The story branches in two directions.
By afternoon, the slack-off foremen who had skipped work gradually discovered that people under their command had actually died.
Fighting to the death after returning home at night was one thing, but daring to kill someone in broad daylight was practically showing them no respect at all!
Put more seriously, it meant they had been negligent and derelict in their duties!
Thus, after trying and failing to track down the killer, the foremen they encountered along the way made a quick comparison of notes, and their spearhead immediately turned toward the Blood Eagle Gang and the Iron Hand Gang!
They couldn't exactly report this to the managers, could they?
Regardless of whether the truth was really a feud between gangs, they absolutely couldn't let the managers think they were negligent and incompetent!
So you had better give us an explanation!
An explanation?
What explanation!
The leaders of the two gangs actually wanted to loudly berate these foremen who were taking advantage of the chaos to shift the blame.
But when they saw the cold, condescending gazes of these peers of the same cultivation level and realized the gap in their statuses and positions, they could only beg for mercy and plead for leniency in the end, bowing and scraping as they offered sufficient apologies before barely sending them away.
As soon as the foremen left, their expressions changed at once. They became especially grim and ordered their subordinates to investigate.
The details were quickly gathered. They weren't fools, and they immediately reached their own conclusion.
"It must have been the Green Robe Gang!"
Six people had died in multiple places and at multiple sites within a short time, exactly three from each side. The intent to provoke conflict was glaringly obvious, and the only gang nearby with the strength to accomplish this was the Green Robe Gang, which had watched from the sidelines before!
These three gangs had gathered close to one another. They had always been fighting over each other's profits and were hostile toward one another.
Not long ago, the Blood Eagle Gang and the Iron Hand Gang had even fought a battle. Clearly, the Green Robe Gang had decided there was an opportunity to exploit and didn't want things to settle down, which was why they had pulled off this stunt today.
It would also make a group of foremen grow disgusted with them. It truly killed several birds with one stone!
"What vicious bastards!"
"But our people can't have died for nothing. As long as the other side submits and apologizes first, we'll join hands to deal with the Green Robe Gang!"
The two leaders arrived at the same thought without consultation.
Although the current situation was very likely the work of a third party, who could say for certain that someone from one of the two gangs hadn't plotted this meticulously on purpose, hoping to mislead the other side?
Therefore, only if the other side submitted first and voluntarily accepted the position of second-in-command could they speak frankly and openly. Only then would there be any chance of shaking hands, making peace, and cooperating!
But how could either gang possibly do that now?
Thus, the situation became deadlocked among the upper echelons.
Down in the Underlying Layer, however, the matter had already spread!
With the foremen deliberately concealing the truth and fanning the flames, ordinary gang members all came to believe that the other side had struck first. Thus, as soon as work ended that evening, those who encountered one another and couldn't agree on a single word immediately broke into conflict.
It was like pouring oil on a fire. The conflict between the two gangs, which had only just begun to ease, was once again ignited into roaring flames.
This time, it was no longer the minor squabbling of before.
The cries of fighting and killing spread like a wildfire, soon reaching the small courtyard of the corpse buriers.
What was going on?
The six men, who had been waiting with gloomy faces for corpses to arrive so they could collect protection fees, all revealed astonishment.
Then, when Du En saw that Wei Ming wanted to go out and take a look, Wei Ming immediately volunteered. "Boss, you just sit here. I'll go take a look!"
Du En nodded slightly, then looked toward Ning Caize.
Wei Ming was still too green. Adding someone with seniority would be just right.
Old Ning said nothing either. He rose with a light cough and went outside with Wei Ming to investigate the exact situation.
Among those who remained, Du En lowered his eyes calmly. His composure was rock-solid, carrying the bearing of a great general, and he instantly steadied the distracted thoughts of the other three.
In truth, he himself was rather concerned and puzzled by the cries of fighting and killing in the distance.
He had wanted to provoke conflict between the two gangs, and he had also considered dragging the foremen into the mess. After all, killing someone during the day made it impossible to avoid those fellows.
But his main purpose had actually been to shift attention.
He hadn't intended to shift it toward the Green Robe Gang, but toward the Evil Cultivators!
He still remembered that sinister half-corpse from before.
And in Nanmo Border City, whenever there was some strange unsolved case, it was never wrong to pin it on the Evil Cultivators. So perhaps he could use this incident to make the border city authorities take action and hurry to deal with that Evil Cultivator—or those Evil Cultivators.
