Ayao,standingbehindher,quietlycoveredherface。
XieZhengalmostsmiled。
Thenhelookedbackatthemap。
“Whataboutthepeople?”
Suyuansexpressionbecameserious。“Teachthemwhattodowhensoldiersgiveawarning。”Shepoiowardthevillages。“Childrenshouldknowwheretogather。Familiesshouldknowwhichroadleadstowardthebarracks。Theelderlyandinjuredshouldhavesomeoneassigohelpthem。Andeveryvillageshouldhavesomeoneresponsibleforrepstrangers。”
“Wouldntthatfrightenthem?”
“No。”Suyuanshookherhead。“Notifyouexplainitproperly。Yourenotpreparingthemforwar。Yivingthemawaytoremaincalmifsomethinghappens。”XieZhengstaredatthemapforalongmoment。Theurowardhisofficers。“Maketheges。”Theofficersbowedandbegantakingnotes。Suyuansteppedawayfromthetable,shehadexpectedanargument。Instead,XieZhengfollowedheroutside。
Suyuanglahim。
“Peopleusuallylookwheretheyreexpegdanger。”
“Andyou?”
“Ilookwherenobodyislooking。”
Foramoment,XieZhengsaidnothing。
Thenhelookedtowardthevillagesbeyondthewalls。
“Stayhereuntiltheworkisfinished。”
Suyuanfrowned。
“Why?”
“Becauseyouvealreadyfoundmoreproblemsthanmyofficersdid。”
Shestaredathim。
“Thatsoundslikeapliment。”
“Itwasntmeanttobe。”
Ayaolaughedbehindthem。Forthefirsttimesincearrivingattheborder,Suyuahatshehadfoundsomethingusefultodo。Notbecauseshewasstrongorbecauseshecouldfight。Butbecauseshecouldseethegaps—andsometimes,seeingthegapwasenoughtokeepsomeoneelsefromfallingthroughit。