A male waiter from the café interrupted, "It seems like someone deliberately set the fire. I just went out to dump garbage in the back alley and saw two people wearing masks, carrying a bucket, rushing past me. They had a strong smell of gasoline on them. The two of them got into a van at the mouth of the alley and drove off, and then the Emperor's Pavilion caught fire."
Xu Xiangbei hurried out of Heji Cafe. The air was thick with the scent of burning, and flames were fiercely rising from the Emperor's Pavilion just a few shops away.
There were still some people watching the fire. The blaze was too big to be extinguished, and Xu Xiangbei stood there dazed among the crowd, watching. By the time the fire trucks arrived and put out the fire, the Emperor's Pavilion was reduced to an empty shell. Thankfully, the fire didn't spread to the neighboring shops.
