The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-117

It was the hot summer of June. Even during the morning, the sun was slightly scorching.

Under the glare of Teng Qingshan, the Great Master’s forehead started dripping sweat. This did not result from the scorching, hot summer; it was due to the fear and shock. After the quick fight just now, the Great Master understood that this lieutenant of the Black Armored Army that stood before him was an extremely terrifying expert. He then stuttered, “Lord Lieutenant, what- what do you want? Just tell me.”

Teng Qingshan stretched out his hand and raised five fingers.

“Fifty..fifty thousand silver taels?” The Great Master stammered.

“Fifty thousand silver taels? You really look down on the price of your own life!” Teng Qingshan stared at him and said indifferently, “Five hundred thousand silver taels! Take out five hundred thousand silver taels now, and I will spare your life. Otherwise…” Teng Qingshan raised his Reincarnation Spear and pointed at the Great Master’s face with the tip of the spear.

The Great Master felt a freezing coldness when Teng Qingshan pointed the spear at him.

“Lord Lieutenant! Five hundred thousand silver taels. I’ll give it!” The Great Master hastily answered.

Five hundred thousand silver taels are a huge amount of money, but the Great Master didn’t dare to hesitate at all.

Although Teng Qingshan asked for this much money, he didn’t have any intention to blackmail: “Our army has only just entered Xuyang County, and we’ve already encountered such a powerful gang of mounted bandits! Xuyang County is a vast territory with abundant resources, and it would take at least six to seven days to leave the territory of Xuyang County. If this gang is not punished fiercely today and word got out, then the other gangs would probably try their luck at robbing us. There would be no punishment even if they did not succeed in robbery anyway!”

Thus, this gang must be punished!

If this gang was not punished, then other gangs wouldn’t fear us! We must make them afraid!

“However, Lord Lieutenant, I can’t give that many silver taels now. I don’t bring that many silver taels when I am out. How is this? Just wait a while, I will rush back myself and bring the money here.” At this moment, the Great Master was speaking very softly, worrying that he might enrage Teng Qingshan.

“Eh?” Teng Qingshan’s face turned cold as he asked, “You want to leave?”

Hearing this, the Great Master felt frightened and hastily replied, “No, no, I will have my second brother go back and collect it!”

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Teng Qingshan said apathetically, “I don’t have the time to wait for you to collect the money. Who knows how long it will take for your men to be back? I will give you ten minutes to collect five hundred thousand silver taels! If just one hundred thousand silver taels are missing, I will break your arms. If two hundred thousand silver taels are missing, I will break your arms and legs! If it’s three hundred thousand silver taels…….then you won’t be able to see the sunset today!”

The Great Master’s face instantly became pale white, and his legs became weak because the Great Master was afraid.

“Lord Lieutenant, I cannot give you that much money now! A time frame of ten minutes is too short, too short!” The Great Master was so worried that he was almost crying.

Teng Qingshan sneered, “You can use silver, gold, silver notes, and even precious items to make up for the debt! I will give you ten minutes to collect items that are worth five hundred thousand silver taels.”

“Don’t give me those warhorses and hunks of steel. I have nowhere to put them!”

“Remember, you only have ten minutes!”

Teng Qingshan’s words caused the Great Master to worry until he was covered with sweat. The Great Master hurriedly took out a wad of gold notes and said, “I..I have one thousand gold notes here!” The gold notes represented one thousand gold taels, which was worth ten thousand taels of silver.

“My Blood Drinking Saber!I spent over one hundred thousand silver taels to forge it.” The Great Master hastily sheathed his saber and placed it on the ground.

Teng Qingshan glanced at the Blood Devouring Saber coldly and announced, “This saber is worth one hundred thousand taels”

“Yes, yes.” The Great Master hastily responded. Simultaneously, he was contemplating carefully on ways that could get him the silver that he needed. As he was thinking, cold drops of perspiration rolled down his face due to stress.

To a warrior, weapons, armor, and warhorses were extremely valuable.

For instance, Teng Qingshan’s Reincarnation Spear. Just the spear shaft itself used one hundred Jin of Star Pattern Steel, which was worth one hundred thousand silver taels. The spearhead was forged with ‘Purple Radiant Coldsteel.’ The Purple Radiant Coldsteel used to forge the spearhead was the larger piece of the two Coldsteel that Teng Qingshan had collected, and cost almost two hundred thousand silver taels.

This meant that……

Teng Qingshan’s Reincarnation spear was worth three hundred thousand silver taels!

……

The soldiers of the Black Armored Army were originally shocked, but now, smiles appeared on their faces.

“Lord Lieutenant is so powerful!”

“That big group of mounted gangsters couldn’t hurt Lord Lieutenant at all. When Lord Lieutenant swung his long spear just now, he was like a ferocious tiger storming down the mountain. All the mounted gangsters were knocked into the air.”

“Hehe, five hundred thousand silver taels! Lord Lieutenant is so fierce!”

The soldiers praised and sighed in admiration. They also felt proud to be able to follow such a powerful lieutenant.

In the carriage, Zhu Chongshi’s family members were stretching their heads out to look.

“Father,do you think Uncle Teng can defeat that many mounted gangsters alone?” Is Uncle Teng as powerful as you?” The young boy blinked his big eyes. He gazed at Teng Qingshan in the distance with admiration. Kids admired heroes easily. Plus, Teng Qingshan was capable of easily catching and killing the leader who was within the flood-like group of mounted bandits.

Such ability caused even Zhu Chongshi to feel a sense of respect.

“Your Uncle Teng is a lot more powerful than father!” Zhu Chongshi patted his oldest son’s head with a smile and said, “You should also learn martial arts assiduously in the future and become a courageous hero like your Uncle Teng.”

