Thefollowingm,XieZhebeforesunrise。Hetooktwelveriderswithhimandheadedsouthtoiheabandonedcaravanhimself。Suyuanwatchedfromoutsidethebarracksasthehorsesdisappearedbeyondthevillageroad。
“Hedidntaskyoutoe,”Ayaosaid。
Suyuanglaher。
“Iknow。”
“Areyouoffended?”
“No。”
“Thenwhyareyoustaring?”
Suyuanturnedaway。
“Iwasthinking。”
Ayaosmiled。“Thatsdangerous。”
Suyuanignoredher,aurothevillageinstead。Thetemporarybridgewasalmostfinished,andseveralvillagerswerecarryingwoodenplankstowardtheriver。Suyuanhelpedahesupplies,makingsuretheheaviermaterialswerebroughtfirst。Bymidday,amessengerarrivedfromthesouthernwatchpostandhehadfoundtracks。
Notmany,justseveralsetsofhorsetracksleadingawayfromtheroadanddisappearingintothehills。Suyuanstudiedthereport。
“Didtheyfindwherethetracksended?”
“No,Miss。”
“Thenwhyareyoucertaintheybeloothemissingcaravan?”
Thesoldierhesitated。
“Wearentcertain。”
Suyuannodded。
“Good。Dontcallthemthecaravanstracksuntilweknow。”
Thesoldierlookedslightlysurprised。
“Yes。”
Afterheleft,Ayaoleanedcloser。
“Youreallydontlikeguessing。”
“Guessingisusefulwhenyoureplayinggames。”
“Andwhenyouredealingwithpeople?”
“Itgetspeoplekilled。”
Ayaobecamequiet。Byevening,XieZheurned,hishorsewaswetandcoveredinmud,butthegeneralhimselfappearedcalm。
Suyuahimhebarracks。
“Whatdidyoufind?”
“Nothiain。”