A Feeling He Had Known Before

Hao Nhien looked at the bound man for a while longer before turning to Quan Nha.

“Can you try?”

Quan Nha looked at the prisoner.

“What do you want to ask him?”

Hao Nhien thought for a moment.

“I want him to report his orders.”

Quan Nha understood immediately.

She stepped forward.

The middle-Foundation cultivator instantly looked at her with vigilance. But when their eyes met, deep spirals seemed to appear within Quan Nha’s pupils, drawing his attention inward little by little.

The wariness on the prisoner’s face remained, but gradually changed.

He did not lose consciousness completely, nor did he look like someone being forcibly controlled. It was simply that the cramped room before him seemed to recede, while some familiar scene slowly emerged in its place.

The tension in his shoulders eased.

His back unconsciously straightened.

Quan Nha did not press him with rapid questions. Her voice remained even, sounding like a question he had heard countless times before.

“Mission?”

The prisoner remained silent for several breaths.

Then he answered,

“Destroy Lac Van’s medicinal fields.”

His voice was steady, without the resistance from before.

“Do not kill civilians unless necessary.”

“Do not expose our identities.”

Hao Nhien did not interrupt.

Quan Nha kept the same rhythm.

“Where do you report the result?”

“To Deputy City Lord Tien Phong.”

Hao Nhien’s eyes shifted slightly.

That gave another layer of confirmation to what they had already suspected.

Quan Nha’s expression did not change.

“What comes next?”

The prisoner answered almost reflexively,

“Prepare the route to Tien Thanh.”

Hao Nhien sat a little straighter.

“For whom?”

Quan Nha asked.

“The new City Lord, Duong Long.”

This time, Hao Nhien’s expression truly changed.

The prisoner did not notice.

Within the illusion Quan Nha had guided him into, he seemed to be standing before someone who had every right to ask these questions, while he himself was merely carrying out an ordinary report.

Quan Nha continued,

“Purpose?”

“To ensure Duong Long reaches Tien Thanh safely.”

“When?”

“In three days.”

Hao Nhien stared at the man for a long time.

Duong Quang had died in the Hoa Van arena. Heavenly Eye certainly knew that by now.

Tien Thanh had lost its City Lord, and Tien Phong clearly had no intention of allowing that vacancy to remain for long.

Duong Long was not being sent there merely to replace one man.

He was a piece meant to keep Tien Phong’s entire chain of authority from slipping into another faction’s hands.

Quan Nha asked,

“How many guards?”

This time, the prisoner did not answer immediately.

His brows began to tighten.

A small fracture appeared in the smoothness of his previous responses.

Quan Nha noticed it at once.

Instead of forcing deeper, she changed the question.

“Route?”

The prisoner remained silent for a little longer before answering,

“The southern route.”

Hao Nhien raised a hand slightly.

“Enough.”

Quan Nha stopped immediately.

The deep spirals in her eyes slowly faded.

The prisoner sat motionless for several breaths before his gaze gradually returned to focus.

He looked at Hao Nhien, then at Quan Nha.

Confusion turned into shock.

Then shock became fury.

He immediately understood what he had just done.

“You…”

Hao Nhien stood and struck the back of his neck with one palm.

The prisoner fell unconscious.

The two left the house.

After they had walked some distance, Quan Nha finally asked,

“Was that what you needed?”

“Yes.”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“More than I expected.”

Quan Nha looked at the bandage wrapped around his side.

“And this?”

Hao Nhien glanced down.

“It will be useful.”

Quan Nha raised an eyebrow.

Hao Nhien only smiled and did not explain further.

After a while, she asked,

“You intend to go to Tien Thanh?”

Hao Nhien did not answer immediately.

He looked toward the medicinal fields submerged in darkness.

“First, Lac Van needs to stand more firmly on its own.”

Two days later, Dai Ninh arrived.

This time, he did not bring a large group.

Only two stewards, three guards, and one wagon of materials accompanied him.

The moment he entered Lac Van, Dai Ninh noticed that the settlement had changed again.

There were more people, the medicinal fields had expanded, and several unfamiliar faces near the nursery clearly did not belong to Lac Van. Some were moving clay jars, some were learning how to spread dry grass around the roots, while farther away a group of young men were repairing an irrigation channel.

Dai Ninh looked around as he walked.

“This place is growing faster than I expected.”

