No Face to See People

As time entered the second month, the weather noticeably warmed, and the snow in the courtyard also melted.

After lunch, Tran Mac led Truong Ha in the courtyard to practice the dao.

"Chest out, stomach in, waist and strength unified, your lower body stance must be stable..."

Tran Mac instructed Truong Ha.

He wasn't like himself, who had a system and could successfully cultivate just by swinging his dao.

Therefore, when Tran Mac taught him, he taught according to the practical cultivation method of the Thien Hop Dao Technique, which was a relatively arduous method.

In the room, Han An Nuong and Truong Ha's wife, Liu Shi, were sitting in the main room sewing. Han An Nuong said little; it was basically Liu Shi who was talking, discussing the household trivialities of the village.

From Liu Shi's mouth, Han An Nuong learned who had stolen that mother hen from their house.

It was Old Madam Lo. Taking advantage of when she had gone to find a doctor for uncle, and no one was home, she stole the hen. It just so happened that Liu Shi saw it.

Occasionally, Liu Shi also chatted about matters in the city.

Ever since the yamen came to the village to collect taxes, many villagers had gone to the city to sell off their fields and land, and thus learned about the killing of the Thanh Ha Gang's Gang Leader and several great branch leaders.

Naturally, this matter also spread to the village.

Han An Nuong's movements paused. Afraid that Liu Shi would notice something was amiss with her, she quickly lowered her head and busied herself.

"I heard them say, it's because Brother Hung and his men did too many evil things, so the County Magistrate sent people to eliminate them all. It's truly a great satisfaction to the people. I also heard that if you can produce proof that the Thanh Ha Gang looted your home, you can go to the yamen to reclaim the things the Thanh Ha Gang looted..." Liu Shi said.

Han An Nuong was startled upon hearing this: "Is the County Magistrate that good? Didn't I hear he was in cahoots with the Thanh Ha Gang?"

"Mistress Han, you can't say such things carelessly." Liu Shi's voice dropped. "We misunderstood the County Magistrate. He was the one who had the Thanh Ha Gang's assets seized."

"Really..."

...

Half a watch-hour later.

"Hah..."

"Ha!"

Truong Ha, holding his Tang Dao, swung and slashed towards Tran Mac.

Tran Mac's expression was calm. Holding his unsheathed Tang Dao, his speed was extremely fast. Just as Truong Ha's attack was about to land, he first struck Truong Ha's wrist, knocking his weapon away, then with a backhand slash, struck his chest, knocking him to the ground.

Of course, Tran Mac definitely held back his strength, not even using ten percent of it.

Tran Mac turned and extended his hand, pulling Truong Ha up.

"Brother Mac, you're too formidable," Truong Ha panted, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Study hard, and you can also achieve it," Tran Mac offered him a small "biscuit," then walked towards the room, saying as he went, "Alright, that's it for today. Rest for a while. Later, I'll dig the tunnel with you."

Truong Ha was stunned: "Brother Mac, you're not practicing the dao anymore?"

"Not for now."

"Alright."

In the room, Han An Nuong, seeing Tran Mac had finished, hurriedly poured tea and brought it over.

After Tran Mac took it, she then took out a face towel and gently wiped the sweat from his face.

As an experienced person, Liu Shi immediately understood. If it were anyone else, Liu Shi would definitely have teased them a few times, but with Brother Mac Nhi, she didn't dare.

Regarding this, Tran Mac also didn't shy away. While drinking water, he glanced at his system panel.

[Name: Tran Mac.]

[Age: 17.]

[Cultivation Technique: Blood Nurturing Technique (major success 579.5/1000).]

[Realm: Bone Refining (eighth rank).]

[Strength: 85 + 65.]

[Skill: Demon-Breaking Dao Technique (consummate 13320/1000000).]

