The Nine Cauldrons

Teng Qingshan silently stood there, looking at the young girl.

“Wuuuuu......” After crying for very long time, the girl gradually stopped.

Within a day, she lost her entire family. This was too big of a blow to her. Only after crying beside her mother’s corpse for a very long time, did she slowly regain her senses. The girl suddenly stood up and looked towards Teng Qingshan. A weird look fluttered across her eyes as she took two steps forward.

“Bang!”

The girl kneeled down on her knees and kowtowed as she cried and said, “Benefactor, I beg of you, please help me to take revenge and kill those evil-doers! I’m willing to be your slave for life to repay your kindness!”

She was merely a weak little girl, how could she have exact her revenge by herself? She saw the abilities of Teng Qingshan when he killed the bandits earlier and thought that he would definitely be able to annihilate the foes who had killed her family. She was alone and had no one to rely on, let alone to exact revenge with. She could only beg Teng Qingshan! And the only chip that she has......

Was herself!

“Get up. Let’s cremate your mother first.” Teng Qingshan said.

“Mmm.” The girl nodded.

Looking at the girl’s tear streaked face, which was exactly the same as the wife from his previous life, ‘Cat’ Teng Qingshan could not help but wish to treat her a little better. This girl had the same pitiful plight as Cat, which only made Teng Qingshan pity her more.

On an abandoned land not far away from the official path, fire burned and the charred smell of corpses spread out.

The girl kneeled in front of the fire, solemnly kowtowed thrice, and lifted her head to look at the fire. Tears brimmed up in her eyes as she said, “Mother, please be assured. Your daughter will definitely take revenge for Father, Granddad, and the others. I will definitely do so!” After saying this, she kowtowed another three times before she stood up, tears filling up her eyes.

“Benefactor.” The girl looked at Teng Qingshan.

To the girl, Teng Qingshan was a super strong warrior. It was already kind enough of him to save her life. She was one who knew where she was supposed to stand. She knew...... that she only had to listen to Teng Qingshan’s instructions and not shoot off her mouth.

“Follow me to Wu An County first.” Teng Qingshan said.

“Mmm.” The girl nodded.

Thereafter, Teng Qingshan rode on the Cyan Bristled Horse while she rode on the Yellow Maned Horse. The two of them set off for Wu An County.

On the official road.

“What is your name?” Teng Qingshan asked.

“Li Jun!” The girl replied.

Teng Qingshan repeated the name to himself and nodded. When he had first seen the young girl ‘Li Jun’, Teng Qingshan had thought for a moment that Cat had been reborn. But seeing her face the bandits and studying her reactions, it was obvious to him that...... she had no way of defending herself. On the other hand, his wife ‘Cat’ from his previous life had also been an expert of the Xing Yi Martial Arts.

She was ranked alongside Teng Qingshan, one of the A-grade assassins of the Red Organization!

The two of them were partners. The assassin combination of ‘Wolf’ and ‘Cat’ possessed widespread fame!

If it was Cat, even if she had not been able to reach his level, she would have had no issues reaching the level of a First Rated Warrior.

Teng Qingshan thought of his cool and decisive yet gentle wife ‘Cat’, looked towards the girl beside him who looked exactly the same as Cat in her younger days, and sighed. No matter what......Cat was merely a memory from his past life. In this life, Cat was no more!

For him to help this girl, it was merely for the sake of the wife whom he had loved deeply in his past life.

“Benefactor, you may call me Little Jun!” The girl looked at Teng Qingshan. “How shall I address benefactor?”

“My name is Teng Qingshan.” Teng Qingshan did not hide his identity in front of the girl as he calmly asked, “Little Jun, how old are you this year?”

“Thirteen years old.” The girl replied. “Teng......Brother Teng!” The girl threw a disturbed glance at Teng Qingshan, but after seeing that Teng Qingshan was not angry, she continued, “Brother Teng, why are we going to Wu An County......My home is not in Wu An County. I...I would like to take revenge.”

Teng Qingshan gazed at her. “Revenge? Who is your enemy?”

“I, I don’t know.” Li Jun bit her lips and shook her head.

Teng Qingshan frowned. “How can you exact revenge when you do not know who your enemy is?”

Li Jun’s face immediately paled.

“Right, how can I take revenge when I don’t know who my enemies are?” Tears streamed down Li Jun’s face silently as she mumbled, “It was dark, and I wasn’t able to see clearly before my mother had dragged me and escaped. I only saw many corpses......I, I, I have no idea who they were at all. I don’t even know how they look like!”

Seeing Li Jun’s state, Teng Qingshan hollered, “Stop crying!”

Li Jun was stunned.

“Tell me about the state of your family.” Teng Qingshan commanded. “Based on your attire, you must have lived in a wealthy family. You should have been staying in the city...... Not many would dare to kill in the city. Based on your family’s situation as well as your father’s friends and other information, there may be hope of finding out more.”

Pleasantly surprised, Li Jun elaborated, “My, my home was in the Wan City, which is over a hundred li away. My father was Li Yuan, a merchant. My granddad was named......”

Li Jun described the situation of her family in great detail.

“Mmmm.” Teng Qingshan nodded and looked at her. “Are you thinking of exacting revenge by yourself or with my aid?”

“I would like to take revenge by myself, but I do not have the means to do it.” Li Jun replied bitterly.

“I can get people to teach you how to cultivate inner strength.” Teng Qingshan said.

