The Unlit Flame

Night covered the mountains on three sides of the Fire Qilin settlement. A thin moon hung low on the horizon, casting a pale layer of light across the old rooftops, the dark-red cliffs, and the narrow paths half-buried beneath drifting sand.

The Fire Qilin Tribe was even quieter at night than Hao Nhien had imagined. There were no children running through the alleys, no hammering from the forges, and no elderly voices carrying from beside household fires. From time to time, only a dry cough could be heard from behind a closed door, or the creak of old wood as the wind pushed against a weakened frame before silence returned once more.

The scent of cold ash mixed with the lingering heat of stone that had baked beneath the sun all day. From deeper within the settlement, Hao Nhien could also detect the faintest trace of incense, so weak that it nearly disappeared into the night wind, yet it had not completely gone out.

Lanh Hoa led the other two to an old wooden house along the northern edge of the settlement. Its roof was thatched with dried palm leaves, several sections already sagging, while long cracks ran through the wooden walls. One side of the door hung crooked from its hinges, but the interior was still enclosed enough to conceal them from outside view.

Lanh Hoa pushed the door open and entered first.

Dust covered the floor. A low table had lost one of its legs, several woven mats had rotted away in the corner, and a few broken clay jars rested beside the wall. Beneath the dust, a dark-red flame symbol could still be seen painted across one of them.

Lanh Hoa paused in front of the jar for a moment. He did not reach out to touch it. He only looked at the faded flame before turning away as though nothing had happened.

Hao Nhien entered after him and quickly checked the house. There were no signs that anyone had lived there recently. A small window on the western side faced the center of the settlement, where the silhouette of the Fire Qilin Altar could be seen faintly beneath the moonlight.

"This place will do."

Lanh Hoa closed the door.

Luu Tan remained in one corner, not daring to sit without permission. He had still not fully recovered from the battle at the hidden route, and with Lanh Hoa standing nearby, he was even less willing to make any unnecessary movement.

Hao Nhien walked to the window and looked toward the altar.

From this distance, he could only make out its dark outline on the raised ground in the center of the settlement, but for some reason, the moment he saw it, a faint fluctuation appeared inside his Sea of Consciousness.

The Fire Qilin Jade.

The reaction was neither strong nor violent. It felt more like a vague resonance awakened only because he had come close enough.

Hao Nhien remained silent for a moment before turning back.

"Lanh Hoa, stay here and watch Luu Tan. I'm going to inspect the altar."

Lanh Hoa immediately looked at him.

"Does Clan Head intend to begin the rite?"

"Not yet."

Hao Nhien shook his head.

"I only want to see it for myself and confirm how the Fire Qilin Jade reacts. There are still ambushers outside Dragonmist Thorn Forest, and we do not yet know how many of Duong Quang's eyes remain inside the tribe. This is not the time to create a large disturbance."

Lanh Hoa nodded.

"This subordinate understands."

Hao Nhien pulled his gray cloak tighter and looked toward Luu Tan.

"You stay here. Do not leave on your own."

Luu Tan hurriedly lowered his head.

"I understand."

Hao Nhien said nothing more and opened the door.

The night wind immediately rushed in, cold and dry, carrying the smell of ash and dust together with a faint ancient scent from the center of the settlement.

The door closed behind him.

Hao Nhien concealed his aura and moved through the darker spaces between the houses, avoiding any place where lamps were still lit or where people might still be awake. The settlement was nowhere near as large as Tam Thành, but the winding paths between stone houses and mountain walls made it relatively easy to move without drawing attention.

The closer he came to the center, the clearer the Fire Qilin Altar became.

It stood on the highest rise within the settlement, shaped like a low but massive stepped pyramid. The altar rose more than ten zhang and was divided into seven tiers, each built from black stone slabs mixed with dark-red sandstone. Beneath the moonlight, the black stone reflected a cold silver sheen, while the red sandstone made the entire structure seem as though it still retained a trace of warmth from flames extinguished long ago.

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Spiraling flame patterns covered the steps, together with images of ancient beasts raising their heads within seas of fire and curved Fire Qilin characters that had been worn by wind and sand but not erased. Narrow channels ran from the top of the altar down through the lower tiers. Most had been covered by sand, though a few exposed sections still showed dark red, like dried veins embedded within the stone.

At the summit was a square platform.

At its center stood a flame-shaped altar pedestal more than three feet high, carved from a single block of volcanic stone. A symbol resembling the Fire Qilin Jade had been engraved into its surface, while four black stone flame pillars stood at the corners, their interiors completely empty.

No fire burned there.

There was also no sign that the place had been used in recent years.

Around the base of the altar stretched a broad stone ring lined with pillars carved in the forms of Fire Qilin ancestors. Some held weapons, some raised flames, some knelt on one knee before the altar, and some used their own bodies to shield children behind them. Many faces had been eroded until their features were no longer recognizable, but their postures remained.

Hao Nhien stopped outside the stone ring.

