Combating despondency

Just then, a lone thought whizzed through Duncan's mind causing his stagnant mind to become active for a second.

In that second, Duncan grasped the thought. The moment his mind processed the thought and its implications, his heart started to beat as well. Duncan's closed eyes shot open in panic.

The thought that whizzed through Duncan's mind was simple. That pile of bones belonged to a beast that tried to rest just like himself. Just like it, he would never get up.

And the implications it brought forth caused panic to emerge in Duncan's mind. 

Dire emotions cause excess activity in a person's body. Cultivators were not an exception to this phenomenon. This startled Duncan so much that his body automatically started functioning in a bid to escape this situation.