The Cargo They Wanted

Three days later, a carriage left Dong Nguyen before the morning mist had fully lifted.

The frame was solidly constructed.

Dark gray cloth covered the exterior.

There were no extravagant decorations.

From a distance, it looked no different from the carriage of a prosperous merchant undertaking a long journey.

Yet on one corner of the carriage was a small mark belonging to the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association.

It was discreetly engraved, but familiar enough that anyone who understood the merchant association’s system would recognize it.

Lang Tuyet could have chosen a faster means of travel.

But after considering Hao Nhien’s condition, she decided they would use a carriage through the relatively safe regions.

It was slower.

But it allowed them to rest, examine Hao Nhien’s condition, and handle merchant-association matters along the route.

Lanh Hoa sat at the front and drove.

Hao Nhien chose a seat near the window, where he could observe the terrain outside.

Lang Tuyet sat farther inside, a thin notebook before her containing their schedule and several recent reports from branches farther south.

The distance from Dong Nguyen to Southern Border was considerable.

Without flying continuously, the trip would take at least a month.

Possibly longer if they encountered areas that required detours or had to stop to deal with other matters.

Hao Nhien did not mind the pace.

After months of constantly traveling by flying sword and calculating every passing day, the sound of wheels rolling across the road gave him an unexpected sense of peace.

He had time to watch forests gradually disappear behind them.

To observe villages scattered along the roadside.

Sometimes they even stopped and spoke with people traveling in the same direction.

Each day, whenever the carriage stopped to rest, Hao Nhien examined his meridians once.

He still allowed a tiny amount of True Qi to move without immediately directing it.

The results remained inconsistent.

Sometimes the current entered a secondary branch and traveled several inches.

Other times it dispersed the moment it touched an obstructed region.

Hao Nhien no longer forced it.

He still did not know whether those changes were enough to eventually form a new circulation cycle.

For now, the more important thing was to distinguish temporary fluctuations from a genuine process of adaptation.

One afternoon, as the carriage traveled along a road following the slope of a low mountain, Hao Nhien suddenly remembered another journey.

He and Quan Nha had once traveled by carriage as well.

Back then, they had pretended to be an ordinary pair of Dao companions to hide their identities on the way to Lac Van.

He remembered how she often sat near the window.

Sometimes she would lift the curtain and watch merchant groups passing outside.

Other times she would turn and tease him with something that left him uncertain how to answer.

Both of them had known the road ahead was not entirely safe.

Yet those moments sitting together in the carriage had brought a closeness difficult to explain.

Hao Nhien watched the road stretching beneath the afternoon light.

Quan Nha had remained in Heavenly Eye.

He respected her decision.

That did not mean he did not miss her.

He suddenly realized he had grown accustomed to having Quan Nha beside him without noticing when it happened.

Her teasing.

The times she quietly watched him.

Even the moments when they disagreed.

Now, remembering them softened something inside him.

Hao Nhien slightly opened the curtain and let the afternoon wind brush across his face.

“What are you thinking about now?”

Lang Tuyet’s voice came from inside the carriage.

Hao Nhien turned.

She was still looking down at the notebook in her hands.

“Just remembering another journey.”

Lang Tuyet turned a page.

“Long roads tend to make people remember old things.”

“Especially when there isn’t some problem directly in front of you demanding an immediate answer.”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“You make it sound as though you know exactly what I’m thinking.”

“I don’t.”

“But you’ve been staring out the window for quite a while.”

“I doubt you’ve been calculating how long until the next rest stop.”

Hao Nhien did not deny it.

Lang Tuyet raised her eyes and studied him for a moment.

Then she returned to the notebook.

“If it matters, go back and deal with it when you have the chance.”

“Some people can be very far apart without necessarily becoming strangers.”

Hao Nhien paused slightly.

He looked toward Lang Tuyet.

But she had already returned to the records in her hands as though she had said something completely ordinary.

After a while, Hao Nhien nodded softly.

“Perhaps you’re right.”

The carriage continued.

By the fifth day after leaving Dong Nguyen, the terrain on both sides of the road had begun to change noticeably.