Lac Thua walked beside him and smiled.

“More people are returning, and some from nearby tribes have come asking for work. Now the thing we lack most is no longer manpower, but space.”

Dai Ninh laughed.

“That is a good shortage to have.”

They sat beneath the familiar tree.

Hao Nhien arrived not long afterward.

The moment Dai Ninh saw him, the smile disappeared from his face.

Hao Nhien looked slightly pale. A layer of cloth was wrapped around his side, and even his aura seemed less stable than usual.

Dai Ninh shot to his feet.

“You’re injured?”

Hao Nhien waved a hand.

“I’m not dead.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

Dai Ninh frowned.

“What happened?”

Hao Nhien sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, and only then answered.

“Three Foundation Establishment cultivators came to destroy the fields two nights ago. Two early-Foundation, one middle-Foundation.”

Dai Ninh’s eyes immediately turned cold.

“Someone came again?”

“Mm.”

“Where are they?”

“All three were captured.”

Dai Ninh paused.

Hao Nhien continued,

“I locked the two early-Foundation cultivators up separately. I haven’t questioned them yet. The middle-Foundation one knew more, so I dealt with him first.”

Dai Ninh looked at the wound along his side.

“You fought all three by yourself?”

Hao Nhien gave a bitter smile.

“What was I supposed to do, stand there and watch them destroy everything?”

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Dai Ninh did not ask any more about the fight.

He went directly to the more important question.

“What did you learn?”

Hao Nhien placed down his cup.

“He belongs to the Tien Thanh line and took orders from Tien Phong.”

Dai Ninh’s expression changed.

“Are you certain?”

“Not enough to use it as proof in front of all four Deputy City Lords.”

Hao Nhien spoke calmly.

“That is why I kept him alive.”

He pointed toward a house in the distance.

“The middle-Foundation cultivator is in there. Shopkeeper Dai has people, connections, and understands how Heavenly Eye operates better than I do. Take him back and question him again yourself.”

Dai Ninh did not agree immediately.

He looked at Hao Nhien, then at the medicinal fields stretching into the distance.

After a while, he asked,

“How serious are your injuries?”

“Not too serious.”

Hao Nhien shifted his shoulder slightly, then seemed to wince without meaning to.

“But my True Qi has been disturbed. At the very least, my pill refinement won’t be stable for the next few days.”

Dai Ninh’s expression immediately changed again.

“The next batch?”

“It will be difficult to finish on schedule.”

This time, Dai Ninh fell completely silent.

The matter was no longer simply about three men attacking Giai Nhien or damaging a few medicinal fields.

The herbs from Lac Van were already flowing into five types of pills that the Medicine Pavilion had begun incorporating into its supply system.

Three of those were directly related to military supply trials.

After the extreme-grade pill auction, the Pavilion’s reputation had just risen another level, and families and merchants had already begun asking in advance about future batches.

If Giai Nhien were more seriously injured, or if Lac Van’s medicinal supply were destroyed, the entire chain would be affected.

Hao Nhien spoke slowly.

“I can refine pills again after a few days of recovery. But Shopkeeper Dai, I cannot guard the fields, watch the people, and refine pills at the same time. This time it was three Foundation Establishment cultivators. Next time, if it becomes five or ten, am I supposed to sit outside the fields every night waiting for them?”

Dai Ninh braced both hands on the table.

Lac Thua, seated beside them, did not interrupt.

After a while, Dai Ninh asked,

“What do you want?”

Hao Nhien shook his head.

“I’m not asking for anything.”

He pointed toward the fields.

“The Medicine Pavilion signed a contract with Lac Van, and the pills are already entering military supply. If this source is worth protecting, then the person who decides how to protect it should not be me.”

Dai Ninh stared at him for a long time.

Finally, he exhaled.

“Hand the middle-Foundation cultivator over to me.”

“Fine.”

“Keep the two early-Foundation cultivators locked up separately for now. I will report this upward and send someone to deal with them later.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

Dai Ninh asked again,

“If he truly belongs to Tien Phong’s line, then this is no longer simply a few people acting on their own.”

“I understand.”

“I have to report it.”

Dai Ninh paused before making himself clearer.

“Not only to the Medicine Pavilion. Deputy City Lord Huu also needs to know.”

Hao Nhien lifted his teacup and made no comment.

Dai Ninh looked toward the medicinal fields.

