CHAPTER 231: CHAPTER 222: LING YING FELL IN LOVE WITH YANG TIAN (THIRD UPDATE)

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Under the old man’s guidance, the group walked deeper into the underground base.

Throughout the journey, Yang Tian remained vigilant.

At first, he thought the old man intended to kill them, but gradually, he realized the old man was preoccupied and had no malicious intent.

Throughout the journey, the old man occasionally glanced at Yang Tian.

This left Yang Tian even more puzzled.

This old man is definitely not simple, having guarded Chen Zheng here for five years.

It’s unclear what relationship exists between the old man and Chen Zheng.

But from the old man’s eyes, Yang Tian saw anticipation, excitement, suspicion, and indifference.

What the old man was thinking was still unknown.

"Yang, be careful with this old man. He’s the one guarding Chen Zheng. If you take Chen Zheng away, he will surely be killed, so be wary of him!"

Ling Ying approached Yang Tian and whispered a reminder.

Yang Tian furrowed his brow but said nothing.

"You all should hurry and keep up..."

The old man gave Yang Tian a deep look and then led the group forward.

Soon, the group arrived in front of a stone chamber.

The stone chamber was tightly sealed, with only a narrow window visible on the door, and no light inside.

Upon opening the door, a stench wafted out from inside.

Instinctively, everyone covered their noses.

There was no light in the stone chamber, but Yang Tian activated the X-ray Vision Technique, probing inside, his brows furrowing.

Beside the entrance, a pile of moldy food lay stacked.

Deep inside the chamber, on a stone bed, lay a corpse.

The corpse had already decayed to white bones, wearing nothing but a dull gray prisoner’s uniform, indicating it was an incarcerated prisoner.

Click!

The old man turned on the light within the stone chamber, and everyone could see the scene clearly.

Wang Ying immediately retched.

As the pampered daughter of the Ma Xun Group in the East Sea, she had never encountered such a sight, clutching Yang Tian’s shoulder with one hand and her stomach with the other, dry retching.

The other female, Ling Ying, was surprisingly calm.

"Big brother, could this corpse be Chen Zheng?"

Wei Leng inquired.

"That’s right, he is Chen Zheng!"

The old man said flatly.

"So, Chen Zheng is already dead?"

Ling Ying furrowed her brow, with a trace of doubt in her eyes.

Logically, Chen Zheng couldn’t have died. From what she learned from Poison Rose, Chen Zheng was a valuable hostage, already disabled and barely alive, kept alive in a nutrient tank, waiting for the Chen family to come.

Yet now, after bringing Yang Tian down here, she finds Chen Zheng was long dead?

Yang Tian didn’t know what to feel.

Throughout this journey, people constantly told him that his father was Chen Zheng, the illegitimate son of the Chen family in the Capital City.

And from the orphanage, he had seen the photos of his biological parents.

He came to the West Capital not only to seek the Evil Moon but also to find Chen Zheng.

Yet the news he received was that Chen Zheng was already dead, and his corpse lay right in front of him.

Yang Tian said nothing, stepping forward to carefully examine the body.

From the corpse, Yang Tian could discern nothing.

It was only at the stone bed that Yang Tian found many tiny and dense characters, and activating his Divine Sense, he swept these characters all into his mind at once.

After reading this information, Yang Tian said, "This should indeed be Chen Zheng!"

"What? Big brother, you mean Chen Zheng is dead?"

He Shang looked at Yang Tian.

Yang Tian’s expression was solemn: "According to the information in the characters, five years ago, Chen Zheng wasn’t dead. The Dark Organization had faked Chen Zheng’s death. For the past five years, Chen Zheng was trapped here, making stroke after stroke, until three months ago, when he stopped all recordings..."

"So, Chen Zheng died three months ago?"

Wang Ying looked closely at Yang Tian. Seeing his calm expression, she tried to encourage him, "Yang Tian, don’t be too sad. It’s also possible this isn’t Chen Zheng..."

"I’ve been standing guard here for five years, Chen Zheng died by suicide. You can notice the dagger below the stone bed..."

The old man spoke up.

Hao Ren quickly bent down to check. After a short while, he found a rusty dagger under the stone bed: "Indeed! There’s a dagger here!"

Yang Tian took the dagger, saw the bloodstains on it, and said, "Take it back to the Chen family."

"This is evidence, and besides, Chen Zheng has a relic!"

The old man suddenly said.

"A relic?"

Yang Tian looked at the old man.

"Yes, a relic. Since you are his son, this relic is passed on to you!"

With that, the old man suddenly bent down, pulled a wooden chest from beneath the stone bed, opened it, and took out a stone box, handing it to Yang Tian.

Yang Tian furrowed his brow, not accepting it.

"Yang Tian, I’d like to ask you a few questions..."

The old man suddenly spoke.

"What questions? Go ahead and ask."

Yang Tian responded calmly.

"Have you ever met Chen Zheng?"

The old man asked.

"No..."

Yang Tian shook his head.

"Then have you met any members of the Chen family? Do they know of your existence?"

The old man asked again.

Yang Tian furrowed his brow, growing more suspicious. How did the old man know so much about him?

Still, Yang Tian answered seriously, "Yes, I have met members of the Chen family, and Elder Housekeeper Chen knows of my existence."

"One last question, do you know who your mother is?"

