The Nine Cauldrons

Book 5 Chapter 1 Retreat and Pursued!

After the heavy snow, it became even colder.

The cold wind blew fiercely, and the chilly air hovered over Yanjiang City. However, the hearts of Teng Qingshan and Yan Motian were even colder.

Teng Qingshan’s cold eyes looked through the helmet’s visor and swept past the Silver Dragon Army below. He then said with a deep voice, “Elder Yan, according to the timing, the information would need six hours to reach the Sect and two to four hours to reach us from the sect. This means that......the army of Qing Hu Island had probably advanced for eight to ten hours!”

Yan Motian said solemnly, “If Qing Hu Island advance at full speed, they would arrive under Yanjiang city by today!”

Because they didn’t know enough information, they could only deduce an approximate time.

Teng Qingshan sneered coldly, “Gu Yong, the island lord of Qing Hu Island actually led the army personally! They also attacked Tie Yi Hall first and Gui Yuan Sect second. Now their men are gathering, and the total number of men dispatched to attack the Gui Yuan Sect must be even more than the number of men dispatched to attack Tie Yi Hall. They really have a high regard for our Gui Yuan Sect!”

Having a high regard was not a good thing now. The men of the Gui Yuan Sect would rather Qing Hu Island look down on them and dispatch fewer people.

“Once Gu Yong leads his army here, we wouldn’t be able to escape even if we wanted to. It is time to retreat.” Yan Motian muttered helplessly, “I originally wanted to take this chance and kill more of Qing Hu Island’s men, but...... Qingshan, as you killed that Tie Wanmao, our army’s trip was worth it.”

Teng Qingshan turned his head and smiled, “Tie Wanmao? Too arrogant. He can only bully the postliminary experts.”

“Commander Pang,” Teng Qingshan yelled.

In the distance, Pang Shan immediately walked towards Teng Qingshan and Yan Motian.

“We still have to leave even if we feel bitter.” Teng Qingshan let out a sigh secretly and immediately began discussing the plan of retreat with Pang Shan and Yan Motian.

......

Under Yanjiang City, corpses scattered on the ground. Some Silver Dragon Army soldiers were commanded to collect the corpse of the Law Enforcing Elder, while the other Silver Dragon Army soldiers were discussing softly and occasionally looking at a figure on the top of the wall who wore a black heavy armor and held a silver-colored Reincarnation Spear.

“Elder! General!” One of the two Silver Dragon Army soldiers held the bag of the remaining corpse, while the other held the Storm Saber, inner armor, and arm guard.

“Put it down.” The middle-aged man wearing a gray cloak ordered calmly.

“Yes.”

The two Silver Dragon Army soldiers then placed the bag, the Storm Saber, and inner armor on the ground.

“Elder Hu!” Beside the middle-aged man wearing a gray cloak, a man dressed in heavy armor roared furiously, “Founder Zhao and the others led a great army and obliterated Tie Yi Hall. None of their ten innate experts died. However, at our side, Elder Tie died under Yanjiang City! This is a great embarrassment. Should we let it slide like this?

The middle-aged man cast a glance at him and asked, “General Lan, what do you want to do? The opposing side doesn’t even send men out to battle. What can you do? Attack forcefully?”

“However, the first Qing Hu Island’s member that died is an innate expert! And he was killed at the front line! This is a great shame!” General Lan glared fiercely. The anger he felt could not be pacified. He then continued, “We should attack forcefully. I just don’t believe that we can’t take this city!”

A glint of mockery flashed across the eyes of the middle-aged man wearing a gray cloak as he said calmly, “If we attack forcefully, It would be impossible to break through the city gate as the city gate is bulky and must be heavily guarded. What if we climbed up the city walls? The enemy’s advantage is the city walls. Although Qing Hu Island has over thousand Silver Dragon Army soldiers, only a small amount of our men can climb up the city walls and attack. They would only be devoured by the Black Armored Army! Also, don’t forget.......they have concealed weapon experts hiding somewhere.

“Concealed weapon experts?” General Lan gasped.

Of the five hundred Golden Scale Guards, one hundred fifty Golden Scale Guards died within a short while. General Lan remembered distinctly the images of the Golden Scale Guards collapsing one by one.

