The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-53

A smile crept up Hong Zhenjie’s face as he withdrew his gaze from Qingyu, and scanned Teng Yunlong and Teng Qingshan.

“If we join the White Horse Battalion , wouldn’t that be becoming mounted gangsters?” Teng Yongxiang said softly, furrowing his brow.

Teng Yunlong felt anxious and looked at Teng Qingshan, who was beside him, “Qingshan, what should we do?”

“This White Horse Battalion isn’t that easy to send away.” Teng Qingshan pondered.

Just when the clan members of Teng Jia Village were discussing, the cavalryman beside Hong Zhenjie spoke, “Many people dreamed of joining the White Horse Battalion . This is a rare chance.” He then pointed at the twelve brawny men with no armor and continued speaking, “You all look at these twelve brothers. They were chosen from the previous five villages we had visited! In every village, someone joined the White Horse Battalion . Teng Jia Village won’t be the exception, right?”

Of course Teng Qingshan and the others could hear the threatening tone in his words.

“Young Master!” Teng Yunlong gestured and cleared his throat as he spoke, “The men of our Teng Jia Village can’t bear to leave the clan members and the Teng Jia Village……”

“Shut up!” The cavalryman rebuked angrily. The war horse he mounted suddenly advanced a few steps and the long spear in the rider’s hand was thrust down.

“Pu!”

Teng Qingshan grabbed the spear shaft with one hand and looked up at the cavalryman as he spoke, “This brother of the White Horse Battalion . Let’s not talk about whether the Teng Jia Village has people to join the White Horse Battalion first. My grandfather is the the chief of our Teng Clan and he isn’t someone you can hit or kill. If you dare to touch the chief once today, our Teng Clan will make you unable to leave!”

“Dare to hit my grandpa, you are looking to die.” Teng Qinghu also roared.

“You really think our Teng Jia Village can be easily bullied!”

“I will f*cking hack you alive!

Every man of Teng Jia Village held a weapon as murderous intents flash in their eyes, showing the manner ready to fight immediately if there was a disagreement.

“You——” The cavalryman pulled the long spear forcefully twice, but the long spear didn’t move even a bit in Teng Qingshan’s hands. Suddenly, Teng Qingshan loosened his grip and the Cavalryman wavered backwards involuntarily and almost fell down the horse. He hastily grabbed the reins and finally managed to sit firmly. He looked very embarrassed.

Teng Qingshan stared at him indifferently.

When the young master, Hong Zhenjie, saw this scene, he was secretly shocked and thought to himself, “This Teng Qingshan is indeed what the rumors had said. This fellow, Yan, was brought up and taught by father personally. He, who generated internal strength, actually couldn’t move the spear when he pulled it forcefully. It seems like the rumor of Teng Qingshan being equal in strength with the Second Leader of the Iron Mountain Gang two years ago was true!” Casting a glance at the whole Teng Clan, he continued, “After the battle with the Iron Mountain Gang, the White Horse Gang suffered great loss. It would be better to not lose anything anymore. Otherwise, if a fight really broke out, my White Horse Battalion would lose half of it’s members after the annihilation of the Teng Jia Village.”

The White Horse Battalion was elite indeed. With the heavy armor and war horses, even the third Leader of the Iron Mountain Gang who had reached the peak of the Postliminary Realm, Wang Tiehai, was killed after one attack. The other two leaders of the Iron Mountain Gang could only flee from its acuteness. Through this, one can imagine how terrifying White Horse Battalion is.

Once over one hundred warhorses charged, subjugating Teng Jia Village would be a simple matter.

“Haha, Teng Qingshan. Yes, not bad.” Hong Zhenjie laughed and said, “If you join my White Horse Battalion , there’s no need for Teng Jia Village to pay the annual tribute. What do you think? I can even make you the new leader of the White Horse Battalion !” Now, Hong Zhenjie needs true experts the most.

The leader of the White Horse Battalion ?

“Thanks the Young Master for thinking highly of me, but Qingshan loves my family and doesn’t want to go to White Horse Lake for now.” Teng Qingshan gestured and said.

Teng Qingshan is betting!

Betting that now the White Horse Gang was in the middle of crisis, the young master, Hong Zhenjie, would feel reluctant to waste elites in the Teng Jia Village.

