Chapter 16: Nurturing the Larva

Seeing this, Chen Xian felt a surge of joy within him: Could it be that the Mother of the Qi-Thieving Insect had sensed something rich with spiritual energy? He closed his eyes at once, delving into the thoughts of the insect mother. As his eyelashes trembled, Chen Xian opened his eyes again, a glimmer of excitement flashing in his gaze, the corners of his lips curving into a subtle smile.

Following the insect mother’s guidance, Chen Xian arrived at a stall tucked away in the farthest corner. The stall owner was an elderly man with graying hair and an oily, stubbly chin. He sprawled on a recliner, legs crossed, snoring away with a trickle of drool at the corner of his mouth—a stark contrast to the other energetic vendors around. Perhaps it was the secluded location and lack of business that made the old man so disinterested in attracting customers, preferring instead to nap and wander in dreams.

The antiques at his stall were piled up haphazardly, a layer of dust covering everything. At that moment, Chen Xian’s gaze was drawn to a jade ring, dulled and veiled by dust, its surface marred by cracks and blotches, the jade itself of a mediocre quality—clearly not a precious item. He seized the battered ring and called out, “Boss, how much for this ring?”

Without opening his eyes, the old man mumbled as if talking in his sleep, “Everything here, two thousand yuan each, no bargaining.” Hearing this, Chen Xian shook the mottled ring and said, “I’ll take it!”

It was only then that the old man slowly opened his eyes, still thick with drowsiness. “Then pay up. Cash, or through XXPay or XChat? The QR codes are on the wall.” He pointed lazily to two oversized QR codes on the wall.

“Cash!” Chen Xian replied, pulling out two thousand yuan and handing it over. The transaction complete, he left with the ring and the orchid, hurrying back to school.

Once in his dormitory, he carefully locked the door. He was alone—his three roommates were out. Placing the orchid in a safe spot—after all, it was a treasure worth three million—he took out the old jade ring he’d just bought for two thousand yuan.

Examining it, he found nothing but its battered appearance; he sensed no spiritual energy at all. If not for the insect mother’s agitation, he never would have spent that much on it. After a thorough look, he set the ring on the table. With a thought, a red beam shot from his forehead, landing in his palm.

The red light flickered, and a tiny red insect, no larger than a fingernail, took shape—the Qi-Thieving Insect Mother. Her crimson eyes stared unblinkingly at the battered ring, gleaming with greed, ready to pounce. Chen Xian did not stop her, equally curious whether the ring contained spiritual energy.

Buzz—

The insect mother hovered above the ring, opened her razor-sharp mouthparts, and spat out circles of red light that enveloped the old ring.

Crack, crack, crack!

With the sound of breaking, chunks of dark green “skin” peeled off the ring, revealing the inside, now smaller in size. Within lay a milky white mutton-fat jade ring, etched with fine runes so tiny they looked like mosquitoes perched upon it—a mysterious sight. The runes resembled Daoist symbols; only one or two glowed faintly while the rest were dim and lifeless.

“I never expected the ring to have two layers. Judging by these runes, it looks like a Daoist artifact,” Chen Xian murmured in awe. Now, he could feel the concentrated spiritual energy within the mutton-fat jade ring. He realized it was the dark green outer shell that had blocked his senses from the energy inside.

Though the ring held spiritual energy, Chen Xian did not intend to absorb it himself. Instead, he let the insect mother devour it.

Her mouthparts opened and closed, drawing wisps of spiritual energy into her abdomen, the red glow around her growing ever more intense.

A minute later—

Crack!

The two runes that had glimmered on the jade now dimmed, and the ring itself shattered, crumbling into a pile of powder. Chen Xian understood: the spiritual energy within had been completely absorbed by the insect mother.

Communicating with her, he learned she now had enough energy to produce two offspring. Of course, this energy could also be stored in her body, serving as reserves for her evolution into an orange insect mother.

“Lay two offspring immediately,” Chen Xian commanded with his mind.

The offspring were vital to him—he intended to use them to steal information from criminals, thereby obtaining special energy to help the mysterious tree bear more fruit.

The insect mother, obeying her master, began to lay her eggs. Circles of blood-red light rippled from her body as her belly slowly swelled.

Ten minutes later, two blood-colored cocoons floated before Chen Xian, each inscribed with tiny mysterious runes.

Crack! Crack!

After a few minutes, with two crisp sounds, two transparent red larvae appeared in Chen Xian’s sight. He felt a mysterious, eerie connection with them—a bond of mind and soul.

“What marvelous Qi-Thieving Offspring!” Chen Xian exclaimed in admiration. With a thought, he returned the insect mother and one offspring to his mind, keeping the other in his palm to toy with.

Why not test it on someone?

The idea flashed through his mind. Immediately, he dashed downstairs, where a girl in a dress happened to be walking his way.

“Go!” Chen Xian thought silently.

The offspring, sensing his intent, unfurled a pair of delicate, transparent wings and, with a faint flutter, shot to the girl, landing on her shoulder. She noticed nothing, as if the offspring were invisible.

Chen Xian knew that, under normal circumstances, only he could see the red offspring; others couldn’t. Of course, if someone far more powerful than him, possessing high cultivation, conducted a careful search, they might discover it.

All of this, he had learned from the insect mother.

The girl, carrying the offspring, entered her dormitory. Chen Xian returned to his own room, and soon, the offspring relayed messages back to him.

“Yaya, didn’t your boyfriend ask you out today?”

“Go out? He’s in danger of failing every class. He’s cramming for finals now—otherwise, he’ll have to repeat the year.”

“Yaya, how do you like my new red lingerie set? I spent over two hundred on XShop.”

“It looks great… Xiaoling, your bust is already a 36C?”

“Hehe, looks like Xiaoling’s boyfriend has been quite diligent lately!”

“Xiaoqiong, you old rascal, so naughty and wicked!”

“…”

Hearing these exchanges, Chen Xian confirmed the offspring’s effectiveness. He had no desire to keep eavesdropping on the girls’ risqué chatter. With a thought, he summoned the offspring back.

Whoosh!

Seconds later, a red light shot through the window and landed in his palm, condensing once more into the transparent red larva—the Qi-Thieving Offspring.

“With you, gathering intelligence will be a breeze!” Chen Xian gazed at the offspring with delight. “From now on, you’ll be 001.”

He decided he would soon send 001 to Lieutenant Fang Jing of the Criminal Investigation Team, to eavesdrop on criminal intelligence.

Satisfied, he put the offspring away, then walked over to the pot of Golden Sand Chrysanthemum.