Chapter 246: Chapter 184: Behind Every Pure and Auspicious Piece of Jadeite Lies a Pile of Bloody Syringes (Part 2)

Li Xiang, having reached Tier Six Extraordinary, had achieved what could be called Minor Spirit Body Achievement. Six vortexes of Spiritual Power churned within him, and his reserves were so vast and unparalleled that he was immune to all illnesses. Not even HIV could hope to touch him.

Of course, he was a man of self-discipline—a virgin in two lifetimes, with no other vices—so contracting HIV was an impossibility for him anyway.

Li Xiang came across a crystal-clear spring, so he stripped naked and got in for a swim and a bath.

Countless leeches swam toward him. With a pulse of his Spiritual Power, they were all instantly killed.

These were small-toothed mountain leeches, creatures with suckers at both ends. The front sucker housed their mouth, which contained three Y-shaped fleshy jaws, each lined with a row of tiny teeth along its ridge.

The bodies of these leeches were incredibly soft, capable of changing shape—growing larger or smaller, thicker or thinner. Even if you wore clothes, they could squeeze through the very weave of the fabric and burrow into your skin like a needle. They were also amphibious, living in the mountain forests and swimming in the water.

But Li Xiang was protected by his Spiritual Power. There wasn’t a single flaw in his defense, and the leeches couldn’t get near him.

’These conditions are brutal. This is no place for ordinary people. Back home is much better, with its beautiful mountains and clear waters.’ The mountains near Li Xiang’s home didn’t have these wretched things. While you might find some leeches in the paddy fields, there were never this many, and they certainly weren’t this disgusting and aggressive.

The last time Yao Yao had been planting rice seedlings in the paddies, she had only been bitten by a few small ones. But here, they were a dense, writhing mass. If Li Xiang didn’t have the protection of his Spiritual Power, they would have swarmed him and sucked him dry.

Li Xiang changed into a clean set of clothes, donned his Black Mountain Profound Armor, and continued to clear the mountain. By the end of the night, he had harvested over two thousand Achievement Points and more than one hundred and eighty stalks of Spiritual Medicine, bringing his balance to over sixty-nine thousand points.

「The next morning.」

He arrived in the Pakang Region of Kachin State, Northern Myanmar.

This was the world’s largest jadeite mining area, responsible for 95% of the global supply.

Li Xiang appeared on a barren mountain, silently gazing ahead.

There were no forests here, no vegetation, almost no green to be seen. The landscape was scarred with pits of all sizes, barren hills, and desolate wastes. In the distance, countless excavators roared as they worked. A ceaseless stream of dump trucks moved back and forth, hauling away loads of jade ore, earth, and slag.

The ore was trucked to warehouses outside the mining area, while the earth and slag were simply dumped nearby.

RUMBLE... As a dump truck’s bed rose and tilted, its load of "garbage" tumbled out.

Before the "garbage" had even finished spilling out, before the earth and stones had come to a rest, a dense swarm of Scavengers, like ants, surged forward, crowding onto the steep slope.

Not far away, another dump truck arrived. As rocks and mud tumbled down the slope, another group of waiting Scavengers rushed forward.

A large crowd of Scavengers waited below every dump site, their eyes taut with tension, ready to rush in and grab what they could.

The "garbage hills" were soft and steep, making them difficult to climb. A man at the front of the pack failed to dodge in time and was struck by a millstone-sized boulder rolling down from a dump truck. He let out a piercing scream, and he and the massive rock tumbled down the high slope one after the other.

Many people dodged out of the way, then ran down after them.

At first, Li Xiang thought they were rushing to help the man. He had given them too much credit.

At the bottom of the slope, they all ran past the injured man—some even trampled right over his body. They were all rushing for the millstone-sized boulder!

What did the Scavengers scavenge for? They were picking through the waste, of course, looking for scraps of jade or small, rough stones the mining operation had missed.

A boulder that large... what if it contained jadeite? If it did, whoever claimed it would be rich!

A fight broke out among the group, and in the end, a fierce-looking man emerged victorious, claiming the boulder for himself.

He brandished his pickaxe to drive back the others, then ran off clutching the boulder.

’With a haul this big, why bother with other stones? The priority is to sell it, and fast. If I’m too slow and the mine guards spot me, they’ll confiscate it for sure.’

The man was ecstatic. Though the boulder was incredibly heavy, he clutched it tightly to his frail body and charged down the hill.

Many Scavengers watched him with envy. Among them were women and children, who naturally lacked the strength to fight for such prizes. Their faces and bodies were caked with grime, their exhaustion plain to see, but they forced their spirits up and continued to swing their small hoes, digging furiously through the slag in hopes of finding smaller raw stones.

From within the crowd, one Scavenger let out a cold sneer and quietly began to follow the man carrying the large boulder.

This man was an "Eye Liner," an informant planted among the Scavengers by the mine. His job was to "plug the leaks."

They ignored the occasional small, worthless stone that was overlooked, but they couldn’t let a large boulder—or even a small stone of high quality—get away. They would never let a Scavenger get that lucky.

He followed him all the way to a deserted area, then quickened his pace to catch up. He pulled out a pistol, killed the true Scavenger with a single shot, and took the raw stone.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Li Xiang had witnessed the entire scene. With a flash, he appeared before the "Eye Liner."

"Who... who are you? You can’t just come in here!"

Seeing the mysterious, black-armored figure appear, the fake "Scavenger" panicked. He raised his pistol to fire, but a stream of Sword Qi from Li Xiang pierced his throat.

Li Xiang sighed softly, tossed the pistol and the raw stone into his storage, and continued on. He didn’t venture deeper, choosing instead to observe secretly from the outskirts.

He was casing the joint, trying to pinpoint where the mine stored its jadeite. He would return at night to "raid" the place.

He felt no guilt about robbing jadeite mines controlled by military factions or drug lords.

At the foot of a distant hill, he saw rows upon rows of tents. Curious, Li Xiang stealthily made his way over to take a look.

These areas weren’t for processing stones; they were "shops." But they sold more than just food and water. Mostly, they sold syringes and needles—the pre-filled kind.

Scavengers and miners were inside, resting, eating, drinking, and shooting up.

People weren’t machines, after all. They needed to rest, eat, sleep, and relieve themselves. They had to work in shifts.

To Li Xiang’s surprise, these mining camp "commissaries" used US Dollars directly, not the Myanmar Kyat.

Given the situation in Myanmar, the Myanmar Kyat was naturally worthless. US Dollars were the preferred currency.

He watched as a grimy woman handed over a single US Dollar and received a syringe. Then, she blissfully began to "enjoy" herself.

Another man handed over two US Dollars, and the dose in his syringe was larger.

Others couldn’t afford a syringe and had to settle for buying one or two small red, green, or black pills.

A burst of heavy gunfire erupted in the distance. Li Xiang flickered, reappearing on a barren hill. Using a boulder for cover, he peered toward the source of the commotion.

In a vast lake formed by mining excavations, he saw more than thirty people swimming desperately for the far shore. On a small hill overlooking the water, a dozen guards armed with rifles and submachine guns were firing relentlessly. Someone even threw a grenade. Soon, all the swimmers were dead, and dark red clouds bloomed in the water.

Li Xiang shook his head. He couldn’t tell if they were escaping miners or poachers trying to steal jadeite.