Chapter 72 The Taoist Root
Liu Zheng is desperate to ask Lin Luoran if she bears grudges against him, but he fails to open his mouth.
With a second thought, Liu Zheng actually knew that Zou Yaowei was badgering with Baojia since she returned to the capital. He never loved her, so he just went with the order of his family and chose to stay put— However, he was also being selfish. He hoped that Baojia could fall in love with another guy so that…
The “so that” now becomes bitter when Liu Zheng thinks about it.
If he knew Baojia would have an incidence, he would come to the capital to stop Zou Yaowei no matter he loved her or not. Even not as a lover, Liu Zheng saw Baojia as the younger sister he grew up with.
Liu Zheng secretly peeps at Lin Luoran on the back seats. Her dress is dirty and her long hair is messy. He can’t imagine what kind of thrilling fight she has been through after she says calmly that Zou Yaowei is badly hurt… If, just if she is not from the Taoist School, he will definitely go with her to find Zou Yaowei, right?
He is not afraid of death. Still, he feels dreadful that he can’t stop himself from loving her deeper when he clearly knows that his love is doomed to have no fruit.
Commander Qin must have seen through Liu Zheng so they had that conversation that night. Is it Commander Qin’s words “people from the Taoist School never marry the mortals” that makes Liu Zheng drop the idea? Or is it her cold att.i.tude on the helicopter that gives him the feeling that he will never be good enough for her?
“Luoran, I heard that people from the Taoist School like you never marry the mortals?” Liu Zheng asks. He is reconciled to keep his love to himself now because he may regret for never fighting for love after the years.
“Hmm?” Lin Luoran asks in reply. She is too tired and sleepy to catch Liu Zheng’s meanings. It’s only that her tone of questioning is weak when she is exhausted.
Liu Zheng takes Lin Luoran’s question as an affirmative response. His hands on the steering wheel shake and the shadow casted by his gold-rimmed gla.s.ses barely covers the disappointment in his eyes.
He is obviously being greedy!
A few minutes later, Lin Luoran finally understands Liu Zheng’s words. She opens her eyes, “Where did you hear about this?” Come on, the mortals? Lin Luoran feels like a mortal after seeing What Wen Guanjing is capable of tonight.
“Commander Qin told me…that people from the Taoist School never marry the mortals because there is a huge chance that their offspring may lose the Taoist root and can’t cultivate. Therefore, marriage between the Taoists and the mortals is strictly prohibited. Isn’t the school you come from like this?” Liu Zheng asks the question calmly though he bears a little bit of hope deep inside. Yes, maybe the school Lin Luoran is from doesn’t care about this.
The Taoist root? Lin Luoran’s heartbeat races. Does it mean that except for Reiki and practicing methods, to cultivate needs the “Taoist root”? Her parents are old… Can her fantasy of cultivating along with her entire family ever come true?
Lin Luoran is shocked. All she can think about is that the blueprint she makes for her life changes instantly. She becomes restless and fails to notice the little bit of hope in Liu Zheng’s voice.
“This is all Commander Qin says to you?”
Lin Luoran is desperate to find out what the Taoist root really is. She questions Liu Zheng further in the hope that Commander Qin has told him more. After fighting with Wen Guanjing, Lin Luoran now knows that there are families of cultivators like the Wen family in the State of Huaxia. Hence it’s hard for her not to speak discreetly. She doesn’t want others to know that she is a lonely cultivator, or else she may put herself and her family in danger.
However, Liu Zheng’s attention is not on the Taoist root. His heart sinks when Lin Luoran doesn’t deny. He believes that Lin Luoran acquiesces in Commander Qin’s words. Hearing Lin Luoran’s question, Liu Zheng shakes his head and doesn’t say a thing.
The atmosphere between them returns to be awkward. Liu Zheng drops Lin Luoran at Qin’s house in the capital. He tremors when he takes the leave, but Lin Luoran doesn’t notice his strangeness since she is thinking about asking Commander Qin about the “Taoist root”.
Lu Sanchun opens the door. He looks happy when he sees that Lin Luoran is back safely, “Miss. Lin, thank G.o.d you’re ok. Commander has been worrying about you all night!” What he leaves out is that the soldiers also respect and concern her after knowing where she has gone.
Commander Qin walks downstairs, “Luoran! I told you not to act rashly! You actually leave a letter and do things by yourself! Lu Sanchun and the others are also useless! How can they not notice when you are gone!”
Lin Luoran blushes. She understands that leaving a letter is cheesy. But she really was p.i.s.sed when she heard Commander Qin’s message.
Commander Qin went to the MI personally to ask for an explanation, and the staff there told him this was a state secret. Then he went to the police station, only to find out that the surveillance video of Zou Yaowei hitting Baojia’s car was deleted by the special department…
Deleting the video meant that there was no misunderstanding. The special department didn’t protect Zou Yaowei on the spur of the moment. They obviously were trying to help him get away with the law when they destroyed the evidence!
Lin Luoran didn’t know how many people on earth were involved in this, and she didn’t care who would stand out and comfort Commander Qin, the old general who contributed in the founding of the State of Huaxia— She had no interest in those deceptive excuses. She was only a woman who understood that money or power could not account for the blood Baojia lost.
“Grandpa Qin, I make that decision all by myself. Please don’t blame Officer Lu and the soldiers.” Lin Luoran steps forward and holds Commander Qin’s hands. She is aware that the old man is only worrying for her and he doesn’t mean to blame anyone.
Commander Qin says in a low voice after sending Lu Sanchun out to guard the door, “How can you act so foolishly! Even as a cultivator, you should know that the military or the political system can’t control the special department… You are alright, right?”
Lin Luoran is awkward because she knows she is an amateur. The “Taoist School” doesn’t refer to any specific school. Lin Luoran said she was from the Taoist School that day because the word was general enough to cover for her real ident.i.ty. However, it made her mysterious.
Now, she has messed with the special department. She may have to stay mysterious forever… Thinking of this, Lin Luoran doesn’t admit to Commander Qin that she is not aware of the power of the special department. Instead, she answers in a low voice, “A cultivator was protecting Zou Yaowei so I wasn’t able to kill him… But he was badly injured. He will suffer as Baojia does if no cultivator tries to cure him.”
Commander Qin becomes murderous when he hears Zou Yaowei’s name. He says, “Luoran, the Qin family owes you big time!”
Lin Luoran grins, “Baojia is my sister and you are my grandpa. Don’t estrange us.”
Commander Qin has nothing to say except that Lin Luoran is really a nice girl.
They go upstairs together. Baojia is still in a coma, but her health condition is ok. They take her back home to have a rest cure since Baojia is saved from the mouth of death.
Lin Luoran takes another check on Baojia and finds no abnormality. She spells out the question in her heart when no one is around,
“Grandpa Qin, do you know any other cultivators? Why do you tell Liu Zheng about the Taoist root?”