The Nine Cauldrons

The arrival of Ji Hong

Precisely at noon.

Teng Qingshan and the other three people entered Bai Qi’s residence. The instant Teng Qingshan stepped into the room, he could smell a faint scent of blood and herbs. Although the doctor had not arrived, as there were so many guards and soldiers in the mining area, there were obviously people who knew of some simple treatments and so some simple treatments were done to Bai Qi first.

Fortunately, Bai Qi’s inner strength was rich and he woke up after being unconscious for five to six hours.

“Lord Lieutenant!” Tian Dan gestured and said, “Old Du has already led people to Jiangning County City personally to pass the news to the sect.”

Bai Qi’s pale white face was extremely gloomy, his eyes were even more sinister and he no longer had the suaveness that he once possessed.

“Have you found the identity of the culprit that fought with me?” Bai Qi said coldly.

“Er……no. Brother Qingshan and I didn’t know those people and the others didn’t see it.” Tian Dan gestured and said.
“Useless!” Sitting on the bed, Bai Qi straightened his back suddenly and scolded furiously, “If you two don’t know those people, you two don’t know how to draw? Get drawings out and find them for me! Find that fellow, the silver-haired man and the fatties! Quickly go and find them for me! Catch them!”

It was as if flames were shooting out of Bai Qi’s eyes and he himself was almost insane.

Useless?

Tian Dan’s face turned cold and he cast a glance at Bai Qi, yet he endured it and remained silent.

Disdain flashed across the eyes of Wan Fanxiang and the others. In the past, Bai Qi’s relationship with others was bad. Now that he had become disabled, could he still act like a lieutenant?

Bai Qi scanned the four people before him and the anger within his heart grew. Hatred harbored in his heart as he thought to himself, “These bastards! They see that I am disabled and all look down on me!” Although he felt this hatred, Bai Qi didn’t dare to go overboard, because he knew clearly that……a disabled person like himself definitely wouldn’t be able to be lieutenant anymore and he would be alone in the future. If he offended the four people before him, they could totally torture him in the future.
“Lord Lieutenant,” Teng Qingshan opened his mouth and spoke, “Regarding the investigation of the culprit’s identity, of course we will look into it! However, the most important thing now is learning how this Purple Gold was smuggled out! I wonder if Lord Lieutenant has any news regarding this.”
Bai Qi’s eyes brightened and he immediately shouted, “Go, quickly go and catch that Hu Tong for me! It was him! He was the traitor!!!”

The piercing sound boomed in the room, surprising Teng Qingshan and the others.

“Hu Tong?” Teng Qingshan and the other three centurions froze. The captain of the Huafeng City guards who was good at flattering?

“Let’s go.” Tian Dan was the first to turn and walk out of the room and Teng Qingshan and the others hastily followed.

Immediately, Bai Qi was the left in the room with a black armored soldier that took care of him. A fierce glow flashed in Bai Qi’s eyes and he stared at the soldier beside him as he yelled, “You! Get out!”

That soldier was shocked and ran out of the room quickly.

Bai Qi sat on the bed and pushed back the covers to look at the well-bandaged severed limbs. Without making any sounds, tears flowed down his face as he thought to himself, “My.. my leg… My hand…..” Bai Qi’s whole body was trembling and millions of thoughts surged across his mind instantly. He seemed to have seen the dark nightmare-like days in the future.

“It’s the end! It’s the end for me!”

Bai Qi actually lowered his head and began sobbing. After a long while, he suddenly raised his head and a fierce, psychotic glow flashed within his eyes.

“I must kill that bastard that shot the concealed weapon! I must! And that Hu Tong! It was him that let the worker go!” At this moment, Bai Qi even hated Hu Tong. He said to himself, “Tian Dan, Teng Qingshan and the other centurions, all of them look down upon me now!”

Bai Qi wanted revenge, but he didn’t feel that he had the power to get revenge!

“Ahhhhh!!!” Bai Qi raised his head and roared painfully and furiously.

Suddenly, Bai Qi felt dizzy and collapsed helplessly onto the bed again. He had lost too much blood and just regained consciousness. Now, his emotions were unstable and he had even roared crazily, so his body naturally couldn’t withstand it and he went into a comatose state again.

Teng Qingshan and the other four centurions were worried that Hu Tong would ignore the command of the black armored soldiers, therefore, the four centurions personally went to Hu Tong’s residence.

“My Lords, Lord Hu Tong returned to Huafeng City in a hurry this morning. He said that he knows a famous doctor in Huafeng City and he is going to invite that famous doctor here for Lord Lieutenant.” Facing Teng Qingshan and the other three centurions, a soldier said frightfully.

Teng Qingshan and the other three centurions casted a glance at each other.

“Let’s go.” Tian Dan let out a sigh and turned his head.

“As expected, that Hu Tong is the traitor,” Wan Fanxiang sneered coldly and said, “However, that Hu Tong is rather smart. He knew things would go badly the moment he saw Bai Qi crippled and fled.”

“He left this morning and it’s noon now. How is it possible for us to catch up with him.” Liu He sighed.

Teng Qingshan shook his head and said, “Chasing after Hu Tong is impossible. It would be better to investigate on how the Purple Gold was lost for now.”

“Yes. Check the depth of the mine cave at the Purple Gold mining area and see if there are any areas connected to the gold mining area. Investigate this carefully!”
……

The interrogation of the workers for the Purple Gold mining area began and they were questioned one by one. If anyone could tell where the tunnel connected to the gold mining area was, there would be no punishment but rather a reward of one thousand silver taels!

However, none of the workers knew.

