The Red Plains (The Forbidden List Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

killed, a graceful pass of the sword across his throat. He left Gang and Liu to command this section and moved west along the wall, bolstering the defenses, encouraging the men to greater feats of bravery. His troops and the enemy soldiers seemed to move slowly to his eyes and senses.
    Swords, hatchets and axes reached towards him, but it was no effort to slide away, to parry their attacks and strike back. Where their weapons found only air, his took life with every swing. In the quiet, there was no joy to be found, no swelling of courage overcoming the fear, no sense of victory, only the bitterness of life and death.
    # # #
    “All the refugees are gone, Haung.”
    “Then let’s start moving out as soon as it becomes dark,” Haung replied to Gongliang.
    “They will notice us pulling the men from the wall,” Xióngmāo said. “Though they do not fight at night, it is too much of a risk for their horses, it is not unknown. They will have men watching the wall.”
    “The scouts,” Enlai said.
    “We can try to kill them before they report back?” Gang said.
    “Not theirs, ours,” Enlai answered. “Our scouts are trained to avoid the enemy. If we place them on the walls, use a lot of torches and, perhaps, some volunteers, we should be able to convince them the wall is still manned.”
    “Gongliang, go and organise the scouts. Liu, can you and Gang find some volunteers from the troops you have been training? If we pair them with a scout they’ll stand more of a chance. They need to be off the Wall before dawn. The direction they go is up to them. Issue them all with passes, we don't want them worried about being hung as deserters.”
    “I'm not going with you,” Xióngmāo said.
    “Why?” Haung said before pausing and shaking his head. “You can't rescue him. You don't even know if he is alive.”
    “You don't know what I am capable of and he is alive,” she replied.
    “You can't know that.”
    “Listen, Jiin-Wei , Taiji , I do not ask you what you can do or tell you what you cannot. Do not presume you know the same about me. I have lived more years than you can imagine and seen more of the world than you have ever read about on a map. He is alive. Whoever corrupted your tame magicians wanted him, or me, as a prize.” Xióngmāo turned away from him.
    “And you know who that person was or why they wanted one of you?`
    “No,” she replied without turning back to him.
    “I think you suspect,” Haung chanced. “There is no other reason that you would think he is alive. You don’t know for certain, do you? But something has given you hope, and something scares you. What was said on the Wall? What did the Fang-shi say?”
    “The Fang-shi said nothing.” Xióngmāo started to move away and Haung reached out a hand to stop her. Under his fingers, the muscles in her arms were tense.
    “What do you know? The Emperor will need all the information he can. You cannot hold anything back. Tell me,” he pleaded.
    “The Emperor knows his enemy. He may have always known,” she said and pulled her arm free.

Chapter 5
     
    “I was sad to see the mountain destroyed,” the short, soft voiced man said.
    “What do you want from me?” Zhou said.
    The short man shrugged. “Everything. Mostly information.”
    “I will not tell you anything,” Zhou stated.
    “Of course you won’t. I understand that. You don’t want to betray your friends. Please, believe me when I say that it gives me no great pleasure to have to ask you questions and require answers of you, but such is war and power. Each must have their quests and goals, their strategies and battles, their winners and losers, and each general will have their day.”
    “I am not a general.”
    “But you are a fighter.” The short man took a sip from his cup and grimaced. “The tea they make is not very good, however it is the best I can get at the moment. You’ll try some?”
    Zhou shook his head. “I can fight.”
    “I know. I have seen you on the