Realm of the Night God

In the following period, Yang Haoran focused all his thoughts on refining the Death Mark Seal. It took him half a month, but he finally completely refined the Death Mark Seal within his body.

With each refinement of the Death Mark Seal, his strength correspondingly increased. Conversely, the power contained in the Death Mark Seal diminished. This led to a faster and easier refinement as he progressed, enhancing his abilities significantly.

After completely refining the Death Mark Seal within his body, Yang Haoran's strength experienced a substantial boost, surpassing the power of those who had just opened their Heaven Soul by a considerable margin.

The benefits obtained were astonishing, but the troubles ahead were also quite challenging for Yang Haoran. The Yin Qi within the refined Death Mark Seal was not pure, resulting in a significant amount of impurities within his body.

If these impurities were not dealt with promptly, it would become increasingly difficult to handle them in the future. Neglecting them could have a profound impact on his breakthroughs, possibly preventing him from reaching the next realm forever.

The impurities within his body were entirely detrimental to Yang Haoran, so after thoroughly refining the Death Mark Seal, he redirected all his focus to the task of eliminating these impurities.

As days passed by, Yang Haoran devoted himself to purging the impurities within his body, oblivious to the passage of time. He had no attention to spare for external events, and his mobile phone had long shut down due to depleted battery.

Although Yang Haoran, as the Burial Master, paid no attention to external matters, Master Wu, the second-in-command, efficiently managed the affairs of Lecheng Yin Division.

Initially reduced to an empty shell, Lecheng Yin Division quickly regained its momentum under the guidance of Master Wu. Despite the overall strength of Lecheng Yin Division not yet matching that during Deng Feng's leadership, normal operations resumed in a remarkably short time.

Moreover, compared to the Night Watch led by Deng Feng in the past, the current Night Watch in Lecheng, under Master Wu's management, displayed a more cohesive force. However, Yang Haoran remained unaware of this development.

Yang Haoran's decision to elevate Master Wu was based on Master Wu's capabilities. With his assistance, Yang Haoran could comfortably act as a figurehead.

From the current situation, Yang Haoran's tenure as a figurehead seemed stable. Since taking office, he had not concerned himself with the affairs of Lecheng Yin Division, leaving all responsibilities to Master Wu.

For Yang Haoran, this was both a good and a bad thing. Whether it ultimately turned out to be positive or negative depended on Master Wu, not Yang Haoran.

...

Every city has its slums, and even though Lecheng was a small city, it was no exception.

The inhabitants of the slums were naturally impoverished, yet they were not all the same.

Some of the poor worked tirelessly, day in and day out, willing to do any dirty or laborious job to change their circumstances and escape poverty. They were full of hope for a better tomorrow.

Conversely, some of the poor took a different approach. They had already given up hope for their lives, believing that their fate was sealed. No matter how hard they worked, they thought they couldn't change anything. Eventually, they resigned themselves to the destiny of poverty.

So, they indulged in self-destructive behaviors, unwilling to strive anymore. They either idled away, hoping for a stroke of luck, or spent their time playing cards, drinking tea, or chatting, leading lives entirely opposite to the former group.

Song Laoyao was one of the latter.

At twenty-five years old, Song Laoyao was the youngest in his family, with two older brothers and one sister. They had all once lived in the slums, but his brothers and sister had managed to escape through their own efforts, leaving only Song Laoyao as the youngest brother stuck in the slums.

Being the youngest in the family, Song Laoyao had been pampered by his parents since childhood. Taking advantage of this, he engaged in all sorts of mischievous activities and never applied himself to study.

Now, even though Song Laoyao was still young, he indulged in vices such as drinking, womanizing, and, most notably, gambling. Gambling was his greatest passion in life, and he had gained a reputation as one of the most notorious gamblers in the slums of Lecheng.

Initially, Song Laoyao's parents lived with him, and his brothers and sister would send money to his account every month. This money was intended for Song Laoyao to use for the betterment of their parents' lives.

However, Song Laoyao had different plans. Each month, after receiving the money, he indulged himself in pleasures, neglecting his parents and family. He deceived his brothers and sister, telling them the money was spent on their parents.

The truth couldn't be concealed forever. Song Laoyao's actions eventually reached his brothers and sister, who, in anger, took their parents away, leaving Song Laoyao's family behind in the slums.

With no more remittances from his brothers and sister, Song Laoyao's finances became tight. To satisfy his desires, he found various excuses to trick money from his brothers and sister while pressuring his wife to work.

Meanwhile, he continued his routine of gambling and drinking every day.

If that were all, it might be bearable. However, after getting drunk, Song Laoyao developed a habit of domestic violence, especially when he lost money. All his anger would be unleashed on his wife and child, using whatever was at hand, such as a kettle with boiling water, a rolling pin, a wooden stool, and even once, a kitchen knife.

Neighbors were well aware of Song Laoyao's violent temper, and the cries of his wife and child during these episodes were audible to everyone nearby.

Initially, some neighbors attempted to intervene, but often, those who tried to stop him ended up getting harmed themselves.

Some neighbors opted to call the police, but after Song Laoyao emerged from the police station, he not only failed to change but became more violent. He even threatened neighbors that if anyone dared to interfere again, he would kill their entire families once he found out!

Regardless of whether Song Laoyao's threats were genuine or not, no one wanted to provoke such a madman. If he did something extreme, they would be the ones to suffer.

Gradually, nearby neighbors dared not intervene anymore, fearing harm to themselves and their families. Over time, they accepted Song Laoyao's domestic violence as a common occurrence.

Song Laoyao's wife had to go to work every day, returning late. However, she never received any of her earnings; Song Laoyao forcefully took all the money, using it for gambling or other vices without considering his wife and child.

In his words, as long as his wife and child weren't starving, it didn't matter. There was no need to provide them with extravagant meals.

Despite his actions, he took pride in them, often boasting about his high social status in front of his card-playing friends. He frequently conveyed what he believed to be profound truths, such as the necessity of disciplining wives and children well or generalizing that people were all worthless, and without violence, their faults wouldn't be corrected.

Outsiders couldn't stand such a man, let alone his wife and child. However, Song Laoyao's wife never left him.

It wasn't because she harbored any illusions about him changing; it was because she lived under constant threat. Song Laoyao had once made a ruthless vow that if his wife divorced him or reported him to the authorities, he would use a kitchen knife to kill her entire family.

To outsiders unfamiliar with Song Laoyao, such empty threats seemed inconsequential. However, his wife dared not dismiss them, as she knew Song Laoyao, the scoundrel, better than anyone else.

Whenever she didn't obey Song Laoyao's wishes, she had no doubt that he would carry out his threat of using a kitchen knife against her family. So, she endured the torment from Song Laoyao, until a tragedy unfolded a week ago.

Song Laoyao's wife passed away, leaving behind a four-year-old child, allegedly succumbing to illness according to Song Laoyao.

While Song Laoyao claimed to be saddened by his wife's death, his grief stemmed not from remorse or missing her but from losing a source of free labor. Without this unpaid labor, he would lack the capital for his indulgences and gambling in the months to come, making it a genuine cause for his sorrow.

The funeral was simple. Song Laoyao did not notify his wife's family, and lacking funds for cremation, a few people were hastily arranged to bury her on the same day.

Today marked the seventh day since his wife's death.