[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal":3,"chapter-investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-chapter-599":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Investing in the Reborn Empress, She Actually Calls Me ‘Husband’",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},596959,846,"Chapter 599: The World She Must Protect","investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-chapter-599",599,"\u003Cp>\"What do you mean by this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three visitors from the subterranean city stood up, their expressions dark as they glared at Li Mo. They had encountered resistance before—plenty of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Jiang Yu, the one who had issued the decree, likely never imagined that the subterranean cities, now under their rule, would exploit their authority so ruthlessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wielding borrowed power as if it were their own, they dared to push the villagers of the human city to the brink of starvation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this arrogance? It came from the fact that, aside from occasional cravings, the Celestial Race didn’t even need to eat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I find your proposal... uninteresting.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mo refilled his teacup. \"See them out!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doors of the ancestral hall were pushed open by the villagers inside, revealing a sea of dark, solemn faces staring in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now? They had banded together to drive off or kill every stray fiend that dared approach their lands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they no longer feared those horrors, why would they fear a few stronger humans?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Li Mo, their village chief, had taught them a lesson time and again:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The human city would inevitably face famine. If starvation struck, the desperate would sell their hard-tilled fields.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those lands would fall into the hands of the well-fed subterranean city dwellers. Once the famine passed, the prosperous years to come would never belong to their descendants again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some principles might be hard to grasp, but not this one—not when it concerned the very soil that had nurtured them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"After you. Once this door closes, it won’t open again just because you wish it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"......\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man from the subterranean city moved to make an example of them, but the older man held him back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The middle-aged man clasped his hands toward Li Mo. \"We’ll meet again.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, he led the other two away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Uncle Deng, they’re just a bunch of peasants! Why stop me when they refused our goodwill?\" the youth grumbled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deng shot him a glance and snorted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Didn’t you find the ancestral hall... unsettling?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tea table was carved from the roots of a Hundred-Vine Demon. The burning candles were made from serpent-men’s fat. The rug beneath their feet? The pelt of a Black Gale Bear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What kind of madness was this? Despite all these demonic remnants, Dawang Village was eerily peaceful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the villagers—they all seemed to practice some crude, twisted form of martial arts!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If we’d fought back there, we might not have left that hall alive...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman from the subterranean city shuddered, then asked, \"But if we don’t bring Dawang Village under control, how do we report back?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If we can’t handle Dawang Village, the Celestial Race certainly can.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Those villagers’ martial arts reek of demonic influence. They might already be colluding with fiends. This is serious—it must be brought to the Celestial City’s attention!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The middle-aged man mounted his horse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the three galloped out of the village, a figure slipped down from a tree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dong Erniu—once a snot-nosed brat trailing after Li Mo, begging for a \"cool sword\"—had grown into a man of remarkable talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hidden in the branches, he’d gone unnoticed even by the subterranean city’s warriors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hurried to the ancestral hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The trio had already passed through towering, majestic walls to seek an audience with the Celestial overseeing their region.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This Celestial took the form of a wild-eyed woman—sun-bronzed skin, raven hair swirling as if caught in an unfelt wind. She appeared to be in her early thirties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rumors said she was extraordinary even among her kind, born with violet auspicious light, capable of summoning storms with a mere gesture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Humans conspiring with demons?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Zhi frowned, her voice icy. \"Such trivial matters are beneath my notice. Handle it yourselves.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To her, humans and subterranean city dwellers were much the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But the villagers of Dawang Village... they seem to have drawn power from demons.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three trembled, only the middle-aged man managing to speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment the words left his mouth—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Zhi shot to her feet. A gust of wind yanked the man before her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Repeat that.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Every word is true!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She nodded and flicked her sleeve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was too grave to ignore. She had to see for herself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tempest swept her and the three into the sky, hurtling across vast distances in mere moments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within a quarter-hour, guided by the trio, she arrived outside Dawang Village.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her gaze swept over neatly tended fields and lush mountains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Farmers worked the land; hunters stalked the woods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But these were no ordinary laborers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The farmers didn’t bend—they crouched low, like giant mantises, scythes flashing like bladed limbs, clearing swathes of weeds in single strokes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One man, impatient with his ox’s pace, shoved the beast aside to graze, harnessed the plow himself, and tore through the earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the fields were bizarre, the hunting was outright surreal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A hunter jabbed a finger at a boar, curling it tauntingly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Come at me, you overgrown bacon!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grunt?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No boar would tolerate such insult. It charged, tusks aimed to gut the man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hunter barked a laugh, braced, and slammed forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRACK—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boar flew backward, knocked unconscious mid-air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"See? I told you Dawang Village wasn’t right!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The subterranean city man pointed triumphantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since when did farmers and hunters move like this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mantis, Raging Ox, Ironhorn Rhino...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Zhi recognized traces of demonic techniques in their movements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No demonic aura, yet undeniably imitating them!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And more...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only was there no taint—quite the opposite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was one of her kind living here?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Winds howled around her as her eyes gleamed jade-green. She descended, striding toward the source of that presence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Celestials were a scattered people; wanderers weren’t uncommon. But the human territories were vast—encounters rare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she saw it: a humble farmhouse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the gate stood a figure of startling grace—a woman with twin braids, rough-spun clothes, skin like frost, lips like rose petals. A beauty so stark she seemed displaced from another world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Celestials were embodiments of nature’s perfection, each breathtaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet beside her, even their radiance dimmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ying Bing hugged freshly washed garments, frowning at the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Since when did the wind grow so fierce?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mo stepped out to help gather the laundry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s him! The root of all evil—this village’s chief!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The subterranean city man jabbed an accusing finger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mo: \"?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Village Chief Li pondered—since when was \"Li\" the surname of ultimate wickedness?\u003C\u002Fp>",1077,"2026-05-30T17:19:13.161Z","2026-06-01T04:31:46.889Z",1,"novelbin.me","92995912e70220e912e17e3557357c2d7a03703bf2b7f45f6dd719260eac01db","investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-chapter-600","investing-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-chapter-598",737,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Finvesting-in-the-reborn-empress-she-actually-cal-cover.jpg"]