A City Held in Check

The following morning, the first rays of sunlight had barely pierced the edge of the tent, and the lingering chill of the desert night had yet to fade when Luu Ho hurried inside.

"Clan Chief, Duong Long wishes to see you."

Hao Nhien looked up. Rather than asking what the man wanted, he simply nodded.

"Bring him in."

A short while later, Duong Long was escorted into the tent. Spirit-sealing restraints still bound his arms, and his principal acupoints remained sealed. Although the True Qi within his dantian was intact, he could barely circulate it through his meridians. His complexion was pale after a sleepless night, and the dark circles beneath his eyes were so pronounced that Hao Nhien could tell at a glance he had hardly rested.

Duong Long stood before him for quite some time before speaking.

"I still don't believe you."

Hao Nhien nodded.

"I know."

The calmness of the reply made Duong Long pause. He studied Hao Nhien for another moment before slowly continuing.

"But there is one thing you said that was right. Throughout my life, I've done many things, received countless orders, and killed a great many people. Yet I don't think I've ever truly stopped to ask why I had to do any of it."

His gaze wavered briefly, though his voice retained its usual firmness.

"I'm not saying I was wrong, and I'm not saying you're right. I only want to live a little longer and see for myself which of us is truly lying."

Silence settled over the tent.

Quan Nha, who had been sitting beside Hao Nhien, said nothing. Luu Ho remained near the entrance, quietly observing.

After a moment, Hao Nhien nodded.

"Very well. I don't need you to believe me, much less abandon one faith only to immediately place another above yourself. If you want to observe, then observe."

He rose to his feet.

"But before you've had enough time to do that, I still have several matters to take care of."

Outside the camp, nearly four hundred Hoa Ky warriors had assembled. The four late Foundation Establishment cultivators from Heavenly Eye had their True Qi sealed and were bound separately in one corner. Not one of them had begged for mercy.

Hao Nhien glanced at them before turning to Luu Ho.

"We can't take these four with us."

Luu Ho understood.

"Clan Chief, do you intend to hand them over to Lieu Thien Van?"

"Yes. He has enough men to guard them and enough strength to keep them alive until we need to question them further."

Hao Nhien took out a letter and an identity jade token, then called out.

"Luu Hoang."

A man immediately stepped forward from the ranks and cupped his hands.

"Present!"

"You'll lead the group."

Luu Hoang looked slightly surprised but immediately accepted the order. Hao Nhien handed him the letter and jade token, then gave his instructions.

"Don't return to Tien Thanh. Lead everyone east along a detour, locate Lieu Thien Van's army, and hand these four prisoners over to him. Afterward, use his network to contact the Hoa Ky people who have already left Tien Thanh or are scattered throughout the surrounding region."

Luu Hoang asked, "Should we gather those who wish to return?"

"Yes. There's no need to bring everyone together at once, and certainly no need to rush back into places where you might attract Tien Thanh's attention. Contact whoever can be reached safely. Gather those who genuinely wish to return, then use Lieu Thien Van's routes to leave the region."

Hao Nhien looked at the Hoa Ky warriors before him.

"Your destination is Hoa Van Town. Once there, find Luu Thanh."

A murmur immediately spread through the crowd.

Hoa Van Town.

To some, it was still only a name they had heard from Luu Ho and others who knew Hao Nhien. To others, it was a place belonging to Hoa Ky that they had once believed they would never have the chance to return to.

Hao Nhien did not allow the moment to linger for too long. He turned back to Luu Hoang.

"The detour will take longer, but it'll be safer. Before reaching Lieu Thien Van, do your best to avoid leaving traces that Tien Thanh's scouts might discover. Everything else is explained in the letter. If you encounter a situation you're uncertain about, follow his judgment."

Luu Hoang tightened his grip on the jade token.

"This subordinate understands."

"Go."

Before long, the group began leaving the camp. The four Heavenly Eye prisoners were escorted in the middle, while nearly four hundred Hoa Ky warriors formed a long column that gradually curved eastward.

Hao Nhien watched until the dust trailing behind them faded into the distance.

Only then did Luu Ho ask, "Clan Chief, what about Tien Thanh?"

Hao Nhien looked westward.

"We don't need to deal with it for now."

Luu Ho frowned slightly.

Hao Nhien explained.

