OFTLHFRO C186
by berryChapter 186: Has It… Leveled Up?
After the children went out to play, Sun Li led Hua Niang and Bai Xue to the kitchen, saying she wanted to ask whether they had any dietary restrictions.
Meanwhile, Luo Mingchen, Huo Yan, Xiao Lin, and Hu Zhongyi sat together in the main hall.
Seeing that Sun Li had deliberately taken Hua Niang away, Luo Mingchen guessed that Hu Zhongyi had military matters he wanted to discuss with them.
When Hu Zhongyi remained silent for quite some time, Luo Mingchen took the initiative.
“Brother Hu, if there’s something you want to say, just say it. We’re listening.”
Hu Zhongyi hadn’t expected Luo Mingchen to see through him. After dismissing all the servants, he lowered his voice.
“Brother Huo, Brother Luo… tell your old brother the truth. Do the two of you know what Huo Yuntao has been up to?”
Luo Mingchen hadn’t expected the topic to be Huo Yuntao. He glanced at Huo Yan.
“We know the general idea—”
Before he could finish, Huo Yan interrupted.
“Brother Hu, there’s nothing we can do about what my father has done. To be honest, I was driven out of the capital when I was young. The reason I was sent here this time was because my two younger brothers were incapable.”
“I’ve heard about that.” Hu Zhongyi sighed. “You two are innocent. Huo Yuntao committed those crimes, yet you’re the ones forced to bear the consequences.”
His tone carried obvious indignation.
Only then did Luo Mingchen understand why Huo Yan had stopped him.
Apparently, what Hu Zhongyi wanted to discuss wasn’t the same matter Luo Mingchen had been thinking of.
Huo Yan asked,
“Brother Hu, what do you think we should do now?”
The moment Xiao Lin heard that question, he knew Huo Yan was fishing for information.
Hu Zhongyi, however, failed to notice.
“If you ask me, just take some explosives and blow up that gold mine. Then we’ll say we found it by accident. As long as everyone on our side sticks to the same story, His Majesty will never know.”
A gold mine…
Luo Mingchen’s heart skipped a beat.
Wasn’t that exactly what he and Huo Yan had suspected before?
Huo Yuntao really had been secretly mining gold.
Huo Yan nodded slightly.
“That is indeed a solution. Thank you for your help, Brother Hu.”
“No need to thank me.”
Hu Zhongyi wasn’t only helping Huo Yan.
He was helping himself as well.
If Huo Yan were removed and Huo Yuntao returned…
Life definitely wouldn’t be as comfortable.
And if someone else replaced him…
Things would likely be even worse.
Besides…
Why should a son’s future be ruined because of his father’s crimes?
After the New Year, Hu Zhongyi personally led a squad of trusted men to destroy the gold mine.
Only then did the couple finally learn its location.
It had actually been inside the patrol area under Hu Zhongyi’s military camp.
No wonder they had searched both the barracks and Han City’s underground tunnels without finding anything.
They had assumed Huo Yuntao had hidden it somewhere else.
Who would have thought…
It had been right under Hu Zhongyi’s nose all along?
But if Hu Zhongyi hadn’t discovered it for so many years…
Why had it suddenly been found only after Huo Yuntao could no longer return to Han City?
Luo Mingchen narrowed his eyes.
“Could there be someone loyal to Huo Yuntao inside General Hu’s camp?”
Huo Yan replied,
“Why not ask?”
He had noticed that although Luo Mingchen’s questions were often rather blunt…
They worked surprisingly well in many situations.
Like this one.
“Good point.”
So the two of them went to find Hu Zhongyi.
After asking around, they learned that a few ordinary soldiers had stumbled upon the mine during training.
“The place those soldiers were originally supposed to go wasn’t the same direction as the gold mine,” Huo Yan said.
“If they were simply taking a shortcut… then why hadn’t they ever used that route all those years before?”
Hu Zhongyi’s expression grew solemn.
“Brother Huo, I’ll investigate this thoroughly. Don’t worry.”
Having delivered the information, Huo Yan and Luo Mingchen didn’t interfere any further.
As long as Hu Zhongyi was aware of the issue, that was enough.
Even during the first lunar month, the couple stayed busy.
To ensure the opening of the mutual trade market would satisfy everyone, they inspected the marketplace every day.
Their main focus was checking whether inns, restaurants, and taverns were maintaining proper cleanliness.