The low mountain ranges gradually became less frequent.

The forests grew denser.

The air carried far more moisture than the land closer to the Western Wastes.

More merchant caravans and travelers began appearing on the roads, most heading toward the southern trade routes.

That afternoon, the carriage had just rounded a bend through the forest when Lanh Hoa suddenly pulled on the reins.

The carriage slowed.

Hao Nhien opened his eyes.

“What is it?”

“There’s a group moving very quickly ahead.”

“The situation doesn’t look normal.”

Hao Nhien lifted the curtain.

Not far down the road, a group of more than twenty people was moving in great haste.

They were escorting two large cargo wagons and a smaller carriage protected in the middle.

Those at the front repeatedly looked behind them.

Several guards with weapons remained tightly positioned along both sides.

The formation was still organized.

But the speed they were forcing from the heavy wagons was clearly beyond what was suitable.

Hao Nhien watched for a while.

Then he noticed something unusual.

Within the forest behind the group, dark shadows occasionally appeared between the trees.

They moved quickly.

Sometimes one rushed close to the road before withdrawing immediately.

Yet none directly attacked the center of the convoy.

Demonic beasts.

Hao Nhien narrowed his eyes slightly.

They were not behaving like a normal pack hunting prey.

Whenever the convoy tried turning onto one of the smaller side roads, one or two beasts appeared and blocked the way.

The group was forced back onto the main route.

And the road ahead was always left open.

“They’re forcing the convoy in one direction.”

Lanh Hoa nodded.

“This subordinate noticed the same.”

“Someone may be controlling them from behind.”

Lang Tuyet closed her notebook and looked outside.

“Ordinary demonic beasts would have difficulty coordinating this precisely without training or a specialized control method.”

“Looks like that convoy is carrying something someone wants.”

This reproduction came from the author's posting on NovelPhoenix without permission; the published version supports the writer.

Hao Nhien looked at the guards struggling to maintain formation.

If the people behind this merely wanted to kill them and steal everything, they could have ordered the beasts to attack all at once.

Forcing the group continuously in one direction suggested that they wanted to drive them toward a more advantageous location.

Or pressure the escorts into surrendering whatever specific item they were protecting.

At that moment, a demonic beast rushed from the edge of the forest and knocked aside a guard who was trying to open a path toward the left.

The man crashed heavily to the ground.

The beast did not continue biting him.

Instead, it remained in place, blocking the way and preventing the others from approaching him easily.

A shout came from the front of the convoy.

“Hold formation!”

“Don’t let the rear carriage separate!”

The speaker was a middle-aged man with a solid build.

His leather armor was torn in several places.

His Foundation Establishment aura remained relatively stable, but the blood stains and rhythm of his breathing showed he had already been fighting for some time.

He immediately sent two guards to drag the injured man back.

Then he moved several more people toward the small carriage in the center.

Hao Nhien watched the command.

The man was not inexperienced.

He clearly understood what needed to be protected.

And he knew that once the convoy lost formation, the beasts surrounding them would immediately gain the advantage.

Even so, with the force he had available, he could not maintain the situation indefinitely.

A figure in gray slowly stepped from the forest behind them.

He carried no obvious weapon.

But a black bracelet on his wrist released faint spiritual fluctuations.

Each time he moved his hand, the nearby demonic beasts shifted position.

The bracelet was clearly connected to whatever method he was using to control them.

The gray-robed man looked toward the convoy.

His voice was indifferent.

“I already gave you a chance.”

“Hand over the item you’re escorting.”

“I’ll let everyone in the convoy leave.”

The middle-aged man stood in front of the small carriage.

“This cargo is being transported under contract with the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association.”

“If you want to steal it, then try.”

“But don’t expect us to hand it over ourselves.”

The gray-robed man frowned slightly.

“What good is a merchant-association contract after you die here?”

He raised one hand.

The demonic beasts in the forest all moved closer.

But just before he gave the order to attack, he noticed Hao Nhien’s carriage stopped farther ahead.

His gaze shifted immediately.

He looked at Lanh Hoa holding the reins.

