The Beauty CEO's Personal Expert

Chapter 1565 - 1870: Dark Pavilion (1)

Back at the Beijing branch of the Dragon Tiger Hall, Ling Chen brought Guo Hong into a room and tossed him onto the bed. Although he had taken the antidote and cleared the toxins from his body, he was still weak, pale, and completely devoid of strength.

After a while, when Guo Hong gradually regained consciousness, Ling Chen found a chair, placed it beside the bed, and asked, "Feeling better?"

Guo Hong slowly sat up in bed and asked weakly, "What more do you want?"

"I’m very interested in the Dark Pavilion. You’re the one who knows it best, so I hope you can tell me about it. In return, I can help you change your identity and escape the Dark Pavilion to live a better life. How about it?"

Upon hearing Ling Chen’s proposal, Guo Hong hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded and said, "Okay. But don’t have too high hopes for me. Although I’m part of the Dark Pavilion, I don’t know much about it. The Dark Pavilion has existed for over a hundred years, yet nobody knows who founded it. The hierarchy is clear; people like Li Haibin and Xie Qian are at the lowest level. I am slightly above them as a messenger of the Dark Pavilion, tasked with transmitting orders and monitoring those beneath us. If any of them act suspiciously, we must immediately take action, just like Li Haibin. Once he showed any doubt towards the Dark Pavilion, he had to be dealt with immediately."

"The leader of the Dark Pavilion is called the Great Leader, and beneath him are the Second Leader and Third Leader—these three are the high-ranking members of the Dark Pavilion. Apart from meeting the Great Leader twice, I’ve never seen the Second or Third Leader. In sum, their identities are very mysterious."

"Where is the headquarters of the Dark Pavilion?" Ling Chen asked.

"I don’t know," Guo Hong shook his head and said. "To be precise, the Dark Pavilion doesn’t have a fixed location; everyone communicates by phone."

"By phone? What if someone wants to escape the Dark Pavilion? Wouldn’t the Dark Pavilion suffer greatly?"

"No, if anyone even thinks of escaping the Dark Pavilion, they’re sure to die. All members have ingested a slow-acting poison, which requires periodic antidotes to alleviate the effects. If they go more than three days without it, they die from the poison. So, no one dares to betray the Dark Pavilion."

So that’s how it is! Ling Chen nodded silently. The Dark Pavilion’s methods are age-old, yet remarkably effective. After pondering for a moment, Ling Chen asked, "Do you only handle Li Haibin, or are there others?"

"I oversee three people in total: Xie Qian, Li Haibin, and another named Wang Dong. If you want to catch Wang Dong, I can tell you where to find him."

"Go ahead."

Upon obtaining Wang Dong’s address, Ling Chen immediately notified Chen Junfeng to head there with Zhu Qing to bring Wang Dong over. Back in the room, Ling Chen had just sat down when a pleasant ringtone suddenly sounded from his pocket.

Hearing the ringtone, Ling Chen glanced at Chen Junfeng, then retrieved a phone from his pocket. Seeing ’Unknown Caller’ displayed, Ling Chen handed the phone to Guo Hong and asked, "Whose call is this?"

He had previously found the phone on Guo Hong, so this call was undoubtedly for Guo Hong.

"It should be the Great Leader; his calls never display a number."

Ling Chen nodded, then pressed the answer and speakerphone buttons. Soon, a somewhat raspy voice emerged: "Guo Hong, how did things go? Why wasn’t it reported in today’s news?"

Guo Hong quickly replied, "Great Leader, the task encountered some issues and couldn’t proceed as planned. May I ask for an extension?"

"I have no interest in your issues; I only want to know when you will complete the task."

"Well... I’m still unsure, as the situation is a bit tricky."

"Guo Hong, you’ve worked for me long enough to know I dislike uncertainty. Tomorrow! That’s your final deadline. If by tomorrow night I don’t see the report in the news, you won’t be serving as a messenger any longer; I’ll find someone to replace you." With that said, the caller abruptly hung up.

"You heard him." Guo Hong looked at Ling Chen and said, "Tomorrow is the last deadline. If the task isn’t completed, the Great Leader will definitely grow suspicious."

"Don’t worry, since I’ve promised, you won’t face any trouble." After pausing, Ling Chen asked, "How many messengers like you are there in the Dark Pavilion?"

"Probably around a dozen, but I’m not certain of the exact number. Due to the Dark Pavilion’s rules, messengers seldom interact."

"I have one last question, and I hope you can tell me. The Dark Pavilion consistently targets the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, suggesting the founder of the Dark Pavilion holds an unresolvable grudge against it. But you just mentioned the Dark Pavilion has been around for a century. If that’s the case, why haven’t they acted against the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion until now?"

"The answer is fairly simple: the Dark Pavilion hesitated because they lack assurance. Previously, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion was extremely powerful, dominating the Martial Arts world, and few forces dared to openly confront it. The Dark Pavilion didn’t want to engage in full-scale war with the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion at its peak, lest they win at a great cost. Such a mutually damaging scenario isn’t something they’re keen on."

After pausing, Guo Hong continued, "Plus, cultivating personnel takes considerable time. Although the Dark Pavilion’s members are few, each is an elite, strong in power. You might not be aware, but the Dark Pavilion has expended significant resources and finances in personnel training. Compared to the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, the Dark Pavilion’s spending is about four or five times more. As a result, despite Xie Qian, Wang Dong, and Li Haibin being only in their forties or fifties, their capabilities are top-notch within the Martial Arts world."

Hearing this, Ling Chen asked curiously, "How many Heavenly List experts does the Dark Pavilion have?"

"Heavenly List experts?" Guo Hong seemed to guess Ling Chen’s thoughts and shook his head, saying, "I’m not sure exactly how many Heavenly List experts are in this organization, but likely not many. I know what you’re thinking. To you, it might seem intimidating that the Dark Pavilion can just send out a few Heavenly List experts like Xie Qian and Li Haibin."

"Hm?" Ling Chen’s expression shifted slightly, "What are you implying? Aren’t they Heavenly List experts?"

"Of course not. Their actual abilities are only Earthly List level. However, for this mission, a dreadful technique called ’Soul Burning Skills’ was forcibly employed, allowing them to boost their strength fivefold within three days. Like Li Haibin now, after the boost, he has reached the Heavenly List level. However, despite the potency of this technique, the cost is also unbearable, costing at least ten years of cultivation."

Ling Chen was slightly astonished and said, "There exist such self-destructive methods in this world? No wonder you can suddenly dispatch so many Heavenly List level experts. That’s how it is. But, is it truly worth it?" Indeed, ten years of a cultivator’s hardship only in exchange for three days of immense power—unless absolutely necessary, few would willingly choose this path.