A Hero's Heart - Chapter 1

It had been two years since Jiang Wenzhu, leader of the martial alliance, vanished. With the alliance leader’s seat empty, the remnants of the Demon Cult had grown more rampant by the day.

The sects gathered to discuss the matter for several days. In the end, they decided to move the Martial Arts Tournament, originally scheduled for a year from now, forward.

“Father, why aren’t we taking part in the tournament?” I charged into the training hall, full of indignation.

The senior and junior disciples inside all turned to look at me.

My father’s beard bristled with anger. “The Martial Arts Tournament? Who’s going?”

“You?” He pointed at the second senior brother.

The senior brother lowered his head.

“You?” he asked again, looking at the eldest senior sister.

She took a step back.

“Then you?” He turned to the junior disciple who had only recently joined the sect.

The junior disciple grinned, revealing the new gap where one of his front teeth had fallen out.

I pointed at myself. “Me! I’m going!”

“Father, our Carefree Sect has always been obscure in the martial world. This tournament is the perfect chance to make a name for us. If my brother were here—”

Before I could finish, my father slapped me across the face.

He had never struck me before, not once in all the years I had been alive.

Everyone in the hall fell silent.

I covered my cheek and stared at him in disbelief. Through clenched teeth, he said, “If you dare take one step out of this sect, I’ll break your legs.”

He had said that before.

It had been two years since my brother had cut off contact with us.

I had cried and begged to go down the mountain to look for him, but Father had locked me in my room instead.

This time was no exception.

Once again, I was locked inside. This time, he even had the wooden shutters nailed over the window.

“When the tournament is over, I’ll let you out.” He left after saying this.

I pressed my ear to the door. “Father, do you really believe my brother is dead?”

He was silent for a long while.

“Your brother is dead.”

“That’s impossible!” I shouted back.

Everyone said my brother was dead, but I refused to believe it.

There had been no letter, and no body. He had simply failed to return for two years.

Perhaps he had been delayed somewhere.

Perhaps he had stumbled into trouble.

Or perhaps he had fallen into a ravine and lost his memory. Wasn’t that how the stories always explained such things?

“Junior Sister, the sect has sent people out to look for him for two years without finding even a trace. If he were still alive, someone would have found him by now.” The senior brother came to deliver my food and tried to reason with me.

I threw the food—and the dishes—back out through the doorway.

“Junior Sister, the tournament is full of experts. Even if you don’t get hurt, what if you bring shame on the sect?” The eldest senior sister came to deliver the next meal.

She had been saying the same thing all along.

I looked at her through the crack in the door. “Is there anyone in the sect who can beat me now?”

My martial skill was not as good as my brother’s, but I was still the best among us.

For the past two years, I had trained bitterly every day. Even if I couldn’t take the place of the sect’s champion, I certainly wouldn’t disgrace the Carefree Sect.

The eldest senior sister had no answer.

For several days, different senior and junior disciples took turns bringing me meals.

At last, it was the turn of the junior brother I was closest to.

He looked left and right, then secretly tossed a candy through the doorway. In a pitiful voice, he asked, “Senior Sister, can’t you take me with you? Master has been so cruel. I want to go too.”

Looking at his drafty gap-toothed smile, I shook my head.

“All right.” He drooped. “Then be careful on the road. Buy me a candied hawthorn when you come back.”

He turned away, picked up the key he had dropped, and left.

That night, when everything was quiet, I escaped through the window.

The Carefree Sect stood at the foot of Mount Luoxia, in a remote region more than a hundred li from the main tournament venue.

The tournament was still four months away.

There was plenty of time.

I followed the map I had drawn and decided to hide for a few days in Qingyun Town, north of Mount Luoxia.

It was already the second month of winter, and snow was drifting through the streets.

I pulled my coat tight and was looking for somewhere to spend the night when a burst of laughter caught my attention.

The sound came from an alley.

“Stinking beggar, dressed in rags, eating dirt, blind as a bat!”