Chapter 683 — The Persistent Ghost

"Fate really is a thing beyond all explaining," Gao Yang said with a sigh, the chain woven from countless coincidences and inevitabilities flashing through his mind in an instant. "But no matter what... the Assembly of All-Endings is still destroyed."

"What was destroyed was the Assembly of All-Endings, but 'ghosts' can always return from death," Verodai reminded him from the side. "Please do not let your guard down so easily... When a vast esoteric sect is destroyed, countless severed limbs will go on moving in the ruins. If a ghost patient enough to endure survives, those severed limbs may well gather and be reborn."

"That is a peculiar way of putting it, but you do have a point—the Empire will keep wiping out the Ember Cult, and on that front I will never let my guard down," Gao Yang said gravely. Then he raised his head and glanced at the mechanical clock on the wall. "...It is about time. I should go see how Amber is doing."

Verodai bowed her head deeply. "As you wish."

"Mm." Gao Yang gave a brief sound of assent and turned to leave, but before he took a step, he heard Verodai's voice come from behind him:

"From where you stand, how do you regard what we did in the Shadow Fortress all those years ago?"

Gao Yang did not turn around. After a moment's thought, he spoke in a low voice: "Do you remember what you once said to me? About sacrifice—"

"The appearance of every sacrifice proves only our own incompetence."

"Remember that—even when you are experimenting on yourselves."

"That is the principle of the Defiants."

Gao Yang nodded and strode from the hall.

Verodai watched the direction in which Gao Yang had departed, the platinum scepter in her hand giving off a faint white glow as the holy light surged within it.

She spoke softly, her voice low as a murmur: "If it were the Gondorian era... you would surely have made an excellent Defiant..."

Pi Yun lifted his eyelids slightly and glanced at Verodai. "You 'Defiants' really are a devoted lot when it comes to your cause."

"We are all ghosts who should have died long ago, and we still stubbornly refuse to leave—precisely because of that devotion."

"So when do you ghosts finally die for good?"

"...When I can die without regret."

Piyun shrugged, hands clasped behind his back, and his hunched body slowly withdrew, leaving behind a low mutter: "In any case, don't go making trouble for Amber."

...

The night wind stirred the banners above the terrace. Cold air from the north swirled among the castle's towers and gateways, and the music and revelry drifting up from the banquet hall and the courtyard echoed in the wind, carrying with them a faint sense of distance, yet reaching Gao Yang's ears with perfect clarity.

He came to the deserted terrace and walked straight to its edge, saying offhandedly, "Is this what you meant by getting some air?"

Amber's figure emerged from the darkness. She sat on the ground with her knees drawn up, not even raising her head. "Is there a problem?"

Gao Yang glanced at this "half-elf," then at her surroundings, and it took no small effort to keep his voice level: "If I had known that when you came out for air you would also bring three plates of cake, four plates of peanuts, four plates of melon seeds, two plates of candied fruit, five portions of roast meat, and three bottles of wine, I would never have come."

Amber looked up at Gao Yang and raised a hand: "I brought two chicken legs too—I had just finished one when you showed up..."

"...So I suppose I should just leave you out here to dry all night," Gao Yang glared at the fellow. "It must have taken no small effort to circle every banquet hall inside and out, gather all this, pack it up, and haul it up here, didn't it?"

"Actually, it wasn't that bad. I had my men help..."

Gao Yang stared at this "half-elf" of unbelievable behavioral patterns for a long while, and in the end still could not decide whether to throw the fellow off the terrace. He could only heave a sigh somewhere between laughter and tears: "Is this your attitude toward contemplating life?"

This time, Amber finally fell silent for a few seconds, and let out a rare sigh: "I am thinking, but I haven't figured it out yet..."

"Thinking about what that you can't figure out?" Gao Yang came to Amber's side. "Tell me."

"Artificial humans..." Amber murmured. "Tell me—do I still count as a normal person?"

"That depends on how you feel—in your life up to now, have you ever run into anything abnormal because of your 'artificial human' identity?"

"...If you insist, there have been. My shadow talent is so strong, and I'm a hell of a thief..."

Gao Yang: "..."