“Lac Van is now an official supply point. If others can casually send Foundation Establishment cultivators to destroy it and we do nothing in response, then the protection written into the agreement becomes meaningless.”

Hao Nhien smiled faintly.

“I think so too.”

Dai Ninh gave him a sidelong glance.

He seemed to realize that the man before him was deliberately pushing the matter toward exactly where it needed to go, but he did not expose it.

“I cannot promise Deputy City Lord Huu will immediately send people here. I do not have that authority.”

“I understand.”

“But I will request a higher level of protection for Lac Van. At the very least, anyone who wants to move against this place should know they are touching a supply source that already belongs under someone’s protection.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“Then I’ll trouble Shopkeeper Dai.”

Dai Ninh drained his tea and stood.

“I won’t stay any longer. Bring the man out.”

The middle-Foundation cultivator was quickly brought over.

His True Qi was still sealed, but the moment he saw Dai Ninh, his gaze turned colder.

Hao Nhien noticed and warned,

“Be careful.”

“I know.”

Before leaving, Dai Ninh turned back.

“Brother Giai, recover properly. The next batch can be delayed a few days.”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“Aren’t you afraid the customers will complain?”

“Better complaints than losing the alchemist.”

Dai Ninh replied before turning and leaving.

Hao Nhien stood beneath the tree and watched the group gradually disappear beyond the distant stretches of sand.

Lac Thua waited beside him for a while before asking,

“Alchemist Giai, will things be calmer after this?”

Hao Nhien looked at the medicinal fields before him.

People were still working.

A group of women were moving seedlings out of the nursery, several young men were checking the water jars, and a few newcomers were being taught by Lac Lam how to spread dry grass around the roots.

What had happened two nights earlier had clearly made everyone more cautious, but no one had stopped working because of it.

“At least for the near future, things should be better.”

Hao Nhien said.

“The Medicine Pavilion has now been drawn in more deeply. If Huu Liet truly takes responsibility for this matter, anyone who wants to touch Lac Van will have more to consider.”

Lac Thua let out a breath.

Hao Nhien looked at him.

“There is one more thing.”

“Please tell me, Alchemist Giai.”

“I need to leave for a while.”

Lac Thua paused.

“How long?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps a month. Perhaps longer.”

Concern immediately appeared on the old man’s face.

“Is it dangerous?”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“Anywhere far from home in the Western Wastes carries some danger.”

Lac Thua wanted to ask more, but in the end he stopped himself.

Hao Nhien was pleased by that.

“I’m telling you this before I leave because Lac Van is different now from when I first arrived. For the time being, there is no need to expand too quickly.”

Lac Thua looked surprised.

“Not expand?”

“Not stop. Stabilize.”

Hao Nhien looked toward the fields.

“Take good care of the areas already opened. Help the people who have just returned settle into the work. As for outsiders who want to come, keep screening them as before. Don’t accept everyone simply because you think you need more hands.”

Lac Thua nodded.

“Sa Diep, Xich Can, and Kho Diep still take priority for the contract with the Medicine Pavilion. When the medicinal plants meet the required standard, harvest them on schedule. There is no need to wait for me. The Pavilion’s people will come to inspect them.”

“Understood.”

“Test the new seeds in small amounts. If you don’t understand something, plant a little, observe it, record what happens, and only then increase the area.”

Lac Thua smiled.

“Lac Lam is already used to doing that. I’ll let him handle it.”

“The fields can stay with Lac Lam.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“But matters involving people are something Chief Lac must personally keep under control. Lac Loi has not returned yet, and newcomers must not be allowed casual access to the storage areas, seeds, or the Medicine Pavilion’s records.”

Lac Thua’s expression became serious.

“I understand.”

Hao Nhien continued,

“Lac Loi will return. He may be accompanied by a man named Lanh Hoa and around ten others.”

Lac Thua remembered the name.

“People of Alchemist Giai?”

“Mm. My people.”

Hao Nhien answered simply.

“They are capable and know how to work. If I have not returned by then, let them stay in Lac Van. There is no need to question them too deeply about their past.”

“I’ll make arrangements.”

“No need for anything special.”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“Lanh Hoa doesn’t like that sort of thing.”

He thought for a moment, then emphasized,

“If I’m still away, tell him to remain here. Under no circumstances is he to lead people out looking for me. I have my own matters to handle.”

