The Nine Cauldrons

Pursuing in secret

Captain Hu Tong and the middle-aged man both cast a glance at each other from afar. The middle-aged man then casually chatted with the worker beside him as he lined up with the other workers.

“Phew!” Hu Tong tried to keep himself calm, and looked casually to the side — who would’ve thought that Lieutenant Bai Qi of the Black Armored Army would be walking towards him with an indifferent expression at this moment.

“I rarely see this Bai Qi, but he actually appeared today.” Hu Tong felt anger in his heart, but a smile still crept up his face as he hastily greeted, “Mister, you aren’t doing morning training today?”

“It’s the 28th today. I know many workers are going home to visit their relatives, so of course I have to check it out. Hu Tong, watch your men. Have them search more meticulously!” Lieutenant Bai Qi ordered indifferently. To this, Hu Tong only hastily bowed and smiled, “Yes, Lord. My brothers have done it many times. Don’t worry. There definitely won’t be any problems.“

“Mm!” Lieutenant Bai Qi humphed.

With this, Lieutenant Bai Qi stood to the side, scrutinizing the workers that were lining up, and going through a body search one by one. These workers occasionally glanced up at Lieutenant Bai Qi, before immediately lowering their head in fright.

These workers also knew that Lieutenant Bai Qi was a big figure.

“Check more carefully!” Hu Tong who was at the side yelled

Lieutenant Bai Qi looked around casually, glancing at the mine workers from time to time.

“Gold is rather heavy. If a large amount of gold was being smuggled in one’s clothing, then their clothing would crumple and droop from the weight of the gold!” Bai Qi clearly knew this fact. If a block of iron were to be placed in one’s pocket, it would droop and appear messy, even when worn.
Bai Qi swept a glance at the workers and didn’t notice anything unusual at first sight.

“Eh?” Something piqued his interest as his eyes swept past the newly made footprints of a middle-aged man lining up in the back. The mining area had a lot of dust, with crushed pebbles, dirt, and mud scattered all over the place. Footprints were left behind with every step one took. Of course, with so many people lining up who were stepping back and forth, the footprints were very messy.
However, what kind of eyes did Bai Qi have?

He instantly noticed the two footprints left by the middle-aged man. Although they were immediately ruined by the worker behind the middle-aged man, Bai Qi still remembered them clearly.

“One footprint is deeper than the other!” Bai Qi was shocked.

Scrutinizing the middle-aged man, Bai Qi said to himself, “Yes. His clothing is neat and he seems to not be smuggling. However, his legs aren’t of different lengths, and are very normal. Yet, one of his footprints is deeper than the other. There’s only one possibility: a block of iron or some other heavy object is tied to one of his legs!”

Bai Qi was a lieutenant after all. Although he was slightly narrow-minded, his ability couldn’t be denied.

Being able to understand the 《Nine Spears of the Rising Sun》showed that Bai Qi was also very smart. He had instantly realized the problem from just the two different-looking footprints.

“Humph.” With this, Lieutenant Bai Qi immediately stopped looking at the middle-aged man.

Because the middle-aged man was currently committing a crime, he became extremely nervous when Bai Qi had stared at him from afar. The middle-aged man said to himself anxiously, “Could it be that the Lord of the Black Armored Army noticed me? That’s impossible! It’s impossible to spot anything just by looking at my appearance. Phew…… He finally looked away. I guess that big figure of the Black Armored Army was only daydreaming.”

No matter what happened, the middle-aged man had no way out.

If this feat was achieved, It would mean acquiring a lifetime of wealth.

“Lord!”

“Lord!” As a voice of respect sounded out, Bai Qi turned and saw Teng Qingshan walking along the mountain road towards him with his Reincarnation Spear in hand.

When Teng Qingshan saw Bai Qi, he cupped his hands and said, “Lord Lieutenant is also here?”

“Yeah. Qingshan, where are you going?” Bai Qi said with a smile.

“I am going to find my brother Tian Dan so that I can hang out with him,” replied Teng Qingshan.

“Then why don’t you hurry? A minor matter like a body check can be handled by these soldiers.” Lieutenant Bai Qi said as he flashed a faint smile.

Teng Qingshan cast a glance at him and left with a smile. Ever since the challenge, Lieutenant Bai Qi’s attitude towards Teng Qingshan had changed drastically. He hadn’t dared to face Teng Qingshan with an indifferent expression.

However……

Teng Qingshan didn’t feel very happy. Bai Qi’s silent endurance caused Teng Qingshan to be even more cautious.
……

After seeing Teng Qingshan walk past him, Bai Qi turned to look at Hu Tong and ordered, “Hu Tong, speed up the body checking.”

“Yes, Lord!” Hearing Bai Qi’s order, Hu Tong was secretly glad.

He had originally planned to have one of the soldiers doing the body checks leave, so that he himself could do the job to let the person escape. Now, Bai Qi’s words made it even easier for him to work out his plan.

“Hey, slowpokes! If you just search two people at a time, this search will never end. As of now, search three people at a time! You two can continue searching, I’ll search the third person myself! You two should learn from me!” Hu Tong strided forward as he waved at the workers that were lining up and yelled, “You guys come over to me!”

The workers that were originally divided into two lines immediately separated into three.

“Undo your outer garments! Do it yourselves!” Hu Tong yelled.

All of the workers took off their outer garments one by one as Hu Tong rapidly patted down their outer garments, checking to see if any hard objects were hidden inside. He then searched their undergarments once, and touched one side of their pants to check if there was gold hidden within the layers of the pants. After that, he had the workers undo their pants and roll them down to their knees.