That's right, his Demon-Breaking Dao Technique had broken through to advanced yesterday. The accompanying strength from the dao technique increased from the initial 47 to 65, a surge of eighteen points. (Translator's Note: The panel shows "consummate," which is a level beyond "advanced." The text implies "advanced" broke through to this "consummate" level.)

The dao qi's range increased from three zhang to five zhang.

The next stage, consummate, would require one million dao swings.

The weather had already warmed up. To accumulate one million dao swings would take nearly two months, which was why Tran Mac had just told Truong Ha he would dig the tunnel with him.

After all, the consummate Demon-Breaking Dao Technique could wait for now, but the tunnel definitely needed to be dug quickly.

The waterproofing and smoke-proofing work hadn't even been done yet.

...

Night fell, and boundless darkness engulfed the land like a giant beast.

Tran family home.

"Brother Mac, catch!" In the cellar, Truong Ha loaded the earth dug during the day into a carrying basket, then lifted the basket up.

At the cellar mouth, Tran Mac took the basket full of earth, carried it to the back vegetable garden, and casually dumped the earth from the basket.

Then he returned to the cellar mouth, tossed the basket into the cellar, repeating the process until all the earth dug out during the day was transported out.

In the main room.

"Uncle, Brother Thuy, wash your hands and eat."

Han An Nuong bustled back and forth, carrying dishes. The weather had warmed up, so the Tran family no longer ate in the kitchen but had moved back to eating in the main room.

"Coming."

Tran Mac responded, tossing the carrying basket into his parents' room. After Truong Ha came out of the cellar, he took off his outer work clothes, changed into his everyday wear, and the two walked out of the room together.

Han An Nuong brought warm water for the two to wash their hands.

"Thank you, Sister-in-law Han," Truong Ha said.

After the two had washed their hands, Han An Nuong brought them chopsticks.

It could be said that Han An Nuong managed the household affairs very neatly and clearly.

On the table, there was a large basin of softly fragrant, pure white steamed buns, a pot of braised pork weighing about seven or eight catties, a small plate of bear meat, a bowl of pickled vegetables, two water-boiled chicken eggs, and a jar of rice wine.

On the not-so-large tabletop, these items were laid out together, emitting billows of hot steam. The white mist intertwined, transforming into a rich aroma.

These constituted the Tran family's dinner, and more than half of it was for Tran Mac alone.

Because Tran Mac had to eat about twenty catties of meat every day, not even counting other staple foods. His appetite could not be said to be anything but large.

After Tran Mac sat down, Han An Nuong and Truong Ha then sat down in turn.

Truong Ha picked up a steamed bun, tore it open from the middle, then used chopsticks to pick up a few pieces of pork, placed them in the opening of the bun, and began to eat.

Although Truong Ha was very familiar with the Tran family, he was, after all, not at his own home. Coupled with the superior-subordinate relationship between Tran Mac and him, he certainly wouldn't just grab meat and start eating.

"Brother Mac, Sister-in-law Han, take your time eating. I'll be going."

After eating three steamed buns and drinking half a bowl of rice wine, Truong Ha stood up and left. The entire process took no more than half a watch-hour.

At this time, Han An Nuong hadn't even finished half her bowl of rice. She bit her chopsticks and said, "Uncle, why do I feel that Brother Thuy eats even faster than you? He barely chewed those steamed buns before swallowing."

"He just doesn't want to disturb our intimacy, leaving us some private space," Tran Mac said with a smile.

"Ah?" Han An Nuong was startled, her chopsticks almost falling in fright. She said, "Uncle, he... he knows about us?"

"Unless one is an idiot, everyone can see it." Tran Mac pulled Han An Nuong over, drew her into his embrace, and had her sit on his lap, saying, "Sister-in-law, don't tell me you only just realized?"

Han An Nuong's face flushed crimson. It was very obvious she had only just realized. Thinking about the affair between her and her brother-in-law being known by outsiders, Han An Nuong suddenly felt extremely ashamed. She covered her face: "I have no... no face to see people."