Chapter 1649: Chapter 1951: The Old Taoist
"Annoying person?" Ling Chen asked with interest, "What kind of annoying person? Could it be someone who is pursuing you?"
Su Lin snorted, "There are a lot of people chasing the great me, but I’m not interested in those kinds of people."
"So if it’s not someone pursuing you, who is it then?" Ling Chen was a bit puzzled. In his view, someone termed ’annoying person’ must be a man.
"When I was in the archaeological team, I met an old Taoist priest who was mysterious, like one of those fortune-telling scammers on the street, acting as if there’s nothing he doesn’t know. He told me not to travel far, saying the journey would be troublesome and possibly dangerous."
Upon hearing this, Ling Chen couldn’t help but laugh, and asked, "Did you believe what he said?"
"Of course I didn’t believe him," Su Lin pouted, "So I booked a flight and planned my trip to go on a trip out of town. But it was like seeing a ghost on this journey, either traffic jams or the taxi broke down, then the plane was delayed. While waiting at the airport, I even encountered a smuggler, and they almost took me as a hostage during an arrest. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to dodge it, otherwise, you might not even be seeing me now."
"Tsk tsk!" Ling Chen chuckled and said, "It seems that old Taoist’s fortune-telling skills are pretty good, so you didn’t dare to go out and play then?"
"With so much happening, I didn’t feel like going at all, so I simply returned."
Ling Chen’s interest was piqued, and he asked, "Do you know where that old Taoist is?"
Su Lin shook her head, "How would I know? We were doing an archaeological dig at the time, and I don’t know where that old Taoist came from when he came asking us for some food. He was very talkative, and everyone was captivated by his words when we sat together to eat. Nonetheless, the old Taoist seemed to have some genuine skill, well-versed in astronomy and geography, able to speak about any topic expertly. Our archaeological team’s leader chatted with him for a while and found that he was very knowledgeable about ancient cultures, even able to explain many unsolved ancient mysteries clearly. Anyway, I’m not interested in that old Taoist, I figured all his words were made up and I didn’t believe them."
"He came to your camp just to ask for food? No other purpose?" Ling Chen continued to ask, "Did you not say he did a fortune-telling for you, warning you not to travel? You must’ve had a private interaction with him."
"He approached me and spoke a lot by himself; I didn’t engage him." At that point, Su Lin seemed to remember something and said, "Oh! After eating, that old Taoist stood alone in front of the tombstone we dug up, not sure what he was doing there, standing for a long time. Later, he also looked at the coffin which was being heavily guarded not far away."
"Coffin?" Ling Chen pondered and asked, "What era’s tomb were you excavating?"
"A noble’s tomb over four hundred years old, discovered when construction for a large facility was underway, and the excavator found the tomb beneath ground. Because the tomb had been damaged by the excavator, our archaeological team was dispatched to conduct protective excavation."
After Su Lin’s narration, Ling Chen subtly nodded. That old Taoist priest probably wasn’t a simple person. Looking back, his grandfather had also mentioned an old Taoist priest to him before. If not for the old Taoist teaching him a set of Breathing Skills, his grandfather might not have lived so long.
But he didn’t know if the old Taoist his grandfather encountered was the same person Su Lin talked about.
"Hey!" Su Lin said discontentedly, "I came to ask you about my cousin’s affair, how did it turn into you interrogating me? Are you interested in that old Taoist?"
Ling Chen chuckled, "My luck has been pretty bad recently, so I want to find that old Taoist to do some fortune-telling and see if there’s a way to change my luck."
"This is just superstition, you should know better as an educated person, yet you believe in things like that."
As they spoke, the waiter brought their meal to the table. Ling Chen picked up the chopsticks and, seeing Su Lin still playing with her phone, asked, "Aren’t you going to eat?"
"No, I’ve already eaten. Take good care of my cousin’s matter, and I have other things to handle later. I’ll be heading out." After finishing the words, Su Lin grabbed her purse, left some hundred-dollar bills, and walked out of the restaurant.
Seeing Su Lin’s back as she left, Ling Chen shook his head. This girl called him over and left him there alone. Never mind. He would just consider it as getting out to relax. After eating, Ling Chen patted his full belly and got up to leave. As he reached the restaurant’s entrance, Ling Chen was about to get in the car and return to the Dragon Tiger Hall.
At this point, a stranger’s voice suddenly called out, "Hello, Mr. Ling."
Ling Chen turned his head, only to see a young man leaning against the wall outside the restaurant, holding a cigarette with a faint smile on his face. Studying the man a few times, Ling Chen was sure he didn’t know him and turned to leave, having no interest in engaging people like that right now.
As Ling Chen was about to depart, the youth flicked his cigarette and quickly caught up with Ling Chen’s pace, reaching out to try to tap his shoulder. However, before his hand could touch Ling Chen’s body, he was repelled by a dark force.
"I don’t particularly like chatting with strangers. From my experience, people like you coming to me usually mean no good."
Upon hearing this, the youth chuckled, "Mr. Ling, don’t worry, I mean no harm; I just want to talk to you."
"Talk? Then perhaps you should tell me which faction you represent."
"If I told you I come from the Dark Pavilion, I wonder if you would have any interest in talking further."
Dark Pavilion!
Ling Chen raised an eyebrow, his gaze landing once again on the youth’s face. If it was any other faction, he might not be interested, but since the other party was from Dark Pavilion, he couldn’t ignore it. He was well aware of Dark Pavilion’s strength, having seen the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion suffer repeated setbacks at their hands, showcasing their power. However, Ling Chen was curious why people from Dark Pavilion would actively come seeking him.
Seeing Ling Chen’s delayed reaction, the youth wasn’t in a hurry. He casually took out a pack of cigarettes and began smoking leisurely.
After a while, Ling Chen watched the youth puffing out clouds and asked, "What do you want to discuss with me?"
"This isn’t the place for discussion. Let’s find a spot to sit down first." With that, the youth walked straight to the tea house across the street.
Arriving at the tea house, the two of them requested a private room, and soon after, the waiter brought a pot of tea and some snacks. Ling Chen picked up the tea cup, blew softly at the tea leaves floating on top, and asked, "Can you tell me now?"
"Mr. Ling, how much do you know about Dark Pavilion?"
"Not much, I’ve never heard of the existence of Dark Pavilion before."