Lac Thua laughed.

“I’ll repeat your exact words.”

“And let him help train the younger men. What I taught them was only the foundation. Lanh Hoa knows real combat better than I do in that respect.”

Hao Nhien looked toward an open patch of ground where a group of young men were practicing basic movements.

“But remind him this is not Hoa Van, and those people are not soldiers. Don’t let him train them so hard that no one can work the fields the next morning.”

Lac Thua burst out laughing.

“I’ll remember.”

Hao Nhien laughed as well before looking back toward the medicinal fields.

“Actually, even if I’m gone for a long time, Lac Van doesn’t need to do anything grand. Grow the herbs, take care of the people, and deliver on time. That is enough.”

Lac Thua looked at him.

“Lac Van doesn’t need to become a different place every month.”

Hao Nhien spoke more slowly.

“Keeping what has already been built, then making it a little firmer step by step, is already very good.”

Lac Thua remained silent for a while before cupping his hands.

“Alchemist Giai, rest assured. I won’t claim Lac Van will improve faster while you’re gone, but I will not let what we have already built disappear.”

Hao Nhien looked at him and nodded.

“That is enough.”

He turned to leave, but Lac Thua called after him.

“Alchemist Giai.”

Hao Nhien turned.

The old man hesitated for a moment.

“You will come back, won’t you?”

Hao Nhien looked at him, then at the low houses behind him, the nursery, the children, and the people bent over in the fields.

He smiled.

“Of course. I still haven’t eaten the first batch of cakes made from the medicinal harvest for Tieu Thach.”

Lac Thua laughed, and some of the worry on his face eased.

Hao Nhien cupped his hands.

“Lac Van is in everyone’s hands.”

Lac Thua replied,

“Go take care of what you need to do. We’ll manage things here ourselves.”

Hao Nhien said nothing more.

He turned away, but after a few steps, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

Perhaps that was the sentence he had wanted to hear most.

Not a plea asking him to remain and protect them.

Just something simple.

We’ll manage things here ourselves.

That evening, Quan Nha was packing several things into a storage bag while Hao Nhien stood outside the tent looking over Lac Van.

There were more lights than before.

The nursery was still illuminated. Several newcomers were still learning how to position the water jars, while two children who had nearly stepped into a medicinal plot were being scolded by an old woman and sent running back the way they had come.

Everything was very ordinary.

Quan Nha came over and stood beside him.

“You truly want to go?”

“Mm.”

“Because of Duong Long?”

Hao Nhien was silent for a moment.

“Because of him, but not only him.”

Quan Nha waited.

Hao Nhien looked east.

“Duong Quang is dead, but the seat he left behind remains. His people, storehouses, troops, trade routes, and relationships did not die with him. A vacancy like that will make many people look toward it.”

“You want to stop Duong Long?”

“Possibly.”

Hao Nhien answered.

“If he reaches Tien Thanh and firmly takes the position, Tien Phong’s line will stabilize again. But simply killing Duong Long may not solve anything.”

Quan Nha tilted her head.

“You’re thinking farther ahead again?”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“I’m only thinking that if an empty seat is something many people want, then the person who eventually sits in it does not necessarily have to be the one they chose from the beginning.”

Quan Nha studied him for a while.

“You already have someone in mind?”

“No.”

Hao Nhien shook his head.

“That is why I need to go and see.”

The answer made Quan Nha laugh.

Hao Nhien laughed as well.

He did not yet have a complete plan, nor did he know how many groups Tien Thanh had already split into.

But precisely because he did not know, the journey was worth making.

He looked back at Lac Van.

When he first arrived, there had been almost nothing here except a drying lake, a few low shelters, and people who had grown accustomed to sending their children away to work in exchange for food.

Now, at the very least, there was a contract, medicinal production, spirit stones, a supply source that others had an interest in protecting, and people beginning to return home.

Lanh Hoa was also on his way.

Hao Nhien could not remain here forever.

“We leave tomorrow.”

Quan Nha nodded.

“All right.”

The next morning, before the sky had fully brightened, a thin layer of mist still hung low over the lake.

Hao Nhien and Quan Nha had finished preparing early.

They carried little beyond medicinal pills, spirit stones, dried rations, and a few sets of clothing. Everything else was stored in their storage bags.

Hao Nhien had originally intended to leave quietly.

But when the two stepped out of the tent, he slowed.

A large crowd was already waiting ahead.

Not only Lac Thua and Lac Lam, but also the young men who had stood night watch, the women who usually worked in the nursery, the elderly, children, people who had recently returned, and even several newcomers who had not been in Lac Van very long.

No one shouted.

There was no ceremony.

They simply stood there and looked at the two of them.

Hao Nhien paused in surprise before turning to Lac Thua.

“I said there was no need to see us off.”

Lac Thua smiled.

“I didn’t call them.”

Hao Nhien looked at him.

Lac Thua turned toward the people behind him.

“They came on their own.”

Someone laughed first, and the slightly heavy atmosphere immediately softened.

Tieu Thach squeezed out from the crowd with half a cake still in his hand.

“Alchemist Giai!”

Hao Nhien looked at him.

“What is it this time?”

Tieu Thach hurriedly swallowed the bite in his mouth.

“When will you come back?”

“I don’t know.”

“Will it be a long time?”

“Maybe.”

The child’s face immediately scrunched up.

Hao Nhien laughed.

“Take good care of the fields. When I return, we’ll see whether the plants have grown more or you have.”

The surrounding crowd laughed.

Tieu Thach looked down at himself, then over toward the fields, his expression as though he were genuinely considering the matter.

An old woman stepped in front of Quan Nha.

Without saying much, she pressed a small pouch into her hands.

Quan Nha opened it.

Several dried cakes.

“Long road.”

The old woman said.

“Eat.”

Quan Nha looked at her for a moment before nodding gently.

“Thank you.”

Hao Nhien stood there and looked across the faces around him.

Some he knew by name.

Some he had met only a few times.

Some he had never spoken to at all.

But the way they looked at him was different from when he had first arrived.

Back then there had been caution, expectation, and the dependence of people who saw an alchemist capable of treating illness and perhaps offering another path.

The expectation remained.

But now there was something heavier within it.

Lac Thua stepped forward.

“Alchemist Giai, Miss Tieu Nha, you have a long road ahead. Please be careful.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“I’ll leave this place to all of you.”

“Rest assured.”

Hao Nhien smiled.

He truly liked those words.

The two cupped their hands.

“We’re leaving. Everyone, take care.”

Responses immediately rose from the crowd, neither uniform nor orderly.

Some spoke early.

Some late.

Several children shouted even louder than the adults.

“Take care, Alchemist Giai!”

“Take care, Miss Tieu Nha!”

“Travel safely!”

Hao Nhien laughed before turning away with Quan Nha.

The two walked past the medicinal fields, the nursery, the rows of clay jars, and the road where they had first seen the low shelters clustered around the lake.

Only after they had gone quite far did Hao Nhien look back.

The people were still standing there.

No one had followed.

He raised a hand and waved.

Quan Nha did the same.

From Lac Van, dozens of arms immediately rose into the air.

Tieu Thach even jumped higher than everyone around him.

Hao Nhien smiled and turned away.

At that exact moment, his steps slowed.

A very faint sensation had appeared.

It was not spiritual energy.

Not True Qi.

Nor did it resemble soul power.

It merely passed by for an instant, so thin that if he had never sensed anything similar before, he might have ignored it entirely.

Hao Nhien stopped.

Quan Nha noticed immediately.

“Brother?”

He did not answer at once.

Instead, he turned back toward Lac Van.

The morning wind was passing over the medicinal fields, while the people in the distance still had not dispersed.

That sensation touched the Soul Art very lightly again, as though something invisible had briefly gathered together, brushed past him, and then faded away.

Hao Nhien narrowed his eyes slightly.

He had felt this before.

In Hoa Van.

Before the last time he left.

When many people had all looked toward him, something that was neither spiritual energy nor soul power had briefly gathered.

At the time, he had not understood it.

He still did not.

But the same sensation appearing for a second time made it much harder to dismiss as coincidence.

Quan Nha followed his gaze.

“Is something wrong?”

Hao Nhien remained silent for a moment before shaking his head.

“I don’t know yet.”

She did not ask further.

Hao Nhien did not try to force an answer either.

He turned toward the road ahead.

“Let’s go.”

The two continued onward while Lac Van gradually disappeared behind them.

Ahead lay Tien Thanh, Duong Long, the seat Duong Quang had left empty, and a game board on which Hao Nhien had only just begun to see a few pieces.