155: Chapter 155 Two Choices

The silver motorcycle charged into the grey smoke.

As the front wheel hit the sharp turn, the bike frame was knocked half a foot off-course by the stone steps.

Li Li lowered his body, steadied the pedal with his right foot, and kept the throttle open.

This mountain path was unreasonable.

It rose step by step, designed to crush the confidence of any rider.

But with his vehicle mastery, he wasn't afraid at all.

Besides, he didn't have time to wrestle with the steps.

He couldn't get through to Jiang Rumu on the phone.

A fire had broken out on the mountain.

He couldn't get through to Lu Cheng, who was with her, either.

And there were two dogs.

With this setup, Li Li knew the danger level was maxed out without the system needing to remind him.

Cheng Songyan's voice exploded from the walkie-talkie.

"Li Li, the North Gate section two hose team is in front of you. Pass on the left, don't hit anyone!"

Li Li pressed the call button.

"Received. Tell them not to turn around to watch the show; a twisted neck won't be covered as a work injury."

Two Firefighters ahead were struggling to move up while carrying hoses.

Two rolls each, forty kilograms weighing down their shoulders, their legs were already shaking.

The roar of the motorcycle approached, and the two moved half a step to the right.

One of them raised a hand and shouted: "Slow down! It's slippery here!"

Li Li swerved the handlebars and squeezed through the narrow gap on the left.

The rear wheel swept across the edge of the stone steps, sending loose sand tumbling down.

That Firefighter froze for half a second, then continued climbing with the hose.

His companion nearby was panting heavily.

"Is he really riding a motorcycle up the mountain?"

"Don't ask, if you ask, it's just a hidden class."

"I've been a Firefighter for years, and this is the first time I've seen a motorcycle help transport hoses."

Li Li didn't look back.

The higher he went, the more people there were.

Every few dozen meters, there were Firefighters climbing up, hugging hoses or carrying tool bags.

No one was running.

It wasn't that they didn't want to run.

It was that they couldn't run anymore.

They had already gone back and forth on this same stretch of mountain path several times.

Their legs were weak even when going downhill empty-handed, and they still had to carry equipment while going up.

Li Li kept his speed at the edge of what he could control.

Through a turn.

Up a step.

Avoiding a hose.

Through another turn.

Five minutes later, he reached the end of the hose line.

Han Su reported the location over the walkie-talkie.

"You are currently at the 1,300-meter mark. The hoses ahead haven't been connected yet; don't push forward recklessly."

1,300 meters.

He had ridden for five minutes without expending any physical strength.

For Firefighters carrying hoses, it would take at least ten minutes even at full stamina.

Further up, the slope was steeper, and people were slower.

Li Li parked the bike and hopped off.

The two rolls of hose on the back seat were tied very tightly.

He drew his fire axe, pried open the buckle, dragged one roll of hose down, and rolled it next to the hose team.

"Connect it."

A third-class Firefighter bent over to connect it, sweat dripping down his chin.

"Bro, you're still going up?"

"Yeah."

"There shouldn't be anyone left up there, right? The tourists have all evacuated."

Li Li unloaded the other roll as well.

"Just because the phone doesn't connect doesn't mean they've come down the mountain."

The Firefighter paused for a moment and didn't try to dissuade him again.

The person next to him locked the connection and gave him a thumbs up.

"Impressive."

Li Li straddled the bike again.

"Don't praise me; if you praise me too much, the price will go up."

"What price?"

"Compensation for the steps hitting my butt."

A few Firefighters laughed.

After laughing, they continued working.

Down the mountain, scenic area staff were still evacuating tourists.

Someone was livestreaming, and the camera happened to capture the silver motorcycle crossing the end of the hose line and charging higher up.

The person holding the phone's hand shook.

"Guys, this isn't staged; he really went up."

The comments scrolled by rapidly.

[Holy crap, a motorcycle version of the Brave Blue Friends?]

[Is he really going to the mountain peak?]

[Does Li Li have some kind of misunderstanding about the word 'variety show'?]

[Others are filming a show, he's filming his life.]

[Mumu is really worth it!]

Li Li continued upward.

Five minutes later, he saw a man in black in front of a gentle slope.

The man was carrying a shriveled backpack, his trouser leg was torn, and his left foot landed half a beat slow.

His cap brim was pulled low, dust covered his shoulders, and he was shuffling down the mountain path.

The distance between the two closed.

The man in black looked up, and his body paused for a moment.

Li Li didn't fully reduce his speed, just steered the front of the bike slightly away.

"Can you walk?"

The man in black nodded.

"Yes."

The pronunciation was very rigid.

It wasn't a local Pengcheng accent, nor did it sound like a northern accent.

Li Li went through the information in his mind.

Outsider.

Injured.

Coming down from above.

He wasn't a police officer.

And now wasn't the time for interrogation.

Jiang Rumu hadn't been found yet.

Li Li pointed downward.

"Go down; there are Firefighters at the 1,300-meter mark. Don't wander off."

The man in black nodded again and stepped aside to let him pass.

The motorcycle brushed past him.

At the moment they passed, Li Li smelled a strange odor.

It wasn't smoke.

It wasn't sweat.

Nor was it the smell of charred wood.

It was very faint, mixed in with the smoke, and almost covered up.

He pressed the brake with his right hand.

The speed dropped by half a beat.

The man in black's backpack was already shriveled.

Li Li didn't look back.

He released the brake and continued charging upward.

Save people first.

Before lives were accounted for, any side quests would be pushed to the back.

Five minutes later, the fire line appeared ahead.

The wind was strong at the mountain peak, pressing the smoke sideways, and the fire was spreading out from the edge of the forest.