An open spear was easy to dodge, but a hidden arrow was hard to guard against!
Those Evil Cultivators lurking in concealment were, in a sense, actually the greatest threat!
"But judging from things now, that probably won't happen."
Although there were cries of fighting and killing outside, this wasn't the sort of fighting and killing that meant the border city had mobilized.
If the managers and foremen had come out to encircle and force the Evil Cultivators out into the open, the situation would have been much more intense. There would also have been someone shouting orders for all idle outsiders to remain at home, along with other such measures.
Du En pondered as he waited.
After a while, Ning Caize's cough came from outside.
"Slow down, slow down. Cough, cough, cough... Little Wei, slow down!"
Accompanied by that helpless voice, Wei Ming came sprinting back with Ning Caize on his back. The moment he entered the courtyard, he dropped Ning Caize down, turned around, shut the courtyard gate tight, and even shoved miscellaneous items over to block it.
"What happened? What happened?"
"They're fighting! They're fighting!"
Faced with the questions, Wei Ming was agitated and tongue-tied. "They started fighting in the Shack District. There are so many people, and a whole pile of corpses is lying on the ground..."
"Calm down. Tell us slowly."
As Du En spoke, he gestured for the others to help.
In a flurry, they secured the courtyard gate, then grabbed shovels, chopping knives, and axes as weapons. They gathered around Du En and stayed in the courtyard.
Ning Caize was still coughing. From beneath his bed, he dragged out a heavy shield and propped it horizontally above his head.
"The Blood Eagle Gang and the Iron Hand Gang have started fighting each other again. This time it's a complete mess. They started in the narrow spaces between the shacks, and both sides keep calling in more people. More and more are joining!"
Only then did Wei Ming have the chance to clearly describe what he had seen.
"Cough, cough... At first, it should have been nothing more than sporadic arguments between individuals. Then someone struck first, and things snowballed until they were completely out of control. As for the cause, it seems one side killed people from the other side during the day."
Ning Caize added, "It was probably that accident during the day that made these two gangs, which had both been unwilling to fight again, change their minds and clash once more in haste. Now, the worry is that they might muddle through the fight and end up coming this way."
The previous battle between the two gangs had taken place outside the Shack District and had seemed fairly controllable. But this time, a small clash had grown into a large one in the narrow Shack District, scattered across multiple locations. Containing it would be no simple matter.
Honestly, Du En was somewhat surprised as well.
They had really been provoked into fighting so easily?
Were both gangs made up of idiots?
Couldn't they see such an obvious frame-up?
Hmm, perhaps I shouldn't think of it that way. In that case, someone must be secretly fanning the flames...
He pondered this, then said, "Don't be too nervous. Stay on guard until midnight. If it still hasn't spread to our side by then, go back and sleep."
"Boss, how can you still sleep at a time like this?"
"There'll be plenty of work tomorrow. If we don't sleep well tonight, we'll have to sleep in the wasteland tomorrow night."
"Oh, right. Damn it! These bastards cause trouble for people while alive, and they still do it after they're dead!"
Wei Ming came back to himself and cursed angrily, clearly unhappy.
The others didn't look pleased either.
To boost morale, Du En took out the bag containing the spirit stones.
"Since this accident happened, Lu Xiang probably won't have any time to come collect this month's protection fees either. Here, three for each person. Take them for now."
Each person received three Low-grade Spirit Stones.
Whatever happened afterward, at least for now, they clung tightly to them, and a fierce resolve rose in their hearts.
Whoever dared to snatch them would get what was coming to them!
"Spirit stones! I finally got to touch the real thing. Boss, what else can these do besides buying things?"
It was Wei Ming's first time receiving his wages, and he was intensely curious. If the situation had been different, he would probably have been wondering about the most comfortable way to fondle them.
"Besides serving as currency, the pure spiritual energy within can be used for cultivation. There is a specialized Spirit Guiding Technique for that, or you can crush one directly and let the spiritual energy disperse. But that makes it easy for the energy to dissipate and go to waste. Besides, these stones are very hard and tough. You can't just crush them casually."
"I see... Could I bite one open and swallow it? That way, nothing would go to waste, right?"
"You can. It's just that you won't be able to digest the shell, and in the end it'll be like putting a knife to your own backside."
Wei Ming's expression turned somewhat strange as he listened, clearly imagining the scene.
Thus, he silently put away the spirit stones and stopped asking further questions.
Still, everyone's mood eased somewhat, and they were no longer quite so tense and nervous.
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