The Nine Cauldrons

Chapter 45: Teng Qingshan’s Tiger Fist

Teng Qingshan cast a glance toward the bandits in the surrounding and thought, “There’s still close to eighty bandits. If I were to make a move, these bandits would probably flee in all directions… No matter how powerful I am, I’ll only be able to kill ten to twenty people and it would be useless. As for Uncle Yan and the others…” Teng Qingshan looked toward the people from his clan.

These people were all those who had went hunting for wild beasts together with him. Now, someone became crippled and someone became blind.

Flames of fury burned in Teng Qingshan’s heart.

“Anything is negotiable?” Teng Yongfan took two steps forward and stood before Teng Qingshan, looking at the group of bandits. “If you want to save your boss, it’s very easy. Bring out all the valuable items you guys have with you and we will see if it’s sufficient to make up for the losses our people have suffered. If it’s enough, we may let your boss go. Otherwise… ”

Teng Qingshan glanced at his father and did not voice any objections. The other members of the clan had also given their silent consent.

In this era, death was perfectly normal. If the men of Teng Jia Village were too hot-headed all the time, Teng Jia Village would have been destroyed long ago. Sometimes, it was necessary to think rationally. Killing a few more bandits wouldn’t bring any benefit to the Teng Jia Village. Instead, the bandits might go berserk and kill more clansmen.

“Sure, no problem.” That handsome young man took out three silver ingots and then turned to look at the others, shouting ,”Hurry up!”

The bandits hesitated a little before bringing out all the silver and copper money they had with them.

“Throw them all into one pile on the ground.” Teng Yongfan shouted.

Although the bandits could not bear to do so, they still tossed the silver and copper money they had with them into the fields, and the money soon piled up into a small pile.

“Qinghu, go count the money.” Teng Yongfan instructed.

“Mmm,” Teng Qinghu ran over and counted the money carefully before replying, “Putting aside the spare change, there’s a total of three hundred and twenty-three silver taels!”

“So little?” Teng Yongfan smiled coldly at that handsome young man as he said, “The life of your Tiger Hill’s leader isn’t worth so little money.”

Hearing that, the handsome young man felt very anxious. Out of the group of people, he was the most worried for the boss’ life. That was because the boss was his biologically related elder brother. He turned and glared at a thin bandit furiously, “Where are the silver notes my elder brother left with you?” Hearing that, the bandit was stunned and quickly said, “That’s… that’s the offerings for the White Horse Gang!”

“Who cares about the White Horse Gang at this moment? My elder brother is going to lose his life!” The handsome young man shouted.

The handsome young man was clearly someone with power in the group.

“Mmm,” That bandit took out a stack of silver notes and unwillingly tossed them onto the ground.

Teng Qinghu counted and shouted, “There are a total of sixteen notes that’s worth one hundred silver taels each!”

“Hmph, although it isn’t a lot, we’ll take it. Alright, you guys can leave. However, he must stay behind.” Teng Yongfan pointed to the man with triangular-shaped eyes. The man with triangular-shaped eyes was so scared that he immediately dropped to his knees. He turned to look at the other bandit with a horrified expression and pleaded, “Brothers…”

“He doesn’t belong to our Tiger Hill. He’s only a hoodlum. Deal with him as you like. Please let my elder brother go.” The handsome young man implored.

“Scram,” Teng Qingshan kicked the bandit leader by the waist and the bandit leader was sent flying to the air. He then landed heavily before the handsome young man.

“Let’s go quickly.” The bandit leader quickly said in a soft voice.

“Let’s go!” The handsome young man helped the bandit leader up and immediately commanded. Upon his command, the group of bandits fled.

“Brothers…” The man with triangular-shaped eyes was on the verge of tears. He then turned to find the group of people from the Teng Jia Village glaring at him furiously. He felt so scared that his entire body was trembling.

Teng Yongfan stared at the man with triangular-shaped eyes and said, “Speak up. Explain the entire event from the beginning.”

The man with triangular-shaped eyes shivered and quickly said, “Great heroes, I have nothing to do wit this! I am just a messenger! That brother of mine works for Yangzhou’s great salt merchant, Master Li. It was his leader who had ordered him to find people to deal with you all. That leader seemed to have ordered goods from you and paid you ten thousand silver taels. My brother also said that…the leader had initially planned on not paying you the ten thousand silver taels.”

“That b*stard!” Teng Qinghu bellowed.

Killing intent surged in Teng Qingshan’s heart. “It’s that cavalry leader—Qin San!” Although he really wanted to kill Qin San, he couldn’t do it because Qin San was the capable subordinate of the great salt merchant. Teng Qingshan realized that he might not be a match for Qin San now, so he could only endure!

