New Realm Achieved!

"This is today's portion."

Qin Yao took six coarse cakes from his robe.

After Grandpa took them, he nodded. "Good. This old man will still share one with Lanlan, and we'll take the rest to sell tomorrow.

"Oh, right. Here are the kinds of locks you wanted."

As he spoke, Old Master Qin pulled a small bundle wrapped in old burlap from his robe and poured it onto the kang with a clatter.

"These things may be old, but I tested them. They still work."

"That's enough."

Qin Yao was quite satisfied.

He was only using them to practice lockpicking and gain experience anyway. It did not matter if they were old or battered.

"And these."

Old Master Qin took several little cloth pouches from his waistband.

When Qin Yao opened them, he found stove soot, flowers and grass, wall powder, animal hair, and the like inside.

"Excellent! I can use all of these!"

Qin Yao was overjoyed.

The proficiency of the skill "Disguise" would depend on this motley assortment of "fake cosmetics"!

Real rouge and face powder were far too expensive for Qin Yao right now. No matter what, he was not going to waste money on them.

"Brother, what exactly are you trying to do?"

His younger sister Qin Lan tilted her little head, blinking curiously. "There are locks, stove soot, and flowers and grass... Lanlan can't make heads or tails of it!"

Qin Yao grinned and deliberately teased her. "Your brother is going off to join an opera troupe!

"Look, soot mixed with wall white makes a big painted face; or I can stick a few flowers in my hair and play a handsome young dandy. What do you think? Will Lanlan support me?"

"Support, support~"

Qin Lan clapped her little hands excitedly. "No matter what Brother does, Lan'er will support him unconditionally!"

"Hahaha..."

The grandfather and grandchildren laughed heartily.

"Alright, I'm done teasing you."

Qin Yao suddenly turned serious. "Actually, Brother needs all these things for something important, but I can't tell you yet. I'm afraid it won't work if I say it out loud.

"Lan'er has to keep it secret too. Don't mention anything you saw today to anyone, alright?"

"Mm-hm, Lan'er understands. Lan'er definitely won't tell anyone!"

Qin Lan pursed her lips and nodded vigorously with great solemnity. "I won't even tell the biggest, strongest old locust tree at the entrance of the village!"

"Alright, it's a deal."

Qin Yao held out his little finger. "Pinky swear—hang ourselves on the hook, and no changing for a hundred years?"

The little girl decisively hooked her little finger around his. "Mm-hm, pinky swear—hang ourselves on the hook, and no changing for a hundred years!"

"Alright, hurry and eat with Grandpa. I'll practice for a while first."

As Qin Yao spoke, he sat cross-legged on the kang, took out a lock and his lockpicking tools, and began tinkering away on his own.

While she ate, Qin Lan watched her brother's every movement with curiosity.

First, Qin Yao pressed his ear against a cold, old iron lock.

Then he took out a copper pick about three inches long and poked around inside the keyhole a few times.

After listening closely, he withdrew the copper pick and bent it slightly, adjusting the curve of the tiny hook at its end.

Next, he took out another thin copper strip, polished so fine that it gave off a faint, eerie gleam, and inserted it into the keyhole together with the pick.

A subtle sensation came through his fingertips.

Qin Yao knew that he had touched the first pin.

He held his breath and gently lifted with the hook's tip, his movements slow and soft, as though he were gradually lifting a beauty's veil...

Every half a hair's breadth the copper pick moved within the lock was treated with utmost care. At a certain moment—

Click, clack!

The old iron lock sprang open in response.

"Ding! Skill 'Lockpicking' proficiency +8"

"Not bad, not bad. It went up by eight points this time. Much more efficient than my earlier slow, painstaking work on door bolts."

Qin Yao was delighted inwardly.

"Wow, Brother, how did you do that? That's amazing!"

Qin Lan's astonished cry followed at once.

"Shh. This is a new 'magic trick' Brother learned. Don't go spreading it around."