“Yes!” That boy nodded quickly.

‘Father, I want to learn martial arts too.” The other kid interrupted.

“Me too!” A girl with braided hair hastily said.

“Haha……” Zhu Chongshi couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright. All of you will learn.” Zhu Tong had established a rule that future generations, regardless of gender, would have to cultivate inner strength and learn martial arts. But if one had no talent and was unable to cultivate inner strength, then exceptions would be made.

“Father, what is Uncle Teng doing now?” Zhu Chongshi’s daughter asked.

Zhu Chongshi looked at Teng Qingshan, who was blackmailing the Great Master. A smile appeared on his face as he answered, “He is earning money!”

“Oh!”

Hearing this, the two boys and one girl showed an expression of understanding.

……

The company was relaxed and talking cheerfully with laughter. In contrast, the mounted bandits were chaotic. The ordinary mounted bandits were extremely terrified. Within just a short time, Teng Qingshan had killed over two hundred mounted bandits. Even the four elite mounted bandits who were beside the Great Master had died without the strength to fight back.

Terrified!

The Great Master was the most terrified one!

“Quick, it’s about ten minutes.” Teng Qingshan said indifferently, “All the things here only have a value of three hundred thirty thousand silver taels!”

Even the silver notes and weapons of the Second Master and Third Master were taken, but it still wasn’t enough.

The Great Master was so anxious that his perspiration fell like raindrops. Suddenly, he remembered something and roared to his surroundings fiercely, “Second brother, take out your King Jade Buddha! Quick!”

“Big brother, this is a family heirloom……” The Second Master became anxious.

“Go f*cking die! Family heirloom, my ass. Quick, give it to me.” The Great Master yelled loudly as his facial expressions became horrifying. At this point, the Great Master would definitely kill the Second Master himself if the Second Master said anymore unnecessary words. The Second Master took the Bright Jade Buddha off his neck bitterly.

This small jade buddha actually reflected a faint colorful light.

“Eh?” Seeing this, Teng Qingshan’s eyes brightened.

“Big Brother……” The Second Master handed the King Jade Buddha over unwillingly.

“Don’t say nonsense. With your life still intact, what can’t you get in the future?” The Great Master snatched it away forcefully and looked at Teng Qingshan as he forced a smile, “Lord Lieutenant, this Bright Jade Buddha came from the western region! It is definitely a rare, precious item! It can’t be easily bought, even with money. This item definitely has a value of over one hundred thousand silver taels.”

Teng Qingshan spoke indifferently, “King Jade Buddha is valued at one hundred thousand silver taels. Now, everything added together is worth only four hundred thirty thousand. You still need seventy thousand taels. It’s almost ten minutes. If you can’t collect it by then, I will break your arms!

The Great Master’s facial expression changed drastically.

“Who… who else has precious items? Valuable precious items? Who has them!” The Great Master roared out.

However, only a dead silence replied.

Even if someone had it, they wouldn’t be willing to take it out.

“No more? Then I will break your two arms so that you can remember this.” Teng Qingshan said, as he began waving his Reincarnation Spear. The spearhead was shaped like a diamond, so its sides were sharp and could cut a shoulder off easily.

“No, no!” The Great Master hastily shouted, “I still have some more!”

With this, the Great Master took off his outer garment and revealed a gold vest. He took off this gold vest reluctantly and placed it on the ground. He then explained, “Lord Lieutenant, this vest of mine is made completely from the silk produced by golden silkworm that inhabits the southern areas of the untamed wilderness. This silk is far more precious than purple gold! If you wear it, it will keep you warm during the winter and cool during summer. Its defense is even as good as those heavy armors! This gold silk vest can’t be found on sale anywhere!”

Hearing this, Teng Qingshan’s eyes brightened.

He picked up the vest and found that the vest was extremely light. The Darksteel Inner Armor that he was wearing weighed over ten Jin, but this gold silk vest weighed only around one Jin.

A good precious item!

To warriors with the physical strength of around one thousand Jin, wearing heavy armors was inconvenient indeed. Therefore, this gold silk vest was definitely an item that warriors desired, and the price of this item was absolutely a lot more expensive than that Blood Devouring Saber. Of course, for monsters like Teng Qingshan, there was no difference from wearing Darksteel Inner Armor that weighed over ten Jin and the gold silk vest that weighed one Jin.

Originally, the Great Master did not want to trade in this precious item.

It was easy to earn money, but difficult to buy precious items.

“You have collected enough money, so I will spare your life.” Teng Qingshan placed all the notes into his arms and held the other items in his hands.

“Lord Lieutenant, this gold silk vest of mine is at least valued at two hundred thousand silver taels. How about that Blood Devouring Saber of mine……” The Great Master was still speaking when Teng Qingshan cast a cold glance directed at him. The Great Master was immediately silenced due to fear.

Teng Qingshan grabbed the two long sabers, the Millennium Coldsteel Strong Bow, the gold silk vest, the notes that were worth over a hundred thousand taels, the Bright Jade Buddha, and carried them in his arms as he walked back to the company. He shouted indifferently, “Quick, get your men out of my way!”

“Quick, get out of the way! Out of the way!” The Great Master hastily shouted.

Everyone in the company looked at Teng Qingshan with a sense of respect in their eyes.

This was how this world worked; the strong ones were respected.

“Brother Qingshan.” Zhu Chongshi said, as he nodded and flashed a smile at Teng Qingshan. He then scrutinized his surroundings and immediately ordered, “Quick! Get on the horses and depart!” As the order was given, the company vigorously set out again.