Chapter 1563: Chapter 1868: Li Haibin (2)
"Haibin, what’s going on?" The middle-aged man’s voice came through the eavesdropper: "You know the rules, if unnecessary, it’s best not to meet."
"I know the rules, but I want to ask you something, and you must tell me the truth."
"Tell me, how did my father die all those years ago."
"Haibin, haven’t we told you? It was people from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion who killed your father. Although your father did some bad things, the Pavilion’s behavior was truly outrageous. Not only did they kill your father, but they also insulted his corpse. As his son, you should avenge him."
"I don’t want to hear those words, you’ve been telling me the same thing for years, and I’m tired of it. Didn’t you say my father was an assassin under the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion? Fine, then tell me, who in the Pavilion killed my father?"
"Du Kang. He’s a veteran of the Pavilion, an elder of Yangxin Pavilion, very powerful. He was the one ordered to kill your father."
"Then why didn’t they just burn my father’s corpse? Instead, they hung him on a tree."
"The Pavilion did it as a demonstration."
"A demonstration? Guo Hong, don’t you think that’s ridiculous? What is the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion? They maintain an aloof status in the martial arts world because they uphold justice and earn people’s trust. Do you think they’d use such cruel methods to demonstrate? Unless the Pavilion Master has lost his mind, he’d ruin their reputation with such actions."
"Haibin, what’s going on with you? Weren’t you supposed to infiltrate the Martial Arts Tournament and detonate that gas bomb? Where are all these questions coming from? Come clean with me, did someone say something to you?"
"No one said anything to me, just tell me if there’s more to my father’s death than it seems."
"I’m not very clear on this, but if you want to know, you can find the Chief after completing the mission; he’ll tell you the truth." After a pause, the man named Guo Hong continued: "Haibin, don’t say I didn’t warn you, if you don’t complete the mission, you know the consequences. You know what happened to Xie Qian, don’t follow in his footsteps."
"I won’t do anything until this is clear," Li Haibin’s tone was resolute.
"You... what can I say to you." Guo Hong’s words carried a hint of anger. After a moment of silence, Guo Hong spoke again: "Stay put in the room, I’m going out to make a call, I’ll get back to you later." With that, a door closing sound echoed.
Watching the monitoring screen on the computer, Guo Hong stood outside for a while before walking back into the room, saying: "I just contacted the Chief. Since you want to know the truth, alright, in an hour, he’ll tell you where to meet him. You go and talk to him."
"Is the Chief also in Beijing?"
"Of course! Such an important operation, the Chief has to command it personally. Alright! Stop overthinking it, once you meet the Chief, everything will be clear; have a good rest, and complete the mission quickly, don’t let us down." After speaking, Guo Hong left the room directly.
As he watched Guo Hong enter the elevator via the surveillance, Jiang Yunkai asked, "Chen, should I follow him?"
"No need for you to go, Zhu Qing, this one is yours, find out where he lives, don’t let him notice," Ling Chen said. Jiang Yunkai’s skills were somewhat lacking; if his identity were exposed, it would be troublesome. Zhu Qing had an assassin background, adept at hiding. In the right environment, even Heavenly List experts could not necessarily spot her.
Half an hour after Zhu Qing left, Ling Chen received a phone call from her.
"Okay, I got it, be careful," After hanging up, Jiang Yunkai said, "Chen, Li Haibin is leaving, should we follow him?"
"No need, I know where he’s going." As Li Haibin left the guest room, Ling Chen took Chen Junfeng and Jiang Yunkai out of the hotel, proceeded to their car, and drove to the destination. Over ten minutes later, the trio arrived outside a secluded alley.
After parking, Ling Chen glanced at the surroundings and instructed: "Kai, you stay in the car and keep an eye on the area. Sir Chen, let’s go!"
The two walked through the alley to an abandoned residential building opposite. The surrounding buildings were many, all slated for demolition, and the residents had moved out. At that moment, the whole area was in darkness, not a soul around.
Before long, a person appeared on the open ground between residential buildings, it was Li Haibin. At this moment, a car slowly approached, stopping beside Li Haibin. The car door opened, and a middle-aged man stepped out from the driver’s seat.
Seeing the newcomer, Li Haibin’s face changed slightly, he frowned and said, "Why is it you? Didn’t you say the Chief wanted to see me?"
Guo Hong shook his head and sighed softly, saying, "Haibin, you disappoint me so much. I initially saw you as my right-hand man, but unfortunately, you’re too unambitious. You’re suspicious, questioning us where you shouldn’t. What we need is absolute loyalty, and you lack that, so... I’m sorry."
"You..." Li Haibin opened his mouth, wanting to say more. But before he could speak, there was a ’swish’ sound, followed by an arrow piercing through Guo Hong’s body.
Watching the sharp arrowhead protruding from his chest, Guo Hong froze momentarily, turned his head in disbelief. About five meters away, a shadow slowly rose from the ground, holding a crossbow.
"What’s going on?" Seeing the scene unfold before him, Li Haibin was completely stunned, standing there at a loss.
"You still don’t understand? He wanted to kill you." A voice came, Li Haibin quickly turned his head, only to see Ling Chen stepping out from the darkened building.
"It’s you!"
"Ling... Ling Chen..." Guo Hong’s face changed slightly, he urgently said: "Haibin, hurry, kill them." As soon as he spoke, his face suddenly turned pale, he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.
Li Haibin shielded Guo Hong, glaring coldly at Ling Chen and crossbow-wielding Zhu Qing, saying, "How did you know I was here?"
"Ever since you left the venue, I’ve had someone tail you. Maybe you were too flustered to notice at the time," Ling Chen approached, saying: "At this point, haven’t you realized? Guo Hong invited you out with the intent to kill you, because you’ve become suspicious."
"No, I... I haven’t, Haibin, don’t listen to his nonsense, quick... kill him..." Guo Hong weakly uttered.
