The One Who Should Not have Appeared

Hao Nhien turned his back on the City Lord of Huu Thanh.

The Tieu Dao Sword slowly lifted him from the wall, carrying him away from the rows of long spears, greatbows, and formation flags behind him.

The man’s voice followed on the wind, carrying a trace of mockery.

“I’ll be waiting for your answer.”

“Just don’t keep me waiting too long.”

Hao Nhien did not look back. The flying sword continued to rise while his spiritual sense swept across the terrain below.

The distance was still not enough.

At that exact moment, however, a faint fluctuation suddenly brushed against his soul.

It was too subtle to be called a probe of spiritual sense and carried neither killing intent nor oppressive force, yet the familiarity within it made Hao Nhien’s heart tighten without warning.

The Tieu Dao Sword slowed beneath his feet.

He frowned.

That feeling was far too familiar, so familiar that his body reacted before his thoughts had time to form.

Hao Nhien turned around.

His gaze passed through the black banners fluttering above the walls, swept over ranks of black-armored soldiers, war wagons, formation flags, and the rooftops Huu Thanh had only recently occupied.

Then it stopped.

In front of a temporary hall behind the man who had just spoken to him, a woman in red had stepped outside.

Long black hair fell down her back.

Amid layers of black armor and black banners, that streak of red stood out so sharply that everything around her seemed to fade at once.

The Tieu Dao Sword came to a complete stop.

Hao Nhien stared at her.

She stared back.

For that moment, the battlefield below seemed very far away.

Hao Nhien had seen that face from a distance closer than anyone else ever had.

He had once reached deep into her soul, touching layers of memory, emotion, and subtle fluctuations that ordinary words could scarcely describe. Between them had long existed a familiarity that went far beyond merely recognizing one another’s faces.

So even though her bearing had changed slightly, even though she now stood in the middle of Heavenly Eye’s army, Hao Nhien recognized her at the very first glance.

His lips moved.

“Quan Nha…”

The sound was barely more than a whisper.

Yet the woman in red trembled.

She stepped farther out of the hall, her eyes widening.

“Hao Nhien?”

The wind carried part of her voice away, but Hao Nhien still heard it.

Quan Nha looked him over from head to toe as though she needed to confirm that the man suspended in the air before her truly existed.

Her lips trembled.

“Is it really… you?”

Hao Nhien did not answer immediately.

Something seemed to tighten around his chest.

During the time Quan Nha had been missing, he had imagined too many possibilities.

She might have been hunted.

Captured.

Imprisoned somewhere beyond his reach.

There had even been moments when he had forced himself to consider something worse—that whatever had happened to her might already have happened before he could trace even a single clue.

But now she was standing before him.

Alive.

That alone was enough to crack apart some of the tension Hao Nhien had carried inside him for so long.

Then another realization followed.

Quan Nha was standing in the middle of Huu Thanh’s army.

She was neither bound nor chained, and there was no sign that anyone had brought her here as a prisoner.

Even the way the people around her positioned themselves made it clear that her status here was entirely different from that of a captive.

A tear slipped from the corner of Quan Nha’s eye.

She did not wipe it away.

She simply stood there, looking at him.

Hao Nhien’s soul trembled faintly once more.

He knew her too well to mistake that reaction for an act.

The woman before him was still the Quan Nha he knew.

But something enormous had happened during her disappearance.

Hao Nhien’s hand fell away from his storage ring.

A chill ran down his spine.

Only moments ago, he had still been calculating where to use Thunder Burst.

If Quan Nha had stepped outside a little later, if that familiar fluctuation in her soul had not made him turn around, or if he had already chosen to act the moment he left the wall…

Hao Nhien stopped the thought there.

Cold sweat had already formed across his back.

The man on the wall noticed the change as well.

He looked toward Quan Nha, then back toward Hao Nhien.

His gaze moved between them several times before lingering on Hao Nhien’s face.

“Oh…”

The corner of his mouth curved slightly.

“So it really is you.”

Hao Nhien looked toward him.

The man continued:

“It wasn’t merely the same name.”

He spoke slowly.

“Quan Hao Nhien.”

Hao Nhien still did not fully understand what he meant.

Not until the man turned toward Quan Nha.

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“Nha’er.”

Those two syllables immediately changed Hao Nhien’s expression.

The man said:

“She is my daughter.”

He paused.

“Hoang Quan Nha.”

It felt as though countless scattered pieces collided inside Hao Nhien’s mind at once.

Hoang.

Quan Nha.

The daughter of Huu Thanh’s City Lord.

He looked at her.

Quan Nha did not deny it. She only lowered her eyes, one hand clutching the edge of her robe so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Hao Nhien began to understand.

The scattered pieces gradually connected.

The fact that she stood among Huu Thanh without being treated as a prisoner.

And the conflict he could now see in her eyes.

Hao Nhien had known her long enough to recognize how heavily all of this weighed upon her.

He looked at the hand gripping her robe, then slowly guided the Tieu Dao Sword downward.

The man on the wall watched him.

