Ask The God-Lord

The great hall gradually settled after the confrontation.

The auras that had erupted throughout the chamber were withdrawn, and Thunder Burst had disappeared from Hao Nhien’s hand, but the atmosphere did not become any lighter.

If anything, the silence that followed—after everyone had seen the price they might pay if they continued using force—made the space feel even heavier than before.

Hao Nhien stood in the center of the hall, his gaze passing one by one across the four men who each held a portion of Heavenly Eye City’s authority.

Ta Minh still wore the same unreadable calm.

Huu Liet sat upright like a massive stone.

Tien Phong had abandoned the idea of testing Hao Nhien further, though his eyes remained cold.

And Trung Vu had missed almost no detail from beginning to end.

Four Deputy City Lords.

Four entirely different kinds of men.

Hao Nhien had only just withdrawn his gaze when Huu Liet stood.

He did not release his aura or attempt to create any pressure. He simply crossed his arms over his chest and looked directly at Hao Nhien.

“Hao Nhien, you said you came here to talk, not to kill. You also said there were things you wanted to ask.”

“Now your identity is clear, and your strength has been tested enough.”

“If you have something to say, say it.”

Hao Nhien looked at him for a moment.

Huu Liet had never stood on his side.

But at the very least, this man knew when strength should stop so words could take its place.

Hao Nhien stepped half a pace forward.

“Then let us begin with Duong Long.”

Tien Phong’s gaze immediately sharpened.

Hao Nhien did not avoid it.

“I did not kill him.”

“But before I explain why, I want to ask the four of you something.”

“If someone had once been saved by Heavenly Eye, given a place to live, trusted, even accepted as one of your own—and then later turned around and destroyed an entire branch of your people, caused the strong among them to be captured, left the weak behind, caused some to die, others to wander, women to be sold, and the survivors to become so afraid that they no longer even dared speak the name of their homeland…”

“Would you want to kill him?”

Huu Liet barely needed to think.

“If that is betrayal, I kill him.”

Hao Nhien merely nodded, then turned toward Ta Minh.

“Deputy City Lord Ta?”

Ta Minh remained silent for a while before answering.

“You are looking at the matter from the Hoa Ky side.”

“Duong Long accepted a mission from Heavenly Eye. He did not betray Heavenly Eye. He was carrying out the task he had been given.”

“From your position, he deserves death.”

“From ours, he completed his duty.”

“The two sides were enemies. If you want to kill him, kill him. If we want to protect him, we protect him.”

“There is nothing difficult to understand.”

Hao Nhien looked at him for several breaths before nodding.

“Very clear.”

He did not deny the argument.

Instead, he asked,

“Then who gave Duong Long that mission?”

Ta Minh narrowed his eyes slightly.

“It was not decided entirely by one person.”

“So it was a decision of Heavenly Eye?”

“You could say that.”

Hao Nhien paused for a beat.

“Or was it the will of the God-Lord?”

The atmosphere in the hall shifted almost imperceptibly.

Ta Minh looked at him.

“I believe that mission was consistent with the God-Lord’s will.”

“You believe?”

“Yes.”

Hao Nhien did not immediately challenge him.

“Then have you ever personally heard the God-Lord say that Duong Long had to do those things?”

Ta Minh did not answer at once.

The pause was not long.

But Hao Nhien did not need to press any further.

Only then did Trung Vu speak.

“Hao Nhien, you are trying to separate the will of Heavenly Eye from the will of the God-Lord.”

“No.”

Hao Nhien turned toward him.

“I only want to know whether they are truly the same thing.”

Trung Vu looked at him.

Hao Nhien continued,

“You say you serve the God-Lord.”

“Heavenly Eye expands. Tribes are required to submit, accept the faith, and those who refuse are forced or removed.”

“You believe that is what the God-Lord wants?”

Ta Minh answered first.

“Yes.”

Tien Phong did not avoid the question either.

“If you ask me, I believe so too.”

Trung Vu considered it for a moment.

“I believe Heavenly Eye’s direction is consistent with the God-Lord’s will.”

Finally, Hao Nhien looked toward Huu Liet.

Huu Liet frowned.

“I also believe Heavenly Eye serves the God-Lord.”

“But where exactly are you trying to take this?”

“Right here.”

Hao Nhien answered.

“If the God-Lord truly guides you, then right now, how does the God-Lord want you to deal with me?”

The question silenced the hall.

Ta Minh answered first.

“Capture you. Investigate. If it is confirmed that you oppose the God-Lord, kill you.”

Trung Vu remained silent longer.

“I would investigate first.”

“At present, there is not enough basis to say whether you should die or live.”

Tien Phong rested one hand against the arm of his chair.

“If you truly are Quan Hao Nhien, and if what you have done proves you intend to oppose Heavenly Eye, then leaving you alive will become a future threat.”

“I lean toward killing you.”

Hao Nhien finally looked at Huu Liet.

Huu Liet answered directly.

“If it is proven that you oppose the God-Lord, then the punishment is death.”

“But right now, I have sensed no will from the God-Lord telling me that you must die.”

“That is the truth.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

Then he looked at all four men.

“Four Deputy City Lords serve the same God-Lord.”

“One wants to capture me and punish me according to my crime.”

“One says there is not enough evidence.”

“One leans toward killing me because I may become a future threat.”

“And one believes there is currently no reason to kill me.”

“So which of those four answers is the will of the God-Lord?”

Ta Minh’s expression turned cold.

“You are playing with words.”

Hao Nhien shook his head.

“No.”

“You just said the God-Lord guides you.”

“I am only asking why, when all four of you stand before the same matter, each of you understands that guidance differently.”

Ta Minh answered,

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“People are different. Naturally, the way they handle matters will differ.”

“The God-Lord does not need to make every decision for every person.”

Hao Nhien looked at him.

“Then those specific decisions are human judgments.”

“Human judgments made under the God-Lord’s guidance.”

This time, Trung Vu was the one who answered.

Hao Nhien turned toward him.

Trung Vu spoke slowly.

“You are assuming that if the God-Lord does not personally speak every sentence and decide every matter, then every decision beneath Him is merely human speculation.”

“But a master who passes down a technique does not need to hold his disciple’s hand through every punch.”

“A Clan Chief does not need to stand beside every clansman for the entire clan to move toward the same goal.”

“The God-Lord provides the direction. Those beneath Him act according to that direction.”

“Differences in method do not prove that the source of that direction is false.”

Hao Nhien did not answer immediately.

After a while, he nodded.

“That argument is reasonable.”

The response caused a slight change in Trung Vu’s eyes.

Hao Nhien continued,

“Then let me ask it another way.”

“If the people below must interpret that direction themselves, what boundary allows you to know whether a particular decision truly comes from the God-Lord’s guidance…”

“rather than from the interests, fear, ambition, or prejudice of the person doing the interpreting?”

The hall fell silent once again.

Hao Nhien did not consider the question simple, so he did not rush them.

Ta Minh was the first to speak.

“There are rules. Traditions. Things passed down from before.”

“It is not as though everyone is free to interpret everything however they please.”

“I agree.”

Hao Nhien said.

“Then investigating me today follows the rules of Heavenly Eye City.”

“Yes.”

“And whether I should live or die?”

Ta Minh paused slightly.

Hao Nhien looked at him.

“If that is your judgment, I have no objection to you calling it your judgment.”

“I only ask that you do not take that judgment and call it the direct word of the God-Lord when the God-Lord has never personally spoken it.”

Huu Liet frowned slightly.

Trung Vu said nothing.

Tien Phong leaned back a little.

Hao Nhien continued in the same calm voice.

“If the God-Lord knows everything, knows where Duong Long is, knows whether he is alive or dead, and knows whether I am involved…”

“then why do you still need to investigate?”

“If every decision could receive a direct answer, this council would never have been necessary.”

Ta Minh’s voice turned cold.

“You do not understand faith.”

“Perhaps.”

Hao Nhien answered naturally.

“That is why I am asking.”

He looked at all four men.

“I am not saying the God-Lord does not exist.”

“Nor am I saying your belief is insincere.”

“I only want to separate one very simple thing.”

“What did the God-Lord truly pass down…”

“and what did humans decide for themselves before placing the God-Lord’s name behind it?”

No one answered immediately.

Hao Nhien did not know what each of them was thinking.

But he saw that Ta Minh no longer answered as quickly as before.

Trung Vu’s finger had stopped against the arm of his chair.

Tien Phong’s eyes had narrowed slightly.

And Huu Liet was looking at the empty space ahead instead of at him.

After some time, Huu Liet said,

“If you turn your sword against Heavenly Eye and kill our people tomorrow, I will still fight you.”

“I do not need the God-Lord to personally tell me to do that.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“That is your decision.”

“Yes.”

Huu Liet answered directly.

“And I will take responsibility for it.”

Hao Nhien smiled slightly.

“I respect that answer more.”

Ta Minh looked at him.

“And I already have my own judgment about whether you should live or die.”

“I have no objection to that either.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“As long as you call it Ta Minh’s judgment.”

Trung Vu remained silent a little longer before saying,

“I’m not certain.”

Hao Nhien withdrew his gaze.

“That is exactly what I am trying to say.”

“If the moment a decision must be made, each person hears a different answer inside himself, then before doing something in the God-Lord’s name, perhaps one should at least ask where that answer truly came from.”

No one spoke.

Hao Nhien did not push any further.

After a while, he said,

“There is actually a simpler way.”

Huu Liet immediately looked at him.

Tien Phong leaned slightly forward.

Trung Vu asked,

“What way?”

Hao Nhien answered,

“Ask the God-Lord.”

The atmosphere in the hall changed instantly.

Ta Minh narrowed his eyes.

“What did you say?”

“I said that if we are already sitting here debating what the God-Lord wants, then instead of continuing to guess, why not find out whether what you call the God-Lord truly left behind some consciousness, connection, or other trace that can be contacted?”

Trung Vu looked at him.

“You have a way?”

Hao Nhien turned toward Quan Nha.

“Possibly.”

Ta Minh immediately looked toward her.

Hao Nhien said,

“This is Hoang Quan Nha, daughter of Hoang Lap.”

This time, the reaction throughout the hall was much clearer.

Huu Liet looked at her.

“Hoang Lap of Huu Thanh.”

Quan Nha lightly cupped her hands.

“Yes.”

Tien Phong also seemed to realize something.

“The one who received the Quan Family’s soul inheritance?”

A trace of reluctance appeared on Quan Nha’s face.

“That was me.”

Hao Nhien did not want her to return to unpleasant memories unnecessarily, so he spoke in her place.

“She cannot discuss the details because of a blood oath.”

“But all of you should know that Quan Nha was once selected through Heavenly Eye’s arrangements to come into contact with a soul inheritance.”

Trung Vu nodded slightly.

“That is not in dispute.”

Hao Nhien continued,

“If the place you call the God-Lord truly contains a remaining trace of consciousness, a soul connection, or anything capable of responding to soul methods, Quan Nha may be able to make contact.”

Ta Minh looked at Quan Nha for a long time before speaking coldly.

“You want us to let someone touch the core of Heavenly Eye?”

Hao Nhien did not answer immediately.

He turned to Quan Nha for a brief glance before speaking.

“I want to ask something first.”

Ta Minh said nothing.

Hao Nhien looked at all four of them.

“Quan Nha’s path to the soul inheritance was arranged by Heavenly Eye itself.”

No one objected.

Hao Nhien continued,

“If you truly believe every important matter within Heavenly Eye lies under the God-Lord’s guidance, then Quan Nha obtaining that soul inheritance must also have been part of that guidance.”

Ta Minh narrowed his eyes slightly.

“What are you trying to say?”

“I am saying that if her ability came from a path that you yourselves believe was arranged under the God-Lord’s guidance…”

“then now that an opportunity has appeared to use that very ability to attempt contact with the God-Lord, what exactly are you afraid of?”

The hall fell silent.

Hao Nhien did not raise his voice.

“If she cannot make contact, then we stop.”

“If she truly can touch some trace, consciousness, or connection that you believe belongs to the God-Lord…”

“would you not want to know whether the God-Lord has anything to convey?”

Tien Phong frowned slightly.

“You are using our own faith to force us to open the core.”

Hao Nhien turned toward him.

“I am only using what you yourselves just said.”

He paused.

No one answered immediately.

Hao Nhien did not press.

After a while, he turned toward Huu Liet.

“Deputy City Lord Huu.”

Huu Liet looked up.

Hao Nhien met his gaze directly.

“If there were truly a chance to hear what the God-Lord wanted to say, would you want to try?”

Huu Liet remained silent for a long time.

His eyes were not on Hao Nhien.

They rested on a point somewhere on the stone floor, as though he were weighing many things he did not wish to speak aloud.

At last, he answered,

“Yes.”

One simple word.

Yet the other three men’s expressions changed immediately.

Hao Nhien did not miss it.

He asked,

“That decision just now—do you believe it was only your own thought, or was there also the God-Lord’s guidance within it?”

Huu Liet raised his head and looked at him.

This time, he understood exactly what Hao Nhien was doing.

After a while, the corner of his mouth twitched.

“You really don’t let a single opening go.”

Hao Nhien did not smile.

“I’m only asking.”

Huu Liet studied him for several breaths before slowly saying,

“I think there was.”

The hall fell silent again.

Hao Nhien did not immediately turn toward the other three.

That silence itself made Huu Liet’s answer heavier.

If Ta Minh, Tien Phong, or Trung Vu rejected the idea now, they would have to explain why Huu Liet felt this was guidance from the God-Lord while they believed it was not.

They had just been dragged through that exact question once already.

None of them wanted to return immediately to the beginning.

Trung Vu understood this first.

He looked at Hao Nhien for a while before saying,

“You are closing off our retreat.”

“No.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“I am forcing you to take responsibility for what you believe.”

Trung Vu did not argue.

After a while, he said,

“If this is only an attempt at contact, and the core is not damaged, I can agree.”

Ta Minh turned his head slightly toward him.

“Trung Vu.”

Trung Vu remained calm.

“We have spent all this time saying that the God-Lord can guide those beneath Him.”

“If Quan Nha was truly led toward a soul inheritance through the arrangements made in the past, then testing whether that ability reacts to this place is not entirely unreasonable.”

Ta Minh said nothing.

His gaze shifted to Huu Liet.

Huu Liet merely crossed his arms.

“I already gave my answer.”

The silence continued for a while longer.

Finally, Ta Minh spoke coldly.

“If we try, there will be limits.”

“All four of us will supervise.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“Of course.”

Quan Nha also nodded lightly.

“I agree.”

Only Tien Phong had yet to speak.

He sat silently, one finger slowly tapping the arm of his chair.

Compared with the other three, his gaze was noticeably colder.

After some time, he finally looked at Hao Nhien.

“I agree to the attempt.”

Hao Nhien said nothing.

Tien Phong continued,

“But do not misunderstand.”

His voice was very low.

“My agreement does not mean I trust you.”

“Nor does it mean what happened before has been forgotten.”

Hao Nhien continued looking at him.

Tien Phong paused before speaking each word clearly.

“If it is ultimately proven that you oppose Heavenly Eye…”

“or if you use this opportunity to damage the core…”

His gaze turned completely cold.

“You die.”

Hao Nhien was silent for one beat before nodding lightly.

“I’ll remember.”

Tien Phong watched him for a moment longer.

Hao Nhien did not smile.

Huu Liet stood first.

“Then let’s go.”

No one objected further.

The four Deputy City Lords left their seats.

Hao Nhien and Quan Nha followed behind, while everyone else was kept outside.

Behind the great hall stretched a long corridor.

The farther they went, the dimmer the light became.

There were no paintings or decorations on the walls.

Only occasionally did the symbol of an eye appear, carved deeply into the stone.

Hao Nhien observed as he walked but asked nothing.

After about a quarter hour, the corridor ended before a massive stone door that seemed to have existed for an unknown number of years.

Its surface was not ornate, but complex patterns crawled across the entire door.

They resembled formations, yet also looked like an ancient script Hao Nhien had never seen.

At the center was the image of a half-closed eye.

Heavenly Eye.

