Chapter: The Fire in the Night
Hao Nhien left the forward camp just as night settled over the Western Wastes. The Tieu Dao Sword trembled faintly beneath his feet, releasing a clear metallic hum into the wind before its sword light narrowed into a thin streak and shot northwest.
The desert was far colder at night than during the day. Wind carried fine grains of sand across his robes in a constant rustle, while the dunes beneath the pale moonlight seemed covered in a layer of silver mist, one after another slipping away behind him.
The temporary settlement was not far from the forward camp. At Hao Nhien's current sword-flight speed, less than a shichen had passed before the first points of fire appeared on the distant horizon.
As the distance narrowed, an oasis gradually emerged from the sea of sand. Hundreds of tents of different sizes had been erected in several rings around the lake. A low wooden fence surrounded the outer perimeter, together with several temporary watchtowers and a defensive formation giving off a faint glow.
There were no high walls or formation crossbows like those at the forward camp, nor were there disciplined squads of armored soldiers constantly changing shifts. Yet from above, Hao Nhien felt that this place was far brighter and more alive.
Campfires burned in the open spaces between the tents. Conversations mixed with the sound of children running between the rows, occasionally joined by the clatter of wooden bowls or an incomplete desert song drifting through the night. Carried outward by the wind, those sounds created an atmosphere entirely different from the heavy tension of the defensive line he had just left behind.
Hao Nhien remained on the Tieu Dao Sword and looked down for a long while.
The seven hundred and twelve people who had followed Luu Thanh had made it here.
They were not everyone who had once walked out of Heavenly Eye Forward City, and twenty-three people had failed to reach the end of the journey. Even so, those before him had truly crossed the desert and were now sitting around fires they had lit with their own hands.
Hao Nhien slowed.
He did not fly directly into the settlement. When he was still around fifty zhang from the gate, he descended to the sand, put away the Tieu Dao Sword, and continued forward on foot.
Two tall wooden posts stood on either side of the entrance, each holding a large oil lamp. Four people were on guard, and neither their clothing nor their weapons matched. One wore the short garments of a desert tribe, another had the worn armor commonly seen on wandering cultivators, while the longbow, spear, and short blades in their hands came from entirely different styles.
Their positions, however, were arranged sensibly. Two stood directly at the gate, while the other two remained farther back behind the fence where they could provide support if anything happened.
One glance at the arrangement was enough for Hao Nhien to know that Luu Thanh had not allowed the settlement to become careless simply because they had escaped Heavenly Eye.
When he was about ten zhang away, the guards noticed the approaching figure at the same time.
The man holding the longbow immediately raised a hand.
“Stop. State your name.”
Hao Nhien stopped where the lamplight could clearly illuminate his face.
“I am Hao Nhien. I have just returned from the front line and came to see everyone.”
The bowman's expression froze.
The man beside him stepped half a pace forward and studied Hao Nhien's face beneath the firelight. After only a few breaths, the vigilance in his eyes rapidly gave way to astonishment.
“Hao Nhien?”
He still seemed unable to fully believe it, but one of the guards behind him recognized Hao Nhien first.
“Hao Nhien is back!”
The shout passed straight through the gate.
Those sitting nearby immediately rose, and figures began running out from between the rows of tents. Within moments, the news spread faster than any formal order.
“Hao Nhien is back!”
“Go tell Luu Thanh!”
“The Fire Qilin Clan Head is here!”
Not everyone repeated the final title. Some called only Hao Nhien's name, while the scattered Fire Qilin clansmen who had lived in exile for years were the ones who truly addressed him as Clan Head.
The wooden gate was quickly opened.
Hao Nhien had not even stepped inside when a figure rushed out from the middle of the settlement, his cloak stretched straight behind him by the wind as he moved far faster than the others.
It was Luu Thanh.
Compared with the last time they had met, he had clearly grown thinner. His cheeks were more hollow, his hair slightly disordered, and his robes were still covered in desert dust, yet his eyes remained as bright as before.
