OFTLHFRO C179
by berryChapter 179: Sunrise and Large Baskets
The couple gathered quite a number of gemstones.
Smiling, Luo Mingchen said, “These can be polished into beads for Yueyue and the others to play with.”
Huo Yan bent down beneath a bamboo stalk, picked up a dark emerald gemstone, and slipped it into Luo Mingchen’s pocket.
“I thought you were going to say you’d make them into necklaces.”
Luo Mingchen considered it for a moment before nodding.
“A necklace sounds nice too.”
“Daddy! Little Daddy! What are you doing?”
Hearing Huo Xinyue’s voice, the two of them turned around simultaneously.
Luo Mingchen gave her a bright yet perfectly innocent smile, quietly slipping everything into his storage space.
“Nothing at all.”
Huo Xinyue scampered over to them.
Behind her, Huo Xiang and Zi Yuan hurried after her, afraid that her little legs might bump into a stone and send her tumbling.
Once they drew near, Luo Mingchen asked,
“Why aren’t you two sleeping?”
Seeing both of her fathers crouching, Huo Xinyue squatted down as well, resting her little face in both hands.
“Daddy, I’m not sleepy anymore. What are you playing?”
“Ahem…”
Luo Mingchen coughed lightly.
“We’re not playing anything. We’re about to go sleep. You two should get some rest too, otherwise you won’t have the energy to go out this afternoon.”
The mention of going out instantly diverted Huo Xinyue’s attention.
“Okay~”
Before leaving, Luo Mingchen and Huo Yan each reached out and affectionately rubbed the two children’s little heads.
Huo Xiang scratched his head, staring curiously at their retreating backs.
Zi Yuan had more or less guessed what the two of them had been doing.
She merely pursed her lips in amusement and wisely chose not to expose them in front of the children.
Come to think of it…
When separated, both Masters were perfectly dependable.
But whenever they were together…
They truly became astonishingly childish.
Combined, the two of them probably didn’t possess even three years’ worth of maturity.
Having stayed awake the entire previous night, they returned to their room, bathed, and prepared to sleep.
Luo Mingchen closed his eyes.
After a while, he reached over and lightly patted Huo Yan’s face.
“I’m so sleepy… but I just can’t fall asleep.”
He had never been someone who struggled in unfamiliar surroundings.
He might not fall asleep the instant his head touched the pillow, but he had certainly never experienced being exhausted yet unable to sleep.
Using so much of his ability the previous night had left him mentally drained.
His body, however, wasn’t tired at all.
Just as Huo Yan was drifting off, Luo Mingchen’s pat woke him again.
Pulling him into an embrace, Huo Yan rubbed gently against him.
“How about I tell you a story?”
“I don’t want to hear a story.”
Seeing how exhausted Huo Yan looked, Luo Mingchen said softly,
“You should sleep. I’ll absorb some of the energy here.”
Since he couldn’t sleep anyway…
He might as well take the opportunity to strengthen himself.
Huo Yan kissed his forehead.
“Alright.”
As Luo Mingchen began absorbing the surrounding water-element energy, something soon felt… wrong.
This wasn’t the same sensation he experienced while absorbing water energy outside.
Instead…
It felt remarkably similar to absorbing crystal cores back in his original world.
Only—
The energy here was far purer.
Luo Mingchen immediately recalled the enormous pool hidden within the underground passage.
If his guess was correct…
This energy was flowing directly from there.
He deliberately slowed his breathing to the barest whisper, concentrating with all his might as he traced the source.
Such incredibly abundant water-element energy…
He had no idea how much time had passed before he vaguely heard someone calling his name.
Only then did he slowly open his eyes.
The room was dimly lit.
Huo Yan sat quietly beside him.
Stretching lazily, Luo Mingchen asked,
“Is it evening already?”
Huo Yan answered,
“It’s morning.”
“…What?!”
That genuinely startled Luo Mingchen.
Huo Yan pinched his cheek helplessly.
“I heard that today’s sunrise at Wolf King Fortress is exceptionally beautiful. If you miss it once… you’ll have to wait another three years.”
He had no idea just how beautiful it truly was.
But waiting three years?
That absolutely could not happen.
Luo Mingchen instantly sprang upright.
“I didn’t go shopping with Yueyue last night… She didn’t complain, did she?”
Huo Yan replied,
“She spent the day playing with Lan Fei. She only remembered us briefly when they first went out.”
