《《蛮族之花》 Flower of Wilderness》Yina_bubbles

37、第 37 章 Feath

　　Chapter 38 — The Feather on the Mountain Road

　　Xie Zheng stared at the words carved beneath the black feather. The Princess Lives. For several breaths, nobody moved, all the soldiers around him exchanged uneasy glances. "General," one of them finally said, "could this be a trap?" Xie Zheng reached out and ran his fingers over the carving,the wood was fresh. Whoever had left it had not come long ago. "Search the area."

　　The soldiers spread through the trees while Xie Zheng remained beside the marker. His mind returned to the messenger from Kharun, to the map Princess Shuran had left behind, and finally to Suyuan lying unconscious in the infirmary. If someone knew she was alive, why leave a message here? And more importantly— Who were they warning?

　　A sudden whistle came from the slope , a soldier hurried back. "General! We found something." Xie Zheng followed him. Hidden beneath a cluster of rocks was a small campsite. The fire had been extinguished, but there were still fresh footprints around it. Three people, perhaps four. One set of footprints led toward the western road. Another disappeared into the forest. The third—
　　Stopped beside a horse.

　　Xie Zheng crouched and examined the ground, there was something half-buried in the dirt. A strip of dark blue cloth. He picked it up and one of his soldiers recognized it. "That pattern... isn't it from the Younis cavalry?"
　　Xie Zheng looked at him. "No." He held the cloth closer. "Look carefully."
　　The soldier frowned then, his expression changed. "It isn't Younis."

　　There was a small embroidered mark on the edge, a crescent surrounded by three short lines. Xie Zheng had seen it before it's on the map. His stomach tightened, the unknown attackers were connected to the same people Shuran had been investigating. "Burn the camp," he ordered, the soldier looked surprised.

　　"We don't want anyone following these tracks to know we found it." Xie Zheng mounted his horse. "Take the marker with us." He looked once more toward the distant border. Someone had deliberately want to told someone that Suyuan was alive. It had been left on Xian territory, which meant the message had not been send out.

　　---

　　Meanwhile, Suyuan had escaped the infirmary again, this time, she made it all the way to the western barracks.
　　She sat on a wooden bench beneath the watchtower, wrapped tightly in a thick cloak, Ayao sat beside her.
　　"You know the physician will be angry."
　　"He is angry every day."
　　Suyuan glanced at her, Ayao immediately looked away. After a moment, Suyuan smiled faintly before the smile disappeared. She was watching the soldiers return, something was wrong. There were fewer horses than before and the soldiers who came back weren't speaking.

　　Suyuan stood then, Ayao grabbed her sleeve.
　　"Where are you going?"
　　"To ask."
　　"Ask who?"
　　Suyuan looked toward the command tent. "General Su."

　　Before Ayao could stop her, Suyuan began walking but she had only taken a few steps when a soldier rushed past them. "Princess!" Suyuan stopped and he soldier bowed hurriedly. "General Su ordered that you remain in the infirmary."

　　"Why?"

　　The soldier hesitated, "he received something from the western road." Suyuan's eyes narrowed. "What?"
　　"I don't know."
　　Then why are you telling me?"
　　The soldier looked embarrassed, "because he specifically said nobody was allow to approach him."

　　Suyuan became quiet, that was unusual very unusual. Xie Zheng was not the sort of person who shut everyone out without reason. Suyuan turned toward the command tent. "Then something happened." Ayao sighed before Suyuan started walking again and this time, nobody stopped her.

　　-----------------------------------------------

　　Inside the command tent, Xie Zheng placed the black feather beside Shuran's map. The markings matched. Not perfectly but enough. His second-in-command stared at the map. "General... if this is connected to the raids, then someone may have been moving troops through these routes for years." Xie Zheng nodded. "and my uncle's death may have been part of it." He looked at the map for a long time then, the tent flap opened. Suyuan stood there, Xie Zheng's expression immediately darkened.

　　"I told you to rest."

　　"I was resting."

　　"You were sitting in the western barracks."

　　"That is still sitting."

　　His second-in-command quickly lowered his head to hide his smile before Xie Zheng gave him a look. The man immediately became serious again. Suyuan's eyes moved to the table. She saw the map then, the black feather. Her face changed. "Where did you find that?" Xie Zheng studied her. "You recognize it." But Suyuan didn't answer instead she walked closer. Her eyes remained fixed on the feather then, very quietly, she said, "My mother show me that symbol before she died." Xie Zheng's expression turned serious. "What did she tell you?"

　　Suyuan looked up.
　　"Nothing."
　　"Nothing?"
　　"She only told me that some people were not fighting for the Khan."
　　Silence. Xie Zheng slowly understood. The people behind the raids might not belong to Younis at all.This mean they could be something much larger. Something that had existed quietly between the countries for years. Suyuan reached toward the map but stopped before touching it.

　　She couldn't read the writing, but she recognized one thing. A small mark near the western mountains.
　　Her mother had pointed to that place once, Suyuan remembered her expression. Not fear but suspicion.
　　She looked at Xie Zheng. "That place." He followed her gaze. "The old mountain pass?" Suyuan nodded.
　　"My mother said something wrong there." Xie Zheng stared at the map then, someone outside shouted. "GENERAL!"

　　Everyone turned, a rider came rushing toward the tent. He was covered in dust. "There has been another attack."
　　Xie Zheng stepped outside."Where?" . The rider pointed toward the southern border."Not the western settlements this time." His voice was strained. "They attacked one of our military supply camps." Xie Zheng's face went cold.

　　Because the supply camp was nowhere near the villages, nobody outside the army should have known it existed.
　　Unless—
　　Someone inside Xian had told them.