“Miss Lin, they have escaped!” Rong Donglin murmurs when he is woken up.
Lin Luoran smiles and says, “It doesn’t matter. We can go out slowly. If I don’t go out, they can’t escape.” She is now in charge of the gold ware and gold stamp. The Dragon Palace with an owner is not the place where the two cultivators can come and leave as they like. How can they escape if she doesn’t open the door?”
The Dragon King left a letter, saying that she will be rewarded with the whole Dragon Palace when she finishes what it entrusted. But she can’t get the treasures now. Lin Luoran doesn’t know whether she should cry or laugh. At the end of the day, just like the space, she is just the user of it, not the owner. There is a huge difference between the owner and the user!
Fortunately, Rong Donglin has helped her cleared up the Hall of Nothingness.
As Lin Luoran is going to leave, she catches a glimpse of Li Anping’s body. She sighs and uses her Cleaning Spell to gather the cremains on the ground. She did that for the sake of their past relationship. Lin Luoran is really forgiving.
On their way out, they see the seventh and eighth hall that weren’t seen before. But they are also empty. It seems that all the treasures of the dragons are hidden in the Hall of Nothingness.
Lin Luoran is not greedy. She came to Dongting Lake with the original purpose of looking for the Soul Wood. Although she has only found a small piece, it is better for her than nothing. The Dragon Palace is really a windfall. It is lucky for her to have it.
Out of the Jiuhua Palace, they go down a path that is enveloped in mist and then return to the strange tree.
Elly’s body is covered by sand in the garden of the Dragon Palace. Her face is dark and pale, and her eyes are wide open, seeming to be airing her grievances. Detecting with her spiritual mind, Lin knows that she is dead.
Does she hate Elly?
Yes, she did. When she was humiliated by Elly one day ago, she thought about taking revenge after she got out of trouble. But since Elly is dead, it is impossible for Lin Luoran to whip her corpse.
After keeping silent for a moment, Lin Luoran takes out a fireball. As the fire is burning on her body, Elly’s body soon turns into ashes. Lin Luoran puts Elly’s ashes beside Li Anping’s, preparing to bury them when she goes out.
Rong Donglin wears an expression that indicates that Lin Luoran is unreasonably kind. Lin is annoyed and explains:
“I did that for myself, because leaving them here will pollute the environment.”
Rong Donglin chuckles without arguing with her.
Rong and Lin have gone through fire and water together. In the past, their relationship is between employer-employee and friends, but now their relationship has evolved. They are real friends with tacit understanding.
Lin Luoran doesn’t care about his ridicule. She puts away Elly’s cremains and hurries to the gate of the palace.
When they get out of the gate of the inner hall, they still don’t see the two people who ran away. Lin Luoran doesn’t care. She has locked the Dragon Palace, which can only be opened by the Stamp of the Dragon King in her hand. If they insist on hiding in the palace, they will only die here. Lin Luoran wonders if she doesn’t come to the Dragon Palace for some years, will the two people starve themselves to death?
There are pearls and treasures in the palace, but unfortunately, there is no food. Good luck to you!
She and Rong Donglin are covered by the blue light emitted by the stamp. When they open their eyes again, there appears morning glow in the sky, and the nearby Dongting Lake is dyed with warm orange.
The first man Lin Luoran sees is the crazy Taoist. His strange Taoist robe is always eye-catching, thus can easily be seen in the beautiful scenery.
“Senior!” Lin Luoran greets while she sees Huizhu, who looks sullen. Since the crazy Taoist is here, she feels much more confident.
The crazy Taoist says smilingly, “I came here as soon as I received your paper crane. My dear apprentice, why don’t you call me master? Are you mad at me?”
Master? When did he become her master? When she glances at Huizhu, who is in silence, she suddenly feels that her eyes are misty. Does the crazy Taoist want to justify her?!
Other cultivators always believe that she has a mysterious master in the level of Bearing Essence. Lin Luoran went along with the rumor when she was in the level of Training Qi, so people’s misunderstanding about her went deeper. Although she is more and more powerful, she is still not the rival of Huizhu, who has unpredictable power. Is the crazy Taoist coming to protect her?
She suppresses her emotion and answers, “How can I not be mad at you? You received the message already, but you didn’t come here until now. Others who have support from their masters bullied me, for I was alone in the Dragon Palace without any support…”
As soon as she finishes speaking, Huizhu’s eyelids twitch.
The crazy Taoist touches his beard, saying, “It’s my fault. It’s my fault. My dear apprentice, come and see my new apprentice, your junior fellow apprentice!”
Lin Luoran gets excited. She has already seen a young man in the Taoist robe standing behind the crazy Taoist. Because he has been keeping his head down, she doesn’t see his appearance clearly, but she guesses that he must have a close relationship with the crazy Taoist. As expected, he is the crazy Taoist’s real apprentice, so Lin Luoran has to pay attention to him.
