The last sentry was one of the older soldiers under Qing Xue’s command. As a veteran, he must have grown suspicious of the strange, sleepy day they were all having. He’d left with the others to awaken their replacements, but his rationality must have resurfaced at some point, because he headed back out of his assigned tent without doing what he’d intended—opting instead to check that the situation outside was still as he’d left it.
When he saw the first sentry slumped by the fire, he started looking around, now even more on the alert.
Still in the shadows between tents, Qing Xue lowered the face cover over his mouth. He hadn’t had the chance to reload the blowdart before his last target emerged from the tent, so he wasn’t ready for his usual attack.
…I might as well, Qing Xue thought, s
