An Encounter

On the barren land, Du En was explaining.

"...I suspect they were bewitched by an evil method, possibly related to an evil cultivator, but I can't be entirely sure. And yesterday, evil cultivators caused trouble again, which is why I'm hesitant."

He concluded his statement and calmly looked at Ren Li before him.

"That is indeed someone who has been bewitched and is about to fall into the evil path," Ren Li affirmed.

However, he didn't elaborate further, especially not mentioning the so-called Supreme Lord that Du En had slightly emphasized in his account.

"Mm, I understand now. What else?"

Ren Li wanted to see what else Du En had to say.

Meanwhile, Du En had already completed his confirmation.

After a moment of thought, he continued, "At that time, I accidentally saw a spell on him. The content wasn't complete, only about thirty percent. Its name is the Life Concealing Death Mimicking Art."

"Oh? You want to offer it to me?"

Ren Li, with his hands behind his back, turned more than halfway around and nodded, adding, "I can understand why you kept this from me now. After all, given your relationship with Steward He, if you mentioned it to him, you'd likely be seen as an accomplice and dealt with together!"

"No, what I actually wanted to say was that I took that thirty percent, extracted the key points, and modified it into a new Breath Concealing Technique. I'm using it now, and I didn't want you to misunderstand anything."

"Ah?"

Ren Li was caught completely off guard. He instinctively turned around fully.

Then he saw Du En nod in acknowledgment after saying this, and turn to leave, heading back to his post to continue burying bodies.

"Wait!" Ren Li called out to him.

"Is there something else, Foreman?" Du En stopped and asked.

Clever boy, playing hard to get, are we?

But I have to admit, you've piqued my interest a little!

Ren Li came to his own conclusion and then, with a stern face, spoke businesslike, "You said you modified an evil method for your own use. I can't pretend not to know about this, so you need to explain it to me in detail."

He had actually sensed Du En's concealment for a while now.

This was one of the reasons he had paid attention to Du En upon meeting him.

It was just that he had dismissed it as a crude trick at the time and hadn't taken it seriously.

Now that he knew its origin and that it involved an evil method, he had to get to the bottom of it.

He decided to play along with the boy's game and see what other tricks he had up his sleeve.

Conversely, Du En had no intention of trying to curry favor or be obsequious. He was merely testing and confirming Ren Li's background. Observing Ren Li's micro-expressions now, he was even more certain that his proficient Breath Concealing Technique hadn't fooled him.

At the same time, the other party clearly didn't have much concern for evil techniques.

This indicated that Ren Li's background might be even deeper than he initially imagined!

After all, he had managed to deceive He Bo, who was at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Therefore, Du En didn't hide anything now and directly explained his Breath Concealing Technique.

As expected, a crude trick!

Ren Li showed no surprise after hearing the explanation.

However, he could confirm that this was not an evil technique; the potentially problematic content had been completely removed.

He had to acknowledge this point to some extent: "This is indeed not an evil technique. You can continue to practice and study it. Hmm, I mean, for someone in this frontier's lower rungs to develop this, you're quite good."

"Mm, perhaps it's my comprehension."

Du En replied.

Then, he heard Ren Li let out an involuntary laugh: "Haha, good comprehension. Sorry, hearing you say that really amused me. I can't help it, hahahaha."

He sounded like he had heard the best joke in the world and couldn't contain himself.

Du En felt no embarrassment and calmly watched him.

A moment later, Ren Li stopped laughing.

It seemed that through his rather unrestrained laughter, he had unconsciously closed the distance between himself and Du En.

So now, he spoke somewhat casually, "You're still too short-sighted. Talk of good comprehension is only fitting for those who can fully grasp a low-grade cultivation technique within a month and then deduce a mid-grade technique on their own in the second month."

"A border town kid can't just get a little skill and start thinking too highly of himself!"

"So, Foreman, are you that kind of person?" Du En asked, only this question.

"Uh..."

Clearly, he wasn't.

Ren Li was instantly choked, feeling a bit awkward, his face flushing slightly.

Can't you talk properly?

No wonder Steward He doesn't give you a good look!

Amidst his muttered thoughts, Du En bowed again and turned to leave once more.

Watching the figure naturally return to bury the corpses, Ren Li's gaze suddenly turned strange.

So, you're playing the game of playing hard to get and you're addicted?

Or did I misunderstand from the very beginning?

His eyes flickered, and after a while, they returned to bình thường.

"Forget it, I'll just assume I misunderstood. However, looking at it this way, the days of being a foreman here won't be too boring or mundane, at least."

Discarding his extraneous emotions, Ren Li straightened his attitude and walked towards the place he had chosen.

Du En noticed that he wasn't like those irresponsible foremen who found a shady spot and became lazy. Instead, he found a spot in a patch of barren land and sat down cross-legged.

Soon entering a state, starting to cultivate?

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

Du En couldn't quite say what he was doing specifically.

With his mastery of the Yellow Earth Technique, he could only vaguely determine this much.

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

He had just breathed a sigh of relief.

Not just him, but everyone else too.

With Steward He's arrival and Foreman Ren Li taking office, they quickly came to their senses and realized that their situation hadn't actually changed in any substantial way!

So, their recent fear was because they were afraid that Du En would clash head-on with the newly arrived steward again, escalating the conflict and leading to harsh treatment from Ren Li.

Unlike He Bo, this steward only treated them like dirt. Even if he disliked Du En, he wouldn't specifically target him in daily life. Furthermore, he cared about his reputation and disliked the environment of the shantytown, which was why he hadn't taken any extra action against them before.

At most, he just went with the flow.

But the foreman was different. As the direct supervisor of the hardworking people at the bottom of the border town, he was in close contact with them daily. Whatever he wanted to do was easy and within reach.

Just looking at the constant stream of corpses every day was enough to see how inhumane these foremen were!

Fortunately, although the initial atmosphere seemed a bit tense, in the end, it seemed to have been resolved by Du En...

Ning Caize thought this, and then he heard Du En's question: "Old Ning, is what Foreman Ren is doing now some kind of regular exorcism?"

Hearing this, Ning Caize snapped back to attention and subconsciously glanced over cautiously.

He quickly pulled his gaze back, his brow furrowed. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head, "I haven't heard of anything like this from the old men who have passed away."

So, it wasn't for that reason.

Then, was this Ren Li's reason and purpose for going with the flow and taking office?

Du En pondered, not asking or paying further attention.

Because paying more attention now was useless. With his cultivation level, he wasn't yet capable of discerning Ren Li's actions.