The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-118

The bandits and robbers parted so that the caravan could go through…

No one dared to stop the caravan.

Their Great Master, a big figure in Xuyang County, had been embarrassed! The Great Master had ordered that no one else should know anything about what had happened today.

However…

Today, there were a total of five thousand horse bandits. As all the horse bandits love drinking, it was unlikely for them not to tell anyone.

...

The good deeds are difficult to spread, but the bad deeds would travel a thousand Li away!

Wushan Gang, the number one gang in Fanwu City of Xuyang County, failed to rob even with five thousand men. Not only did they fail, they lost treasures and money worth over one million silver taels to the people they tried to rob. With the speed of the wind, this news spread across the cities and among the great forces within Xuyang County.

The Wushan Gang could send out five thousand horse bandits for one robbery. Thus, it was obvious that the Wushan Gang was extremely powerful.

In fact, Wushan Gang was stronger than the White Horse Gang in Teng Qingshan's hometown Yi City. However, this time, they had lost too much!

Actually, those treasures that they had lost were mostly calculated according to the lowest price. The actual price was around 700,000-800,000 silver taels. However, as the story spread from places to places, it became more and more ridiculous!

Xuyang County was a very chaotic county!

The Wushan Gang was able to establish its gang in such a chaotic county. It was even backed up by such a huge force! Indeed, the Wushan Gang was not weak. Instead, Teng Qingshan was too fierce! The great number of soldiers could not stop Teng Qingshan from catching the leader. To Teng Qingshan, catching the leader was as easy as taking something from his own bag!

Because of Wushan Gang's failure and the reputation of the Black Armored Army, none of the gangs and sects in Xuyang County had the audacity to rob the caravan.

...

The caravan moved slowly on the official road and 70-80 guards and cavalrymen, as well as over 20 Black Armored Soldiers, guarded the cargo. As they continued forward, none of the bandits or robbers dared to rob them.

"Lord Lieutenant, they all say that Xuyang County is a very chaotic place! Since your display of power last time, we haven't encountered any robbery. It has been two days." Du Hong said with a smile.

"Haha, if they come again, Qingshan will rob them again." Teng Qingshan laughed and said.

Since Teng Qingshan took action last time and showed his incredibly powerful strength, his status rose even higher among the caravan.

The gold notes and silver notes Teng Qingshan had obtained amounted to 130000! The King Jade Buddha, Strongbow, battle dagger, gold silk vest were much more precious but these items couldn't be exchanged for money now.

The Black Armored Soldiers were really envious, but they never thought about taking a share of the profit.

After all… Teng Qingshan acquired the money and precious items by himself. In the Black Armored Army, if a troop worked together and slaughtered a group of bandits, the officer would usually get more money than the other soldiers even if the officer didn't do anything. In this fight, none of the Black Armored Soldiers helped, so they naturally shouldn't be getting any of the profit.

However, Teng Qingshan still distributed some money.

He gave each Centurion ten thousand silver taels.

Each of the twenty soldiers, including the sergeants, was given one thousand silver taels.

The amount of money each soldier received this time was even more than their annual salary. The Black Armored Soldier's purses were filled with money. Thus, they supported Teng Qingshan even more. The 70-80 guards of the caravan were envious as well, but Teng Qingshan didn't bother sharing any money with them.

This was the benefit of being part of the Black Armored Army!

The more superior they felt as Black Armored Soldiers, the higher their sense of belonging." Teng Qingshan understood this very clearly. He then cast a glance at the carriage. At this moment, Zhu Chongshi was already in the carriage with his three kids. The thought of children just made Teng Qingshan feel so sad.

That memory of his previous life was still so vivid.

"Wolf, when we leave the organization, we should have two kids, a boy and a girl."

"Okay."

We will let them learn to play piano and drawing… We will let them live like the ordinary people! We won't teach them how to kill. I am really sick of the life here…

"Yes, we will leave the organization soon. Little Cat, we will!"

...

"Little Cat!" Teng Qingshan still remembered his wife in his previous life. The woman who appeared to be apathetic but was always very gentle whenever she was with him. The only women he had loved. If things had gone the way he planned, he would leave the organization when he reaches the SS-rank and would then start a family with Cat.

Unfortunately, Cat died. When Cat died, he began his mad revenge against the organization Red. Because of that, he understood the 'Saddened Knife.' He then focused entirely on the cultivation of martial art and eventually reached the Grandmaster Realm. Unfortunately, it was too late.

"Little Cat…" Teng Qingshan muttered.

Teng Qingshan shook his head and tried to hide this love from his previous life in the deepest area of his heart. He tried to make himself forget everything. After all, he was now living a new life. Still, there were some things that occasionally triggered his memory of his previous life.

"In this life, I have parents, sister, and the clansmen. I am content." Teng Qingshan calmed down and thought to himself, "Let me just focus on reaching the pinnacle of the martial arts! The legendary Emperor Yu was able to split a high mountain with five moves of his axe; the legendary Heavenly Emperor of Qin Mountains could stop the hundred Zhang wide river from flowing with the use of his palm. I am now too far away from them. This path is long and tough, but it is worth a lifetime of exploration!"

Teng Qingshan was determined.

...

The wheels creaked as the carriage moved forward. In the spacious carriage, only Zhu Chongshi and his two wives could be seen. As for the kids, they stayed with the servant in another carriage.

"Master!" A beautiful woman, dressed in green, said anxiously, "We have entered Xuyang County for four whole days and we will be out of this county in two-to-three days. We will be safe when we arrived in Chu County. But...are your brothers really not taking any action?"

"Older sister is right. I am scared as well." Said another beautiful woman wearing purple clothes.

Zhu Chongshi leaned on the carriage. He ate some fruits and laughed, "Haha, you two ladies. Don't worry. We just came back from the sea. We entered Jiangning County from the East Sea and stopped only a few days before we continued our trip to County Chu! Like how I did, none of my brothers worked together. They developed their business individually. They wouldn't be able to gather information that quickly… I am afraid that only two or three of my brothers know of my return now!"

Jiangning County City was a city by the sea.

This was also why Zhu Chongshi stayed in Jiangning County City temporarily.

"Master, what will happen if they knew?" The beautiful woman dressed in green asked nervously.

"Don't you already know?" Zhu Chongshi said, "They won't dare to kill me and my children since my children and I are both the descendants of the Zhu Family! My father absolutely hates to see family members killing each other. If they had done that, my father would know as he has a very powerful information network. Father will never make someone who can kill his brother the head of the household! In fact, that person would lose his inheritance and would be kicked out of the Zhu Family!"

The two lady felt a sense of relief.

Their father-in-law, who was respected to be the "God of Wealth," was very intimidating.

"They wouldn't dare to kill me and my kids, but they do dare to destroy and take my goods." Zhu Chongshi frowned and said, "If the goods were taken, there would only be a 20% chance of me becoming the head of the household when the time limit of ten years is up."

The two wives were well aware of the importance of the goods.

Because of this cargo, their husband had been on the sea for several years

"With this cargo, there is a 90% chance that I would be the head of the house when the time limit is up!" Zhu Chongshi smiled confidently.

Of the thirteen counties in Yangzhou, the counties in the south were the wealthiest while the counties in the north were the poorest. However, even in the poorest county of Yangzhou, which is Chu County, was considered wealthy when compared to the other counties in the entire Land of the Nine Prefectures.

No sign of any individuals could be found on the official road to the north. The sight of an inn was extremely rare.

There were very few inns in the desolate area outside the city. If an inn was set up in such an isolated area, it could easily become the target of bandits and robbers. All the inns in the desolate area were opened by the people with power and wealth!

The San Shi Inn! This was an inn opened by the official road north of Xuyang County. No other inns could be found anywhere sixty Li south or sixty Li north of this inn.

In a small house in the backyard of the San Shi Inn:

"Old Meng!" A guy wearing earthly yellow garment stepped into the house. He hastily said, "The people of Ninth Young Master Zhu is only fifty Li away from here! But it is afternoon now. They probably won't even arrive at the Inn at night. Maybe they will spend the night in the wilderness. By that time, wouldn't Master's plan fail?"

A middle-aged man with extremely thick brows was inside the house. He was wiping a long saber with a slight arch. The long saber was as red as the color of blood.

"Hmph, what's there to worry about!" The middle-aged man humphed and said, The San Shi Inn can be found on the map. The Ninth Young Master has been traveling on the sea for several years. Still, he is a young master from a wealthy family. Therefore, he will definitely travel several more Li to get to a more comfortable place. Even if the Ninth Young Master didn't come in the end, we can go find him and do what we need to do!"

The man in the short garment hastily smiled and said, "With Old Meng here, the plan will succeed. However, Old Meng, there is this rumor spreading in Xuyang County. Apparently, the Lieutenant in the troop accompanying Ninth Young Master Zhu is a very powerful expert!"

"Alright. You may leave." The middle-aged man said with such indifference. Since the beginning, he had been staring at the long saber in his hand. He never even looked at the man once.

"Yes, yes." The man donned in the short garment hastily retreated.

Even though the middle-aged man had shown such a bad attitude, the man in the short garment wasn't angry at all. Because Old Meng was the number one expert working under his master, the Thirteenth Young Master of Zhu Clan.

Although he appeared to be a middle-aged man, he was actually over eighty years old.

He was able to maintain such an appearance because he had an abundant amount of inner strength and was very good at maintaining his health.

"With Old Meng, we will definitely seize the cargo. If those people came to the inn, Old Meng wouldn't need to do anything." The man in the short garment walked out of the house confidently. They had bought this San Shi Inn two days ago and had been waiting for Zhu Chongshi and the others here.

Old Meng's real name was Meng Tian.

If one read the recent >, they would know that Meng Tian was the expert ranked sixty-one on the >

One should not look down on him because he was ranked "sixty-one."

Even the four Commanders of the Black Armored Army were not qualified to be listed in the >. After all, there were too many Postliminary Realm Experts. All the experts who were listed in the > had peculiar and horrifying techniques. In fact, even the experts who have just attained the Innate Realm had to be careful of the experts listed in the >.

Although the experts listed in the > didn't have as much inner strength as the Innate Experts, they had their unique techniques.

The fact that the Thirteenth Young Master of the Zhu Clan was able to employ an expert listed in the > showed that he was indeed quite capable.