The next day.
Ling Chen got up early. Su He ntioned that the assault on the Skyhawk Pavilion would be launched this morning, so he certainly couldn’t be lazy at such a ti.
After everyone gathered, they first went to the hotel’s restaurant to have breakfast. At seven o’clock, the people from the Heavenly chanism Pavilion appeared at the entrance of the restaurant on ti and took everyone onto the bus, heading directly towards the desert.
Ling Chen and the others sat in the back seats, occasionally chatting as they looked at the scattered buildings outside the window. There were hundreds of martial arts people involved in this operation, using more than a dozen large buses. After more than an hour of driving, the bus finally entered the desert. However, due to the environntal factors of the desert, the bus was no longer suitable for further travel. Therefore, everyone had to follow the people from the Heavenly chanism Pavilion on foot into the desert.
Fortunately, the Heavenly chanism Pavilion was well-prepared, providing each person with a supply pack containing enough food and water.
"Please rest assured, the headquarters of the Skyhawk Pavilion is very close to us; it is at most two hours’ walk away," said a mber of the Heavenly chanism Pavilion loudly, which made the martial artists slightly relieved. The desert is not only dry but also hot, and these martial artists, accustod to Huaxia’s weather, inevitably found it slightly uncomfortable to suddenly be in such an environnt.
Now, everyone just wanted to quickly resolve the matter so they could catch a plane back to Huaxia. Along the way, many people complained, regretting responding to the call of the Heavenly chanism Pavilion impulsively, traveling thousands of miles to this godforsaken place when they learned the Skyhawk Pavilion’s headquarters was abroad.
In the blink of an eye, more than two hours had passed, and all they could see was endless yellow sand — there was no sign of the Skyhawk Pavilion.
"Damn! It’s been more than two hours, why aren’t we there yet?" People began to murmur.
"Everyone, please calm down, we’re almost there," responded a mber of the Heavenly chanism Pavilion. As they spoke, people began to count heads.
"Old Pavilion Master." After more than ten minutes, a disciple from the Heavenly chanism Pavilion hurried over to Su He’s side and reported, "We just counted the number of people and found we’re missing over ten people."
Upon hearing this, Su He’s face darkened, and he asked, "How could they be missing? Weren’t you watching all along? Who’s missing?"
The person hesitated for a mont and stamred, "It’s... mbers from the Dragon Tiger Hall. The group is so large that we didn’t pay attention."
Wang Hao, nearby, said coldly, "This is the desert; where can they go? Without us leading the way, they could easily get lost in the desert. Hmph! I think they’re courting death on their own."
Su He pondered for a mont and ordered, "Take so people back to the rear to look for them; don’t let them leave our sight."
Again with ? Wang Hao’s expression changed slightly, internally resisting the order. If it weren’t for Su He’s command, he wouldn’t want to go. With no choice, since his master had spoken, Wang Hao had to comply. Imdiately, Wang Hao led over twenty Heavenly chanism Pavilion disciples to return along the path and search for Ling Chen and the others.
At this mont, several kiloters away from the group, Ling Chen and his companions stood in the desert, using a satellite phone to make a call. After hanging up, Tong Zhentian asked, "Ling Chen, where are we going?"
"We’ll find a place to rest for now," Ling Chen said with a smile. "Su He thought he could deceive us, but he didn’t account for the fact that I’ve been to this desert before and am very familiar with the environnt here. Two hours... Hmph! Walking for even four or five hours would still leave us in the middle of the desert, finding nothing. If I’m guessing correctly, the headquarters of the Skyhawk Pavilion should be in the deepest part of this desert."
"Then why did Su He bring us here?" Yuan Yun asked perplexed.
"If I’m not mistaken, he intends to use the environnt here to deal with us. There’s no signal in the desert, phones can’t be used, and even if we’re attacked here, we can’t contact people in Huaxia. By the ti we et our end, no one will know," Ling Chen explained.
Qiu Yong nodded and chid in, "In this way, Su He can buy the Heavenly chanism Pavilion enough ti to track down the whereabouts of that recorded docunt. They brought in so many martial arts people, probably to confuse us into believing they’re really taking action against the Skyhawk Pavilion."
Ling Chen smiled slightly and said, "If I hadn’t been to this desert before, I might have been fooled. Unfortunately for Su He, he miscalculated." Saying this, Ling Chen shook the satellite phone in his hand and continued, "When I arrived yesterday, I prepared in advance by paying a high price at the market for a satellite phone to guard against accidents."
"Whom did you call just now?" He Ziyun asked.
"You’ll find out soon," Ling Chen replied with a mysterious smile, keeping them in suspense.
Not long after, several off-road vehicles approached and stopped in front of the group. The car door opened, and a middle-aged man jumped down from the passenger seat.
When they saw him, the group studied him for a mont, but only Qiu Yong and a few others recognized the man; the rest felt unfamiliar.
"Mr. Ling," the man said, smiling as he greeted everyone.
"Elder Tong, let introduce you to Liu Dongsheng, Uncle Liu, who used to be a legendary figure in the Assassin world," Ling Chen explained.
"Mr. Liu, hello," everyone greeted him.
"Mr. Ling, hop in; everything’s been arranged," Liu Dongsheng said.
Ling Chen nodded and led everyone into the vehicles. After half an hour of driving in the desert, the off-road vehicles finally reached their destination.
Getting out of the cars, they were first greeted by two fortresses, ard with heavy weaponry. Behind the fortresses lay a massive base, surrounded on all sides by three-ter-high walls, with an outer layer of barbed wire and a watchtower every three ters. Guards were equipped with weapons, constantly monitoring the surroundings, providing extrely strict defense.
As Ling Chen walked, he toured the area, occasionally nodding to express satisfaction with the setup.
"Ling Chen, what is this place?" Tong Zhentian couldn’t suppress his curiosity and asked.
"It’s a training camp," Ling Chen replied with a smile. "I funded its construction a few months ago."
Upon hearing this, everyone was astonished; Ling Chen had never ntioned it before. Qiu Yong couldn’t help but laugh, "You sure know how to keep secrets; you didn’t even let slip a whisper of this to us."
"My original plan was to use this as a secret base for our fallback, but didn’t expect to use it so soon," Ling Chen said as he turned to Liu Dongsheng. "Uncle Liu, it’s my first ti here, so I’m not too familiar with the place. Could you show us around a bit?"
"No problem, follow ," Liu Dongsheng replied.
Imdiately, everyone followed Liu Dongsheng and entered the base.
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