His jaw clenched tight, Qing Xue left the back of his horse and stood at stoic attention on the ground, partly in deference to his higher-ups.
He was nearly right in front of the severed head of his erstwhile captain, but he could not look at it directly again. He stared right over it to look instead at General Zhou, who met his gaze with an unreadable expression before saying, “Step inside and report, Lieutenant.”
“Sir,” Qing Xue answered. Then he walked around the stake with its display of death, careful to keep his eyes nowhere but at the back of his General, who alone was heading towards the command tent.
The entrance flaps closed after they’d both entered.
The General sat on a stool at a center table strewn with maps and other objects. Qing Xue continued to stand across from him,
