Corpse Burying Under the Scorching Sun

The scorching sun beat down, humid and stifling.

This was the usual weather in the forests of the Southern Border, making one feel uncomfortable.

Under the searing heat of the sun, in a barren patch of land where weeds struggled to grow and trees were scarce, Du En and five other people were digging pits.

He was eighteen years old this year, standing over seven feet tall. He was dressed completely, with a thick cloth wrapped around his hair and covering his nose and mouth. Only his exposed eyebrows and eyes looked quite ordinary, but his eyes remained calm and focused even as sweat poured down his face.

His movements were always precise, showing no signs of fatigue or distress from the heat.

With that, he used the steel shovel in his hand to dig out clumps of earth.

The soil he dug up was mostly grayish-white, and occasionally, he would unearth strange, sticky, jet-black clumps.

When these black clumps were tossed aside, they would directly disperse, turning into a mass of dark, ominous smoke.

Under the sunlight, this ominous smoke quickly dissipated.

But immediately after, a strong, foul stench would erupt.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

"Damn it, this is no job for humans!"

Someone nearby couldn't help but cough violently, as if their lungs were about to burst, yet they dared not remove the thick cloth from their face.

Others cursed incessantly, their voices filled with resentment but also helplessness, as they could only continue their work.

"Almost there."

After shoveling out another clump of soil and piling it up, Du En looked at the shallow pit that had taken shape. He stuck the shovel into the pile of dirt and said calmly.

Wei Ming, the newcomer who had just started working with him today, stopped his movements upon hearing this. He used his shovel to prop himself up, breathing rapidly through the thick, damp cloth as he took a short rest.

Du En said nothing, merely turning his head to look at the row of people lying on the ground on the other side, being scorched by the sun and emitting a foul odor.

Or rather, a row of corpses.

Their names were unknown, and their causes of death varied.

Suicide, murder, exhaustion from labor, killed by demonic beasts, harmed by rogue cultivators...

In short, these were cultivators in life. Although they didn't even have straw mats to wrap them now, they had been specifically gathered and transported here for burial.

Burying corpses.

This was the job of Du En and his companions.

A lowly profession!

The working environment was harsh, the pay was meager, and they were looked down upon.

But this was assigned by the border town, and as long as nothing unexpected happened, they would do this until they died.

Whether in his previous life or this one, Du En never wanted to live like this.

But there was no other way; this world was just like this.

The immortal sects controlled the world, raising mortals, selectively nurturing them, and eventually producing generation after generation of people with spiritual roots, then having them cultivate to squeeze out more value.

This was why he cultivated, why he relocated to this border town in the Southern Border, and then was assigned this job, starting to dig pits and bury bodies. It had been about a month and a half.

He had to work every day, burying dozens of bodies daily, never fewer.

Sometimes, someone who had been working with him yesterday would be lying on the ground today, buried by his own hands.

Therefore, Du En, who had only been doing this for a month and a half, could already be considered an old hand at burying corpses here.

"Let's continue."

"Okay."

The two of them walked to a corpse together.

It was a female corpse, her clothes tattered and covered in claw marks. Half of her face was bitten off, while the remaining half was still somewhat intact, appearing delicate and elegant. However, her expression was frozen, and her wide, dead eyes held the despair and unwillingness of her final moments.

Du En lifted the female corpse's shoulders, while Wei Ming, the newcomer, went to lift her legs.

Facing the half-damaged face, Du En's gaze remained unchanged, while Wei Ming's eyes darted away, afraid to look at the rotten, foul-smelling wounds.

"Be careful."

Du En reminded him.

Because burying corpses was no easy task. Setting aside those who died by suicide or exhaustion, the others had died in various ways. Who knew what might still be lingering on them?

For example, those who died of poisoning might still have residual toxins. If one accidentally touched them, the consequences would be no different from what they were carrying now.

"Yes, yes, I know."

Wei Ming, who had been reminded, only replied vaguely, his gaze unfocused, still hesitant to look at the wounds.

Seeing this, Du En said no more.

Fortunately, this female corpse, killed by a demonic beast, had no issues. She was placed flat into the pit, covered with a thin layer of soil, and considered properly buried.

Then, they continued digging the pit and preparing to bury the next body.

As they were moving the next corpse, an accident occurred.

Crack~

As soon as he lifted it, Du En sharply heard a faint cracking sound.

There's a problem!

"Slow..."

He was about to tell the new guy on his team to put it down slowly and gently, but it was already too late.

With a snap, the corpse actually broke in half, and the rotten, foul-smelling corpse fluid, with semi-liquefied organs floating within, gushed out, splashing and splattering all over the ground.

"Whoa, cough cough cough!"

"Damn it!"

"Back, gag~"

The extreme stench erupted and spread, directly scaring away the Corpse Buriers.

And the two at the center weren't so lucky.

Du En, who had stepped back to avoid the splash, was doing alright. Compared to this even more disgusting scene, he had seen worse, so at this moment, he merely narrowed his eyes, held his breath, and felt a bit nauseous.

But the newcomer, Wei Ming, couldn't take it at all. His eyes rolled back, and he fainted from the stench.

Fortunately, he fell backward and didn't fall forward into the corpse fluid, or he would have been incredibly unlucky.

However, in his current state, it could actually be considered fortunate...

Du En shook his head slightly in his heart, then observed carefully, confirming it was just a foul smell and nothing else messy. He was about to walk over and drag the other person away.

Just as he took a step, he noticed something seemed to be floating in that pool of semi-liquefied organs.

So, as he walked closer, he suddenly reached out and, without anyone noticing, scooped it up.

Then, dragging Wei Ming, he came to a rare strange tree in this barren land and leaned him against the meager shade.

After doing this, he took the opportunity, while no one else was paying attention, to look at what he had casually scooped up.

It was a small bag, made of some kind of soft leather. If Du En wasn't mistaken, this kind of leather was very resistant to acid corrosion.

So, it had been hidden in the corpse's stomach before?

He opened it to find three Low-grade Spirit Stones and a folded note inside.

It was equivalent to his month's wages. This was truly an unexpected gain!

Normally, Corpse Buriers didn't get opportunities like this to pick through the belongings of the dead.

Because after the stages of searching bodies, collecting bodies, and transporting bodies, it was only then that the miserable Corpse Buriers came to bury them.

Du En's gaze flickered. He re-tied the small bag, not caring about the filth still clinging to it, and stuffed it directly into his clothes. Then he turned back, looking at the scene filled with stench, and didn't immediately go back to continue working.

He wanted to wait for the smell to dissipate a bit, then wake Wei Ming up.

During this break, as his thoughts moved, a box appeared before his eyes, with lines of ethereal text.

[Age: 18/91]
[Spiritual Root: Low-grade]
[Cultivation Level: Early Qi Refining (12/100)]
[Cultivation Technique: Yellow Earth Technique (Beginner's Practice 9/10)]
[Spells: None]
[Divine Abilities: None]
[Hundred Arts: None]