Sheturnedherfacearessingahandtohermouth。
Whensheloweredit,asmallstreakofbloodremainedagainstherfingers。
XieZhengstopped。
Hisexpressionged。
"Whathappeoyou?"
Suyuanlookedatthebloodasthoughitbeloosomeoneelse。
"Itsalreadytoolate。"
"Dontsaythat。"
Shegaveaweaklaugh。
"Yousoundlikemymother。"
Anotherbeamgroanedoverhead。
Thistime,XieZhengdidnotwait。
"Suyuan,move。"
Shetriedoepthen,anotherbutsuddenlyherkneessuddenlyweakened。
XieZhengcrossedtheremainingdistancejustasshebegantofall。
Hecaughtherbeforeshereachedthefloor,onearmsupphershoulderswhiletheothersteadiedher。
"Suyuan!"
Herheadrestedagainsthim,hersilver-whitehairfallingacrosshisarm。Forthefirsttime,thecalmexpressiondisappearedfromherface,shelookedveryyouverytired。
"Iwaoseemymain,"shewhispered。
XieZhengtightenedhishold。
Sheclosedhereyes。
Outside,thehorseswerealreadybeingprepared。Soldiersshoutedtoeachotherasthefirespreadfromoionofthepalacetoanother。XieZhenglookedtowardtheentraheceilingabovethemgroanedagain。"Wereleaving。"HeliftedSuyuancarefullyintohisarmswhileshewasbarelysciousnow。
"General。。。"
"Imhere。"
"Dontletme。。。"
Hervoicefaded。
XieZhengglanceddownather。
"Dontworry。Iwontleaveyouhere。"
Heturnedandcarriedhertowardtheentrance。
Behindthem,flamesclimbedhigheralongtheoldwoodenbeams。
Aseoftheroofgaveway。
XieZhengaccelerated,shieldingSuyuanwithhisbodyasburningfragmentsfellbehindthem。
Hereachedthedoorwayjustasthegreathallshuddered。
Thesoldiersoutsiderushedforward。
"General!"
"Cleartheway!"XieZhengsteppedintothecoldnightairwithSuyuanstillinhisarms。Behindhim,thegreathallfinallycollapsed。ThesoundrolledacrossthevalleybuXieZhengdidnotlookback。Heloweredhiseyestothegirlinhisarms。Hersilver-whitehairmovedgentlyinthenightwind。
ForthefirsttimesincehehadheardPrincessShuranwasdead,XieZhengfinallyuoodwhatNannyZhanghadmeant。Suyuanhadnotbeenwaitingtoberescued。Shehadalreadygivenuponbeingsavedandnow,somehow,thefatebroughtthemtogether