Following the General’s directions, it took Qing Xue more than three hours to get out of that forest. He spent half an hour more to cross a wide field until he reached a road, and from there, after checking the direction of the late afternoon sun, he began heading east.
The whole area was considered to be a contested territory, and it didn’t strike him as odd that he encountered no other soul from either direction. But he had no idea how far along this road he had to go before he saw signs of his own company.
When the sun lowered further over the western horizon and he judged that he was far enough away from the General’s temporary-looking encampment, he decided to look for a spot by the side of the road where he could stay hidden and stop there for a while.
It had been way more than a