"Duong Long never entered the city, and the army of more than a thousand men following him has lost its highest-ranking commander. Meanwhile, Tien Thanh is on guard against the Tam Thanh forces appearing in the east. Even if the commanders inside the city want to receive that army, they can't simply open the gates and allow the entire force inside without first confirming what happened."

Luu Ho considered this before asking, "They could report the matter to Tien Phong."

"Of course. They could also send men to search for Duong Long, order the army outside the city to establish a temporary camp, or divide the troops into smaller units while awaiting further instructions. But whichever option they choose will take time."

Hao Nhien looked eastward, where Lieu Thien Van's army remained a threat substantial enough that Tien Thanh could not afford to dismiss it.

"More importantly, as long as Lieu Thien Van hasn't withdrawn, the commanders inside the city will be reluctant to alter their defensive arrangements. And without its commander, Duong Long's army won't find it easy to decide what to do next."

Luu Ho gradually understood.

"So both sides will be held in place."

Hao Nhien nodded slightly.

"Tien Thanh isn't finished. For now, it's simply been locked in place by its own regulations and suspicions. That's enough to give our people time to get away."

Luu Ho slowly exhaled.

Only now did he fully grasp the purpose behind everything Hao Nhien had done.

There had been no need to attack Tien Thanh, nor any need to destroy the thousand-plus soldiers stationed outside it. By creating a sufficiently large gap in the chain of command and placing a credible threat to the east, Hao Nhien had made both the city and the army beyond its walls cautious of their own accord.

Hao Nhien turned back.

"We should leave as well."

"Where are we going?"

"Lac Van."

Duong Long was given a set of ordinary clothes, his Heavenly Eye armor was put away, and a loose cloak was draped over him, concealing more than half his face. Hao Nhien did not want anyone recognizing him along the way, much less discovering that the newly appointed City Lord, who had yet to enter Tien Thanh, was now in Giai Nhien's custody.

With his True Qi still sealed, Duong Long could not control a flying sword himself. Hao Nhien would carry him for most of the journey, while Luu Ho would be responsible for guarding him whenever the group stopped to rest.

The four departed before Duong Long's army could draw near.

Rather than taking the shortest route, they made a detour farther south, avoiding the routes commonly used by Tien Thanh before gradually turning toward the central region.

Hao Nhien placed little hope in Co Son keeping what had happened a secret. A peak Foundation Establishment cultivator who remained free, belonged neither to Heavenly Eye nor Hoa Ky, and could leave the Western Wastes whenever he wished might just as easily sell the information if someone offered him enough.

But that no longer mattered very much.

From the beginning, Hao Nhien's plan had never depended on keeping the truth concealed forever. He only needed those behind them to receive the news one step too late.

After several days of traveling along the detour, a faint ribbon of green finally appeared on the horizon.

Hao Nhien recognized it first, and Quan Nha soon spotted it as well.

"Lac Van."

He nodded and lowered his flying sword.

It had been some time since they last visited, and the changes before them were unmistakable. The cultivated plots had expanded, the irrigation channels were more evenly distributed, and young medicinal herbs covered patches of ground in green against the yellow sand. Several old tents had also been replaced by low houses built from stone and rammed earth.

Lac Van was still poor.

Yet viewed from a distance, it no longer resembled a tribe struggling merely to survive another day. It was beginning to look like somewhere people might actually want to stay.

As the four approached, a guard stationed outside recognized Hao Nhien.

"Alchemist Giai!"

The call immediately carried into the settlement.

A moment later, elderly villagers, young men, and children came running from every direction. There were no orderly ranks or formal ceremonies, only overlapping voices filling the open ground before the village.

"Alchemist Giai is back!"

"Miss Tieu Nha!"

"They've returned!"

One child ran faster than all the others, nearly crashing straight into Hao Nhien. He hurriedly bent down and caught the boy by the shoulders.

"Slow down."

The child grinned so widely that his eyes nearly disappeared.

"You were gone for so long!"

"I had a few things to take care of."

The boy studied him for a moment before asking bluntly, "Did you bring presents?"

Hao Nhien froze.

Quan Nha immediately burst into laughter beside him.

He glanced at her.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing."

In the end, Hao Nhien took a piece of spirit-fruit candy from his storage ring and handed it to the child. Unfortunately, the moment the other children saw it, they rushed over as well.

Hao Nhien glanced at the remaining candy in his ring and suddenly felt a headache coming on.

