Chapter 4: Reborn Bonsai

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

In his excitement, there was something else that Xia Ruofei could not understand.

That was… this painting had been in their family for many generations. In Xia Ruofei’s memories, there was a period of time when his grandfather would open to admire it. Even when Xia Ruofei was young, he had also mischievously opened this painting.

But both his grandfather and himself had never been directly pulled into the painting space!

Xia Ruofei pondered for a while. In the end, he could only attribute it to the blood from his wound on the painting. Besides this reason, Xia Ruofei could not find any other reason.

He no longer dwelled on this issue and turned to study this mysterious painting scroll.

After half a day of repeated testing, Xia Ruofei finally figured out some basic functions of the painting space.

First of all, it was very easy for him to enter and exit this space. He only needed to think about it and he could enter or leave. Furthermore, he could bring things into the space, but he had to hold on to those items.

Secondly, if he went in and out of the space repeatedly, it seemed like he would become mentally exhausted. However, the pond in the space was very effective in restoring one’s mental state. It was even helpful for treating physical injuries. After Xia Ruofei drank some water from the pond, he realized that the knife wound on his arm was already showing signs of scabbing.

This discovery surprised and delighted Xia Ruofei.

The rental apartment was too cramped. After selling the house, he could not bear to throw away many of his grandfather’s belongings, so the room was almost full.

Now that there was this magical space, Xia Ruofei simply moved all the items into the space after making a few trips. The room instantly felt much more spacious.

He drank a few mouthfuls of water from the pond to recover his energy. Then, he sat down by the pond and gazed at the clear spiritual water in deep thought.

Slowly calming down, Xia Ruofei began to think about how to make use of this magical spiritual space to earn as much money as possible.

Hu Zi’s mother was diagnosed with uremia. The total of 500 thousand that Xia Ruofei earned from selling the house and his retirement fund had been given to Hu Zi’s mother. However, Hu Zi’s family still owed a huge debt, and the money that Xia Ruofei gave would definitely not be enough for a kidney transplant. Hence, Xia Ruofei wanted to raise as much money as possible while he still had the energy.

Xia Ruofei knew that his days were numbered.

Patients with Lou Gehrig’s disease only lived for two to three years at most.

Xia Ruofei originally wanted to earn as much money as possible while he could still move and leave it to Hu Zi’s mother. Now that he suddenly obtained the mysterious spiritual map, Xia Ruofei’s mind started to run fast.

Xia Ruofei immediately rejected the idea of selling it for money.

That was because this spiritual map was truly too magical. It had already far surpassed the scope of normal people’s imagination.

Xia Ruofei knew very well that if he sold this painting rashly, not only would he not be able to get the money, it would also draw disaster.

Xia Ruofei quickly made up his mind.

Not only could he not sell it openly, he had to keep it as his top secret. He could not even leak it to his closest friends!

Since he couldn’t sell it for money, he should at least make use of this treasure to earn some money for himself! Otherwise, it would be such a waste… Xia Ruofei thought.

However, as to how he could make use of the spiritual map to earn money, Xia Ruofei did not have any good ideas at the moment. After all, he knew very little about this space. The only thing he knew was that the water in the pond seemed to be beneficial for recovering one’s mental strength and physical injuries. However, the pond only had a radius of one meter. He could not possibly drain the water and sell it!

This was equivalent to having a mountain of treasure, but it could not be exchanged for real money. Xia Ruofei could not help but smile bitterly.

He frowned and thought for a while. Then, he shook his head and muttered to himself.

“Forget it, let’s go out and get some food first! The emperor doesn’t lack hungry soldiers!”

With that, Xia Ruofei prepared to leave the space.

At this moment, his gaze landed on a small flower pot. He couldn’t help but stare blankly at it. Xia Ruofan remembered that this flower pot was left behind by the previous tenant. For some reason, he had also brought this flower pot into the space when he was packing up the miscellaneous items.

There was a small green lotus-shaped plant in the flower pot. Its leaves were plump and thick, and there were some brown vein-like patterns on it. It looked quite pretty. However, perhaps due to neglect, the plant looked listless.

Xia Ruofei shook his head and reached out to pick up the flower pot, preparing to bring it out. Xia Ruofei did not have the hobby of raising potted plants. Since it did not belong to an owner, he would just find a time to throw it outside. He could not even afford to feed himself! Why would he raise a potted plant?!

However, on second thought, he muttered to himself.

“Forget it, forget it. Since I brought you in just now, it’s fate. I’ll leave you here!”

The soil in the flower pot was still filled with large amounts of small pebbles. It looked like it was completely dry without any moisture.

When Xia Ruofei saw this scene, he simply carried the flower pot to the side of the pond and used his hands to fetch some water to water the plant. He waited until the soil in the flower pot was completely drenched before standing up and leaving the space.

As for the potted plant, Xia Ruofei simply left it in the spiritual space.

Back in his room, Xia Ruofei made a simple bowl of instant noodles for his lunch.

Then, he cleaned up the room. He was so tired that he was panting slightly. He even sweated a lot. Ever since he contracted Lou Gehrig’s disease, Xia Ruofei’s physical strength had decreased very quickly. When he was in the military, such a small amount of exercise could not even make him sweat, let alone feel tired.

He took a towel and went to the public washroom outside to take a quick shower. Then, he returned to his room and lay on the bed to rest.

Unknowingly, Xia Ruofei fell into a deep sleep.

…

When Xia Ruofei woke up again, it was already dark outside.

He looked at the time on his knockoff phone and realized that it was already 6:30 PM. This meant that he had slept for four to five hours.

After waking up, Xia Ruofei’s mouth was a little dry. He shook the painting that he had clutched tightly when he was sleeping. With a thought, he disappeared from the room and entered the spiritual map space. The water in the pond made Xia Ruofei hungry. When he felt thirsty, he immediately thought of getting some water to drink.

He appeared in the space and walked straight to the pond.

However, when he saw the flower pot by the pond, his gaze couldn’t help but freeze and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face. He quickly walked over to the flower pot.

Xia Ruofei realized that the plants in the flower pot were different from before.

The most obvious change was its size. It had become as big as a balloon.

In addition, it was no longer withered and looked like it could die at any moment. The leaves had become crystal clear as if they were carved from jade. It was magical and beautiful, fresh and elegant, as if it was a work of art with life.

There was an even more obvious change: the color of the leaves.

The outermost area was still very green, but the color of the inner area had changed. It had a color gradiation from light to deep. The innermost area had become a beautiful purple.

At the top of the leaf, there were some transparent veins. One could see the sparkling and translucent meaty leaves inside at a glance, which were as clear and transparent as ice lamps.

A half-dead potted plant had become so magical and beautiful. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it had been reborn!

It was Xia Ruofei’s first time seeing such a beautiful potted plant. He could not help but stare in a daze. For a moment, he even forgot that he came in to find water to drink because he was thirsty.