I am a master in India

Chapter 226 Fire
The crowd cheered and shouted as they marched south. Ashish, who had initially been just watching from the sidelines, couldn't resist the calls of the dancing crowd and joined them.

He suddenly darted out from the roadside and joined the dense, twitching crowd. He wasn't good at it, and his dancing was unsteady and clumsy, yet he kept pushing his way into the center of the dance group.

He stretched out his arms to balance himself, as if stepping on rows of stones in a shallow river to cross it. Occasionally, he would suddenly turn around, lean to the side, and then burst into laughter.

His yellow shirt flashed in the crowd as he danced. The revelry moved along the long street, heading south, south, south.

The girls threw out colorful paints—red, yellow, green… bursting out in clusters, falling like rain onto the ever-surging crowd.

The somewhat discordant drumbeats led the long procession forward without stopping. Crowds of revelers in the streets were constantly drawn in and joined in.

The cheers grew increasingly louder, and the already thunderous applause now resounded throughout the entire street.

Carnival processions like this were everywhere in Mumbai, and some narrow alleyways were even blocked and unable to move.

The crowd from the Sur slum had a clear objective: to reach South Mumbai and the bustling Haynes Road.

As they drew closer to their target, Amor gestured to the musicians. The drumbeats changed, becoming more impassioned.

The men in the group slowly moved forward, while the women and children gradually fell behind.

The palace! It's right there!
Amor raised the flag and shouted, "For the sun god, Surya! Purify sin!"

He led the charge, and the men followed him toward the magnificent building.

The musicians' drumming changed again, and they automatically separated from the group. The women and children continued forward with the musicians, and the entire group split in two.

There was a lot more security around the palace than before, as if they were on guard against something.

Today is Holi, and the security personnel, having relaxed their vigilance, are standing at the entrance watching the festivities with smiles on their faces.

When Amor and his men charged over, they didn't even have time to react.

One, two, three…dozens. The security guards were alarmed and raised their sticks to try and disperse the crowd. Some even drew their guns.

But somehow, the men suddenly had a tool in their hands: a wrench, an iron pipe, and a steel chisel.
They are workers, so it's reasonable for them to carry wrenches, hammers, and the like.

In a panic, the palace guards raised their guns, preparing to aim at the person at the front carrying the flag.

In the blink of an eye, a wrench flew over and hit him squarely in the face.

The guard, his face covered in blood, collapsed to the ground screaming in agony. The crowd rushed over and struck him with hammers and whipped him with iron pipes.

In no time, the guard with the gun had a hole punched in his head.

Red and white paint were smeared all over the ground.

The others were terrified and screamed as they ran away.

It was no use; there were too many people. The hundreds of guards in the palace were overwhelmed by the crowd in the blink of an eye.

Amor received orders to leave no one alive; none of the palace's thugs would be able to leave this gate today.

Ron knew that Lady Elizabeth had only been in Mumbai for two years, and her influence was still shallow, with all her staff residing in the palace.

She is not part of the Daoud gang; their members are scattered throughout Mumbai, making it difficult to eliminate them all at once.

The palace was her pride, but it was also the best target for concentrated attacks.

Following the flag, the crowd that rushed in grew to hundreds, thousands... tens of thousands!
The palace gates were like a breached dam, a dark, surging torrent that surged forward relentlessly.

People, wooden doors, and railings that stood in its way were smashed open, torn apart, and washed away.

The torrent rushed from the first floor to the third floor, kicking open the doors of every room they passed and driving the people inside out with screams.

The sound of shattering glass, the sharp scraping of metal railings, the screams and shouts of the crowd…

Under the onslaught of tens of thousands of people, the massive and imposing palace proved as fragile as a sheet of paper.

The revelry in the streets continued, with colorful powder obscuring the sky as people jumped and laughed.

Suddenly, a white wisp appeared amidst the vibrant colored powder—no, it was thick smoke!
The fire shot into the sky almost instantly, and the heat wave forced the celebrating crowd to flee in disarray.

"Burn it! Burn it!" people shouted as they ran.

The fire spread too quickly, making rescue impossible. People could only stand at a distance and watch helplessly as this den of iniquity was licked and engulfed by flames.

Amor's troops had already rushed out of the palace, and they watched the fire rage alongside the crowds in the streets.

The musicians who had left earlier had somehow returned, and the sounds of drums, flutes, and trumpets echoed through the air.

The group began to move again. Amor led his men north; they had another place to attack, but this time it was for their own sake.

The crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed, and soon only a few scattered figures remained on Haines Road.

The streets looked like an overturned palette of paint, a complete mess.

Inside a car in the corner, Ron slowly rolled up the window and closed his eyes.

Anil waved, the driver started the car, and it drove away.

...

The fire in the palace burned for three days and three nights, and it was completely destroyed.

It was Holi, and Mumbai was in full swing with celebrations. Even if firefighters wanted to help, they were powerless to do so.

Because the streets were so congested that it was impossible to move an inch, the parade and floats completely blocked the streets and alleys.

It wasn't until the fifth day that the neighborhood returned to normal. The palace building was still there, as were the stairs and the rooms upstairs, but it was completely dark and there was no possibility of it reopening.

No one came to check on it from beginning to end, not even the police; it was as if they had received some kind of order.

In the streets and alleys, people gradually stopped mentioning the palace, as if it had been forgotten.

But soon, two more uninvited guests arrived on Haines Road.

"Are you sure you want to go up?" Ron asked, sitting in the car and surveying the black ruins.

“We have to see it for ourselves,” Mary said firmly.