When he saw Hao Nhien standing beyond the gate, Luu Thanh's steps slowed for a moment. His gaze moved from Hao Nhien's face to the shoulder of his robe and then to the sword behind him, as though making sure the person before him had truly returned intact.
Then he quickly approached and dropped to one knee in the sand.
“This subordinate, Luu Thanh, greets the Clan Head.”
His voice trembled faintly.
Hao Nhien did not know how much pressure Luu Thanh had endured over the past month, but the fatigue on his face and the redness around his eyes were enough to show that leading more than seven hundred people across the Western Wastes had been anything but easy.
Hao Nhien stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Stand up. I am back.”
Luu Thanh raised his head and rose to his feet. The smile on his face was far broader than usual.
“Clan Head, there were times on the road when we went many days without hearing anything, but none of us were willing to believe that something had happened to you.”
Hao Nhien looked past his shoulder.
More and more people were gathering near the entrance.
Among them were faces he had seen beneath the walls of Heavenly Eye Forward City, as well as people who had once sat with him at various oases. Some were Fire Qilin clansmen who had spent many years scattered across the desert, but most came from entirely different backgrounds: Sandwind, Black Sand, Flowing Sand, wandering cultivators, merchants, nomadic families, and people whose tribes had vanished long ago.
Hao Nhien did not know most of their names.
But all of them were looking at him.
Some were glad that the man who had helped lead them out of Forward City was still alive. Others visibly relaxed after days of receiving only scattered pieces of news. Many more carried a weight of expectation in their eyes that Hao Nhien understood very well.
They did not necessarily see him as their Clan Head, nor did they necessarily want to become members of the Fire Qilin Tribe.
But his words that day had helped convince them to walk out through Heavenly Eye's gates.
His return meant that, at the very least, the choice they had made had not become a road no one was willing to take responsibility for.
Hao Nhien looked around before speaking.
“Let us go inside first. The night is still long, and there are things I want to hear from all of you. There is no need to stand outside the gate for that.”
Luu Thanh immediately turned toward the others.
“Make more room around the main fire and bring out water and food. There is no need to line up or prepare any ceremony. Tonight, everyone can simply sit together.”
Replies rose throughout the settlement.
Hao Nhien stepped through the gate.
No one crowded too close to him, but groups around the entrance naturally followed behind, and the open ground near the lake quickly became more crowded.
The large fire circle in the center of the camp was expanded.
There was no raised platform and no seat of honor. Those who had animal hides spread them on the sand, while those without them simply sat on the ground. Several wounded people remained in the outer rings with bandages still wrapped around them, and a few women held children in their arms to keep them from running too close to the fire.
Hao Nhien sat in the innermost ring like everyone else.
Luu Thanh sat to his right. On his left were several elders and people respected by the different groups.
A rough bowl of wine and a plate of still-steaming roasted meat were placed in front of him.
When the crowd gradually quieted, Hao Nhien lifted the bowl.
“Before we speak about what comes next, I want to drink this bowl for the twenty-three people who could not make it here.”
The atmosphere around the fire immediately became subdued.
Luu Thanh lowered his gaze, while several nearby people silently clenched their hands.
Hao Nhien looked at the faces before him and continued.
“Some of them died because their injuries were too severe. Some fell while protecting their families or the people traveling beside them. Others chose to remain behind so the group ahead could gain enough time to keep moving. I do not know every one of their names, but we cannot treat the fact that seven hundred and twelve people are sitting here tonight as though it came without a price.”
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He raised the bowl slightly higher.
“This bowl is for those who remained on the road.”
Hao Nhien drank it dry.
Luu Thanh and the people around him raised their bowls as well. Those who did not drink wine used water instead, but not a single cheer or shout rose from the settlement.
Hundreds of people simply drank in silence for the dead.
After a while, Hao Nhien set his bowl down.
He did not tell them everything that had happened after he separated from Luu Thanh.
There were matters the people before him needed to know, but there were also many things that should not be spoken openly in a settlement containing more than seven hundred people whose identities had not yet been fully verified.
Hao Nhien told them only enough to understand the current situation.