“Haha…….” Mounting on the war horse, Hong Zhenjie guffawed, “Okay, whenever you want to join my White Horse Gang in the future, just come! Today…..I won’t be narrow minded with Teng Jia Village.” As soon as this sentence was said, many of the Teng Jia villagers let out a sigh of relief, but Teng Qingshan, Teng Yunlong, and some others felt doubtful.

White Horse Gang was the local despot.

When have you ever seen the White Horse Gang yield? Or seen the White Horse Gang reason?

If the White Horse Gang could reason, then they won’t be the White Horse Gang.

‘Teng Qingshan, what’s the name of the girl behind you?” Hong Zhenjie suddenly asked.

Teng Qingshan’s facial expression changed.

Qingyu, who was behind him, immediately gripped Teng Qingshan’s clothes and hid behind Teng Qingshan.

“She is my little sister.” Teng Qingshan glared at Hong Zhenjie.

“Young Master, why did you ask about this little girl?” The chief Teng Yunlong said in a deep voice.

Hong Zhenjie didn’t care about Teng Qingshan’s glares. He laughed and said, “Your sister? Yes, yes. The brother is a hero, and the little sister is also comely. I, Hong Zhenjie, will be shameless today and ask for a marriage with your Teng Jia Village. Let your sister marry me and be my concubine. What do you think?”

“Young Master.” As the father, Teng Yongfan, became anxious. He hastily said, “My daughter is already engaged.” For now, he could only lie to explain away.

“Engagement? Decline it then! If you can’t reject, then tell me who that guy is and I will go kill him.” Hong Zhenjie chuckled and said, “After you become my woman, you will have endless wealth.”

“I am not marrying you!” Qingyu yelled loudly.

Hong Zhenjie’s eyes brightened and he smiled, “The voice sounds good.” He then glanced at the chief of the Teng Clan and asked, ”Old Chief of the Teng Clan, what’s your say on this?”

“Qingyu is already engaged. This really won’t do.” Teng Yunlong also disapproved with the same reason.

Hong Zhenjie’s face fell and he scanned the surrounding Teng Jia Villagers while speaking coldly, “I, Hong Zhenjie, have given Teng Jia Village enough face. Don’t take a mile when I gave you an inch! Don’t think that I, Hong Zhenjie, has a very good temper. You all listen carefully. One sentence. This woman will leave with me. If any one of you dare to say no……..I will annihilate Teng Jia Village today!”

Immediately, the Cavalrymen of the White Horse Gang advanced forward.

All the villagers of the Teng Jia Village became worried.

“Hmph.” Hong Zhenjie’s face expression was gloomy.

As Hong Zhenjie saw it, now that his father had died, he himself was the local despot of the Yi City and in this Yi City, he had the final say! If he fancied a woman of Teng Jia Village, that would be the woman’s blessing. He had pretended to be a gentleman today, but who would have thought that Teng Jia Village wouldn’t give him any face. This enraged Hong Zhenjie.

“Motherf*cker. Who cares! At the worst, I will kill everything! Some brothers of the White Horse Battalion will be lost. Hmph. However, my White Horse Gang has at least six thousand core members! Those small gangs would dare to rebel against us?” Hong Zhenjie grew up in the midst of the bandits, therefore he had the demeanor and aura of a bandit.

Once he became hotheaded, he wouldn’t care about anything and would only talk after killing.

“Qingshan!” Teng Yongfan glanced at Teng Qingshan.

“Qingshan, what should we do?” Teng Yunlong lowered his voice and whispered, “If we fight…..can we win?”

Confidence to win?

If a fight did break out in Teng Jia Village, and the over one hundred cavalrymen of the White Horse Battalion attacked, Teng Qingshan would still need time to kill these one hundred plus people. By the time he killed them all, most of the clan members would probably be dead.

“Brother.” Qingyu pulled Teng Qingshan’s clothes.

Teng Qingshan averted his head and looked towards his sister. Qingyu’s face was covered in tears; she seemed to have felt that her future had turned dark.

“Little Yu, do you have faith in brother? No matter what decision brother makes, will you have faith?” Teng Qingshan asked as he stared at Qingyu.

“Yes.” Teng Qingyu gnashed her teeth and replied, “I will listen to you, brother.”

Teng Qingshan held Teng Qingyu’s hand and looked up at Hong Zhenjie, who was emanating a murderous aura. He then spoke, “Young master, to be honest, my little sister is not an adult yet. Even if she gets married, it should be after the Yearly Sacrifice. Plus, marriage is a big thing and should be decided by parents. How about you come to my house and discuss this. What do you think?”

Hong Zhenjie’s eyes narrowed and let out a cold sneer, “Okay. Let me see what you have to say!”

Immediately, Hong Zhenjie and his large mass of men went along the path within the village towards Teng Qingshan’s house. Teng Qingshan, Teng Yunlong, Teng Yongfan and the others obviously followed.

……

“Qingshan, *what medicine is he selling in his bottle?” Many of the clan members stared at the direction to Teng Qingshan’s house as suspicion rose in their hearts.

TLN: * means What has he got up his sleeves.

“Qingshan, he won’t let Qingyu marry the Young Master, right?” Some clan members were worried.

Some old man in the village sighed and said, “What can we do? It’s alright. After Qingyu officially marries the Young Master, she won’t suffer too much.”

“What kind of words are you saying? How can Qingyu marry that Young Master?”

……

In the living room at Teng Qingshan’s house, many people were seated, while the armed men of the White Horse Battalion dotted the yard.

“Talk.” Hong Zhenjie sat down and scanned the people around him.

Teng Qingshan smiled and said, “Since the Young Master really wants to marry my little sister, you must show your sincerity. Let’s not talk about the dowry, but we should at least set a good date for you to come escort the bride.”

Holding Teng Qingyu’s hand, Teng Qingshan felt her hand tighten.

“Qingshan!” Many people stared at Teng Qingshan and were very surprised.

“Escort the bride?” Hong Zhenjie casted a glance at Teng Qingyu, who was crying.

According to his temper, he would have taken Qingyu away immediately. He wouldn’t give a f*ck about escorting the bride, but……..

“This girl is really attractive. Her brother is an expert. If I marry his little sister, wouldn’t he be my brother in law? By that time, I can just get him to join my White Horse Gang.” Hong Zhenjie had everything thought out perfectly. Marry a beautiful girl, and take away an expert. It was totally worth it, so why not?

“Haha…….good, then let’s set a date.” Hong Zhenjie laughed.

“Grandfather, which day is a lucky date?” Teng Qingshan asked.

Teng Yunlong said calmly, “The 16th of March is a good day.”

“Wouldn’t that be a few days later?” Hong Zhenjie shook his head and said, “Isn’t the day after tomorrow, the 9th of March, a good day? Make it the day after tomorrow, by that time, I will come personally to escort the bride.”

“Very well, the day after tomorrow then.” Teng Qingshan nodded.

“Awesome.” Hong Zhenjie laughed and said, “Teng Qingshan, my brother in law……I will come the day after tomorrow then. I will personally bring men to escort the bride. By that time, you must come to the wedding feast at my place.”

“Of course, Young Master. You invited me personally, how can I not go?” Teng Qingshan answered.

“Okay.” Hong Zhenjie stood up. Without saying goodbye to the others, he turned and yelled, “Brothers, let’s go!”

Watching Hong Zhenjie and his men leave, some people in the hall began bombarding Qingshan with questions.

“Qingshan, what were you thinking? How could you let your sister marry that Young Master?” Yuan Lan hastily asked.

Teng Yunlong was also suspicious as he asked, “Qingshan, do you really plan to let your sister marry him?” Teng Yongfan also stared at Teng Qingshan.

“Brother!” Qingyu, who was beside, stared at Teng Qingshan. Teng Qingshan held his little sister’s hand and comforted, “Little Yu, it’s alright. Have faith in your brother.”

“Isn’t this marriage the day after tomorrow?” Teng Qingshan spoke.

“The day after tomorrow will soon come.” Yuan Lan hastily said.

“However, that Hong Zhenjie won’t be able to live until the day after tomorrow.” Teng Qingshan turned and looked outside. He then continued, “Listening to the sound of the hooves, the group of people from the White Horse Battalion should have left my Teng Jia Village.”

There were no outsiders in the hall, just Teng Yongfan and his wife, Teng Qingyu, and Teng Yunlong. The others were blocked outside and not allowed to enter.

“Qingshan, what are you doing?” Teng Yongfan and the others began to notice something amiss.

“I will go out for a while.” Teng Qingshan smiled. Without grabbing his Reincarnation Spear, he activated Crossing World. He transformed into an illusion and disappeared from the yard in an instant. He then appeared on a rooftop in the distance. His figure flashed again and he had disappeared from the sight of Teng Yunlong and the others.