Sand Raising to Catch Owls

"Hoo..."

With a surge of pent-up energy, they unleashed an indescribable power. As dusk settled, the Corpse Buriers finally dared to breathe a sigh of relief after burying a large number of bodies for the day.

Du En watched them, shaking his head slightly.

He hadn't exerted himself at all, maintaining only a slightly higher than usual burial efficiency from start to finish.

So now, he wasn't even out of breath.

The others, assuming he was still recovering from his injuries, paid him no mind.

Now that the burial work was done, they naturally wanted to hurry back, hide the Spirit Stones in their pockets, and calm their restless hearts.

Therefore, exhausted and with no strength left, they quickly rushed back.

Du En didn't go with them, lagging behind.

There was something on his mind.

Lu Xiang's body was missing!

Among the bodies buried today were the five others he had killed, but Lu Xiang was nowhere to be found!

This made him instantly alert.

He feared that some variable had appeared within this situation!

"However, since no one has come to pursue the matter yet, perhaps it's..."

He pondered this in his heart, his expression unchanged.

He walked all the way back to the small courtyard.

Upon their return, the others' tension had mostly dissipated. The fatigue from a full day of explosive, high-intensity labor was rapidly surfacing.

They couldn't help but stoop, unable to even lift their shovels, dragging them along. This sight drew mocking pity from their neighbors who saw them from afar.

Sighing at the hardships of the Corpse Buriers, they compared it to their own situations and felt that their lives weren't so difficult after all.

Bang!

The courtyard gate slammed shut, shovels were dropped, and the five people, mustering their last bit of strength, quickly stripped off their foul-smelling clothes and rushed into their rooms.

Hiding the Spirit Stones first, everything else could wait!

Once they had hidden them, their last bit of energy completely dissipated. Under Du En's somewhat speechless gaze, the five men collapsed onto the ground, and four of them quickly began snoring.

Four had fallen asleep, or rather, passed out.

Only Ning Caize, who looked prematurely old and was still plagued by illness, possessed the deepest cultivation and best endurance among the five, thus he could still maintain consciousness.

"My injuries aren't healed yet, and you're all adding extra burdens for me."

"Haha..."

Ning Caize chuckled awkwardly. Then, seeing Du En hadn't changed his clothes and was starting to drag people onto their beds after putting down his shovel, he immediately put on a bitter expression.

"Uh, although it's not good to say this, and you are indeed still injured, could you please take a bath before dragging me, an old man, around? Cough, cough, cough..."

"None of you have bathed, and you all stink. Why should I have to bathe before you drag me?"

Du En retorted with a tone of utter justification.

To this, Ning Caize stated that he was already used to it.

Finally, when it was his turn, he could only stare blankly, hold his breath, and be dragged onto the bed.

After Du En closed the door and left the room, he too couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep.

Having quickly dealt with the others, Du En also quickly bathed and changed, tidied himself up, hid his Spirit Stones in batches, and returned to the courtyard. He set up two pots, one for medicinal porridge and one for medicinal soup.

At the same time, he brought a small stool and sat by the firelight, seizing every moment to study the Sand Raising Technique.

Whoosh~

A moment later, a handful of light sand swirled in the courtyard.

With the help of his familiar Yellow Earth Technique and his Initial Glimpse of the Earth Bullet Technique, both of which were earth-elemental, this low-grade earth-elemental spell quickly took shape in Du En's hands.

[Sand Raising Technique (Beginner's Practice 0/10)]

"Familiarity reduces it by one use, Initial Glimpse reduces it by half a use. For one point of proficiency, it only takes eight and a half uses. Practicing seventeen times a day during free time, I can reach Initial Glimpse in five days."

Because this spell didn't have location restrictions in its early stages and didn't require him to hide it from the other Corpse Buriers, he could practice it even during the day during brief rest periods.

"For catching a Great Owl, the way I was just now would actually be enough..."

Du En mused, turning down the heat on the two clay stoves. He then rummaged through the firewood pile and quickly found several pieces of suitable, hard wood. He took out his cleaver and quickly sharpened them.

With his preparations complete, he went out into the night, heading beyond the shed district.

The shed district in the shallow night was actually the most vibrant time. People were released from their day's labor and scurried about for the sake of their daily bread and trivial matters.

Fires and cooking smoke were visible everywhere. Pedestrians gathered on the roadside to chat, with people coming and going. The large-scale brawl between the two gangs that had occurred last night, and the incident that the Steward had called to a halt, did not seem to have significantly affected this scene.

Du En walked among them, drawing no attention.

From the conversations of passersby, he also heard a bit about the current situation of the Blood Eagle Gang and the Iron Hand Gang.

Simply put, both gangs were lying low for now. When he encountered them today, they weren't arrogant or overbearing, as if they had completely changed their ways. Clearly, the events of last night had caused this.

Of course, these passersby didn't know anything more in-depth, and he would have to investigate further himself.

Du En didn't stop or turn around. He continued all the way into the mountain forest and quickly found a location.

"Coo~"

The lair of a flock of strange owls.

On strangely shaped large trees, dozens of strange owls were roosting. At this moment, they all tilted their heads, staring straight ahead, looking particularly eerie in the night.

In their eyes, the faint scent of corpses on Du En seemed familiar, but it wasn't strong or obvious. Therefore, was he a person who was about to die?!

Their small brains could only come to this conclusion.

Instantly, pairs of eyes, already large, widened immediately. Their claws moved slightly, appearing eager to try, revealing their craving for the flesh and blood of corpses.

This further amplified the sense of terror they instilled.

Du En's expression didn't fluctuate in the slightest. He simply scanned them, selecting his target.

Quickly locking onto a target, he raised his hand and flung it. A handful of light sand shot out, scattering towards a certain branch and hitting the faces of three strange owls huddled together.

"Coo! Coo!"

The strange owls were momentarily blinded by the sand, crying out and flapping their wings, flying up in disarray.

This way, they couldn't react properly and were merely targets.

Du En aimed at the most suitable one and immediately threw his hand. The sharpened wooden stick shot out with a whoosh, quickly reaching the strange owl.

Thwack~

The tip of the stick pierced its body. It began to crack due to the poor quality of the material, but due to the strong force behind it, it continued forward until it got stuck in its spine.

"Coo! Coo!"

It wasn't dead yet and flapped its wings, but it could no longer fly and could only fall.

Blood splattered, carrying a putrid smell, causing its kin to immediately reveal a greedy wildness. But at this moment, what made them even more wary was Du En, who was actively hunting.

They flapped their wings, flying high in the sky, circling Du En, seemingly looking for an opportunity to attack and drive away this hunter who had intruded upon their territory.

Du En showed no fear whatsoever. He swaggered over, grabbed the great owl he had taken down, and then swaggered away.

Please follow! Please collect!