Huu Liet stopped.

The other three moved into separate positions around the door.

Hao Nhien watched carefully.

Ta Minh placed a hand against one point.

Huu Liet, Tien Phong, and Trung Vu did the same at three others.

When all four circulated their True Qi at once, the patterns on the door began lighting from four directions before converging at the center.

Hao Nhien did not rush to conclusions.

But at the very least, he could tell that opening this place required authority from all four sides.

A deep vibration spread outward.

The stone door began to open.

The moment the first gap appeared, Hao Nhien paused slightly.

Something extremely faint was flowing outward.

It was not spiritual energy.

Not True Qi.

Nor was it entirely soul power.

Yet when it brushed against his soul, the Soul Art trembled faintly, as though it had recognized something familiar.

Hao Nhien remembered the times he had stood among the Hoa Ky people, when someone had sincerely trusted him, placed hope in him, and unconsciously directed something extremely faint yet undeniably real toward him.

In the past, that sensation had only brushed against the Soul Art before fading away.

Here, however, those thin layers of fluctuation did not disappear.

They gathered into a current—weak, but distinct.

His gaze deepened slightly.

He could not yet say it was the same kind of force.

But the resemblance was strong enough that he could not ignore it.

If his judgment was correct, then Heavenly Eye’s conquest of tribes might involve more than land, resources, and political control.

The door opened completely.

All four Deputy City Lords lowered their heads slightly.

None knelt, but the reverence in their movements was unmistakable before they entered one after another.

Hao Nhien did not bow.

Nor did he deliberately emphasize the difference.

He simply followed normally, with Quan Nha close beside him.

The chamber within was not as wide as the great hall, but it felt deeper than it had appeared from outside.

The light was dim.

At the center stood only a black stone altar.

Upon it rested a tablet, with the symbol of an eye carved above.

Heavenly Eye.

Hao Nhien stopped.

Whatever existed around the tablet reminded him of the Quan Family secret realm, though not because its aura or nature was the same.

What caught his attention was the way it existed.

It felt less like a complete living being truly standing there and more like a trace preserved within some kind of anchor or medium.

The four Deputy City Lords approached the altar and bowed in silence.

Hao Nhien remained behind them, observing without trying to guess what they were experiencing.

After several breaths, Huu Liet was the first to straighten.

He turned around.

Even his voice was lower than it had been outside the great hall.

“Miss Quan Nha, please.”

Quan Nha drew a light breath and stepped toward the tablet.

Hao Nhien followed until he stood several steps behind her.

“If anything feels wrong, stop immediately.”

Quan Nha turned her head toward him.

“I understand.”

Only then did Hao Nhien speak to the four men.

“This involves the soul directly.”

“Please do not actively probe her with spiritual sense.”

“Quan Nha possesses a soul inheritance, but her current cultivation is not high enough to endure several peak-Foundation spiritual senses pressing into her at the same time.”

Trung Vu asked,

“How far should we stand?”

“Three zhang is enough.”

Huu Liet stepped back first.

The other three followed, leaving the center completely to Quan Nha.

Hao Nhien retreated with them as well.

Quan Nha stood alone before the Heavenly Eye symbol.

She closed her eyes.

Her breathing gradually steadied.

After a while, Hao Nhien sensed the fluctuations of her soul beginning to spread outward.

Very gently.

Without pressure.

Without crude probing.

It was more like a hand reaching forward, then stopping before a door, waiting to see whether anything on the other side wished to reach back.

Hao Nhien did not enter first.

He only circulated the Soul Art at an extremely low level, keeping his perception around Quan Nha in case anything went wrong.

A short while later, the tablet responded.

Extremely faintly.

So faintly that without the Soul Art, Hao Nhien might have missed it entirely.

An invisible fluctuation emerged from around the Heavenly Eye symbol and touched Quan Nha’s soul first before spreading through part of the surrounding space.

At that exact moment, Hao Nhien’s Soul Art trembled as well.

He immediately focused.

Whatever was responding could not be called a complete soul.

Nor was it clear enough to say that a conscious mind was awake within it.

It was more like something that had once carried consciousness—

or an anchor created to receive and transmit something.