A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5660

Sylvia's voice wavered. "But if he picks the candy?"

"Then he is crafty," Jared answered. "He still cannot live."

Sylvia pressed on, almost whispering. "If he takes both?"

Jared's reply came colder than winter rain. "Greed, too, deserves no future. He cannot live."

"And what if the child refuses to choose either one?" Sylvia asked again, her words soft yet edged with an urgency that seemed to echo beyond the stone walls.

Jared let out a slow breath, eyes narrowing as though he could already read the inevitable future. "Then the child carries rebellion in his very bones," he said. "Someone like that can never be allowed to stay."

Sylvia's lips parted, but no sound emerged. A long, uncertain silence stretched between them, louder than any argument.

If the "child" were really here, he'd probably say, "You think you're so great—so high and mighty! If you can't stand to lose, don't play at all."

The old man's gaze drifted to Jared—equal parts exasperation and affection. "Your talent is real," he said, voice low and gravelly. "Focus on training harder, and not on pointless things."

The last syllable had barely faded before his figure dissolved like morning mist, leaving only a quiver in the air where he had stood.

At the very instant he vanished, the void before them twisted as though an invisible hand wrung reality itself. When the distortion settled, a towering mountain materialized—its ridges abrupt, its shadow swallowing half the sky.

High upon those crags, palaces rose one after another, their jade roofs glinting cold and remote, like silent sentinels guarding forgotten secrets.

Jared's brow furrowed. "Why does that peak look so familiar?" he murmured, heart thudding as memories stirred just out of reach.

A sudden spark lit Sylvia's eyes. "Heaven Gate Mountain," she breathed. "That's Heaven Gate Mountain, isn't it?"

Only then did Jared see it. It was the same steep face, the same heaven-piercing summit he had climbed once in dreams and legends.

"Have we walked out of the ruins?" he whispered, baffled by the impossible leap from one realm to the next.

Sylvia shook her head, silver hair catching the breeze. "I don't think so. Look at those palaces—this must be the long-lost Heaven Gate Sect itself, revealed at last."

Excitement flared in her voice. "Come on, let's see it up close!"

Side by side, they strode toward the mountain path, anticipation quickening every step.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify