The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-57

The next day, as the sun shone brightly, Teng Jia Village’s training field was bustling with excitement.

“Quick, quick!” A total of three carts of goods pulled by horses entered the Teng Jia Village one by one. On the Cart, there were many kinds of iron and other materials.

The materials needed for Teng Jia Village to forge two hundred sets of heavy armor had finally arrived.

“Qingshan, haha. This business Teng Jia Village is doing is quite big. This iron and the other materials weigh a total of over ten thousand Jin. I had to use three big carts to transport the goods.” The fatty talking wore a yellow suit. With his belly bulging, he walked towards Teng Qingshan with a smile and greeted loudly.

“Uncle Li Er, the business we are doing is just small business, which can’t be compared with you merchants.” Teng Qingshan smiled and said.

This Li Er held a pipe carved from jade and puffed twice. He smiled and said, “Okay, Qingshan, I am going to find your grandfather and the others. Take your time.” Li Er also knew of Teng Qingshan’s position in Teng Jia Village, and had also heard of Teng Qingshan’s strong ability, therefore he specially came to greet Qingshan.

“Qingshan, the materials are here. We can start forging the heavy armors in the village,” Teng Qinghu, who was beside Qingshan, was slightly excited.

“Yeah, with two hundred heavy armors, the men of our Teng Jia Village that have generated Internal strength, every one of them will be able to defend against over ten bandits. If it is utilized perfectly, the effect will be even greater!” Teng Qingshan was clear that although some clan members had generated internal strength, their bodies would not be invincible if they battled the mounted bandits with only cloth gowns.

Once internal strength was generated, a person could at most kill a few more people before getting killed by the rest of the gang of bandits.

Once they had heavy armor, they would have no fear against the swords and knifes of the ordinary people and could finally truly display the attack strength of an internal strength expert.

Soon, the merchant left Teng Jia Village with the gold and silver.

Around noon, the women doing farm work in the field returned. Some of them started shouting and many curious people went up towards them to hear the latest gossip. Because the surrounding fields were connected with other villages, the people with the most news were these women.

“White Horse Gang’s Young Master and the White Horse Battalion were all slaughtered,” the women started chattering about the news that they had heard.

“What?” Even the men of the clan, that were practicing tiger fist or spear arts and originally despised to hear such words, ran hastily to the women.

“Really. That Young Master and the White Horse Battalion members all died with not one left. They were killed by the concealed weapons expert of the Iron Mountain Gang.”

“How do you guys know? Is this news really true?”

“Yesterday, didn’t the White Horse Gang come to our village to recruit men into the White Horse Battalion? Just yesterday, someone in the Great Li Village was recruited. This news was told by that man from the Great Li Village! That concealed weapon master of the Iron Mountain Gang only took revenge and didn’t kill any innocents. He didn’t kill those twelve newly recruited people.”

Immediately, more clan members gathered near the women.

“Qingshan, the young master and White Horse Battalion members were all killed. Let’s go and listen.” Teng Qinghu couldn’t help but feel surprised and ran towards the women.

Teng Qingshan smiled and stared at this scene.

The men living in the mountains are honest and simple!

The twelve men must have held grudges towards White Horse Gang’s people, and instead felt a sense of gratitude towards the concealed weapon expert. Thanks to him, they survived and returned to their own villages. Of course they would talk about this thing. Plus, such explosive news would spread rapidly.

“Good that he died!”

“That concealed weapon expert is really powerful. He wasn’t even visible when he shot through the heads of the mounted bandits of the White Horse Battalion.

The clan members were sighing emotionally.

Teng Qingshan felt relaxed as he smiled and said as he turned around, “Time to go home and eat lunch!”

The White Horse Battalion and the Young Master were killed by the concealed weapon expert of the Iron Mountain Gang. This was already final in the Yi City and was something that no one doubted.

Even the White Horse Gang offered a reward to outsiders, claiming that whoever could catch this concealed weapon expert would be rewarded with ten thousand taels of silver! This bounty of the White Horse Gang became proof…….that the concealed weapon expert of the Iron Mountain Gang was the murderer.

……

As time passed, half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

It was a severe winter, and snow was cascading.

At the hall in Teng Qinghu’s house, just Teng Qingshan and Teng Qinghu, the two brothers, sat opposite each other, drinking liquor together.

