Chapter 114: Hearing News on the Flying Boat

On a spring morning, even the sun in the Southern Frontier is bound to be a bit gentler.

At this very moment, the atmosphere in the shanty town outside the border city is exceptionally lively.

"Hey, have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"About Lord Du!"

"Huh? Which Lord Du?"

"Who else could it be! Of course, the one over at the corpse-buriers, have you forgotten?!"

"Damn it, bad luck! Seeing you dressed so decently, I thought you were someone like the renowned 'Know-it-all' that even I didn't know, never expected I'd misjudge you!"

Huang Xiaosheng is especially like this, because he feels he was harmed by a villain, which is why he ended up in this situation!

"So that's how it is." Du En nodded and asked again, "What are the dangers? And what are the specific duties?"

Those who have suffered less than they have in the past are now talking about this with high spirits, showing looks of longing, and even after reaching their respective posts, they did not stop.

Sensing the undisguised gaze from this side, the person also looked over.

Upon noticing this, the overseers all had something they wanted to say but held back.

Du En turned his head to look; the person who spoke was not far from him, a young man who looked to be in his thirties, though his actual age should be at least a dozen years older. He was quite handsome, not pale or fat, and dressed like a scholar.

"The lowest of the low, that is the outpost camp we are about to head to. The environment is poor, the pickings are slim, and the dangers are many. Going there is equivalent to being exiled. For hundreds of years, only one camp master has been recalled; the others have all quietly turned to dust, with no one remembering them at all. The future is truly miserable!"

"Hiss! In other words, the previous rumors were true?"

However, at this moment, Huang Xiaosheng had already caught the drift, but he had not fully confirmed it, so he frowned and asked first: "Are you from the shanty town outside the city?"

Rather than saying that, further questioning would only make the other party more certain, so Du En simply admitted it, thinking to see if he would run into someone normal, but the result was like this.

After knowing of such an existence, his heart was greatly alerted; being able to figure it out clearly was necessary, otherwise, there would be no way to respond effectively.

Is that Lord Du also on that thing?

And so, the people who have always faced the yellow earth and turned their backs to the sky chose to look up at the flying boat, which had already flown far away and could only be seen as a faint trace, their eyes filled with anticipation and hope.

In these past few days, the news of Du En's Foundation Establishment began to spread like wildfire, and by today, there were similar discussions everywhere.

"Greetings."

In fact, by the time Huang Xiaosheng reacted, he could no longer continue asking.

"Need you ask! Lord Du's divine arts are peerless, his chivalry is unmatched..."

The overseers turned a blind eye to this, as it involved the Foundation Establishment stage after all.

On the flying boat, at the edge of the deck, those at the Foundation Establishment stage kept their distance from the half-dead person lying there.

It was precisely at this moment that a flying boat rose from the city and streaked across the blue sky.

It was originally supposed to be a supply run every seven or eight years; now, it seems it hasn't even been seven or eight years since the last one?

Suddenly, the lines were clearly drawn; at the same time, their various negative emotions, which had nowhere to go, all seemed to find a target and surged toward this side together.

Someone sighed at this moment, voicing the inner thoughts of everyone present.

Du En only felt a bit of regret that he hadn't been able to ask further, but he didn't mind this situation.

"The middle-class ones go to the Qingya Garden outside the city. Although there is no future, at least the environment is decent, and one can scrape together some meager scraps. If you work hard at cultivation and tremble while doing your duty, there is a possibility of being promoted into the city."

"The outpost camp is not a good place to go!"

"What? There is such a thing!?"

Du En looked at the others again. They, who had originally huddled together with a harmonious atmosphere and shared misery, now changed their faces in unison. Looks of contempt, disdain, and scorn were cast over, and they all moved away from him.

"Just, the one in the rumors?"

Even though their expressions and eyes hadn't changed at all, their hearts couldn't help but tremble, and they immediately choked back their curses and foul language, not daring to spit them out.

He truly didn't know; no one had told him in detail. He had only received a transfer order. His overall impression of it was half from the scattered information Ren Li had mentioned at the time, and half inferred indirectly from everyone's attitude.

The deck of the flying boat became quiet.

"Yes, yes, yes! You don't know yet, do you? That person has already broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage!"

Du En returned the greeting and glanced at the dying person.

Huang Xiaosheng was just worried about not finding someone to talk to and vent his emotions, so seeing this, he began to spill his guts: "Speaking of which, the Foundation Establishment cultivators in our border city can actually be divided into three classes."

"The outpost is similar to a warning watchtower. Naturally, it is filled with patrol guards responsible for patrolling the border and eliminating some signs of danger. If they really encounter something they cannot eliminate, they report it to their superiors to sound the alarm."

This really is... no surprise.

"The upper class is naturally the best, staying in the city and holding important positions. The environment is good, the pickings are plentiful, it is most suitable for cultivation, and there is a future."

Having said that, he flicked his sleeves and left.

"Yes..."

"Eh? A fellow Daoist I haven't seen before?"

These were not surprising. Du En wanted to continue asking to see if this Foundation Establishment cultivator from the city, who seemed to know quite a bit and could talk eloquently, knew anything about the resentful spirits.

In reality, nothing had changed; it was just that their state of mind had changed, and they had a target to vent their anger and blame on...

His gaze first swept over Du En's Dark Shadow Dharma Robe, then fixed on the unfamiliar face. He couldn't help but pace over, cupping his hands and saying: "I am Huang Xiaosheng, greetings, fellow Daoist."

"Would I dare to talk nonsense about such things? Of course, it's true!"

He had to speak his mind; he felt indignant and uneasy.

They didn't pay too much attention to this, but at this moment, they couldn't help but think.

Seen it again, the flying boat supply run!

By comparison, this time seems to be early?

Even though they were already drowning rats themselves, the so-called lower-class Foundation Establishment cultivators, they still had to distinguish a lower-class among the lower-class, and then treat him with contempt and disdain, as if by doing so, their own situation could be changed.

Many old-timers who had been here for over ten years widened their eyes upon seeing this scene.

And so, Du En also invisibly changed his attitude, deliberately sweeping a glance at those few who looked the most aggressive.

Huang Xiaosheng began to feel that something was wrong, smacked his lips, and continued: "If we're talking about danger, those demonic beasts and miasma poisons are secondary; the most dangerous things are the evil cultivators hiding in the shadows. If one is the slightest bit careless, even those in the Foundation Establishment stage will die a miserable death."

Time slipped away rapidly.

The eight-hundred-li distance was crossed by the flying boat in less than half an hour. Du En turned his head to look, only to see the cloud cover beginning to descend, and the mountain forests further to the south were shrouded in a layer of miasma, faint and indistinct, in shades of red, yellow, blue, and green.

(End of this chapter)