Hao Nhien's Plan

The main hall remained silent for a long time.

Cat Thanh stood at the entrance, looking out over the city beneath the firelight. People still moved along the sections of wall that had just been repaired. A group of lightly wounded soldiers was being helped back toward the resting area, while several children near the base of the wall were assisting the adults by carrying smaller pieces of broken stone aside.

Beyond everything else, the dark mountain range lay motionless beneath the night sky.

That was where the ancestral graves stood, where the Thunder Rite remained, and where generations of the Cat Loi Tribe had guarded what belonged to them.

Hao Nhien did not rush him.

This choice had never been his to make.

Only after a long while did Cat Thanh finally turn back. His eyes were red, and his voice had grown hoarse.

“Clan Chief Hao, I understand what you’re saying.”

He paused, one hand slowly tightening into a fist.

“But Cat Loi can lose people in war. Cat Loi City itself… I can’t simply abandon it with my own hands.”

Hao Nhien looked at him without surprise.

If a few words were enough to make someone immediately abandon the land where his ancestors had lived for hundreds of years, then that place would hardly deserve to be called ancestral ground.

He returned to the table.

“Then hear the rest of my plan before you decide.”

Cat Thanh did not answer, but he also did not leave.

Hao Nhien placed a hand on the map.

“First, everyone who does not need to fight directly must leave the city ahead of the others. The children, the elderly, the wounded, and those responsible for medicinal herbs, artifact crafting, production, and logistics all need to go.”

Cat Thanh watched him.

Hao Nhien continued.

“They are not a burden. They are the people who determine whether Cat Loi can still survive and rebuild after the war.”

His finger moved toward Hoa Van.

“Hoa Van has water, food reserves, an alchemy room, formations, and land that can still be expanded. The people of Cat Loi will have somewhere to live, work to do, and a way to continue their lives.”

Cat Thanh asked:

“What about the warriors?”

“They won’t withdraw straight to Hoa Van.”

Hao Nhien pointed toward the western and northwestern routes.

“The fighting forces of Hoa Van, Cat Loi, and the reinforcements from Tam Thanh will divide into smaller groups and shadow Huu Thanh’s marching routes. We avoid a direct confrontation and focus on their supply convoys, water routes, transport wagons, and the points they are forced to protect.”

His finger continued moving across the map.

“Huu Thanh has nearly ten thousand troops. That gives them enormous strength, but it also creates an enormous burden. Every day they need water, food, spirit stones, feed for the Sa Ma, and enough manpower to move hundreds of war wagons.”

Hao Nhien looked at Cat Thanh.

“We don’t need to defeat them in a single decisive battle. We only need to force them to keep stopping, divide their forces to guard the rear, and lose the ability to maintain their advance.”

Cat Thanh remained silent for a long time before asking:

“But in the end, the city still falls into their hands.”

“Yes.”

Hao Nhien answered directly.

Cat Thanh looked up.

“If we simply withdraw the people, then Cat Loi loses the city. But if we withdraw properly, Huu Thanh may have to pay a much greater price just to step into this place.”

Cat Thanh frowned.

“What else are you planning?”

Hao Nhien reached into his storage ring.

A moment later, a dark violet-black sphere appeared in his palm.

It was not large, just small enough to fit comfortably between his fingers. Its surface was dark like cold metal, covered in tiny interwoven patterns.

Hao Nhien placed it on the table.

Cat Thanh stared at the small object in front of him.

“This is…”

“Thunder Burst.”

Cat Thanh’s expression changed immediately.

“The explosion at the Hoa Ky Tribe before… that was caused by this?”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“Last time, an enormous area around the center of the blast was almost completely swept away. Afterward, space itself was torn open, creating a rift with enough force to drag everything nearby toward it.”

Cat Thanh abruptly raised his head.

“Space was torn open?”

“Yes.”

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His hands unconsciously tightened against the edge of the table. When he looked at the Thunder Burst again, his gaze was completely different.

“How did you survive?”

“I had a way out.”