“Tsk.Tsk.Tsk…….Qingshan, I would have never thought! That Wang Tieshan, such a powerful expert, actually died under the hands of the Master Liu San!” Teng Qinghu let out an emotional sigh and continued, “In the past, this Master Liu San had come to Teng Jia Village to collect the Annual Tribute many times. I couldn’t even tell that he was such a powerful person!”

“A dog that bites does not bark. You can’t spot a truly ruthless men through the appearance.” Teng Qingshan drank a sip of liquor and also spoke.

The Great Master of the White Horse Gang today was the Third Master in the past, and he has the surname, Liu!

As for his given name, not many people knew it, so because he was the Third Master in the past, the world called him ‘Liu San Master.’ This Liu San Master’s position in the White Horse Gang did not descend during these six months, but instead became even more stable. White Horse Gang was once again claiming that they had eight thousand disciples.

Some people also said that the true number of the White Horse Gang’s disciples was already more than ten thousand. Of course, White Horse Gang claimed that they had eight thousand disciples.

“This Master Liu San was best at scheming! A few months ago, wasn’t the Balded Head Gang very arrogant? However, in the blink of an eye, that Great Leader of the Balded Head Gang died on the tummy of a woman.” Teng Qinghu continued speaking, “As for that Willow Water Gang, they surrendered and served under the White Horse Gang. Even Wang Tieshan was shot to death by thousands of arrows because of this.”

Teng Qingshan only smiled as he heard Qinghu’s words.

“I had been thinking that this Wang Tieshan would get revenge on White Horse Gang, but who would have thought that his own little life would end.” Teng Qinghu shook his head as he spoke and sighed emotionally.

Teng Qingshan smiled and said, “Cousin, actually, when that Master Liu San only brought a few men to Teng Jia Village and removed the future annual tribute of the Teng Jia Village and even wanted to be a brother, I knew……that Yi City would belong to him in the end!” Teng Qingshan also admired this Master Liu San slightly,

Because this Master Liu San knew the weaknesses of humanity very well.

During these past six months, the rising Balded Head Gang and Willow Water Gang were broken through from the inside and were obliterated with not one man left.

“Hmph. Good thing Master Liu San is sensible, otherwise no matter how many people he brings to our Teng Jia Village, we will kill them all!” Teng Qinghu smiled confidently.

“Now that you mention it, I remember that guy who claimed to be the number one expert of Yi City。“ Teng Qingshan also smiled.

Actually, during these turbulent six months, the forces of bandits in Yi City went through three phase.

The first phase was the rise of the heroes. After the death of Master Hong Si, Yan Shan Gang established by Li Yanshan, who claimed to be the number one expert of Yi City, was rising rapidly and became the only gang that could fight against the White Horse Gang. Many people had faith in this Yan Shan Gang.

The second phase was the obliteration of the Yan Shan Gang, and the Balded Head Gang and Willow Water Gang that rose were extremely strong. The forces of bandits in Yi City could be said to be the ‘three legs of the tripod.’

The third phase was when the White Horse Gang subdued both the Balded Head Gang and Willow Water Gang and once again became the dominance of the Yi City. Since then, no one dared to challenge the status of the White Horse.

……

Among the three phases, the beginning Yan Shan Gang was originally the most hopeful one as that ‘Li Yanshan’ was an expert indeed.

Li Yanshan came to Teng Jia Village to collect the annual tribute but who would have thought that Teng Jia Village refused to pay even one copper coin!

This Great Leader was enraged!

He immediately brought almost three thousand men to attack Teng Jia Village, desiring to obliterate the famously courageous Teng Jia Village in order to daunt the other villages. That Great Leader claimed to be the number one expert of Yi City and that even Wang Tieshan lost to him! When he arrived at Teng Jia Village and saw that many clan members were dressed in heavy armor, he was happy instead of shocked and even laughed out loud, “Haha, here is a gift to me, Li Yanshan, heavy armors!”

Immediately, he blasted the entrance of the Teng Jia Village with a strike of his mace.

Simultaneously, there were one hundred heavy armored mounted bandits behind him and almost three thousand normal mounted bandits.

Who would have thought……

When the battle really began, a terrifying scene happened!

