CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“This has to be your most insane idea yet,” Phoenix whispered hoarsely. Jade put a finger to her lips and pulled the hood of her cloak closer to hide her bright hair. “Why can’t we do it now instead of waiting?” he asked for the third time.
“I told you, I can’t sustain it for very long,” she said. “We’re only going to get one shot at this. Besides, Baiyu hasn’t even been brought out yet and we don’t know where the Bag is.”
Phoenix elbowed his way through the growing crowd, hunching his shoulders in a futile attempt to be less conspicuously tall. Everywhere, black-and-red clad soldiers eyed the milling peasants with suspicion. Tensions ran high. The crowd murmured and Phoenix overheard snatches of hushed, frightened conversations that told him the people of Xijin
