"Whew..."
Clenching all their strength and erupting with indescribable force, the corpse buriers had only just finished burying the great number of bodies that evening before they finally dared to let out a little breath.
Du En watched them and merely shook his head inwardly.
He had not erupted even once. From beginning to end, he had only maintained a corpse-burying efficiency slightly higher than usual.
So now, he was not even breathing heavily.
The others assumed he was still badly injured and had not recovered, and paid him no attention.
Now that they had finished burying the bodies, they naturally wanted to strike while the iron was hot and hurry back. Only after hiding the spirit stones stuffed in their pockets could they calm their unsettled hearts.
Thus, exhausted and lacking the strength for anything else, they hurried back as fast as they could.
Du En had not gone to slay the owls and brought up the rear.
There was actually one matter weighing on his mind.
There was no body of Lu Xiang!
Among the bodies buried today were the other five men he had killed, yet Lu Xiang alone was missing!
This immediately put him on alert.
He feared that some unforeseen change had occurred!
"But no one has come to investigate so far, so perhaps it's because..."
He speculated inwardly, while his expression remained impassive.
They walked all the way back to the little courtyard.
By the time they returned, the others had nearly used up that last bit of energy as well. After erupting for an entire day and laboring at high intensity, their fatigue was rapidly rising to the surface.
They could not help hunching over. Unable even to lift their shovels, they could only drag them along. This sight drew mocking yet sympathetic looks from the nearby neighbors who spotted them from afar.
As they sighed over the corpse buriers' hardships and compared them with their own circumstances, they suddenly felt that life did not seem quite so difficult after all.
Bang!
The courtyard gate slammed shut and the shovels were tossed aside. The five men forced themselves to take one last breath, quickly stripped off their stinking clothes, and then rushed into their rooms.
Hide the spirit stones first. Everything else could wait!
Once they had hidden them, that last breath completely dissipated. Under Du En's somewhat speechless gaze, the five men collapsed directly onto the ground, and four sets of snores soon rang out.
Four of them had fallen straight asleep—or rather, unconscious.
Only Ning Caize, prematurely aged and suffering from an old ailment, was also the one with the deepest cultivation and best stamina among the five. Thus, he could still hold on to his consciousness.
"My injuries haven't healed yet, and you're doing this, making me bear an extra burden."
"Haha..."
Ning Caize laughed awkwardly. Then, seeing Du En leave his clothes on and begin dragging people onto their beds after setting down the shovel, he immediately pulled a bitter face.
"Well, this may sound improper, since you really are still injured, but could you please take a bath first before dragging this old man? Cough, cough, cough..."
"None of you have bathed. You all stink. What gives you the right to make me bathe before dragging you?"
Du En asked this in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone.
Ning Caize indicated that he was already used to it.
In the end, when it was his turn, he could only go numb-faced, hold his breath, and be dragged and tossed onto the bed.
After Du En closed the door and left the room, he too could no longer hold on and fell into a dazed sleep.
After swiftly dealing with the others, Du En likewise quickly bathed and washed his clothes, tidied himself up, hid the spirit stones in batches, and returned to the courtyard. He set up two pots, using one to brew medicinal porridge and the other to boil medicinal soup.
At the same time, he brought over a small stool, sat before the firelight, and began studying the Sand Raising Technique against the clock.
Whoosh, whoosh~
A moment later, a handful of fine sand began blowing through the courtyard.
With the support of the well-practiced Yellow Earth Technique and the Initial Glimpse of the Earth Bullet Technique—both aids of earth walkers—the low-grade earth-element spell rapidly took shape in Du En's hands.
[Sand Raising Technique (Beginner's Practice 0/10)]
"Subtract one practice from well-practiced, and half a practice from initial glimpse. One point of proficiency only takes eight and a half practices. If I practice seventeen times during spare moments each day, I can reach initial glimpse in five days."
Because this spell was not restricted by location in its early stage and did not need to be concealed from the other corpse buriers, he could practice it even during the day, taking advantage of brief moments of rest.
"As for catching a great owl, what I just did is actually enough..."
Du En pondered this as he turned down the flames of the two clay stoves. Then he went to the firewood pile and rummaged through it. Before long, he found several suitable pieces of hard, solid heartwood, took out a cleaver, and quickly sharpened them to points.
Once everything was prepared,
under the cover of night, he left the house and headed beyond the Shack District.
The Shack District at the beginning of night was actually when it was most full of life. People had just been freed from a day of labor and were hurrying everywhere over the daily necessities of firewood, rice, oil, and salt.
Firelight and cooking smoke could be seen everywhere. Passersby gathered by the roadside to chat, and people streamed back and forth. The chaotic battle between the two gangs the previous night, as well as the major incident of the steward ordering it stopped, had not noticeably affected this scene.
Du En walked among them without attracting attention.
Along the way, he also heard a little about the current state of the Blood Eagle Gang and the Iron Hand Gang from the passersby.
Simply put, both gangs had temporarily withdrawn. When they encountered one another today, neither acted arrogantly or domineeringly. They seemed to have completely changed their ways, clearly because of what had happened the night before.
Of course, these passersby knew nothing more in-depth. He would need to investigate that himself.
Du En did not turn aside or stop. He continued all the way into the mountain forest and soon found a place.
"Grrr~"
It was the nest of a group of Strange Owls.
Dozens of Strange Owls perched and rested on a bizarrely shaped tree. At that moment, they all cocked their heads and stared straight over, especially eerie in the night.
In their eyes, the faint corpse-smell on Du En was quite familiar, but it was neither strong nor obvious. So, was he someone on the verge of death?!
Their none-too-large brains could only reach that conclusion.
In an instant, their already enormous eyes widened even further. Their claws moved lightly, and they looked eager to act, revealing their longing for the flesh and blood of corpses.
This further intensified the terror they inspired.
Du En's expression did not waver in the slightest. He merely swept his gaze over them, selecting his target.
He quickly locked onto his target. With a raised hand, a handful of fine sand shot out, surging forward and billowing toward the faces of the three Strange Owls crowded together on a certain branch.
"Grrk! Grrk!"
The Strange Owls were caught off guard and blinded by the sand. They shrieked and beat their wings, taking flight in confusion.
As a result, they could not react properly and were nothing more than targets.
Du En took aim at the most suitable one among them, immediately raised his hand, and threw. The sharpened wooden stake shot out with a whoosh and swiftly reached the Strange Owl.
Pfft~
The tip of the wooden stake sank into its body. The wood began to split because of its poor quality, but propelled by great force, it continued forward until it lodged against the spine.
"Grrk! Grrk!"
It was not dead yet and flapped its wings, but it no longer had the strength to fly and could only tumble downward.
Blood splattered everywhere, carrying a foul, rotten stench. The other members of its kind immediately revealed a drooling, feral hunger, but what made them even more wary at that moment was Du En, who had taken the initiative to hunt.
They beat their wings and flew high into the air, circling around Du En as if searching for a chance to attack and drive away this hunter who had trespassed into their territory.
Du En was not afraid in the slightest. He swaggered over, grabbed the great owl he had struck, and then swaggered away.
Please read on! Please bookmark!
Before you continue