A Hand That Crosses the Wall
Ying Zheng watched the boy pulling her along by the hand as he ran ahead. Dan. Ji Dan. Why was this boy trying so hard to help her?
Ying Zheng knew there was no such thing as unconditional goodwill in this world. A world where kindness could tickle the heart without reason existed only in dreams. Even the parents who should have loved her more than anyone else had proven that. How much more so for a complete stranger with no blood ties? She had learned through bitter experience that every favor required justification. Tragically.
And yet… even so…
Why are you going this far for me…?
The question never left her lips. It simply echoed meaninglessly inside her mouth like a hollow reverberation.
Even before today, Ji Dan had shown her kindness without ever asking for anything in return. Coming all the way to Handan to meet her was the baseline. He would bring her food, tell her interesting stories, and look after her comfort in countless small ways. Yet even his goodwill had never been entirely pure.
Until today, Ji Dan had always kept an invisible wall between them. He never expressed it openly through words or actions, but the faint outline could be glimpsed in his occasional gestures and tone. Because of that, Ying Zheng had assumed his kindness toward her stemmed from the pity people so often spoke of. Or perhaps it was merely out of personal curiosity.
But today’s Ji Dan was different.
Ying Zheng paid no attention to the mob chasing after them. Instead, she quietly looked down at the hand gripping hers. Had anyone ever held her hand this tightly before? No—had she ever held anyone else’s hand at all?
Only in the very earliest days of her childhood. Even with her exceptional memory, those infant years were hazy. She might have grasped someone’s finger back then, but this was the first time anyone had held her hand with such strength that their body heat could truly be shared.
The moment Ji Dan had reached out, Ying Zheng instinctively realized that the wall he had built between them had crumbled. She somehow understood that this hand had been extended across that very barrier. And the warmth flowing from it made her forget the lingering chill of early spring.
“…It’s warm.”
“Huh? Are you tired?”
Perhaps because he was too focused on running, Ji Dan misheard her murmur and gave an offbeat reply. Unlike Ying Zheng, whose breathing remained steady, he was panting heavily. For someone who had grown up eating well and living comfortably, his stamina was worse than that of the much younger girl. At this rate, it was hard to tell who was actually saving whom.
Yet even that clumsy side of him looked, to Ying Zheng, like he was giving everything he had.
She gently squeezed back the hand that held hers.
“This way!”
At that moment, the invisible wall between them collapsed completely.
Zheng gripped my arm with surprising strength and yanked me forward. While I was still blinking in confusion at her sudden change in attitude—huh? Wait, what?—the unexpected power in her small arm changed our direction completely.
The lead switched. Zheng in front, me behind. A tiny girl no taller than my chest was now dragging a boy a full head taller than her through the twisting alleys of Handan. The sight felt strangely surreal, especially knowing that the boy being led was me—someone carrying memories from a past life.
Zheng moved without hesitation, as if she knew every backstreet in Handan by heart. Even while dragging me, the dead weight lagging farther and farther behind, she wove through the alleys with practiced ease and quickly shook off our pursuers.
Yet she didn’t stop running even after the sound of footsteps behind us faded. She understood that disappearing from sight didn’t mean we were safe. She kept moving until I finally tugged on her arm and forced us to stop.
“Wait! That’s enough. Haah… haah… I think we lost them.”
I bent over, still holding the arm she had grabbed, gasping for breath. Zheng stared quietly at the top of my head before speaking in a firm voice.
“There might still be people following us. Let’s go just a little farther. I know a good hiding spot.”
She looked far too skilled at this. This clearly wasn’t her first time. The realization made my mood sink even lower. Knowing that her life had been stained with far more pain than I had imagined brought a bitter taste to my mouth. Whether from the emotion or from pushing my exhausted body, the sweetness in my saliva had turned sharp and unpleasant.
I caught my breath as best I could and said, “That’s not it. We’ve gotten too far from my subordinates. We should regroup with the two of them first.”
“If we head out to the main road, those people might spot us.”
Zheng spoke calmly, as if the danger didn’t frighten her at all. If we returned and joined up with Shi and Hu, we would have two healthy adult men with us. We might be able to force our way through once. Then we could draw in the city guards. Even if the guards had been ordered by their superiors to simply observe the situation, if we personally sought their help they would at least go through the motions of calming the disturbance.
No, that’s still optimistic. If the guards refuse to move, we’ll have walked straight into the trap with our own feet.
For now, I should follow Zheng’s lead. She knew the geography here better than I did, and if my guess was right, she had experience with situations like this. Her choice would likely be more appropriate than anything I could come up with alone. It was ridiculous that someone with memories from a previous life would rely on a seven-year-old child, but what could I do? If it seemed more likely to succeed, that was the path we had to take.
“All right. We’ll do it your way, Zheng.”
From then on, instead of increasing our speed we moved slowly and quietly, muffling our footsteps. The place Zheng called a good hiding spot was behind a pavilion. Shaded and dark even during the day, with a narrow space that adult men would have trouble entering. It seemed like a location where we could hold out long enough. Given time, the pursuers would likely conclude their plan had failed and disperse.
“I’ll go in first. Dan, follow me carefully… Dan!”
Zheng, who had turned to warn me, suddenly shoved me aside. A rough hand shot out exactly where I had been standing. My heart nearly stopped from the shock as I widened my eyes. I hadn’t sensed anyone’s presence at all, yet someone had been right behind us.
“That little brat… sure knows how to cause trouble…!”
It wasn’t just one person. Behind the man, multiple pairs of eyes glared at us. The vicious aura they emitted reached all the way to where we stood.
“Ugh…! Let go of me!”
“Zheng!”
I rushed toward her as she struggled against the man gripping her arm. Though she resisted with all her strength, the difference in power was overwhelming. She was being dragged away. And even if someone like me—who had never properly trained—joined in, it changed nothing. When the man shook me off with a single powerful jerk, I couldn’t hold on and tumbled to the ground. My stamina was already nearly depleted from all the running.
As I staggered back to my feet, I could hear the conversation between our attackers. They were casually chatting among themselves, unwittingly revealing how they had found us.
“It really is her. That wicked little brat.”
“That’s how it is with those filthy Qin bastards.”
“I told you, didn’t I? I saw her here last time.”
We had underestimated them. The depth of their malice. The meticulousness of the trap they had prepared. And above all, the hatred the people of Zhao harbored toward Qin.
These people… they’re different. They aren’t the masterminds.
The eyes staring at us were filled with contempt and loathing. Their identities were clear: ordinary citizens of Zhao. Aside from the man currently holding Zheng, the rest were all common people. They hadn’t joined this scheme hoping to rise in status like the actual planners. They had simply come because they hated anyone from Qin. Purely out of malice toward the girl who carried the blood of Qin’s royal family, they had willingly acted as guides and led this man here.
All to torment a mere seven-year-old child.
The moment I realized that, I could no longer hold back and shouted, “Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves?”
The hostile gazes that had been fixed on Zheng now turned toward me.
“Who’s this kid?”
“Is he from Qin too?”
“He looks kind of familiar…”
The commoners, who didn’t recognize me, began murmuring among themselves about the sudden intruder. But the man holding Zheng was different.
“What nonsense. You, coming from Yan, wouldn’t understand. You don’t know the depth of our Zhao people’s resentment toward Qin! Look!”
“Ugh!”
The man lifted Zheng’s arm high. A groan escaped her lips as she dangled in the air.
“This girl is a hostage princess of Qin! The great-granddaughter of that filthy, disgusting King of Qin—that’s exactly who this wench is!”
The great-granddaughter of the King of Qin. The child born between the Qin prince sent as a hostage to Zhao and a woman of Zhao. The instant her identity was exposed, Zheng squeezed her eyes shut. Not because of the pain in her arm. It was the instinctive rejection born from terror—the fear that once I knew who she truly was, I would leave her too.
She was afraid I would feel betrayed and turn my back on her. Too scared to watch that happen with her own eyes, she chose to close them like a child escaping from reality.
Watching her face twist in anguish, the man sneered.
“Knowing that, you still dare to say such things to us?”