"Severaldozen,Ithink。"
"Severaldozen?"
Ayaonodded。
Suyuanslowlyputthebreaddown。"Ifonlyasmallgroupattackedthevillages,whywouldtheyneedsomanysoldiers?"Ayaoblinked。"Idontknow。"Suyuanlookedtowardtheopendoorway,thebarrackssuddenlyfeltdifferent。Therestoomanysoldiersweremoving,toomanyhorseswerebeingpreparedandthewesternwatchtowerhadsouhealarmtwice。Shehadspentmostofherlifesurvivingbynotigthingsotherpeopleighisfeltwrong。。。
"PrincessSuyuan。"
Sheturned。
Ayoungsoldierstoodatthedoorway。
"GeneralSuorderedyoutoreturntotheinfirmary。"
Suyuanfrowhen,shelookedtowardAyao。
Ayaoimmediatelyuood。
"Thatmeansyoushouldprobablylisten。"
Suyuanignoredherandwalkedtowardthesoldier。"Whathappethewesterlements?"
Thesoldierhesitated。"Nothingserious。"
Suyuanseyesnarrowed。"Youjustsaidthattooquickly。"
Thesoldierwentsilentwhile,Ayaocoveredhermouthtohidealaugh。
Suyuansteppedcloser。
"Tellme。"
Thesoldierfinallysighed。"Someunknownraidersattackedthesettlements。GeneralSuwenttoiigate。"
Suyuansexpressionged。"Unknown?"
"Yes。"
"NotYounis?"
Suyuanlookedtowardthewesternroadagain,somethingwasbher。Shecouldntexplainwhy。
Thensherememberedtheblackfeatherthemessengerhadbrought,thesamestrangesymbolthathadappearedonhermothersmap。Herfingersslowlytightened,perhapsthepeopleattagtheborderwerentseargforterritory。Perhapstheywereseargforsomethinghermotherhaddiscovered。
Andifthatwastrue。。。
Themapmightnothavebeenevidenceleftbehindafterthespiracy。Itmighthavebeenthereasonthespiracywasstillalive。Faraway,beyondthewesternridge,XieZhengstoppedhishorse,histwentyridershadreachedtheoldmountainroad。
Therewerenoenemies。
Noabandonedcamp。
Nobodies。
Nothing。
Exceptasinglewoodenmarkerstandingbesidetheroad。XieZhengdismouhemarkerlookedordinaryuntilhenoticedthesymbolcarvedintoitssurface。Ablackfeather。
Hishandslowlymovedtowardhissword,behindhim,oneofthesoldierswhispered,"General。。。"
XieZhengdidntanswer。
Becausebehthefeatherwasanothercarving。
Threewords。
THEPRINCESSLIVES!