This was bad.
Li Xijiu really was the sort of person who could get beaten up just watching a commotion. Even when he ran into a restroom to hide, he managed to pick the very stall where someone had died.
Qin Manjiang ducked under the police tape and stepped onto the ruins of Threshold Cinema.
The cinema was not large, but it was still a two-story building. Tickets and snacks were sold on the ground floor, with screenings upstairs. After the fire, only the basic framework and scattered debris remained.
The air still smelled of burning, and plenty of water stains remained from the firefighting.
Under the cover of night, the charred, crumbling walls looked from a distance like people twisted into bizarre poses.
As he entered the ground floor, a distinct sense of oppression washed over him. The blackened ceiling could collapse at any moment, and parts of it already had.
"Whatever you have to do, get out of the restroom. Now."
Qin Manjiang spoke.
"Someone's here! Brother Qin..."
Li Xijiu abruptly hung up.
Qin Manjiang's heartbeat suddenly quickened.
Something had gone to the restroom to find him.
The restroom... where was the restroom?
Rubble and blackened walls lay everywhere. There was no path to speak of.
Qin Manjiang could not find any signs, so he could only guess based on the cinema's overall layout. Li Xijiu had been watching a film upstairs. Even if he had escaped the screening room and hidden in a restroom, it should have been the one upstairs.
As for getting upstairs...
The elevator was completely destroyed, but the stairs were still barely usable.
Shining his High-Intensity Flashlight ahead, Qin Manjiang clambered up with his backpack on.
Protruding rubble and wire scraped his calves now and then, soon breaking the skin. Fortunately, there was