Chapter 180: Big Green Insect
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Qiao Mai stood up, closed her eyes, and followed the sound to the edge of the vegetable garden. When she felt that the source of the sound was right in front of her, she opened her eyes.
What on earth was this?
My goodness, a gigantic green caterpillar? Plump, chubby, and struggling to move?
Qiao Mai stared at the caterpillar as it devoured her Chinese cabbage right before her as if enjoying the meal.
A single Chinese cabbage had been gnawed beyond recognition. Keeping a caterpillar wouldn’t have been a problem, but even if it ate to its heart’s content, it couldn’t finish this cabbage.
The problem was, how could this oversized caterpillar have a pair of shiny black eyes?
And why did it seem to exude human-level intelligence? Could someone please explain to her how this thing appeared?
The giant caterpillar seemed to sense being watched and turned its plump head to lock eyes with Qiao Mai.
After a while, it regained its composure. Suddenly, its green body turned pinkish-blue.
Qiao Mai swallowed and muttered to herself, “This is incredibly strange. Could this thing feel shy?”
The caterpillar raised its head, revealing sharp yet cute little teeth. “Master, when you stare at someone like this, they’ll feel shy.”
“I’ll be darned. You can talk?”
“Of course, I’m the spirit of this space. If I can’t talk, how would I communicate with my master?”
“I’ve read novels online that mention spirits like you, but couldn’t you have looked a bit less… ugly?”
“So, Master prefers beautiful things?”
“Who doesn’t?”
“Master, I can undergo metamorphosis. What do caterpillars become after metamorphosis?”
Qiao Mai’s eyes lit up. “Butterflies?” “That’s right. That’s my ultimate form.” “What’s your initial form, then?”
“An egg underground!”
The corners of Qiao Mai’s mouth twitched. “Are you the only spirit in this space?”
“Yes, I’m the only one. I can call myself a butterfly or an elf. The space’s upgrade and the increase in spiritual energy have allowed me to start metamorphosing.”
“So, can you absorb spiritual energy instead of eating my cabbage?”
“Master, you’re busy every day, and no one pays attention to me. If I don’t eat, what else can I do?”
Qiao Mai poked its body with her finger. “So this is how you get this huge body?”
“Hehe, I’m a little girl. The bigger I grow, the more beautiful the butterfly I’ll become.”
“Nonsense, you’re just finding excuses to eat more. Let’s not talk about this.
What can you do for me now?” The caterpillar shook its head. “I can’t do anything right now. I can only eat.” “Why am I keeping you then?”
“You’d better upgrade the space. When it reaches level seven, I can become a butterfly. Then, when I can fly, I can help you with farming. You won’t have to work hard anymore and can focus on cultivation.”
Qiao Mai, who had initially wanted to throw it away, immediately stopped.
“You can help me with farming?”
“Of course. Once I become a butterfly, I can help you with farming and even create ponds, mountains, and seas in your space, turning it into a real world.”
“Fine, I won’t throw you away!”
“What? Master, you wanted to throw me away?”
“Why would I keep a useless creature that only eats and can’t do anything for
“Hmph, you can’t get rid of me. I’m the spirit of this place, and I can’t die.
Master, stop dreaming.”
Qiao Mai’s face darkened, and she heard the caterpillar speak again.
“If you want to get rid of me, you have to sever the contract with the space.
Otherwise, don’t even think about it.”
“Dream on! You think I’ll sever the contract with you?”
“In that case, you’d better take good care of me. Otherwise, when you expand the land later, it will become more and more troublesome. You’ll be exhausted without me.”
This space spirit had quite an attitude.
Qiao Mai glared at it, and it glared back. The two stared at each other until Qiao Mai’s eyes grew tired.
“Go ahead. Eat as much as you want. Just don’t overdo it.”
“Hmph, you have so much land here, but you’re stingy with me?”
The caterpillar lowered its head and continued eating while Qiao Mai asked another question.
“From now on, I’ll call you Greeny. How much land does this space need to level
“Right now, it’s 101.6 million acres. When it reaches 150 million mu, it can upgrade to level seven. After that, you should go to the seaside and collect 100 acres of seawater, similar to how you created the pond, allowing it to level up once more.”
“And then?”
“First, level up. When the time comes, I will guide you on how to advance to the next level. ”
Buried in its hard work, the caterpillar ate the Chinese cabbage non-stop like silkworms devouring mulberry leaves.
“Aren’t you helping with farming after becoming a butterfly?”
“Hehe.”
Qiao Mai gave it a stern look. How dare it play games with its master! She couldn’t kill it, but she could certainly give it a good scare.
“Master, we share a blood contract, so you should think about the consequences. If I’m not well, you won’t be happy either.”
“You…!”
“What?”
For the first time, Qiao Mai felt helpless. It seemed like the heavens had been too kind to her lately, thus sending her such an odd space spirit.
Oh well, no point in getting upset. She jumped out of the space.
Since returning to the capital, she had developed a habit of sitting in the courtyard and returning to her space in case an assassin came to her home and harmed her family.
Over a month passed without any incidents. Everything had been quiet, but she never let her guard down.
Suddenly, thunder rumbled in the sky, and raindrops started to fall. Qiao Mai returned to the corridor and sat cross-legged, watching the lightning streak across the dark sky.
This year, there had been quite a bit of rain. Since the beginning of spring, several showers had fallen, although they were small but frequent.
She couldn’t help but worry about the summer. It was a cause for concern.
The capital was in turmoil at this time. The emperor had recovered from his illness, which should have been good news. However, he had mobilized all the Golden Dragon Guards and begun a secret investigation of the officials.
As long as corruption and bribery were uncovered, they were executed on the spot, and their assets were confiscated.
It seemed that the emperor had taken Qiao Mai’s advice to heart. This time, he was ruthless. With the treasury empty and corrupt officials, the Ming Dynasty would be in jeopardy if he didn’t cut deep and clean.
Only the heads of the guilty officials were executed, while their family members were exiled to remote areas to work as farmers.
As one family after another was confiscated, the emperor laughed. Three families were equivalent to one treasury; you could say it was laughable.
And that was just in the capital. Below, those officials were said to make a hundred thousand silver per year. If they continued investigating, the treasury would be filled to the brim.
As expected, the corrupted officials were like the emperor’s moving banks. Without them, he wouldn’t have had the money.
In over a month, the treasury had been replenished, but the emperor didn’t stop there. He continued to investigate secretly, from the top to the bottom, sparing no one, including his concubines and prince heirs.
He intended to dig a canal and change the current state of the court. The money filled the treasury only for that purpose. He still needed a considerable amount of silver to dig the canal.
Prime Minister Wang’s family was in dire straits. He had three legitimate sons and five illegitimate ones. The most promising of his legitimate sons had been brought home from Mingyou Pavilion on a stretcher.
Not only were his legs crippled, but he had also become mentally impaired, staring blankly after waking up.
He had wanted to blame Mingyou Pavilion for the incident, but upon investigation, it turned out that the establishment was under this son’s name. He was the leader there.
If the leader was injured on his own turf, who could he hold accountable?
People who knew the internal situation had all been wiped out by Qiao Mai. Combined with the loss of the Wang family’s wealth, they were like headless flies, bumping into walls everywhere.
They wanted to seek help from the emperor but were afraid of the truth coming out and their dark deeds being exposed.
So they could only swallow their grievances, unable to say a word. Prime Minister Wang wrote a letter to Wang Meng.
They hoped he would lend them one hundred thousand taels of silver as brothers.
When Old Master Wang saw the letter, he coldly snorted.
“Robbed? Would his many secret guards be robbed? He must have done something or offended someone.”
He immediately called his two bodyguards and ordered them to inquire in the capital..
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