Late-Night Corpse Collection, All Was Well

"Boom—!"

Just as that dull, thunderous impact exploded without warning, the pain Shen Fan had expected never came.

Shen Fan felt cold sweat instantly soak his back, his heart leaping into his throat.

When he slowly opened his eyes and looked toward the source of the sound, still shaken, he saw a ghostlike figure radiating an eerie aura pinning Baishitong fiercely to the ground, its hands tearing at him again and again like claws.

Not far away, an aged, hunched figure was hurrying over.

Though the figure's steps were unsteady, he carried an aura that could not be underestimated.

"Old Man Duan?"

Shen Fan's eyes widened as he cried out in disbelief.

Old Man Duan struck with ruthless savagery, moving so quickly it made one's tongue click in amazement.

With a sharp dagger in hand, he closed in like a ghost and viciously stabbed toward Baishitong's eye.

Terror instantly filled Baishitong's face as he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Nether Corpse Sect!"

"Squelch—!"

Blood sprayed in all directions like a fountain. Baishitong struggled a few times before collapsing like a heap of mud, never moving again.

Old Man Duan's hands danced like nimble performers, controlling the ghostlike figure as it swiftly rose to its feet. Then it raced toward the depths of the forest, vanishing into the night in the blink of an eye.

"Kid, the Enforcement Team will be here soon. Clean up and leave quickly!"

Old Man Duan's somewhat hoarse yet commanding voice came from the woods. Before his words had even faded, he had vanished without a trace.

Shen Fan was left standing there alone in a daze, as though trapped in a dream, his mind completely blank.

"That old man actually ran off!"

Shen Fan had thought he would see his good deed through to the end and stay to handle this mess. Who would have thought he would simply run away?

After a brief moment of shock, Shen Fan snapped back to his senses and quickly approached the two corpses whose heads had been blasted to pulp.

He took a deep breath, formed hand seals with both hands, and muttered an incantation as he used the Flame Serpent Art to burn them where they lay.

While the corpses burned, Shen Fan hurried over to the bodies of Baishitong and Biaozi.

Just as he was about to use the Flame Serpent Art again and destroy these two bodies as well, Old Man Duan's terrifying corpse puppet, as savage as an evil ghost, suddenly flashed through his mind.

He abruptly remembered that he had come to the market in the first place to buy demonic beasts for refining corpse puppets.

And weren't cultivators the finest materials for refining corpse puppets?

At that thought, Shen Fan looked around. Once he confirmed that no one was nearby, he immediately dragged the two corpses into the woods beside him.

After searching through the forest, he finally found a deep pit and tossed the bodies into it without hesitation.

He then carefully cleaned away the bloodstains nearby, buried the two corpses he had already burned beneath sand and soil, and only then hurried away from this place of trouble.

After all that, Shen Fan was already panting for breath, drenched in sweat, his legs growing weak.

When he returned to the Waste Elixir Chamber, he locked the door behind him. Unable to hold on any longer, he collapsed to the ground and gasped for air.

It took a long while before he recovered. He picked up a water scoop and gulped down two scoops of water before feeling slightly better.

Everything that had happened just now had been thrilling and terrifying, like a nightmare.

Looking back on it now, Shen Fan could not help secretly admiring himself.

With only the offensive spell Flame Serpent Art, surrounded by two Qi Refining Stage second-layer cultivators, one Qi Refining Stage third-layer cultivator, and one Qi Refining Stage fourth-layer cultivator, he had actually managed to counterkill three of them.

Even he found it difficult to believe the potential he had unleashed at the brink of life and death.

However, when he thought of the corpses that had yet to be dealt with, Shen Fan became deeply worried again.

Would the bodies be discovered?

And if they were discovered, would the investigation lead back to him?

He immediately began reviewing every detail of the incident in his mind.

First, no one knew when he had left the market.

And those men would not have told anyone that they were hunting him down.

So from that angle, he was safe.

Second, the scene could only prove that it had been caused by a powerful fire-attribute spell, and its might far exceeded that of the Flame Serpent Art.

Thus, his widely known weak Flame Serpent Art had instead become his protective umbrella.

Beyond that, after thinking carefully, Shen Fan did not seem to have left behind any detailed clues at the scene.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and slowly rise to his feet.

At that moment, Shen Fan realized that his clothes had long since been soaked through with sweat, clinging tightly to his body in unbearable discomfort.

He took a cool shower at room temperature—forty degrees—changed into clean clothes, and began cooking.

To be safe, he hid away everything in the Waste Elixir Chamber that might arouse suspicion.

If Enforcement disciples came looking and found anything suspicious here, that would be troublesome.

By midday, Shen Fan had no mind to cultivate. He simply sat there quietly and waited until deep into the night.

The night was deep, and all was silent.

Shen Fan changed into black clothes, slipped out like a ghost, went down the mountain by a small path, and arrived at the site of the earlier incident.

The night was black as ink, and he could barely see by the faint moonlight.

Shen Fan did not dare light a lamp and began searching around in the dark.

After entering the small forest, Shen Fan felt his way forward based on his memories from the daytime.

The next moment, he suddenly tripped over something soft and fell to the ground, pitching forward.

A head with only one eye immediately entered his sight.

Shen Fan sucked in a sharp breath, braced his hands against the ground, and scrambled backward again and again, his heart leaping into his throat.

Once he had calmed down somewhat, Shen Fan looked around and carefully listened for any movement. After confirming there was none, he hurriedly controlled his spiritual energy output and cast the Flame Serpent Art.

Firelight instantly illuminated the small forest. The two corpses lay piled in the pit, their positions exactly the same as they had been during the day.

At the sight, Shen Fan immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness!

The corpses had not been discovered.

Then Shen Fan grabbed one corpse in each hand and headed straight for the Waste Elixir Chamber.

The two men were already dead, reduced to cold corpses. Unlike living Qi Refining Stage cultivators, they were no longer nimble and could not move.

Now, they were merely more than three hundred jin of flesh.

For Shen Fan, a Qi Refining Stage third-layer cultivator, carrying them was effortless.

It was already deep in the night, and Shen Fan brought the corpses to the Waste Elixir Chamber without encountering any obstacles.

However, he did not relax. Instead, he went out again and, starting from the scene of the incident, thoroughly cleaned away every trace and bloodstain along the route before returning to the Waste Elixir Chamber.

Even after returning to the Waste Elixir Chamber, Shen Fan did not rest.

He immediately took out the ingredients for the Corpse Refining Art that he had purchased during the day and began carefully preserving the corpses.

Afterward, he placed the corpses in the storage room, hanging them in midair to prevent them from being burned together with the other waste.

By storing them here, if anyone came, he could burn them immediately and leave behind no traces.

After finishing all this, dawn was nearly breaking.

Shen Fan immediately took the Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl from beneath his bed and looked into it with eager anticipation.

Inside the Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl, a pile of fresh medicinal ingredients filled the broken bowl, giving off waves of medicinal fragrance.

"It really works!"

Shen Fan was instantly overjoyed, excitement glittering in his eyes.

These ingredients were what remained from the double batch of Corpse Refining Art ingredients Shen Fan had bought at the market.

He had placed all the different kinds of ingredients into the Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl.

He had never expected that after one night, every kind of medicinal ingredient would truly be duplicated.

Judging by the amount, Shen Fan realized that the quantity he could duplicate was likely based on the size of the Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl.