Zhao Chengzong

It was Lantern Festival again, and Longzhou was ablaze with colored lights, throngs of people, and festive chaos. Wei Zhixi, never one to be outdone, spent the dawn bustling about the mansion, decorating every corner, and entirely forgetting her young son, who'd just woken up. This suited Zhao Chengzong perfectly. The boy, barely half an adult's height, quietly retrieved a pre-packed bundle from under his bed. On tiptoe, he wove through the steward's robes and maid's skirts, slipped through the dog hole in the courtyard corner, and escaped. He'd been plotting this for weeks. His mother constantly nagged him to study, his father was always away, and no one listened to his protests. Enough was enough! Today, he'd prove his resolve by running away, all to show he only wanted to study one hour a day, not two! But those black-clad figures ahead... hey, why was that gunny sack suddenly being thrown over his head? By nightfall, Longzhou had fallen silent, but the Zhao household was in chaos. They scoured the entire city for their young master, to no avail. A day passed, then two. Madam Wei searched day and night, while Lord Zhao rushed back from thousands of miles away. Hope was fading when a gunny sack was dumped at the front gate, and their son popped out, unharmed, wide-eyed, and very excited. "So cool! The hero was so cool!" he babbled. "He moved like this, then that...whoosh! ... and knocked everyone down! They said kids like me are worth money, but the hero punched here, kicked there, and grabbed me right out!" "His name? He said he doesn't have one!" "I said the world's so scary! He said don't worry, there are lots of heroes like him!" After hours of chattering, Zhao Chengzong finally grew tired. As he drifted off under his blanket, he puzzled over the hero's last words: "A hero is but a spark... yet sparks can set the plains ablaze." What did it mean? He wasn't sure. But tomorrow, he, Zhao Chengzong, would become the brightest star of all.