They rode through the night without stopping, horses lathered and exhausted by dawn, Wei Liang pushing the pace harder than caution should have allowed.
"Two days," Liu Che had said. That was before they knew how much of a head start Bao Chen already had.
"Ease off," Xu warned, feeling the strain building in Wei Liang's chest even through seven open gates. "Dead from exhaustion helps no one."
"He's already had three days," Wei Liang said. "Maybe more."
The village came into view at midday, small, terraced into hillside farmland, smoke rising from cook fires in a way that at first looked reassuringly ordinary. Then Brigh, sharp-eyed as always, spotted the wrongness first.
"Too much smoke," he said. "That's not cooking fires. Something's burning."
They broke into a full gallop covering
