Heng was not a hero. The fact was his cowardice and spinelessness were rare traits in team China. The old him was not worthy of being trusted despite his exceptional archery skills. This mental flaw made him the most unstable person in the team.
Up to A Nightmare on Elm Street, he was still running away. Even though he was training with his hearts out, even though he was growing stronger, he never became someone worthy of being trusted. Strength was not the determining factor at this point.
In A Nightmare on Elm Street, Heng found the one thing he had long lost — courage. He found the courage that he used to have, the courage to bear, to challenge, to atone. This courage brought him in front of the lover he once abandoned and allowed him to look straight at blood and deaths. Courage was not determined by strength nor the trump cards one have. It was the composure one would display in times of danger and despair. Only in truly desperate situations would one display true courage.
Northern China in 1940 — a place in hell.
Heng was the only member sent to a Japanese occupied area. One day and night of witnessing the events happening in this land brought him new understanding of courage. Courage was the adjective of this era.
He hadn’t slept for the past day and night. Since killing the dozens of Japanese army, he regularly fell into rumination.
In the cold and serene night, YanWei fell asleep until a low voice woke her up. She opened her sleepy eyes and rubbed them. It took a while for her to discover she was in Heng’s arms. She immediately broke free.
Heng was speaking with a silver plate in hand so he didn’t get to stop her. He finished up the conversation then folded the silver plate.
Once out of Heng’s arms, YanWei felt the chilly air enveloped her. Morning in this land was cold. If it wasn’t for Heng’s body temperature keeping her warm, she might not have woken given her physical fitness. Her body shivered after leaving Heng’s arms.
Heng halted the impulse of embracing her again and sighed. He took out a piece of clothe from the storage bag that Xuan gave him then put it on YanWei. She did not retort nor reject it as she would usually do.
YanWei asked curiously, “Who contacted you? What did you say?”
The question struck Heng’s heart. He immediately answered, “WangXia contacted me to say Xuan’s plan has begun. I have to defeat or destroy a Japanese army within twelve hours. It has to be a division or bigger… Have you gotten enough sleep? If you haven’t we can find a town or village. I was inconsiderate. You don’t have the same physical fitness as me.”
YanWei asked, “Do you know how many people are in a division during World War II? By the sound of it, WangXia wanted you to defeat a regular army and not a puppet army.”
Heng was surprised to hear such a question from her. He answered, “Yes. That’s what he meant. And since this is Xuan’s plan so I have to complete it without fail. I believe he has something grand in plan again.”
YanWei laughed coldly. “How shameless. Who do you think you are? A god or hero? A weakling who fears blood is saying he will defeat a Japanese army division by himself. Either you are crazy or the person who gave the order is crazy. And only you will follow this kind of orders.”
Heng looked at her while her eyes were looking elsewhere. He smiled as he felt a warmth spread through his body. He glanced at his watch, eight forty five. “Before we begin the mission, we should have a talk —“
YanWei said, “Talk? What is there for us to talk?”
“No. It’s not about us.” Heng said in a serious tone. “It’s about the realm and teams. I heard Zheng said that you died in the first movie so you do not have a clear idea of this realm, the dimension, team battles, and all the adventures we experience. I don’t have the time to explain them in details so I will give you a briefing.
“First of all, they will not assign me a mission that could only get myself killed. We are comrades whose lives are bound together. We fought side by side. We lived through despair. We failed and died… So I trust them. Even if this trust is to be proven with my life. I will not doubt them!”
His eyes did not waver away from YanWei. The sincerity she saw from his eyes made her realize there were no lies, at least on the trust he held toward his team. He would return this trust with his life without any hesitation.
“Is that so?” YanWei wanted to retort. Yet, nothing came to her mind. The trust between men was too valuable to be destroyed.
She muttered, “That’s good… you found a lot of good friends in this world. But what does it have to do with this order? There’s no way you will live —“
“It’s not.” Heng shook his head. “Because we have fought many many battles in this realm. We adventured through a lot. And at the same time, our strength grew exponentially, way beyond what normal people could ever achieve. We — are the players of this realm. We are destined to transcend the human limit. We will keep getting stronger and stronger or else we won’t be able to survive. Do you get it?”
YanWei was dazed. She had never seen nor imagined this side of Heng. However, the Heng right now gave her a sense of safety… It must be a delusion. A delusion!
“And then?” YanWei laughed coldly. “What are you planning to do after you get strong?”
“Of course it is to complete the order, defeat or destroy a Japanese army division!”
Heng was aware that he was strong. He could rank within top five in the team if psychological quality was taken out of the equation. Give him enough distance, and he might even move up to top three. However, he did not have the mentality nor the psychological quality of someone strong. His mind was frozen at the weakling and coward that abandoned his beloved and ran. Heng was only strong on the surface. Without this holding him back, he could have killed Zheng back in Final Destination.
Once his only weakness disappeared, how high would his strength climb? Heng didn’t know the answer.
Ten seventeen in the morning, Heng finished scouting the Japanese army using the information WangXia gave him. The exceptional movement from the Sky Stick allowed him to quickly find the Japanese army. This army was different from the army stationed in Shanghai. This was an army who fought through battles and were advancing toward the frontline. They had superior equipment. It was discouraging to admit as a Chinese, but this army was one of the strongest army in Asia during this era.
Heng quietly watched the army. His heart shivered a little. Not because he was scared of fighting the army but the sight of so many people together was breathtaking. The terrible aftermath he witnessed in this northern land was a reason enough for him to kill his way into this army without Xuan’s order.
When standing on even ground, one could not even see the boundary of a sea of ten thousand people. Furthermore, a Japanese army division on the go had over twenty thousand people. This crowded land was visually astounding. Heng sighed as he the thought of these people dying to his hands came to his mind, even though his heart had become firm as iron.
“YanWei… I shouldn’t have let you come. Why couldn’t you stay in that village?” He asked the girl standing behind him.
YanWei was fastened to his back by a piece of cloth. There was no way for her to stay anchored on the Sky Stick once it began to move in extreme speed. So this was the only way for her to remain on the Sky Stick safely.
She replied with a snort. “Who knows if what you said was true or not. I want to watch you run at the sight of a strong enemy.”
Heng sighed again then focused his attention to the Japanese soldiers below. The two had put on the Dragonshard necklaces. The energy stones and the silver bow were ready in Heng’s hands. He was prepared to fight with all he had.
“Let’s begin!” Heng gave a shout.
Heng drew the string with an energy stone. A bright silver light concentrated on the bow. As he released his fingers, the light turned into numerous light arrows and rained onto the ground. It was as though a pair of silver light wings spread in the sky and Heng was standing in the center of the wings.