Hao Nhien answered briefly.

“I survived that time, but no one can say for certain whether the same thing would happen again.”

Cat Thanh was silent for a while.

“You want to use it inside the city?”

“I want to keep it as the final option.”

Hao Nhien looked directly at him.

“Before we discuss where it might be used, you need to understand the price.”

Cat Thanh nodded.

“Tell me.”

“If Thunder Burst goes off within Cat Loi, I cannot guarantee how much of the city will remain. The walls, the houses, the main hall, the storehouses, the formations, even the surrounding terrain could all be destroyed.”

Cat Thanh’s jaw tightened.

“What about the Thunder Rite?”

“I don’t know.”

The answer darkened his expression immediately.

Hao Nhien explained:

“The Thunder Rite lies deep within the mountain. I would choose a detonation point as far from the rear mountain as possible, but the blast caused spatial instability before. I cannot promise that the Thunder Rite would be completely unaffected.”

Cat Thanh turned away and walked several steps before stopping.

“You’re giving me an option that could erase our ancestral land from the Western Wastes.”

“I’m telling you in advance about a final option we may be forced to use.”

Hao Nhien rested a hand beside the Thunder Burst.

“I haven’t decided to detonate it.”

Cat Thanh turned back.

“You haven’t?”

“No.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“If Huu Thanh occupies Cat Loi and stops there, I won’t use it. If they accept negotiations, I won’t use it. If they stop hunting the people of Cat Loi, leave Hoa Van alone, and do not continue advancing toward the Eastern Plains, then we still have other choices.”

Cat Thanh looked at him.

“You want to give them a chance to stop?”

“Yes.”

Hao Nhien looked down at the Thunder Burst on the table.

“A sword and this are very different. When I use a sword, I know who is standing in front of me and why I have to kill them. Once Thunder Burst detonates, thousands of people could die in a single instant.”

His voice remained calm.

“I don’t need nearly ten thousand Huu Thanh soldiers to die. I only need them to stop advancing toward Hoa Van.”

“If Huu Thanh is willing to stop, we find another way. But if they still intend to pass through Cat Loi, attack Hoa Van, and open a route toward the Eastern Plains, then the lives we have to consider will no longer be only those of Huu Thanh’s soldiers.”

Hao Nhien raised his eyes toward Cat Thanh.

“There are people behind us who need to live too.”

The hall fell quiet again.

Hao Nhien continued.

“Last time I used Thunder Burst to give three people a chance to survive. If I’m truly forced to use it this time, it will be to keep far more people from being dragged into the war.”

Cat Thanh slowly sat down.

For the first time, the back that had always remained straight bent slightly.

“Cat Loi City…”

His voice was very low.

“My father rebuilt the southern gate with his own hands. My grandfather died outside the western wall. Behind the mountain… my people are buried there.”

Hao Nhien did not interrupt.

After a while, Cat Thanh looked up.

“Clan Chief Hao, if you really have to use Thunder Burst, are you certain you can escape?”

Hao Nhien looked at the sphere on the table.

“No.”

Cat Thanh froze.

Hao Nhien continued just as directly.

“I survived last time because of several factors. No one can predict where a spatial rift will appear, how large it will become, or how powerful the pull will be. I will prepare an escape route and put as much distance between myself and the blast as possible, but there is no absolute guarantee.”

Cat Thanh looked at him.

“Then why do you still intend to do it yourself?”

“Thunder Burst is in my hands, and I understand what happened during the previous detonation better than anyone else. This is not something I should hand over to another person.”

His answer was calm.

After a while, Cat Thanh stood and walked back toward the entrance of the hall.

He looked out over the city for a long time before finally speaking.

“If I truly have to choose between the city and the people, I choose the people.”

Hao Nhien remained where he was.

Cat Thanh turned around. His eyes were still red, but his voice had steadied.

“We evacuate. The children, the elderly, the wounded, and everyone unable to fight leave first. The warriors remain until the end to protect the withdrawal.”

His gaze moved toward the Thunder Burst.

