A First Encounter

On the wasteland, Du En was speaking.

"...I suspect he was someone bewitched by an evil technique and possibly connected to an Evil Cultivator, but I couldn't be completely certain. Then yesterday, another Evil Cultivator caused trouble again, so I couldn't make up my mind."

He brought his account to an end with that. After speaking, he calmly looked at Ren Li before him.

"That person was indeed bewitched and was about to fall into the evil path." Ren Li confirmed this point.

However, he said nothing more and offered no further explanation. In particular, Du En had placed slight emphasis on that so-called Supreme Lord, yet Ren Li did not mention it at all.

"Hmm, now I know. What next? Is there anything else?"

Ren Li did want to see what else Du En had to say.

As for Du En, he had actually already finished confirming what he needed to know.

But after a moment of thought, he continued, "At the time, I happened to see one of the techniques on him. The contents weren't complete, only about thirty percent, and it was called the Life Concealing Death Mimicking Art."

"Oh? Do you want to offer it to me?"

Ren Li had his hands tucked into his sleeves and had already turned most of his body away. He nodded and added, "I can understand why you kept this hidden. After all, considering your relationship with Steward He, if you'd brought it up to him, he probably would have treated you as an accomplice and conveniently eliminated you along with the rest, right?"

"No. What I actually wanted to say was that I took the thirty percent of the contents, extracted the key points, and modified them a little to create a new Breath Concealing Technique. I'm using it now, and I didn't want you to misunderstand."

"Huh?"

Ren Li was caught completely off guard by this and instinctively turned around.

Then he saw Du En give a slight nod after saying this, turn, and leave, returning to his post to continue burying corpses.

"Wait!" Ren Li called after him.

"Does the overseer need something else?" Du En stopped and asked in return.

Good kid, playing hard to get with me, are you?

Still, I have to admit—you've caught my attention a little!

Ren Li reached his own conclusion again, then kept his face taut and said in an official tone, "You said you modified an evil technique and made it your own. I can't pretend I didn't hear that, so you need to explain it to me in detail."

He had actually noticed long ago that Du En had been concealing his aura and hiding himself.

That was one of the reasons he had paid some attention to Du En when they first met.

At the time, however, he had only thought it was a crude trick and hadn't taken it seriously at all.

Now that he knew its origins and that it involved an evil technique, he naturally had to ask about it clearly.

He was also following this kid's line of play, to see what other tricks he was planning.

By contrast, Du En had no intention of currying favor or fawning over him. He was merely testing and confirming Ren Li's origins. Now that he was secretly observing his microexpressions, he could be even more certain that his practiced Breath Concealing Technique had not fooled this man.

At the same time, the other party clearly had few scruples about evil techniques and the like.

From this, it could be seen that Ren Li's background was perhaps even deeper than he had initially imagined!

After all, even He Bo, a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, had been fooled by him.

Thus, he did not hide anything now and directly explained his Breath Concealing Technique.

As expected—a crude trick!

After hearing him out, Ren Li was not surprised in the slightest.

However, he could also confirm that it was not an evil technique at all. Any potentially problematic contents had been completely removed.

On this point, he had to admit it somewhat. "This indeed isn't an evil technique. You can continue practicing and studying it. Hmm, I mean, being able to work this out in a borderland's Underlying Layer, you're not bad."

"Hmm, perhaps I have good comprehension."

Du En gave that answer in return.

Then he heard Ren Li's laughter burst out despite himself. "Hahaha, good comprehension? Sorry, hearing you say that really did make me laugh. I couldn't hold it in. Hahaha."

It was as though he had heard some wonderfully hilarious joke. He simply could not stop.

Du En felt no embarrassment and merely watched him calmly.

After a while, Ren Li stopped.

It seemed that through that uninhibited laughter, he had imperceptibly drawn himself closer to Du En.

Thus, he now spoke rather casually. "You're still too much of a frog at the bottom of a well. The words 'good comprehension' are only fit to be spoken by people who can fully grasp a low-grade cultivation technique in one month and deduce a mid-grade cultivation technique on their own in the second."

A kid from a border city can't have a few paltry tricks under his belt and start thinking too highly of himself!

"So, Overseer, are you one of those people?" Du En asked only this in return.

"Uh..."

Obviously, he was not.

Ren Li was immediately left speechless, a little embarrassed, his face faintly red.

Do you even know how to talk?

No wonder Steward He never gave you a pleasant look!

As he muttered inwardly, Du En nodded to him again and turned around once more.

Watching that figure naturally return to burying corpses, Ren Li's gaze immediately became strange.

So, you've become addicted to playing hard to get?

Or did I misunderstand everything from the very beginning?

His eyes flickered before settling back into calm after a long while.

"Forget it. I'll just assume I misunderstood. Still, judging by this, my days as an overseer here won't be too dull and tedious, at least."

Casting aside his unnecessary emotions, Ren Li straightened his attitude and walked toward the place he had chosen.

Du En noticed that, unlike those irresponsible overseers who found a shady spot and immediately grew lazy and slack, he had sought out a location on the wasteland and sat down cross-legged there.

He entered a state very quickly and began cultivating?

"No, that's not right. It's not cultivation."

Du En could not say exactly what he was doing.

With his thoroughly mastered Yellow Earth Technique, he could only barely determine that much.

Thus, Du En turned his head and looked toward Ning Caize on the other side.

Over there, Ning Caize had just let out a sigh of relief.

It wasn't only him. The others had as well.

The arrival of Steward He Bo and the assumption of office by Overseer Ren Li had quickly brought them back to their senses, making them realize that their situation had not actually changed in any substantial way!

Thus, they had been frightened and anxious just now, afraid that Du En would clash head-on with the newly arrived steward again, sharpening the confrontation and bringing Ren Li's harsh treatment down upon them.

Unlike He Bo, this steward merely treated them like filthy dust. Even if he disliked Du En, he would not deliberately keep them in mind during ordinary days. He also cared about preserving his own reputation and disliked the environment of the Shack District, which was why he had not previously done anything extra to target them.

At most, he had merely gone with the flow.

The overseer was different. As the direct supervisor and administrator of the border city's laboring people in the Underlying Layer, he was close at hand in their daily lives. If he wanted to do something, it was effortless and within reach.

The endless corpses every day alone were enough to show how inhuman this bunch of overseers was!

Fortunately, although the atmosphere at first had seemed somewhat subtle, in the end, it appeared that Du En had somehow settled things...

As Ning Caize thought this, he heard Du En ask, "Old Ning, could what Overseer Ren is doing now be some kind of regularly scheduled evil-expelling ritual?"

Hearing this, Ning Caize returned to his senses and instinctively cast a cautious glance over.

He quickly turned back, brows knitted as he thought it over, then shook his head. "I've never heard the old men who died mention anything like that."

In that case, it isn't because of this.

So, is this the reason and purpose behind Ren Li going with the flow and taking up his post?

Du En pondered this, but did not ask further or pay it more attention.

There was no use paying closer attention for now. Given his cultivation level, he was still unable to see through Ren Li's actions.

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