Chapter 387: Death, Helplessness

"Lowering her head, she murmured the name of this long-lost person in her heart, Xiaochunzi…Gu Ruoyan knew about the mistakes she had made when she was young and comforted her with a, “Bao’er, don’t f...The antique clock in the hall ticked loudly.

It is 8 o'clock in the evening now. Usually, this time is when people are most energetic, but now, trapped by the wind and snow in this rundown place, perhaps because all the doors and windows inside are tightly shut, the carbon dioxide produced by the fire burning in the hall makes people feel drowsy.

Everyone looked pale and anxious, lacking energy.

Each person huddled close to their loved ones, finding comfort in each other's presence. All they could do was wait.

"Tonight, no one will come to save us."

Someone sobbed quietly, gazing at the stormy weather outside. It was pitch black, and the howling wind and snow sounded like mournful wails, eerie and unsettling.

Qiao Bao'er was half asleep, with her eyes closed.

Beside her, Zhu Xiaowei was holding Pei Yi and leaning against him as he had already fallen into a deep sleep. Xia Chuixue held the blanket tightly to herself, huddled up in a ball. She was tense and restless, unable to rest, occasionally opening her eyes to look around.

Pei Haoran stood guard beside them, while Lu Qinian and several other men were on the other side chopping up wooden furniture with axes to keep the fire going for warmth.

That night, apart from the howling wind and snow outside, there was the sound of Lu Qinian and his companions chopping wood with axes. Most of the travelers here were wealthy people who had never done manual labor. They were not skilled with an axe, and the clanging sound always seemed to hit something.

This night is too quiet, making one's heart uneasy.

Qiao Bao'er, hearing the random hacking sounds of those young masters from Lu Qinan, felt a little more at ease and fell into a deep sleep.

But just as she was about to drift off to sleep, a sudden shout and scream came from outside.

Joe Bao'er was so startled that she jumped up immediately.

Some people in the hall also noticed the strange sound and turned their heads cautiously towards the outdoors, but outside the thick glass wall it was pitch black, and there was nothing to be seen.

Suddenly, a figure dashed past in a panic. The flickering firelight inside illuminated the scene enough to make out that it was a person.

But the man outside had a pale face, as if frightened out of his wits, he kept shouting and screaming, waving his hands frantically against the door. Qiao Baier's eyes were filled with terror, she saw clearly that the man's hands were covered in blood.

"Open the door."

"Open the door!" The man at the door pounded on the heavy hotel door, his anxious shouts echoing.

Many people in the room had woken up, and their faces showed some fear and hesitation.

I don't understand why someone suddenly appeared outdoors with blood on both hands.

Joe Bao'er and Lu Qinan remained motionless, and at that moment, a tall, thin man walked out from the crowd. He walked step by step towards the gate.

Qiao Bao'er saw clearly that it was the photographer who had just directed the passengers to fasten their windows and doors.

Before anyone could speak, the photographer opened the door.

Suddenly, a snowstorm swept in.

Some people sitting near the door gasped in surprise. The wind and snow of the evening were a little less intense than expected, not as strong, but it was still very cold. The central bonfire, battered by the wind and snow, began to die down.

The photographer was quick; he dragged the man from outside in and immediately shut the door.

The photographer asked bluntly, "What happened"

The man, under everyone's gaze, looked panicked. "I- I didn't mean to kill him..."

"Anta locked the storage room in the back kitchen. I wanted to grab the key back, and then accidentally..."

He seemed overwhelmed with fright, his large hands were red and swollen from the wind and snow, tinged with blood, covering his face directly. This man cried out of control, constantly explaining himself.

“We were fighting near the back door, Anta had all the keys to the hotel exits, he wanted to leave me out in the cold, so I dragged him out too. We wrestled, I tried to grab the keys off his waist... I didn't mean to, I really didn't mean to, it was Anta who turned around and fell down the ravine himself.”

Anta is dead.

Everyone was surprised when they heard the news.

“Did you manage to get the key back” someone cried urgently.

Compassion means nothing in such dire straits; whether Anta fell to his death or lives, no one cares. Right now, all that matters is the food storage room being locked.

That man, as if on the verge of a mental breakdown, couldn't stop crying. "I didn't mean to, I really didn't mean to kill him," he sobbed. He seemed genuinely terrified, collapsing onto the ground in despair, repeating those few words over and over again.

A man impatiently rushed forward, searching his body for keys. The next second, he let out a frustrated curse, "Damn it, I didn't get the keys back!"