“If Huu Thanh is willing to stop, leave the city standing. I can accept losing this place for a time.”

Cat Thanh paused.

“But if they still insist on advancing, I do not want the people of Cat Loi dying just to hold on to a few walls.”

Hao Nhien cupped his hands.

“Understood.”

Cat Thanh looked at him.

“One more thing.”

“Say it.”

“If the city truly falls…”

He spoke slowly.

“One day, you have to help me build it again.”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“I promise.”

That night, Cat Thanh summoned the elders.

The meeting did not last long.

He told them clearly that Cat Loi would begin evacuating that very night and that he himself would take responsibility for the decision.

When someone asked whether this meant abandoning their ancestral land, Cat Thanh looked at the sand-yellow banner resting on the table.

“We’re taking Cat Loi with us. As long as the people survive and the inheritance survives, the city can be rebuilt one day.”

No one argued further.

The order was quickly passed down.

The first group left the city that same night.

The children went first, followed by the elderly, the wounded, and those responsible for medicinal herbs, artifact crafting, and logistics. Each person was allowed to carry only what was truly necessary for a long journey and for rebuilding life somewhere else.

Food, water, medicinal ingredients, clan records, secret arts, and important ancestral tablets were given priority over all other valuables.

One child held a wooden beast tightly against his chest. When he reached the gate, he turned and looked back at his mother.

“When are we coming home?”

The woman crouched down and straightened his clothes.

“Someday.”

“Someday, we’ll come back.”

On another street, an old man stood in front of his home for a long time.

In the end, he took only one ancestral tablet with him.

The door behind him was left untouched, as though he still believed there would come a day when he would return to open it again.

Hoa Duong led the first escort toward Hoa Van.

Luu Thanh and a group of archers held the rear of the convoys, taking turns checking the tracks and watching for Huu Thanh scouts.

People continued leaving throughout the next day.

By afternoon, word also arrived from Tam Thanh.

Lieu Thien Van personally came with a mobile force, several formation masters, and additional transport.

He did not bring a full army, because the task now was not to hold Cat Loi through a decisive battle. It was to move as many people out as quickly as possible.

After hearing the full plan, Lieu Thien Van looked at Hao Nhien for a long time.

“Thunder Burst is really that powerful?”

“I saw it with my own eyes last time.”

Hao Nhien replied.

Lieu Thien Van exhaled, then turned toward Cat Thanh.

“Tam Thanh’s people will secure the eastern route and help conceal the civilian convoys. We already agreed on this before. When one place is in danger, the others do not stand aside.”

Cat Thanh cupped his hands.

“Thank you.”

With Tam Thanh providing more people and transport, the evacuation accelerated significantly.

By the night of the second day, most of the tribe had already left Cat Loi.

Only the forces needed to conceal the withdrawal, recover important supplies, and prepare the final traces remained inside the city.

Hao Nhien did not turn Cat Loi into an obviously abandoned city.

Several storehouses were left with low-value supplies. The wells remained intact. Many houses were untouched, while the grand formation continued operating at a weakened level.

Signs of hurried defense were also left along the walls, making the city appear as though its defenders had been forced to abandon it under overwhelming pressure.

Thunder Burst remained inside Hao Nhien’s storage ring.

He would not leave something like that behind where it might be discovered.

If he truly had to use it, he would choose the point of detonation himself at the final moment.

At dawn on the third day, scouts reported that Huu Thanh’s forward units had begun appearing in the distance.

There was little time left.

The final group immediately departed.

Cat Thanh was the last to leave.

He stood on the wall for a long time before personally taking down the sand-yellow banner.

He folded it carefully and held it against his chest.

Hao Nhien waited beneath the gate.

He did not call out.

Only after a long while did Cat Thanh finally walk down.

When he passed through the gate, he did not look back again, though the hand holding the folded banner remained tightly clenched.

The gate of Cat Loi was left open and intact, as though its owners had only just been forced to leave in haste.

Under the first light of day, the city lay silent, waiting for the next people to enter.