“Tie Wanmao dying is a minor thing.” The middle-aged man said calmly. Tie Wanmao was already over one hundred years old and was still at the state of Emptiness Dan of the Innate Realm. With his old age, it would be impossible for him to reach the state of True Dan of the Innate Realm. Qing Hu Island didn’t really value a person like this.

The ones who Qing Hu Island truly valued were Elder Hu and Zhao Danchen, the few who had reached the Golden Dan state of the Innate Realm!

“However, Teng Qingshan’s ability is a major thing!” The middle-aged man looked down at the corpses on the ground.

“Teng Qingshan.” General Lan, the muscular man, stared at the hole at the center of the inner armor and said, “A seventeen-year-old Innate master! As for the last strike.......the power was so strong that Elder Tie’s body was instantly burned. I am afraid it is extremely hard to fight against this Emptiness Dan Innate master. In all the Nine Prefectures of the land, this Teng Qingshan is second to the Demonic Monk of the Manichean Temple in thousands of years.”

Elder Hu raised his head and looked at the walls of Yanjiang City in the distance at the death god like black figure in heavy armor.

“No, he’s even scarier than the Demonic Monk!” Elder Hu said with a deep voice.

“Eh?” General Lan was surprised, “Six hundred years ago, Demonic Monk Xiang Fanchen reached the innate realm at the age of sixteen.”

Elder Hu looked at Teng Qingshan in the distance and said slowly, “The Demonic Monk was specially taught in the Manichean Temple and practiced one of the four four heaven grade manuals 《Golden Buddha》, As for Teng Qingshan, he lived in the forest since he was young. He had no teacher and relied on himself. I have never seen his spear techniques before, so he must have created the spear techniques himself! He had just reached the innate realm recently and could already kill Elder Tie, an expert who had reached the innate realm for over ten years..... Just imagining the future Teng Qingshan makes me feel terrified.”

“If the Gui Yuan Sect was given ten more years, it would be very difficult for Qing Hu Island to obliterate the Gui Yuan Sect.” Elder Hu said slowly, “It’s good that Elder Tie died. Through his death, Qing Hu Island was able to become aware of the terrifyingly talented Teng Qingshan. No matter what, we must catch Teng Qingshan alive. If he can’t be caught, then we must kill him!”

Hearing Elder Hu’s words, General Lan nodded quickly.

A terrifying talented person that was on a par with the Demonic Monk, Xiang Fanchen. Plus, he was an enemy. If Teng Qingshan wasn’t killed, they would live in absolute terror.

Unfortunately......

They did not know that Teng Qingshan was not an inexperienced talented teenager. He had lots of experience in pursuing, tracking, escaping, and many other skills. You could say that there were only a few who could stand shoulder to shoulder with him in the entire Nine Prefectures.

With the experience of being a hitman in his previous life and his ability in controlling his body perfectly, who could pursue and kill him?

......

As time passed, the men of Qing Hu Island were resting under the city. They were waiting for the arrival of the great army.

“General, general!”

A Silver Dragon Army soldier immediately rushed into the tent. General Lan and Elder Hu were drinking tea as they awaited the great army.

“What is it?” General Lan furrowed.

“General!” The soldier hastily said, “The Black Armored Army of the Gui Yuan Sect are fleeing from beneath the city wall.

Whew! Whew!

General Lan and Elder Hu instantly dashed out of the tent and looked at the Yanjiang City Wall in the distance. It was true..... On top of the city wall, there were over several hundreds of Black Armored Army soldiers. These Black Armored Army soldiers were rapidly escaping from different passageways. Within a few seconds, all the Black Armored Army soldiers disappeared from the top of the city wall.

“Golden Scale Guards!” Elder Hu roared horrifyingly.

Tremble!

Over three hundred Golden Scale Guards dashed out speedily.

“Charge up there with me.” Elder Hu took the lead and darted towards the city wall with the speed of an arrow. Behind him, over three hundred Golden Scale Guards also dashed towards the city wall.

“Dong!” “Dong!”.......

The gathering drum sounds rang to the heavens, and ten thousand Silver Dragon Army soldiers rapidly assembled.

......

Elder Hu leaped up the city wall easily, but with his six senses, he could not hear any breathing sound on top of the wall.

“They all escaped?” Elder Hu was shocked.

Whew! Whew! Whew!

