Foreman Takes Office

The sun rose, its heat intense.

In the slanted shade of the trees, beneath the flatbed cart, two sturdy Grey Jackals had just finished gnawing on bones and were resting.

Suddenly, they seemed to sense something and jolted awake.

"Wuuu~"

They let out low, helpless whimpers, curling themselves into tight balls, desperately trying to be less conspicuous.

It wasn't just them!

Just moments ago, in the mountain forest along this corpse-transporting path, the scavenging beasts that had been habitually lurking around the corpse-burial grounds, unwilling to leave, all fell silent in unison. They cowered, heads bowed, not daring to make the slightest move.

Because a terrifying person was approaching.

Du En stood under the sun, silently stopping his actions, and turned his head to look over there.

The others also noticed the obvious abnormality one after another, and all became tense.

Soon, two figures appeared in their field of vision.

One was Steward He Bo of the corpse affairs department, and the other was a young man they didn't recognize.

Du En's eyes flickered slightly, and he said, "It's the steward."

Hearing this, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief.

They had not actually seen He Bo in person before. When they were assigned here, it was conveyed by a handyman.

Only Du En had met this fellow once when he went to demand his wages at the beginning.

Then, led by him, the Corpse Buriers put down their shovels and walked to the two stopped individuals. After a brief greeting, they waited silently.

Because they did not greet him with subservient bows, He Bo's expression immediately darkened, making the atmosphere cold and rigid. Ning Caize and the others, realizing their mistake belatedly, trembled with fear and quickly bent their waists.

Only Du En remained standing there, unmoved, his expression unchanged.

This scene caused the young man who had come with He Bo to reveal a hint of surprise in his eyes.

However, he said nothing, merely observing silently.

The focus was still on He Bo.

The steward stopped at the edge of the wasteland, his eyes showing disgust at the smell from this side, mixed with a subtle hint of nervousness and unease. Therefore, he did not step forward directly to issue any reprimands at this moment.

Still as disrespectful as ever, you deserve to live on rotten meat!

He thought bitterly. With a flick of his sleeve, he spoke grimly, "Because there have been quite a few incidents recently, we've arranged a foreman for you."

He announced this simply and, not wanting to see Du En anymore, turned his head.

To the young man, He Bo's tone softened slightly, and he continued, "Ren Li, this is the current team of Corpse Buriers. Not many people, just get them to do the work. If they dare to disobey, beat them, kill them, don't be polite!"

These words sounded sinister, causing Ning Caize and the others to break out in a cold sweat.

Du En merely glanced over.

Ren Li was about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, at Peak Qi Refining. He had a straight posture, handsome features, and wore a blue and white silk robe, looking nothing like someone sent to be a foreman.

Especially for the Corpse Buriers, the position of foreman had been vacant and neglected for a long time...

No, looking at it now, there's clearly something strange. Perhaps the situation isn't what I thought?

Du En thought to himself, and at the same time, he spoke to Ren Li, "Du En, the foreman here. Welcome, Foreman Ren."

Hearing these slightly polite words, Ren Li merely nodded indifferently, appearing rather aloof, with no extra expression.

Clearly, he didn't really care about Du En's attitude. He had just seen too many subservient people on the way, and encountering someone neither servile nor overbearing had piqued his curiosity and surprise.

This indifferent demeanor made He Bo feel a bit regretful.

He had thought he could use this as an excuse to incite Ren Li to teach Du En a lesson!

Therefore, He Bo didn't say anything further and turned to leave decisively.

Foreman Ren Li did not immediately begin supervising the corpse-burial work.

He first looked around, as if searching for something.

Du En waved his hand at the others, signaling them to return to their posts, while he himself pondered.

It turns out that facing the Evil Cultivators' rampant actions, Du En's instigation wasn't really noticed by the stewards. However, it wasn't entirely without reaction; at the very least, they've inserted a foreman for the Corpse Buriers.

Although these foremen don't actually have the responsibility of protecting those below them, they are still there. If I want to do anything, I'll have to get past them first.

However, if it were a normal appointment, He Bo wouldn't have needed to bring people here himself.

At the same time, a normal foreman wouldn't display such a completely indifferent attitude towards their duties.

Abuse, unreasonable demands, and increased exploitation are the norm for foremen!

"So, they're just using this as an opportunity to insert someone?"

Du En made a general judgment and needed to verify it.

Thus, when Ren Li found a suitable spot and started to move, Du En also turned and followed behind him.

Ren Li suddenly stopped, his brow furrowed, and he spoke without turning his head, "Is there something? I don't need anyone to serve me obsequiously, and besides, this person doesn't look like they know how to serve at all."

He seemed displeased, his voice exceptionally cold.

Du En responded calmly, "It's like this. Something happened here earlier, and I wasn't sure how to handle it. I just remembered some old, unused regulations that seemed to require reporting to the Foreman."

"Oh? You didn't report it to Steward He?"

Ren Li raised an eyebrow. Although the situation had already led him to guess that there was a general atmosphere of mutual disdain – superiors looking down on subordinates, subordinates not flattering superiors – he hadn't expected Du En to be so direct. "No. If I had reported it, I would have just been given a hard time or even framed. In any case, the regulations don't state that we can report to the Steward."

That would be considered over-reporting, which wasn't the normal procedure. If he had done so, Steward He would have definitely found an excuse to make things difficult for him.

Of course, given Steward He's attitude, if he found out Du En had concealed something, he could also use that as a pretext!

So, had Du En seen through something and deliberately handed over a weakness, hoping to use it as a stepping stone to curry favor indirectly and improve his situation?

Ren Li was now genuinely curious, leaning slightly to the side.

"Tell me about it first."

He couldn't help but sneer inwardly, displeased with such petty cleverness. After all, if that plan succeeded, wouldn't he be treated like an idiot, like a pawn?

Although the saying goes, "When beating a dog, one must consider its owner," where was this dog's owner?

Facing Ren Li's cold sneer and displeasure, Du En showed no fear or panic. He simply stated the matter concerning Zhang Song.

That was the guy who had previously pretended to be dead, attempted to slaughter the Corpse Buriers, and was ultimately worn down and killed by the carts.