“I want to see her.”

The other man did not answer immediately.

Hao Nhien had no intention of waiting.

He stepped forward.

Several black-armored soldiers immediately moved to intercept him, but the man merely raised a hand.

“Stand down.”

They stopped.

The distance between Hao Nhien and Quan Nha quickly disappeared.

Hao Nhien had imagined this reunion many times.

He had thought he would ask where she had gone, who had taken her, why she had sent no message, whether she had been hurt, and whether she knew how many people had searched for her.

But when he finally stood in front of her, all of those questions fell away.

She was alive.

That alone was enough to break open the tension he had carried for so long.

Hao Nhien reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Quan Nha stiffened for a single heartbeat before both hands immediately clutched his robe, as though loosening her grip for even a moment might make the person before her disappear again.

Hao Nhien asked nothing.

He simply held her.

Her shoulders trembled, and her breathing was uneven. Those reactions were too familiar for him to miss how difficult the past months must have been for her.

“Quan Nha.”

She did not lift her head.

Hao Nhien gently stroked her hair.

“I’m here.”

Her body trembled harder.

The tears she had been holding back since seeing him finally began to fall without stopping.

Hao Nhien tightened his arms around her.

“You don’t have to carry everything alone anymore.”

Quan Nha finally broke down and buried her face against his chest.

“Hao Nhien…”

He remained silent.

It took her some time before she could speak again.

“I was a piece Heavenly Eye placed inside the Quan Clan.”

Her fingers tightened even more around his robe.

“I lived beside everyone for so many years. I called them family. I thought of that place as my home… yet all of it began with a scheme.”

Her voice had gone hoarse.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do anymore. I don’t want to betray the Quan Clan, and I don’t want to betray you.”

She paused before forcing herself to continue.

“But Hoang Lap… is my father.”

“The more I understand about what happened, the less I know where I’m supposed to stand.”

Hao Nhien did not rush to answer.

He simply held her and let her cry until her breathing gradually calmed.

Only then did he speak.

“You don’t have to choose today.”

Quan Nha slowly raised her head.

Hao Nhien looked directly into her eyes.

“Come with me first. Leave this place, step away from the war, and think about the rest afterward.”

He wiped the tears from her cheek.

“I won’t force you to choose between me and your father. Whatever you decide later, it should at least be what you truly want.”

Quan Nha looked at him for a long time.

Behind her stood the entire army of Huu Thanh.

Before her was the person she had once feared she might never see again.

At last, she slowly nodded.

“All right.”

Hao Nhien’s hand trembled faintly.

He wrapped one arm around her waist.

The Tieu Dao Sword immediately lowered and hovered beneath them. Hao Nhien brought Quan Nha onto the flying sword and slowly rose into the air.

The soldiers around them immediately moved.

Spears rose. Greatbows turned. Two Foundation Establishment cultivators stepped forward at the same time.

The man at the front raised his hand.

“Stay where you are.”

The order fell, and the entire formation stopped.

His gaze settled on the arm Hao Nhien had wrapped around Quan Nha.

The mocking expression from earlier was gone.

“You intend to take my daughter away right in front of me?”

Hao Nhien looked directly at the City Lord of Huu Thanh, his voice calm.

“You must know what happened at the Hoa Ky Tribe.”

Hoang Lap’s eyes shifted slightly.

Hao Nhien continued:

“Han Minh and the people who followed him died there. Heavenly Eye must have investigated the site.”

Hoang Lap said nothing.

Hao Nhien looked down at Cat Loi City.

“You must also know that an enormous area around the center of the blast was almost completely swept away, and that space itself was torn open afterward.”

The smile on Hoang Lap’s lips vanished entirely.

Hao Nhien looked at him.

“But there is one question you are probably still asking.”

The wind swept through the black banners above the wall.

“How did I do it?”

Hoang Lap remained silent.

Hao Nhien continued:

“You also don’t know how many more times I can do it.”

The expressions of several nearby Foundation Establishment cultivators immediately changed.

Hao Nhien looked around.

“Did none of you ever find it strange?”

“Cat Loi fought desperately to defend this city.”

“And yet, shortly afterward, the entire tribe withdrew before your army arrived.”

Hoang Lap slowly looked around.

The walls.

The main hall.

The war wagons that had just been brought inside.

The formation flags already planted throughout the city.

The thousands of soldiers stationed below.

His gaze lingered on several places longer than before.

Hao Nhien said:

“Because from the moment Cat Loi decided to withdraw, I had already prepared for the possibility of another battle.”

Hoang Lap looked at him.

Hao Nhien continued:

“What I possess is powerful enough to erase an enormous area.”

“Enough to wipe out an entire encampment.”

“Enough to turn thousands of people into nothing more than names left on a list.”

His voice remained calm.

“I survived it once.”

“This time, I have also prepared a way out.”

When those words fell, the atmosphere on the wall seemed to grow heavier.

Hao Nhien had no need to claim that Thunder Burst had already been planted.

Nor did he need to tell them that it was still in his possession.