Luo Mingchen, halfway through getting dressed: “……”
What a heartbreaking story.
By the time they stepped into the courtyard, everyone else was already waiting.
“Daddy!”
Huo Xinyue called happily.
The instant Luo Mingchen heard his daughter’s soft, sweet voice, every trace of jealousy vanished.
He happily opened his arms and scooped her up.
After hugging each of the three children in turn, they followed Lan Fei toward the tallest tower in all of Wolf King Fortress.
The tower itself was rather peculiar.
There were no stairs.
The only way up was by using qinggong.
When they reached the seventh level, only two or three people were already there.
Among them was Hua Yaoyue.
Seeing them arrive, he teased,
“I thought you weren’t coming.”
“How could that be? Something that only happens once every three years is worth seeing no matter what.”
Luo Mingchen knew no qinggong.
Instead, he simply used water tendrils to steadily lift himself upward.
The three children and Ji Bowen had ascended the same way.
Standing atop the tower, everyone’s field of vision suddenly expanded.
Moments earlier, they had still been chatting about what to eat for breakfast.
Then—
The sky slowly changed color.
Gradually…
Everyone forgot how to speak.
As the sun rose above the horizon, the crimson and violet clouds transformed into countless brilliant hues.
The colors were dazzlingly varied.
Yet together they blended into breathtaking beauty—
Like an endless sea of rainbow-colored clouds.
Then…
The colors slowly faded.
High in the sky, an enormous crystal palace beneath the sea appeared.
Within it…
Tiny fish could even be seen swimming gracefully.
“A mirage?”
Luo Mingchen frowned thoughtfully.
It resembled one…
Yet somehow…
It didn’t quite feel like one.
As the sun climbed higher into the heavens, the palace gradually dissolved into nothingness.
Everything returned to tranquility.
The three children had never witnessed such magnificent scenery before.
They were so excited that words utterly failed them.
Ji Bowen sighed with admiration.
“I had long heard the legends that one could glimpse the Dragon Palace beneath the sea from Wolf King Fortress. I thought it was merely a rumor. Seeing it today… it truly lives up to its reputation.”
Huo Xinyue blinked her eyes.
“Dragon!”
Lan Fei looked toward her.
“My grandfather once saw a dragon. He said it was a little white dragon.”
Luo Mingchen paused.
“Are you sure it wasn’t just a sea serpent?”
Lan Fei replied,
“It had horns… and claws.”
Huo Yan said calmly,
“The world is vast. There are countless wonders beyond imagination.”
Lan Fei nodded thoughtfully.
“Perhaps… it was simply a sea serpent that resembled a dragon.”
That immediately reminded Luo Mingchen of mutated beasts.
Quietly pushing those thoughts aside, he reminded himself that this was an entirely different world before smiling.
“So… what are we eating later?”
“There are many delicious foods in the city,” Lan Fei replied. “Uncle Luo didn’t get to look around yesterday. Shall we go today?”
“Absolutely!”
Among everyone present, only Luo Mingchen and Huo Yan had yet to properly explore the streets of Wolf King Fortress.
Hua Yaoyue lazily raised a hand.
“I’ll just head back to the City Lord’s residence to eat.”
Ji Bowen and Li Yunde shared the same opinion.
Zi Yuan, Xiao Chen, and Zhu Qing had no choice but to accompany the group as shadow guards.
Otherwise…
None of them particularly wished to go a second time either.
Luo Mingchen looked at them in confusion but didn’t insist.
Huo Xiang, however, seemed to have reached some important resolution.
“Daddy, Little Daddy… I’m going with you.”
Huo Xinyue tugged gently on Luo Mingchen’s sleeve.
“Yueyue too.”
Holding Da Bai, Huo Yuhui suddenly suggested,
“Little Daddy… remember to bring a basket.”
“A basket?”
Luo Mingchen looked utterly bewildered.
Huo Xiang answered solemnly,
“So we don’t get crushed to death by falling gold.”
“…Huh?!”
Luo Mingchen genuinely couldn’t comprehend what he was hearing.
Huo Yuhui wore an indescribably complicated expression.
“…You’ll understand after you go there once.”
Seeing the strange expressions on their faces, Luo Mingchen decided to trust his eldest son’s advice after all.
He brought several large baskets.
According to them…
If too much gold came flying at once…
The baskets could even be used to shield one’s head.