Ch11 Dirty Work

“Why do you think we allow you to live here? This isn’t a free ride! You worthless runt!”

“Mortals dream for the opportunity to work for immortals! I have given you an opportunity, a way to earn spirit fragments, but you have thrown it all away!”

“Tang Min! If you will not even chop a single log, then you are no longer useful!”

Loud yells come from the hut half a kilometer away, mixed with the sounds of loud slaps and cries for help.

Today, Zhou Kang was in a horrible mood when he collected my chopped wood.

He didn’t glance at me more than once, confirming the copper bell talisman around my neck really does have an aura-cloaking passive ability.

With my new perspective, I could vividly feel the presence of the 2nd Level Qi Refiner near me today. His whole body lit up bright white in my consciousness, filled with far more qi than I currently have in my body.

This sensation made my hair stand up when he was less than a meter away from me, but the feeling of danger disappeared the further away he got. Over 10 meters away, I couldn’t even tell that he was a cultivator. Neither my senses nor instincts can see that far.

Now, I hear the sounds of bones cracking and a child’s whimpers, the release of the pent-up anger Zhou Kang was holding.

Today, it doesn’t stop when the child falls unconscious.

“Today, you’ll stay down! We have a new batch of replacements coming in tomorrow morning anyway!”

An extremely loud crash comes after, a punch down at the ground of an unconscious boy. The trees block out most of the view, but the laughter that echoes out after makes me shiver.

Silence fills the air for a few seconds, then another loud yell calls out in my direction.

“Hey, Li Hao! Come over here!”

I grit my teeth and look through the window of my hut to see the bow and arrow sitting up against the wall inside, but shake my head and decide against it.

His voice is no longer angry; in fact, there is a calmness about it.

I walk through the woods with slow and steady strides, stopping before the hut’s clearing.

Zhou Kang stands over the headless body of a young servant boy. A punch mark, shattered skull, and pool of blood indent the earth where it once was. He wipes off his hands with the child’s shirt, then throws it onto the body.

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“I want you to clean this up. Far off past the stream, there’s a ravine where no servant camps are built yet. Throw this body and any identifiers off the edge; the wild beasts will take care of it.”

He smirks and points a thumb back to the now-empty hut.

“Then clean that place up. There will be a newcomer tomorrow. Whatever valuables this kid had are yours for the taking as payment for your dirty work.”

A warm pressure fills the air as he looks me dead in the eyes.