“The fire burned for three whole days. She might have been a lump of charcoal by now.” Ron shrugged. “My men kept watch here until the fire died down, and no one came out of here.”

"You underestimate her. She's an instructor, and she's extremely cunning."

"Alright, take care of yourselves. I'll be right here, let me know if you need anything."

Lady Elizabeth was Mary and Lena's obsession; they had to settle things with her. The palace's main facade, protected by marble, was almost intact. However, the metal panels, wooden planks, and lace curtains on the windows were burned beyond recognition.

The main entrance was blocked by a jumble of debris, so the two had to find another way in.

There's a narrow alleyway on the side street that leads directly to the back of the palace. Compared to the grandeur of the main gate, this narrow alley is quite dirty.

Mary and Lena carefully stepped across the black, smelly puddles floating with scum, and walked around piles of greasy, paint-powder-covered garbage.

The two looked at each other and then held their breath; it stank horribly.

The walls and fences on both sides of the alley were hastily built with stones, bricks and cement, and looked very old, covered with disgusting moss and plants.

They checked each building along the street corner one by one, and finally managed to find the back door by following the clues.

Mary pushed the low wooden door embedded in the tall stone wall, and the door opened immediately.

The two walked into the spacious backyard, a place that had once been a luxurious, beautiful, and quiet retreat, but which was no longer there.

A heavy ceramic vase was pushed over and shattered on the ground. Clogs of dirt and a watering can were scattered everywhere, creating a mess.

The furniture in the courtyard was smashed and burned, and even the tiles on the ground were cracked in many places, as if they had been hit with a hammer.

Lena found a blackened door leading into the house; the door was unlocked.

She nodded to Mary, drew the dagger from her waist, and pushed the door open, the rusty metal creaking and rattling.

“Be careful, that Abu isn’t an ordinary person,” Mary warned her.

"I've waited far too long for this day." Lena took a deep breath and stepped inside.

It was dark inside, with broken plates, jars, wine glasses and other utensils scattered haphazardly among the black pieces of furniture and fallen beams on the floor.

Mary suddenly regretted not bringing a flashlight. In the pitch black, every step was fraught with danger.

She carefully walked around the kitchen on the first floor and onto the corridor leading to the lobby.

The rooms that were passed through were mostly destroyed by the fire, and in some places the ceilings even collapsed.

The charred bracket protruded from the hole in the top, resembling the remains of some kind of giant beast.

Near the lobby, they found the stairs. It was the same staircase Ron and Hela had climbed to rescue her friend.

The wallpaper that used to be so colorful and textured in the hallway has now been burned and is peeling off the bubbling walls.

The wooden staircase was carbonized, and the carpet on it was burned into rolls of filamentous ash.

Lena tested it with her foot, and it seemed to be reliable enough.

“I’ll go up first.” She nodded to Mary and then gently stepped onto the stairs.

"If things don't look right, get down immediately."

“I was prepared; I brought some things with me.”

Lena gripped the dagger in her hand and slowly made her way uphill. She took each step lightly before firmly setting her foot down.

The charred staircase creaked slightly, like the groan of old, rotten wood.

Upon reaching the second floor, Lena first cautiously looked around, then let out a soft whistle.

Mary followed the path she had taken up the stairs, but halfway up, she suddenly lost her footing.

The wooden plank couldn't withstand the repeated impacts and broke.

Mary braced herself with her hands on the stairs in front of her, nimbly flipping upwards. With quick, rapid steps, she reached the second floor.

It was darker here than downstairs. The two leaned against the wall for a while to adjust before continuing forward.

There was a large hole in the floor of the second-floor corridor, but luckily Mary was alert and led Lena around it in small steps.

The traces of the raging fire are visible everywhere; many walls have holes, and blackened debris is scattered throughout the corridors.

However, some areas are perfectly intact and look very clean.

The coexistence of its former grandeur and its current dilapidated state gives the building an eerie atmosphere.

Mary and Lena were walking down the wide corridor when suddenly the floor beneath their feet shattered as if it were thin paper.

The two women suddenly swayed, lost their balance, and crashed into the wall beside them. The wall collapsed, and they both fell to the ground.

Everything happened too fast; there was no time to react. Fortunately, the wall wasn't completely hollow, and the two landed with a thud.

"Damn it, the walls here are like paper," Lena cursed.

“They were just paper, wallpaper,” Mary said, tugging at the tattered cloth in front of her.

It turns out that the wall they had just been leaning against was actually just a layer of plywood covered with wallpaper featuring intricate patterns.

After the fire, the place had long since lost its support.

“It looks like a secret passage.” Lena stomped her foot.

"The rumors are true; she does indeed like to spy on guests in secret corridors."

Mary dusted herself off and looked around. The corridor was very low, stretching forward and following the shape of the room around the corner.

As they walked down the corridor, passing through rooms, they could see metal railings embedded in the walls, which were of varying heights.

Below the tall metal railings were tiered wooden stairs. Mary stepped forward and stood at the top of the stairs.

Through the heart-shaped opening in the metal railing, the room was laid bare: a cracked mirror on the wall, a burnt-out bed, and a blackened bedside table.

“She was standing here spying,” Mary said, frowning with disgust.

“She’s a madwoman, a pervert!” Lena snapped.

The two women didn't want to stay there any longer, so they moved forward until they reached a point where the slope of the corridor suddenly increased.

Their intuition told them that going up from here would lead to the third floor.

Rumor has it that Lady Elizabeth lives on the third floor, and she has her own secret space.

Mary and Lena exchanged a glance and simultaneously gripped their daggers tighter.

(End of this chapter)