When he mentioned the ambush near the Fire Qilin ancestral homeland, he likewise revealed only enough for everyone to know that the immediate danger had been dealt with.
“Han Minh and Ly Vinh are both dead. The group that accompanied them is no longer capable of continuing the pursuit of the Fire Qilin Tribe.”
The fire circle became noticeably quieter.
Many people who had once lived around Heavenly Eye Forward City or wandered the desert for years knew those two names.
A young man in one of the outer rings finally could not stop himself from asking,
“Han Minh and Ly Vinh are really both dead?”
Hao Nhien nodded.
“Yes.”
An elder nearby spoke slowly.
“Ly Vinh had been at late Foundation Establishment for many years. Han Minh was even more difficult to deal with.”
The gazes around the fire immediately changed.
There was astonishment, disbelief, and gradually a measure of awe.
Hao Nhien noticed it and spoke before those emotions could grow too far.
“I am telling you this so you know that the group pursuing us is gone, not because I want anyone to think I am unbeatable. We had people working together, we had preparation, and we were forced to use dangerous life-preserving methods. In another place, under different conditions, the result might not have been the same.”
He did not explain further.
The fewer people who knew certain secrets, the better.
After a brief silence, Hao Nhien finally turned to what he had truly come here to say.
“The day you walked out of Heavenly Eye Forward City, I said that no one should be forced to bow their head simply to earn the right to survive.”
Many eyes focused on him again.
“But leaving Heavenly Eye does not mean that from today onward you have to obey me. It also does not mean that the seven hundred and twelve people here will become members of the Fire Qilin Tribe.”
Several people were visibly surprised.
Hao Nhien continued calmly.
“The Fire Qilin Tribe will welcome any scattered clansmen who wish to return. Tam Thành can also provide some temporary places to stay and opportunities for people to rebuild their lives. Those who wish to continue as wandering cultivators may continue on their own path. Anyone who wants to trade, search for relatives, or return to their old tribe only needs to let us know.”
His gaze passed across each ring of people around the fire.
“Some of you may want to remain together and find a place to settle. Others may still have no idea where they want to go.”
Hao Nhien paused briefly before continuing.
“There is nothing wrong with not knowing yet.”
The atmosphere around the fire changed noticeably.
Hao Nhien did not press them for answers.
“You have just finished a long journey. Many are still recovering from injuries, and some have only recently lost family. No one needs to decide the course of their entire life tonight simply because they escaped Heavenly Eye.”
A middle-aged man seated in the second ring spoke.
“What if we want to stay together?”
Hao Nhien looked at him.
“Then you can stay together.”
“But under what name?”
Hao Nhien considered that for a moment.
“That is something all of you should decide together. You could become a merchant caravan, a group of wandering cultivators, a new settlement, or a community made up of people from different tribes. I do not think you need to rush to name it before you know what you actually want to build.”
Across the fire, a woman holding a small child asked,
“What if we want to go to Tam Thành?”
“Tam Thành will not allow everyone to immediately enter strategic areas because each person's identity still needs to be verified. But if your purpose is simply to find somewhere to live, work, or trade, I can ask someone to help you understand the rules and determine which areas can accept new residents.”
A young wandering cultivator then asked,
“What if I do not want to follow Tam Thành and I do not want to join Fire Qilin either?”
Hao Nhien looked at him and smiled faintly.
“Then do not.”
Soft laughter spread around the fire.
The young man paused, then laughed as well.
Hao Nhien continued.
“You traveled a very long way to gain the right to choose. If you leave Heavenly Eye only to immediately find someone else to decide everything for you, then this road would not be so different from the one you just escaped.”
No one cheered.
But many people began exchanging glances.
Small groups started talking among themselves. Some turned to ask their families what they thought, while others simply stared into the fire as though considering for the first time where they actually wanted to live from now on.
That was what Hao Nhien wanted to see.
Not a crowd shouting in one voice that they would follow him.
Just people beginning to think about their own paths.
An elder from the Sandwind Tribe stood, leaning on an old staff.