Then toward Hao Nhien and Lang Tuyet through the open curtain.

After a moment, he spoke.

“This matter does not concern you.”

“If you are merely passing through, continue your journey.”

Lanh Hoa placed a hand on his sword.

Hao Nhien gave a slight shake of his head, signaling that he did not need to act yet.

Lang Tuyet had already noticed the small mark on the protected cargo wagon.

Her eyebrow rose slightly.

“That belongs to the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association.”

Hao Nhien turned toward her.

“You recognize it?”

“The mark on the wagon and the sealing method both belong to the association’s transport system.”

“This route is not one of the convoys directly managed by the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, so I don’t know what they’re carrying.”

She looked toward the middle-aged man standing before the carriage.

“I’ll ask.”

Lang Tuyet stepped down.

The gray-robed man immediately focused on her.

Before he could speak, Lang Tuyet took out a small command token.

The surface bore the familiar pattern of the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association.

Several spiritual markings authenticated the holder’s identity—details outsiders would find extremely difficult to counterfeit.

“I am Lang Tuyet.”

“I oversee the Dong Nguyen branch.”

Her voice was not loud.

But everyone nearby heard it clearly.

“A convoy of the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association is in trouble.”

“I cannot pretend I didn’t see it.”

The middle-aged man immediately turned.

His gaze stopped on the token in Lang Tuyet’s hand.

Then he looked toward the discreet merchant-association mark on her own carriage.

Hope appeared on his tense face.

Even then, he did not immediately approach.

Lang Tuyet noticed the caution.

She did not rush him.

She simply allowed him time to verify the token.

The middle-aged man quickly took a similar item from his storage pouch and used spiritual sense to inspect the authentication markings.

When the response matched the merchant association’s system, he finally breathed out.

“This subordinate is Chu Thanh.”

“I was assigned to escort cargo to the Southern Border branch of the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association.”

“We did not expect to be ambushed on the way.”

Lang Tuyet nodded.

“What happened?”

“Three days ago, a group of strangers began following the convoy.”

“At first, they only probed us.”

“But after we left the nearest trade station, these demonic beasts began appearing.”

“They are not trying to take all the cargo.”

“They keep demanding one separately sealed item.”

The gray-robed man had also realized the situation had changed.

He looked at the token in Lang Tuyet’s hand.

Then sensed her aura.

His expression darkened immediately.

“So you’re with the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association.”

“But this is between us and that escort group.”

“It would be better if you did not interfere.”

Lang Tuyet looked at him calmly.

“You just said this is between you and an escort group belonging to the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association.”

“Then you tell someone from the same merchant association not to interfere.”

“Do you not find that slightly unreasonable?”

The gray-robed man did not answer.

His gaze repeatedly moved between Lang Tuyet, Chu Thanh, and the smaller carriage behind them.

Finally, he lifted one hand.

The black bracelet on his wrist released a spiritual fluctuation.

The largest demonic beast beside the road immediately lunged toward Chu Thanh.

The attack came quickly.

Clearly, it was meant to force Lang Tuyet to choose between protecting the escort and preventing the controller from escaping.

Lang Tuyet only raised one hand slightly.

Hao Nhien, watching from behind, suddenly sensed a change in the surrounding spiritual energy.

Before Lang Tuyet’s hand even lowered, the space around the demonic beast began showing faint fluctuations.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the nearby area seemed to be manipulated through some method.

The pressure around the beast suddenly increased.

Before Hao Nhien could determine the source of the change, a dull explosion sounded.

The demonic beast was forced violently into the ground.

Its four legs buckled.

Its body slammed against the earth, throwing up dust and broken stone.

It struggled.

But the more violently it moved, the more chaotic the spiritual fluctuations around it became.

Hao Nhien narrowed his eyes slightly.

Lang Tuyet had not released an overwhelming amount of True Qi.

Yet the result of the technique far exceeded what he would have predicted from the visible movement alone.

What interested him even more was that the surrounding spiritual energy had changed before the beast actually suffered the force.

He could not yet tell whether this was a characteristic of Lang Tuyet’s cultivation art, a particular spell, or a method of combining True Qi with the spiritual energy of the environment.

