A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 6286

Jared and Gwendolyn journeyed south, traversing desolate ice plains and trekking across frost-locked barrens until the road to Cloudhaven City finally appeared beneath their feet. After five days of flight, a jagged silhouette of stone and steel crested the horizon.

Cloudhaven City.

The city had once been ravaged by war, but now it had recovered seven or eight tenths of its former vitality.

The city walls had been reinforced again, and the cultivators on patrol duty upon the city walls were exactly twice as many as before.

Caravans and wandering cultivators moved in and out of the city gate in an endless stream. It still couldn't be called prosperous, but at least it was no longer a picture of desolation.

"So this is Cloudhaven City?" Gwendolyn looked at the city in the distance and lifted a brow slightly. "It's bigger than I expected."

"One of the top ten great cities in the Fourteenth Firmament. Of course it isn't small."

Jared said, "But compared to your Celestial Palace, it's still nowhere close."

Gwendolyn let out a light laugh. "The Celestial Palace only has me in it. What kind of big place is that? Your Cloudhaven City is different. Just the cultivators on patrol duty upon the city walls alone number no fewer than 300."

Still talking, the two of them headed toward the city gate.

The guards at the city gate recognized Jared at once and hurriedly bowed. "Mr. Chance, you're back!"

Jared gave a small nod. "How have things been in the city lately?"

"Reporting to Mr. Chance, everything is well," a guard answered respectfully. "Roland has kept the city in perfect order. It's just..."

"Just what?"

The guard glanced at Gwendolyn beside Jared, hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice. "It's just that Miss Vivian keeps talking every day about when you'll be back..."

Jared said nothing.

Gwendolyn shot him a look that wasn't quite a smile.

"Let's go." Jared cleared his throat and strode through the city gate.

The city lord mansion of Cloudhaven City sat right in the city center, a sprawling estate that covered an enormous area.

Two guards stood at the entrance to the estate. The second they saw Jared back, they immediately ran inside to report it.

Jared hadn't even made it into the courtyard when a dark figure shot out from inside.

It was Lydia.

She wore a fitted black outfit, her long hair tied high behind her head. Everything about her looked sharp and capable.

"Jared!" She rushed right up to him and grabbed his arm. "So you still remembered how to come back. Do you have any idea how many days you've been gone? It's been almost a month. Didn't you say seven days at most?"

"If you'd come back a few days later, I would've taken people and marched straight to the Celestial Palace..."

Jared hurried to explain himself. "Something unexpected came up. It delayed us."

Then Jared glanced at Gwendolyn, apology written all over his face. Gwendolyn only smiled, though, and didn't seem to mind what Lydia had said.

"Unexpected? What unexpected thing?" Lydia's gaze went past Jared and landed on Gwendolyn behind him.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

It was an extraordinarily beautiful face.

Her features were delicate and cool, her brows distant as mountain lines, her eyes like cold stars.

She stood in white, clean as snow, with ink-dark hair falling behind her. There was a kind of nobility around her that looked born into her.

Most importantly, this woman was beautiful.

Not the kind of beauty built on careful dressing, but the kind that seemed natural all the way through, the kind that made it hard to look away.

Lydia's eyes stayed on Gwendolyn for three full seconds before turning back to Jared.

"Who is she?"

Her voice was calm. Calm enough to put an edge on the air.

Before Jared could answer, someone else stepped out from the courtyard.

It was Vivian.

She wore a light green dress, her long hair loose over her shoulders, her features soft and gentle.

But the instant her eyes fell on Gwendolyn, they narrowed just a little too.

"Jared, you're back." Her voice flowed out soft as water, but under that softness sat a trace of caution that barely showed. "And this is?"

Jared looked at the two women in front of him and suddenly felt like he was sitting on a bed of needles.

By instinct, he glanced at Gwendolyn, hoping she would step in and explain.

Gwendolyn only stood there, light and still. The corner of her mouth even lifted a little, like she was enjoying the show.

Jared drew in a breath and forced himself to speak.

"This is Gwendolyn, the Palace Mistress of the Celestial Palace."

The courtyard went silent in an instant.

Lydia's eyes went round. "The Palace Mistress of the Celestial Palace? That Celestial Palace, the most mysterious place among the celestials?"

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