Dark clouds and strong winds; the entire Phuc Trach Village only had a single lonely lamp flickering, appearing exceptionally eye-catching.
The instant Vuong Hi's voice fell, the room door was kicked open with a bang.
Luu Nhi Cau and Vuong Hi were suddenly startled. When they saw clearly who had come, their souls almost scared out of them. Luu Nhi Cau was even more frightened until he sat paralyzed on the ground.
Vuong Hi wanted to shout, only to see Tran Mac rushing over like a hunting leopard. Just as the shout was about to come out, Tran Mac chopped him on the neck with the side of his hand, knocking him unconscious. Then, he did the same to Luu Nhi Cau, knocking him unconscious as well.
Tran Mac scanned the room, wanting to find if there was anything valuable.
The result was only finding the meat hunted from the mountain these past two days in a vat, and there wasn't much left.
The rice vat was even emptier.
Tran Mac dragged the two people out of the room, then went back into the house to deal with the traces he left, blew out the torch. Tran Mac closed the room door, then carried the two men and ran towards Dai Trach Mountain.
The reason Tran Mac didn't deal with the two in Vuong Hi's house was mainly fear of blood spilling out, making it difficult to clean up the traces afterward. Secondly, dead bodies are heavy to carry.
Tran Mac didn't know how many times he had been to the outskirts of Dai Trach Mountain; he was already familiar with the path.
When he was catching mantises before, he had found a pit on the outskirts, with lush bushes beside it, relatively hidden.
Tran Mac carried the two men to the edge of the pit and put them down.
Then he took a deep breath.
He had never killed anyone. Although he had mentally prepared himself before leaving the house, when it really came to this step, he suddenly hesitated a little.
That was a subconscious resistance from deep within his heart.
However, to prevent future danger.
Tran Mac's eyes turned cold. He grabbed Luu Nhi Cau's head with both hands and suddenly twisted.
Only a crisp "crack" was heard. Luu Nhi Cau instantly had no breath left.
Tran Mac touched Luu Nhi Cau's nostrils. After confirming there was no breath, his heartbeat inexplicably quickened. An indescribable feeling filled his mind.
Tran Mac kicked Luu Nhi Cau's corpse into the pit.
"Don't..."
Suddenly, Vuong Hi woke up. Seeing this scene, his face turned deathly pale. However, due to his broken leg, he fundamentally couldn't run, only able to crawl outwards like a snake.
Tran Mac grabbed his ankle, pulling him back with one hand. To prevent him from shouting, he directly took out the wood-chopping knife from his waist and slit Vuong Hi's throat.
Perhaps because he had just dealt with Luu Nhi Cau, when killing Vuong Hi, Tran Mac's actions were extremely decisive.
Vuong Hi didn't die immediately but reached out to cover his throat. He wanted to say something, but what came out of his mouth was only bloody foam.
"Relax, the dizziness is only temporary, it'll be over soon..."
Looking at the fresh blood gushing from Vuong Hi's mouth, Tran Mac felt nauseous at first, his stomach churning. This turned out to be no different from slaughtering a pig.
After Vuong Hi had no breath left, Tran Mac kicked him into the pit again, then reattached the handle to the wood-chopping knife, shoveled earth, and buried them.
After finishing all this, Tran Mac finally left.
He went to the riverside to wash his face. The icy river water splashed on his face; the uncomfortable feeling from killing someone earlier instantly dissipated.
Returning home, seeing Han An Nuong hadn't woken up, Tran Mac let out a soft sigh of relief, then climbed back into his room through the window.
Tonight, Tran Mac slept very soundly.
...
The next day, Tran Mac was awakened by the need to urinate.
As soon as he lifted the quilt, the cold air outside made Tran Mac quickly cover himself again.
Too cold, much colder than the past few days.
He opened the window; a cold wind suddenly blew in. Heaven and earth were a stretch of whiteness; goose-feather snow was already falling from the sky, and a layer of snow had accumulated in the courtyard.
"So it's snowing. But this is too cold."
Tran Mac closed the window, couldn't help but rub his hands.
One must know, he was now a martial artist, at the Ninth Grade Skin Refining realm. His skin should be more resistant to cold than ordinary people, yet even he felt shivery. It was evident how cold it was.
Even Sister-in-law wasn't busy. Tran Mac returned from fetching soaked urine from the vegetable garden and saw Han An Nuong warming herself by the stove in the kitchen. The latter saw him and smiled gently: "Uncle is awake. The food is ready, you can eat."
"Coming."
...
Tran Mac moved the table from the living room to the kitchen. Han An Nuong brought the food warming in the pot.
Because a fire was lit in the kitchen, the temperature was higher than outside, but Tran Mac still saw Han An Nuong shivering from the cold. He couldn't help saying, "Sister-in-law, the weather is so cold, wear more, don't get frozen."
Han An Nuong nodded lightly, but Tran Mac saw her sit down without any intention of going back to her room to add clothes.
"Sister-in-law, wear more," Tran Mac said again.
"Mm." Han An Nuong still didn't move.
Tran Mac was stunned. Only now did he notice that for the past two months or so, Han An Nuong had been wearing only two sets of clothes back and forth, one of which was still relatively thin.
He thought of something, returned to his parents' room, took a cotton-padded jacket his mother used to wear from the wardrobe, went into the kitchen, and without a word, draped it over Han An Nuong's body.
Han An Nuong's expression flickered slightly.
"Sister-in-law, this cotton-padded jacket was worn by my mother when she was alive. You wear it for now. In a couple of days, I'll go to the county town and buy you a new one."
According to the original owner's memory, when Han An Nuong first married in, she still wore jewelry. But later, Tran Mac never saw Han An Nuong wear it.
Did she not like wearing it?
Using his brain to think, he knew Han An Nuong definitely took it to sell to cover household expenses.
No wonder. Tran Dai needed money to marry her. Later, Tran Dai and Old Mistress Tran passed away one after another; funerals also used money.
Also, the grain stored in the house for winter also needed money.
Yet Han An Nuong still had surplus money in her hands.
Where did the Tran family get so much money...
Tran Mac looked up, looked deeply at Han An Nuong: "Sister-in-law, you don't need to suffer like this anymore in the future. I will let you live a good life."
"Uncle..."
Hearing this, Han An Nuong inexplicably wanted to cry, but she held it back. Her face flushed red; that fluttering feeling from before came again.
She shyly didn't dare look at Tran Mac, saying in a low voice, "Uncle, no need. This winter is very short; just endure it a bit, and it will pass. Better use it to buy grain."
"Sister-in-law, listen to me on this matter. It's decided just like that," Tran Mac said, putting on the airs of the head of the family.
Han An Nuong had no choice but to nod, but her heart felt as if a piece of candy had melted, very sweet, very sweet.
"Uncle, eat more." Han An Nuong clutched the cotton-padded jacket on her body tightly, picking up meat for Tran Mac's bowl.
Tran Mac took a bite, didn't chew many times, then spat it out: "So sour!"
"So sour? Impossible..."
Han An Nuong also picked up a piece of meat, ate it. Her expression immediately changed; it was indeed very sour. However, she didn't waste it by spitting it out, still swallowed it, and said softly, "It must have spoiled."
Meat in winter also spoils, just that it preserves a little longer than in summer.
But at most, only about seven days.
And from when Tran Mac hunted the wild boar until now, it had long passed seven days.
Moreover, there wasn't enough salt in the house. Enough for eating was fine, but for salting meat, it was still far too little.
So at that time, it wasn't salted.
After so long, spoiling was also very normal...