Chapter 288 I Have A Deal with The Monster Vine
Calm down, calm down. No one knows that Lin Luoran has two pieces of soul wood. She bets all on it so she can’t use it to exchange for information about the interstellar transmission circle.
“Soul wood is sacred. You don’t think you can exchange it with only a piece of information, do you?” It’s reckless to bargain with a monster, but Yang Lisha might think Lin Luoran is weak if she didn’t do it. The monster vine could rob the soul wood and leave nothing but regret to her.
Yang Lisha is somewhat surprised, “I heard you are going to use the soul wood to save your best friend, and you want to use it in exchange of just a piece of information? Human’s friends.h.i.+p is so cheap. You really are a heartless creature.” Yang Lisha doesn’t even want to pretend a smile. Her contempt is pretty clear in her tone.
Lin Luoran doesn’t refute. She doesn’t want to tell this monster vine that the soul wood with accelerated growth rate was already used on Qin Baojia long time ago. It’s a huge circle that even the crazy Taoist can’t break.
“You don’t need to do anything else. I’ll find you a piece of soul wood. Except soul wood, can I use other things in exchange of the interstellar transmission circle?”
“There is no second piece of soul wood in the Dragon Palace. You seem to have a lot of secrets that others don’t know.” Yang Lisha’s tone doesn’t match her innocent face. Her slim fingers suddenly turn into vines and come to entangle Lin Luoran’s neck while she talks. Lin Luoran saw every step of how the vines come to her as if they were in slow motion. It is so strange that she still can’t prevent herself from being caught.
Yang Lisha won’t kill her immediatly. Lin Luoran feels pretty discontented, “Kill me and no one in this world could find you another piece of soul wood. You’ll have to watch your Acacia tree run out of Reiki and die in front of you.”
Yang Lisha tightens the vine, “d.a.m.n Jiang Shang for telling you this.”
Of course, the crazy Taoist didn’t tell her anything. Lin Luoran just brought the branch of the Acacia tree to fire phoenix. This arrogant bird didn’t even say a word to her until she saw Lin Luoran was tied up by Yang Lisha. Fire phoenix thought it was too humiliating, so she told Lin Luoran about the Acacia tree and soul wood. Lin Luoran just repeated what she said.
“Grandmaster didn’t say anything. I’m afraid you have to tell me where you got the news of the Dragon Palace first. Otherwise, I don’t think you are sincere enough to cooperate with me.”
Lin Luoran touches slightly on the vines around her neck. She hid Strange Fire at her fingertips. “Ouch,” Yang Lisha says in a low voice and shrinks the vines. Lin Luoran smiles with satisfaction after she sees the huge blister on Yang Lisha’s palm between her thumb and index finger.
Yang Lisha is not someone that can be bullied. She attacks back immediately, but Lin Luoran thinks they can only be even after she gives her a blister.
Yang Lisha is furious, “I don’t care if you can find another piece of soul wood. I can’t find enough Reiki materials to breed another one in a short time. So, you have to give me the soul wood you prepared for your friend. Your mother or your best friend? Make a choice.”
Lin Luoran’s heart trembles. She stands up and asks, “What do you mean?”
Yang Lisha breaks the blister on her palm and says without looking at her, “I met many Taoists on my way here and helped cure the wound on a girl’s hand. Her father, an old Taoist, told me a lot of interesting things. Human beings are so troublesome. Only people with the Taoist root can do cultivation, if you know what I mean.”
Hui Zhu, who she met was the old Taoist Hui Zhu. She treated Xin Yuanping’s hand, so she knows about the Dragon Palace and Mount Penglai in Chronicle of the Nine Provinces. She also knows that Lin Luoran is annoyed because her mother doesn’t have a Taoist root.
d.a.m.n, every word Yang Lisha said becomes a knife stabbing on Lin Luoran’s heart. She let Hui Zhu go and he sent the monster vine back to make trouble for her, but she also gets clues of Mount Penglai. She doesn’t know if this is a bad or good thing.
It must be the latter one, right? Family is the most important thing for Lin Luoran. If her families could be together, she doesn’t care to be troubled by this monster.
Yang Lisha puts her head on her hands with a smile that can barely be seen, “We monsters of wood have an ancient book lost in the interstellar transmission circle. Mount Penglai is real. Sacrificing your mother or best friend, it’s up to you.”
Sacrifice…Why does she have to sacrifice one of them? She has the second piece of soul wood!
