"I'll do it, Grandma Qing. I'll take revenge for her."
Chen Zi's voice cut through the heavy silence like a blade, each word laced with the weight of years of hesitation and unspoken grief.
It was something he had always wanted to say—needed to say—but had never found the courage to.
The words felt foreign on his tongue, yet once spoken, they carried an irreversible finality.
In truth, this resolve had been the driving force behind every decision he had made these past few years. It was why he had aligned himself with Chen Baole.
Why he had accepted the role of Chen Yang's Dao Protector. Not out of loyalty, not out of ambition—but because he needed access.
He needed connections to the underground world, to those who dealt in secrets, in whispers spoken behind closed doors.
He had buried himself in shadows, searching for even the faintest clue about what had truly happened to Chen Xiao.
Chen Mei, who had been sobbing in her grandmother's arms, suddenly stiffened.