This time, Quan Nha did not even attempt to hide her smile.

Behind them, Duong Long remained motionless. With his cloak concealing most of his face, no one around him paid the older man much attention.

Hao Nhien turned and glanced at him.

Duong Long was watching the children scramble for candy. His gaze then moved to the smiling elders before lingering on the medicinal fields in the distance.

He said nothing, but the hand concealed beneath his cloak, which had been slightly clenched ever since they entered the settlement, slowly relaxed.

Hao Nhien did not ask him anything.

Once the crowd had thinned somewhat, he walked past Duong Long and spoke.

"Before I came here, Heavenly Eye nearly wiped this place off the desert."

Duong Long turned toward him.

Hao Nhien continued.

"I don't need you to believe what I say. Stay here for a while and see for yourself."

With that, he walked on.

Duong Long was assigned a small tent in the inner part of the settlement. No one was told his true identity. To the people of Lac Van, he was merely an injured man whom Alchemist Giai had brought back from his travels.

His spirit-sealing restraints remained hidden beneath his clothes, his True Qi stayed sealed, and Luu Ho was responsible for watching him. Hao Nhien did not forbid Duong Long from moving around the settlement, though his movements were restricted to a designated area, and he was not permitted to leave Lac Van.

Quan Nha glanced toward the tent and asked, "Are you really going to let him walk around like that?"

"With Luu Ho watching him and his True Qi sealed, he won't be able to cause much trouble in the short term."

Hao Nhien's answer carried no hint that he underestimated Duong Long.

"And if he still tries everything he can to escape, at least that will tell me that what he's seen here hasn't been enough to make him want to stay."

Quan Nha understood and asked no further questions.

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Hao Nhien did not linger either.

Giai Nhien had been absent from his trading arrangements for quite some time. If he remained silent much longer, an identity he had established so carefully would begin to seem unusual. Dai Ninh might not become suspicious immediately, but an alchemist who had agreed to supply pills and then disappeared for an extended period without sending so much as a message was hardly maintaining a proper business relationship.

He called out, "Lac Lam."

A short while later, Lac Lam entered. Compared with before, his steps were quicker and more assured.

"Alchemist Giai."

Hao Nhien took several jade boxes from his storage ring and placed them on the table.

"Take these pills to the Heavenly Eye Medicine Pavilion and hand them to Dai Ninh. Tell him I've just returned from a long journey, my injuries have recovered, and I'll visit the city myself in a few days."

Lac Lam glanced at the boxes.

Hao Nhien added, "You only need to deliver them. If he asks where I've been, tell him I went out to gather ingredients and attend to certain alchemy matters."

"Understood."

Lac Lam collected the jade boxes and departed.

Hao Nhien did not immediately rest.

He had been away from Lac Van for nearly a month. Although Lac Lam and the others had continued following the methods previously established, certain matters could not be properly assessed through reports alone.

Over the next two days, Hao Nhien spent most of his time in the medicinal fields.

He began by inspecting the expanded plots of Sa Diep, Xich Can, and Kho Diep cultivated during his absence.

Sa Diep had developed most steadily, and several plots were nearly mature enough for their first harvest. Xich Can grew more slowly, but its root systems were relatively strong. Kho Diep, meanwhile, still had several clusters of yellowing leaves because the distance from the water jars had not been arranged properly.

Rather than immediately correcting everything himself, Hao Nhien summoned those responsible for each plot. He asked them to explain what they had done, what problems they had encountered, and what they believed had caused them.

Only when their proposed solutions strayed too far from the actual problem did he offer additional guidance.

He also harvested small samples of the medicinal herbs that had reached maturity.

Hao Nhien personally examined their roots, stems, and medicinal properties after initial processing, then compared them with specimens previously gathered from wild plants.

Their quality could not yet be considered distinctly superior, but their consistency had improved considerably. At the very least, it demonstrated that cultivating these herbs in organized plots did not diminish their medicinal properties.

That mattered far more than having one or two exceptionally healthy plants.

If Lac Van wanted to supply the Heavenly Eye Medicine Pavilion over the long term, what Dai Ninh needed was not a few bundles of the finest herbs, but batches whose quality remained within a reliable range.

Hao Nhien then inspected the nursery, checking the remaining seed stock, germination rates, and the number of seedlings that could be transferred to the fields during the next planting cycle.

Some seeds acquired from the Heavenly Eye Medicine Pavilion had been grown alongside local varieties. Preliminary results suggested that the varieties native to Lac Van adapted better to sandy soil and limited water, while certain varieties from the Medicine Pavilion grew faster but required more careful attention.

He did not rush to choose one over the other.

Both sources of seed would continue to be cultivated separately for further observation.

Beyond the fields, Hao Nhien also inspected the supply stores. He asked how many water jars remained usable, how much dried grass and prepared compost they had, which tools were damaged, and how many people were currently responsible for each area.

After nearly a month away, what pleased him most was not that the medicinal fields had grown greener, but that most of the work had continued without him standing beside everyone.

Only by the afternoon of the second day did Hao Nhien finally have time to sit down.

Quan Nha placed a cup of tea before him and smiled.

"You've barely returned, yet you've already inspected almost all of Lac Van."

Hao Nhien took a sip.

"After being away for so long, I should at least check whether the things I left behind are still alive."

"The herbs or the people?"

Hao Nhien looked at her.

"Both."

Quan Nha's lips curved slightly.

Just then, someone called from outside.

"Alchemist Giai! Lac Loi has returned!"

Hao Nhien set down his cup and stepped outside with Quan Nha.

A group was entering the settlement, led by Lac Loi. Exactly ten people followed him, and the man directly behind him was tall, with a face Hao Nhien knew all too well.

Lanh Hoa.

One glance was enough for Hao Nhien to notice that his aura had changed. His True Qi was more refined, his foundation more stable, and most importantly, his cultivation had advanced beyond layer seven and firmly reached Foundation Establishment layer eight.

Hao Nhien raised an eyebrow.

"Layer eight?"

Lanh Hoa smiled.

"This subordinate was fortunate."

Hao Nhien studied him for several breaths before laughing.

"That sounds familiar."

Lanh Hoa looked momentarily puzzled, while Quan Nha, standing behind Hao Nhien, gave a soft cough to conceal her amusement.

The other nine newcomers were not weak either. Two had reached early Foundation Establishment, another had an aura fluctuating close to the threshold of a breakthrough, and the remainder were all at late Qi Condensation with fairly solid foundations.

Hao Nhien nodded.

"Not bad."

Lanh Hoa cupped his hands.

"All of them are trustworthy. Most have worked in Hoa Van for some time. They know how to keep their mouths shut and are accustomed to handling matters on the road."

"That's enough."

Hao Nhien did not question him further.

The group had just completed a long journey. Their clothes were still covered in desert dust, and although the men behind Lanh Hoa stood straight, their exhaustion was difficult to conceal.

He turned toward Lac Loi.

"Take everyone to rest first. Have their accommodations been prepared?"

"Yes. I had several houses in the eastern section cleared while we were still on the road."

"Take them there. They don't need to do anything today."

Lanh Hoa was about to speak, but Hao Nhien waved him off.

"You've traveled a long way. Rest first. There isn't so much work here that you have to start the moment you arrive."

Lanh Hoa laughed.

"Then this subordinate will obey."

The men behind him visibly relaxed.

Lac Loi led them farther into the settlement, while Hao Nhien watched until the entire group disappeared behind several low houses before turning away.

Quan Nha spoke softly.

"So you've finally learned to let people rest."

Hao Nhien glanced at her.

"I've always cared about my subordinates."

"Of course."

Quan Nha nodded with an entirely serious expression.

"It's just that sometimes your way of showing concern looks remarkably like giving them more work."

Hao Nhien decided not to argue.

That evening, after everyone had eaten and rested for a while, Lanh Hoa came to Hao Nhien's small house.

Lac Loi accompanied him.

On the table were only a pot of tea, several cups, and a few pieces of dried bread. Quan Nha sat nearby, and Hao Nhien summoned Luu Ho shortly afterward.

It was the first time Luu Ho and Lanh Hoa had formally sat at the same table.

The two men studied each other briefly. There was no hostility between them, but both instinctively assessed the other.

Luu Ho had spent years wandering within Heavenly Eye's system, while Lanh Hoa had lived in Hoa Van long enough to understand how the settlement operated. Their temperaments differed, yet neither was particularly talkative.

Hao Nhien poured the tea.

"Lac Loi must have told you something about the situation here during the journey?"

Lanh Hoa nodded.

