Making a Killing

Under the cover of night, the chaotic battle continued.

Suddenly, a voice rang out, echoing in the ears of everyone present.

"Stop."

Flat and indifferent, leaving no room for doubt.

It was as if someone had pressed the stop button. The uproar of the two Bully Gangs abruptly ceased.

A steward had grown annoyed by the commotion and spoken up.

With nothing more than a single word sent through the air, he had made the two Bully Gangs, long accustomed to running amok, stop in embarrassment and rapidly retreat to their respective sides.

Because the terrain was divided and chaotic, the two gang leaders had initially been unable to control the situation. They first breathed a sigh of relief, then tensed up again. Without paying the slightest attention to what was happening at the scene, they crawled and stumbled all the way to outside Elegant Courtyard to beg for forgiveness.

No one dared touch the corpses strewn across the ground.

The night gradually deepened, and then dawn began to break.

Only then did the corpse haulers hurry over. They did not dare delay in the slightest, tossing the corpses straight onto their handcarts before lowering their heads and hauling them toward the wasteland.

As for the corpse buriers, they had naturally long since lowered their guard, put away their things, and returned to their rooms, carrying their various thoughts with them as they either slept or cultivated.

Before the sky had even brightened, Du En emerged from cultivation, rose, and knocked on the doors to wake everyone.

There was a lot of work today, so they could not take their time. They had to arrive at the Corpse Burial Wasteland on schedule.

"Boss, why don't you rest for another day?"

"No need. There's a lot of work."

His words were concise and to the point, making everyone faintly breathe a sigh of relief.

It was not that the others did not respect Du En. It was simply the truth: there was a lot of work today. They could do without one Wei Ming, but they absolutely could not do without Du En, their undisputed mainstay.

The six of them set out early and reached the wasteland right on time, just happening to pass the corpse haulers' convoy.

Neither side spoke. Everyone hurried along, with only Wei Ming taking a few curious glances.

It was his first time seeing this convoy.

The corpses currently piled up in the wasteland also matched the scale of the procession.

A total of one hundred and sixty-eight corpses!

At least one hundred and twenty of them had been from the two gangs. They had truly suffered a devastating blow, which showed just how fierce last night's battle had been. No wonder the leaders of the two gangs had been unable to control the situation for a time.

Yet even after they had fought until their eyes turned red, once the steward had shouted for them to stop, both sides had immediately withdrawn and ceased fighting, not daring to hesitate or delay in the slightest.

The steward's might was plain to see!

Du En stopped before the corpses covering the ground. His head and face were wrapped up, leaving only his eyes and brows exposed, which narrowed slightly.

"Everyone, it's finally our turn to make a fortune."

"Huh?"

The others were stunned.

If Du En had not said anything, they would not have realized it. But now that he had pointed it out, they looked over the corpses and immediately noticed that there were no signs of anyone having searched them.

Indeed, no one had plundered their remaining possessions.

The people from the two gangs only wanted to stay as far away as possible. The other unrelated idlers did not dare take even a step closer. Even the corpse haulers had treated the bodies like scalding-hot potatoes, dumping them in the wasteland before running away without looking back.

Again, it was all because of the steward's might!

Ning Caize's heart was pounding hard, and his vision darkened. He stammered, "Du En, you're not... joking, are you?"

"Why would I be joking?"

Du En looked toward the others. They, too, were cowed by the steward's might and only wanted to bury the corpses as quickly as possible.

"A chance like this won't come again once it's gone. This is a hard-won opportunity to make a fortune, and we'd be making it off the dead possessions of these people. If we miss it, we may never get another chance!"

"But, but..."

"I know what you're worried about. However, we corpse buriers already live from day to day, never knowing what tomorrow will bring. Besides, once this incident blows over, the Blood Eagle Gang will come to collect protection fees again. With Luo Heng gone, there's still Lu Xiang. Even if Lu Xiang were gone, there would still be others. Relying only on Steward Xiang's wages won't be enough to withstand those people bleeding us dry."

Hearing Du En's words, everyone suddenly felt that he had a point. Their minds, numbed by fear, immediately began working again.

In their eyes, Du En could not possibly go demand their wages every month.

Their frail bodies, all at the Early Qi Refining level, could not withstand several rounds of harassment from Steward He Bo.

Therefore, if they wanted to maintain their current livelihoods and withstand the Blood Eagle Gang's bullying and extortion, they truly needed to make a windfall!

"Damn it! The boss is right. We've got nothing but our cheap lives. If we don't make money now, when will we ever get rich?!"

"Barefoot people don't fear those wearing shoes! If we're discovered and despised, things can't get any worse anyway!"

"Haha! They used to extort us, but now it's our turn to feel them up. This is what they call the wheel of fortune turning!"

"The stewards won't come dig up the bodies to inspect them either. Cough, cough... I mean, this old man's going all in this time!"

"Our boss is mighty! I'm with the boss!"

Seeing that everyone had reached an agreement, Du En took the lead and began carefully searching the corpses.

Even if the others had refused to join him, he would have done it anyway. But with everyone acting together, it was clearly for the best.

If everyone took action and everyone took Spirit Stones, then word would not leak afterward.

Although the stewards probably would not care about such a minor matter, if it reached their ears, accidents could still happen.

Especially since He Bo was particularly hostile toward Du En.

"Oh! Spirit Stones!"

"Good heavens, every one of them had a handful on them. Doesn't that mean they must have even more hidden at home?"

"These damned bastards—just how many people have they oppressed?"

"Huh? What's this? Hiss! A spell!"

"Boss, there are hidden weapons and blades too... Huh? Don't take them? What a waste."

The group rummaged among the corpses with their shovels, turning the pile upside down and inside out. Then they shouted in excitement as if they had never seen the world—which, in truth, they had not.

By the time the sun had fully risen, a pile of Low-grade Spirit Stones glittered brilliantly beneath the sunlight.

One thousand two hundred and twenty-five pieces!

Such an enormous sum made their heads spin, leaving everything feeling especially unreal.

"Boss, why don't you pinch me... Ow! You really pinched me..."

"Ahem, Du En, how are we dividing this?"

"You each take one hundred. I'll take seven hundred. As for the remaining twenty-five, I'll hold on to them for now. When they come to collect protection fees, and when we need to purchase things, we'll use this portion first."

"The boss is wise!"

No one objected. After all, without Du En, they would have buried the corpses in a daze and missed this windfall.

"There's also a spell. What a pity there's only one, a low-grade Sand Raising Technique."

"Mm. Everyone memorize it after looking through it. Learn it, all of you. If it ever comes up in front of others, just say you got lucky and happened to find a loophole on a corpse."

Du En made further arrangements, then took out six bags he had prepared in advance.

That's our boss for you!

While we were muddle-headed and trembling with fear, you had already made all the plans and preparations.

Brilliant!

Truly brilliant!

The others hurriedly accepted the bags and put their shares inside. The weight in their hands was heavy, and they had never imagined that they could possess so many Spirit Stones in their lifetimes!

Even though all of them were "black goods" that could not be spent openly, simply counting them once before bed each night would be enough to soothe their hearts, making them feel that life finally held something to look forward to.

Seeing them like this, Du En said nothing. He merely lowered his head and silently examined the bloodstained sheet of paper in his hand, whose contents were still fairly clear.

Low-grade spell, Sand Raising Technique.

As its name implied, it used magical power to produce a stream of fine sand.

Its main uses were to obscure vision and attack the field of view. If cultivated to a high level, it could also possess considerable power.

After memorizing the contents, he handed the sheet to the others.

Their excitement also began to settle.

As they studied the spell, they wavered anxiously.

They had so many Spirit Stones on them now, yet no sense of security at all!

What if the corpse haulers came to add more bodies and discovered them?

What if someone bold from one of the two gangs also wanted to make a fortune off the dead?

What if... what if the stewards actually cared after all and chose to come take a look?

Driven by this unease, the five of them erupted with indescribable strength over the course of what followed.

They dug pits and buried the corpses like mad!

As long as they buried the corpses and destroyed the evidence, there would be no more what-ifs!

As long as they buried the bodies quickly and returned to their lodgings to hide the Spirit Stones, they could finally feel a little at ease!

Pushed on by this state of mind, the corpse buriers' efficiency skyrocketed. They feared neither hardship nor exhaustion, and by evening, they had buried more than a hundred corpses.

They were practically exhausted to the point of collapse!