A Hero's Heart - Chapter 14

I had never seen a more terrible face.

His entire face was covered by scars, with a hideous wound stretching from his cheekbone to the corner of his mouth.

The scar was crimson at the center, with strange black light flickering through it. Fine red lines spread outward from the wound.

It was as if red thread had been wrapped tightly around his face, cutting it into pieces.

Even I took a step back.

The masked man realized that his mask had fallen. With a shriek, he raised both hands to cover his face.

But it was too late.

Everyone there had seen him—the servants who had arrived behind us as well as me.

Every one of them collapsed in terror.

“Monster! He’s a monster!” someone cried.

“I’m not a monster!” the masked man roared.

Lu Zichen frowned and moved Seventeen and Zhao Yihuan behind him. “If you aren’t a monster, then what are you? Look at your own face!”

The masked man glared at him. After a long pause, he laughed.

“Since you’re so curious, let me give you a closer look.”

He lunged forward and drew a dagger from somewhere on his body. He moved so quickly that several bloody gashes opened across Lu Zichen’s handsome face before I could stop him.

Furious, I struck the masked man with my palm and sent him flying. When he raised his hand to shield his face, I swiftly drove my hairpin through the tendons in his hand.

He gave a muffled grunt but still held the hand over his face.

“Even if you were changed into this, it still wouldn’t make you a monster for killing innocent people.” I stood behind him, disgust filling my voice.

He burst into laughter.

I came up behind him and pressed the hairpin against his throat.

He seemed to struggle for breath, but his gaze remained fixed on Lu Zichen. “How would you know? You don’t know how many people have laughed at this face of mine! And now you call me a monster!”

“You’re the Demon Cult’s first beauty, Gu Changting?” Lu Zichen covered his bleeding cheek and stared at the masked man in astonishment.

Gu Changting sneered. “What Demon Cult? They’re nothing but a pack of useless trash.”

“If they hadn’t betrayed me, how could Jiang Wenzhu have infiltrated the Demon Cult? And how could he have destroyed the mechanism at my lair?” His teeth clenched. Hatred filled his eyes. “Every one of them deserves to die!”

The title of the Demon Cult’s first beauty had left me with a particular impression.

The eldest senior sister had once told me about it. I had assumed the first beauty was a woman.

I never expected it to be a man this ugly.

I pressed the hairpin into his shoulder. “The Demon Cult betrayed you, and Jiang Wenzhu ruined your face. If you want revenge, go after them. Why harm innocent women?”

“Why should I care?” He reached toward his own ruined face, his expression twisted. “Even if the whole world were added together, none of it would matter as much as my face.”

“If you want to heal your face, find a doctor.” I could not hide my contempt.

He laughed. “Jiang Wenzhu shattered the Star-Picking Sword against my bones. What doctor in this world could possibly heal me?”

“I found a record in an ancient Demon Cult text. It said that if I applied the fresh blood of a virgin to my face every three days and added the essence of wild beasts, my skin could regain its former glow, as if a new life had begun.”

The more he spoke, the more intoxicated he became. He seemed already to see himself restored to his former beauty.

I interrupted his fantasy. “But the truth is that you look like a ghost. You aren’t even human anymore. You’ve already become a real monster.”

He froze.

The blood on his face seemed to drain away completely. At last, his body could no longer remain upright, and he collapsed.

His face was covered in blood. With the scar running through it, he looked even more sinister and terrifying.

Seeing him like that, the servants did not dare come any closer.

Only then did I finally breathe out.

Looking at Lu Zichen’s face, which had nearly been ruined, I felt a little guilty.