CHAPTER 752: CHAPTER 757: THE RETURN JOURNEY (1)

After resting for a day, early the next morning, Ling Chen got up and deliberated, thinking about leaving Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion and rushing back to East Sea City.

This trip had already taken quite a bit of time, nearly half a month, and Nanrong Wanqing had called several times. Moreover, too many things had happened at the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, and Ling Chen really did not want to get involved and waste time.

After much consideration, it still seemed best to leave such matters to Su Mei and Du Kang to handle. After all, he was an outsider, and there was no need for him to meddle unnecessarily.

"Ling Cheng." Wei Jiahao, while yawning, walked in from outside, holding breakfast in one hand.

Ever since the poisoning incident, Ling Chen’s meals were taken care of by Wei Jiahao, who borrowed the kitchen facilities and ingredients from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion.

"Ling Cheng, where are the others?"

"They went out early in the morning to stroll around and said they’d be back soon. Ling Cheng, did you need to see them?"

Ling Chen nodded and said, "I was thinking, we’ve been at the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion for quite some time now, it’s about time we head back."

Wei Jiahao laughed and said, "Actually, the others were also discussing when to leave. They stayed a few more days because they were concerned about your injuries not being fully healed."

Ling Chen patted his chest and replied, "My injuries are not a big issue anymore. Go and tell them that we’re leaving today, let’s not delay any further. Besides, with all the troubles at the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion now, we wouldn’t want to get dragged into it."

"Alright!" Wei Jiahao responded. "Ling Cheng, you eat your breakfast first, I’ll go call the others." After speaking, Wei Jiahao placed the prepared breakfast on the bedside, then turned and walked out of the room.

After eating two meat sandwiches, Ling Chen patted his belly and got ready to get out of bed and move around. Although his injuries were not completely healed, walking wasn’t affected as long as he did not engage in strenuous activities, and moving around occasionally was not a big deal.

Just as Ling Chen began to stretch his limbs, he saw Wei Jiahao rush into the room from outside the door, yelling loudly, "Ling Cheng, something bad has happened!"

Ling Chen was startled and quickly asked, "What happened? Did someone die again?"

"No, no one died. It’s the others... they’ve been surrounded by people from Yangxin Pavilion," Wei Jiahao said, panting.

"What?" Ling Chen was stunned; Qiu Yong and the others were actually surrounded by people from Yangxin Pavilion.

What are those people from Yangxin Pavilion trying to do?

Without time to think further, Ling Chen hurriedly ran outside.

Leaving the residence, Wei Jiahao led Ling Chen to an empty space near the martial arts training ground. From a distance, one could see several elderly men surrounding Qiu Yong and the others, including Huang Zheng and Liang Tian. Tang Yan was the only one missing.

Presumably, since Tang Yan was injured yesterday, he was still recovering today, so he did not show up.

As they approached, everyone noticed Ling Chen’s arrival and gave him a look. Yuan Yun reproachfully said, "Ling Cheng, you knew your brother was still unwell, why did you bring him here?"

Ling Chen swept a glance at Huang Zheng and others, frowning and asked, "What’s going on here?"

"It’s nothing, just heard that there’s a great master among the eight eccentrics, so we wanted to see for ourselves." Huang Zheng replied, but his indifferent tone felt quite uncomfortable.

"See for ourselves?" Ling Chen said with a forced smile, "Is this how Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion tests people’s skills? Regardless, we are guests of the Pavilion, don’t you think this is quite disgraceful?"

Liang Tian said lightly, "Ling Chen, don’t say that. We are all from the martial arts world, and it’s normal to make friends through martial arts."

"If it had been someone else saying this, I might have believed it, but as for you two... sorry, I really don’t buy it. Elder Huang, Elder Liang, if you do not want to make it difficult for Master Su, let us pass quickly and stop troubling us." Pausing, Ling Chen continued, "Such a big incident just happened at the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, and instead of looking for the perpetrator, you’re busy making friends through martial arts, I really don’t know what you are thinking."

Scolded by Ling Chen, the faces of Huang Zheng and others did not look good.

"Ling Chen, you, a young lad, what right do you have to lecture us."

"Alright, if you think I have no right to lecture you, then I will go consult Elder Du to see if he permits such actions. If that still doesn’t work, I’ll ask my Master and see what he thinks."

Hearing this, the eyes of Huang Zheng and others flickered, and for a long while, they couldn’t say a word.

Seeing their indecisive looks, Ling Chen secretly smiled. As expected, these old fellows were indeed fearful of Su He; just by mentioning Su He, they immediately became compliant.

It seems having a robust backer is essential for handling matters.

"Fine, let’s leave it at this for now, we’ll have another chance to consult in the future." With that, Huang Zheng and the others glanced at Xu Ming, then turned and walked towards Yangxin Pavilion.

When they left, Ling Chen quickly walked over to Qiu Yong and the others, and asked with concern, "Big brother, they didn’t mistreat you, did they?"

"No issue."

"Big brother, it seems we really should leave Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion soon," Xu Ming began to speak.

Hearing this, Qiu Yong asked, "What’s up, little brother?"

"Big brother, when those people came to find us, it certainly wasn’t just to make friends through martial arts, but rather to test us."

"Test?" Xia Yue asked, puzzled, "Little brother, test us for what?"

"Don’t ask about it, just trust me, let’s leave before they take any other measures."

Hearing this, Ling Chen looked meaningfully at Xu Ming, seemingly understanding something.

Without a doubt, the ’test’ Xu Ming referred to must be targeting himself. Based on Ling Chen’s assumption, Xu Ming probably had some secrets he didn’t want exposed, which is why he wanted to leave so quickly.

Regardless, he also wanted to return to East Sea City soon, which coincidentally aligned with Xu Ming’s suggestion.

Right away, Ling Chen spoke up, "Big brother, recently, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion hasn’t been peaceful. I think we should leave soon to avoid attracting trouble."

"Alright." Qiu Yong nodded slightly, "Since you all say so, let’s go. Little sister, you go pack up with Ling Cheng, and I’ll go say farewell to Master Su with the others. We’ll meet at the entrance later."

"Understood."

Learning that Qiu Yong and the others were leaving, Su Mei seemed somewhat surprised, originally thinking they would stay a bit longer, not expecting them to choose this time to leave.

"Elder Qiu, it’s rare for you to visit, why not stay a few more days. Besides, Ling Chen’s injuries have not yet healed, why not stay a little longer until his injuries get better before leaving."