But it was worth remembering.

The gray-robed man also recognized the difference in strength.

“Golden Core…”

He retreated half a step.

Lang Tuyet did not continue attacking.

She simply looked at him.

“If you want to take something belonging to the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association, then at least send someone qualified to discuss it.”

The gray-robed man clenched his teeth.

He clearly had no intention of fighting to the death.

He raised the black bracelet to his mouth and released a short whistle.

The demonic beasts within the forest immediately changed direction and began withdrawing.

The beast pinned to the ground continued struggling.

Lang Tuyet lowered her hand.

The pressure around it disappeared at once.

The beast leapt up.

Instead of attacking again, it fled into the forest.

The gray-robed man looked toward the convoy one last time.

His gaze paused briefly on the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association’s mark.

Then he stepped backward into the trees.

He left no meaningless threat.

Within moments, the spiritual fluctuations within the forest disappeared.

Lanh Hoa remained beside the carriage with his hand on the sword hilt.

Only after observing the forest for some time did he relax.

Hao Nhien looked toward the place where the gray-robed man had vanished.

He did not assume the matter was necessarily finished.

If the item in the convoy was important enough for someone to pursue it over several days, the people behind the attack were unlikely to abandon it after one failed attempt.

But for now, the escort group had been rescued.

Chu Thanh quickly approached Lang Tuyet.

“Thank you for intervening, Manager Lang.”

“If we had not encountered you, I fear we would have had difficulty keeping the item safe all the way to Southern Border.”

Lang Tuyet looked toward the guards helping their injured companions.

“How bad are the losses?”

“Several are wounded.”

“Two more seriously, but their lives are not in danger.”

“The ordinary cargo is mostly intact.”

“Several crates were damaged while we were fleeing.”

“Then let everyone rest first.”

“Treat the wounded and recheck all the seals.”

Chu Thanh nodded immediately.

After assigning several guards to continue watching the surroundings, he returned to the smaller carriage.

From inside, he removed a metal box wrapped in several layers of cloth and stored inside a specially protected compartment.

He did not open it.

Instead, he carried it directly to Lang Tuyet.

“Manager Lang, this is the item they wanted.”

“According to the contract, it must be delivered to the Southern Border branch of the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association.”

“But now that our route has been exposed, continuing to carry it may no longer be safe.”

He paused.

“If you can accept it officially on behalf of the merchant association, this subordinate would like to transfer custody to you.”

“That would allow us to alter our route and avoid forcing the injured to remain in danger.”

Lang Tuyet did not take the box immediately.

She inspected the markings.

Then she asked Chu Thanh for the transport documents and sealing certification.

Chu Thanh produced them without hesitation.

The records used the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association’s own system.

Cargo identification.

Destination.

Responsible parties.

Conditions required for transfer.

Lang Tuyet examined everything carefully.

Only after confirming that the cargo fell within her authority to accept did she take out her command token.

“I’ll receive it on behalf of the Southern Border branch.”

“Prepare a transfer receipt.”

“Keep one copy for verification when you return to the association.”

Chu Thanh visibly relaxed.

“Thank you, Manager Lang.”

He and another guard rechecked the seal.

Then they completed the transfer through their merchant-association tokens.

Lang Tuyet accepted the metal box.

She examined its outer seal before opening only enough of the protective casing to confirm the object’s condition.

Inside lay a piece of gray-black metal smaller than a palm.

Its surface looked ancient.

The edges were uneven.

Extremely fine patterns crossed one another across the metal.

Despite the passage of time, the markings remained relatively clear.

Whatever this object was, it had once been made through no simple method.

Hao Nhien stood nearby and examined it.

His first thought was of the two Firmament key fragments in his possession.

But the shape and patterns before him did not match the fragments he knew.

Nor did he feel any obvious fluctuation suggesting a connection.

Hao Nhien did not rush to speculate.

Lang Tuyet only examined the outer condition before closing the container again.

“The seal remains intact.”

“The item shows no sign of damage.”

“I will deliver it to Southern Border according to the contract.”