When the young Taoist raises his head and solemnly calls her “Sister Lin”, Lin Luoran stammers:
“Liu…Liu Zheng? You’re my junior fellow apprentice?”
God knows that she is not pretending. Who can tell her why the young master of the jewelry store becomes a Taoist?
Liu Zheng used to have mysophobia, didn’t he? He always kept clean. How can he tolerate the untidy crazy Taoist…? By the way, he doesn’t wear his glasses. No wonder she didn’t recognize him.
* * * * * * * *
Although the three people are not from the same school, they are old friends. It is improper for them to talk about the Soul Wood, but they still have a lot to talk about. Huizhu is treated coldly, but he has no complaints.
Lin Luoran hates An cooperating with Xin Yuanping, so she is cold to Huizhu. As the day breaks, Mount Jun will soon be packed with visitors. Huizhu remains unperturbed, but Lin Luoran is not in the mood to wait for him to speak. She smilingly suggests:
“Master, you must have a hard time cultivating. Why not come with me and stay in Chuan for a few days?”
Before the crazy Taoist agrees, Liu Zheng nods. He hasn’t gone back home for more than two years. Although he has sent messages home, his parents must worry about him very much. It is time to go back.
The crazy Taoist doesn’t put on airs even when he talks with the ordinary man Rong Donglin. When they are about to return, Huizhu finally can’t help asking:
“Miss…Miss Lin, did you see my apprentice An in the Dragon Palace?”
Lin Luoran answers with a faint smile, “I didn’t see any senior apprentice of Qingcheng Taoist Temple. But there was a man who plotted against me with Xin Yuanping, the demonized woman. Is he An? I didn’t recognize him.”
Lin Luoran looks at Huizhu silently. She is not an ignorant girl anymore. She must make clear the vague relationship between Xin Yuanping and Huizhu…It is a pity that she can’t make public what happened in the Dragon Palace. Otherwise, when she goes back this time, she must publicize the fact that the senior apprentice of Qingcheng Taoist Temple jointed hands with a demonized cultivator. She will see how the arrogant master Huizhu react!
Huizhu says while his horsetail whisk is trembling, “People of distinction always has a poor memory. The one you met is probably An. May you tell me where he is? If he offended you, I will take him back and keep him under strict control.”
Keep him under strict control? The Superior of Qingcheng Taoist Temple is so cheeky. He wants her to give up avenging the conspiracy. Does he think she is too weak and good-tempered or does he really treat her like a fool?
She should be angry, but she smiles and says, “Since you said that, it is no problem. When I kill the demonized woman later, I will let An go. Please look after him and don’t let him contact other demonized woman again so as not to shame the Qingcheng Taoist Temple.”
She says calmly, but Huizhu’s expression changes dramatically.
The crazy Taoist strokes his beard and says angrily, “Did the demonized woman hurt you? When I help you bring her under control, we shall kill her a hundred times!”
Liu Zheng pinches his palm to hold back his laughter. His master loses his mind again. How can you kill a person a hundred times? She will die when you kill her once… Come on, he understands that the crazy Taoist and Lin Luoran are deliberately acting in front of Huizhu.
“Don’t bother. Why not let me take her back to the Qingcheng Taoist Temple and punish her in front of all cultivators?”
It is undeniable that Huizhu is so experienced after living for more than 100 years. He immediately found an excuse.
The crazy Taoist bursts into laughter:
“Little Taoist, I am crazy, but I am not a fool… I didn’t mention your relationship with Xin so as not to humiliate you. I can give her to you, but you need to take her away from my apprentice, and also take the young Taoists in the temple with you. If you turn over a new leaf a hundred years later, I will allow you to come back. OK? Xin has harmed a lot of cultivators in the level of Training Qi. If it is exposed, even if you don’t commit suicide to apologize, your master, and your master’s master will not let you go!”
The crazy Taoist threats him implicitly, but Lin Luoran is franker:
“Xin Yuanping and An, you can only save one. It is my bottom line.”
Why should she tolerate it and let him save both his apprentice and Xin Yuanping? Lin Luoran decides not to do that. Of course she understands what the crazy Taoist means. He wants the Qingcheng Taoist Temple to move away for a hundred years, which is the best result for her under the premise of not killing people. A hundred years later, if her power doesn’t decline, she will not need to be afraid of the influence of the Qingcheng Taoist Temple!
Will he give up the Qingcheng Taoist Temple’s thousand-year reputation and Xin Yuanping’s life, or his successor An, whom he has paid much effort to train…Determined as Huizhu is, he can’t help hesitating.
All right. If he can’t get anything in the end, it is better to retire from the world with the Qingcheng Taoist Temple. As long as the inheritance is still there, he can take revenge when he reaches the level of Bearing Essence.
“I have made up my mind. Please let them go!”
The crazy Taoist says while picking his teeth, “You haven’t made an oath of Devil Inside.”
