Chapter 149: Picking Up Trash

Li Hao instantly felt his soul leave his body, his entire frame trembling uncontrollably.

Because he could clearly hear—that voice wasn’t coming from the microphone.
It was as if someone were whispering right beside his ear.

If slaying the phantom ghost with a sword was still within the realm of myth, then tracing the camera feed across space to speak directly into his ear—this act had already far surpassed the limits of Li Hao’s understanding.

The scent of blood thickened around his nose. A suffocating pressure surged in waves, and Li Hao’s knees gave out. He collapsed to the ground.

His sudden movement drew immediate concern from those nearby. A few stepped forward to help him up, but Li Hao raised a hand to stop them.

“Don’t move! Don’t speak!”

Li Hao gestured at everyone present, composed himself, and then looked humbly toward the monitor showing the black-robed man.

“We were reckless and have offended Your Excellency. Please, forgive us!”

—

Inside the illusion realm, disguised as the Blood God, Lu Yan held the mechanical dog’s camera in one hand, his gaze dark and profound.

Yes—the one who had appeared before Li Hao’s mechanical dog, the one who had slain the phantom ghost with a single sword, was none other than Lu Yan himself.

He had chosen to disguise himself rather than have the actual Blood God appear because the real Blood God was currently hard at work in the Phoenix Mountain estate, modifying Yin soldiers—he had no time for this.

As for the true Giant Spirit God, he had plans for later use and could not be revealed prematurely. So Lu Yan resorted to illusion magic and ghostly aura to impersonate the Blood God in this appearance.

With a casual wave of his hand, the ancient jade sword that had skewered the massive ghost turned into a stream of light, shrinking into a hairpin-sized ornament and disappearing into his palm.

The phantom ghost, which had been conjured from illusion and ghostly energy, began to dissipate. Its enormous body melted into the surrounding mist.

This effortless display of supernatural power made Li Hao’s heart tremble even more, his expression of humility deepening visibly.

Lu Yan continued to gaze into the camera, but in truth, his eyes had long since linked with the Giant Spirit God’s vision, allowing him to see directly into Li Hao’s camp.

A playful smile spread across his lips, giving the Blood God’s already-demonic face an eerie charm.

“First you seal off Mount Beimang’s forbidden zone, then you send in these little toys to probe its secrets… Humans are far bolder now than they were a thousand years ago.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen such interesting mortals.”

Lu Yan’s casual remark struck Li Hao like lightning. Thoughts of spiritual energy revival and the age of myth surged through his mind.

He quickly forced a smile and said:

“The outside world has not witnessed the appearance of ghosts or gods for a thousand years, so we know nothing of Mount Beimang’s true nature.”

“Driven by greed, we made the mistake of offending Your Excellency. The fault lies entirely with us.”

“I humbly ask to make amends. If there’s anything Your Excellency requires, please say the word—I will do everything in my power!”

Li Hao, chairman of the Luocheng City Council, a man of power and prestige, now bowed and scraped without reservation, earnestly begging for forgiveness.

He was very aware—just now, that phantom ghost had nearly lured him into Mount Beimang using illusions through a screen. If the ghost alone could do that, then the power of this mysterious being before him was unimaginable.

His life and death were entirely in the hands of this being. Humility wasn’t just a choice—it was survival.

Meanwhile, the others in the camp, unaware of the true situation, could only see Li Hao kneeling and begging toward a remote control device connected to a mechanical dog.

The sight shattered much of their respect for the city councilor. Disbelief and faint disdain flickered in their eyes.

But Li Hao didn’t care. His full focus was locked on Lu Yan.

—

“Make amends?”

“Hahaha!”

Lu Yan suddenly burst into laughter. His crazed cackling shook the mist atop the mountain.

A tremor rippled through the camp. A minor earthquake rolled across Mount Beimang, sending equipment swaying.
Caught off guard, many were knocked to the ground—except for Li Hao, who was already kneeling and remained steady.

As the laughter faded, the tremor stopped as well.

But the look of shock in Li Hao’s eyes only intensified.

A laugh could cause such upheaval across the mountain…

Who in the world was this being? And what exactly is Mount Beimang’s “forbidden zone”?

While Li Hao pondered these terrifying implications, Lu Yan stopped laughing and slowly shook his head with a smirk.

“To think a mere mortal dares to apologize to a ghost god… That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in ages.”

“As a reward, I won’t punish your offense.”

“Now, retrieve your little mechanical toys… and take those pieces of trash you picked up and scram.”

Li Hao let out a deep sigh of relief—only to be puzzled.

He understood what “toys” referred to—the mechanical dogs.

But… trash?

“Your Excellency, what do you mean by ‘trash’—?”

Lu Yan glanced into the mist. With a flick of his hand, he summoned a red blood ginseng from several hundred meters away.

It shot through the air like a flying sword, streaking several kilometers toward the camp.

Inside the camp, one of the observers suddenly shouted:

“Radar’s picked up a high-speed object!”

“Two kilometers! One kilometer! It’s moving so fast we can’t even identify it!”

In the next moment, the mist tore open—and everyone saw the object clearly.

It was a blood-red ginseng, flying like a sword straight at Li Hao.

At such speed, even a rubber eraser would punch through a skull, let alone a half-forearm-long ginseng root.

But just as it was about to pierce his head, the ginseng defied all physics and abruptly froze in midair.

Li Hao stared in stunned silence.

Then, a fresh, fragrant aroma wafted from the ginseng. A single breath instantly refreshed his entire being.

His hands instinctively reached out to grasp it. The dirt-clad ginseng glowed with a jewel-like crimson, and just this brief contact caused the surrounding spiritual energy to seep into his body. His previously drained vitality surged back to life.

“This is definitely infused with spiritual energy! Its value might even surpass that Spirit Peach!”

Just as wild joy surged in Li Hao’s chest, he suddenly remembered…

This blood ginseng—Lu Yan had tossed it away like trash.

Combining that with Lu Yan’s earlier words, realization dawned.

“The trash he referred to… is the spiritual treasures we were so desperately searching for?”

(End of Chapter)