Seven Days Without War

Hao Nhien stood before the stone altar, silently watching the two forces being sustained within the formation.

On one side burned a red-gold flame carrying an extremely faint trace of the Fire Qilin’s aura.

On the other, blue-violet arcs of Lightning slowly circulated within the boundary formed by the four jade pieces Lang Tuyet had placed around the altar.

The two forces were fundamentally different in nature, yet at this moment they existed together on the same stone platform without showing any sign of rejection.

The thin strand of soul force Hao Nhien had placed at the center of the formation continued to pulse at a steady rhythm, like an invisible anchor allowing both Fire and Lightning to remain stable.

Everyone surrounding the altar was silent.

The Fire Spirit tribespeople watched the flame.

The Thunder Spirit tribespeople stared at the electrical arcs.

From time to time, their gazes shifted toward Hao Nhien, carrying equal parts astonishment and uncertainty.

No one knew how to explain what they were seeing.

Hao Nhien slowly withdrew his hand, sensing the faint connection that remained between him and the strand of soul force inside the formation.

He still did not fully understand the principle behind what he had done.

Nor did he know how long this state could be maintained.

But for now, at least, both forces remained stable.

He looked toward Hoa Can.

Then toward Loi Trach.

“I want both clans to stop fighting for seven days.”

The two clan chiefs looked up at the same time.

“Seven days?” Hoa Can repeated.

“Yes.”

“For those seven days, neither side may launch an attack against the other.”

“The positions you currently control must remain unchanged as well. Neither clan may use the truce as an opportunity to push farther into the other’s territory.”

Loi Trach frowned.

“That’s all?”

“There is one more thing.”

Hao Nhien looked back toward the stone altar.

“For these seven days, I want this place to become common ground.”

“People from both clans must be allowed to come here.”

The moment he finished speaking, discussion erupted among the Fire Spirit Clan.

Hoa Can’s expression changed immediately.

“No.”

“This altar stands upon the ancestral land of the Fire Spirit Clan.”

“Our ancestors protected this place for generations. How can we simply allow members of the Thunder Spirit Clan to walk in?”

Loi Trach immediately turned toward him.

“You still insist this place belongs only to the Fire Spirit Clan?”

“Does it not?”

“Enough.”

Hao Nhien spoke before the two could begin arguing again.

He looked at Hoa Can.

“I am not asking you to hand this land over to the Thunder Spirit Clan.”

“Nor am I deciding who this place belongs to.”

“For seven days, I only want both clans to be able to approach the altar without carrying weapons.”

Hoa Can still frowned.

“But if they take advantage of that opportunity—”

“Then establish new boundaries.”

Lang Tuyet, who had been studying the surrounding terrain, stepped forward.

She looked over the wide area around the altar and pointed toward several low rocky outcrops on both sides of the valley.

“This area can be divided into three sections.”

“The ground immediately around the altar will temporarily be open to both clans.”

“The eastern side connects to the Fire Spirit settlement.”

“The western side has a path leading out of the valley. That can be used by the Thunder Spirit Clan to enter and leave.”

She looked toward both clan chiefs.

“We can use these rock formations as boundary markers.”

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“Both clans may approach the altar, but no weapons may be carried into the common area.”

“Outside that boundary, each clan’s territory remains exactly as it is now.”

Loi Trach studied the western path, his expression gradually becoming serious.

Hoa Can continued staring at the stone altar.

“You want me to allow the Thunder Spirit Clan into the place where our ancestors worshiped?”

Hao Nhien did not answer immediately.

He turned toward the flame and the cluster of Lightning still coexisting within the formation.

“Hoa Can, you said this place belongs to the Fire Qilin God.”

“Then look.”

“Is that flame rejecting the Lightning beside it?”

Hoa Can fell silent.

He had personally witnessed the Fire Qilin phantom appear behind Hao Nhien.

To him, that was not something easily dismissed.

And now, upon the very altar his ancestors had protected for generations, a flame carrying the Fire Qilin’s aura was existing peacefully beside Lightning force.

There was no conflict.

Neither side was suppressing the other.

Hoa Can slowly looked toward the tribespeople behind him.

Some were visibly displeased.

Yet several elders stared at the altar with deeply shaken expressions.

He understood that such a decision would anger many people.

But seven days was not a long time.

And Hao Nhien had never asked the Fire Spirit Clan to surrender its claim to the land.

At last, Hoa Can slowly exhaled.

“Seven days.”

“Only seven days.”

He turned toward Loi Trach.

“Your people may approach the altar.”

“But if anyone uses this opportunity to enter the Fire Spirit settlement, I will immediately end the agreement.”

Loi Trach watched him for a long moment.

Then nodded.

“Agreed.”

“But your people may not prevent ours from coming here to worship.”

“I agree.”

Hao Nhien nodded slightly.

Then looked at both men.

“One more condition.”

“During these seven days, no dispute is to be settled through violence.”

“If the people involved cannot resolve it themselves, bring the matter to the two clan chiefs.”

Hoa Can and Loi Trach looked at one another.

In the end, both nodded.

“Seven days,” Hoa Can said. “The Fire Spirit Clan will not attack first.”

“The Thunder Spirit Clan will do the same,” Loi Trach replied.

“We will keep our word.”

No cheering followed.

The people around the altar continued watching one another with suspicion.

Some refused to lower their weapons.

Others quietly asked their companions whether such an agreement could truly be trusted.

