CHAPTER 764: CHAPTER 769: ENEMIES BLUSH IN ANGER WHEN THEY MEET

Entering the abandoned warehouse, the door behind him closed tightly again. Ling Chen was on alert, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings from time to time. However, what puzzled him was that in the vast abandoned warehouse, apart from the young man before him, there was no sign of anyone else.

After advancing a short distance, Ling Chen followed the young man to the outside of a dilapidated office. Through the cracked windows and doors, the observant Ling Chen saw that Nanrong Hao, Jiang Hao, and Nanrong Wanqing were all held captive inside.

Thank goodness!

Ling Chen quietly breathed a sigh of relief. From the looks of it, everyone, including Nanrong Wanqing, was unharmed. However, probably because Nanrong Hao and Jiang Hao had been locked up for a longer time, with insufficient food and sleep, they appeared dispirited, with bags under their eyes.

"The people you’re looking for are in there." The young man stood at the doorway, showing no intention of entering.

Ling Chen looked at him and said deliberately, "Let them go. You’ve gone to all this trouble just to target me. Now that I’m here, they’re no longer involved in this matter."

Hearing this, the young man smiled smugly and said, "Ling Chen, don’t be naive. It’s not that simple. Besides, I’m just following orders and don’t have the authority to make that decision. If you want to save them, you’d better talk to the person who can call the shots."

"Who?" Ling Chen frowned and asked.

Right after his question, the sound of wheels gliding could be heard from the warehouse door.

Ling Chen turned to look, and saw the door being pushed open from the outside, as several figures appeared at the entrance.

The young man’s lips curled into a smile and he said, "Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Ling Chen, the person you’re looking for has arrived."

Watching the people at the door drawing closer, Ling Chen’s eyes suddenly became fierce.

Among the several people opposite him, a strangely dressed man wearing a mask that only revealed his mouth and eyes, was leading. His tall figure and the slight upturn of his lips gave him an intriguing air, even without seeing his full face.

When the masked man approached, Ling Chen asked, "Did you capture my friends? Why?"

"Why?" The masked man chuckled, his eyes flickering with a cold glint, as his icy voice slowly said, "Ling Chen, don’t you remember who I am?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Ling Chen could no longer maintain his composure. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the masked man.

"You... it’s you!"

Ling Chen’s pupils contracted, and with a burst of chilling light, he swiftly moved forward, charging towards Zhu Hong.

"Get lost!"

As Ling Chen approached, a man standing behind Zhu Hong shouted. Immediately after, a figure swiftly moved in front of Zhu Hong, shielding him.

After protecting Zhu Hong, the man raised his fist and struck out.

Both fists collided, and Ling Chen felt his entire arm go numb, unable to muster any strength, and his body became limp. He stumbled backward, barely managing to steady himself after several steps.

This guy...

Ling Chen sized up the man who had thrown the punch, frowning secretly. The man’s strength was not very formidable, at best ranked fifth on the Dragon List. Yet even so, in Ling Chen’s current state, he was no match for him.

At this moment, Zhu Hong looked at Ling Chen with a smile and said, "Didn’t expect this, did you? That you too would face this day."

Ling Chen shook his sore arm, and undaunted, said, "Zhu Hong, to be honest, I’m really curious about how exactly you managed to escape from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion."

During the previous period, Ling Chen entrusted Su Mei and others to thoroughly search for Zhu Hong’s whereabouts within the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, but there was no progress. At that time, when he was competing in martial arts with Wang Hao, he clearly saw Zhu Hong appear among the crowd, yet Du Kang and the others searched the entire Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion and could not find Zhu Hong.

Now, Zhu Hong was appearing before him, how could he not be surprised?

The defenses of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion were rigorous, and anyone entering or exiting had to undergo strict inspections, yet Zhu Hong could come and go freely within the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, which was truly puzzling.

In addition, what Ling Chen found most incomprehensible was the people around Zhu Hong. In such a short amount of time, how could Zhu Hong have gathered so many experts, including the animal-taming expert mentioned by Xu Ming, Song Mingzhe?

Zhu Hong was not a martial artist and completely ignorant in martial arts, so why would these people obey his orders?

Considering all these, Ling Chen was filled with doubts.

Zhu Hong raised his head, looking at Ling Chen with a slanting gaze and said, "I think you’ve used the wrong word. Ling Chen, to tell you the truth, I don’t need to run away. For me, as long as I want, I can return to the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion at any time, and I can do so openly and honorably, without anyone daring to do anything to me."

Hearing Zhu Hong’s confident tone, Ling Chen’s first reaction was that it was impossible.

"Zhu Hong, do you think I would believe you?"

"Whether you believe it or not is your business, but what I’m telling you is the truth." Saying this, Zhu Hong seemed to remember something and suddenly laughed.

"Ling Chen, I heard you have a good master, and now you are also a disciple of the Yangxin Pavilion. That being said, we can be considered as senior and junior brothers."

"Senior and junior brothers? What do you mean?"

Zhu Hong smiled and said, "Your master is an old man of the Yangxin Pavilion, and my master is the same."

"What?" Ling Chen exclaimed in surprise, asking, "Who is your master?"

"I’m not afraid to tell you, my master is Liang Tian."

Him!

Ling Chen’s heart sank. He never expected that Zhu Hong’s master would turn out to be Liang Tian.

No, that’s not right... Zhu Hong doesn’t know martial arts, so why would Liang Tian take him as a disciple? As these thoughts churned in his mind, Zhu Hong seemed to see through Ling Chen’s thoughts and said, "Although I don’t understand martial arts, my master said I have excellent aptitude and an extraordinarily suitable constitution for practicing martial arts, which is why he made an exception to accept me as a disciple."

Hah!

Ling Chen sneered, thinking Liang Tian must be crazy for disciples, even accepting someone like Zhu Hong.

Yes, that’s it!

Ling Chen suddenly remembered something. At the grand event held by the Yangxin Pavilion this time, besides Liang Tian, every elder of the Yangxin Pavilion had disciples participating. It was probably because of this reason that Liang Tian was urgently eager to find a disciple to cultivate.

However, martial arts practice must start from a young age; only by laying a solid foundation can one seek a higher realm. Zhu Hong was already of such an age, even if he were taken in as a disciple, what could he do?

Forget it!

Ling Chen shook his head, dismissing the miscellaneous thoughts in his mind. Regardless, that was Liang Tian’s own business and had nothing to do with him.

However, Su Mei had previously sent people to search for Zhu Hong’s whereabouts, so Liang Tian must have known about it. Knowing Zhu Hong was a criminal of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion and still taking him as a disciple, wasn’t that openly opposing Su Mei?

If there was a chance, he must tell Su Mei and Du Kang about this matter.