Chapter 23: Raising Sand to Catch Owls

"Hoo..."

Holding back a burst of energy, erupting with indescribable drive, at this evening hour, having finished burying the large number of corpses for the day, the corpse-buriers only then dared to let out a slight breath.

Du En looked at them, only secretly shaking his head slightly.

He did not have any such eruption; from beginning to end, he only maintained a corpse-burying efficiency slightly higher than usual.

So at this moment, he did not even take an extra breath.

The others only assumed he had not yet recovered from his heavy injuries and paid him no mind at all.

Now that the work of burying the corpses was finished, naturally, they had to strike while the iron was hot and hurry back to hide the spirit stones tucked in their pockets; only then could they calm their anxious hearts.

Du En, who had finished dealing with the others quickly, also quickly bathed and washed his clothes, tidied himself up, hid the spirit stones in batches, returned to the courtyard, and set up two pots—one to boil medicinal porridge, the other to boil medicinal soup.

Du En did not turn back or linger; he went all the way into the mountain forest and soon found a place.

When he returned here, the others' breath had also dissipated, and the fatigue from a full day of erupting and high-intensity labor was rapidly surfacing.

Ning Caize only smiled awkwardly, then, seeing Du En had not changed his clothes and had started dragging people onto the beds the moment he put down his shovel, he immediately pulled a bitter face again.

Unable to help but hunch his body, unable to even lift the shovel and only able to drag it, his appearance drew mockery and pity from the neighbors who saw him from afar.

"My injuries haven't healed yet, and you all are already adding extra burdens to me like this."

Whoo-whoo~

Simply put, the two gangs were currently lying low; when they met today, they were not arrogant or domineering, as if they had completely changed their nature, which was clearly caused by last night's events.

Under the cover of night, he left the house and headed outside the shanty area.

There was no corpse of Lü Xiang!

Among the corpses buried today, there were the other five people he had finished off, but Lü Xiang was the only one missing!

This point made him immediately alert.

Du En walked among them, not drawing attention.

Du En asked this rhetorical question in a tone that took it for granted.

In their eyes, the faint smell of corpses on Du En seemed very familiar, but it was not heavy or obvious, so, was he someone about to die?!

Their not-so-large brains could only reach this conclusion.

Four of them went straight to sleep, or rather, fell into a stupor.

They flapped their wings, flew high in the air, and circled around Du En, seemingly looking for an opportunity to attack, wanting to drive away this hunter who had trespassed.

At the same time, he brought over a small stool, sat in front of the firelight, and raced against time to study the Sand-Raising Technique.

Pfft~

The tip of the firewood stick sank into the body, beginning to crack due to the poor material, but because of the powerful push, it continued forward until it jammed into the spine.

The nest of a group of strange owls.

"Haha..."

In an instant, pairs of already large eyes immediately widened, claws moved lightly, appearing eager to try, revealing a craving for the flesh and blood of corpses.

With the help of the well-practiced Yellow Earth Art and the newly-initiated Earth Bullet Technique—both being Earth-element aids—this low-grade Earth-element spell took shape rapidly in Du En's hands.

In this way, they could not make a proper reaction and were nothing more than targets.

Finally, when it was his turn, he could only keep a wooden face, hold his breath, and be dragged and thrown onto the bed.

Firelight and cooking smoke were visible everywhere, passersby gathered in groups on the roadside to talk, and people came and went; the chaotic battle between the two gangs that happened last night, a major event that had been called off by the manager, did not have a very obvious impact on this scene.

The shanty area in the shallow night was actually when it was most full of life; people were released from a day's labor one after another, running around for the trivialities of making a living.

Only Ning Caize, who was prematurely aged and had underlying illnesses, was the one with the deepest cultivation and best endurance among the five, so he could still hold onto his consciousness.

By the time Du En closed the door and left the room, he also could not hold on and fell into a deep sleep.

Regarding this, Ning Caize expressed that he was already used to it.

A moment later, a handful of light sand blew up in the courtyard.

Because this spell was not limited by the occasion in its early stages and did not need to be hidden from other corpse-buriers, it could be practiced even during the day, taking advantage of moments of rest.

"If it's to catch a large owl, the way I just did it is actually enough..."

Speculating in his heart, his face remained calm.

He also heard a little about the current situation of the Blood Eagle Gang and the Iron Hand Gang from the passersby.

I fear that some variable has appeared in this!

"However, since no one has come to investigate yet, then perhaps it might be..."

"Coo! Coo!"

Of course, these passersby did not know anything deeper, and he would still need to investigate himself.

On the strangely shaped large tree, dozens of strange owls were perched, and at this moment, they all tilted their heads, looking straight over, which was particularly creepy in the night.

Du En's expression did not fluctuate in the slightest; he only scanned and screened.

Du En aimed at the most suitable one among them and immediately raised his hand to throw; the sharpened wooden-core firewood stick flew out with a 'whoosh' and quickly reached the front of the strange owl.

Du En pondered, turned down the heat of the two mud stoves, went to the firewood pile to pick and choose, and soon found a few pieces of suitable, hard wooden cores, took out a machete, and quickly sharpened them.

"None of you bathed, your bodies are all stinking, why should I be the one to drag you after I finish bathing?"

The strange owl was blinded by the sand for a moment, screaming and flapping its wings, flying up in a chaotic manner.

Thus, everything was ready.

Boom!

Once the courtyard door was closed and the shovels were thrown down, the five people who had been strongly holding their breath quickly took off their smelly clothes and then rushed into their own rooms.

Quickly locking onto the target, he raised his hand and flicked it; a handful of light sand rushed out, covering the faces of the three strange owls huddled on a certain branch.

Hide the spirit stones first, everything else can wait!

By the time they finished hiding them, this breath had completely dissipated, and in Du En's somewhat speechless gaze, the five people fell to the ground directly, and four snoring sounds quickly emerged.

In truth, there was one thing on their mind.

"Um, although it's not very polite to say this, after all, you are indeed still a wounded person, but could I ask you to finish your bath first, before dragging this old man along? Cough, cough, cough..."

"Gurgle~"

Sighing at the hardships of a corpse-burier and comparing it to their own current situation, they suddenly felt that life didn't seem so difficult after all.

"Gurgle! Gurgle!"

Walking all the way back to the small courtyard.

Du En did not go to strike the owl, lagging behind at the end.

This further increased the sense of terror they brought to people.

【Sand Raising Technique (Newly Learned 0/10)】

"Lightly familiar reduces it by one time, First Glimpse reduces it by half a time; one point of proficiency only needs eight and a half times, if I find time to practice seventeen times a day, I can reach First Glimpse in five days."

Not yet dead, it flapped about, but lacked the strength to fly again, and could only fall down.

Therefore, exhausted and having no other strength left, they just hurried back.

Fresh blood splattered everywhere, carrying a foul stench, causing the other members of its kind to immediately reveal their salivating wild nature, but at this moment, what made them even more wary was Du En, who was actively hunting.

Regarding this, Du En felt not a shred of fear, walking over swaggeringly, grabbing the large owl they had struck down, and then swaggering away from this place.

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(End of this chapter)