Li Anping looks at the doorplate of the house. This is the address which is written on the envelope. Li knocks at the door.
A young boy opens the door. He asks alarmedly,
“How can I help you?”
Li Anping fakes a gentle smile and says, “Hi there, can you give this letter to the adults of your family?”
Lin Luodong can’t help rolling his eyes. The man in front of him has dark circles under his eyes and he is fat. He looks even older than Lin’s father. Luodong holds back his desire to call this man “uncle” and takes the envelope.
There is only the address without the name of the recipient, on the envelope. This man doesn’t even look like a postman or a delivery guy. Lin Luodong is smart. He never lets others into the house easily. He asks the man whether he has other requirements or not. After Li Anping says no, Luodong closes the door.
Li Anping notices the elegant wooden building and the well-decorated yard in the house.
Li never thinks that a house like this locates at downtown of the R City. The family must be filthy rich… Li Anping feels jealous. He heard from his aunt that Lin Luoran bought a villa at the R City. If he knew that Lin could be so rich, he would never leave her for Elly.
None of you are worthy of my trust!
Walking in the alley, Li Anping kicks a pop can when there is no one around. He thinks, “Just wait, Lin Luoran and Elly. You two bitches will pay for what you’ve done to me!”
However, the pop can hits the wall and is bumped back. It hits Li Anping on the ankle. He gets angry but is able to do nothing but limps back to the Fortune House.
In fact, the pop can was bumped back by the protection dome around Lin’s villa.
Meanwhile, Lin Luodong takes the letter to his sister, who is preparing for her trip with Rong Donglin.
“Sister, a letter just came!”
Lin Luoran takes the envelope. Her alarm is raised when she sees the printed address on it. She turns the envelope over and finds nothing unusual about it. Lin doesn’t open it immediately because the envelope has reminded her of something else.
She takes out an envelope from the drawer of the desk and gives it to Rong. Rong Donglin stands up. His back hurts because he has been bending over for a while.
What is this?
Looking at the three piles of money in the envelope, Rong is stunned.
“This is your salary for the translation…”
Rong shakes his head, “This is too much more than what I deserve.”
Lin Luoran takes the tea Luodong makes for her and continues, “Don’t interrupt me, ok? There is also the pre-paid money for the trip to Dongting Lake.”
Seeing that Rong is about to keep talking, Lin Luoran says, “I know you’re a decent man. Though we’re friends, I must pay you for your hard work. Also, all the other classmates of yours have already been looking for jobs when you do me the favor. Just take the money, or else Professor Qi would worry about your future. Right?”
Everybody needs money to stay alive. It’s not a shame to earn money by working. The reason why Rong Donglin hesitated for taking the money was that he doesn’t want to take advantage of the Lin family. Nevertheless, Rong deserves this.
Also, his financial situation leaves Rong any opportunity to refuse.
Seeing that Rong has accepted the money, Lin Luoran takes a sip of the tea and says, “Rong, you know that my family is special. Luodong needs a teacher to help him learn the ancient scripts. After we come back from Dongting Lake, do you want to be Luodong’s private teacher?”
Donglin, as my private teacher? Lin Luodong nods. He loves this idea.
Noticing Luodong’s expectation, Rong answers, “I’ll consider about it.”
This is important for both Rong and Luodong. Lin Luoran wants to give Rong time to think about this so she leaves the study with Luodong.
Lin’s house is abundant with Reiki. Even the flowers in the yard bloom better than those outside. Lin Luoran sits on the swing in the backyard and opens the strange envelope.
There are only two sentences on the paper. Lin remains silent. Then she sees the name signed on the paper. It’s Xin Yuanping.
The woman in black is called Xin Yuanping?
This is the first time Lin ever knew the woman’s name. The problem is, they fought with each other few days ago. Why does she send such a letter?
The sentences on the papers are simple,
“I know you’re going to the Dragon Palace at Dongting Lake. Lin Luoran, we might have to cooperate with each other this time.”
Lin Luoran is now in a dilemma.
First of all, she only posted a reward of the Soul Wood on the BBS, and she never mentioned the Dragon Palace of Dongting Lake. How does Xin Yuanping know about this?
Rong Donglin only finished translating the Shui script on the bamboo sheets recently. No one knows about this. Even if Rong were a mole, he wouldn’t have the time to leak the information.
Secondly, if Xin Yuanping always knows something, for example, the existence of the Dragon Palace and the location of the entrance, why does she want to go there?
Thirdly, granted that Lin refuses to cooperate with Xin, the woman may sabotage Lin in the dark. The cooperation now seems to be inevitable.
Ok. We shall just work together.
Lin Luoran puts the letter away and calls Master Mu over the phone.
Master Mu has also heard of the incident of the red snake on the square. He tells Lin the government’s attitude to make her mentally prepared.
“Right, we’ve talked about the Buddhist cultivators. Yes. Is there a chance that we can hold an official spell conference?”
Master Mu says ok. Lin Luoran promises to visit him later and hangs up.
Xin Yuanping, let’s “cooperate”! Lin Luoran grasps the letter.
However, Xin might not like the way Lin plans to cooperate. Lin is preparing a surprise.
Rong walks in. He agrees to be Luodong’s private teacher. Luodong jumps up and down gladly.
“Alright! We’re good to go!”
********
The villa on the Fragrant Hills.
Master Mu hangs up the phone and starts to stroke the jade ring he is wearing. He knows what Lin Luoran is going to do when he heard the words “spell conference”.
Some people may get angry about this, but Mu has agreed to help Lin without a second thought.
It is not only because of his good impression of Lin, but also that he never likes those pretentious people in the first place.
The civilians all over the world have known about the world of cultivation in the State of Huaxia. This may be the last chance of the cultivators.
Master Mu is not sure what the future will be like.
However, he is certain of one thing. People who can adapt to changes will have more chances.
The world of cultivation has declined. It’s such a coincident that Lin Luoran came out at this time.
When Master Mu is thinking, a man comes in. It is Mu Tiannan.
Mu Tiannan is already in his thirties yet he acts so recklessly. Before Master Mu scolds his grandson, he notices that Mu Tiannan is emotional.
“You already know, don’t you?”
Know? Know what? Master Mu has a bad feeling.
Mu Tiannan laughs. His eyes are wet. He says,
“For all these years, I regret that I gave the opportunity of cultivation to my younger brother. I worked hard to develop our family business in the hope that you can let me cultivate someday… I’m so stupid! You must know that I don’t have a Taoist root… I am a trash in the world of cultivation. Why do you give me hope?!”
This is so ridiculous. Mu Tiannan, the arrogant and handsome young man of the famous and powerful Mu family doesn’t have a Taoist root.
Mu Tiannan laughs crazily. He used to believe that he can get whatever in the world as long as he tries.
However, the Taoist root…is inherent. Mu Tiannan will never be able to have a Taoist root no matter how hard he tries.