Behind him, the Golden Scale Guards leapt up to the top of the wall like nimble leopards.

“Follow me.” Elder Hu ordered, and they jumped into the city from the top of the wall. They then realized that........there were no guards at the city gate, but simply huge wooden beams blocking the gate. The thick and black metal bolts also locked the gate.

“Open the city gates.” Elder Hu yelled. Yet, he was looking at the North.

The stores on the street were closed, and blurry black figures could be seen in the distance. Elder Hu could distinctly feel the trembling of the earth, which was caused by the dense sounds of galloping hooves.

The Golden Scale Guards rapidly moved the huge wooden beams away and pulled open the bolts of the gate. With a “Bang!”, the city gates opened.

Immediately, a large amount of Silver Dragon Army soldiers mounted on horses dashed into the city rapidly as a roar sounded, “Charge! If you kill one Black Armored Army soldier, you’ll receive one hundred Taels of silver as a reward. If you kill one sergeant, you’ll receive one thousand Taels of silver as a reward......” Hearing this, the Silver Armored Army soldiers clamored as they pursued speedily.

As the opposing side could be busy fleeing, pursuing would be very easy.

......

After all, the number of Black Armored Army soldiers was too large. Although they fled orderly, the soldiers at the rear of the army were approximately two Li away from the pursuing Silver Dragon Army. However, there were too many soldiers, and the speed of each horse was different. So the soldiers at the front could go as fast as they wanted, but the soldiers at the back couldn’t go as fast.

“Haha........brothers, kill.”

The Silver Dragon Army soldiers roared as the horses they were mounting galloped, causing the entire Yanjiang City to tremble.

The distance between the Black Armored Army and the Silver Dragon Army was gradually decreasing.

“Quick, quick!” Teng Qingshan roared furiously. He and Yan Motian and were at the rear of the Black Armored Army while the Silver Dragon Army was approaching.

One Li, half a Li, eighty Zhangs, fifty Zhangs, thirty Zhangs.......

“Xiu!” “Xiu!” Arrows came from behind and shot into the Black Armored Army soldiers at the rear. “Clang” “Clang” sounds were heard, and a few arrows luckily pierced through the openings in the heavy armor.

Whew! Whew!

Like a gust of wind, the Black Armored Army all rushed out of the north gate of Yanjiang City. At this moment and at the two sides of the north gate, a few hundred Black Armored Army soldiers were gathered there. Twenty Black Armored Army soldiers were grabbing a rope used to trip the horses with ten people gripping each side........After the Black Armored Army soldiers rushed out of the north gate, the Silver Dragon Army rushed out to pursue!

“Pull!” A loud roar sounded.

Ropes used to trip the horses were pulled out from the muddy ground. The height of the ropes was not high, just around one to two Chi higher than the ground. Each rope was four Zhangs away from the other rope, and there were a total of five thick ropes used to trip the horses. Outside the gate of the city, in addition to the one hundred soldiers grabbing the ropes, there were other Black Armored Army soldiers with sabers in their hands.

“Rumble~~~”

The horses dashing at full speed tripped and crashed to the ground, causing the earth to tremble. The Silver Dragon Army soldiers were thrown into the air. The speed of the galloping horses was faster than some cars in Teng Qingshan’s previous life. Although they were strong, they still received a concussion from the heavy crash.

Whew! Whew!

The fully prepared Black Armored Army soldiers thrust the sabers in their hands toward the Silver Dragon Army soldiers’ visors! Because humans needed to breathe and see, there were definitely openings.

War sabers thrust down ruthlessly!

Puchi! Puchi!

Fresh blood splattered.

“Ah~~” Painful cries rang to the heavens. Many Silver Dragon Army soldiers were killed before they could even regain consciousness from the fall.

“Ambush!!!” A hasty shout rang.

“Neigh~~”

The neighs of the horses and the furious roars continued nonstop. The entrance of the city was a complete mess. The warriors who didn’t manage to stop jumped down from their horses. The entrance of the city was instantly blocked by the fallen horses, the corpses of the Silver Dragon Army soldiers, and the ropes used to tripp the horses.

“Let’s go!” Teng Qingshan shouted.

The Black Armored Army immediately mounted their horses and rapidly fled, leaving the snowfield covered with hoof prints.