He looked at Shao Qingge and said, "Take them out."
Shao Qingge understood and used the teleportation card to move the two people directly under the tree.
Granny Sun glared at Xiao Qing, her eyes filled with malice: "You actually dared to ruin our plans! I shouldn't have spared your life!"
Xiao Qing said with a pale face, "Grandma, I grew up by your side since I was a child, and I respect you as if you were family. The villagers also trust you so much. We have no grudge against you, so why did you burn all the people of Liuxi Village to death?"
Granny Sun suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, no grudges... no grudges!"
Her white hair was tousled by the wind, and a smile appeared at the corners of her wrinkled eyes.
Tears welled up in Granny Sun's eyes. At this moment, he seemed to completely lose his spirit, collapsing to the ground in a daze, staring blankly at the scene before him.
Grandma Qin was still struggling desperately when the village chief subdued her. Her Tibetan Mastiff rushed out of the fire looking for its owner, barking incessantly around everyone, but Ye Qi controlled it by putting it to sleep with his guitar.
Inside the fire.
Under Yu Hanjiang's command, the rescue work is proceeding in an orderly manner.
With the Villagers starting to cooperate and no longer running around, rescue operations became much easier.
Yu Hanjiang, wearing speed shoes, carried away all the children. Shao Qingge could save two people with a single teleport. Old Qi, Masked Man, and the man with the jump card saved one child at a time. If they encountered a lighter child, they would simply carry them on their backs and jump over them...
The rescue numbers in the floating frame in front of everyone kept changing.
Villager rescued 25/119...
Villager rescued: 45/119...
Villager rescued: 88/119...
In just a few minutes, the five Challengers, with the help of various cards, rescued more than eighty Villagers!
Remembering what Captain Yu had just said, Xiao Lou called out loudly, "Those who are out of danger, come and help put out the fire! The wind is blowing towards the village, and if we don't put out the fire, it might burn down to Liuxi Village!"
Liu the Fourth glanced at the wind direction and immediately said, "Everyone, quickly help carry the water!"
Other blind Challengers also gathered under Xiao Lou's organization, and the rescued Villagers joined the firefighting efforts. Everyone quickly carried water from the village to extinguish the outer ring of the fire and created a firebreak outside the village.
As large areas of the ground were soaked with water, the spread of the fire was slowed, and the number of remaining Villagers in the fire area dwindled.
Ten minutes later, the red text in the prompt box in front of everyone finally turned green.
— Saved 119/119 Villagers!
— All Villagers have been rescued, and the team that participated in the rescue will receive an extra chance to win a prize.
Those affected by the blindness buff couldn't see these messages, but the five people with good eyesight all saw them.
After the fire was extinguished, the farmland was covered with charred marks and fragments of Villagers ' clothes. If it weren't for their timely rescue, these hundreds of Villagers would have perished in the fire and been burned to ashes today!
How much suffering must those who were burned alive have endured?!
Everyone still feels lingering fear when they think about it.
Yu Hanjiang walked over and said, "The fire is out, and the Villagers all suffered minor injuries."
Liu the Fourth excitedly grasped Yu Hanjiang's hand: "Thank you so much!"
Under the big tree, the villagers gathered together and wept bitterly.
The Challengers frequently went in and out of the fire, and now they were covered in soot and looked disheveled, but they all had smiles on their faces.
They actually managed to save everyone!
Yu Hanjiang's gaze swept across everyone, and he immediately spotted Xiao Lou comforting a child in the crowd.
He walked over to Xiao Lou and said, "The fire is out."
Xiao Lou sensed a familiar presence approaching and immediately asked softly, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
Yu Hanjiang said in a low voice, "It's alright, none of the Challengers and Villagers were injured. We rescued all 119 Villagers."
Xiao Lou gave a thumbs up: "That's awesome!"
Yu Hanjiang raised the corners of his lips slightly: "Of course."
Old Qi, whose clothes had a corner burned off, walked up to Yu Hanjiang and laughed, " Officer Han, we owe you a lot this time. Well, to be honest, when I saw the fire, my first reaction was to forget about the Villager and get out of there first."
The young man next to him scratched the back of his head awkwardly and said, "Me too. At the time, I thought, there are only five of us, and the Villagers have almost 120. We definitely can't save them. But I didn't expect that we would actually succeed. Hehe, Officer Han is really amazing..."
Yu Hanjiang said, "It's because everyone cooperated well."
These Challengers aren't professional firefighters, after all. Humans have an instinctive fear of fire, so wanting to escape is normal. In the real world, they might not be able to complete the Villager rescue mission today, but they have a large number of cards, and one of them is more powerful than ten ordinary people. Especially Shao Qingge, who can teleport back and forth, saving the most people.
Of course, CEO Shao's face was also covered in soot, and his smile wasn't as dignified as usual.
He walked up to Yu Hanjiang and said, "That was really exciting. I never dreamed that one day I would rush into a fire to save people."
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Now we just need to stay in the village for two more days to complete the game perfectly."
Yu Hanjiang said, "Moreover, all participating teams have an extra chance to draw a card."
The Challengers around him all beamed with joy upon hearing this.
The village chief approached and said, " Old Han, the villagers are very grateful for everyone's help and would like to invite you to stay in the village for a couple of days."
Yu Hanjiang nodded and looked at the two elderly women beside him.
Granny Sun and Mrs. Qin stared blankly, clearly neither of them had expected such a thing to happen.
Xiao Lou asked, "What do you plan to do with these two elderly people?"
The Villagers suddenly fell silent.
We were all raised by Granny Sun and Aunt Qin; they have a deep debt of gratitude for our upbringing. However, they also blinded us with poison, and all the suffering we've endured over the years is their doing!
The villagers looked complicated, unable to think of a way to deal with them.
The village chief walked up to Granny Sun and whispered, "Grandma, please give us the truth! What exactly happened back then? Why did you and Aunt Qin stay in the village to take revenge on us innocent children?"
Granny Sun closed her eyes and said calmly, "I don't want to talk about the truth anymore."
Grandma Qin gave a strange laugh and whispered, "It's better this way. My Xue'er is so kind; she probably wouldn't want me to take so many innocent people down with me to join her..."
The two old women looked at each other and suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Yu Hanjiang frowned and stepped forward to check, discovering that black venom was dripping from the corners of their mouths at the same time—the two had actually taken poison in advance, clearly determined to settle things today.
Xiao Lou, unable to see, asked in confusion, "What's going on?"
Yu Hanjiang said in a low voice, "The two old ladies committed suicide by poisoning themselves."
Xiao Lou paused for a moment, then fell silent.
A gust of wind swept through, stirring up scorched ash from the farmland. The air was filled with the burnt smell of crops. Granny Sun and Old Mrs. Qin lay on the ground, their eyes closed, their expressions peaceful.
The villagers remained silent for a long time before the village chief, Liu the Fourth, sighed softly, squatted down, gently wiped the dust from the faces of the two old women, and said in a low voice, " The remains of Granny Sun and Aunt Qin are buried near this farmland."