It had been a long time since rage had boiled to this magnitude in his body. He knew that he needed to relax, that there was nothing he could do right now. If he became any angrier, his blood vessels might pop. But he couldn't help himself. This time, Cao Cao had gone too far.

Ma Chao had resorted to pacing back and forth while the rest of the group planned their next move. The arms of the chair could only take so much pressure before they would break. Liu Bei was sitting at the head of the table, head in his hands. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were on either side of him, as usual, but both were bloodied and battered from fighting Wei. Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei were by the door with Man Zhu. Pang Qui was sitting in another chair, his expression unreadable. Zhuge Liang was busy pouring over a map with Zhang Rui. Xing's mace and one of Lady Mi's hairpins were on the table next to them.

"Where do you think they would go?" Rui was asking. He pointed to a road on the map. "This seems like a good route, but it is too obvious."

Liang pointed to another one, towards the north of the capital. "I believe they would have taken this road. Our scouts should have more information when they return. This path here forks in two different directions. One leads to a province in Wei, while the other meanders through wooded terrain for a long ways. I do not know what is out there. It would be easy to split their party in two."

"It would confuse anyone attempting a rescue," Rui said. "I agree. That is the most logical choice. But they will have expected us to follow them."

"And we will, when the time is right."

Liu Bei lifted his head. "And what time will that be? My wife is out there among the scum of Wei while we sit here and do nothing."

"My Lord, your wife will be returned safely."

"What about my future wife, Rui?" Ma Chao asked. His voice was hard as stone.

Zhang Rui sighed. "Xing will be able to hold her own." He gestured towards her weapon on the table. "The fact that she left this in the open means that she went with them willingly. Lady Mi's hairpin suggests that she also went unharmed. It is probable that Lady Mi was captured and Xing went with Wei to ensure that she would be alright."

"This doesn't sit right with me," Pang Qui said, unmoving in his chair. "The attack…how all the soldiers disappeared as quickly as they came, taking only two captives…and the fact that they were in an area where both women would be…maybe I'm paranoid, but it looks like Cao Cao wanted those two specifically."

Man Zhu grunted. "Or he wanted one of them and is using the other as a decoy. I would not put it past Cao Cao to come up with such a scheme."

"And yet, this scheme does not entirely sound like one he would create," Guan Yu said softly, a hand on his beard.

Zhuge Liang nodded. "I agree. The raid is something he would do, simply to try and prove that he is stronger than Shu. Captives are normal spoils for him. But the fact that he only took two unnerves me."

Rui was still looking at the map. His eyes darted from one fork of the north road to the other, mentally calculating something. Then he looked up at the mace and hairpin on the table before returning to the map. There was silence as he tried to piece together the clues. "Lord Liu Bei," he finally said, "have you sent men to any of the roads leading out of the capital?"

"Yes. They were ordered to look for any signs of where Wei went after the attack,"

"We need their reports. Lady Yang will have left more clues, I believe."

Jiang Wei tapped his spear on the ground. "I will go and see if they have returned." He left without a word.

Zhang Rui and Zhuge Liang continued to discuss the possibilities during his absence. Ma Chao eyed them from the other side of the room, waiting for one of them to say that they knew where Cao Cao went. Only an hour ago, his euphoria had been overwhelming. Wei's attack had replaced it with cold rage and fear. He knew that Xing was likely alright, which meant that Lady Mi was also fine. But why would she go with them? She had just agreed to become his wife and live out her days in Shu. What could Wei have said to make her change her mind? Who would possess such a convincing tongue? Maybe he had been mistaken about her.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, but he could not find the strength to shrug it off. "She still loves you, Chao," Man Zhu said in a whisper. No one else was watching the exchange.

"Leaving with Wei is a fine way of showing it."

Zhu shook his head. "I know it looks like she went with them on her own. But I have known her for years. There is something else at work here."

"How can you know?" Chao asked. The fury in his voice was clear. "Perhaps she has deceived us all."

"Spoken like a man in love. I cannot give you answers. But I ask for faith in Xing."

Chao faltered. Faith…the word had always confused him. No one ever really had faith until something good happened. When something like this occurred, faith would fail until the outcome presented itself. He had never been one to go on faith. Trust had to be earned and proven; only then would someone be worthy of this strange word 'faith.' "I need an answer, not a concept."