After all…
Once a reputation collapsed, rebuilding it would be extremely difficult.
Large garbage bins had been placed throughout the streets.
Each was painted bright green and marked with a wooden sign reading:
Garbage Bin.
Sanitation workers cleaned the streets at fixed times every day to keep the city tidy.
Many flowers, shrubs, and trees had also been planted.
Although spring had only just begun and the cold wind still blew fiercely, some young saplings already carried fresh green leaves, adding a touch of color to the bleak landscape.
After enjoying a warm winter with enough food to eat…
The people of Han City looked far healthier than before.
At the very least…
They no longer spent every day starving while wondering when their suffering would finally end.
Once they finished their inspections, the couple usually stayed home watching the three children study, practice calligraphy, or train in martial arts.
When Luo Mingchen realized they could all study diligently without supervision, he dragged Huo Yan into his space to harvest medicinal herbs and grain.
It had been quite a while since they’d entered.
The moment Luo Mingchen stepped inside…
He froze.
“What happened?!”
He stared in disbelief at the boundary of the space.
It now resembled an ink-wash landscape painting.
It wasn’t perfectly clear…
A thin white mist covered everything.
Yet he could still make out…
Living creatures beyond it.
More importantly…
The area had expanded to more than double its previous size.
Floating in the sky was a gray-and-white diamond-shaped crystal about the size of a basketball.
The lower portion glowed milky white.
The upper half was mostly gray.
“This is…”
“Did it level up?”
Luo Mingchen had never heard of a spatial ability evolving into something like this after advancing.
Huo Yan observed it for a moment before asking,
“Mingchen… have you ever heard of the mustard seed?”
“Hm?”
“Within a mustard seed lies Mount Sumeru; within Mount Sumeru lies the mustard seed.”
Seeing Luo Mingchen’s space had reminded him of that ancient saying.
Especially after hearing Luo Mingchen describe it…
He couldn’t help suspecting this might actually be a true mustard-seed world.
Luo Mingchen understood immediately.
“You mean… this space already existed?”
“Maybe it belonged to someone else?”
“And what I have isn’t actually my spatial ability—but ownership of this place, without even realizing it?”
Huo Yan nodded.
“Mm.”
“From the way you can freely use your abilities, yet have no idea why this space is changing…”
“It feels less like your power.”
“And more like… someone else’s house.”
“Because you somehow inherited it, rather than created it, you aren’t familiar with it.”
“You don’t know what this place truly contains.”
Luo Mingchen frowned.
“Then… could it suddenly disappear one day?”
The changes genuinely unsettled him.
Especially since…
Beyond that veil of white mist…
He could vaguely see forests and birds flying overhead.
“It shouldn’t.”
Watching Luo Mingchen rack his brain trying to understand the mystery, Huo Yan smiled faintly.
“Since it has chosen you… why not try sensing it the same way you sense your water ability?”
“Perhaps you’ll discover the secret hidden within.”
After hearing that, Luo Mingchen thought it made sense.
Still…
He couldn’t help feeling a little conflicted.
“I feel like we’ve stolen someone else’s house…”
“And now we’re trying to crack the password to their front door.”
When he put it that way…
It really did sound suspicious.
Huo Yan replied calmly,
“A treasure of this caliber must possess its own spirit.”
“If it chose you… then it was fate.”
Luo Mingchen raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve got a point.”
That said…
Even if the so-called original owner really did appear someday…
There was no way Luo Mingchen was giving it back.
If they had the ability to take it from him…
Then they were welcome to try.
If they couldn’t…
Then it belonged to him.
Notes
- 「須彌藏芥子，芥子納須彌」 (Within a mustard seed lies Mount Sumeru; within Mount Sumeru lies the mustard seed) — A famous Buddhist concept expressing that the infinitely large can exist within the infinitely small. In Chinese fantasy novels, it often refers to storage spaces, pocket dimensions, or miniature worlds.
- Upper Dantian / Lower Dantian (上丹田 / 下丹田) — Traditional cultivation concepts. Earlier chapters established that Luo Mingchen’s power gathers in the upper dantian (similar to an ability crystal/core), while ordinary martial artists cultivate in the lower dantian. Here, Huo Yan theorizes that Luo Mingchen’s “space” may not be an ability he created, but an existing mustard-seed world that recognized him as its master.