Chapter 1675: Chapter 1977: The Fate of the Heavens (9)
As they walked and stopped intermittently, Ling Chen and his group had already been trekking in the forest for several hours without realizing it. Ling Chen was no stranger to such wild environments. When he first joined the Ghost organization, he underwent specialized survival training, making him quite an expert in this regard.
Along the way, Ling Chen stayed at the back of the group, erasing the traces they left and creating misleading clues for the opponents. Although this might not serve as a major advantage, at least it could delay them for a while.
In the blink of an eye, it was already noon. Even with Ling Chen’s abundant stamina, after a dozen hours of arduous travel, he was beginning to feel tired. At this point, he called out to the group to take a break and replenish some food.
As he was nibbling on the sweet and sour wild fruits, Ling Chen suddenly heard the ringtone of his phone. It’s been a while, and presumably, Elder Tong’s sent people should be meeting up with him soon.
The call connected, and a familiar voice echoed in his ear, "Where are you?"
"Porridge girl?" Ling Chen was taken aback, asking with some surprise, "Why is it you?"
"You needed medicine, didn’t you? So I volunteered to come find you. Besides, with something so important, I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving it to others. What’s your location now?"
Ling Chen glanced at the surroundings; there were only trees and more trees, without any reference points. After pondering for a bit, he said, "Wait for a moment, I’ll call Fatty."
With Hu Fei’s computing skills, he could easily lock onto Ling Chen’s position via signal, and as long as he forwarded this location to the porridge girl, she could accurately find him.
Over twenty minutes later, Ling Chen eagerly awaited, finally spotting the porridge girl in his line of sight. Seeing her approaching, Ling Chen hurriedly went up to her, smiling widely, "How’s it going? Was everything safe along the way?"
"It went relatively smoothly. I managed to avoid Heavenly Dragon Sect people a few times."
"Where are they now?"
"Only about a forty-minute journey before they catch up to you."
"That fast?" Ling Chen was somewhat surprised; Heavenly Dragon Sect’s speed was faster than he expected. In his judgment, he should have had a lead over them by about an hour and a half.
The porridge girl untied her backpack and handed it to Ling Chen, saying, "Here’s everything you need. There are a few antidotes inside. Due to time constraints, we couldn’t prepare much medicine, so we can’t be certain if these antidotes are effective."
Ling Chen opened the backpack and looked inside, then distributed the medicine, urging everyone to quickly treat their wounds.
"Elder Du, here are a few antidotes prepared by Elder Tong for you. We’re not sure if they’re effective. Please try them."
Without a word, Du Kang took the antidote and swallowed it right away. Meanwhile, on another side of them, the porridge girl was greeting Su Mei.
"Long time no see."
"It has indeed been a long time." Su Mei looked at the porridge girl and said, "You’ve changed a lot."
"And so have you."
Hearing this, Su Mei gave a bitter smile and said, "Do you think I’m quite wretched now?"
"Everyone has their moments of wretchedness; it’s not uncommon. When I said you’ve changed a lot, I wasn’t just referring to your situation but to your person." The porridge girl replied, "I’m aware of what’s been happening at the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion. You don’t seem as innocent as you once were. But it’s a good thing; it means you’re growing."
Su Mei sighed lightly and said, "Unfortunately, the growth isn’t fast enough, otherwise the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion wouldn’t be in its current predicament."
"Don’t say that. Growth comes at a cost, which is normal. I believe after this ordeal, under your leadership, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion will surely thrive."
"I hope so, but my current concern is how to get rid of the Heavenly Dragon Sect."
Hearing this, the porridge girl commented quietly, "You should trust Ling Chen. He will help you through the tough times. In fact, if you had chosen to trust him earlier, you wouldn’t be in today’s situation."
"Maybe."
"What are you two talking about?" Ling Chen stepped up with interest and asked.
"Nothing much, just some casual chat between old friends." Su Mei replied indifferently, then asked, "How’s Elder Du? Is the antidote effective?"
"It can only alleviate the symptoms, not completely clear the toxins from his body. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly what poison Elder Du has; Elder Tong prepared several antidotes based on my descriptions, but whether they work is down to luck." After a pause, Ling Chen continued, "We’ve already delayed quite a bit. We must get moving. Once night falls, we can find a safe place to rest."
Su Mei nodded, not saying much else. At such times, she could only follow Ling Chen’s lead.
...
Night descended.
Tan Gang sat by the newly lit campfire, listening to Mo Shuiyan’s report.
"Searched all day, still found no clues? Hmph! A bunch of useless people; so many of them yet no results."
"Vice Sect Leader, should we let everyone rest? They’ve been working hard all day, and I’m worried about their physical condition."
"No need." Tan Gang said coldly, "Tell them if they can’t find traces of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion group, none of them can rest. And, I’ve contacted the Sect Leader, and more people from the Dark Pavilion will be sent to assist me. With the Dark Pavilion joining, our operations should be much easier."
"Got it."
Meanwhile, at another spot in the forest, the porridge girl sat by a campfire, leaning against a tree, looking at Ling Chen busy nearby, her lips curling into a sweet smile.
Seemingly aware of the porridge girl’s gaze, Ling Chen turned around and gave her a knowing smile, then grabbed a roasted chicken and walked over.
"Just caught this wild chicken, tastes quite authentic, give it a try." Ling Chen said while tearing off a chicken leg and handing it to her.
"You’ve been busy for so long, take a seat and rest, don’t tire yourself out." Porridge girl showed concern.
"It’s okay." Despite his words, Ling Chen obediently sat beside the porridge girl. With the aroma of the roasted chicken in the air, his mouth watered; after all that traveling, he could finally have a meal of meat.
Seeing Ling Chen devour the food, the porridge girl chuckled helplessly and took out a tissue from her pocket, gently wiping the oil stains off his lips.
"Hey! How long have you known Su Mei?"
"Why ask out of the blue?"
"Nothing much, just curious about how you two met."
The porridge girl laughed and asked, "When did you become so nosy, like a woman?"
"Hush! What are you talking about? Can only women be nosy?" Ling Chen retorted, "I was just curious. If you don’t want to talk about it, then pretend I didn’t ask."
Comments