But eventually, the spears began to descend.

One after another.

The Thunder Spirit formation gradually withdrew from the entrance to the valley.

The Fire Spirit tribespeople also abandoned their battle stances.

It was not reconciliation.

It was certainly not the end of a hatred that had lasted for generations.

But for the first time in a very long while, both sides were able to walk away from a confrontation without carrying home the bodies of their relatives.

Hao Nhien watched them.

A faint sense of relief appeared within him.

He turned toward the two clan chiefs.

“On the seventh day, we meet again.”

“When the time comes, you can tell me yourselves whether you wish to continue like this.”

Hoa Can and Loi Trach did not answer immediately.

But both slowly nodded.

That night, the Fire Spirit valley was quieter than usual.

Inside the Dwelling, Lanh Hoa sat near the entrance with his sword resting across his knees.

Lang Tuyet was examining several formation patterns recorded in jade slips.

Little Spirit lay sprawled across a small chair, its legs swinging idly.

Hao Nhien sat at the stone table for a long time before finally turning toward the child.

“Little Spirit.”

“Mm?”

“Earlier today, how did you know my soul could maintain the rhythm between Fire and Lightning?”

Little Spirit blinked.

It thought for a while.

“I only remembered… that it could.”

“That’s all?”

“Mm.”

“You don’t know why?”

“No.”

Hao Nhien looked at it somewhat helplessly.

“And yet you told me to try?”

Little Spirit nodded naturally.

“Mm.”

For a moment, Hao Nhien had no idea what to say.

The child studied his expression.

Perhaps it decided the previous answer had not been enough.

It tilted its head and thought again.

“Your soul…”

It spoke slowly.

“Can guide Fire.”

“Can guide Lightning.”

“Both gather on the Fire Spirit Sword.”

Hao Nhien paused.

Little Spirit pointed one small hand toward the altar outside the valley.

“Then letting both stay on the altar…”

“Why strange?”

Hao Nhien stared at the child.

For a moment, he still did not know how to answer.

It was true.

When using the Fire Spirit Sword, he had guided both Fire and Lightning onto the same blade.

But before this, he had only thought about using them in combat.

He had never considered using his soul to sustain both forces inside a formation.

After thinking for a while, Hao Nhien slowly nodded.

“That does make some sense.”

Little Spirit immediately replied,

“Mm.”

Its face remained completely serious, as though nothing about the matter had ever deserved surprise.

Lang Tuyet had been listening the entire time.

Now she set down the jade pieces in her hand.

“I’m more curious about something else.”

Hao Nhien turned toward her.

“What?”

“Why seven days?”

He looked slightly surprised.

“Is there something wrong with seven?”

“Not exactly.”

Lang Tuyet rested her chin against one hand.

“You didn’t ask them to apologize.”

“You didn’t demand compensation.”

“You didn’t propose dividing the land.”

“Other than creating a common area, all you asked was for them to live peacefully for seven days.”

She looked at him, the corner of her mouth lifting.

“I want to know what you’re calculating.”

Hao Nhien was silent for a moment.

“The truth is…”

“I’m not entirely sure.”

Lang Tuyet raised an eyebrow.

“You’re not sure?”

“Mm.”

He leaned back slightly and looked at the lamp in the center of the table.

“The two clans have fought for too long.”

“Everyone has relatives who died.”

“Everyone has words handed down from their ancestors.”

“And everyone has reasons not to trust the other side.”

“If I simply stood in front of them and said war was wrong, I could probably talk for days and accomplish nothing.”

Lang Tuyet nodded faintly.

She did not interrupt.

Hao Nhien continued.

“But there is something I think they have been missing for a very long time.”

“What?”

“A life where they do not have to prepare for war.”

Lang Tuyet paused.

Hao Nhien looked through the window.

Firelight flickered among the stone houses scattered through the valley.

“I want them to spend a few days without worrying that someone who leaves home might not return.”

“Without reaching for a weapon every time they hear an unfamiliar sound.”

“If they can live that way, even for only seven days, then at least they will know another choice exists besides war.”

“And afterward?”

“They decide for themselves.”

Hao Nhien smiled faintly.

“Seven days may change nothing.”

“But if they still choose to fight afterward, at least they will know what they are choosing to give up.”

Lang Tuyet remained silent for quite a while.

Then the corner of her mouth slowly rose.

“You’re trading a very strange commodity.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“Me?”

“Mm.”

“No pills.”

“No artifacts.”

“No information.”

She smiled.

“You’re giving them a trial period for a different life.”

Hao Nhien laughed.

“That does sound somewhat accurate.”

“But this commodity would be extremely difficult to price.”

Lang Tuyet tilted her head.

“You cannot calculate the profit or loss.”

“And you don’t even know whether the customer will want to continue using it.”

“What do you think?”

“I hate situations where I cannot calculate the outcome in advance.”

She sighed.

Then smiled.

“But this time, I want to see what happens too.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“So do I.”

Little Spirit, still lying across the chair, suddenly spoke.

“Seven days isn’t long.”

Lang Tuyet turned toward it.

“Is it enough?”

The child thought.

“Don’t know.”

Lang Tuyet immediately looked helpless again.

Hao Nhien laughed.

A moment later, even she could no longer keep herself from laughing with him.

Only Little Spirit remained on the chair, its small legs continuing to swing, apparently unable to understand what the two adults found so amusing.