He checked if gold was hidden around their private parts. Lastly, he checked their shoes and hair.

Hu Tong searched really quickly.

“Next!” Hu Tong yelled.

Successively, Hu Tong searched three people, and these three people were clean.

“Next!” Hu Tong yelled again.

Immediately, the middle-aged man went before Hu Tong with his outer garments undone, revealing an old, sweaty shirt inside. It was obvious that he wasn’t hiding anything. Hu Tong searched carefully according to the procedure. His outer garments, pants, shoes, hair, within the body, etc. He checked everything, and nothing was found.

“Next!” Hu Tong said

The middle-aged man immediately wore his clothes and shoes, and walked down the mountain road.

“Hmph.” Lieutenant Bai Qi cast a glance at the middle-aged man and secretly sneered, “It looks like even Hu Tong has been bribed. He actually bribed Hu Tong…… Smuggling Gold? Impossible. Even if he was smuggling 10 Jin of gold, that would only be equal to ten thousand taels of silver, which couldn’t bribe a captain of the city guards. However, what about Purple Gold?”

Lieutenant Bai Qi became doubtful, “How did he manage to smuggle Purple Gold? It’s impossible for the workers of the Purple Gold Mining Area and the workers of the Gold Mining Area to meet. Could it be that I’ve guessed wrong? Is it possible that that middle-aged man wasn’t smuggling? “

At this moment——

“Did you see that? Just do as I did, except faster. You come search.” As Hu Tong was saying this, he strode over to the side, and ordered a soldier to search in his place.
Bai Qi looked and a thought struck him, “Eh? From beginning to end, this Hu Tong had only searched four people, with the fourth person being the middle-aged man. He rested while the fifth person was still being searched. Hmph. It looks like he really was bribed!” With this, Bai Qi immediately headed down the mountain.

“Lord,” Hu Tong walked towards Bai Qi with a smile.

“I’m heading down the mountain for a walk, why’re you following me?” Bai Qi scolded.

Hu Tong had a feeling of suffocation, and immediately backed away.

Bai Qi then strode down the mountain, making it seem as if he was having a casual stroll. Bai Qi was an inner strength expert, so how would it be possible for him to lose to a peasant?

“If my guess is correct, then the gold that this man is smuggling must be worth a lot! There is at least a fifty percent chance that this is man smuggling Purple Gold!” Bai Qi felt his heart move. According to the rules of the Gui Yuan Sect, the Purple Gold that was mined everyday was recorded in a file. Even if he was a lieutenant, it would be impossible for him to embezzle it.

All humans have greed.

Even in the society of Teng Qingshan’s previous life, some high officials also covetted money. Thus, it wouldn’t be weird for Bai Qi to do so.

Although he was the lieutenant of the Black Armored Army, and had a high monthly salary, when compared to some wealthy merchants, there was still a big difference. All men have lust. Bai Qi also desired to buy pretty maids and some servants to make his life more comfortable. Even buying good materials to forge good weapons needed lots of silver and gold.

“Hmph. That money is mine! The sect doesn’t know anyway.” Greed had already filled Bai Qi’s heart.

Just kill that middle-age man, and take the money away.

If he guessed wrong, and killed the wrong person, then the middle-age man’s bad luck was to blame.
……

At the foot of the Tie Lian Mountain, on the governmental road, there were five war horses with people beside them.

One of the five people standing beside the horses, the seven chi tall lean man, was Dong Yan. There were three people surrounding him. Of these three people, two of them were tall and fat. The other one was a middle-aged man with silver-white hair.

“Big brother! You said that Old Li San is bringing down some Purple Gold? I don’t get it. The Purple Gold Mining Area and the Gold Mining Area are separated, and Old Li San is a worker at the Gold Mining Area, so how can he get Purple Gold?” One of the two fat men asked, “Big brother, can you tell me this secret now?”

“Er Pang, I’ll tell you guys.” Dong Yan sneered and said, “There’s a secret passage connecting the Purple Gold Mining Area and the Gold Mining Area!”

“What?” The two fat dudes were shocked, while the middle aged silver-haired man remained very calm.

“Actually, one of my brothers accidentally dug too deep while he was mining in the Purple Gold Mining Area, and it actually connected with a small mining path of the Gold Mining Area. That brother of mine hastily sealed the mining cave. The number of people that know of this secret is extremely little.” Dong Yan said with a calm smile. “During this single year, Brother Wang collected around 10 Jin of Purple Gold! He hid the Purple Gold in the secret passage, and Old Li San will collect it. When Old Li San takes that 10 Jin of Purple Gold out, we’ll be rich!”

To Dong Yan, these three people beside him were the ones that he trusted the most. The ones that went through life and death with him.

The reason he didn’t tell Da Pang and Er Pang previously, was because he was worried that with the careless character of these two fat fellows, they would let the secret out.

“10 Jin!” Hearing this, Da Pang and Er Pang were shock. Er Pang mumbled, “10 Jin of Purple Gold is one thousand Jin worth of gold! That is one million Jin of silver taels. One million Jin of silver taels…… We’re rich!”

One million silver taels was a very huge amount.

Even if one was a wealthy salt merchant, having a property worth one million silver taels was good enough.

“10 Jin of Purple Gold! Humph! Compared to the amount of Purple Gold mined by the Gui Yuan Sect, 10 Jin is nothing. However, with this money, we don’t need to hole up in this tiny Hua Feng City.” Dong Yan said with a smile. Suddenly, he cast a glance in the distance and hastily said, “Yes! Look! There are workers going down the mountain! Old Li San should be coming down soon!”