The heavy armored mounted bandits under Li Yanshan were only physically strong. As for the heavy armored clan members of the Teng Jia Village that dashed at the frontlines, they were experts that possessed internal strength! Their thrusting spear shafts instilled with internal strength directly pierced through the bodies of the mounted bandits dressed in normal heavy armor.

The fifty clan members wearing the superior heavy armor were like monoliths. They were not afraid of normal sabers and swords, slaughtering large amounts of mounted bandits easily. Behind them, there were other clan members dressed in normal heavy armor assisting. Plus, the entrance was only so wide, therefore, the number of mounted bandits that could charge in was limited. There were also many spikes on the ground, thus, the war horses couldn’t gallop and the mounted bandits had no choice but to fight with their feet on the ground.

The battle was one-sided!

That Li Yanshan, who claimed to be the number one expert of Yi City became anxious and actually wanted to kill all fifty of the Teng Jia Village’s internal strength experts alone. When he was just about to make his move, it was at this time that——Teng Qingshan attacked!

Teng Qingshan told Li Yanshan that——Li Yanshan himself is not the number one expert of the Yi City.

Li Yanshan died!

The mounted bandits’ spirits were low, but the craziness in the bones of the mounted bandits made them desire vengeance. However, under the lead of the clan members that possessed internal strength, all of the heavy armored clan members of the Teng Jia Village slaughtered several hundred people. The remaining mounted bandits fled in terror. In this battle, Teng Jia Village killed almost a thousand mounted bandits and seized one hundred heavy armors, causing Teng Jia VIllage to have more heavy armors!

After this battle, Teng Jia Village was even more famous, and none of the mounted bandits dared to come collect an annual tribute anymore.

That Master Liu San of the White Horse Gang even went to Teng Jia Village personally three days after the affair and exempted Teng Jia Village from the annual tribute forever. He even wanted to be Teng Qingshan’s brother.

……

“This Master Liu San knew his limits and knew who he could provoke and who he couldn’t provoke,” Teng Qingshan said with a smile. That Master Liu San had the heart to be our friend. Among the forces of bandits in Yi City that were united by the Master Liu San, Teng Qingshan had made his move secretly twice. Just these two moves, had the ability to cause Master Liu San to fear.

Master Liu San knew who he shouldn’t offend!

“Yes. However, Qingshan. The forces of the bandits in Yi City has stabilized. We two should leave the village.” Teng Qinghu suddenly felt a sense of sadness.

“Yeah, it is time to go.” Teng Qingshan let out an emotional sigh.

Three days later, over two thousand people of Teng Jia Village gathered at the Training Field in the morning. Teng Qingshan and Teng Qinghu, these two people, led the hundreds of strong men of the village and performed the practice of Tiger Fist once again!

Over one hundred people practiced the Tiger Fist in unison and it was very imposing.

Mother Yuan Lan and little sister, Little Yu, watched this scene with tears in their eyes. That was because…….Teng Qingshan and Teng Qinghu were leaving Teng Jia Village today to join the Gui Yuan Sect!

After a long while……

Teng Qingshan and Teng Qinghu each carried their bags on their back and each of their weapons were dismantled and placed within the bag. Over two thousand clan members were saying farewell.

“Brother!” Qingyu held Teng Qingshan as she couldn’t bear for her brother to leave, At the side, Mother Yuan Lan only cried uncontrollably. Teng Yongfan, who was to the side, patted his son’s shoulder and exclaimed, “A man’s aspiration is to travel and make his mark! Qingshan is going out to venture and make a name for himself. Don’t cry.”

Although Teng Yongfan said so, his eyes reddened.

“Little Yu, brother will come back and see you, father, and mother in the future.” Teng Qingshan stroke Qingyu’s head lovingly as he spoke.

“Brother, you must come back and see me,” Qingyu said as tears flowed down her cheeks.

Teng Qingshan nodded solemnly.

“Father, Mother, take care.” Teng Qingshan squeezed out a smile.

“We know. You must take care of yourself outside,” Teng Yongfan and Yuan Lan said with a sense of reluctance.

While Teng Qingshan was waving goodbye to his relatives, Teng Qinghu was also saying goodbye to his relatives. “Everyone, goodbye!” Teng Qinghu’s eyes reddened as he waved his hands.

With the blessings of the clan members, Teng Qingshan and Teng Qinghu finally settled their bags on their back and left Teng Jia Village, beginning their journey!