“I am old and I do not want to keep running. If there is a place near Tam Thành where we can build homes, I want to stay.”
A man from Black Sand sitting not far away said,
“I still have relatives in the west. Once my injuries recover, I want to go back and look for them.”
Another wandering cultivator laughed.
“I have no home to return to. If this place needs people to guard the roads and search for water, I can remain for a while.”
A middle-aged Fire Qilin clansman stayed silent for a long time before finally saying,
“I want to find Lanh Hoa's group.”
No one objected.
More answers followed, some so different that they were nearly opposites. Some wanted to enter Tam Thành, some wanted to search for their old tribes, some wanted to remain with the people who had survived beside them, while many others simply said they needed more time.
Hao Nhien did not try to force all those answers into a single choice.
He simply listened.
After a while, Luu Thanh looked around and said,
“We do not need to settle everything in one night. Starting tomorrow, each group can choose several representatives to record what people want. Those who wish to search for relatives, go to Tam Thành, return to their old tribes, or remain here can be listed separately. Only then will we know what preparations need to be made.”
Hao Nhien looked at him and nodded.
That was far more practical than having more than seven hundred people stand up one after another to speak.
“Do that.”
Hao Nhien then lifted his bowl again, though this time his voice was lighter.
“Tomorrow's matters can wait until tomorrow. You have all traveled far enough tonight.”
The weight around the fire gradually eased.
A young man somehow found an old hide drum and handed it to Luu Thanh. Luu Thanh glanced at Hao Nhien, and only after seeing no objection did he take it and tap out several beats.
Then he began singing an old song of the Western Wastes.
It told of a traveler crossing a sandstorm who shared the fire he carried with those abandoned in the night. Luu Thanh's singing was not particularly good, and he even missed the rhythm in several places, but before long others began to join him.
Those who knew the words sang entire verses, while those who remembered only part of the song followed the refrain. A few people tapped their wooden bowls in rhythm, and even the children began clapping along.
A young man in one of the outer rings became excited enough to change one line of the song and insert Hao Nhien's name into it.
Laughter immediately broke out.
Hao Nhien gave him a resigned look.
“Do not casually rewrite someone else's old song.”
The young man laughed loudly.
“It was only one line!”
Luu Thanh laughed as well, then deliberately sang the original line correctly, making the laughter around the fire even louder.
Hao Nhien did not interfere again.
During that time, the boundaries between people from different backgrounds seemed to soften slightly.
The Fire Qilin clansmen remained Fire Qilin, the Sandwind people retained their Sandwind origins, the Black Sand people did not need to abandon their own customs, and wandering cultivators did not suddenly belong to a tribe merely because they shared the same fire.
No one needed to forget who they had once been simply to sit beside someone else.
At least for tonight, they shared water and food, remembered the dead together, and sang a song that many among them had not even known before this night.
Hao Nhien remained seated for a while longer before quietly signaling Luu Thanh.
Luu Thanh understood.
He stood and called three elders representing the largest groups, along with two people responsible for security. Hao Nhien also left the fire circle and entered a large tent farther inside the settlement.
The singing continued outside.
Only a single oil lamp burned inside the tent.
Once everyone had taken their seats, Luu Thanh immediately asked,
“Clan Head, is there something that should not be discussed in front of everyone?”
Hao Nhien nodded.
“There are a few things.”
The relief on the faces of those inside immediately faded.
Hao Nhien still did not reveal all of his own secrets, but these people were directly responsible for the safety of the settlement, so they needed to know enough to prepare.
“First, the route currently being taken by the Fire Qilin Tribe must not be made public. Tam Thành has already sent people to provide support, but only those directly involved need to know the exact locations.”
Luu Thanh nodded seriously.
“I understand.”
“Second, starting tomorrow, registration will not only be about learning where everyone wants to go. We also need to quietly verify each person's identity, especially anyone who joined the group after leaving Forward City or anyone no group recognizes.”
One elder frowned.
“You suspect Heavenly Eye may have planted someone among us?”
