Midnight Black Madman? Techniques Acquired!

"No... no way?"

Niu Shiyang's lips trembled as he muttered to himself.

"No way what?"

The four youths looked at one another, utterly bewildered.

"N-Nothing."

Niu Shiyang swallowed hard, even stammering as he spoke. "Y-You guys, hurry and move the chest away. Pry up the floor tiles!"

Though they could not understand what he was so inexplicably nervous about, they still did as they were told.

"Hiss, it's so heavy!"

The four youths had to use every ounce of strength they had just to barely shift it.

"Quick, quick, quick..."

Niu Shiyang urged them on anxiously, sweat already beading at his temples.

He clung to the edge of the bed and craned his neck, not daring to blink even once as he stared fixedly at them moving the chest and prying up the floor tiles...

Then he froze on the spot—inside the hidden compartment, there was absolutely nothing.

Forget broken silver; there was not even an ant in sight!

"Impossible, this is impossible!!"

Enduring the pain in his injured leg, Niu Shiyang crawled to the hidden compartment on all fours, thrusting his hand inside and sweeping it around again and again.

"No... no!!"

After letting out a miserable howl, rage and panic overwhelmed his heart, and he fainted on the spot.

Early the next morning.

Before the roosters crowed, Qin Yao woke Old Master Qin and told him about what he had gained the night before.

Even with the old man's composure, his eyes widened upon hearing it. "Hiss, twenty taels of broken silver?! In this part of West Village, that could already be called 'rich enough to own a whole region'!

"Still, Niu Shiyang has only just met with trouble. We cannot spend this money anytime soon."

"Yes, Grandpa. Keep this bag of copper coins. Together with what we saved over the past two days, it should be enough to buy a cultivation method.

"As for that silver..."

Qin Yao smiled confidently. "Once night falls, I'll change my identity and my face, then go to East Village to shop around."

"Mm. Just keep it under control yourself."

Qin Dashan nodded.

Old Master Qin had watched his grandson's performance over the past few days, and he naturally trusted him completely.

Qin Dashan glanced at Qin Lan, who was still sleeping soundly, and said softly, "Once Lan'er wakes up, this old man will still have her take on some mending work. We cannot change too drastically overnight and draw suspicion.

"You must also be careful at the mines. Do not let your edge show too much."

The youth nodded in agreement.

With his current "minor accomplishment" acting skills, he believed that as long as he did not go looking for death, he definitely would not give himself away.

But whenever he thought of his little sister and grandfather still having to toil bitterly every day, his chest felt stifled.

"I have to become stronger as soon as possible and take Grandpa and my sister away from the mining district..."

Not long after, roosters crowed and the gong sounded.

Qin Yao followed the crowd back to the mine pit, continuing to play a "diligent little mine slave who could work hard and eat even harder."

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"Ding! Skill 'Mining' proficiency +0. This skill has reached perfection."

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"Ding! Host's 'Acting' proficiency +1. The increase is relatively small.

It is recommended that the host portray a more diverse range of roles to increase the amount of proficiency gained for this skill."

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"Ding! Skill 'Eating' proficiency +1. The increase is relatively small.

It is recommended that the host portray a more diverse range of roles to increase the amount of proficiency gained for this skill."

These were the system notifications Qin Yao heard most often throughout the entire following day.

It was normal that the Mining skill no longer gained proficiency after reaching its maximum level.

As for Acting and Eating, once they had reached the "minor accomplishment" realm, repeating the same unchanging behaviors no longer increased their proficiency much.

For instance, Qin Yao acted out the same "exhausted little mine slave" as before, huffing and puffing for ages, only to gain 1 point of Acting proficiency.

Or after finishing an entire meal, Eating proficiency would only increase by a single-digit amount.

This made Qin Yao's desire to change his circumstances all the more urgent!

"I've decided. Tonight, I'll first use the 'Disguise' technique to give myself an entirely new identity.

"While throwing people off the scent, I can also improve my acting.

"Then I'll take a good look around the eastern part of the village, buy some nutritious meat, eggs, fruits, and vegetables, and feast to my heart's content..."

When Qin Yao returned to the family camp with the mine slave convoy, his neighbors were all talking.

"Niu Shiyang finally got what was coming to him!"

"I heard from Erpaozi, who carried him to Steward Wang, that his entire lower leg was smashed into a bloody pulp."

"Yeah, yeah. I heard he lost money too?"

"Heh, maybe it was the same person who did it—the 'Midnight Black Madman'!"

"Just who is this 'Midnight Black Madman'?"

Old Liu, who had only recently returned, was already quite advanced in years, yet the "soul of gossip" still burned brightly within him. His weathered face was brimming with curiosity.

A dark-faced man with a crew cut immediately showed off, "I know, I know. When Niu Shiyang went to report it to the authorities, my little brother was one of the people carrying him.

"He said that at midnight yesterday, someone broke into Niu Shiyang's home and gave him a very strange lantern riddle.

"He said there would be a reward for a correct answer and punishment for a wrong one.

"Niu Shiyang answered incorrectly, and then that great expert—with a scar across his forehead and even darker than me—broke his leg with one punch!"

Old Liu's eyes widened. "Whoa, that fierce?!

"He broke someone's leg just because he got a lantern riddle wrong?!"

The crew-cut man chuckled. "Otherwise, why call him the 'Midnight Black Madman'!"

Hearing the villagers' chatter, Qin Yao did not know whether to laugh or cry. I never thought I'd become the 'Midnight Black Madman' people talked about?

Fine. With such a 'symbol' drawing everyone's attention, whether it's the village chief or Steward Wang Ji, they'll overlook that little 'friction' between Niu Shiyang and Grandpa yesterday.

These neighbors probably would not have guessed even in their dreams that the mad and mysterious expert they passed around by word of mouth was far away at the edge of the sky, yet right before their eyes.

A moment later.

After returning home, Qin Yao took out the usual coarse grain cakes and shared them with his grandfather and younger sister, savoring this moment of warmth to his heart's content.

After the meal, Old Master Qin pulled Qin Yao over to the bedside and even specifically instructed Lan'er not to make a fuss.

Only then did he solemnly hand Qin Yao a martial arts manual.

"This is Tiger Head Martial Hall's Tiger-Fighting Fist?"

Qin Yao's eyes lit up.

"That's right."

Old Master Qin nodded. "Low-tier martial arts like this, which do not cultivate inner power but directly temper the muscles and bones externally, are relatively easy to obtain.

"But mastering them is by no means easy!

"Especially since your martial veins are gone. Practicing martial arts will take twice the effort for half the result.

"You must possess great perseverance, put in a hundred times the effort of others, and prepare yourself to spend ten years sharpening a single sword before there is any possibility..."

Qin Dashan was still speaking on one side.

On the other, driven by the novelty of it all, Qin Yao had already impatiently spread open the manual and, following its illustrations and text, began assuming the stances with rigid precision.

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"Ding! The host's current actions meet the criteria for martial art generation."

"New martial art generated: Tiger-Fighting Fist (Incomplete, Unranked), Beginner Realm (1/100)"

"Because this martial art is severely incomplete, it can at most be cultivated to the 'Entry Realm.'"

"It worked!"

Qin Yao was delighted.

Though it was merely an "Unranked" low-tier martial skill.

For Qin Yao, who had arrived in this world with crippled martial veins—effectively sentenced to "death" as a martial artist—it was already a very good beginning!

As long as he grinded up his proficiency, even with crippled martial veins from birth, he might not be without a chance of formally stepping onto the martial path in the future...