Free Web NovelChapter 1662: Chapter 1964: Fire Sets the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Ablaze (2)
Ling Chen secretly shook his head. Since Su Mei already said so, he couldn’t very well thicken his skin and keep staying.
"Alright then."
Ling Chen slowly stood up from his seat and said, "Since Master Su doesn’t need an old friend’s help, then I won’t impose any longer. I’ll take my leave!" With that, he turned and walked toward the exit of the council hall. When he reached the door, Ling Chen suddenly thought of something. He stopped, turned back to look at Su Mei, and said, "Master Su, I almost forgot one thing. Do you know the Su Family in Beijing?"
Hearing this, Su Mei’s expression didn’t change as she said, "No. What does that Su Family in Beijing have to do with my Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion?"
The corner of Ling Chen’s mouth curled up. He smiled and shook his head. "Nothing, just asking." When he finished speaking, he said nothing more and walked straight out of the council hall.
With the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s intelligence network, there was no way Su Mei didn’t know about the Su Family in Beijing. Moreover, she had rejected him just now far too cleanly, without the slightest hesitation. That meant she not only knew about the Su Family in Beijing, the two sides might even be maintaining some kind of connection.
After coming out of the council hall, Song Ge, who had been waiting outside the whole time, immediately came up to him.
"Song, I have to trouble you again."
"We’re brothers, what are you being polite for? What did the Pavilion Master say?"
Ling Chen shrugged and said, "I originally wanted to offer some help, but your Pavilion Master doesn’t need it. In that case, there’s no need for me to stay." Saying this, he lowered his voice and asked, "Oh right, Song, why didn’t I see Elder Du?"
"I’m not one of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s upper echelon. How would I know where they went?"
Chatting idly, the two had already reached the main gate of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion. Song Ge patted Ling Chen’s shoulder and said, "Ling, this trip was a wasted run for you. It’s a pity I can’t spare the time, otherwise I’d definitely sit down and have a good drink with you."
Ling Chen smiled faintly and said, "There’ll be plenty of chances in the future. Alright, go do your thing. I’ll head back myself, no need to walk me out."
"Be careful on the road."
Waving his hand, after saying goodbye to Song Ge, Ling Chen walked alone toward the direction of the jungle. Because the Heavenly Dragon Sect people were stationed in the jungle, blocking several of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s exits to the outside world, Ling Chen could only follow the original route and make a big detour before finally getting back to the entrance of the jungle.
However, just as Ling Chen was about to leave, he saw several large buses driving up outside the jungle. The buses pulled up one after another outside the jungle and parked. Right after, a large number of people got off the buses and lined up neatly into a square formation. At the same time, a middle‑aged man in charge of the unit walked to the front, did a headcount, then led the team into the jungle.
Seeing them pressing in toward his direction, Ling Chen immediately shifted position, avoiding their marching route. When that group disappeared into the depths of the jungle, Ling Chen once again looked toward the outside. At this moment, those buses still hadn’t left. Instead, they were lined up head to tail, forming a defensive line that blocked the road leading into the jungle.
Not only that, more than twenty men were setting up tents by the roadside at the entrance. From the looks of it, they intended to hold this position and prevent outsiders from approaching.
Watching their actions, Ling Chen furrowed his brows slightly. From the current situation, the Heavenly Dragon Sect clearly wanted to completely seal off all of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s exits.
After thinking for a while, Ling Chen gave up on the idea of leaving. The Heavenly Dragon Sect had suddenly sent in so many extra people. Even if the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion had made all the preparations, there could still be mistakes. As far as he knew, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion had to go outside every month to purchase large quantities of food. Now that the Heavenly Dragon Sect had blocked every road, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion simply had no way out. Even if the Heavenly Dragon Sect didn’t launch a direct offensive, once the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s food was used up, they would definitely try to break through.
By then, all the Heavenly Dragon Sect had to do was wait by the tree for the rabbit, set up an inescapable net, and the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion would definitely suffer losses.
No way! If the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion was really in danger, he had to find a way to help. Although the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion had quite a few experts on their side, top masters like Master Hui Yun and Dan Xuzi were in their own temple and Daoist monastery, and had no way to help at the first moment. Besides, since the Heavenly Dragon Sect had surrounded the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, they would surely cut off their communications to prevent them from calling for help.
Thinking of this, Ling Chen followed the original route back again. However, this time he didn’t head straight back near the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, but instead went to where the Heavenly Dragon Sect had set up camp.
Luckily, the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s camp was deep in the jungle, where towering trees and dense undergrowth were everywhere. Ling Chen could use these natural covers to avoid the Heavenly Dragon Sect disciples patrolling the area, slowly drawing closer to the camp to observe everything going on inside.
After nearly half an hour, Ling Chen finally found a pretty good hiding spot. Next to him was a pile of supplies the Heavenly Dragon Sect had shipped in from outside. There were many gaps between these supplies, which made it not only a good place to hide, but also offered an excellent view of more than half the camp.
At this moment, because of the reinforcements that had just arrived, the Heavenly Dragon Sect disciples were busy putting up new tents. Ling Chen carefully poked his head out and glanced around. Right then, four or five people came out one after another from a tent in the center of the camp. Ling Chen focused his gaze, and his eyes instantly froze.
He hadn’t expected to run into acquaintances in a place like this, Ling Chen thought to himself.
Among those people were not only the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s Vice Sect Leader Tan Gang and Mo Shuiyan, but also a young man Ling Chen had only recently met—Tian Xiong.
Seeing Tian Xiong there, Ling Chen immediately understood. No wonder the Heavenly Dragon Sect dared to have the guts to surround the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion like this—it turned out they had the Dark Pavilion’s help. Hmph! He had already guessed that Tian Xiong’s purpose in coming to discuss "cooperation" with him was anything but pure. Judging from this, the Dark Pavilion had approached not only the Dragon Tiger Hall, but other forces as well.
It was very possible the Dark Pavilion’s collaboration with the Heavenly Dragon Sect had started long ago. Otherwise, back when the two of them met that day, Tian Xiong wouldn’t have thumped his chest and told him that the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s only outcome was destruction. With the Heavenly Dragon Sect as an ally, plus the Dark Pavilion’s powerful strength, it would indeed be hard for the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion to survive this ordeal.
As he pondered this, he saw Tian Xiong and Tan Gang’s group walk out of the camp. Several Heavenly Dragon Sect disciples immediately went up to them, seemingly reporting something. After a while, more than a dozen Heavenly Dragon Sect disciples pushed handcarts toward where Ling Chen was hiding.
Seeing this, Ling Chen quickly drew his head back so as not to be discovered.
Before long, those dozen or so handcarts arrived beside the stacked supplies. Then the Heavenly Dragon Sect disciples began moving cargo, transferring the wooden crates one by one onto the carts.
Very soon, dozens of wooden crates were all taken away. Watching the carts gradually roll off into the distance, Ling Chen’s face held a hint of doubt. Where were they going? Weren’t these supplies meant for the Heavenly Dragon Sect people here? Could it be they had set up another camp somewhere else?
The direction they were heading in seemed to be toward the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion.
