While Jared cultivated in Sky Dragon Valley and mapped out counter-measures with Roland, a very different struggle was playing out elsewhere.
Beyond Cloudhaven City, out on the endless stretch of the Wastelands, a single bedraggled figure tore across the barren ground at full tilt, fighting for her life. That fleeing figure was Vivian.
For three days and three nights she had gone without sleep, running as if darkness itself snapped at her heels. Any moment her eyelids sagged, she bit her tongue hard enough to draw blood, using the surge of pain to stay awake.
When her legs turned to water, she forced the last threads of spiritual energy through her meridians just to keep moving.
Blood seeped from half-healed gashes that had already begun to inflame; she ripped strips from her own sleeves, winding them around the wounds without slowing down. She dared not stop. Not even for a single step.
Behind her, Dominic led a small army, House of Wagner’s guards reinforced by Celestial Palace troops. They clung to her like burrowing ticks, impossible to shake. If she halted, only death-or something worse than death-would be waiting.
“After her! Move!” Dominic’s shout cracked across the open plain. “Don’t you let that little wench get away!”
He rode a pitch-black demon beast that thundered over the cracked earth. His stare never wavered from the slim, staggering silhouette ahead, and hunger burned behind his grin.
Vivian, you can’t escape! Even if you flee to every corner of the heavens and seas, I will drag you back!
You were born to be mine!
Vivian’s vision kept greying at the edges; shapes blurred and danced. Her legs had been numb for so long she no longer felt ground underfoot-each stride stabbed like stepping on naked blades.
The last of her spiritual power was long gone, her body on the verge of collapse, driven forward only by a will that refused to break.
Eyes squeezed shut for an instant, she reached out with her senses, hunting for the faint pulse tied to the Spiritlock Collar that had once hung at Jared’s neck.
There, straight ahead… Jared lay somewhere in that direction…
The thin but familiar thread between them grew clearer, tugging stronger with every yard. She was close!
Pain split her lip as she clenched down, but she gathered the final scrap of strength, leaned into the wind, and forced her body into another desperate sprint.
Two more hours bled away. The setting sun painted the horizon a bloody red. Time had become a broken concept; she only knew the sky had travelled from noon to dusk and was sliding toward night once more.
Just as her body pitched toward the dirt, ready to give out, towering mountains appeared ahead, range after range spearing into the clouds. Mist wreathed the peaks, celestial energy drifting like gauze.
Now and then a thread of gold flashed inside the vapors, austere and otherworldly. Hope flared in the gloom of her eyes.
Here… This was the place… The pull of the collar felt unmistakable… Jared is inside those mountains!
Burning the very last ember of life, she hurled herself toward the range. Far behind, Dominic spotted the same strange, cloud-shrouded mountains. His brow creased, suspicion flickered across his face.
“What is that place? The aura out there is warped, and I can see gold light leaking through the mist.” One of the guards who had served beside Dominic for years hurried forward.
He lowered his voice so only Dominic could hear. “Young Lord, that ridge is the deepest part of the Greywild Mountains. Powerful demon beasts roam there all year, and cultivators almost never dare get close. Should we… Really keep chasing?”
Dominic let out a short, cold laugh. Disdain and vicious intent flickered in his eyes. “Chase? Of course we chase We’re one step away from catching that little wench how could I quit now? Even if those peaks are a dragon’s lair or a tiger’s den, I’m breaking in today.”
He snapped his arm in a cutting gesture. “Everyone, with me! She’s burned through every drop of strength, she can’t get away!”
Dozens of guards and soldiers answered at once and sprinted after her toward the looming mountains. Vivian forced her legs to keep pumping, the distance between her and the mountains shrinking with every ragged breath.
Closer… Closer still…
The Binding Collar’s pull was now almost violent, the signal in her mind sharpened to a piercing point. She believed Jared was ahead, inside those peaks, waiting in that veil of cloud and gold light.
She could almost swear she saw his outline already, steady and familiar through the haze. But right at the critical instant, a command cracked through the air, cold and harsh. “Stop! Not another step!”
Several powerful figures burst from the side like downhill tigers, slamming themselves into her path and blocking the way forward. Dominic and the full pursuit party finally overtook her and sealed the gap completely.
Vivian’s face drained of color, turning the hue of bleached paper. Her first reflex was to pivot and flee, yet every direction was already packed tight with pursuers, an iron wall with no seam.
She had no road left, not even a sliver. Dominic vaulted off the back of his demon beast, radiating smug certainty, and strolled toward her one unhurried step at a time.
“Miss Chance, why stop now? Keep running. You’re so good at it.” He tilted his head, a mock pout twisting his lips. “Three days and three nights you’ve made me work awfully hard.”
Vivian sucked in lungful after lungful of air, her chest heaving. Her eyes locked onto Dominic, and a hatred that cut like a blade burned inside that unblinking stare.
Dominic’s gaze slid over her ruined clothes and the grime and blood that streaked her skin and hair. Even so, the beauty beneath the dirt stone. through, and something predatory glimmered in his eyes while be looked her up and down.
“Miss Chance, did you know? The longer you ran, the more excited I became. The hardest prey always tastes the best once it’s caught, don’t you agree?”
Vivian ground her teeth. Each word scraped out, hoarse and laced with venom. “Dominic, you contemptible scum! May you die in misery!”
