Chapter 993

It took John considerable effort to open his eyes.

The pain that caught him off guard just now stopped short of knocking him out, and he had to use every bit of strength to retain his consciousness.

After all, what would happen to Cordy if he blacked out?

Gritting his teeth, he used all his strength to pick up the wet fabric Cordy dropped on the floor, holding it against her nose.

Cordy’s heart skipped a beat—he was hurt, but the first thing he did once he reimagined consciousness was to protect her.

She had been so scared that she forgot to pick up the wet fabric after she dropped it, along with the fact that she could die from inhaling too much smoke as well.

Her eyes were red. Then, she heard John rasping, “You have to always take care of yourself…”

And yet, he didn’t do the same when danger struck just now.

In fact, she clearly felt him pushing her out of harm’s way so that the chandelier only struck his back and not her.

Cordy bit her lip, awash with a mess of emotions.

However, there was no time to think when their lives were on the line!

At the same time, John had pushed himself off the floor.

He had no time to check the wounds over his back or rest-once he got up, he pulled Cordy along and kept advancing.

Even so, the fires ahead were worse. Even their damp clothes seemed to have dried off instantly, scalding them all over.

The wet fabric over their mouths wasn’t working much either. Their nostrils and throats felt as if they were aflame, their breathing endlessly impeded and getting more laborious by the moment.

Thud!

Suddenly, Cordy dropped on the floor.

She wasn’t struck by something falling overhead, however-her body had simply reached its limit.

John immediately dropped to a crouch to try and help her up, just as she pushed herself up as well.

However, her knees caved again as she got up, and she dropped to the floor once more.

This might be it-her whole body burned even if the fire hadn’t reached her, and her skin could no longer withstand the heat around her.

All she could feel was pain everywhere around her body.

“Leave me…” she said as she collapsed on the floor.

She certainly wanted to live-she would never bear to leave Dicky alone, but she really had nowhere to go.

Worse, she would just burden John.

However, he might be able to make it out alone.

“Get on my back,” John said, crouching in front of her.

Cordy stared at him for a moment, and he urged, “Now!”

The longer they stayed, the worse it would be-it wasn’t just Cordy, he couldn’t breathe either.

But he would never give up, because he must get Cordy out of here.

She must live.

As such, Cordy used the last bit of her strength to crawl up John’s back, knowing full well that John wasn’t going to let her down.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come back for her at all.

She mustn’t tarry for every second counts, and they could die at any moment.

And she really didn’t want John to die with her-having one of them survive was good enough, since Dicky at least wouldn’t become an orphan.

She was convinced that John wouldn’t abandon Dicky even if she died.

“John…” she murmured feebly, as her vision grew too cloudy to see ahead.

She could vaguely feel that the fire was now all around them, and they had no place to go.