Therainlastedthroughthenight。Bym,thestreamhadswallowedthelastpiecesoftheoldbridge,leavingonlyafewbrokenpostsstigoutofthewater。Thevillagersgatheredalongthebank,watgthecurrentcarrybranchesandpiecesoftimberaway。
Noonehadbeenhurt。
Shestoodbehtheeavesofasmallhouse,edinXieZhengscloak。Ayaowasbesideher,wringingwaterfromtheedgeofhersleeve。
“Yourekeepingthat?”Ayaoasked。
Suyuanglanceddownatthecloak。
“Illreturnit。”
Suyuangaveheralook,AyaosmiledilybutbeforeSuyuancouldanswer,hoofbeatscamefromtheroad。Ariderehevillage,soakedfromtherain。HedismountedquicklyandapproachedXieZheng,whohadbeenspeakingwiththevillageheadman。
“General。”
XieZhengturned。
“Speak。”
“Thesouthernroadisempty。”
XieZhengfrowned。
“Empty?”
“Thereshouldhavebeenthreemertcaravanspassingthroughsinceyesterday。Nonehavearrived。”
Thevillagegrewquiet。
Suyuanlookedtowardtheroad。
Therainhadwashedawaymostofthetracks。
“Howfardidyoucheck?”Xieasked。
“Almosttothesouthernwatchpost。Nothing。”
XieZhengexpressionbecameserious。
“Sendtworidersfartherdowntheroad。Dontchaseanyone。Justobserve。”
“Yes,General。”
Theriderleft。
Suyuanwatchedhimdisappearintothegraym。
“Couldtherainhavedelayedthem?”sheasked。
“Itcould。”
“Butyoudontthinkitdid。”
Xielookedather。
“No。”
Shenodded,herofthemsaidanythingmore。Therewasnoevidenceofanattaomissingbodies。Noabandonedons。Nothingthatcouldjustifyraisingthealarm。
Onlyayroad。
Andsometimes,thethingsthatweremissingcouldbemoretroublingthahingsleftbehind。Laterthatafternoon,thetworidersreturheyhadfoundthefirstmertcaravan。Itscartswerestillontheroadbutthemertswereobeseen。Thehorseshadbeentakenandthecartshadnotbeendamaged。
Onthegroundbesideoneofthemwasasmallpieceofblackcloth。SuyuanstoodbesideXieasheexami。Shedidnottouchitherdidhe。Thesamedarksymbolwasstitchedintotheer,soXieZhengfoldedtheclothandplaceditinsidehissleeve。
“Donttellthevillagersyet,”heordered。
Thesoldierhesitated。
“General?”
“Theresnoreasonthtenthembeforeweknowwhathappened。”
Suyuanlookedtowardtheemptyroad。Forthefirsttimeinseveraldays,thevillagefeltquietinadifferentway。
Waiting…。。
Shetightenedherfingersaroundtheedgeofthecloak,somethinghadgedbeyondtheborderandwhoeverwasresponsibleseemedtobegettingcloser。