"Alright, alright."

Her eyes were filled with admiration.

Qin Yao continued practicing.

"Skill 'Lockpicking' Proficiency +7"

"Skill 'Lockpicking' Proficiency +9"

"Skill 'Lockpicking'..."

After a while, having grown a little tired of fiddling with locks, he turned to work on those "fake cosmetics."

A moment later.

" Ding! Skill 'Disguise' Proficiency +6"

"Pfft!"

Qin Lan, who had just finished her flatbread and taken a sip of water, caught sight of Qin Yao after he had applied his makeup—and immediately sprayed it out.

"Hahahaha, Brother turned into a big tabby cat!"

Qin Yao rolled his eyes at her. "You little brat. If you're done eating, hurry up and go to sleep."

"Okay..."

Lan'er pouted and reluctantly climbed into bed.

When she looked up again and saw her brother still smearing things all over his face, she burst out laughing again...

Before long, Old Master Qin and his granddaughter had both fallen asleep.

Qin Yao, however, remained full of energy as he kept grinding his skills.

"Skill 'Lockpicking': Beginner (145/500)"

"Skill 'Lockpicking': Beginner (152/500)"

"Skill 'Disguise': Beginner (126/500)"

"Skill 'Disguise': Beginner (133/500)"

Outside, the moon shone bright while the stars were sparse.

Without realizing it, it had reached the latter half of the night.

To the west of Tang Family Village, all was silent.

Yet the youth inside the house was still tirelessly grinding away!

A blazing fire seemed to flicker in his eyes. "Tonight, no matter what, I have to grind both 'Lockpicking' and 'Disguise' to a new realm!

"Then I'll sneak into Niu Shiyang's home and avenge Grandpa for what he suffered before!"

Ever since he had seen his grandfather beaten, he had been holding in his anger.

He had only deliberately hidden his emotions earlier because he was afraid his grandfather would worry.

Not only had someone forcibly taken money from his close family, they had also beaten him black and blue...

If Qin Yao had not appeared in time, the consequences would have been unthinkable!

How could he possibly let such a bone-deep grudge rest?!

"The humiliation Grandpa suffered can't be made up for just because the perpetrator lost two front teeth and broke a nose bone!"

Qin Yao silently hardened his heart. "At the very least, that bastard needs to have one leg broken!"

To pull this off without any risk, he first had to unlock the shackles, then alter his appearance and sneak into Niu Shiyang's home...

At a certain moment—"Skill 'Lockpicking' Proficiency +7. Current Proficiency: 503/500"

" Ding! Skill 'Lockpicking' has advanced to Minor Mastery (3/2000)"

"Buzz~"

In an instant, a flood of memories concerning even more lockpicking tricks surged into his mind.

Qin Yao's ten fingers seemed to have been tempered through countless days and nights of picking locks, becoming nimbler and more dexterous, with exceptional sensitivity!

When he eagerly turned his gaze to the shackles around his feet—

An incredibly detailed method for unlocking them truly emerged in his mind!

"I finally did it!"

Qin Yao pumped his fist excitedly.

Suppressing the urge to try it at once, he turned his gaze to the scant "fake cosmetics" remaining beside him and muttered to himself, "Next is the art of disguise."

With his lockpicking skill, Qin Yao was confident he could use the cover of night to slip into Niu Shiyang's home without anyone noticing and break his leg!

But after doing all that, how could he avoid being recognized while escaping the scene?

He did not dare gamble that after committing the crime, everyone who saw him would be so blind as to fail to recognize him.

If he lost that gamble, not only he himself, but Grandpa and Lan'er would be implicated as well, plunging into an extremely perilous situation.

So, he needed even more superb disguise skills!

Keep grinding!

About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later—

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"Skill 'Disguise' Proficiency +6. Current Proficiency: 502/500"

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"Ding! Skill 'Disguise' has advanced to the Minor Mastery Realm (2/2000)"