A few people, looking grim, ran in a group to the back kitchen. Qiao Bao'er followed them.

As expected, the kitchen storage room was locked with a large steel padlock.

This kind of steel lock can only be opened with a strong laser or a power saw. It's impossible to break it open with an axe, even with human strength.

There is no food supply.

Everyone instantly lost their sleepiness. Zhu Xiaowei's face paled, she tightly hugged Pei Yi in her arms, and both of them stiffened helplessly. Pei Haoran walked over to comfort them by patting their shoulders, but everyone's expressions were very grim at the moment, not even a word of comfort could be spoken.

"We don't even have food now…"

Several women could no longer hold back their tears and cried out, "Why is heaven treating us like this Our furniture will soon be burned, we will have no food, and the people down below can't get up here in time."

A middle-aged woman, seeming to have gone mad from despair, ran into the central fire and grabbed a burning torch. She waved it wildly, crying out incoherently, "No one will come to save us..."

We all die.

"We're all going to die here!" she cried out in despair, her voice cracking with sobs. She hurled the torch in her hand toward the thick curtains at the window.

"We're going to burn this hotel down with us as our burial pyres. It's all their fault, they tricked us into coming to this hellhole, it's a devil's place!"

All in the hall seemed to be shrouded in that desperate aura of death, with no hope of survival. No one even tried to stop it as torches quickly ignited the curtains, flames shooting up instantly.

Qiao Bao'er struggled through the crowd, shouting angrily, "You're crazy! I don't want to be burned to death!"

Her words, "Burn to death," woke some people in the crowd. If the hotel caught fire, they would be burned before freezing to death, and there would be nowhere to escape the wind and snow.

Jo Bao'er thought maybe because the indoor doors and windows were tightly closed and there was no ventilation, these people had gone crazy.

She was furious, blazing with anger. Without hesitation, she reached out and pulled the burning curtain down, dragging it to the large bonfire in the center, preventing it from igniting anything else.

Lu Qinan immediately ran over to help her. Seeing that her hair was on fire, he hurriedly took off his clothes and patted her back, " Qiao Bao'er, a part of your long hair is burnt."

qiao Bao'er was furious and shouted at the crowd, "Whoever wants to die, go die now, don't get in my way here!"

All eyes were on her, none daring to speak a word out of shame.

Everyone hung their heads low, fear weighing heavily on their hearts. Especially since most of the travelers here were accustomed to luxury and comfort; they had never endured hardship before. Now, they found themselves trapped like refugees, their lives hanging in the balance.

In such a tense moment, how to pretend to be strong.

Zhu Xiaowei and Pei Haoran huddled together, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. The disaster was more frightening than she had imagined. How could she learn to be calm

The low temperature caused everyone's mood to be unstable. A senior citizen suddenly suffered a stroke.

The photographer seemed to also be a doctor, he professionally examined the elderly stroke patient and told his family, "Cerebral hemorrhage."

Although Qiao Bao'er didn't walk over, her heart tightened when she heard the word "brain hemorrhage". Her father, Qiao Wenyu, had almost lost his life to a brain hemorrhage not long ago. This was a very serious illness.

"What should I do"

"We need to get my father to the hospital immediately!" The family members gathered around were crying anxiously, but looking out at the dark, stormy weather, their voices became helpless and desperate.

"Please save my father."

"We can't just stand here and watch him die…" Several family members tugged at the photographer's arms, but the photographer could only shake his head, helpless.

The family members were crying, the wind and snow howled outside, and suddenly the crowd fell silent. It was so quiet that it felt unnerving.

Pei Yi was still young. Hearing the word "death" being cried out from the other side, his body trembled in fear.

Qiao Bao'er sat beside him, covering his ears under her hat with both hands, preventing him from hearing those mournful cries.

Between life and death, even the saddest tears sometimes can't help.

Apart from most people seeking warmth in the hotel lobby, a small number prefer to return to their own suite's smaller space and wait there.

Suddenly, there was the sound of hurried footsteps coming from the stairs, "I saw a car on the west side of the mountain through the telescope…"

The sound immediately perked everyone up.

There was an astronomy enthusiast who always carried a couple of high-powered telescopes with him. He used his telescope in his penthouse suite and spotted three cars with headlights on the western side of the mountain.

"The rescue vehicles have finally arrived..."unged.He widened his eyes, watching the necklace fly through the air and then vanish…It seemed fated, as if he were grasping at nothing in the air. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hold onto w...