137: Fire transmission through the air

Just as the torch in Zhang Xuanyi's hand extinguished, the same anomaly occurred in thousands of corners across the Divine Land.

In a Beijing hutong, an old man watching over a simmering clay pot of soup dozed off. When he woke up, he was shocked to find that the blue flame of the gas stove had turned into a mass of flowing crimson gold. The soup bubbled, its aroma ten times richer than usual, and the whole room was filled with warmth.

At a border defense outpost in the Northwest Gobi Desert, a cook was boiling a pot of steaming instant noodles for the brothers standing guard in the middle of the night. Without warning, the flames in the stove shed their mundane color and turned pure gold, illuminating the young soldier's face with astonishment.

In a fishing village in the Southern Frontier, golden flames rose from the high-heat stove of a seafood stall, even coating the wok hei of the stir-fry chef with a layer of sacred halo.

These golden flames seemed to have been ignited simultaneously by an invisible hand.

They no longer consumed any fuel; they simply burned quietly, drawing sustenance from the human vitality, laughter, and even the most subtle emotional fluctuations beneath the eaves.

This was the first shackle stripped away by the human fireworks after the Xiaoyao Token completely dissipated—Self-Sufficiency.

However, the true upheaval did not stop there.

Two o'clock in the morning, a 24-hour convenience store in Shanghai.

A dozing clerk was awakened by a crisp sound. He saw the cap of a common mineral water bottle on the shelf pop open on its own, and a wisp of extremely fine golden flame rose steadily from the bottle mouth, like a newborn dandelion.

The flame had no root or basis, yet it stood in mid-air, warm and bright.

Three seconds later, in the kitchen of a residential building a hundred meters away, the household's extinguished golden stove fire flared up suddenly, shining brilliantly.

"Transmitting Fire from Afar"—this scene, which only existed in myths, had become reality at this moment.

In Su Qingzhu's temporary studio, dozens of screens were flashing wildly with data streams.

On the huge map of Huaxia in front of her, every confirmed golden fire point was marked as a flashing spot of light.

Just a moment ago, thin golden lines suddenly began to stretch between these light spots, intertwining and spreading with dizzying speed.

These golden lines followed ancient post roads, the Tea Horse Road, canal waterways, and even every large-scale population migration route in history with precision, connecting the entire territory into a pulsating, vibrant, and massive network.

"It's so beautiful..." Su Qingzhu muttered to herself, her eyes filled with shock.

This was no longer a data map, but a living map of civilization's veins.

Every wisp of golden flame was a neuron, and what connected them were the national memories that had flowed for thousands of years.

Just as she was immersed in this magnificent scene, a shrill alarm pierced the silence.

In the Northwest corner of the map, a light point located on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert abruptly and without warning went out.

It didn't dim slowly; it was as if it had been instantly snuffed out by a great force, and the several golden lines connected to it also snapped, leaving behind a heart-stopping black void.

Su Qingzhu's heart sank.

This was not normal!

This did not belong to natural life and death!

She immediately pulled up the detailed data for that point, but all signals were completely blocked at that instant, as if there had never been any anomaly there.

"Someone is... clearing them!" This thought made her spine chill.

Meanwhile, at the ruins of the Gobi post station thousands of miles away, Cui Wujiu was sitting cross-legged.

He closed his eyes, yet he could "see" that golden fire net more clearly than any instrument.

He could feel the breath of every flame, the flow of every wisp of warmth.

Just now, he felt one of the network's nerve endings being brutally torn off, and a cold, rusty-smelling "Nothingness" abruptly intruded into this warm and harmonious Domain.

It was a touch of death.

Cui Wujiu suddenly opened his eyes, reflecting the starry sky in his pupils.

He did not hesitate at all, flipped up, and took long strides toward the direction from which the dead silence came.

His steps were not large, but he was incredibly fast; the sand beneath his feet didn't even have time to splash, and his figure was already tens of meters away.

He did not know who the enemy was.

And at the center of this storm, the small town at the foot of Mount Longhu remained tranquil.

