Outside, the campfire had already been extinguished. The forest grew quieter. There was no choices even the faintest from the soldiers keeping watch. All was silent except the cricketing noises of nature.
The General had at one time stood up, eyes fixed on the treelines.
"General," one man whispered, approaching quickly. "There's movement in the North ridge. "
Shen Liang's jaw tightened. "How many?"
"Can't tell exactly. Twenty five...maybe more."
He gave a short nod. "Wake the outer guard. Keep the voices low."
Within moments, shadows moved at the edges of the clearing, silent and quick. Then steel glinted. It was especially cold against the moonlight.
The clash of blades rang through the night. Sparks burst as steel met steel. Arrowf flew, thudding into trees some penetrating skins.
Shen Liang drew his sword and met the first attacker head-on. His strike was clean but brutal. Another man tried to sneak at him from the side only to be blocked and kicked down. Upon dropping on the ground his head and body separated, dying without even knowing how he died. The General did not waste his breath, shouting orders, his men knew what to do.
The battle was over in minutes. A few assasins lay sprawled on the grass, dead. The rest fled into the forest.
The smell of blood mixed with the fresh air of the forest. She Liang wiped his blade with a cloth, calm as if he'd just finished a routine task.
"Check for the ones that had run away," he ordered. "Clean up the bodies. Burn the rest before dawn."
His second-in-command approached. "All ours are fine, sir. Just minor wounds."
"Good." He sheathed his sword. "And the madam's side?"
The man hesitated only now figuring their carelessness. It wasn't that they did not care. They had never travelled with a liability so to say with someone who did not know any martial art. They just forgot.
"We haven't checked." His head was lowerd expecting to be reprimanded. But the General only answered him with. "I'll do it," Shen Liang said, heading toward the tent.
He lifted the flap after making sure his presence was known and Sheng He giving the okay signal.
Su Lin was fast asleep, one hand under her cheek, breathing even and soft. Chun Tao was beside her, snoring like a tired ox. Shuang He, sitting cross-legged near the entrance, looked up quickly and bowed her head.
"All's fine?" The General asked quietly.
"Yes, General," Shuang He whispered.
His gaze lingered far too long on Su Lin. Her hair had come loose over her shoulder, and her blanket was half-slipped, but her expression was peaceful. Clearly in deep in her dreams.
He left the tent. Not quiet expecting that she would sleep through that. Shen Liang's eyes flickered back to the tent. "They forgot to mention she was fearless." He muttered under his breath.
When the camp quieted again, Shen Liang sat beside where there was a fire burning the bodies, sharpening his blade in silence. The rythymic scrape of metal against stone filled the air.
Every few minutes, he glanced toward the tent, the only one lit faintly from withing.
Inside, Su Lin shifted once, rolled onto her side, and kept sleeping like nothing I'm the world could bother her.
....
By dawn, the clearing was spotless again. The bodies were gone, the ground swept clean, the smell of smoke fading into the morning air.
Shen Liang stood at the edge of the camp, looking east. The first light hit the trees in gold.
"Ready the horses," he ordered. "We leave in an hour."
"Yes, General."
.....
The morning after tge ambush started calm and bright. The forest smelled like rain with a hint bit of smoke, though no clouds hung in sight.
Soldiers were already breaking down the camp. When Su Lin woke up, hair still messy from sleep.
In Su Lin's tent.
"Good morning, Miss!" Chun Tao chirped, far too energetic for someone that had woken up not too long ago. "You slept like the dead."
"I tried," Su Lin said, stretching her neck.
"Next time, wake me if we're attacked. I might join in."
Chun Tao's eyes widened. "You mean fight?!"
"No," Su Lin said dryly. "Scream. Loudly."
Shuang He handed her a warm cup of tea, pretending not to smile. "We leave soon. The general's men have already prepared the horses."
Su Lin stood up slowly, rubbing her neck. "Hmm. Why does it smell of roasted meat, are they roasting meat this early in the morning?"
Shuang He stared at her, disbelief in her eyes. "Miss, there was an attack last night, they burnt the bodies."
Su Lin blinked. "Oh? Were we robbed?"
"No! They were Assassins! Not thieves."
Su Lin looked at Chun Tao and mouthed. "Told you with your snoring."
"Miss!"
Chun Tao, took the case and walked outside pretending to be angry making Su Lin release a pearly laughter.