Web I

Our commanders and the Liutenant get taken away as the training comes to a stop...

Zhou wipes off the sweat from his face with a cloth around his neck breathing heavy... His eyes find me looking serious

-Lai'Er?-

-Oh I... Sorry, You need something?-

-You know why he got called, so do we. But what are you thinking so hard about?- he lets the cloth fall back

-I need to know the current situation... The enemy has been silent for too much time now-

-Are you planning to sneak in...?-

-No, that wouldn't be a cleaver thing to do due to my position-

-You have something down your sleeve don't you?-

I press my lips -It might not work-

-Tell me what you need, I'll help you-

...

" -... After that base got destroyed we lost every track of them...-

...

-But... Who?-

A pair of lips pressed

-We aren't completely sure b... ut...

Adding some fa... tors together we believe "she" did- "

I force myself into an even deeper state of meditation to catch as much as it is being said.

-Don't push yourself too much...- Zhou's voice comes from far away as I am still inside this... Communication thing I recently learnt.

" -Anyway, we must send...

To explore the area, Choose your best soldiers and report to us-

-We must be cautious...

Never knows what happened when facing the... nemy- "

The men seems to leave but one of them gets hold back by the head general

Zhou start fanning me air, probably thinking I am in need of coldness due to the deep focus.

" -How is she doing?-

-Impressive Sir- the voice of our Liutenant

-Anything weird?-

-Being able to spar with 20 of our men without one single drop of sweat is weird enough?

Could probably be even more if I pushed her-

-Mhn...-

-Sir...-

-No-

-But Sir! That could save us a lot of time... And blood-

-I do recognize it and I do esteem her a lot... But we need to work as a single thing.

Only like this we can be successful till the end-

-...-

-You do not approve?-

-I'm sorry Sir-

-I do not ask you to, just go along with it... And keep an eye on her, we cannot let her act on her own...

Just look what happened to one of our men when they went to train on their own-

-Sure- "

-He knows...- I cleanch my fists at that sentence

-Lai'Er?-

-I'll explain later... I need to talk with someone first-

...

As soon as my eyes lays on Xu Lei, I dash forward.

-Lai'Er?!- Zhou calls me once I disappear from his eyes and I reappear one second after, meters away

-W w what's happening ChangLai?!- yells He Rang jumping away the moment he sees me happear behind him.

A few other men, who gasps around us, look confused not having seen me arrive at all

-Oh my God...!-

I go for a quiet and fast hit against Xu Lei, he turns around and doesn't move an inch even when I happear before him out of thin air.

I stop my hand right in front of his eyes, which not even once were closed in fear... He stares right into my eyes with a hint of a smile

-Something's wrong Miss Ying?-

-Just a test... You seems to have quite nice reflexes- I growl.

The other guys relaxes and He Rang begins laughing before coming to our side

-Hahaha I really thought she was gonna hit him! The way you stopped was so neat! You kept you balance perfectly... But please never do it me-

-Don't worry, I only needed to test him... Apparently there's more than what meets the eyes when it comes to Xu Lei- I cross my arms glaring deep into him

-Uh? What do you mean? Ehy man! You ain't hiding some supersoldier skills right? Haha-

-Tz haha...- he seems to laugh before turning around and leave

-That guy is always so weird... Well nevermind, back to my place- He Rang leaves as Zhou comes from behind me quietly.

-More than what meets the eyes...- he repeats in a whisper and I nod turning around

-Uh? What do you mean?-

-Never lower your guard, Ge- I say passing over him

He frowns for a few seconds before following me -Explain-

-I only have a weird sensation and no actual explanation-

-Like what?-

-The General knew about your injury... Only Xu Lei knew about it beside us-

-Well... We had no consequences so why doing that?- he points back to the training field we just left

-Would you have seen me arriving as I dashed before?-

-No way, you just disappeared and reappeared behind him-

-Would you have been scared by having me jump on you from nowhere?-

-Maybe not scared but definitely shocked-

-What if you did saw me, but only understood that someone was trying to attack you?-

-I would have tried to defend myself-

-Xu Lei didn't even blink, he just asked me if I was alright-

-He...- tries to find an excuse Zhou

-He smiled instead, as if everything was under his control-

-Well maybe... He...-

Zhou tries hard to find an explanation in vain and only stares back at the training field

-So?-

-Im not sure, just be cautious-

-Mhn- he nods

...

-That meant he wanted to send me alone, but the General did not approve. His plan isn't bad but still many people could lose their lives...-

-Are you going then?-

-Mhn...- I nod insecure, gaining a risen eyebrow from Zhou

-I'm just trying to figure out a few things-

-Like what?-

-Last time something like this happened, Our whole troupes almost fell into a trap... Fortunately I did thought about that, but this time feels different-

-You always rely on sensations-

I look at him quite confused and with a bitter tastes on my tongue -Is that a bad thing?-

-Normally yes, but I guess your sensations are not based only on how you feel nor on simple emotions-

-Mhn... Anyway, I'll depart with the other men.

I cannot just go and do it all myself, but if I am discrete enough I can pave the way for the other soldiers without being noticed-

-I... Cannot come right?-

-Right-

He sighs -Well then, I'll just stay here to check if anyone notice your absence or... If anyone tries to tell them-

I nod toward him and leave.

...

I sneak outside of our tend once the time comes, and pass over a few soldiers who are keeping guard.

I reach the stable before the patrolling men arrive and steal a horse, heading out of the camp as quick as possible...

While the other men are still getting ready I go for a quick patrol of the surrounding area and find no harm, so I head back nearby the camp to hide between the frozen trees.

I wait for the other men to come into sight and then depart keeping enough distance between us...