“How many years does the Acacia tree still have?”
Yang Lisha raises two slim fingers.
“Twenty years?” Twenty years, more than seven thousand days, she could even make the soul wood in her s.p.a.ce ripen if she had this much time. No, her mother is just an ordinary person. A journey to Mount Penglai is full of uncertainty. Lin Luoran can’t let anything happen to her.
Yang Lisha feels a little down, “Not twenty years, two years.” If it were twenty years, she could recollect Reiki materials. It would not be difficult. Why would she drag another one who suffers from the same tragedy out of the soul wood? She worries that Voiddy would not be happy if she saved Voiddy in this way.
“Five years, I have the confidence to help your tree live five years longer. If what you know about Mount Penglai is true, I’ll give you a piece of soul wood that is more than three thousand years old in seven years. If you think it’s okay, we can make a deal. If you refuse, you can leave now.” Lin Luoran’s hands are covered with sweat. She won’t give up Qin Baojiafor Mrs. Lin. In seven years, the soul wood in her s.p.a.ce will be like a 3500-year-old one. If this monster vine still refuses, she has to believe there is an ancient book of the monsters of wood in the interstellar transmission circle. She can’t force Yang Lisha to do anything and has to choose the second best, finding the interstellar transmission circle first.
Five more years for the Acacia tree exceeds Yang Lisha’s expectation. Does the female cultivator standing in front of her really have secret abilities in cultivating celestial wood?
It seems that a three-thousand-year-old soul wood without accelerated growth rate will be more effective to Voiddy’s situation. They have wasted so much time.
Yang Lisha stands up and laughs, “You convinced me. Let’s make a seven-year deal. Don’t deceive me. There will be severe consequences.”
Lin Luoran feels relieved and says softly, “Same to you.”
……
“Miss Yang, is this your friend?” Ms. Dong of the Tibetan jewelry store checks Lin Luoran from head to toe. She thinks Lin Luoran is such a beautiful and n.o.ble girl.
It is getting late. Yang Lisha’s flower shop is closed. She answers Ms. Dong’s question and turns over to open the door for Lin Luoran. Ms. Dong pulls Lin Luoran to the side, “It’s so dangerous for Miss Yang to handle all these precious flowers. Why didn’t you persuade her to hire some a.s.sistants? Two would be enough.”
Lin Luoran smiles reservedly, “She learnt free combat. Common men can’t defeat her.”
Ms. Dong stares at Yang Lisha’s back in doubt. Miss Yang doesn’t look like someone who learnt free combat, but she feels relieved.
Lin Luoran follows Yang Lisha into the flower shop. This monster vine is close to her neighbor. Why did she do so?
The backyard of the flower shop is mostly covered by the branches of the Acacia tree. Night will fall soon. It looks a little spooky. Yang Lisha puts her hands on the tree’s trunk and murmurs a few words. Then, she turns over and says, “We can do the first step of our deal now.”
Lin Luoran nods and takes out a bottle of transparent liquid. It is concentrated spring water in her s.p.a.ce. The spring water once helped the fleece flower found in the grocery market to fight against the ubiquitous turbid air of grey fog. There is no reason that the water can’t save the Acacia tree.
The fleece flower was dying because its body broke down, but the turbid air also played a crucial part. When Qin Baojia was dying on the operation table, grey fog desperately rushed into her body because she was too weak. The Acacia tree also suffers from the same reason.
Lin Luoran carefully pours the concentrated spring water on the Acacia tree. The Acacia tree blinks and absorbs the water in. In Lin Luoran’s cleared eyes, the green spirit of the tree is nourished and gains the power to fight against turbid air again. The Acacia tree blooms its first flower, which should have been grown long time ago.
Yang Lisha is surprised, “What did you pour on Voiddy?” She has been restraining the Acacia tree from blooming. Flowers in full bloom will exhaust Voiddy’s last vitality. However, a force of life just abruptly ran out of her trunk and broke the restraining spell she put on Voiddy. Voiddy is brought back to life.
“You know it’ll only last for a few years. Only soul wood can completely restore her vitality. Other things are just temporary remedies.” Lin Luoran puts her bottle away, “We have finished the first step. Now, we need to get ready and leaves for the interstellar transmission circle……”
Lin Luoran suddenly stops talking. Yang Lisha throws herself on the tree. Her shoulders are shaking.
Wait, is this monster vine crying?