Thefollowingm,SuyuanclimbedthehillabovethevillagewithAyao。Therainfromseveraldaysearlierhadleftthegrounddamp,andthenarrowpathwasslipperyinplaces。AyaokeptonehandnearSuyuansarm,readytosteadyherifnecessary,thoughSuyuaendednottonotice。
Whentheyreachedthetop,theentirevillagecameintoview。Thehouseslookedsmallfromthere。Smokerosegentlyfromtheeys,andpeoplemovedbetweenthefieldsandtheroad。Beyondthemstretchedthelongfrontier,quietbehthepalemsky。
Suyuanstoodthereforawhile。
“Thisplacelooksdifferentfromuphere,”Ayaosaid。
“Itdoes。”
“Doyouthinktheyllbeallrightafterweleave?”
Suyuanlookedatthewatchtowerbelow。
“Theyhavethetoolsnow。Whathappedependsohertheyusethem。”
Ayaosmiled。“YousoundlikeNanny。”
“Thatisnotapliment。”
“Itis。”
Suyuangaveherasidewaysglancebeforelookingbackatthevillage。Shehadarrivedherethinkingonlyaboutsurviving。Shehadneverexpectedtocareaboutthesepeople。Asoftwindpassedoverthehill。Thenfootstepssoundedbehindthem。SuyuanturnedandsawXieZhengwaswalkingupthepathalone。
“Youshouldntbeclimbingthishill,”hesaid。
Suyuanraisedaneyebrow。“Youclimbedit。”
“Iamnottheonewhonearlycollapsedafterwalkingacrossthevillage。”
“Thathappenedonce。”
“Twice。”
Ayaoquietlysteppedaway。
Suyuannoticedandfrowned。“Ayao。”
“IsuddenlyrememberedIocheething。”
“Youdonto—”
ButAyaowasalreadywalkingdownhill。