A Hero's Heart - Chapter 4

Fifty li south of Qingyun City stood a small town called Yong’an.

We planned to rest there for two days before continuing south.

“Miss, are you really heading south?” The inn’s waiter stopped in front of us, his gaze shifting between Seventeen and me.

I nodded. “Why?”

“You’re from out of town, so you may not know.” He came closer and lowered his voice. “Beyond this town, the road south passes through a forest that is shrouded in fog all year round. It’s a dangerous place.”

The martial world was full of strange tales, and I had loved listening to them since I was little.

I leaned toward him. “Really? What makes it so dangerous?”

The waiter looked left and right, his face full of fear.

“A demon lives there that eats women.”

I raised a brow. “Oh?”

“Not a single woman who has passed through that forest has ever come out. Not long ago, several women went in, and no one has found them to this day.” The waiter shuddered. “Miss, if you’re going that way, be careful. That monster is said to specifically target women. If you see it, turn around immediately.”

An ogre that ate people was certainly not something to take lightly.

Neither was the thousand-tael reward posted for rescuing the missing women.

But the money in my purse was already running low.

Seventeen did not eat much, but I did. The money I had brought out had to support both of us for the winter, and there was not much left.

So I spent a long time hesitating before a tree tied with red silk.

In the end, Seventeen pulled the rope from around his waist.

After I had watched two dogs fighting on the road, I had somehow lost him. Worried that he would wander off again, I had tied a rope around his waist.

The other end was supposed to be held by me. But because he was so determined to drag me along, he tied it around my waist as well.

From a distance, we looked less like a traveler and a guide than two people with an unusual obsession.

I looked up at Seventeen.

He tapped twice on the stick in his hand.

It was a code we had invented. One tap meant yes; two meant no.

“Seventeen, I have to go in.” I patted his shoulder. “Those women were two people just like us. Even if there’s no one there, we can’t leave a thing that harms people unchecked.”

I sounded as though I was trying to convince myself.

Upholding justice and helping the weak was my greatest wish.

It was also my brother’s.

Seventeen untied the rope. I took the silver purse from my waist and handed it to him.

He seemed surprised.

“I’m going in to investigate. If I haven’t come out after four or five shichen—eight or ten hours—take the money and leave. Go wherever you like, even back to Qingyun City.”

Seventeen did not nod or agree. He merely sat down beneath the tree and lowered his head to study the purse.

From the way he looked at it, he seemed to be considering whether he could simply keep the money.

I snatched the purse back and scolded him deliberately. “Don’t think that you can run away the moment I go in. If I come out and don’t see you, I’ll find you and beat you until your head looks like a pig’s.”

He still did not react. He only lowered his head farther.

Like a piece of wood.

When I found my brother, I would give him a thorough scolding. If he had not spent his whole life insisting that I become a decent hero, I would never have rescued such a blockhead.

At last, exasperated, I kicked the tree beside me and tossed the purse back to Seventeen.

“Stay here. You have to wait for me. It won’t take too long.”

After giving him his instructions, I plunged into the forest that was said to be so sinister.

It was not so much a forest as a wilderness.

The moment I stepped inside, I was surrounded by endless trees, some only as tall as a person, others towering into the sky. Their branches tangled together in wild profusion.

Ordinary forests contained grass, birds, and insects.

The only unusual thing here was the thick fog hanging between the trees.

After walking for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, I realized with absolute certainty that I was lost.

I had already passed the same frost-covered tree eight times.

And perhaps it was not my imagination, but the fog had grown denser since I entered.

I steadied myself against a nearby trunk and felt the road ahead blur more and more.

This was bad.

I suddenly remembered the warning and quickly tore a strip from my clothes to cover my nose and mouth.

The fog was poisonous.