A shriek pierced through the still night. It was quickly followed by a succession of yells amidst the thundering roar of hooves. Decidedly not celebratory, it was a cacophony of sounds that cried out “Danger” in red.
Immediately breaking apart, Li Wai and I glanced back at the village. Columns of light were scattered throughout the streets, the heat from the flames already warming the cool night air. Whatever it was, whoever they were, it spelled trouble.
Li Wai gripped my hand tightly in his, his voice quiet but authoritative. “We need to go.”
When I didn’t move, he tugged me along with him. “Run!”
Stunned into action, I mutely followed as we headed for the forest. There was a lot of open ground to cover and as our boots thumped loudly on the earth, I could only pray that no one would catch sight of us. Panting and slightly out of breath, we reached the edge of the tree line and scrabbled up the small hill that overlooked the small town.
Crouched close to the ground, we had a good view of the entire place. It wasn’t a pleasant sight to behold. Soldiers on horses were torching the shops while more were on foot and entering house after house. They were searching for me. I grimaced, my fingers bunching into fists as I cursed at my inability to stop them.
“There are two groups of soldiers,” Li Wai whispered astutely. “The ones who are burning..” He gestured to the far left of the town, then to the far right. “…and the ones who are questioning.”
I followed his gaze and noticed what he had pointed out. Both groups of soldiers were not moving cohesively but instead, seemed independent of each other. I frowned. Were they just different units or sent by different people?
“They have different missions, it seems,” Li Wai said in answer to my silent question. “Those who are simply questioning… they are Zhike’s men. I recognize their distinct uniform.”
My heart sank further. If Zhike’s men were already here, how long would it be before we were caught?
“And the other group..” Li Wai’s voice trailed off as his brows furrowed in thought. “Could it be?”
“What?” I prodded.
He shook his head, uncertain of what he was about to say. “The way they operate… it’s very similar to Lu Bei’s task force.”
My eyes widened as I tried to make sense of what was happening. This was abnormal. If Lu Bei wanted to achieve peace with the Tufan, setting fire to one of their villages – even if it was to eliminate me – would be counterproductive. Instead, he should be silently cooperating with Zhike’s forces to make sure I was dead.
Silently, I tore down all the pieces of facts I had gathered. There was something I had missed, I was sure. Drawing links, theorizing, deconstructing, and then reconstructing it together… when the final piece of the puzzle came together, my breath caught in my throat. My veins turned cold as I lay numb in the revelation of my conclusion.
“Lu Bei..” I mumbled aloud, trying to come to terms with the facts. “He doesn’t want peace.”
Li Wai turned to look at me with an expression that was a mix of confusion and dread.
“Lu Bei is not after peace,” I repeated more firmly.
My eyes wandered back to the burning village, my lips dry as I considered my plan of action. “And if there’s no peace in this country, there’s no peace for me.”
I swallowed hard, reconciling the decision I had made. When I looked back at Li Wai, I read in his solemn and sorrowful expression that he knew what I wanted to do. But it was something I had to say aloud, both for him and for myself.
“We are going back.”
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Author note: Inksgiving is on 22 Nov (12:00AM PST) - 24 Nov (11:59PM PST)! I still have one more ink goal of 5,000 to unlock the bonus background story and I'm excited to share it with you guys. I'll also be accumulating as much ink in my free time to give to fellow creators! :D
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