"Pull yourself together, man!" Jun uttered, as he pulled Zhang away from the slightly frightened girl.
"Mind your business, Jun! This wretched girl drove us mad on the journey over!"
Though Jun struggled, he managed to pull the large guard enough a distance away to move in the middle.
"Shut it, hypocrite! I'm in deep shit with Director Cou right now! I need this girl for the morning!" Jun yelled, calming Zhang from the loss of eye contact on his target.
²Sitting on the ground with a Thud! The large man rubbed his hands, now laxed, over his face. All the while, Shu remained standing, observing the pair in a manner of confusion questions making their way through her mind. How did all of the guards on the journey attain a whipping? Sure, the beatings were quite out of control, but it is relatively normal for slaves to be treated that way? Nevertheless, why would he blame her?
There was no point in seeking an answer for these questions, as this overemotional guard would have her killed if she produced even a sound. Shu focused her thoughts on the boy that remained hidden in the thicket. She had worried that he would've shot out of the bushes to defend her from the large man, for she heard movement from the area he resided in at the first sign of threat. However, she let out a sigh of relief at his attempt to remain discreet and taking note of her efforts.
Jun turned to her, once Zhang had calmed down, hands on his hips with a serious expression. " Leave, slave. You've upset and disrupted our situation far enough."
Shu could do nothing else, besides depart. Though before she left completely, a chance to lead them off of Altan's trail would be best suited.
Pretending to have just thought of something, she moved closer to Jun, making sure that Zhang still was preoccupied with calming himself. "Before I go.... a boy of bronze skin tone seemed to be running across the fields in the direction Director Cou departed to earlier today.....I normally wouldn't bring it up, but seeing that you appear to be looking for something, maybe it'd be best to look into it." she whispered, her voice becoming airy, as if this crucial information was hardly important yet should hold some significance to the guard.
Shu got the reaction she was aiming for, his eyes going wide before he glanced to Zhang, who had snapped his attention to the young slave girl. In spite, that reaction quickly soured as Jun sheathed his sword from his hip, burying it lightly in her neck.
"Where is he?!" Jun hollered, his dark eyes having shifted to an enraged stare. Shu was startled, not understanding if her words gave some hint of her knowing Altan's whereabouts or if he was relying on a hunch.
She hoped for the latter, thus she pretended to remain clueless.
"T-The boy? I-I just t-told you." Shu let out, stuttering from the sword pressed to her throat in a manner that drew trickles of blood. He pressed it harder, as a form of warning.
"Yes, as you mentioned. Yet how could a slave possibly give up information so easily? Or know that his skin is bronze? When he was lost just a few hours ago, night deeply instilled by that time to hard to see or identify the figure of a boy running across the fields from your positioning."
His reasoning left her speechless and scared for Altan.