The old man stared intently at Yang Tian.

Yang Tian furrowed his brow and finally said, "My mother is Meng Bingyun!"

After speaking this sentence, Yang Tian stared intently at the old man.

As expected, when the old man heard Yang Tian’s words, he was startled and completely froze: "If that’s true, then you are Chen Zheng’s son!"

"Why are you so sure?"

Yang Tian asked directly.

"Because I am Chen Zheng’s friend! Although I was monitoring him, for five years, he’s the only friend I’ve had. He told me everything. He once mentioned a woman named Meng Bingyun!"

The old man said seriously.

"Oh."

Upon hearing the old man’s words, Yang Tian suddenly felt a heaviness in his heart.

If he’s not mistaken, Chen Zheng truly died here.

He sighed slightly, put away the wooden box in his hand, and said, "There’s no use in saying anything now. I will inform the Chen Family of Chen Zheng’s death, but what exactly happened five years ago? That hasn’t been clarified yet..."

The old man furrowed his brow: "So what do you mean?"

"I want to continue investigating!"

Yang Tian said firmly.

"I advise you not to pursue it further!"

The old man suddenly said.

"No! Five years ago, why did the Dark Organization target the Chen Family? Why fabricate evidence of Chen Zheng’s death? Why trap Chen Zheng here? I need to ask the Dark Organization for clarity on all this!"

Yang Tian said coldly.

A flash of anxiety crossed the old man’s eyes, and he hesitated to speak.

Meanwhile, Ling Ying had a hint of disappointment in her eyes as she sighed slightly and then said, "Yang, let’s go out first; the air here isn’t good..."

At that moment, everyone walked out of the stone chamber.

"Old man, are there any other stone chambers here? Did the Dark Organization only assign you to guard here?"

As Yang Tian walked out, he asked directly.

From the old man, Yang Tian felt sincerity.

So he believed the old man was on his side, and he always thought the old man’s relationship with Chen Zheng was not simple.

"There are no other stone chambers here, and I’m the only one left to guard this place."

The old man said.

"Oh."

Yang Tian nodded, trusting that the old man wouldn’t lie to him.

But beside him, Ling Ying was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke, "Yang, I actually know there’s another passage below, likely leading to an outpost of the Dark Organization!"

Hearing Ling Ying’s words, Wei Leng, He Shang, and Hao Ren were visibly shaken.

Meanwhile, the old man furrowed his brow and couldn’t help but look at Ling Ying: "Who are you? Why do I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before?"

"I’m from the Evil Moon Organization. I previously cooperated with the Dark Organization and have been here before..."

Ling Ying said lightly.

"Oh? I remember now; I have indeed seen you here..."

The old man nodded.

"If there’s nothing else, I’ll lead Yang Tian to find the next passage now..."

Ling Ying said as she started walking with Yang Tian and the others in another direction.

"Yang Tian, remember the relic your father gave you!"

The old man called out from behind.

"Mm."

Yang Tian nodded and followed Ling Ying, heading forward. After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped, "There really is a passage ahead!"

"This passage will lead to a division of the Dark Organization; let’s go in quickly!"

Ling Ying said as she moved toward the passage ahead.

Yang Tian quickly followed behind.

Just then, a gold stone suddenly descended over the passage, slamming the gate shut with a clap.

"Yang Tian..."

Wang Ying’s anxious voice came from the other side of the door.

Yang Tian was about to punch it hard, but at that moment, the passage shook, and stones began to fall from above.

"Yang, there’s no time. We must escape forward immediately!"

Ling Ying pulled Yang Tian and ran forward.

Yang Tian glanced around, seeing that the place was about to collapse, and he quickly ran forward.

Soon, Yang Tian caught up with Ling Ying, but he didn’t notice Ling Ying’s eyes flashing with a determined intent to kill; suddenly, she waved her hand and deliberately stepped back.

Crash!

With a roar, the ground in front of them collapsed, and Yang Tian and Ling Ying fell, landing in a swamp.

Yang Tian quickly realized something was wrong; his body kept sinking down.

Even by using Spiritual Breath, he couldn’t get his body out of the swamp.

In a moment, Yang Tian couldn’t help but ask, "Where is this?"

"I don’t know, but we’re going to die here today..."

Although Ling Ying said this, her face remained unusually calm.

In fact, her body wasn’t sinking at all.

She knew very well that this was a swamp set up by the Dark Organization; anyone who stepped on it would undoubtedly die. She had deliberately stepped back earlier to stand on a stone in the swamp.

Watching Yang Tian’s body continue to sink, Ling Ying felt a pang of pain in her heart.

After all, she liked Yang Tian!

But in an instant, that twinge of pain disappeared.

She became resolute: To complete her mission, Yang Tian must die here!

"I can’t free myself, but I can toss you out. Ling Ying, I’ll save you first!"

Yang Tian suddenly said.

He used his Spiritual Breath, grabbed Ling Ying, and fiercely threw her out.

"Yang..."

When Ling Ying landed on solid ground, she looked at Yang Tian in the swamp with a surprised expression.

She hadn’t expected that before facing death, Yang Tian would think of her!

Watching Yang Tian’s body continue to sink, at that moment, she realized she didn’t just like Yang Tian; she had fallen in love with him!

And at that moment, Ling Ying regretted: I shouldn’t have caused his death!