Soundless(44)

But if our village goes blind, no one will be able to mine anything! I protest.

They don’t care, says Nuan. My villagers’ lives, yours . . . they are nothing compared to riches in the eyes of those more powerful than us.

We sit there and let those words sink in. Finally I turn to Li Wei. We must take this news back to our village. We must let them decide and weigh the options.

I can tell from his expression that he wants to protest, to tell me again that the task is impossible. But as he gazes into my eyes, he finally gives a reluctant nod. I will help you take this news back to the elders, he says. Perhaps they will have an idea we haven’t thought of. I can tell he doubts it.

Be careful, says Nuan. If any official realizes you’re here, they aren’t going to like it. They won’t want your village knowing the truth.

Someone does know we’re here, I reply. The line keeper. And Xiu Mei thought she saw soldiers looking for us as well.

We tell Nuan about our initial encounter, how the man told us to wait but how we ended up sneaking away. When we finish, Nuan remarks, All of them are appointed by the regime. He probably ran straight to the king’s men. You were right to leave.

All of them? I ask, thinking I misunderstood. What do you mean?

The men who run the line, she explains. There are a number who rotate through that job.

Li Wei and I are dumbfounded, and he says, We always thought there was one person in charge there, one person making decisions and sending notes.

Nuan laughs, a thin sound that feels dry. No, they don’t make decisions. Whoever was sending you messages was someone much more powerful.

I think back to the nervous man and suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to learn this.

They will all know you’re in the township by now, Nuan continues. The gate will be watched. There is a secret entrance out of the walls, not far from this encampment, that I can show you. If you stick to the trees and keep your wits about you, you should be able to make it back to your people undetected.

Li Wei and I both stand to bow to her. Maybe we are far from home, but we aren’t bereft of our manners. Thank you, I tell her with as much reverence as I would one of our elders. You may have saved our lives and those of our people. Please allow us to give you a gift.

I look to Li Wei, who understands immediately. Perhaps Nuan’s situation isn’t as dire as our village’s, but it’s clear from her gaunt appearance that food is a luxury for her as well. Our packs are full of the food we took from the line keeper’s crate, and Li Wei digs into his bag, producing some fruit, dried meat, and a bun. Nuan’s wide eyes show us that this is a bounty for her, and I feel gladdened but also sad. Clearly, for the right people around here, there is plenty of food to be had. It infuriates me that her people and my own are so deprived.

As Li Wei cinches his pack back together, one of the xiangqi pieces falls out, a general. It rolls near Nuan, and she picks it up, studying the detail.

This is fine work, she says as she hands it back. I’ve seen far less detailed game sets fetching a nice price at the market. This kind of skill would be prized anywhere in Beiguo.

Li Wei made it, I say with pride.

It is nothing, he says, embarrassed. Fei is the real artist.

He busies himself with his pack, pretending it needs more rearranging than it does. Nuan watches him with a smile and then says to me, when he’s not looking: He’s very handsome. He’s your betrothed?

Now I’m the one who’s embarrassed. I feel heat flood my cheeks. No! We are just . . . friends.

There is a knowing look in Nuan’s eyes. If you want to save yourselves a lot of trouble, you could leave now. Forget trying to warn your village—the officials will stop you from getting back, you know. And they’ll certainly stop your whole village from leaving the mountain. But just the two of you? Well, there are other cities, other places in Beiguo. The boy clearly has skill, and you say you are trained as well. You can find work, real work. Go off together and leave this cursed place.

What she has suggested is so shocking, so unbelievable, that I’m momentarily frozen. Then new sounds make me jerk my head around. One thing I can say, at least, for this dirty collection of tents is that it is quieter than the rest of the township, since none of the residents use their voices. But now that quiet is interrupted as I recognize the sounds of many loud voices as well as a new noise I just learned: the sound of horses’ hooves on the road.

Someone is coming. Men and horses, I say.

We hurry to peek out the entrance of the tent, where I heard the noise. There, on the far side of where we entered the deaf settlement, riders on horseback are approaching. I am just barely tall enough to make them out and see that they wear red-and-yellow armor.

Those are the king’s men! Nuan says. They know you’re here. Someone probably reported you when you came to see me—they are my people, but they are desperate. You must go. Quickly. Over there, by that gray building? Go there, turn left, and then go straight until you reach the wall. Make another left and follow it until you see the opening.

Thank you. I bow to her again and start to leave, but she catches my sleeve.

You heard them coming? she asks. You can hear?

Only as of a few days ago, I say. I don’t know why or how.

The next sign she makes is incomprehensible to me, something involving wings.

What? I ask.

She makes it again, but I still can’t understand. The sign isn’t one from our language. Li Wei starts to reach for the stick we used to draw characters, but the sound of men and horses is getting closer. I shake my head and tell him, No time. We must go.