Zhang Xuanyi was sitting on the threshold of the Self-Combustion Hall, watching a group of children use golden flame sticks that wouldn't burn their hands as glow sticks, waving and playing in the night.

The blind old grandmother sat beside him, saying nothing, just listening intently, with a peaceful smile on her face covered in burn scars.

A black, unmarked SUV slid silently to the street corner and stopped.

A middle-aged man in a crisp Zhongshan suit got out of the car, with a square face and sharp, eagle-like eyes.

He brought no attendants, walked step by step to Zhang Xuanyi, and stood at a distance of three steps.

"Mr. Zhang Xuanyi," the man began, his voice steady but carrying unquestionable authority, "I am Qin Chuan from the Special Action Group for Skyfire Response. According to the 'Emergency Management Regulations,' we suspect you have a direct connection to the 'Golden Fire Out-of-Control' phenomenon occurring nationwide. Please come with us."

The children were frightened by the serious atmosphere and hid behind the old grandmother one after another, the golden flames in their hands dimming a little.

Zhang Xuanyi didn't even look up at him, just moved his gaze from the children to the distant sea of light formed by the village's golden fires, and said softly: "Fire has never been out of control. What is out of control is the human heart."

"Our duty is not to discuss philosophy," Qin Chuan's tone did not change at all, "but to control all potential risks that could threaten public safety. You are currently the greatest source of risk."

Zhang Xuanyi finally stood up slowly and patted the dust off his pants.

He did not look at Qin Chuan, but instead turned to the little girl who was about to cry, smiled gently: "Don't be afraid. Remember, as long as there is light in your heart, the fire will not go out."

After speaking, he looked directly at Qin Chuan, his eyes as calm as an ancient well: "I will go with you. However, I want to tell you something."

"Please proceed."

"Have you seen a kite?" Zhang Xuanyi asked, his tone carrying a touch of inexplicable etherealness, "When the string breaks, you shouldn't come looking for the person flying the kite. Because the kite has already followed the wind. What you really should do is learn how to talk to the wind."

Qin Chuan frowned imperceptibly, obviously failing to fully understand the meaning of these words, but this did not hinder him from executing orders.

He gestured "please" to the side.

The moment Zhang Xuanyi took his first step, the anomaly happened again!

In Su Qingzhu's studio, the alarm sound became increasingly shrill.

On the map in front of her, the second, third, tenth light points... went out one after another!

And the locations of these light points were actually surrounding her location, forming a huge encirclement!

"They are not clearing; they are locating me!" Su Qingzhu felt cold all over instantly.

This network map she drew was not only her research result but also became the beacon that exposed her location!

"Bang!" With a loud noise, the special alloy door of the studio was violently broken open.

A group of armed personnel in black combat uniforms and full-coverage helmets rushed in. The weapons in their hands were not firearms, but a strange device flashing with faint blue electric arcs.

The leader raised his arm, and a cold mechanical voice came from under the helmet: "Target Su Qingzhu, capture!"

At the critical moment, the mass of golden flame that had been quietly burning in front of Su Qingzhu and serving as the data core suddenly surged, turning into a wall of fire over a person's height, blocking between her and the armed personnel.

The scorching wave caused the opponent's offensive to pause.

Taking advantage of this, Su Qingzhu grabbed a hard drive, turned around, smashed the floor-to-ceiling window behind her, and jumped down from the high-rise building dozens of meters high!

The strong wind whistled in her ears, and below was the endless stream of traffic.

Just when she thought she was doomed, on a high-heat stove at a night market stall on the street below, that mass of golden flame soared into the sky, turning into a huge, warm palm in mid-air, steadily catching her and gently placing her on the ground.

The whole process took only two seconds; pedestrians on the street didn't even react.

Su Qingzhu didn't have time to thank anyone, rushed into the crowd like crazy, and disappeared into the night.

Almost at the same moment, Zhang Xuanyi, who was just stepping into the SUV, paused. He looked up as if he sensed something, looked toward the direction of Shanghai, and a faint smile curled up at the corners of his mouth.

"Look," he said to Qin Chuan beside him, "the wind has already started to respond."