Jared looked at her and spoke in a steady, serious tone. “I’m going to that mountain region eight thousand miles away to find out where this Ghost Clan aura is coming from. If it really is a Sacred Mountain of the Celestial Palace, I’ll destroy it and stop them from reviving Ghost Clan powerhouses and carrying out their plan…”
“During this time, you stay in Cloudhaven City and use whatever influence the House of Chance still has left. Pull together the forces that once depended on your family, take control of this city, and stabilize order in Cloudhaven. Don’t let it fall into chaos.”
He paused, then went on. “Keep an eye on the Teleportation Array too. Get in touch with the wardens of the Teleportation Array and make the preparations. Once I come back, we’ll leave immediately for the Luminous Sanctuary.”
Vivian looked at him, and something complicated flickered through her eyes. There was reluctance there, and concern, and something else she couldn’t hide. She knew what Jared was doing. He was giving her a chance, and he was giving her his trust.
What did it mean to take control of Cloudhaven City? It meant she would become the owner of this city. It meant she would finally have power and forces of her own. It meant she would no longer be that orphan girl who could only depend on others and be pushed around by anyone who wanted. It meant she could stand back up and protect the things she wanted to protect.
This was the gift Jared was handing her—a trust heavy enough to carry weight, a gift that gave her a direction to walk again.
“Jared…” The word slipped out of her in a low murmur, her voice catching. A thousand things pressed at her throat, and none of them came out.
Jared lifted a hand and cut her off before she could say more. “You don’t need to say anything. I trust you. You’ll handle it.”
After saying that, he turned and looked at Luther and Grace. Grace had been standing quietly off to the side the whole time. She wore green, her face clear and delicate, and there was a steady look in her eyes. Whatever Jared decided, she would follow without question.
“You two are coming with me,” Jared said.
Luther nodded at once. The worry on his face vanished in a flash, replaced by a fierce, heated light in his eyes. “You got it, Mr. Chance! Let’s go smash the Celestial Palace’s operation and kill those revived Ghost Clan bastards! We’ll make them remember what happens when they cross us! And let the Ghost Clan’s dead finally rest. They shouldn’t be dragged around by those animals from the Celestial Palace after death, too!”
Right now, Luther hated the Celestial Palace to the bone. Back then, the celestials had hunted the Ghost Clan until the whole race had nearly been wiped out. And now they still wouldn’t even leave the bodies of the Ghost Clan’s powerhouses alone; they wanted to turn them into ghoul husks. It was beyond vile.
Grace gave a light nod too. Her voice was soft, but there was no wavering in it. “I’m going with you.”
As soon as the words fell, all three of them moved at once. A flash of golden light burst around Jared. His gilded robe snapped in the wind as his body shot forward like a teleportation, turning into a streak of golden radiance that tore toward the northeast. He moved so fast it almost seemed to break the limits of space itself, leaving only a faint golden afterimage behind.
Luther and Grace followed right behind him. Ghostly energy billowed around Luther as he turned into a black streak of light. Grace used a movement technique, her body light as a swallow as she became a green streak. The three of them cut across heaven and earth like bolts of lightning, racing toward the wild mountain region eight thousand miles away, and in the blink of an eye, they vanished beyond the skies of Cloudhaven City.
Vivian stood where she was and watched their departing figures for a long, long time without looking away. The gale still howled. Ash still drifted through the air. The ruins still sat there in silence. But the vacancy that had filled her before was gone. In its place was something steady, something with enough backbone to move forward.
After a long while, she drew in a deep breath and slowly turned around. Her eyes settled on the Celestial Palace Branch that had already been reduced to rubble, and a hard resolve flashed through them. She raised a hand and gently wiped away the tear tracks and dust on her face. The air around her seemed to steady with her.
From this day on, Cloudhaven City belonged to the House of Chance. She would pick her family’s glory back up with her own hands. Her family’s revenge had already been taken. As for the road ahead, she would keep walking it without wavering. She would not fail Jared’s trust, she would not fail herself, and she would not fail the clansmen who had died.
