The Innocent Heart - Chapter 3

In fighting, practice is paramount. As Guan Yueyao walked down the street, she looked at the little brat trailing behind her, considering how to instruct her new subordinate.

Although she was a delinquent, she wasn’t so wicked as to randomly grab someone off the street and drag them to the side of the road for a beating.

However, an opportunity for practice quickly presented itself.

Two slightly drunk, shiftless men, arms draped over each other’s shoulders, staggered past the pair. Crack! Guan Yueyao’s shoulder collided with one of the men.

“You stinking beggar! Do you have a death wish?” Guan Yueyao was preoccupied with her thoughts and reacted too slowly. The man across from her grabbed her collar, and a strong stench of alcohol made her frown.

“Let him go!” The angry shout of Huo Qubing beside her also rang out. Everything was chaotic, which only made Guan Yueyao’s mood more volatile.

“Shut up!” she roared. Suddenly, she leaned her body backward, then slammed her forehead hard into the nose of the man gripping her collar.

“Aww!!!” A shriek nearly echoed down the entire street. Huo Qubing stared wide-eyed as the robust man, who was a good half-head taller than Guan Yueyao, staggered back from the blow. He was now clutching his nose with both hands, howling in pain.

Of course, the lout’s companion was not a pushover. Seeing his friend disadvantaged, he took a drunken step and lunged toward Guan Yueyao. Having had time to react, Guan Yueyao was already prepared. She casually scooped up a wooden stick from behind her and swung it at the man’s body.

Fights between low-level thugs lacked rules or refinement; the sole objective was to knock the opponent down. To outsiders, it appeared base and utterly lacking in martial virtue.

Huo Qubing watched as the “youth” used the wooden stick to subdue two adults significantly taller than himself in just a few moves. She was still kicking the lout who was rolling on the ground in pain, her mouth spewing insults nonstop.

“How dare you come looking for trouble with your grandpa! Didn’t you even bother to ask for your grandpa’s name?” Guan Yueyao scowled, resting the wooden stick on her shoulder and glaring at the men sitting on the ground.

“M-may I ask the name of this heroic master?” one of the louts stammered weakly, timidly looking at the youth before him. He felt an inexplicable sense of discord about the person.

“I do not change my name or my surname: Guan Yueyao of Nancheng Middle School.”

As Guan Yueyao’s words fell, both louts momentarily wore a blank expression, followed by confusion. They had been roaming the area for some years. When did this ‘Guan Yueyao of Nancheng Middle School’ appear on the scene?

But Guan Yueyao no longer cared about them. She shook her head, pouting ostentatiously, and glanced contemptuously at her two “defeated opponents” before walking past them.

“How about that? Did you learn anything? Is that how you’ll fight from now on?” After walking a bit further, Guan Yueyao turned back to look at the little brat still following her.

The brat’s face was sullen, and he was looking at her with disdain.

“That’s not the kind of fighting I want to learn,” Huo Qubing stated.

“Hiss… Are you looking for a fight, kid?!” Guan Yueyao’s face darkened. She took two steps closer to the child, lowered her head, and glared at him.

During puberty, girls generally develop earlier than boys, and Guan Yueyao also seemed to be about two years older than the boy named Huo Qubing.

At this moment, Guan Yueyao was significantly more than half a head taller than Huo Qubing.

Huo Qubing was not intimidated by Guan Yueyao’s glare, nor did he seem bothered by the difference in height. He looked up and glared right back.

“I know you definitely have other skills. Your stance is very stable, so you must know more than just some clumsy, makeshift moves. I want to learn those—those strange techniques you used,” Huo Qubing said seriously this time.

This was the first time anyone had spoken to her so earnestly. It was also the first time someone had focused their gaze on her without fear or an intention to take advantage.

The child named Huo Qubing genuinely seemed interested in the martial arts skills she possessed.

The feeling was strange, and Guan Yueyao couldn’t quite articulate it. When she was in school in Japan, her classmates and the subordinates who clung to her feared her far more than they liked her.

It had been a long time since anyone had paid attention to anything about her as a person. People’s eyes, after glancing at her, would always quickly shift away, either out of fear or disgust.

“You… you want to practice the horse stance? Why didn’t you just say so! Honestly!” Suddenly feeling a bit awkward, she responded with a harsh tone.

“If I practice this, will my stance also be as stable as yours?” Huo Qubing did not know what was going through Guan Yueyao’s mind; he was simply presenting his question seriously.

“That’s the basic training for martial arts. Only once you’ve mastered the horse stance can we talk about anything else,” perhaps influenced by Huo Qubing’s attitude, Guan Yueyao unconsciously became serious, too.

“Good. Then I’ll practice that,” the boy nodded, a hint of anticipation even rising on his face.

She had been in this era for some time now. From the mouths of others, she knew this was the Han dynasty, the former Emperor’s posthumous title was Jing, and this city was the capital, Chang’an.

Unfortunately, she had only finished the sixth grade before moving to Japan with her mother, leaving her with only a superficial understanding of Chinese history.

