Chapter 1671: Chapter 1973: The Fate of the Celestial Mechanism (5)
"I’ve been poisoned. I still don’t know what kind of poison they used, I just feel weak all over, and the Inner Strength in my Dantian can’t circulate at all. Unless I find an antidote, I’m afraid I’ll be stuck like this for a long time."
"Sigh! Elder Tong and the others still haven’t shown up, I don’t know what’s happened to them." Ling Chen said helplessly, "It’s already been a day and a half, I’m worried something’s gone wrong. If reinforcements could’ve arrived in time, we wouldn’t have to be this passive."
"You just said that besides the people from the Heavenly Dragon Sect, members of the Dark Pavilion were involved as well?" Su Mei, who was beside him, picked up the thread.
"That’s right! Otherwise, just with the Heavenly Dragon Sect alone, how could they have made the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion this miserable?" Ling Chen said, "The Dark Pavilion knows the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s situation extremely well. To be honest, I kind of admire them—they actually have every secret of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion at their fingertips."
Su Mei frowned slightly and said, "I just can’t figure out how they knew about that secret passage. In the entire Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, apart from us Su Family and Elder Du, no one knows about that passage. There’s no way our Su Family or Elder Du would reveal this secret to the Dark Pavilion."
"There’s such a thing?" Ling Chen was taken aback. If that was the case, then how did the Dark Pavilion people learn of that secret passage?
Unknowingly, dusk deepened. The three of them stayed quietly in the wine cellar. During this time, they could occasionally hear thumping footsteps overhead—clearly people were searching for their whereabouts.
When night fell, Ling Chen slowly climbed up from the wine cellar into the room. He looked around and didn’t see anyone. Then he slipped out of the room and made a circuit around the Yangxin Pavilion. It seemed the Heavenly Dragon Sect people had already finished searching; there wasn’t a single person to be seen in the Yangxin Pavilion.
Passing through the Yangxin Pavilion, Ling Chen went straight to the valley behind it. At this moment, many torches were lit in the valley. The captured Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Disciples were still where they’d been left, watched over by Disciples of the Heavenly Dragon Sect. With a sweep of his gaze, he saw that Tan Gang, Mo Shuiyan, and the Dark Pavilion people were all absent; he had no idea where they’d gone.
This is a good opportunity! Ling Chen thought to himself. Right now, there were only a bit more than twenty Heavenly Dragon Sect Disciples in the valley; with his strength, he could easily take care of them and then rescue everyone.
Using the shadows cast by the torchlight, Ling Chen carefully moved deeper into the valley, planning to find a good position to strike from. Before long, he had inched his way up close to the group of Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion Disciples and found a boulder to use as cover.
With one sweep of his eyes, Ling Chen’s gaze immediately locked onto Song Ge in the crowd. At this moment, Song Ge was lying on the cold ground, the blood on his clothes already congealed. His face was pale, looking utterly drained.
Ling Chen studied him for a moment, then picked up a small stone from the ground and lightly tossed it toward Song Ge. The small stone landed accurately on him. At once, Song Ge, who had been lying on the ground, turned his head and looked around. Seizing the moment, Ling Chen poked his head out from behind the rock and made a hand signal at him.
Song Ge’s eyes lit up. He nodded faintly, then, with some effort, pushed himself up from the ground and shouted loudly, "I need to relieve myself."
Hearing his shout, a Heavenly Dragon Sect Disciple walked over to him and kicked him hard without mercy, barking coldly, "What are you yelling for? You’re all grown men, just do it right there."
Expressionless, Song Ge said, "I need to take a dump. If you’re not afraid of the stench, I’ll do it right in front of you."
"You—"
"Enough! Stop wasting breath on him, just take him away." Another Heavenly Dragon Sect Disciple said impatiently.
"Damn, you’re such a hassle. Get up!" The first man yanked Song Ge up by the arm, hauled him to his feet, then pointed at the rock where Ling Chen was hiding not far away and said, "Go behind that and do it."
Song Ge answered, then hobbled toward that rock with unsteady legs. Once behind the rock, Ling Chen looked at the panting Song Ge and asked with concern, "You alright?"
"Just some wounds, won’t die." Song Ge slowly let out a breath. The short walk had caused several of his wounds to split open again, the pain intense. To avoid drawing attention, he could only grit his teeth and bear it.
"Where did everyone else go?" Ling Chen asked.
"Tan Gang seems to have taken people to the cabins on the other side of the valley. As for the Dark Pavilion, I’m not sure—they might have already left. Most of the Heavenly Dragon Sect Disciples are resting; only these ones are on watch." He paused, then asked, "How are the Pavilion Master and Elder Du?"
"Don’t worry, they’re fine. Right now, the most important thing is getting you all out."
Song Ge shook his head and said, "That won’t be easy. Too many people are injured. Even if you rescue us, we won’t have much fighting strength. Are you really going to protect so many of us by yourself?"
Hearing this, Ling Chen fell into contemplation. What Song Ge said made sense: even if he rescued everyone, if he couldn’t get them safely out, it would all be for nothing. Thoughts flashing through his mind, Ling Chen asked, "By the way, how exactly were you ambushed earlier?"
"That’s what puzzles me. I had people watching all the entrances around the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, but we never saw any trace of them. It was like they appeared inside the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion out of thin air and attacked us from behind. If not for that, we wouldn’t have suffered such heavy losses."
"Out of thin air?" Ling Chen’s heart stirred. Could it be that those Dark Pavilion people entered the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion through the secret passage? No, that’s not right—the Heavenly Dragon Sect already destroyed that passage with explosives. The Dark Pavilion couldn’t have come in through it.
Thinking of this, he asked, "Where did they first show up?"
"It seemed to be in the Yangxin Pavilion."
"Alright, got it." Ling Chen nodded and said, "You should go back first, or they’ll get suspicious. I’ll think of a way later and see if I can get you all out."
"Alright, be careful yourself." With that, Song Ge got up and walked back.
Leaving the valley, Ling Chen returned once again to the Yangxin Pavilion. Since the Dark Pavilion people had emerged from the Yangxin Pavilion, he had to search it carefully; maybe he could figure out the reason.
The buildings of the Yangxin Pavilion were fairly spread out. Ling Chen had stayed here for a while, so he was familiar with the surroundings. He spent over an hour searching every building, but didn’t find anything suspicious.
Where on earth did they come out from? Ling Chen scratched his head, puzzled. The Yangxin Pavilion wasn’t exactly big, but it wasn’t small either, and there was a patch of green forest next to it. If he really searched carefully, it would probably take a whole day and night without finishing.
Looking at the pitch-black Lin Zi not far away, Ling Chen hesitated for a moment, then walked toward it. Entering the Lin Zi, he looked around, but the light was too dim and he couldn’t see anything clearly. Forget it! Better head back.
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