The true threat lay in what Hoang Lap did not know.

He did not know Thunder Burst’s limits, the distance required to use it, or the conditions needed to trigger it. More importantly, he had no way of knowing where Hao Nhien might choose the battlefield next time.

Hoang Lap remained where he was, but the hand clasped behind his back slowly tightened.

“You think a few words are enough to make me withdraw?”

Hao Nhien answered:

“You don’t have to believe me.”

His gaze swept across the nearly ten thousand soldiers below.

“But if you want to test it, everything here is what you’ll be gambling.”

Hao Nhien looked back at Hoang Lap.

“I don’t need you to be afraid.”

“I only need you to ask yourself whether the price is worth the gamble.”

No one behind Hoang Lap was smiling anymore.

Hao Nhien lowered his gaze toward Quan Nha in his arms.

“And there’s something else.”

Quan Nha looked up.

Hao Nhien met her eyes.

“You just saved them.”

Her expression changed.

Hao Nhien spoke slowly.

“Before I saw you, I had already decided to act.”

“I was only looking for a suitable distance that would reduce the risk to the Thunder Rite.”

Quan Nha’s hands immediately tightened around his robe.

Her lips trembled.

Hoang Lap also looked toward his daughter.

Hao Nhien continued:

“If you had appeared a little later, I would not have turned back.”

Fear appeared clearly in Quan Nha’s eyes.

She understood exactly what those words meant.

Had she been only a few moments later, her father might have died beneath Thunder Burst.

Thousands of Huu Thanh soldiers might have died with him.

And she herself might have been among them.

Hao Nhien looked at Hoang Lap.

“Don’t repeat Han Minh’s mistake.”

Hoang Lap’s voice turned low.

“What do you want?”

“Twelve hours.”

Hao Nhien answered immediately.

“Within twelve hours, every Huu Thanh soldier leaves the Cat Loi region.”

“You may return to Huu Thanh.”

He looked directly at Hoang Lap.

“The war between us may not be over. But today, it ends here.”

Hao Nhien paused before continuing:

“If you want to return next time, make sure you have a way to deal with Thunder Burst.”

Those final two words made Hoang Lap’s expression stiffen.

“Thunder Burst…”

Hao Nhien offered no further explanation.

He lowered his head and gently wiped away the tear still resting on Quan Nha’s cheek with his thumb. His voice softened, though it remained loud enough for Hoang Lap to hear.

“I’m taking her away from this war.”

“I won’t force her to choose between me and you.”

Hao Nhien raised his head.

“If Heavenly Eye still wants the secret of the Body-Soul Fist Art, the person you need to find is me.”

“Not her.”

Quan Nha looked at Hao Nhien.

Her eyes reddened again, but this time the tension in her shoulders had eased considerably.

Hao Nhien circulated his spiritual energy.

The Tieu Dao Sword beneath them began to glow.

The guards around Hoang Lap immediately stepped forward.

“City Lord!”

Hoang Lap raised a hand.

“Stand down.”

They stopped.

Hoang Lap continued staring at Hao Nhien.

The contempt he had shown toward a middle Foundation Establishment cultivator was gone from his eyes.

Hao Nhien did not immediately turn his back either.

Holding Quan Nha close, he slowly guided the flying sword upward.

Only after they cleared the wall did Spirit Wings erupt.

A muffled boom shook the air.

The Tieu Dao Sword accelerated sharply.

Quan Nha instinctively tightened her arms around Hao Nhien, though her gaze remained fixed behind them.

She looked at Hoang Lap standing among the black banners.

Her lips moved.

In the end, she said nothing.

Two tears slid down her cheeks.

She closed her eyes and buried her face against Hao Nhien’s shoulder.

The two of them became a streak of light shooting eastward, rapidly disappearing into the desert sky.

Hoang Lap remained standing on the wall.

He watched for a long time.

His gaze stayed on the small figure of his daughter clinging to Hao Nhien until the two vanished completely from sight.

For the briefest moment, the muscles along his face tightened.

Then the familiar coldness returned.

A general behind him asked quietly:

“City Lord, do we pursue?”

“No.”

Hoang Lap answered.

The man hesitated.

“But the young lady…”

“I said no.”

Hoang Lap’s voice turned cold.

The general immediately lowered his head.

Hoang Lap looked down at the ranks of soldiers below.

He did not necessarily believe every word Hao Nhien had said.

But if even part of it was true, the potential cost was already far beyond anything Huu Thanh could afford to gamble.

After a long silence, Hoang Lap finally spoke.

“Pass down the order.”

Several generals looked up at once.

“The entire army will pack its supplies.”

Hoang Lap continued:

“Within six hours, we leave Cat Loi.”

“Return to Huu Thanh.”

He looked east.

“Do not pursue the people of Cat Loi.”

“Do not touch Hao Nhien.”

“Not until we understand what Thunder Burst truly is and where its limits lie.”

The people behind him cupped their hands in unison.

“Understood!”

The order quickly spread throughout the city.