She did not know, nor did she particularly care, who the reigning Emperor was. Guan Yueyao was completely unaware of the magnificent and turbulent era she now found herself in.

However, she did know that the boy beside her, judging by his clothes, clearly came from one of Chang’an’s wealthy families and was likely accustomed to being pampered.

“The horse stance is very tiring. Can you endure it?” As they walked, Guan Yueyao turned her head, looking at Huo Qubing with some suspicion.

“I can. When I grow up, I want to follow my maternal uncle and fight the Xiongnu!” Saying this, Huo Qubing’s eyes lit up, and his expression became highly agitated.

“The Xiongnu?” Guan Yueyao pondered the term. She seemed to have no clear concept of it, yet it felt somewhat familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere.

“You don’t even know about the Xiongnu? Those barbarians raid our borders every year, plundering countless people and treasures from the Han frontiers. Sooner or later, I will wipe out these damned barbarians and secure the borders of our great Han!”

The boy spoke decisively, his childish face showing a determination that did not match his age.

“That’s wonderful,” perhaps infected by the boy’s fervor, Guan Yueyao looked at him and said sincerely. In her heart, there was even a trace of envy, envying that the boy named Huo Qubing had already found his goal for the future.

What do I want to do later? Because of Huo Qubing’s words, Guan Yueyao couldn’t help but start thinking about this question herself.

Her mind was a blank slate regarding the future; she didn’t know what she wanted to do or what kind of person she wanted to become.

“Aren’t you going to laugh at me for daydreaming?” Suddenly, the boy’s voice reached her ears again.

“Why would I mock you? Is this daydreaming?” Guan Yueyao was perplexed, turning her head to look at the boy.

Huo Qubing’s expression stiffened, but he quickly smiled again: “Good! When I become a great general, I will definitely make you my vice-general!” the boy said with considerable bravado.

“If you are going to learn martial arts from me, I am your master. How can I be your vice-general?” Guan Yueyao was actually quite tempted, but she still wanted to get the better of Huo Qubing verbally.

The two bickered as they walked, and before they knew it, they arrived at Guan Yueyao’s dwelling place.

“You live here?” Huo Qubing opened his mouth, hesitating to speak.

“Yes, I’ve been living here for several months. What about it?” Guan Yueyao, confused, scratched her head and ignored Huo Qubing, proceeding to climb over the already dilapidated courtyard wall first.

Huo Qubing watched Guan Yueyao’s figure disappear over the wall. Having grown up in Chang’an, he had heard endless rumors about this house.

Seeing the desolate scene through the gaps in the wall, the scary stories he had heard from the maids all rushed back into his mind. He watched the top of the wall, momentarily unable to decide whether he should follow Guan Yueyao into the courtyard.

Could it be the fierce ghosts of the Ying family coming to snatch the souls of the living? The thought flashed through his mind. Then, recalling the physical contact during their brawl, he reassured himself that Guan Yueyao had a normal body temperature.

With this thought, Huo Qubing’s mind calmed down slightly. Just then, Guan Yueyao’s voice came from the other side of the wall.

“What are you doing? Why are you lagging? Are you having second thoughts about the horse stance?” Guan Yueyao braced her arms, poking her head over the wall, speaking in a provocative tone.

Being at the height of his youthful spirit, coupled with his naturally fierce temperament, Huo Qubing could not stand being provoked. He immediately cast all the scary legends to the back of his mind and nimbly vaulted over the wall.

Landing on the ground, Huo Qubing was still a bit nervous, nervously surveying his surroundings, seemingly ready to retreat immediately if he noticed anything amiss.

The residence had been abandoned for a long time. Half-man-high weeds covered the courtyard, and towering ancient trees grew unrestrainedly due to a lack of disturbance.

“Hurry up, keep up, keep up,” Guan Yueyao walked ahead, taking the familiar route toward the broken house where she typically stayed.

Huo Qubing followed behind. Aside from the occasional startled bird or some small animals he hadn’t seen before, there seemed to be nothing unusual.

He gradually relaxed. It seemed that the ‘Haunted House’ rumored to be so dangerous in the capital was nothing more than this.

Having discovered a secret unknown to others, the boy’s heart swelled with smugness. Seeing Guan Yueyao’s figure getting a little too far ahead, he ran a few steps to catch up.

“You live here?” Huo Qubing said, looking at the dilapidated, wind-and-rain-leaking shack with a hint of disgust.

“Yes, this is the only place I have now. Where else would I live?” Guan Yueyao did not feel troubled. On the contrary, this place, far from people, made her feel at ease.

In this strange era, she still felt like an outsider who had mistakenly stumbled in, lingering on the periphery and unwilling to assimilate.

Perhaps this boy in front of her would become that catalyst? Just as Guan Yueyao did not know what kind of remarkable era she had fallen into, she also did not know that the boy standing before her would become the one to stir up the entire political situation.

Nor did she know what kind of waves he would raise in this era, or what kind of strategic game he would lead her into.