A Hero's Heart - Chapter 9

The woman on the bed was Zhao Yihuan, the woman named in the thousand-tael bounty notice.

Her name was Zhao Yihuan.

I had to get her out.

“A grown man shouldn’t be carrying a woman,” Lu Zichen said, retreating a few steps. “Can’t you carry her?”

I rolled my eyes at him.

He said, “Stop rolling your eyes. It doesn’t look good.”

This was exactly the time I wished Seventeen were here.

Some people were better off unable to speak.

But there was no time to argue. I lifted Zhao Yihuan onto my back and hurried away from the place of danger.

The corridors were full of forks, and every opening looked alike.

We soon became lost again.

“Why aren’t they out yet? Search every passage!” A man’s voice echoed from a nearby tunnel.

I recognized the masked man’s voice.

Zhao Yihuan’s arms tightened around my neck.

After a while, she whispered in despair, “I can’t escape. You should leave me here and save yourself.”

I hated it when people said such discouraging things in front of me.

“Of course you can escape. How could you die when your father is still waiting for you? Keep holding on. You’ll live.”

Perhaps she had not expected me to answer like that. A soft laugh escaped her.

But the masked man heard it.

“They’re over there! Go after them!”

I swore under my breath and immediately turned into another passage.

We had just reached another fork. I was still wondering which way to go when a hand suddenly shot out from the right and pulled me inside.

Before I could cry out, Zhao Yihuan and I crashed into someone’s arms.

His cool, clean scent surrounded me.

I looked up and blurted, “Seventeen!”

Seventeen frowned slightly and placed one finger against his lips.

I lowered my voice. “Seventeen, why are you here? Didn’t I tell you to wait outside? It’s been so many hours. Why haven’t you left?”

Seventeen pointed toward the tunnel behind him.

Lu Zichen limped over. “He wanted to come in and find you.”

He was saying too much.

If Seventeen could tear him apart, I was sure he would.

At that moment, Seventeen tapped his stick softly against the ground.

I understood. “You know the way out?”

Seventeen nodded and turned back.

Still carrying Zhao Yihuan, I hurried after him.

The route out was just as twisted as the route in. Seventeen, however, kept one hand on the wall and walked forward without hesitation.

I did not know how long we had walked before we stopped at the end of a passage.

The way ahead was blocked by another thick stone wall.

Lu Zichen looked at it, then at Seventeen, and leaned toward my ear. “A blind man led us here. Are you sure he knows what he’s doing?”

I glanced at Seventeen. He held his stick, completely unresponsive.

I could not tell whether he had not heard or was simply used to such remarks.

“Are you sick?” I asked Lu Zichen.

Before he could answer, I pushed him aside and went to Seventeen.

“Seventeen, what is it?”

He felt along the wall ahead, then turned his head slightly toward me. His hand moved through the air for a while.

I did not know what he was searching for. Almost without thinking, I reached out my own hand.

When our fingers brushed, he paused. Then he clasped my wrist and pressed my hand against the stone wall.

His fingertips were cold, but it felt as if I had touched something that sent a current through me.

Lu Zichen’s words about the difference between men and women suddenly came back to me. My face and ears grew hot.

By the time I recovered, Seventeen had released my hand and was pressing his palm against the wall.

The stone was damp and felt different from the walls around it.

Lu Zichen noticed it, too. He came over, touched the wall, and immediately said, “This isn’t an ordinary wall.”

From somewhere behind us came a sinister laugh.

“You’re not completely stupid. But you’re too late.”