"Youdisappearedagain。"
Suyuanlookedup。
"Iwashere。"
"Iknow。"
Hesatonthewoodenbenearby,herofthemspokeaboutassassins,maps,orstrangefeathers。XieZhenglookedaround。"Thevillageisrec。"
Suyuannodded。
"Yoursoldiershelpedalot。"
"Theyresupposedto。"
Suyuanlookedathim。
"Mymotherwouldhavelikedthat。"
XieZhengwasquietforamoment。
"Ithinkshewouldhave。"
Suyuanlookeddownatthewoodenflowerstilltuckedinsidehersleeve,theicedsomething。Asmallboywasstrugglingtoliftabuckethewell,Suyuanstoodandhelpedhim。
Thenariderarrivedfromtheroad。
"General。"
XieZhengstood。
"Whatisit?"
Theriderhandedhimashortreport。
"Nothingurgent。Thesouthernpatrolreturnedsafely。"
XieZhengnodded。
Heopehereport。
Hisexpressionremainedunged。
"Good。"
Theriderleft。
Suyuanlookedathim。
"Nothinghappened?"
"Nothing。"
Shenodded。
Foroherewasnohiddenmessage。
Nomysteriousattack。
Noblackfeather。
Justanordinaryeveningattheborder。Suyuansatbesidethewellagain,shelookedtowardthefieldsasthesunslowlydisappeared。Forthefirsttimeinyears,shewonderedwhatitwouldfeelliketolivesomewherewithoutstantlywaitingfortheerriblething。Shedidntknowtheanswerbutperhapsshedidntoknowyet。Andfornow,shecouldsimplysitthereandbreathe。