“I have no evidence.”
Hao Nhien did not claim otherwise.
“But we cannot pretend the possibility does not exist. Seven hundred and twelve people traveling together across the Western Wastes are too large a target, and Heavenly Eye is not a force that only knows how to chase people from behind.”
Luu Thanh immediately understood.
“I will recheck the records. We registered people by group and origin during the journey, though the information is not completely detailed.”
“Do it discreetly. Do not make the entire settlement feel as though they are being interrogated.”
Hao Nhien looked at him.
“If we push too hard, people who have just escaped Heavenly Eye may think they have entered another place that distrusts them in exactly the same way.”
Luu Thanh nodded.
“I know how to handle it.”
Hao Nhien remained silent for a moment before raising the more serious matter.
“On my way back, I discovered a group of sinister cultivators operating near the forward camp.”
He did not recount every detail of the battle, but he explained enough for those before him to understand that the Yin Soul Sect was using corpses and resentment in the Western Wastes to refine Corpse Puppets, and that there might be other similar sites.
The atmosphere inside the tent immediately grew heavy.
One of the guards asked,
“Then the twenty-three people who died along the way...”
“They were cremated. That was the right decision.”
Hao Nhien looked toward Luu Thanh.
“Continue that rule from now on. If anyone dies from injuries or any other cause, do not leave the body outside the protected area overnight.”
Luu Thanh nodded at once.
“I will personally remind the treatment group and the guards.”
“Also, do not let news about the Yin Soul Sect spread through the settlement tonight.”
Hao Nhien continued.
“If more than seven hundred people who have only just settled down hear that sinister cultivators are collecting corpses around the battlefields, panic could spread very quickly. Tam Thành has already begun investigating. We only need to increase our vigilance, not frighten ourselves before we understand the real situation.”
Everyone inside the tent agreed.
Only then did Hao Nhien ask Luu Thanh about the journey itself.
This time, without hundreds of eyes watching him, Luu Thanh no longer needed to speak only about the things that were easy to hear.
He described the times they nearly ran out of water, the groups that almost separated from the main column, two serious disputes between people from different tribes, and one night when they had been forced to detour nearly thirty li after discovering traces of a Heavenly Eye patrol.
He also explained how the twenty-three people had died.
Some had succumbed during the first three days because their injuries from Forward City were too severe. Two had remained behind to hold a narrow ravine when spirit beasts pursued the group. One mother had given nearly all her water to her two children and never awakened after their final rest.
Hao Nhien listened to everything.
He did not say that their deaths had been worthwhile.
No one had the right to decide that for the dead.
He only asked for the names of everyone Luu Thanh could still remember and told him to record the rest as completely as possible the following day.
If the survivors eventually chose to build something new, then at the very least they should know whose lives had helped them reach it.
By the time the discussion ended, the night had grown much deeper.
Hao Nhien stepped out of the tent.
The singing around the fires continued, though more quietly than before. Many children had fallen asleep in the arms of adults, and some of the wounded had already been taken back to their tents to rest.
He did not immediately return to the fire circle.
Instead, he stood at the edge between light and darkness and watched from a distance.
There would be many things to deal with tomorrow. Water and food would need to be recalculated, the wounded would have to be sorted by condition, routes would need to be prepared for those who wished to leave, and anyone choosing to remain would need to find a way to live together without allowing differences between groups to turn into conflict. Beyond all of that were the risk of infiltrators, Heavenly Eye to the west, and the Yin Soul Sect still hidden in the shadows.
But those matters could begin tomorrow.
Tonight, Hao Nhien simply watched a woman pass half a bowl of water to the person beside her, saw a wandering cultivator pull a blanket over the shoulders of a child he did not know, and listened as the off-key singing continued between the tents.
The trust that had once existed only in a few words beneath the walls of Forward City was slowly taking on a more tangible form.
It was not yet an alliance, much less a new tribe.
It was only a group of strangers beginning to learn how to share a place beside the same fire.
But at least on this night, in a small oasis of the Western Wastes, the first flame had truly been lit.