A thin layer of mist drifted in from the distant Dragonmist Thorn Forest and slipped through the mountain gaps, covering the altar steps in a faint silver haze. In the silence of the night, the place seemed like a structure that had slept for a very long time, with ancient formations and traces of inheritance lying quietly beneath layers of sand.

Hao Nhien took one step forward.

Immediately, the Fire Qilin Jade within his Sea of Consciousness trembled faintly.

He stopped.

The vibration did not disappear.

When he took another step, the temperature of the jade rose slightly. There was no burning sensation, only a gentle warmth spreading through his Sea of Consciousness before gradually reaching the rest of his body.

Hao Nhien drew a slow breath.

The reaction was far clearer than it had been when he was standing in the abandoned house.

He continued forward.

The moment his foot reached the edge of the stone ring surrounding the altar, a section of pattern near the lowest step suddenly lit up with the faintest glow.

Only a thin red line.

It did not spread, nor did it release any powerful fluctuation, but Hao Nhien could see it clearly in the darkness.

Inside his Sea of Consciousness, the Fire Qilin Jade continued to tremble.

At the same time, a very weak response emerged from beneath the altar stones, as though formations that had remained dormant for too long had just recognized a familiar aura.

Hao Nhien did not move forward immediately.

He remained where he was, keeping his spiritual awareness close to his body while carefully sensing the changes.

A few indistinct images suddenly passed through his perception. He could not tell whether they were memories preserved within the Fire Qilin Jade or merely impressions caused by the inheritance here, but for one brief moment, he seemed to see shadowy figures standing on these very steps, raising their hands before a flame burning at the center of the altar.

There were no clear faces.

No voices.

Only the image of many people facing the same fire.

The sensation lasted only an instant before fading.

Hao Nhien opened his eyes.

The pattern beneath his feet was still glowing faintly.

He looked toward the altar pedestal at the summit.

Hao Nhien did not know what steps the official rite of the Fire Qilin Tribe required, nor did he know whether the Fire Qilin Jade alone was enough to complete the entire process. But the reaction before him gave him the sense that if he continued upward and touched the altar pedestal, some part of the inheritance or formation here might truly be activated.

That thought kept him standing still for a long time.

If he considered only himself, he wanted to know what would happen.

He had traveled too far to reach this place. Ever since receiving the Fire Qilin Jade, he had known that his journey through the Western Wastes would eventually bring him to the Fire Qilin Altar. This was not merely the place where his position as Clan Head could be formally recognized. It might also contain important clues about the Fire Qilin inheritance and the deeper history of the tribe.

But he was no longer alone.

More than ten ambushers still remained outside Dragonmist Thorn Forest. There might still be people loyal to Duong Quang inside the tribe, or at the very least people whose positions were unclear. Luu Tan had only just returned, the situation within the settlement had not yet been verified, and no one knew how many scattered Fire Qilin tribesmen under Heavenly Eye could still be contacted.

If Hao Nhien activated the altar now and caused a large enough phenomenon, his return would immediately cease to be a secret.

At that point, the only advantage they currently possessed would disappear.

Hao Nhien stared at the altar pedestal for a long time.

For a brief moment, his thoughts turned to Anh Nhien and the world he had left behind. Standing before a homeland that had fallen into decline made him understand the meaning of the word return a little more deeply, but the thought lasted only an instant before he pushed it aside.

What mattered now was the Fire Qilin Tribe.

Hao Nhien took a slow breath, deliberately withdrew his spiritual power, and stepped back half a pace.

The fluctuation within the Fire Qilin Jade remained, but it no longer grew stronger.

He stepped back again.

The thin red line on the stone gradually dimmed.

There was no resistance and no sense of urging. The resonance between the jade and the altar simply weakened as the distance increased.

Hao Nhien looked toward the altar pedestal one final time.

"This is not the time. I will return and light this flame, but not tonight."

His voice was low, barely loud enough for himself to hear.

He continued backing away from the stone ring.

The last trace of red light disappeared.

Inside his Sea of Consciousness, the Fire Qilin Jade trembled for a few more moments before gradually becoming still again.

Hao Nhien turned away.

The night wind once more swept across the altar grounds, carrying a thin layer of sand over the stone steps. The four flame pillars remained motionless beneath the moonlight, the altar pedestal stayed dark, and the entire place quickly returned to the silence it had held before.

Hao Nhien had only taken a few steps when a deep, faint vibration suddenly came from somewhere beneath the altar.

The sound was so soft that anyone farther away would almost certainly have missed it.

He stopped.

He did not turn around.

His spiritual awareness immediately spread through the area around him, but aside from the residual vibration within the stone, he sensed nothing else. The sound came only once before fading, like some ancient structure deep below had briefly responded to the resonance from moments earlier.

Hao Nhien remained still for several breaths before continuing on his way.

Behind him, the Fire Qilin Altar sank once more into silence, without any light or phenomenon strong enough to awaken the people still living throughout the settlement.

The flame had not yet been lit, but for the first time in many years, the Fire Qilin Altar had responded to the bearer of the Fire Qilin Jade.