"Rui is an expert at reading clues Xing leaves him. When she was younger and new to her role as leader, she would often leave to contemplate things. No one would know where she went or what she was doing. But she would always leave something behind - a piece of cloth tied to a branch, a feather, a bunch of dried herbs. Always, Rui would figure out where she had gone and bring her back."

"And what if there are no signs?"

"Then we may begin to lose our faith," Zhu said.

Jiang Wei returned with two soldiers and a young boy in tow. Ma Chao recognized him as the boy from the fields, the one who was injured and sent Xing running into the woods. He held a small bag in his hands. Tear marks lined his face, leaving trails through the blood and dirt that caked it. "We have reports, my Lord," Jiang Wei said.

One of the two soldiers stepped forward. "Lord Liu Bei, there are tracks left by Wei on every road leading from the capital. Most of them, however, vanish shortly after. Only the forked road to the north has a continuous set of tracks, from both humans and horses. They split along with the road, but we were unable to overtake them."

"We found this young man running towards us from one of the roads," the other soldier continued. "He said he needed to see the rebel leaders straightaway."

Rui motioned for the boy to come forward. "What is your name, child?"

"Teng, Lord Zhang. I have been helping Lady Yang and Lord Man since they arrived."

"Ah, you must be the young man who helped to catch the Wei spy." Teng bowed low at his words. "What have you found there, Master Teng?"

The boy stood on his toes and opened the bag onto the table. Inside were two objects. The first was an ornament of some kind, a solid gold dragon with jade eyes and a line of green scales along its back. Most of it was covered with mud. The other was a stone with a small hole in the top, a thin piece of string looped through it. On the stone was a painted circle with two dots - the symbol of the yin and yang. Unlike the ornament, it was splattered with blood. The room was completely silent as he took each object and laid them across the map over the forked road.

"Where did you find these?" Rui asked him. He stood and helped the boy to stand on his chair so he could more easily access the map.

Teng took the gold piece and placed it on the left path. "I found this in the mud, pushed off to the side of the road. It looked as though it had been tossed." He gently picked up the necklace and put it on the right fork. "This was hanging from a tree branch a few steps into the next road. I almost missed it, but the blood made it stand out. I've seen Lady Yang wearing this before."

Ma Chao's head picked up. "Which road was this?"

"The…the right path," Teng stammered. Chao turned on his heels and strode out of the room. Man Zhu looked at Rui sadly before following him out. "Where is he going?" the boy asked.

Rui sighed. "He is going after Lady Yang. His anger is strong enough that he may overtake them even when other soldiers failed to."

Liu Bei stood from his seat. "Zhao Yun, Jiang Wei, take the other path after them. See if you cannot track Cao Cao and find my wife. I know that the left path is unknown to us, but do as much as you are able. Return with news or the captives as soon as possible."

The two men bowed the left the room. Teng watched them go with a confused look. "Boy, you look unsure," Pang Qui said after the officers had left. "Did you find something else?"

"Why is Lord Ma Chao taking the right road?"

Qui raised his eyebrows at the boy. "Because that is where you found Lady Yang's necklace."

Rui studied the map and the two objects for a moment, then sighed. "She is not on that path," he said.

"What?" Liu Bei and Pang Qui shouted at the same time.

"He's right," Teng said. "I saw Wei soldiers going down that way, but not Lady Yang or Lady Mi. They were on horses when they left. I saw them leave but I couldn't catch them. Only the left path has hoof prints."

Qui snarled. "Why didn't you say so before?"

"Because Ma Chao left before Teng could finish," Rui answered. He rubbed his eyes in a tired gesture. "Xing left these things on purpose, I believe. Somehow, she knew that everyone would rush off as soon as they found her clues. She placed the ornament - one of Lady Mi's - on the path that would eventually lead to her. The necklace was placed on the path that would eventually lead to Xing. Not directly, though. Perhaps she knows…" Rui trailed off as realization hit him.

"What? Knows what?" Qui shouted in panic.