"He did. Lac Van is now using medicinal herbs to fulfill its obligations, the Heavenly Eye Medicine Pavilion has agreed to guarantee part of its supply arrangements, and the number of people returning has begun to increase."

"That's roughly the situation."

Hao Nhien looked at him.

"And Hoa Van?"

Lanh Hoa remained silent for a moment before answering.

"Much more stable than when you left."

Hao Nhien did not interrupt.

"Luu Thanh is still responsible for most of the coordination. The medicinal gardens have expanded, the artifact-forging workshops have taken on more workers, and increasing numbers of people from smaller tribes and wandering groups have been asking to settle there. Not every day is peaceful, but the major problems have been handled."

Hao Nhien asked, "What about the Hoa Ky people returning?"

"They're still coming."

Lanh Hoa continued.

"Some return alone, others bring their entire families. Those who were sold away or spent many years wandering have more difficulty adjusting, but Luu Thanh doesn't force them. Anyone who wants to work is given suitable work, and those who need time are allowed to take it."

Hao Nhien nodded slightly.

"Anything we should be worried about?"

"Nothing immediately serious."

Lanh Hoa considered his answer before continuing.

"As the population grows, disputes are becoming more frequent. Land, work assignments, old grievances between different groups. But everything is still manageable. What we lack most isn't people who know how to fight. It's people who know how to manage."

Lac Loi, who had been sitting nearby, unconsciously raised his head.

Hao Nhien noticed but said nothing.

Lanh Hoa continued.

"Luu Thanh said that if you want Hoa Van to become a place where people can live for generations, sooner or later you'll need people dedicated to managing the stores, organizing work, and receiving newcomers. You can't keep relying on the strongest cultivators to handle everything."

Hao Nhien smiled faintly.

"That sounds like him."

After a moment, he asked, "How did you choose these ten people?"

"I didn't choose the strongest."

Lanh Hoa replied.

"Some have managed warehouses, some know the roads, others have led small groups, and two have experience teaching basic combat. I selected people who can get things done without constantly needing someone to stand over them."

Hao Nhien studied him for a moment longer, then nodded.

"You chose well."

Their conversation continued for some time, focusing mainly on the changes taking place in Hoa Van, the arrival of newcomers, the division of supplies, medicinal resources, and the difficulties that had begun to emerge as a settlement moved beyond merely surviving and started functioning as a genuine community.

The following morning, Lac Loi took the newcomers on a tour of nearly the entire settlement.

They visited the nursery, the water jars buried beneath the ground, the medicinal stores, the processing area, the new houses, and the plots of land that still lay unused because there were not enough people to cultivate them.

Lanh Hoa spoke little, but he asked detailed questions about the remaining young men, their cultivation levels, work schedules, and who would be responsible for gathering everyone if danger appeared.

By afternoon, once the newcomers had grown more familiar with the people and the surroundings, Hao Nhien summoned Luu Ho and Lanh Hoa.

Standing side by side this time, the two men no longer seemed as unfamiliar with one another as they had on the first day.

Hao Nhien looked toward the village.

A group of young men was carrying timber near the newly built houses. Farther away, several others were practicing the basic fist movements that Luu Ho had begun correcting over the past few days.

"I want the two of you to help Lac Van train a group capable of defending this place."

He spoke without haste, his gaze passing over the people working in the distance.

"There's no need to turn the village into a military camp, much less make everyone into a powerful cultivator. Choose those with aptitude who genuinely want to learn. Teach them how to fight, how to cooperate, and how to protect the people behind them when danger comes. Those with greater strength can learn more. Even the weaker ones should know where they ought to stand and what they should do."

Hao Nhien looked at the two men.

"I only want there to come a day when, if someone enters this place looking for trouble, the people of Lac Van won't have to wait for an outsider to save them before they dare stand their ground."

Luu Ho considered his words for a moment before nodding.

"I'll assess the people first."

Lanh Hoa did not immediately accept the assignment in the manner of a soldier receiving military orders. Instead, he looked toward the young men working nearby.

"I'll need a few days to determine who is suited to close combat, who is better with weapons, and who should only be taught how to maintain a defensive formation."

"Do exactly that," Hao Nhien replied.

"Heavenly Eye City isn't your concern right now. For the moment, just help this place become a little more capable of standing on its own. We can deal with everything else later."

Only then did both men cup their hands.

"Understood."

Luu Ho immediately added, "I'll begin selecting people."

Lanh Hoa nodded as well.

