Garrick’s face did not shift. “You have no choice.” Jared turned to Vivian, tears streaked her cheeks, and she stood there as though her spirit had slipped away. His gaze slid to the six elders, every one of them wore a stone-cold expression, greed and lethal intent pooled in their eyes.
Finally, his focus settled on Garrick again, and he spoke at an unhurried pace. “Master Garrick, I have a question.”
“Speak.” “You never meant to cooperate from the beginning, did you?” Garrick paused, then nodded with frank calm. “Correct.”
Hands clasped behind his back, he continued in a measured tone. “You’re wanted by the Celestial Palace for fifty thousand bottles of celestial elixir. The House of Chance is influential, but not foolish enough to antagonize the Celestial Palace on your behalf.”
He let a beat pass before adding, “Yet your Golden Dragon Bloodline, and your ability to enter Dragonmere, are opportunities we cannot afford to miss. So we devised this little scheme. We let you enter Dragonmere, retrieve the treasures, and then use the collar to force you to hand them over. After that…”
He let the sentence trail off; the implication couldn’t have been clearer.
The final move was to deliver Jared to the Celestial Palace and claim that fifty-thousand-bottle reward.
Two birds, one stone…
Jared listened to the so-called explanation and, instead of fading, the smile on his face spread wider, as though every word had only confirmed what he already knew.
“Master Garrick, what a calculation. Truly, what a masterful calculation.” He turned toward Vivian. Her whole body shook, and her face had gone the color of blank parchment.
“Vivian,” his voice stayed even as he spoke her name, “Is that what you wanted as well?”
Vivian jerked her head up; tears pooled so quickly that her lashes glittered. “N-No… It’s not like that…”
Her voice quavered. “Young Master Chance, I swear I didn’t know… I never imagined Father and the elders would…”
“Vivian.” Garrick cut her off. His tone snapped hard. “At this point, what more is there to say? You’re the family’s young miss, our interests come first.”
Vivian swung toward him, eyes rounding as if the word itself had struck her. “Father! You used me? You sent me to bargain with Jared, had me buckle that collar on him, so you were using me from the very start?!”
Garrick’s expression didn’t shift. “Vivian, every move I make is for the family.”
She let out a sound that was half laugh, half gasp. “For the family? And Jared? He entered Dragonmere for us; he wronged none of us. Is this how we repay him?”
“Vivian!” Garrick’s voice dropped like a weight. “You’re far too naïve. He’s a wanted man, harboring him pits our house against the Celestial Palace. Will you risk a thousand years of foundation for a stranger?”
Vivian shook her head, and tears coursed down unchecked. “But we gave him our word… We promised to shelter him…”
“Empty words are nothing,” Garrick replied lightly. “Those who achieve great things don’t fuss over trifles.”
Vivian’s breath hitched, speech left her. She looked from her father to the six elders whose faces had stiffened into stone, and for a heartbeat they felt like unfamiliar figures occupying familiar skins.
Had the family I grew up in really turned into this?
Had the father who once taught me to honor a promise become this man before me?
She pivoted back to Jared. Jared stood straight, the cursed collar gleaming at his throat, his expression placid, unreadable. But in his eyes lay a chill that pricked her skin. That icy light made Vivian’s heart give a sharp, involuntary lurch.
“Young Master Chance…” She opened her mouth, yet no words followed. Jared regarded her. “Miss Chance, there’s no need. I believe you didn’t know.”
Vivian’s mind went blank for an instant. Jared went on, “The way you scrambled a moment ago isn’t something anyone could fake. Besides, with your nature, if you truly meant me harm, you wouldn’t have acted so clumsily.”
He let out a dry little laugh, tinged with something almost sour. “Unfortunately, you have an outstanding father.”
Tears burst past Vivian’s lashes.
Garrick’s brows drew together; his voice sank. “Young Master Chance, enough. Hand over the Dragonmere spoils and I’ll spare your life. Otherwise…”
He never finished. Jared moved in a sudden blur. Instead of striking Garrick or any elder, he shot straight toward the mouth of the valley.
“Trying to flee?!” The red-faced elder sneered, stepped forward, and blocked the path. He lifted his palm, a roaring gust gathered as he chopped down toward Jared.
This strike carried the full weight of a Top Level High Immortal Realm Level Nine cultivator. Jared’s gaze sharpened, Golden Dragon power surging through every vein.
Though the collar suppressed thirty percent of his strength, the toughness of his body remained. He did not back away, he sprang to meet the blow head-on.
His fist lashed out!
Boom! Fist and palm collided, a savage shockwave rippling in all directions.
The red-faced elder wavered, forced three steps back. Jared, however, was blasted into the air, slammed hard against the ground, and blood traced the corner of his mouth.
The gulf in cultivation was still vast. Top Level High Immortal Realm Level Two against Level Nine, plus the collar’s drag-Golden Dragon blood or not the gap was impossible to close.
“Young Master Chance!” Vivian’s sharp cry cut through the air as she lunged forward, ready to dash straight toward Jared.
“Vivian!” Garrick yanked her arm, jerking her to a stop. “What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Let me go!” She twisted and kicked, fighting his grip. “You can’t treat him like this!”
Garrick’s hand snapped out, and he slapped her across the face. “Insolence!”
Smack! The crisp impact echoed. Vivian stumbled sideways; one cheek flushed an angry red and swelled almost at once.
She pressed a trembling palm to sting and stared at her father as though she no longer recognized the man standing there.
Garrick’s jaw set hard. “For the sake of an outsider you would turn against our family?”
Vivian’s lips stayed sealed, silent tears streamed down her chin and splashed onto her sleeve. A short distance away, Jared pushed himself off the ground, steadying his footing. He swiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, lifted his eyes to Garrick, and let a crooked grin spread across his face.
“Master Garrick, fine family discipline you’ve got striking your own daughter. Tsk, tsk…”
Garrick glared back. “Still flapping your tongue when death is already standing next to you.”
He flicked his wrist. “Take him!”
The six elders stepped in unison, tightening the circle until Jared stood alone at its heart.
Jared’s gaze swept the ring-six elders, each at High Immortal Realm Level Nine, and one more radiating the pressure of True Immortal Realm Level One
The Binding Collar strangled his power; he would be lucky to call up seventy percent of his usual strength. With odds like that, this battle was unwinnable. But Jared Chance had never been the kind to sit around and wait for execution.