Chu Thanh bowed.

“Then this subordinate can finally be at ease.”

Lang Tuyet looked at him.

“Do not continue along your current route.”

“Go to the nearest trade station.”

“Report what happened.”

“Wait for merchant-association reinforcements.”

“If the group from earlier continues pursuing you, there is no reason to make it easy for them to find the entire convoy.”

Chu Thanh nodded.

Then he quickly called over the guards still capable of moving and reorganized their formation.

Lang Tuyet gave the wounded several ordinary healing medicines.

She also wrote a short authorization allowing the convoy to receive support when they reached the trade station.

Only after everything had been arranged did Chu Thanh turn toward Hao Nhien and Lanh Hoa.

“Thank you both for stopping to help.”

“If we had not encountered people from the merchant association today, we truly did not know how long we could have kept that item safe.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

He did not ask more.

After the two groups exchanged farewells, the escort convoy changed course toward the nearest trade station.

Hao Nhien’s carriage continued south.

Once the forest road became quiet again, Lang Tuyet placed the metal box on the small table inside the carriage.

Hao Nhien looked at it for a while.

“Do you know what’s inside?”

“Not clearly.”

“The transport record only says it is an ancient item to be delivered to the Southern Border branch for auction.”

Lang Tuyet looked at the seal.

“What concerns me is that the people who attacked knew exactly which item they wanted.”

“Information about shipments like this is not easy for outsiders to obtain.”

Hao Nhien considered it.

“Someone inside the merchant association leaked it?”

“Possible.”

“But they may also have been tracking the object before it entered our transport system.”

“We don’t have enough evidence to conclude anything.”

Lang Tuyet returned the box to her storage ring.

“I’ll have people investigate the transport route and the origin of the item once we reach Southern Border.”

“If there truly is a problem inside the merchant association, we at least need to know where it began.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

The metal fragment might contain some secret.

But for now, it was still cargo being transported under a valid merchant-association contract.

They did not have enough information to determine what it was connected to.

What interested Hao Nhien more at the moment was the brief confrontation they had just witnessed.

He remembered the way Lang Tuyet had attacked.

Before the demonic beast was forced into the ground, the surrounding spiritual energy had shifted.

The change itself had been subtle.

But the final effect had been far stronger than the amount of True Qi she visibly released should have suggested.

Hao Nhien looked toward her.

“When you attacked that beast earlier, I sensed the spiritual energy around it changing before the force actually descended.”

Lang Tuyet looked up.

“You noticed?”

“Only a little.”

“I couldn’t tell exactly what method you used.”

“But it felt as though the force acting on the beast did not come entirely from the True Qi you released directly.”

Lang Tuyet studied him for a moment.

Then she smiled.

“Your observation is still fairly good, even when you can’t circulate your cultivation properly.”

She did not explain everything.

“There are spells that focus on using True Qi itself to create force.”

“And there are methods that use the surrounding conditions to produce a greater effect.”

“But to do that, you need to understand the type of power you’re using.”

“Simply pouring in more spiritual energy does not automatically make something stronger.”

Hao Nhien slowly nodded.

The explanation was not unfamiliar.

Even before entering Golden Core, he had been able to borrow external Wind force and Lightning force to support certain techniques.

But after the heavenly tribulation, his sensitivity toward environmental fluctuations seemed to have changed.

He was beginning to notice details that would once have been easy to overlook.

Hao Nhien still could not circulate enough True Qi to test any of it himself.

But he carefully remembered the sensation.

Lang Tuyet watched him for a moment, smiled faintly, and returned to the notebook she had been reading.

The carriage rolled across a relatively level stretch of road.

The forest gradually thinned on both sides, revealing cultivated fields stretching into the distance.

Hao Nhien pulled back the curtain and let the breeze enter.

Inside his body, the Golden Core continued rotating slowly.

Southern Border was still far away.

Beyond Southern Border lay the Sea Region.

And beyond the Sea Region was the New World, along with the secrets of the Earth Spirit he had never witnessed with his own eyes.

It was a journey that could never be completed through impatience alone.