"Xing is Cao Cao's target. Or, rather, his son's target. Cao Pi was the only officer we did not see during the skirmish. Do you remember the day of the feast after battling the Yellow Turbans? Both men expressed interest in her for different reasons, although Cao Cao was more obvious about it. Cao Pi used Lady Mi as a ruse to get to Xing. I think she knows this. Lady Mi will return unharmed. Lady Yang will be a more difficult hunt."

Qui cursed under his breath. "So what could we hope to find about Xing's whereabouts along a path that she never traveled?"

So this was what it felt like for Xing. The instinct, the heightened senses, the lust for vengeance - it all made sense as Ma Chao tore through the woods along the pathway. He had experienced rushes of adrenaline before. But this…this sensation was new to him. Part of him still burned with rage at what Wei had done to his future bride. Yet, the other part recognized the truth of Zhang Rui's and Man Zhu's words. Xing had indeed left them clues. She must have known that they would come looking for her and Lady Mi. Perhaps she was worthy of his faith after all.

Man Zhu was close behind him, pausing every once in a while to check the trail. "We are getting close," he said after they had been running for some time. It was still dark outside and the moon was little more than a sliver.

"How can you tell?"

Zhu grinned. "Lady Yang may be the best tracker in the provinces, but I do not fall far behind. Most of her abilities come from training and instinct, but the rest is supplemented with magic. That is the part that I can replicate."

They resumed their run, but at a slightly slower pace. The tracks in the mud looked fresher than those at the beginning of the path. There were also new ones that came out from the woods. The soldiers had regrouped after their attempt to confuse Shu. Clearly, they had underestimated the power of both Shu and the rebel leaders.

The sounds of men shouting could soon be heard, but Zhu mumbled something and stopped. "What is it?" Chao grunted.

"The men ahead…I can sense them, but not the presence of any women."

"No…" Ma Chao closed his eyes. There was no way that they had missed Xing.

"I see it now. Xing left the necklace here so we would follow this path. She is not here."

"But?"

Zhu's grin returned. "She has led us to someone who can tell us where she is." He waved his finger in the air as if he were counting something. "There are approximately twelve Wei soldiers ahead of us. One of them, I think, is of particular interest to you. Ready for a fight?"

Chao gripped his spear tightly. "I was born ready."

"Now that I believe. Let's return Wei's favor, shall we?"

The fight lasted no more than ten minutes, in Chao's opinion. The element of surprise had relieved four soldiers of their heads as soon as they entered the makeshift camp. Man Zhu's magic and skill deftly killed five more, while Ma Chao's prowess and anger took out two. The last ran away as soon as the fight erupted, but Zhu signaled to his friend to chase after him. The man only made it a handful of feet before Chao's spear hooked under his foot and sent him sprawling to the ground.

"Where are the captives?" he shouted at the man's back. The tip of his spear was resting across the enemy's neck. A little pressure, and his head would be gone.

The man only muffled.

"Answer my question!" Chao kicked his side and rolled him over. "Where did…" His voice caught in his throat as he saw the man's face.

"Did you catch him?" Man Zhu quickly joined his friend and leaned over to see the soldier. He, too, stopped when he recognized him. "Xing doesn't make anything easy, does she?"

Chao merely grinned. "On the contrary. I think she just made this hunt exceptionally easy."

Cao Cao stared back at the two of them with loathing and terror. "Well, kill me and get this over with!."

"I think not." Ma Chao grabbed his collar and hoisted him off of the ground. "I have spent so many years trying to hunt you down and make you pay for what you did to my family. Now, I am going to get my wish."

"Spare me, Lord Ma," Cao Cao spat back. "I will tell you nothing. You and your father deserved everything that happened."

"Maybe. That is your opinion."

"Come on," Zhu interrupted. "We need to get back to the capital. No doubt the others went along the opposite path."

Cao Cao laughed. "They will not find anything. That path ends shortly after it begins. My son has taken the prisoners beyond your reach."

"You underestimate my future bride's abilities, Lord Cao Cao," Ma Chao said.

Man Zhu nodded. "Lady Yang is exceptionally talented at leaving clues behind. Besides, she may be the best tracker, but we still managed to find you. That should count for something, I think."

"Yes, you are in for a world of pain now," Chao said to Cao Cao, inches from his face. "Maybe," he glanced at Zhu, "you should consider investing in some faith. Your son will need it when I get my hands on him."