In front of a platform, Firefighters had set up a temporary position, and a few people were holding chainsaws and machetes, preparing to clear a firebreak.

Just as Li Li parked the bike, a Firefighter rushed over to stop him.

"You can't go any further!"

Li Li took off his helmet, first looking at the fire, then at the platform.

"Where is Station Chief Chen?"

"Up ahead."

The Firefighter recognized him but still blocked his way.

"Teacher Li, you really can't go in. The wind is chaotic inside, and the fire is jumping."

"I won't force my way in."

"You said the same thing at the entrance of the Fire Station last time, and then you went into the building and kicked in seven doors."

Li Li paused for half a second.

"Rumors."

"It's on the livestream."

"The chain of evidence is incomplete."

The Firefighter wasn't led astray by him and continued to block him.

Station Chief Chen Tao hurried over from the side, his helmet hanging in the crook of his arm, his combat suit already soaked.

"Li Li!"

Li Li went up to meet him.

"Station Chief Chen, have any trapped people been found near the mountain peak?"

Station Chief Chen pointed to the outside of the fire line.

"Not yet. The last batch of tourists on the scenic area surveillance evacuated via the south route, and we cleared a section of the north route. The fire is too big; you can't just enter the area ahead."

"What about the mountain top clearing, the edge of the forest, and the wild trails?"

"We haven't finished clearing them yet."

Station Chief Chen spread the map out on a rock, his finger pressing on the north side.

"The biggest problem right now is containing the fire. If the wind gets any stronger, this fire will push eastward. A firebreak must be cleared, but the tools and manpower haven't fully arrived."

Li Li stared at the map.

"The hoses are only at 1,300 meters right now."

"Correct. Vehicles can't come up; it all depends on manual connection, which is slow."

"What about the drones?"

"They can see the heat sources on the outer ring, but the smoke is too thick to see inside."

"Jiang Rumu's last real-time location was in the mountain top clearing."

Station Chief Chen looked up.

"She wasn't registered on the scenic area evacuation list. But tourists don't necessarily register when they come down."

"The phone hasn't been connecting."

"Maybe the phone was dropped, or maybe there's no signal."

Station Chief Chen paused.

"Li Li, don't go in by yourself. If you go in, I have to send someone with you. But everyone has a position right now, and I can't spare anyone."

Li Li didn't respond to that.

He turned to look at the path he had come from.

The man in black from earlier was gone.

Li Li spoke up.

"Station Chief Chen, I encountered a man in black coming down the mountain when I was coming up."

Station Chief Chen's hand, which was pressing on the map, stopped.

"What man in black?"

"Carrying a shriveled backpack, injured left foot, walking down from above."

Station Chief Chen turned to ask the Firefighters nearby.

"Did any of you see him?"

Several people shook their heads.

"No."

"We only saw people from our team on this side."

"The tourists had already evacuated."

Station Chief Chen turned back.

"Are you sure he came down from above?"

"He was about five minutes up from the end of the hose line."

Station Chief Chen picked up the walkie-talkie.

"North line, 1,500 to 2,000-meter section, be on the lookout for a man in black, backpack, injured left foot, currently evacuating downwards. Has anyone seen him?"

The walkie-talkie quickly transmitted a response.

"Not seen in section two."

"Not seen in section three."

"Not on the main road."

Li Li hung his helmet on the handlebars.

The mountain path was narrow.

If a person was walking down, it was impossible for all the teams not to have seen him.

Unless he didn't take the main road.

Or he intentionally avoided the Fire Department.

Station Chief Chen put down the walkie-talkie.

"It's basically all Firefighters here now. With a fire this big, people who could leave should have gone down long ago."

Li Li took out his phone and dialed Jiang Rumu again.

Dialing.

Failed.

He stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

"Station Chief Chen, that person had a strange smell on him."

Station Chief Chen's expression changed.

The scenic area person in charge next to him also stopped flipping through the tourist list.

"There was no construction, no paint maintenance, and no fuel equipment at the mountain peak today."

Station Chief Chen immediately picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Cheng Songyan! Notify the police downstairs to seal off the North Gate and side roads, and investigate a man in black. Black clothes, backpack, injured left foot. Simultaneously notify the Public Security Bureau; suspected arson."

Cheng Songyan replied quickly from the other side.

"Received!"

On the other side of the mountain path.

The man in black hid behind the wild path and looked down at his phone.

A message popped up on the screen.

[Is the target still on the mountain?]

His hand paused for a moment.

That motorcycle from earlier was too fast.

Fast enough that he didn't have time to hide his face.

He deleted the text he had originally typed and re-entered it.

[A man came up on a motorcycle.]

The other side replied after a few seconds.

[Firefighter?]

The man in black licked his dry lips.

[It's Li Li.]

After these three words were sent, the chat box was silent for a long time.

A new message finally popped up.

[Leave. Immediately.]

The man in black stuffed his phone back into his pocket, took a white short-sleeved shirt out of his backpack, put it on, turned, and dove deeper into the woods.

On the platform.

A prompt popped up in Li Li's mind.

[Emergency mission triggered.]

[Mission 1: Rescue Teacher Jiang. Reward: Bone Setting Mastery.]

[Mission 2: Capture the lurking arsonist. Reward: Interrogation Mastery.]

[Warning: The two mission targets are moving away from the same safe path; only one mission can be completed.]

[Please select a priority target.]

Station Chief Chen was still coordinating people.

"Li Li, don't move, wait for the police to come up."

Li Li raised his hand and touched the motorcycle key.

The motorcycle engine was still vibrating.

In front of the fire line, the wind pressed the smoke toward the mountain top clearing.

Below in the wild path, branches were suddenly stepped on, making a sound.

Li Li turned his head and looked at the small path hidden by bushes.