Throughout the day, the corpse buriers, their aching fatigue still lingering, remained visibly uneasy, their attention scattering from time to time as they worked.
Would the spirit stones hidden at home be stolen? Would they be discovered?
That was the knot in their hearts now.
They had never been this rich before. Their hearts simply could not settle down!
Du En could only shake his head inwardly as he watched them.
Fortunately, there were not many corpses today, and there were no Monstrous Corpses or spoiled corpses. Otherwise, they might have had to send one or two people off right after getting rich.
Time quickly reached evening.
They had just finished burying the corpses when their bodies shuddered, and they wanted nothing more than to hurry back.
Rumble, rumble~
The sound of the corpse transporter's handcart suddenly rang out at that moment.
Damn! We've been discovered!?
Everyone was instantly alarmed, their taut nerves pulling tight again. They were completely jumping at shadows.
"Calm down."
Du En spoke up.
"I'll go take a look."
As he said this, he had already walked out.
Only when they saw that calm, unhurried, steady back did everyone's emotions settle.
At that moment, a bull's head emerged from the direction of the path.
A Green-skinned Water Buffalo pulled the handcart straight into the Corpse Burial Wasteland.
This made Du En raise his brows slightly, while the other corpse buriers were also somewhat surprised.
Everyone knew that unless necessary, the corpse transporters were unwilling to set foot on this wasteland.
Even though the wasteland was actually not dangerous during the day or at dusk,
they still treated it with exceptional wariness!
Naturally, this was because there were truly veteran corpse transporters among them. Through word and deed, that caution had been passed down.
That was worlds apart from the corpse buriers, whose average working experience was often less than a year!
"So what urgent delivery of a corpse is this?"
Only one person, one ox, one cart, and one corpse had come.
On the handcart lay a corpse specially wrapped in a bag.
The corpse transporter was an old acquaintance, Xu Ran.
He was extremely tense at that moment, cold sweat streaming down him, yet he had wrapped his nose, mouth, and hair as tightly as the corpse buriers.
No matter how one looked at it, one conclusion was unavoidable.
This corpse was sinister!
Du En's gaze grew solemn.
Xu Ran sighed hesitantly and said, "Du En, although this is asking too much of you, especially since you're injured, there's nothing we can do. The higher-ups ordered you to bury it. We can't let too many people get involved."
Was this Manager He Bo targeting him?
Perhaps in part. It was probably just killing two birds with one stone.
"Mm, I understand. You go back first. I'll bury this corpse and then return."
Du En answered decisively. The others exchanged glances. Seeing that he remained calm, and seeing Xu Ran turn his head to look at him, they ultimately only told him to be careful before heading back.
They were not in a hurry to return and check on their spirit stones. Their hearts were filled only with worry for Du En.
Watching their exhaustion-ridden figures, Xu Ran relaxed slightly and sighed, "You've had it hard too. You've run into so many problems, and there are so few of you... All right, enough talk. Hurry up and dig the pit. It's almost dark."
As he watched the setting sun slowly descend, Xu Ran, standing in the wasteland, appeared especially nervous.
Du En had already begun shoveling nearby soil to dig a pit. At the same time, he casually asked, "Aren't you leaving?"
"I want to, but this Corpse Bag is a magical artifact. It can't be buried along with the corpse. I still have to take it back and return it to the foreman," Xu Ran sighed.
Then, seeing the sky darkening, he said no more. He picked up the spare shovel left to one side and joined the digging.
Before long,
"Cough, cough, cough!"
"Damn! Why does this sinister black aura smell so bad?!"
He was accustomed to the smell of corpses. He had thought that the legendary sinister black aura would be nothing special, but once he actually smelled it, he immediately cried out that he could not take it.
Du En gave him a little guidance, helping him avoid bearing the full brunt of it.
The two continued working together and dug out the pit before night fell.
Then, working together again, they used their shovels to support the Corpse Bag and lower it into the pit.
"Back off a little... Release!"
Xu Ran formed a hand seal and circulated his cultivation. His spiritual power shot out and struck the Corpse Bag.
It undid itself without wind, shrank as it withdrew, and quickly floated back into his hand.
At the same time, a fragrant aroma rushed into their noses, directly overwhelming the stench filling the surroundings and piercing through their thick clothes soaked with stink and sweat.
It smelled good!
Far too good!
Like a huge platter of stir-fried chicken!