"This subordinate understands."

Some distance away, Duong Long stood beneath the shade of a tent, his cloak still concealing half his face.

When Hao Nhien happened to glance in his direction, he noticed the older man watching the young people of Lac Van.

He did not call out to him.

Let him watch.

That evening, a large bonfire was lit in the open space before the new houses.

The people of Lac Van brought out dried meat, baked flatbread, and several jars of Fire Sand Wine that remained in their stores. The newcomers from Hoa Van also shared demon beast meat and some basic healing medicines with villagers who still carried old injuries.

Luu Ho and Lanh Hoa were soon surrounded by several young men from Lac Van.

Formal training had yet to begin, but the moment the youths learned that Hao Nhien had assigned the two men to instruct them, they eagerly began asking questions.

How should one maintain balance when receiving a blow? How could the movements of an opponent's shoulders and hips reveal more than the weapon itself? What should they do if the person standing beside them was wounded in the middle of a fight?

Luu Ho answered concisely, while Lanh Hoa occasionally added a few explanations, allowing the men who had accompanied him to listen and become familiar with the new training methods as well.

After a while, Lac Loi returned from making another round of inspections to ensure the newcomers had suitable accommodations.

Following a few cups of wine, he looked at the people gathered around the fire and casually brought up his recent journey.

"Some of our brothers here in Lac Van probably don't know what Hoa Van Town is really like."

Several young men immediately turned toward him.

Lac Loi spoke at an unhurried pace, but his words were clear.

He described the stone walls, the medicinal gardens, the blazing artifact-forging furnaces, and the streets where children ran about every day. He also spoke of the Hoa Ky people who had once been sold away and had since been found and brought home.

He explained that no one there was forced to kneel merely to prove obedience, nor was anyone dragged into the mines because they had failed to deliver enough during a single season.

Those skilled at forging could make a living at the forge. Those who understood medicinal cultivation could work in the gardens. Those with physical strength could take on heavier labor, while children at least had somewhere to grow up without having to worry, at an early age, about where they might eventually be sent.

The longer Lac Loi spoke, the brighter his voice became.

Gradually, the people of Lac Van gathered around the fire fell silent. Some listened so intently that they forgot the wine cups in their hands. A few elders had reddened eyes, while several young men who had once been forced to leave the tribe in search of work merely exchanged glances without speaking.

In the darkness not far away, Duong Long remained standing.

His cloak concealed most of his face, but his eyes never left Lac Loi. He seemed determined to hear every word the young man spoke.

Hao Nhien stood a little farther away, holding a cup of wine he had not finished.

Quan Nha stood beside him, the firelight faintly reflected in her eyes.

After a while, she spoke softly.

"Before, I thought it was enough that Hoa Van had managed to survive."

Hao Nhien turned toward her.

Quan Nha watched Lac Loi telling his stories among the villagers and smiled slightly.

"But hearing someone from another place talk about it like that, I suddenly realized I'm proud of what we've built."

Hao Nhien did not answer immediately.

His gaze passed over the bonfire, over Lac Loi speaking with the people of Lac Van, and finally settled on Lanh Hoa and the others who had recently arrived from Hoa Van.

After a moment, he asked, "Do you know why I sent Lac Loi so far away?"

Quan Nha looked at him.

"To learn how Hoa Van operates?"

"That's only part of it."

Hao Nhien shook his head slightly.

"If all I needed was for a few people to learn how to manage stores, assign work, or receive newcomers, I could have written everything down and told him to follow the instructions. Those things wouldn't have justified sending him away for months."

Quan Nha considered this.

"Then you wanted him to see Hoa Van for himself?"

"Yes."

Hao Nhien looked toward the people gathered around the bonfire.

"I wanted him to see with his own eyes that a place like that truly exists."

Quan Nha remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"Hoa Van didn't reach its present state because we knew exactly what to do from the beginning. When we first established it, our greatest concerns were simply keeping the Hoa Ky people alive, protecting our people, and holding on to our land. Only gradually did we build warehouses, medicinal gardens, and artifact-forging workshops, with people responsible for different tasks. When something went wrong, we corrected it. When something was missing, we added it. Little by little, it became what it is today."

Hao Nhien paused.

"But if everything we've built exists only in Hoa Van, then it's still far too little."

Quan Nha hesitated slightly.

Hao Nhien looked at her.

"I don't want us to have to personally visit every place like Lac Van that we encounter in the future, stay for several months, and begin everything from nothing all over again."

Understanding gradually dawned in Quan Nha's eyes.

Hao Nhien continued in the same calm voice.

"I want Hoa Van to become an example others can learn from."

"A place people can visit, observe how it functions, and then bring whatever suits them back to their own homes. They don't have to copy everything. Lac Van isn't Hoa Van, and other tribes will have different lands, different people, and different difficulties."

"But if they can see another way of living, learn how stores can be managed, how work can be divided, how newcomers can become part of a community, and how people can support themselves through their own labor rather than depending entirely on what the powerful choose to give them..."

He glanced down at the medicinal plots, barely visible beneath the night sky.

"Then they can discover a way that suits their own circumstances."

Only now did Quan Nha fully understand.

"So you didn't simply send Lac Loi there to learn."

"That's right."

Hao Nhien nodded.

"I also asked him to bring people from Hoa Van back here."

He looked toward Lanh Hoa.

"Rules written on paper can easily become rigid and lifeless. People who have actually lived and worked in Hoa Van understand why those rules exist, when they should be preserved, and when they need to change. I want the people of Lac Van to watch them work, then gradually learn to do those things themselves."

Quan Nha looked around.

"You want to turn Lac Van into a second Hoa Van?"

Hao Nhien laughed and shook his head.

"No."

His answer surprised her slightly.

"If Lac Van becomes an exact copy of Hoa Van, then I'll have done something wrong," Hao Nhien said.

"This place must remain Lac Van. The people here should decide for themselves how they want to live, what they wish to preserve, and what they want to change. Hoa Van merely shows them what is possible."

He fell silent briefly before continuing.

"But if one day places capable of standing on their own begin appearing everywhere, like Hoa Van, even if none of them bears the name Hoa Van..."

A faint smile touched Hao Nhien's lips.

"That would be what I truly want."

Quan Nha studied him for a long while.

"Have you been thinking that far ahead ever since you first came to Lac Van?"

"No."

Hao Nhien answered naturally.

"When I first arrived, all I wanted was to find a way for them to fulfill their obligations without sacrificing their people."

Quan Nha burst into laughter.

"I knew it."

Hao Nhien laughed as well.

"Some things only become clear after you've begun doing them."

He looked toward Lac Loi once more.

The young man, who had once known little beyond carrying goods in Heavenly Eye City, was now enthusiastically describing a place where he himself had spent only a few days. Yet every word carried an excitement that would have been difficult to feign.

"I don't expect Lac Van to become a place like Hoa Van tomorrow. Even several years from now, it might not have reached that point. Changing a community takes far more than a few medicinal plots and a handful of people who know how to manage things."

Hao Nhien raised the wine cup in his hand slightly.

"But there's one thing I believe."

Quan Nha looked at him.

"What is it?"

Hao Nhien gazed toward the low houses beyond the firelight.

"Only when something has first taken shape in our minds does it have a chance of appearing before our eyes one day."

Quan Nha remained silent for a moment before leaning a little more closely against his arm.

"Then the first thing we must do is let them see it."

"Yes."

Hao Nhien nodded gently.

The night grew deeper, but the bonfire continued burning.

Lac Loi's voice had grown quieter, and his stories had gradually shifted to small incidents from his journey, yet the people gathered around him still showed no desire to leave. Luu Ho listened attentively, occasionally pouring him another cup of wine, while Lanh Hoa would interject a remark now and then, sending the nearby children into fits of laughter.

Eventually, several of the younger children fell asleep beside the adults.

Hao Nhien watched the scene for a while longer.

Hoa Van was very far from this place.

Yet perhaps, from the moment Lac Loi began telling its story around this bonfire, a part of Hoa Van had truly arrived in Lac Van.

He withdrew his gaze.

"Tomorrow, we'll enter the city."

Quan Nha turned toward him.

"To meet Dai Ninh?"

"Yes."

Hao Nhien looked into the distance, where Heavenly Eye City lay beyond the sea of sand.

Everything that had happened in Tien Thanh belonged to Quan Hao Nhien, Clan Chief of Hoa Ky.

But tomorrow, the man passing through the gates of Heavenly Eye City would still be nothing more than an alchemist who knew how to refine pills, conduct business, and gradually transform the name on a false identity token into someone who genuinely existed within the system.

Giai Nhien.