Chapter 29: Misfortune from Extreme Joy

New Year's Eve.

The "misfortune from extreme joy" of Ning Caize is still continuously taking effect.

Today, the number of corpses they need to bury has started to decrease, and the weather is also considered decent—sunny and bright, but not too hot or humid.

Perhaps because of this, the gravediggers, who have been toiling for several days, are able to breathe a sigh of relief; furthermore, the matter regarding Zhang Lin has truly invigorated Ning Caize's heart, to the extent that he has become a bit careless and negligent while finishing up.

Following the rules, it is the turn of the last one.

It is a corpse that looks like it was fished out of some mud pit, covered head to toe in mud, and thus was placed on a separate cart by the corpse transporters and brought over to be set down last.

Having been exposed to the sun for an entire day, that layer of mud has long since dried out, and even the originally bloated body has shriveled back down due to the loss of moisture.

Boss, is this going to work?

Has he really managed to concoct some kind of spirit meal or medicinal meal?

How about we sneak out and use spirit stones to buy medicinal pills?

The last person, having finished burying that final corpse, is extremely nervous: "Boss, I, I'm going to go look for some too."

After all, it is about to get dark!

"Forget it, that guy is a lowly laborer, yet on ordinary days he..."

Du En uses the shovel in his hand to precisely cut into the gap between Ning Caize's clothes and skin, pulls outward, tears the clothes open, and takes the opportunity to toss them into the pit.

These people are finally liberated today; they don't have to work through the night and can get off work at a normal time. Right now, they are all sitting or lying at their own doorways, enjoying this brief moment of leisure after working overtime, having already been drowsy.

Giving an instruction, the shovel falls—*thud*.

Du En, for his part, has already raised his hand and pressed it onto the spot where Ning Caize was struck and where a purplish-blue color is now rapidly spreading, using his own small-achievement mana to dispel that strange water-yin cold evil.

Looking at it as a whole, it is just like a beggar's chicken that has been dug out and left to cool.

Du En faintly hears the gossip of these neighbors, but he pays no mind, only silently increasing the heat to make the water in the pot bubble and gurgle.

"Alright, alright, I know."

In the end, these short-sighted people can only remain silent and continue watching Du En's operations.

Yet the stench in the large pot is rapidly diminishing, no longer pumping out in waves.

However, there is still a portion that has deeply penetrated into the internal organs and meridians, almost entering the dantian and sea of Qi, appearing extremely stubborn; it is not something his external mana can precisely excise in a short moment.

Saying this, he drops the shovel, carries Ning Caize on his back, and takes off running.

Du En thinks for a moment and says to the others who have finished their work and are gathering around with worried expressions: "Go dig up some medicinal herbs nearby; I need ginseng that grows in a place fully facing the sun and is over seventy years old, Eucommia bark over fifty years old, and at least thirty-year-old Aconitum roots."

Waiting until the scent of the stewed owl is completely sealed and permeated, he then skillfully uses mana to extinguish the fire as a supplement.

"Tsk tsk! Something happened again!"

"Ah, oh, okay."

The multi-talented stewed owl is a success once more!

But he isn't finished; he opens the pot directly, scoops out a large ladle of soup, puts the small pot back on the furnace fire, vibrates his mana slightly, and the pot lid flies off, splashing this ladle of soup in at that instant.

A handful of yellow sand comes flying toward his face, and a large owl falls to the ground in response.

"That kid is here again!"

The gravedigger who heard the instruction is still a bit dazed, and begins to bury it mechanically.

"He eats rotten owls all day, yet you never see his stomach rot!"

Du En carries a pile of shovels and sundries, while also holding a large owl, and walks toward the Eucommia tree, meeting up with the other two on the way.

Even though he has already mobilized his mana to resist, how could his meager mana—only cultivated for a year or so and counting as just a beginner's effort—possibly withstand it?

Mere rabble, vulnerable to a single blow.

"Putting everything else aside, Du En is truly impeccable as the group leader."

"But then again, there hasn't been a death in three months, right?"

Do you know what kind of medicinal pills are suitable?

The four of them find everything and leave the burial wasteland before it gets completely dark.