Li Jun shooked her head and explained, “When I was young, my father sent me to Qing Hu Island, hoping that I can become a warrior. But......I was not able to cultivate inner strength at all. The warriors from Qing Hu Island all said that my meridian channels were cluttered with too much impurities and that I would not be able to channel any inner strength at all.”

Teng Qingshan lamented to himself after hearing this.

To be born with meridian channels, such a state was disadvantageous to training......it might help if she were to train the Xing Yi Martial Art.

However, the difficulty of Xing Yi Martial Art was too excessive and required one to have high potential. To depend on the training of the Xing Yi Martial Art to exact one’s revenge, there was a possibility that she may never get to do it.

Yangzhou, Wu An County, Liuhu Street.

Liuhu street’s scenery was very beautiful, with one side of the street facing a lake and countless willow trees alongside the path. The branches of the willow trees swayed gracefully with the wind, which gently rippled the lake’s surface. It was truly a marvelous sight.

Liuhu Street was a place where only the rich and powerful families from Wu An County could stay in. Each of the mansions took up quite a significant area of land and was very costly.

“Call your Master Wang here. Tell him that someone from Jiangning County is here.” Teng Qingshan stood at the entrance of one of the mansions and called out.

The two guards at the entrance of the mansion were stunned.

“Lord, kindly please hold on while I pass on the message.” One of the guards quickly ran into the mansion. Li Jun stood behind Teng Qingshan as she looked at the scene with much reservations......This mansion was even bigger than the mansion she had stayed in previously. Having lost all her kin, Li Jun could only depend on this fellow in front of her to protect her.

Very soon, a fat man wear a golden suit quickly ran out.

On seeing Teng Qingshan, the eyes of the fat man gleamed as he quickly bowed. “Commander!”

“Commander?” Li Jun was astonished as she sneaked a look at Teng Qingshan.

“Little Jun, follow me inside.” Teng Qingshan said.

......

On the second level of a building in the mansion, Teng Qingshan sat besides the round table. The fat man respectfully stood at the side, while Li Jun stood behind Teng Qingshan.

“I had long heard that Commander would be passing by. I had also long heard of Commander, but had no opportunity to meet you. In fact, I could only see a painting of you. I did not expect to be able to meet the Commander in person today!” The fat man was smiling so happily that it looked as if flowers had bloomed on his face.

“Old Wang, I have a favor to ask of you.” Teng Qingshan smiled.

The fat man immediately said, “Commander, please feel free to give your orders.”

“This girl is called Li Jun, and her father goes by the name of Li Yuan. They lived in Wan City, not far from here. Li Yuan was a merchant and his family was considered wealthy. However, just last night, everyone in her family was killed. I want you to help to investigate who had killed her family.” Teng Qingshan said.

The fat man looked at Li Jun in astonishment.

Li Jun looked at the fat man apprehensively.

“Commander, please be assured. Wan City is a small place with only those few men who are rich and and have power. Their relations......would be easy to track. Furthermore, it is a big issue to kill in the city, which should make them easier to find. We also have men from our Gui Yuan Sect in Wan City. Within a few days time, we would definitely be able to find out all the facts.” The fat man pounded his chest and assured.

Gui Yuan Sect had a branch in every city and county in Yangzhou.

Of course, in Xuyang County and Tiannan County, two counties that were more disorderly, they had more people stationed. On the other hand, in the area under Qing Hu Island’s jurisdiction, they would station less people to display weakness to the Qing Hu Island out of respect.

“Excellent.” Teng Qingshan nodded.

Happiness filled Li Jun’s face.

“Old Wang, you can head back and rest first. While you are at it, get someone to send some food here.” Teng Qingshan instructed.

“Yes, Lord Commander.” The fat man immediately went back.

Li Jun looked at Teng Qingshan in gratitude. “Brother Teng, thank you! I......I am but a girl. I will never be able to repay your debt through my whole life!”

“Alright.” Teng Qingshan smiled and shook his head. “Don’t talk about repaying debts. While this may be a big issue to you, to me...... it’s just a matter of issuing an instruction. It’s nothing much. Therefore, you don’t have to think too much about it. I’m sure your parents would also wish for you to lead a good life and not resort to being a maid or a servant.”

Li Jun was stunned.

Her mother had wished for her to lead a stable life and not seek for revenge.

“Therefore, you will have to follow your parents’ wishes and live a good life. In the future, find a good man who you can get married to and spend a wonderful life together.” Teng Qingshan smiled gently and spoke this to Li Jun.

“Teng......” Li Jun was a bit stunned.

She had initially decided to spend her life serving Teng Qingshan and would be willing to do whatever he had asked. But she did not expect that......Teng Qingshan did not ask for any repayment for saving her and helping her seek revenge. With her parents dead and no one to rely on, Li Jun had felt warmth in her heart. Her eyes were slightly wet as she replied in a soft voice, “Brother Teng, thank you.”

“Rest well after taking your meal. You will stay here for now. You can stay however long you wish.” Teng Qingshan added.

“Mmm.” Li Jun nodded her head. “What about you, Brother Teng?”

“I will stay in Wu An County to rest today and continue on my journey tomorrow.”

“Brother Teng, if you are leaving, I want to leave with you too......” Li Jun started to panic.

Teng Qingshan consoled her, “Little Jun, I am heading for the Boorish Desolate! The land of the Boorish Desolate is very dangerous, and I will not be able to take care of you! Moreover, you have your own life to lead.”