Entering the Room!

"After tonight, we won't have to worry about money to buy cultivation techniques anymore."

Qin Yao said with absolute certainty.

"Ah?"

Hearing this, Old Master Qin grew even more uneasy.

The old man said sternly, "Yao'er, after what happened yesterday, Grandpa already knows that you've used those locks and copper sheets to hone some impressive handiwork, but...

"Most of the people living in the west of the village are poor folk.

"We must never do anything that would damn our consciences!"

So Grandpa was afraid Qin Yao would use his lockpicking skills to become a "gentleman of the rafters."

Qin Yao hurriedly waved his hands. "Don't worry, Grandpa. I won't go stealing from people for no reason.

"But as you just said, most of those living in the west of the village are poor, not all of them.

"Take Niu Shiyang, for example!"

When he mentioned the name of the man who had beaten Grandpa, hatred surged in the youth's eyes.

Hearing that his grandson was only going after that bully, Old Master Qin finally relaxed.

Though honest, he was not inflexible. He nodded. "Then be extra careful.

"If things can't be done, don't get hung up on the moment. There are still long days ahead!"

Qin Yao nodded in agreement.

Then he took out his lockpicking tools and began fiddling with the shackles around his feet.

With a crisp click, the fetters sprang open.

"Hm? Even these exceptionally sturdy criminal shackles can be opened so easily?"

Old Master Qin's eyes lit up. "Most importantly, he hasn't damaged the keyhole or the chain.

"As long as the removed iron ring is clasped back around the ankle, it'll be as good as new!"

"In just one or two nights, he's trained himself to such skill..."

At the thought, the old man could not help praising him. "My good grandson, you really are something!"

"Hehe, I guess I'm alright!"

Qin Yao rubbed the tip of his nose.

Praise from the elder closest to one's heart always brought an especially strong sense of pride.

After Grandpa had fallen asleep, Qin Yao began disguising himself.

First, he opened the oil-paper bundle and took out the chicken skin and other materials. Then, using scissors, needle, and thread, he fashioned it into an old scar that curled outward, then stuck it onto his forehead.

He then smeared the exposed parts of his body—his face, neck, hands, and so on—with brown pigment mixed from stove ash, yellow earth, whitewash, and other ingredients.

Once everything was done, Qin Yao had transformed from a fair, handsome youth into a middle-aged man with dark skin and a vicious scar across his forehead!

text
"Ding! Skill 'Disguise' proficiency +8"

This particularly painstaking disguise caused Qin Yao's already "minor success" Disguise Technique to shoot up by eight points.

Now, everything was ready but the east wind.

When the night reached its deepest hour, Qin Yao glanced out the window.

Thick clouds veiled most of the moonlight and starlight, leaving nothing but a vast expanse of pitch-black darkness.

Joy rose in the youth's heart.

"Yesterday, Lockpicking Technique and Disguise Technique had only just been mastered when the rooster crowed and dawn broke, making me miss my chance to act...

"Now, I can finally go do the damn thing!"

Already made up, Qin Yao slipped into Grandpa's worn straw sandals—the sort one could see everywhere—and quietly climbed over the wall.

Aside from the main street in the eastern part of Tang Family Village, the rest of the village was covered in yellow dirt roads that turned into seas of mud whenever it rained.

This kind of road was extremely advantageous for Qin Yao as he "snuck" through the night. He did not need to worry about the sound of his footsteps at all.

Following the address mentioned by the neighbor who had taken credit with Captain Yang yesterday, he soon arrived at Niu Shiyang's residence.

It was another rather inconspicuous little courtyard.

Still, it was much more spacious than the one Old Master Qin had rented.

And the courtyard walls seemed to have been newly raised. Who knew whether Niu Shiyang had committed too many vile acts lately and was afraid that those who bore grudges against him would climb over the walls to cause trouble...

At that moment, the courtyard gate had been locked from the outside.

It had probably been done casually by the group that sent Niu Shiyang back last night.

Through the crack in the gate, he could see that the windows of the house were dark, with no lamps lit.

He listened closely. There was no movement.

But just as Qin Yao moved closer—

"Woof! Woof woof!"

A burst of barking suddenly came from behind the door.

"This bastard actually keeps a watchdog?"

Qin Yao frowned. "If it keeps barking like that and draws people over, things will get troublesome."

With that thought, he gripped and kicked off the wall, then vaulted into the courtyard in two bounds.

The courtyard wall Niu Shiyang had specially raised was as good as nonexistent to Qin Yao, whose abilities in every aspect now rivaled the "second level of the Body Tempering Realm."

"Whimper?"

Seeing a living person descend from the sky, the dog seemed to have been scared silly. It even forgot to bark, merely tilting its head and staring wide-eyed.

Qin Yao showed no courtesy whatsoever, striking the big yellow dog squarely on the back of its neck!

Bang!

Thud.

The big yellow dog shut down on the spot.

"Sleep well!"

Qin Yao patted the dog's head, then tiptoed toward the house.

The crude bolt lock gave way with a single pick.

He entered the room and shut the door behind him.

Looking around, he saw that half the furnishings in the room were old and worn, while the other half were new.

The most eye-catching thing was the riveted redwood chest in the corner.

It was practically brand-new. Niu Shiyang must have bought it after selling his sister to Wang Ji as a concubine.

Even the brass lock on the chest looked rather high-end for this part of the western village!

Such an exquisite chest sat right before him—and it belonged to an enemy...

The "soul of a Saint Thief" within Qin Yao immediately could no longer hold itself back!

He glanced at Niu Shiyang on the bed. The man was still lying there motionless like a dead pig.

So he decided to open the chest first, then beat the man up!

That would make it easier to get away once he was done.

Qin Yao held a thin copper strip in his left hand and a slender copper pick in his right. After poking around in the keyhole a few times, he heard a click as the lock opened.

He lifted the lid and rummaged through it, only for Qin Yao to feel somewhat disappointed.

Aside from some clothes, there was only a palm-sized money pouch inside.

He opened the pouch, but there was not even half a scrap of silver in it!

At most, there were only around a hundred copper coins.

For an ordinary poor household, uncovering a hundred-odd coins in "savings" would have been about right.

But Niu Shiyang was different!

This fellow had squeezed no small amount of money from the neighbors lately.

And as Wang Ji's lackey, with Manager Wang wolfing down great mouthfuls of meat, surely he could at least get a sip of the soup. He should not have been this poor...

"Could he have gambled it all away and spent it on prostitutes?

"But even then, there'd be no reason to buy such a 'high-end, grand, classy' chest, only to fill it with some half-new, half-old clothes and a small pouch of copper coins, right?"

Finding it strange, Qin Yao pulled out all the clothes and searched them carefully, inch by inch.

"There really isn't anything?"

The youth frowned.

His hand resting on the edge of the chest unconsciously squeezed and lifted it.

"Huh? This chest is so heavy!

"With my current strength, I can lift it casually, yet it doesn't budge at all?

"This is definitely no ordinary wooden chest!"