The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-55

“If we don’t run, we won’t survive!” The moment a few mounted gangsters yelled this, “Puff!”, their heads flew off and rolled on the ground.

The mounted gangsters to the Young Master’s side even had their helmets pierced. The originally frightened Hong Zhenjie couldn’t help but shudder when he saw this scene. His heart hectically twitched, and his legs became somewhat weak. In the past, he had always been under Master Hong Si’s protection. When had this Young Master Hong Zhenjie actually fought against a formidable opponent?

“What should I do, what should I do? What do I do? I can’t die. I CAN’T DIE!” Hong Zhenjie felt like he was unable to breathe. He firmly wiped the rainwater off his face and gritted his teeth as he glared at the Great Yan Mountain. He had never dreamt that the Great Yan Mountain would unexpectedly make him feel fear.

He didn’t know when the next silent weapon would be shot from the Great Yan Mountain.

Fear! It wasn’t only Hong Zhenjie who felt fear, but also the other mounted gangsters, who were close to crumbling.

“If we don’t flee, then only death awaits us!” A terrified voice rang out again. Instantly, seven mounted gangsters ran for their lives.

“Puff!” “Puff!”

Seven stones successively flew across the air. In one breath, the seven mounted gangsters, who hadn’t even run fifteen meters, fell from their horses.

“Stop fleeing. Fleeing is the same as death!” Immediately, a mounted gangster’s voice resounded. It was true, though; each and every mounted gangster who had just fled, even those who had urged everyone else to flee, had been killed. The remaining mounted gangsters fearfully remained in their original position.

No one dared to flee. Fleeing meant death!

“ What to do? What should we do, Young Master?”

“He is going to kill us all, Young Master!”

Everyone entrusted their hopes in the Young Master, who held the reputation of the second strongest expert in the White Horse Gang!

“Everyone, shut up!” Hong Zhenjie angrily yelled.

One’s strength didn’t the same as his or her inner strength. This was especially for Hong Zhenjie, whose his strength didn’t differ much from his brothers who didn’t even have the slightest ability to resist their death. Even Master Hong Si, who was much stronger than him, had been eliminated by the flying weapon. Hong Zhenjie was clear that he was unable to flee from the deadly concealed weapons.

“Stop shouting. Young Master is formulating a plan,” a mounted gangster yelled.

Suddenly, a few mounted gangsters jumped off their horses and hid behind their horse while simultaneously yelling, “Everyone, dismount and use the Cyan Bristled Horse as a shield. That bastard from the Iron Mountain Gang will be unable to kill us.”

Following suit, a large number of the mounted gangsters hastily dismounted and hid behind their horses. They didn’t dare to even lift their head and take a peek.

“We’re better off now.” Hong Zhenjie let out a sigh of relief. “A concealed weapon expert? Our precious Cyan Bristled Treading In Snow horses have strong and robust bones and muscles. Furthermore, there are two layers of heavy armor as protection. Even if that expert is formidable, there is no way he can pierce my Treading In Snow horse’s body and kill us.” Not only did Hong Zhenjie think like this, the other mounted gangsters also had similar thoughts.

In Great Yan Mountain, Teng Qingshan saw what was happening and couldn’t help but coldly sneer: “Do they really believe that horses don’t know fear?” Teng Qingshan was extremely clear that if he used his full strength, he would be able to pierce a warhorse and kill the mounted gangster behind it. However, this was too strenuous on his wrist.

Teng Qingshan’s hands each grabbed a handful of rocks.

“When the horses run, I want to see what you do then!” Teng Qingshan’s hands made a hurling motion in the mounted gangsters’ direction, and then two rocks sailed over.

“Young Master, what do you think we should do?” When the group of mounted gangsters hid themselves behind the warhorses, they began to discuss their options.

Hong Zhenjie could finally think normally as he was in a safe environment. It was at this time that an adjacent mounted gangster yelled, “Young Master, among the twelve people we just recruited, not a single one of them died. They don’t have any heavy armor, so it would easier for the Iron Mountain Gang expert to kill them instead of killing us.”

The group of mounted gangsters also realized this.

“Out of their group, none of them died, yet forty-three of our brothers perished,” a mounted gangster yelled. Although these twelve people will be joining the White Horse Battalion, they still were not familiar with the other mounted gangsters. As such, they were not considered brothers by the other mounted gangsters.

“Young Master, is that Iron Mountain Gang Expert only going to kill those that helped eliminate the Iron Mountain Gang and spare the others?” a mounted gangster asked.

“Yes.” Hong Zhenjie coldly glanced at the twelve people while affirming the question.

Just at this moment.

“Xiu” “Xiu” “Xiu” “Xiu”

A plethora of rocks were wildly thrown from the Great Yan Mountain. Each rock proceeded to pierce through the horses’ armor and enter their bodies. There were two unlucky warhorses who had their heads pierced.

The sound of horse hooves beating rang through the air.

The horses began rearing in pain, kicking their hooves in the air as pain coursed through their bodies before wildly running around. The mounted gangsters were unable to hold them still. A few of them were even lifted up by the horse and were dragged along.

“Xiu” “Xiu” “Xiu”

Another three rocks. Three mounted gangsters who has been dragged by their war horses instantly had their heads pierced. They died at the spot, fresh blood flowing continuously.

After finding sanctuary behind the horses, Hong Zhenjie had let out a sigh of relief before realizing that the horse beside him had fled in a panic. Hastily, Hong Zhenjie unexpectedly grabbed a corpse on the ground and held it in front of his body like a shield. Only seconds ago, he had found hope. But now, the warhorses had began to run away, and the thread of hope had been shattered, ultimately causing the mounted gangsters to feel even more fear.

A number of mounted gangsters followed Hong Zhenjie’s actions and picked up a corpse off the ground to use as a shield.

“Young Master. We should risk our lives and enter the mountain to kill him!”

“You retard. Do you know where this person is on the mountain? Before we even make it up the mountain, we’ll all be dead!”

“Everyone, shut up!” In the midst of panic, Hong Zhenjie’s angry voice suddenly rang out.

All of the mounted gangsters instantly went silent.

Just at this moment.

“We should flee! The Iron Mountain Gang expert won’t kill us!” A stalwart man holding a spear instantly ran away. He was one of the twelve people recently recruited by the White Horse Battalion! Immediately, the other eleven people also started fleeing, frightened out of their wits.

“Stop them!” Hong Zhenjie angrily yelled.

“Thinking of fleeing?!” The surrounding mounted gangsters instantly tripped the fleeing men.

Of the twelve people, only eight managed to escape. The remaining four were captured. Nonetheless, Teng Qingshan truly did not kill the eight that fled.

“Young Master, please let us go. I still have a wife and a child!” A robust man proceeded to kneel and knowtow.

“Your master is in the middle of a hardship and you still want to flee to safety?” The Young Master, Hong Zhenjie, was extremely unfair. “You guys better not think about leaving unless I manage to escape alive.”

Forcing someone to accompany him to death?

“Bastard!” The four men who had been seized gnashed their teeth while immense hatred seethed in their hearts. However, surrounding each of them was a mounted gangster holding a spear to their throats, rendering them unable to move.

“Pu!” “Pu!” “Pu!” “Pu!”

Four consecutive sounds rang out, and the four mounted gangsters standing guard instantly had their heads pierced.

The four men watched in shock as the mounted gangsters beside them abruptly toppled over. However, their expressions immediately turned to excitement, and after one of them proceeded to flee, the other three began moving their legs before wantonly darting away.

“We should also flee!” Two mounted gangsters unexpectedly followed the four people as they fled.

Two rocks flew through the air and ultimately produced two streaks of bloods as two bodies fell to the ground with a bang.

Fleeing was death!

Not fleeing, was waiting for death!

Under the torrential rainstorm, the ninety something mounted gangsters were about to lose their minds.

“Brothers, we will go up together and kill that person!” A mounted gangster grabbed a body to use as a shield and gave a frantic yell.

However, a “pu” sound resounded again. A rock passed through the corpse before piercing his throat. The mounted gangster was met with an instant death!

“You… What do you want in return for letting us go?!” The mounted gangsters had crumbled as they frantically yelled at Great Yan Mountain.

The Young Master’s mental strength was not as strong as most of the mounted gangsters. “If I stay here, I will definitely die! But I can’t flee! I can’t run way!” Hong Zhenjie’s body was shivering, and his eyes were red. He subsequently turned towards Great Yan Mountain and yelled until his voice was hoarse: “What do you want? What on earth do you want?! Speak! I will give you anything…I will give you everything!”

However, there were still some crazy mounted gangsters.

“Iron Mountain Gang’s bitch. Even if I, your grandfather, dies, my White Horse Gang’s 8000 brothers will seek revenge for me.” A stalwart mounted gangster ferociously roared.

“Shut up.” Hong Zhenjie suddenly turned his head towards the mounted gangster and proceeded to shout at him.

The mounted gangster blankly stared at him before turning angry: “Young Master, if worse comes to worse, we’ll all die together. What are you afraid of?!”

“Shut the f*ck up.” Hong Zhenjie slapped the mounted gangster into convulsion.

“Haha, this is the White Horse Gang’s Young Master! Haha!” A deep hoarse voice suddenly reverberated across the land. Even the sound of torrential rain was unable to mask the voice.

The mounted gangsters instantly went quiet.

This voice was that of the concealed weapons expert hidden in the great mountain.

“That’s right, I am…I am the White Horse Gang’s Young Master.” Hong Zhenjie proceeded to say. “Tell me what you want in order to let me go. Do not hesitate to speak!”

“You must die today!” The thick raspy voice echoed around the field.

Hong Zhenjie’s face instantly went pale white. “No…NO!”

“However, the other mounted gangsters do not have to die!” The voice continued to echo. A myriad of the mounted gangsters were overjoyed. “As long as you can kill this Young Master, Hong Zhenjie, then I will let you survive! If you help Hong Zhenjie, then you will die!” The voice reverberated around the land, causing the mounted gangsters to panic.

Kill the Young Master?

Within the White Horse Gang, who would dare to kill the Young Master? Nevertheless, this was a life and death situation. Numerous mounted gangsters looked at each other.

“What do you guys want to do?” Hong Zhenjie was in a state of anger and shock.

“Fellow brothers.” Another mounted gangster roared. “Worse comes to worse, we will die. Do you really think that the Iron Mountain Gang bastard will actually let us leave scot free?”

“Brothers. There isn’t a second option today. Kill Hong Zhenjie!”

“If Hong Zhenjie doesn’t die, then we will die!”

Promptly, a number of mounted gangsters began to roar at each other. Suddenly, a large portion of the mounted gangsters picked up their long spears and charged at Hong Zhenjie with the intent to kill. However, there was still a portion of them that had been trained by Master Hong Si since they were young and were absolutely loyal in their mission to protect Hong Zhenjie. As such, they began killing the traitors.

A field of chaos immediately shrouded the area.

One life after another was lost in the internal strife. Fresh blood flowed onto the ground. As the torrential rain incessantly pounded the ground, the blood quickly dyed the surrounding area into a field of red.

“Those who want to kill me should all die!” Hong Zhenjie was worthy of being called the White Horse Gang’s number two expert. He managed to kill over ten mounted gangsters who made their way over.

At this time, there were only twenty to thirty mounted gangsters still alive.

“It seems that I still have to take action!” The deep hoarse voice rang out.

“Pu!” “Pu!” “Pu!” “Pu!”

A plethora of rocks streaked through the air and killed a number of mounted gangsters. Even the mounted gangsters that were attacking Hong Zhenjie were killed.

In a matter of seconds, Hong Zhenjie was the only remaining mounted gangster.

Hong Zhenjie was wielding a long saber while staring at his surroundings. Bodies upon bodies of corpses littered the ground; of the 146 mounted gangsters, he was the only one left. Hong Zhenjie’s eyes suddenly became as round as a ball. He roared at the Great Yan Mountain, “It’s you! You purposely made us kill each other so that you wouldn’t have to waste much energy!?” It was only at this time that Hong Zhenjie finally understood.

“You are quite smart!” The originally deep hoarse voice unexpectedly became a familiar one.

“Where have I heard this voice before?” Hong Zhenjie’s eyebrows creased.

From within the Great Yan Mountain, a figure jumped down into the mud and walked over to Hong Zhenjie. Hong Zhenjie stood under the torrential downpour while carefully looking at the person. In his heart, he wanted to meet a terrifying concealed weapon expert like the ones in his nightmare. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to die in peace!”

“It’s you!” Hong Zhenjie’s large eyes displayed a shocked expression.

Teng Qingshan was empty handed as he walked over one step at a time towards Hong Zhenjie.

“You killed my brothers. It was you who killed my father! It turn out to be you, Teng Qingshan!” Hong Zhenjie’s pupils betrayed an expression of fear. He couldn’t help but quickly retreat.