Looking closely, what lay in the pit was a pile of fried meat.
Stir-fried human flesh, unbelievably fragrant!
It directly hooked the craving in their hearts, making their appetites surge. Yet just as that appetite erupted, it suddenly made them awaken with startling clarity: these were pieces of their own kind, cooked in a wok!
They knew exactly what it was, yet their appetite remained voracious and impossible to control!
"Bwaaah..."
Xu Ran struggled to resist this sinister situation, but he simply could not hold back. He vomited through the cloth, hurriedly tossed away his shovel, and retreated at top speed, running away without looking back.
Du En could understand. He raised his shovel and smacked the Green-skinned Water Buffalo, which stood to one side, fidgeting in extreme agitation.
It immediately looked as though it had been granted amnesty. It hurriedly pulled the cart and chased after Xu Ran.
The sound of the wheels faded into the distance, and the surroundings sank into profound silence.
The Strange Owls were retreating too, while the Grey Jackals were fleeing into the distance.
The sun in the west sank little by little, and the deep curtain of night slowly opened.
The Corpse Burial Wasteland also seemed to have undergone some change.
Du En's eyes remained calm as he filled the grave, shovelful after shovelful.
Once the sun had completely sunk, he patted the earth with his shovel, completing the burial.
His mood was actually heavy.
Not because the Fried Corpse had been particularly sinister, but because the corpse was Lu Xiang!
There really is a problem! So was this aimed at me? Or was it a probing warning? Or perhaps just a coincidence...
Regardless, the Evil Cultivator lurking in the shadows had grown somewhat rampant recently.
To forge iron, one must still be strong oneself!
The enemy was hidden, and their thoughts were impossible to fathom. In that case, he could not lose his footing now. The only thing he could do was strengthen himself as much as possible and respond to all changes by staying unchanged.
Carrying two shovels, Du En calmly left the wasteland.
In the darkness, when he looked back at the wasteland, all he saw was deathly blackness, without the slightest sound.
The animals in the surroundings had long since fled, as if they were following the footsteps of the last living creature to leave—the footsteps of Du En. Where they stopped, the stillness expanded outward.
Until it reached a certain boundary.
In the forests and hills around them, insects chirped and beasts moved, and everything returned to normal.
Du En withdrew his gaze and changed direction.
He still had to go catch a big owl.
After repeating his old trick, he carried the captured big owl away under the gazes of a flock of Strange Owls, swaggering off. By then, the night was already deep.
He returned to the small courtyard beneath the stars and moon. Apart from Ning Caize, everyone else had succumbed to exhaustion and fallen into a deep sleep, dreaming sweetly of counting spirit stones.
"You really have become addicted to eating Strange Owls." Ning Caize had initially wanted to ease his mood and had deliberately sighed, but his brows remained lowered and his face sorrowful. In the end, he simply asked outright, "So what exactly happened?"
Du En busied himself as usual while casually answering, "An Evil Cultivator's trick. Also, the corpse was Lu Xiang."
At that, Ning Caize's eyes narrowed.
"Are you sure?"
Although he had not seen it with his own eyes, merely from the way the corpse had been packed in the Corpse Bag, veteran Ning Caize could already infer roughly what kind of mangled remains lay inside.
"Mm. The last time he came over, I noticed that the little finger on one hand was missing a small piece. It should have been cut off recently. The other was packed with mud, which had blackened the base of the nail. That should have been caused by a habit formed through years of labor."
"I see. Then it seems it really was him."
Ning Caize had also thought of those two features. They were vague, but they matched.
There was no happiness in it, only the confirmation of his worst worries!
"When I didn't see Lu Xiang this morning, and someone else came to collect the protection fee, I guessed that he might already be dead. But neither yesterday nor today did I see his corpse... Choosing Lu Xiang specifically might implicate us too?"
Upon hearing this, Du En only shook his head slightly. "Old Ning, don't overthink it. After all, even if you think about it, it won't help."
"..."
Hearing such blunt words, Ning Caize instantly fell silent.
Sometimes, bluntness was what hurt the most.
Because it was indeed true. Even if he racked his prematurely aged mind until it split, if he encountered an Evil Cultivator, all that awaited him was death.
Why are you blurting out such painfully obvious truths?!
Ning Caize smacked his lips, thoroughly dispirited. He shook his head, got up, and went to sleep.
As for Du En, he continued his nightly routine.
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