“Great heroes, please just take it that you’re releasing a fart and let me go.” The man with triangular-shaped eyes pleaded

TLN: This is an idiom. The triangular-eyed man basically wants them to see him as something unimportant.

Teng Yongfan moved the longspear he was holding.

“Pfft!” His longspear penetrated the throat of the man with triangular-shaped eyes.

The latter’s eyes opened-wide and all signs of vitality in his eyes vanished as he fell down limply in the fields.

“Let’s go,” Teng Yongfan pulled back his longspear and said.

The people from the Teng Jia Village supported the wounded clansmen and quickly left the place.

On the way back.

“Qingshan,” Teng Yongfan started.

“Father,” Teng Qingshan looked toward his father.

“Do you think that Father had done a bad thing in letting those bandits off in exchange for money?” Teng Yongfan sighed. “Your speart arts is great, but if I were to let you kill as you wish, you’ll only be able to kill some of them. As for the rest, they’ll also kill a number of our people. If that were to happen, we’ll have more people dead.”

“We definitely must not let our anger control us! We must not put our people in danger.” Teng Yongfan said.

“Father, I understand.”

If Teng Qingshan really was a ten-year–old child, he might really act on impulse. However, he possessed the memories from his previous life and was well aware of when he should bear with it and when he should release his anger.

“Qingshan, you are able to have a say and make decisions in the clan now. However, you must remember to ensure that the legacy of our Teng Clan is passed down to the next generation in the chaotic world. You should never let your emotions control you!” Teng Yongfan said. “You must always remember that there are more people from the clan supporting you.”

“Father, I understand.” Teng Qingshan was emotionally confused.

It was not because of what his father had said.

It was because of the… Xing Yi Martial Art!

“It’s about time to teach the people in the clan about the Xing Yi Martial Art.” Teng Qingshan kept thinking to himself. “When I was only three to four, or five to six years old, no one would take my words seriously. Moreover, it’s too ridiculous for a child to be teaching everyone the Xing Yi Martial Art. However, I am one of the higher-ups in the village and everyone knew that I have powerful spear art! I just need to lie to get the clansmen to believe me.”

On their way back, Teng Qingshan pondered for some time and finally made up his mind. “Yes, I will talk to Grandfather, father, and the others when we are back in the village.”

******

When they returned to the village, the people from the Teng Jia Village were all shocked to see so many of them injured. Thankfully, none of them had died, which was an outcome that was acceptable to everyone.

In Chief Teng Yunlong’s residence:

A few elderly clansman as well as Teng Tongxiang, who held rather high status in the clan, and Teng Yonglei, who had recently lost an arm, all gathered here.

“Yongfan, you guys did a great job this time.” Teng Yunlong said, “I did not expect that cavalry leader to be so stingy. He actually ordered someone to notify the bandits after paying us the note of ten thousand silver taels!”

“To that cavalry leader, we’re just ants that he can crush as and when he wants.” Teng Yonglei said with a frigid sneer.

“Over a hundred years ago, didn’t Yi City’s number one sect—’Copper Tiger Gang’— wanted to wipe out our Teng Clan to show off their might? Thankfully we ran fast and escaped into the mountains. However, we still had about half of the clansmen killed.” Third Grandfather let out a sigh, “In this world, human lives worth the least.”

“Thankfully, everyone got back alive.” Teng Yunlong looked toward Teng Yongfan and Teng Qigngshan, “Yongfan, Qingshan, the two of you must be tired. Go back and have an early rest.”

“Yes, Teacher.” Teng Yongfan nodded.

“Grandfather!” Teng Qingshan suddenly spoke up.

“Hmmm?” Quite a number of them looked toward Teng Qingshan. The elders in the clan all like Teng Qingshan a lot. Despite being of such a young age, he possessed such astonishing martial prowess. With such an expert in the clan, the entire clan would stand to benefit. For example, if Teng Qingshan had not been around today, there would probably not be many people from the Hunting Squadron who would be able to make it back alive. With Teng Qingshan around, not only did all of them make it back safely, they even managed to force the bandits to handover their money.

Teng Qingshan looked at the elders in the clan and said, “Grandfather, there’s something that I must tell everyone.”

“Go on,” Teng Yunlong smiled and said.

“What is it, Qingshan?” The Third Grandfather also asked.

