Antlion's Pit (25): "What's Next?"
"And then?" She made such a bold suggestion that I had to ask what she was thinking. Her answer was even bolder. "If a fire breaks out, the commander will panic and rush out, won't she? In the confusion, we'll strike and seize her. Once we have the commander as a hostage and demand they clear a path, they'll all make way."
Start a fire to sow chaos, then snatch Ye Gwan in the middle of it and use her as a hostage to escape. The core idea wasn't bad. Given Ye Gwan's diligent nature, any incident would likely send her rushing out without proper preparation to assess the situation herself. There was room to exploit that opening.
"Indeed." I nodded while glancing at the soldiers' paling faces, then voiced the doubt that had occurred to me. "That makes sense. It's a decent plan, but... isn't the scale a bit small?"
Obviously, the bigger the blaze meant to create chaos, the better. Yet the amount Sun Quan had prepared was only enough for the two of us. Even accounting for our limits, it felt insufficient to truly sow panic. That was what I pointed out, and her reply caught me off guard.
"That's exactly why it's good."
"......?"
Sun Quan gave that strange answer, then tightened the ropes binding the captured soldiers one last time before stepping out of the tent. That's why it's good... I tried to parse the meaning but couldn't quite grasp it. What was she thinking?
While I puzzled over it, we managed to reach the outskirts of the camp without incident. From a distance, the entrance looked heavily guarded.
"That's the spot. Let's fall back for now."
Sun Quan led us behind several tents. She grabbed one of the torches lit for night watch, brought it over, and told me to set down the bundles of straw we'd been carrying.
"Will it catch properly...?"
Following her instruction, I laid the straw down. She muttered the words, then lowered the torch onto the pile. Moments later, a crackling sound rose as the straw caught and flames began to spread.
"Good." Satisfied, she stepped back and gestured for me to follow. "This way."
We retreated to a spot where we could watch both the spreading fire and the entrance while staying hidden. Once we were concealed, I asked, "How long do you think it'll take?"
"The weather's been dry these past few days... It should burn well."
Indeed, once the fire took hold it spread quickly with sharp popping sounds. While I made a mental note to prepare better fire-suppression measures for future camps, the flames leapt to the nearest tents and roared higher.
"Fire!!!"
People burst from the burning tents, half-dressed and shouting in panic. Their commotion spread faster than the flames themselves. Soon soldiers from neighboring tents were pouring out as well.
"Wh-what's going on?!"
The fire had already jumped to adjacent tents. The dazed soldiers quickly grasped the severity and scrambled to fight it.
"Water! Bring water!"
"Tear down the surrounding tents first!!!"
"Hey, what are you two standing around for?! Move it!!"
The last shout was directed at Sun Quan and me, who had been watching from the edge. To keep up appearances we joined the chaos, hauling water alongside the soldiers. Before I knew it, we had slipped outside the camp perimeter.
Huh?
"Hwanin, hurry—"
At Sun Quan's urgent whisper I dropped the bucket I was carrying and ran after her. Everyone was too frantic to notice our flight. We sprinted until the camp lights faded behind us, then kept running until we were certain no pursuit remained.
"Let's rest here a moment."
We had been running for what felt like an hour. Thanks to my secretly enhanced stamina I was still steady, but Sun Quan was gasping at her limit. The moment I suggested stopping she collapsed onto the ground. While I helped her catch her breath, I asked the questions that had been bothering me—chief among them why she had started only a small fire in one place if the goal was to create chaos.
It turned out the fire wasn't primarily meant to cause panic at all. She had intended it to look like an accidental blaze so the soldiers would be forced to fight it, creating openings in the process. Arson would heighten security, but an apparent accident would draw everyone into firefighting duties and leave gaps. She had also counted on the camp being sited near a river for water, as was standard.
When I asked why she had spoken that way inside the tent, she explained: "If Ye Gwan hears of a fire, she'll react. If she simply responds to the fire itself, fine. But if she grows suspicious, she'll send someone to investigate. I wanted the soldiers' testimony to make her dismiss it as an accident."
"If she doesn't come, she'll assume it's just an accident and stay relaxed. If she does investigate, she'll prepare thoroughly for an ambush first and won't have time to look this way for a while... That was the idea. Seems it worked. Did I do pretty well?"
"More than pretty well."
Her transformation was genuinely impressive—not just the plan itself, but that she had devised it while locked inside the tent, anticipating every variable: the straw, the river's location, the soldiers' movements, even Ye Gwan's cautious nature. It was nothing like the woman from yesterday. The timing was perfect too; striking the very next day after crossing into Xuzhou, when everyone would be letting their guard down thinking they had arrived safely. The thought that her previous flirtatious, dependent behavior might all have been an act sent a small chill down my spine.
"And you didn't even take the drug."
"This is what happens."
Urk. A sharp elbow to the ribs cut my thoughts short. What had changed her so drastically? Looking back, only one thing was different: she had gone from someone being protected to someone doing the protecting. The realization that she now had someone to guard instead of relying on others seemed to have unlocked this side of her. Perhaps this was the moment Sun Quan's true talent was blooming.
"I'd like to watch a little longer, but..."
"Hm? What did you say?"
Unfortunately, there was no time. According to Ser, the drug's effect was nearly at its limit. I had lured her here by claiming familiarity with Xuzhou's geography, and now we waited for the sound of hooves.
Then—
"I thought I heard something."
Thud-thud-thud-thud... Hoofbeats echoed beneath the night sky.
"Pursuers...!"
Sun Quan, who had been slumped in exhaustion, snapped upright and seized her weapon. The languid look in her eyes had sharpened to a razor's edge. She scanned for cover, but the sound of hooves came from both ahead and behind.
"Tch...!"
Her hand reached for mine, but instead of following I gently pulled her into my arms.
"It's all right. We don't need to run."
She looked up at me, eyes wide with confusion. I met her gaze calmly and explained.
"They're acquaintances of mine."
The hoofbeats were already upon us. One set slowed to a halt right in front of us. Even in the darkness, I could make out the figure.
According to Ye Gwan, it would be possible. And just as she had said, someone approached, dropped to one knee, and spoke.
"I have caught up, my lord."
It was a face I knew well.
"Gan Ning...?!"