"Keep burying."

A moment later, it is basically dispelled.

"You really know how to talk!"

"How unlucky!"

They hand over the medicinal herbs while taking the shovels.

Their hurried figures make the people living around the small courtyard feel a bit curious and concerned.

"Haha, at least a hundred-year-old ginseng, it's almost become a spirit herb!"

"Indeed, it's made everyone get used to the unusual."

*Pfft~*

A stream of muddy water suddenly spurts out from the mouth.

The resources in the mountains and forests of the Southern Frontier are still quite abundant; Du En cannot finish them all by himself, so very quickly, all three of them make discoveries and find suitable targets.

*Rip~*

But it won't do at this moment, so they are the ones who see the subsequent development.

On one side, the fragrance grows increasingly rich; on the other, the odor gradually thins.

Du En expressionlessly tidies up the shovels and sundries and walks over leisurely; with a sweep of his gaze, he makes the beasts whimper and shriek, fleeing and escaping in all directions.

It is only when Du En suddenly appears in their field of vision that they are startled into a sudden jolt.

"Seems like that old guy?"

Thus, Ning Caize freezes in place; looking from the outside, it just appears he was splashed with a bit of muddy water, and it is difficult to judge the critical situation, so the people working in a team with him have not yet reacted.

"Working in that line of business, it's just a matter of time."

Hearing this, the three of them immediately scattered, each going to find one type, in a great hurry.

Crack—

This faint, crisp sound immediately drew Du En's attention.

"Found it, found it!"

But at this very moment, a sudden chill struck their hearts, and they stopped in unison.

It wasn't until Du En, with quick eyes and swift hands, suddenly grabbed and lifted the small pot with one hand.

Looking at Ning Caize again, he had already fallen unconscious.

However, he was now several zhang away; when he suddenly raised his head and turned to look, he only saw the mud shell on the corpse's abdomen cracking and slightly sagging inward due to the force on both sides and the softness in the middle while the corpse was being carried.

It was as if it had been touched by a piece of unmeltable cold ice; a sensation of cold numbness spread rapidly, passing through his clothes, seeping into his skin and muscles, and spreading very quickly.

"You don't need to; carry Old Ning back, wash the filth and stench off his body, then brew a pot of that Spirit-Repelling Soup of yours, let him drink it, and have him hold on for now."

Rather than caring about the corpse-buriers, it was better to enjoy their hard-won leisure.

At this time in the past, Wei Ming and the others should have already withdrawn.

"Hehe, who knows, maybe this time it's for that old guy to eat; what do you call it, fighting poison with poison?"

"Is it that unlucky guy again?"

As the sun began to set in the west, the mountain forest was rapidly darkening.

The others were nervous and had strange looks in their eyes, standing to one side, silently watching Du En's posture as he worked with both hands.

"Perhaps it's a final good meal before death?"

Arriving in front of the old Eucommia tree.

"Shovel it."

"An axe? Did anyone bring an axe? The bark of that old Eucommia is truly too hard; I couldn't even gnaw a piece off."

"Let's go back."

Although very quickly, the rising medicinal and strange odor forced them all to get up.

The strange owls hooted chaotically, and the gray jackals dripped saliva in the shadows, staring at the carried Ning Caize, beginning to move, wanting to wait for an opportunity to act and treat him as their dinner.

Ning Caize, carrying the head and shoulder side, in his somewhat lighthearted attitude, did not notice when placing it into the pit that the mud shell wrapped around the corpse had already cracked.

Because of his carelessness, Ning Caize did not notice in time and did not dodge completely; even though he tried his best to avoid it now, he was still hit in the side of the abdomen.

After a while, a pungent, hot fragrance was the first to rise from the porridge being brewed.

This old Eucommia tree was indeed sturdy; the three of them took turns shoveling several times before they managed to shovel off a piece of bark.

Both pots were going: one large pot stewing the giant owl, and one small pot boiling the brown rice.

The four people's eyes were full of questions.

These people muttered to themselves, and soon quieted down.

Cover it back, burn it fiercely, recite three times silently.

Done!

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(End of this chapter)