Chapter 36 — The Last Seed Keeper

The Sand Dome appeared before their eyes on the afternoon of the twenty-second day of their journey, not as a faint, terrifying shape on the horizon like the Salt Dome had appeared, but as a sparkling light reflecting from hundreds of glass panels and solar collectors covering the dome's surface, creating an almost magical sight against the opaque yellow sky of the Bronze Ash.

"So beautiful," Diem Quynh exclaimed, unable to hold back her surprise, stopping to look.

"Vom Cat has been famous for its glass making for many generations," Bach Lam explained, although his voice still retained a familiar caution, the lesson from Salt Dome was still fresh in the group's minds. "But beauty on the outside does not always mean fairness on the inside. We should still remain vigilant, even though this is a long-time trading partner of Green Dome."

Khe Mien nodded, though inside she felt a certain relief — not just because they were near the official destination of their trip, but because she remembered the positive words Bien Ba Uy and the Council members had said about the relationship between the two Arches, a relationship that had lasted through generations of fair exchange.

The closer you get, the more obvious the difference between Sand Dome and Salt Dome becomes. The entrance gate has no iron barbed wire fence or menacing armed guards, but is an open, semi-transparent structure that allows light to pass through, creating sparkling patterns on the ground inside. The janitor, while still checking thoroughly, worked with a professional but not hostile attitude.

"The group from the Green Dome," the person in charge said, after looking over the introduction documents Bach Lam presented, an official document signed by Bien Ba Uy before they left. "We received advance notice several weeks ago, via routine radio communication. Welcome."

The difference in greeting made Khe Mien feel a wave of relief run through her, though she still kept some of the vigilance that the Salt Dome had taught her, not letting it disappear completely just because of a pleasant welcome.

Inside the Sand Dome, the scene that opened before them was completely different from anything Khe Mien had ever imagined. There were no green terraced fields like Green Dome, because the land here was not suitable for large-scale agriculture, but instead there were large factories with transparent glass roofs, where sunlight was maximized to melt sand into delicate glass panels, and fields of energy harvesting panels stretch out, lined up neatly like a strange metal garden.

"This place is so different," Kien said, his eyes widening as he looked around with the curiosity of a young person witnessing for the first time a way of life completely different from what he was used to.

“Each Dom adapts to its surroundings in its own way,” Khe Mien said, recalling the first lesson she was ever taught in applied ecology, long before she understood its profound meaning. "Green Dome has good soil, so we focus on agriculture. Sand Dome has abundant sand and sunshine, so they focus on what makes the best use of those two things."

On the way to the guest house, the group passed by a small market located between two rows of factories, where the people of Vom Cat sold all kinds of handmade products - exquisitely colored glass vases, small mirrors polished to the point of reflecting light like gems, and even decorative items made from colored calcined sand treated with many different layers of heat to create unique patterns.

A saleswoman, seeing a group of strangers stopping to look at her booth, smiled friendly and gave Diem Quynh a small bracelet made from blue glass beads. "For you," she said, her voice cheerful. "Newcomers always need a little luck in Vom Cat."

"I have nothing to pay," Diem Quynh said, shy but still accepting the gift with excited eyes.

"There's no need to pay anything," the woman replied, waving her hand. "It's our tradition. Guests from Green Dome are always warmly welcomed here — my father once told me that many years ago, it was the Green Dom people who brought us the first vegetable seeds that helped us grow something edible in a small greenhouse, when we were still struggling for food."

Khe Mien felt warmed by that small story, a vivid testament to the long-term and sincere relationship between the two Domes, completely different from the cold, suspicious atmosphere of the Salt Dome just a few days ago.

They were led to an area reserved for commercial visitors, quite different from the simple room in the Salt Dome — a small but comfortable suite of rooms, with a natural air-cooled system cleverly designed to take advantage of the temperature difference between the layers of glass walls, and a courtyard with a few small, rare and carefully tended potted green plants in a Dome that was mostly sand and glass.

"The meeting with the head of the merchant guild will take place tomorrow morning," the guide announced before leaving. "Mr. Cau Bach Thinh looks forward to meeting the delegation from Green Dome, our valued long-time partner."

That name caught Khe Mien's attention—not a threatening title like Confucius's "Lord of Hell," but simply "head of the merchant guild," a small but significant difference in how Khe Mien began to imagine the place's power structure.

That evening, as the group enjoyed their first meal that wasn't concentrated dry food in weeks—a simple but rich stew made from vegetables grown in a small greenhouse and dried meat imported from other Arches—Bach Lam sat beside Khe Mien, both of them looking out at the small courtyard where the artificial light that mimicked the sunset began to change color.

"How does it feel to finally reach the official destination of your trip?" he asked.

"Strange," Khe Mien admitted. "I used to think this would be the most important end of the journey — successfully negotiating, bringing new parts and varieties back to Green Dome. But now, it just feels like a stopover in the middle of a much bigger journey than I ever imagined."

"Do you regret that?" he asked, his voice filled with sincere concern.

"No," she replied immediately, without hesitation. "I just... realized that the world is bigger, more complicated, and perhaps even darker than what I was taught in the Green Dome. But I also think, perhaps, that's exactly why the seed keeper needs to leave her Seed Store sometimes — not to forget his responsibility to the seeds, but to better understand the world in which those seeds will be planted."

Bach Lam smiled, a rare and sincere smile. "I think Co Diem Ninh would be proud of you," he said. "Even though she's no longer here to see it."

Khe Mien felt a surge of emotion in her chest, and she placed her hand on his, a gesture that had now become natural between them after weeks of companionship. “Thank you,” she said, “for being here, every step of the way.”

They sat there for a while longer, listening to the sounds of the glass factory still operating somewhere in the distance, the gentle clash of hand tools, the sound of the wind blowing through the fields of energy collectors, a symphony completely different from the absolute silence of Dong Tro they had been used to for many weeks, and Khe Mien felt, even if only for a brief moment, a rare peace in the midst of this tumultuous journey.

Before going to bed, Khe Mien opened Dai Van Cuong's metal box again, reviewed each document under a small light, trying to remember every detail accurately before putting it back in the bottom of her luggage bag, hidden carefully under a spare layer of fabric. She knows that, even in a place as friendly and open as Vom Cat, she still needs to maintain the caution that her journey has taught her — not because she doubts the kindness of the people here, but because she has learned that not everyone needs to know every secret she carries, at least not yet.

"Tomorrow will be an important day," she whispered to herself, before turning off the lights, her mind both filled with hope for the meeting with Cau Bach Thinh, and anxious with the question she didn't know how to ask most tactfully — the question about a name that she suspected that, in a place that had witnessed generations of trade and history like Vom Cat, might no longer be a completely unknown secret.