Action While Injured

Elegant Courtyard, Corpse Affairs Hall, in front of the pavilion.

A small bag flew out from a fifth-floor window.

Upon seeing it, Du En didn't need to think twice. The straightforward and decisive manner of the event told him there was definitely a trap.

Upon closer inspection and sensing, he immediately relied on his breakthrough Cultivation Technique to discover that a trace of hidden Magic Power was attached to the bag!

If he didn't catch it, the bag would fall, the Spirit Stones would surely shatter, and he might not even be able to avoid it!

If he caught it, he would be impacted by this Magic Power. Even if he didn't die, he'd likely be crippled on the spot!

They really hate me, huh...

Du En's brows twitched slightly, but he wasn't too surprised. He then raised both hands and chose to catch it.

"Hmph..."

With a muffled groan, his legs bent first, his knees creaking. They trembled, but he refused to kneel. In the end, he braced himself and began to retreat repeatedly.

Blood seeped from the corners of his mouth, staining his clean clothes. His face turned deathly pale, and his aura instantly became chaotic and weak. Magic Power was urgently summoned to confront the intruders that were injuring his internal organs and invading his meridians, intending to destroy them together.

Even so, until his Magic Power was depleted, he only managed to neutralize eighty percent, barely forcing the remainder out of his meridians. After that, he completely relied on the physical body nourished by the Cultivation Technique and Spirit Cuisine to directly withstand the damage.

Fortunately, the Yellow Earth Technique he cultivated had no other outstanding features besides its earth-like resilience and toughness.

Therefore, although he was seriously injured, he didn't suffer any lingering internal damage.

By the time he stabilized himself, Du En hadn't spilled a single drop of blood on the ground.

He Bo wasn't surprised either, as he naturally wouldn't allow Du En to spit blood and stain the courtyard.

Doing so would not only offend his eyes but also easily give those with ulterior motives an excuse. If it were secretly reported, it would harm his impression with the upper management.

Therefore, the target of this Corpse Affairs Steward was the internal organs, the meridians, and the Dantian!

Injuries in these areas were difficult to heal and could ruin one's foundation!

Not to mention that Du En lacked medical supplies and his working environment was extremely harsh. If the malice were to succeed, he would likely never be able to break through in his life, only burying corpses forever, or perhaps one day suffer an accident and be buried himself!

The malicious intent was evident.

"Hmph! This is the consequence of not knowing your place!"

He Bo didn't care at all that he had just ruined someone's future.

He was just an ant that could be crushed at will. When he died, he'd just find another.

It might even improve his mood!

Therefore, he didn't bother to investigate Du En, who had already turned and left.

"Cough..."

On the way back, the surroundings were empty. Du En swallowed a mouthful of phlegm and couldn't help but cough lightly.

As he walked, blood began to drip onto the ground.

Rumble...

The sound of a cart wheel approached.

Anyone still remaining in the shed area at this time was naturally no ordinary person.

Du En looked back and saw the other person with a somewhat bitter expression – the familiar Corpse Transporter, Xu Ran.

"Du En, seeing your state, I knew it wasn't appropriate to ask for wages today."

Having to deal with He Bo, the Corpse Affairs Steward, everyone involved, from the upstream corpse collection to the midstream corpse transportation and downstream burial, had suffered from the steward's malice.

The supervisor didn't care about this matter. Xu Ran had originally wanted to ask for his wages, but upon seeing Du En emerge looking miserable, he was naturally startled. After hesitating for a moment, he chose to come another day.

That's why he caught up to Du En now.

"Then you'd better hurry. It's the twenty-eighth today, and there are two days left before the end of the month."

"Sigh, who said otherwise! It's better on your side, fewer people, and you're responsible. Like us, our boss never shows up, just fawning over the supervisors all day."

Xu Ran's face was filled with bitterness, and he could only sigh. Then, he remembered something and said, "Right, I heard the Blood Eagle Gang has started collecting protection fees again these past few days. I guess they're no longer entangled with the Iron Hand Gang. You'd best be careful on your side."

Fellow sufferers, he couldn't help but offer a reminder.

Du En nodded slightly, his voice a little shaky. "You're warning me too late. They came to find us this morning."

"Ah? Then your... sigh, fate!"

Xu Ran, quickly understanding the situation, sighed heavily and lamented.

After that, the two said no more. Xu Ran simply signaled for Du En to get into the cart and drove him to the intersection. Since he couldn't go further, they bid farewell and went their separate ways.

A while later, Du En returned to his small courtyard alone.

He took out the stove, set up the clay pot, grabbed the medicinal herbs, and added the coarse rice, starting to cook.

Since this coarse rice porridge didn't require constant attention, he sat cross-legged in front of the stove, silently circulating his Qi and Refining, using his Magic Power to heal his injuries.

After completing one grand circulation and stabilizing his internal injuries, he smelled the sweet aroma and opened his eyes. He picked up the nearly cooked Three Talents Porridge, still hot, and ate it in large mouthfuls.

Ginseng replenishes Qi, goji berries nourish the body, and wild red dates enrich the blood... This Three Talents Porridge isn't ideal for cultivation, but it's excellent for recuperation.

After finishing this pot of porridge, he would circulate his cultivation technique to promote the absorption of the cuisine's energy.

He circulated his technique for two major cycles, fully absorbing the cuisine's energy and then channeling the newly refined Magic Power into it as well.

His wounds finally healed to the point where they no longer affected strenuous activity.

"It's basically within expectations."

He glanced up at the sky; it was currently afternoon.

Du En's expression remained as calm as still water. He continued to add ingredients to the clay pot to cook the Three Talents Porridge. He then took out another set of clay pots and stoves, mixing and adding the detoxifying herbs he had recently intentionally blended with Gather and Appraise, according to the ratios he had tested, and simply boiled them with water.

A bitter, sour medicinal aroma rose with the boiling, permeating the surroundings and extending beyond the courtyard walls.

Having finished this task, he quietly left the small courtyard.

A clear, cloudless day is the perfect time to kill!

Moving stealthily, he arrived outside the shed district.

Spiritual fields, medicinal gardens, animal pens, fish ponds, and other such places were scattered like stars within the primeval mountains and forests of the Southern Border. Countless low-level cultivators toiled there day after day.

Lu Xiang was naturally among them, working in a spiritual field.

During his previous reconnaissance, Du En had taken the opportunity to learn about some of the people from the two gangs. Lu Xiang, an old acquaintance of Luo Heng, was naturally on that list.

He strode directly towards the area, pausing to observe as he got closer.

His primary focus was on the overseers.

These overseers had a minimum Cultivation Level of late Qi Refining and were assigned by the border city. Their strength was passable, and he needed to be cautious.

After confirming that the overseers in the area were idle and inattentive, Du En made his move, creeping to the edge of the spiritual field, into Lu Xiang's line of sight.

"This kid... he's quite quick. He managed to gather enough Spirit Stones already?"

Lu Xiang, who was working as an old farmer in the spiritual field with a dagger strapped to his back, looked up and saw Du En, dressed in blood-stained clothes. He quickly understood what was happening.

"Heh, he totally deserves it!"

"But then again, the quota I gave them was a bit low. They've already gathered enough in half a day. Hmm, I can't just let it go at that. I'll take twenty now and make him gather another twenty for me!"

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Lu Xiang grew restless. He immediately looked up and called out to an overseer, saying he needed to use the restroom.

The lax overseer, lounging in the shade of a tree, merely waved his hand casually, signaling for him to go and come back quickly, paying no attention at all.

Thus, Lu Xiang was easily lured away from the spiritual field by Du En.