Teng Qingshan said, “Not long after I joined the Hunting Squadron, I hunted down a tiger. While doing that, I carefully observed the tiger’s movements and studied it intensively even after I returned to the village. I recalled that Li Jinfu of Li Jia Village was able to create his own ‘Vicious Tiger Fist.’ If he can do it, I can create my own Tiger Fist as well!”

“Tiger Fist?” Everyone laughed.

In the Land of the Nine Prefectures, there were countless fist arts of all sorts. The individuals horned In such a chaotic world naturally knew some sort of fighting skills.

“You are really amazing.” Teng Yunlong praised and no longer said anything.

“However, when I was practicing this Tiger Fist and cooperating the movements with my breathings, I discovered that a mystical power emerged within my body!” Teng Qingshan exclaimed.

“A mystical power emerged within your body?” Everyone in the room were stunned.

“What power was it?” Teng Yunlong quickly asked.

Teng Qingshan squatted down and said, “Grandfather, take a look.” Teng Qingshan placed his hands on top of the wooden bench while summoning his inner strength.

“Hu!”

His inner strength shot out like an arrow and the wooden bench let out an explosive cracking sound as a chunk of the wood turned into smithereens.

The group of people in the room were completely stunned as they looked at this scene, unable to say a word.

“Inner strength!!!” Teng Yonglei was the first to shout out.

“It’s inner strength!” Teng Yongxiang also said excitedly. “It’s inner strength!”

“It really is inner strength. I’ve seen it before. This is really inner strength.” Teng Yunlong was also extremely excited. The group of clansmen were like a pack of hungry wolves staring at a sheep. Their faces turned red with excitement as they fixed their eyes on Teng Qingshan.

“Qingshan actually managed to generate inner strength? How is that possible?” Teng Yongxiang exclaimed.

Teng Qingshan shook his head and acted as if he was confused, “I’m not sure either. I was only imitating the actions of a tiger and felt that those movements can be used to train the body. At the same time, I controlled my breathing as I trained. I did not expect myself to generate inner strength after a few months of practice. Even I myself cannot believe this.”

“Haha…” Teng Yunlong laughed out loud, “What’s so strange about that? There are countless methods of cultivating inner strength in this world. Which of these methods had not been created by people? Teng Qingshan is the most talented genius of Teng Clan since thousands of years. If other people can create them, why can’t he do it?”

Everyone nodded.

“Since others can create it, it’s natural that a genius from our Teng Clan can as well.” Teng Yongxiang also laughed and said.

“But mine is merely imitating the actions and breathings of a tiger. It’s nothing complex.” Teng Qingshan shook his head and said.

“Simple is good! Simple is good! Take one step at a time.” Teng Yunlong was overjoyed. “That old man from Li Jia Village kept boasting about how his grandson had created the Vicious Tiger Fist. Hmph, it’s just a technique that looks great. My grandson’s Tiger Fist can produce inner strength, making it much better than Li Jinfu’s Tiger Fist.”

Teng Qingshan was well aware that although the Three Postures and the Five Element Fists in the cultivation of the Xing Yi Martial Arts appeared simple, it was very hard for one to produce results from training them. Many experts of the Xing Yi Martial Art only practiced the Twelve Forms of Xing Yi. They could only study and practice the Five Element Fists and the Three Xing Yi Postures after they had gained mastery in the Twelve Forms of Xing Yi.

“Learning a wide variety can’t be compared with specializing in one. It’s better to just teach them the Tiger Form rather than teaching them the Twelve Forms of Xing Yi. It’ll be easier to have achievements in practicing the Tiger Form as well.” Teng Qingshan thought.

The Tiger Fist he was referring to was in fact the ‘Tiger Form Fist Art,’ one of the Twelve Forms of Xing Yi.

“Grandfather, I want to impart the Tiger Fist to the people in the clan.” Teng Qingshan said.

“Good, good.” Teng Yunlong nodded and said.

“Haha, if we were to gain inner strength, who would have the audacity to provoke Teng Jia Village?” Teng Yongxiang was very excited. Teng Yongfan, who stood beside Teng Yongxiang, also pat Teng Qingshan’s shoulder with excitement as he said, “Qingshan, my greatest pride in this lifetime is to have a son like you. Haha…”

The group of people were all extremely excited.

With the Tiger Fist, the prowess of Teng Jia Village would undergo drastic changes.

“You all must remember.” Teng Yunlong turned to look around the room and said, “Don’t spread the news that Qingshan has created the Tiger Fist. We must keep it a secret. In the future, this Tiger Fist will be our Teng Jia Village’s greatest technique. It can never be imparted to outsiders and can only be imparted to the males in the clan!”

“We understand,” everyone nodded.