As February arrived, the weather noticeably began to warm, and the snow in the courtyard melted away.
After lunch, Chen Mo practiced swordsmanship with Zhang River in the courtyard.
"Chest out, stomach in, unite your waist and horse stance, keep the lower body stable in terms of power..."
Chen Mo instructed Zhang River.
Unlike himself, who had a system and could cultivate just by wielding a saber.
Therefore, when Chen Mo taught him, he used the actual training method of the Celestial Harmony Saber Technique, which was quite tough.
Inside the house, Han Anniang and Zhang River’s wife, Liu Clan, sat in the living room doing some sewing. Han Anniang spoke little, it was mostly Liu Clan talking, discussing trivial family matters in the village.
From Liu Clan’s words, Han Anniang learned who had stolen the family’s hen.
It was Lady Lu, who stole the hen when no one was home while she went to look for a doctor for her uncle, and Liu Clan happened to see it.
Occasionally, Liu Clan would also talk about matters in the city.
Ever since the government office came to the village to collect taxes, many villagers went to the city to sell their lands and learned about the Qinghe Gang leader and several hall masters being killed.
Naturally, this news also spread to the village.
Han Anniang paused in her movements, fearful of Liu Clan noticing anything amiss about her, so she quickly lowered her head and continued working.
"I heard them say that it was because Master Xiong and his crew did many evil deeds, so the county magistrate sent people to take care of them. It’s truly satisfying. I also heard that if you could provide proof that the Qinghe Gang had come to your home to plunder, you could even go to the government office to retrieve what the Qinghe Gang took..." Liu Clan said.
Han Anniang was shocked: "Is the county magistrate really that nice? Didn’t they say he was in cahoots with the Qinghe Gang?"
"Lady Han, you shouldn’t go around saying things like that." Liu Clan lowered her voice, and said, "We misunderstood the county magistrate, it was he who ordered the investigation and confiscation of the Qinghe Gang."
Zhang River, holding a Tang blade, slashed towards Chen Mo.
Chen Mo remained calm, holding a sheathed Tang blade, and his hand moved swiftly. Just as Zhang River’s attack was about to land, Chen Mo first struck Zhang River’s wrist, disarming him, then reversed his grip and slashed at his chest, knocking him to the ground.
Of course, Chen Mo had held back his strength, not even using ten percent of it.
Chen Mo bent down, extended his hand, and pulled Zhang River up.
"Brother Mo, you’re amazing." Zhang River panted heavily, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Learn diligently, and you can achieve it too." Chen Mo drew a small picture of hope for him, then walked towards the house, saying, "Alright, that’s enough for today, rest a bit, later I’ll help you dig the tunnel."
Zhang River was taken aback: "Brother Mo, you’re not practicing swordsmanship?"
"Not for the moment."
Inside, Han Anniang saw Chen Mo had finished, quickly poured some tea, and brought it over.
After Chen Mo took it, she brought a towel over, gently wiping the sweat off his face.
Being someone who has been through this before, Liu Clan understood the situation clearly in her heart. Had it been someone else, Liu Clan might have made some teasing remarks, but not with Brother Mo; she wouldn’t dare.
To this, Chen Mo did not shy away, as he drank water, he glanced at the system panel.
[Cultivation Technique: Blood Nourishing Technique (Great Success 579.5/1000).]
[Realm: Bone Refining (Eighth Grade)]
[Skills: Demon-breaking Saber Technique (Perfection 13320/1000000).]
That’s right, his Demon-breaking Saber Technique broke through to the advanced level just yesterday, increasing the additional power from the previous 47 to 65, a jump of eighteen points.
The distance of the sword Qi had changed from three zhang to five zhang.
The next stage of perfection requires swinging the saber one million times.
The weather has already warmed up; accumulating a million saber swings would take nearly two months, so Chen Mo just told Zhang River that he’ll dig the tunnel with him.
After all, the perfection of the Demon-breaking Saber Technique can wait, but the tunnel must be completed swiftly.
The tunnel’s waterproofing and smoke prevention have yet to be done.
As night fell, boundless darkness like a giant beast swallowed the earth.
"Brother Mo, catch this." In the cellar, Zhang River filled a dustpan with the day’s dug earth, then pushed it upwards.
At the cellar entrance, Chen Mo caught the dustpan filled with dirt, carried it to the vegetable garden behind, and dumped the dirt out randomly.
Then returned to the cellar entrance, tossed the dustpan back in, and repeated the process until all the dirt dug out during the day was transported out.
"Uncle, Shui, wash your hands and eat."
Han Anniang went back and forth, serving dishes. With the warmer weather, the Chen family no longer ate in the kitchen, but had returned to dining in the living room.
Chen Mo responded, threw the dustpan into his parents’ room, and after Zhang River emerged from the cellar, he took off the outer garments he used for work, changed into his usual clothes, and both walked out of the room.
Han Anniang brought warm water, inviting the two to wash their hands.
"Thanks, Mrs. Han." Zhang River said.
After washing their hands, Han Anniang handed the two a pair of chopsticks. Updates are released by 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝕟𝕖𝕥
It can be said, household matters were superbly managed by Han Anniang, running smoothly.
On the table, a large bowl of sweet, white and tender steamed buns, a basin of braised pork, at least seven or eight pounds, a small dish of bear meat, a bowl of pickled vegetables, two boiled eggs, a jug of rice wine.
On the not-so-large table, they were placed together, steaming hot, with white vapor interweaving into a vast fragrance.
These were the Chen family’s dinner, and most of it was for Chen Mo alone.
Because Chen Mo had to eat about twenty pounds of meat daily, not counting other staple foods, a substantial appetite indeed.
Once Chen Mo sat down, Han Anniang and Zhang River followed suit.
Zhang River picked up a steamed bun, tore it open from the middle, then used chopsticks to clamp a few slices of pork, putting it in the cavity of the bun, before starting to munch on it.
Although Zhang River was very familiar with the Chen family, ultimately, he was in someone else’s home, coupled with the superior-subordinate relationship between him and Chen Mo, surely he felt it was inappropriate to freely gnaw on the pork.
"Brother Mo, Mrs. Han, take your time eating, I’m leaving."
After eating three buns and drinking half a bowl of rice wine, Zhang River got up to leave, and this whole process took no more than a quarter of an hour.
By this time, Han Anniang hadn’t even finished half a bowl of rice. She chewed on her chopsticks and said, "Uncle, how come I feel like Shui eats even faster than you, barely chewing his buns before swallowing?"
"It’s because he doesn’t want to intrude on our intimacy, leaving us some private space." Chen Mo smiled.
"Ah?" Han Anniang was shocked, almost dropping her chopsticks, and said, "Uncle, does... does he know about us?"
"Anyone who’s not a fool could see." Chen Mo pulled Han Anniang over, embraced her in his arms, letting her sit on his lap, and said, "Sister-in-law, you didn’t realize till now?"
Han Anniang blushed deeply, obviously having just realized, thinking of how their affair was known to outsiders made her feel extremely embarrassed, covering her face: "I can’t... I can’t face anyone."