Chapter 16: The Matter of Asking for Wages

Although October had arrived, the sweltering heat remained.

In the shanty town outside the city, the area where Du En and the others lived had become somewhat tense in recent days.

Because the members of the Blood Eagle Gang, aside from their normal labor during the day, had begun unusual gatherings and mobilizations at night.

This situation quickly aroused the vigilance of their challenger, the Iron Hand Gang; as time passed, the two sides began to confront each other, each sticking to their own version of events, clearly ready for a fight, and the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder.

Other unrelated people at the bottom were anxious and uneasy, fearing the fire would spread to them.

However, generally speaking, because these gang members and hall masters also needed to work during the day, the situation remained in a state of brewing premonition until now.

Du En kept an eye on it, going out to observe for a while every night, but he did not overdo it.

"Du En, when do you plan to go ask for your wages this month?"

Many newcomers often manage to survive the first month, but because they do not receive their wages, they fall into distress and are forced to continue working, ultimately dying in a very miserable state!

"This, this, that's true."

【Divine Ability: None】

As for the timing, of course, the earlier the better.

"Cough, cough... how could it not be like this? You see, these managing overseers all condone those gangs in their bullying and evil deeds, so, isn't it only natural that it would be like this?"

He was very puzzled by this.

【Age: 18/91】

Du En was not stingy about this; seeing that he was interested, he asked him if he wanted some.

But, it was clearly his own hard-earned pay, and receiving it should have been a matter of course, yet in the end, having to face this situation was truly infuriating and left one powerless to change it.

The daily rhythm remained: sweating while burying corpses during the day, searching for herbs and cooking meals in the evening, and diligently practicing his cultivation at night.

Ten days had passed since he began cooking spirit meals.

"Ah?"

Every day, Du En would think of ways to catch a strange owl, collect and identify three types of medicinal herbs, and cook a spirit meal to promote the diligent practice of his cultivation art.

As for the result, he didn't dare to believe that nonsense again, and at the time, he shook his head like a rattle-drum.

Unless everyone had run out of food, or the Blood Eagle Gang was pressing too hard.

Wei Ming even began to wonder if Du En had really concocted something.

Hearing this, even the other old-timers couldn't help but shift their eyes toward Du En.

【Spell: Earth Bullet Technique (First Glimpse 1/20)】

He had been a corpse-buryer for a year, and even by the most generous count, he had only received half a year's wages.

Such malicious obstruction by the manager was visibly unbearable for those of them at the early stage of Qi Refining!

"Little Wei, you are still too green!"

The Falling Feather Immortal Gate is, after all, one of the overlords of the world; even if the conditions in this southern border city are far inferior to the sect's core area, they wouldn't be so stingy and undignified over a few low-grade spirit stones, would they?

Wei Ming, standing to the side, felt it was strange at this moment; looking at the other seniors, he only saw their expressions were odd, hesitant to speak, and their eyes flickering.

Only at this moment did Wei Ming finally react.

Other than that, they truly didn't perceive anything else.

He had taken the initiative to bring up this topic at this time, actually out of consideration for Du En.

The other three, although they still had some other thoughts, saw that one person here had already made a decision and the most senior one had also said so, so they all nodded in agreement, expressing their approval of this decision.

Anyway, even if they got the spirit stones, in the end, they would still have to suffer the exploitation of the Blood Eagle Gang, so there was simply no need to take the risk.

Asking for wages.

However, seeing Du En still so calm and composed, he developed a bit of expectation: "Boss, by the way, you should have gotten yours last month; could it be that there is actually some trick to this?"

In the end, the others only felt that Du En was finally unable to stand the rotten, stinking smell of the strange owl and was trying every possible way to improve it.

Du En set such rules, and they felt it was acceptable, wanting to maintain it in their hearts.

While observing the movements of the Blood Eagle Gang every night, he would also practice spells, not wasting a single moment.

At the very least, the smell of the finished product was clearly better than before.

Wei Ming was suddenly shocked and couldn't help but speak: "How could it be like this?"

"Then, like this, what should be done? The manager is a great cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage..."

Everyone had received their wages and they hadn't been snatched away by the Blood Eagle Gang, so they could stop worrying about things, concentrate on purchasing supplies, and take turns paying the spirit stones.

These four words made the atmosphere suddenly become oppressive.

And today, while getting up early for work as usual, Ning Caize brought up a topic shortly after they left the house.

Du En shook his head slightly and said bluntly: "There is no trick; it is just that the manager always does this. The first time it seems gentle, and then, when you start to let your guard down, he will suddenly play a dirty trick."

What exactly is the situation?

Du En had already considered this and answered calmly: "Let's wait until after the fifteenth, pool together Wei Ming's, and considering Manager He's temperament, it is actually best to wait until the end of the month."

Ning Caize explained with a sigh, his eyes full of bitterness.

Thinking of this, Ning Caize's eyes dimmed.

But this way, they needed to be able to get spirit stones every month, so they hoped that Du En, their leader, would step up again.

Seeing Du En completely addicted to cooking the strange owl, taking the initiative to catch them and eating them as meals, the other corpse-buryers couldn't help but mutter.

Du En did not waste any more breath on this.

The previous boss was always dragging his feet because he feared this matter.

If there really were a trick, they would want to master it too!

Seeing Wei Ming's visible astonishment, someone immediately couldn't help but pour out their grievances: "Indeed, the manager wouldn't go so far as to embezzle our few low-grade spirit stones, but he never takes the initiative to distribute them; we need to send someone to ask for them, and then face his light or heavy malicious obstruction!"

After all, those ordinary medicinal herbs were indeed a little useful, but only a little.

Ning Caize analyzed it this way.

You can pick some to dry and store, and when the weather is overcast or rainy, boil them in water or porridge to drink, to dispel the dampness.

It couldn't be that adding a weird, stinky, strange owl would turn it into some kind of miraculous elixir, could it?

【Hundred Arts: Gathering and Appraising (Beginner 4/10), Culinary Arts (Beginner 1/10)】

Last month, after Du En had scouted out the situation clearly and gone to demand the wages, the position of leader was automatically yielded to him.

"Is that so? That makes sense, otherwise Little Wei would have worked for nothing last month, and besides, we are currently quite well-off, enough to endure this period."

【Cultivation Method: Yellow Earth Art (Entry Level 7/20)】

Wei Ming actually hadn't been completely unaware, he just couldn't believe it would really be like this, and still held a glimmer of hope in his heart, thinking those big shots shouldn't go that far.

On the side of the corpse buriers, the one acting as the leader needs to take on the responsibility of demanding wages.

【Cultivation Base: Qi Refining Initial Stage (15/100)】

【Spiritual Root: Low Grade】

"Huh? Is this talking about the matter of wages? These wages, do we actually need to go and demand them ourselves?"

Because they naturally hoped that their hard work could be rewarded, and the month that had just passed was also a period where they had lived quite comfortably.

Isn't it supposed to be issued on time?

And then, the former boss encountered an accident while burying a corpse and died.

Wei Ming came over to fill his vacancy.

(End of this chapter)