No answers were found from interrogations. The black armored soldiers could only begin inspecting the Purple Gold mining area carefully. Those ordinary guards also began to inspect the mine cave of the gold mining area. The whole mining area temporarily stopped mining and all the workers rested in their own residence.
……

All the black armored soldiers were busy and Teng Qingshan and the other centurions were extremely tired.

The sky soon darkened.

“Lords, the doctor is here! The doctor is here!” A soldier ran towards the centurions to notify them. Teng Qingshan recognized at a glance that this soldier was one of the two soldiers that he ordered to go fetch a doctor. Teng Qingshan immediately asked, “Where’s the doctor?”
“He went to the lieutenant’s residence.” The soldier answered.

“Let’s go and check it out.” Wan Fanxiang rose and walked towards Bai Qi’s residence with Teng Qingshan and the other centurions.

The moment they arrived outside the door, they heard cursing sounds resounding from within the house.

“Get lost! Get lost!” A white-haired elder was soon seen running out embarrassed. When the elder saw Teng Qingshan and the other three, he immediately cupped his hands and said, “My Lords.”

“How is he?” Teng Qingshan questioned.

The doctor immediately answered with respect, “The physical health of the lord is good, he is able to withstand this serious injury. He just needs recuperation and nourishment.” When it comes to the disabled ones, no matter how good the doctor is, not much can be done. They could at most help nurse the disabled patient back to health, but how was it possible for the severed limbs to grow back?

If it was the society of Teng Qingshan’s previous life, the toxicity could be completely cleared from the severed limb and reattached.

However, this was ancient times, not the technological society of his previous world.

“Tian Dan! Liu He! You guys are outside, right! Get in here!” Bai Qi’s roars came from within the room. “Didn’t I tell you guys to catch Hu Tong? Where is he? AHH! You guys get in here now!”

“That Hu Tong had already fled and we couldn’t do anything. Lord Lieutenant, you are heavily injured and it is necessary for you to recuperate without being disturbed. It’s also not good for you to be angry.” Tian Dan said loudly. He then exchanged glances with the other people and immediately left.

The current Bai Qi was a psychopath. If they went in the room, they would definitely suffer greatly.

“You bastards!” Bai Qi was so angry that he started cursing.

Teng Qingshan and the other centurions glanced at each other without saying anything.

In the world, numerous people died in fights all the time. Some died for their family and clan and their deaths might still be worthy of the sighs of others and their respect. But for someone like Bai Qi, who suffered because of his greed for money, sympathy was not worth it.
……

It was nighttime and Tie Lian Mountain was very quiet.

In the spacious stone house, Teng Qingshan was sitting cross-legged on the bed. The flow of his blood was decelerating, his metabolism was slowing down and his heart rate dropped to an extremely slow speed.

Suddenly, dense footsteps sounds rang out.

“Eh?” Teng Qingshan opened his eyes.

“My Lord, My Lord.” A black armored soldier stormed in suddenly and yelled anxiously, “Lord Commander is here!”

“Lord Commander?” Teng Qingshan was surprised.

It was late at night now and Centurion Du Hong only headed towards Jiangning County during the morning. No matter how fast he traveled, he could only arrive Jiangning County after noon. Yet, unexpectedly, the commander had already arrived during nighttime.

Whew!
。
Teng Qingshan immediately dashed out. He could already see the unclear figures in the distance and he ran towards the figures with rapid speed.

“Brother Qingshan, Lord Commander had already gone to Bai Qi’s residence.” Wan Fanxiang had just dressed and also ran simultaneously with Teng Qingshan. Teng Qingshan whispered, “Commander actually arrived so quickly. He traveled during the night! You can see that the sect viewed this case with great importance.”

“Yeah,” Wan Fanxiang hastily nodded as he spoke, “Qingshan, don’t shoulder all the responsibility later. The less trouble the better.”

“I know.” Teng Qingshan nodded in response.

When Teng Qingshan and Wan Fanxiang arrived Bai Qi’s residence, the torches outside the house were brightly lit. At this moment, Tian Dan and Liu He were also running over from afar. The four centurions exchanged glances and walked into Bai Qi’s house.

“Lord Commander.” Teng Qingshan and the other three centurions bowed.

“Yes, you guys are here.” A silver-haired elder dressed in black cloak stood before the bed. Centurion Du Hong followed at the side. The silver-haired elder dressed in black cloak turned his head and glanced at the four centurions indifferently as he spoke, “During a short time of one month, something like this actually happened! Also, who is the one responsible to guard the Purple Gold mining area!”

“It’s me.” Teng Qingshan went one step forward as he bowed.

The silver-haired elder dressed in black cloak narrowed his eyes as he exclaimed, “Teng Qingshan!”

Teng Qingshan had also heard of this Lord. Among the four commanders, Ji Hong was the oldest. It was said that he was over one hundred years old and has the highest seniority. Even Sovereign, Zhuge Yuanhong, had to call him “Second Martial Uncle.” Since he was the number one commander, he was naturally the number one expert of the four great commanders.

You can say that Ji Hong was the number one figure of the entire Black Armored Army. He was the magic stabilizer of the Black Armored Army!

“I will question you later!” Ji Hong cast an indifferent glance at Teng Qingshan and scanned the other four centurions. He then yelled, “All five of you! Get out first! Without my orders, don’t come in. Keep this in mind and close the door!”

“Yes, Lord Commander.” The five centurions bowed, left the house and closed the door.

Outside the house.

“Brother Qingshan, you are in trouble this time. This Lord Commander of ours is a very fierce person,” Tian Dan whispered. The other three centurions also looked towards Teng Qingshan. They felt lucky that they were not assigned to guard the Purple Gold mining area.

If it was guarded well with no problems occurring, that would be considered doing your duty without any rewards given.

However, if something goes wrong, that would meant trouble.