Half the Goal Achieved

Night.

A corner of the shantytown district.

This place was remote and dark, utterly silent.

Du En arrived quietly, observing and concealing himself.

He had already killed four people, distributing his attention evenly, striking down the Hall Masters of the old and new three gangs.

Many gang members, terrified and scattered, had spread the word. The other Hall Masters, already anxious, naturally fled upon hearing the news.

Since it wasn't suitable to continue killing, Du En came here to observe.

The plan for this operation was actually quite simple: find a few prominent targets within the shantytown, kill them, and then frame an Evil Cultivator to provoke the Stewards into action.

A secondary objective was to deter the Green Robe Gang, curb their rampant protection fee collection, and prevent it from affecting his own area and disrupting his cultivation environment.

However, this operation carried risks.

The Stewards might appear relaxed but be inwardly vigilant, fishing for information.

Therefore, at the beginning of the operation, he had wandered around without a mask.

This was because the Corpse Affairs Steward, He Bo, was bound to be involved this time!

Given He Bo's animosity towards him, if they were indeed setting a trap, he would surely be unable to resist jumping out to target Du En, whose movements were somewhat suspicious.

But nothing happened.

Even though He Bo was quite cunning and had his own plans, he should have appeared by now, seeing Du En acting and then lingering here without moving.

"But still nothing."

Du En thought to himself.

He had been standing here for a while. Within the influence of the three gangs in the shantytown, the commotion was intensifying, yet he still saw no sign of the Stewards.

"These guys really don't care about their duties."

"It seems that even if I stir up this much trouble, they probably won't take action to hunt down and capture any hidden Evil Cultivators."

Honestly, this wasn't entirely unexpected.

The clamor reached its peak and then quickly subsided.

When Du En quietly returned to his small courtyard in the early hours of the morning, everything had returned to peace.

After the sun rose, everything appeared to be proceeding as usual.

Of course, not everything was the same.

The three gangs, or rather, the Green Robe Gang, were now in a state of panic. No matter how much the Gang Leader urged them, the subordinates chose to lie low.

Many who had witnessed the events last night and were terrified and demoralized chose to quit the gang, hoping this would help them avoid disaster.

Suddenly, the Green Robe Gang, which should have been thriving, had its momentum temporarily halted.

Liu Qixiang also dared not act against the prevailing wind and did not come to collect protection fees this morning.

"That guy was quite aggressive yesterday, and you scared him off, Boss. I thought he'd be blocking our door again this morning!"

Wei Ming, unaware of the situation, said this as they set off in the car.

Ning Caize, an old hand, had already sensed something unusual and was somewhat worried, fearing they might encounter another gang leader who died a bizarre and tragic death at the corpse burial grounds.

As for the others, they were somewhere in between. They instinctively felt something was amiss but couldn't pinpoint it. They were also curious about why Liu Qixiang hadn't shown up.

Flicking his whip, Du En simply said, "Since he didn't come, isn't that for the best?"

That was true; it was better to have one less problem.

He feared those arrogant and overbearing guys might change their tune and plot something against the six of them.

Fortunately, they had secretly moved their Spirit Stones to a new hiding place last night.

We are so clever!

They thought optimistically.

The cart was pulled by the Grey Jackal. Pedestrians, finding it unlucky and fearing the fierce beast, consciously made way. Thus, the journey was smooth and much faster than usual, heading towards the desolate land.

Along the way, they encountered the Corpse Transporters just as they were leaving a small path.

Already in an unusual mood, they were all startled upon seeing the cart pulled by a jackal.

"Du En, that's quite an innovative idea."

Xu Ran, that hardworking fellow, was among them and couldn't help but say this with a strange tone that made one want to ignore him.

"Judging by your expressions, is there another problem with today's corpses?" Du En asked directly.

Upon hearing this, the Corpse Transporters' emotions shifted, and they all appeared dejected.

"Sigh~!"

Xu Ran let out a long sigh and nodded, "It's a troublesome spring. Just last night, I don't know if that Evil Cultivator went on a killing spree again, but someone died. However, there were no obvious signs of evil, just brutality and violence."

Hearing this, the Corpsesetminus Buriers finally understood the source of their vague unease. Ning Caize even felt a sense of relief, as if a weight had been lifted.

Although he'd just had the thought, he couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.

Du En nodded slightly, then asked as if concerned, "Speaking of which, have the stewards made any moves at all?"

"Who knows? Anyway, on our end, the foreman has been hiding ever since he came back yesterday, except for brief moments..."

"Mm, neither you nor we can linger here. We'll end our chat for today."

Du En interrupted his speech.

Because it was getting late.

Xu Ran also snapped back to attention, baring his teeth inwardly and thinking that was close, he almost blurted out that the foreman was hiding behind closed doors.

He was also absent-minded and, upon encountering Du En, subconsciously assumed they were alone, speaking too casually and even daring to talk about the foreman like that.

If it were known, he'd probably get in trouble!

Fortunately, Du En had interrupted him in time, just as he was about to say the word "hiding."

He inexplicably felt like someone's gaze was filled with a hint of regret?

After bidding farewell to Du En, Xu Ran glanced at the others on his side and didn't think it was his imagination.

Someone was definitely plotting something!

Sigh~ Why aren't we Corpse Transporters as united as the Corpse Buriers?

The two groups passed each other, each harboring different thoughts.

The two Grey Jackals pulling the cart, full from eating the leftover offal of the Strange Owl that Du En and his group had stewed, walked along the path. Seeing their own kind and other scavengers fighting over scraps, they couldn't help but lift their heads high and look down with disdain.

Even the beasts, who would now be scared away by Du En and his group, were bewildered. Especially the Grey Jackals of the same pack, who couldn't understand how their two companions' temperaments had changed so drastically overnight.

These humans are truly terrifying!

The beasts feared Du En, the Corpse Burier, even more and ran further away.

With a clear path ahead, they naturally reached the Corpse Burial Wasteland swiftly.

Because it was much faster than usual, Ning Caize and the others weren't mentally prepared yet. Subconsciously, they all followed closely behind Du En, like newly hatched chicks.

He first threw two piles of Strange Owl bones for the Grey Jackals to gnaw on, then tidied his clothes and wrappings, picked up his shovel, and calmly stepped onto the wasteland.

Dozens of corpses were laid out there.

The most eye-catching were the four headless bodies.

These were the four Hall Masters Du En had killed. None of them had disappeared, nor did they retain their appearance from when they had just died.

Simply put, the bodies had been searched, and their clothes were in disarray!

"This doesn't look particularly sinister. You guys have quite a bit of nerve, aren't you afraid it was actually an Evil Cultivator?"

Du En muttered to himself.

Actually, he hadn't killed enough. Even if he wanted to frame an Evil Cultivator, it wouldn't be scary enough.

However, since someone had already set the precedent, it was only natural for him to take over now.

So, he walked over to examine them, tapping them with his shovel.

His Cultivation Technique had now reached Mastery, and his body had become more solid and robust with more eating and practice. Although his Cultivation Level was still Early Qi Refining, he could still try things with these corpses he had killed and knew the details of.

Digging out the stomach and intestines!