The Nine Cauldrons

The leader of the bandits was a slender man, and he turned his head to look at the group of pale-faced brothers who were groaning in pain. Even though as bandits, they licked blood off of blades... he couldn’t bear to see the sight before him. Unable to restrain himself, he shouted angrily, “At most, you’ll just die. Why are you all howling? Bear with it!”

All of the injured bandits looked at the boss, and each and every one of them restrained themselves from howling.

“Yes, that’s how the Sun Yang brothers should act!” The skinny man immediately said, “Brothers, please don’t worry. I will go to Danyang City right now and ask for a good doctor. I will also buy some medicine.” There were some people who had a slight understanding of medicine, but too many people were hurt this time.

It wasn’t just a simple flesh wound.

“Boss, be careful on your journey.” Several bandits replied.

“Relax.”

The skinny man, Sun Yang, immediately took some silver and with a big machete on his back, he hopped onto a hunchbacked beast. He headed towards Danyang City rapidly.

Danyang City had already appeared within the sights of Teng Qingshan, Li Jun and Little Ping.

“As expected of one of Duanmu Continent’s thirty-six major cities.” Teng Qingshan couldn’t help but give praise as he stared at the vast and majestic ancient city walls which stretched all the way from the east to the west. The walls of the Danyang City is several Li long, and with just a glance, it seemed like a terrifying beast that was sleeping soundly.

“It is on par with our county cities,” Li Jun praised them as well.

Teng Qingshan laughed and said, “Did Little Ping not say? In the past, the Godly Axe Deity, Yu the Great, taught the inhabitants of this continent martial arts and unified the language and currency. It’s not strange for the people taught by Emperor Yu to build cities similar to ours.”

Ever since Teng Qingshan saved the little slave girl, Little Ping, he learned many things through Little Ping and the books.

Duanmu Continent had a total of two deities.

In the books about Duanmu Continent, it is said that the Godly Axe Deity, Yu the Great, was an important figure during the ancient period. He comprehended the heavens and earth, created the method of cultivation, and taught it to all the people. The Godly Axe Deity, Yu the Great, was an extremely amazing figure.

“It’s no wonder that they speak the same language the people of the Land of the Nine Prefectures do,” Teng Qingshan thought to himself. “It’s just that the written language is different.”

“However, both writing systems use pictograms!”

Teng Qingshan knew clearly that in the history of his previous world, written languages changed continually. Starting with the oracle bone inscriptions, the written language had changed step by step. Although the Land of the Nine Prefectures and Duanmu Continent started from the same source, it was Emperor Yu who unified the written language and passed the language of the Land of the Nine Prefectures onto the people of Duanmu Continent.

However, a few thousand years had passed.

Moreover, there had been no paper at that time, and one could only record using stones, metal, and other similar items. As generations came and went, the written languages of the Land of the Nine Prefectures and Duanmu Continent changed naturally and became increasingly different. It was to the extent that Duanmu Continent’s written language had become unrecognizable.

“However, learning it would be a lot easier since both writing systems use pictograms. I guess I will know many of the common words within ten to fifteen days.” Teng Qingshan couldn’t help but recall when Little Ping had been teaching him and Li Jun the written language of Duanmu Continent on the vessel.

When it came to reading the words, Little Ping is the teacher!

“Little Ping.” said Teng Qingshan.

“Uncle.” Little Ping stared at Teng Qingshan with her big, clear eyes.

She was a nine-year-old girl but because she had been through great suffering and hadn’t eaten well at all, she was as skinny as a six- to seven-year-old kid.

“Little Ping, Little Jun and I have many things to do, so there will be many setbacks! How’s this? Your Big Sister Jun and I will buy a house for you in Danyang City. We will go to the Slave Market and buy two obedient slaves for you. How’s that?” Teng Qingshan asked.

“No, I don’t want that.” Little Ping said hastily.

“Uncle, Big Sister Jun,” As Little Ping spoke, tears flowed down her cheeks.” I am just a kid in the city. Even if I have a house, the house will be taken by people. Plus... my face... my face....”

“Your face?” Teng Qingshan and Li Jun were startled.

Little Ping bit her lips and touched the ugly knife scar on her face and shouted, “I am a female slave! Therefore, my face has the mark of the slave. The entire Liu Clan of the Dark Steel River moved to the island. Because there weren’t enough women, the men of the Liu Clan of the Dark Steel River would marry us in the future to have more children. Therefore, the marks on our faces were slashed off with knives, and the mark became scars.”

Hearing this, Teng Qingshan and Li Jun finally understood the situation.

“Slaves are not allowed to enter the city, and they are not allowed to leave the city by themselves!” Little Ping then continued saying, “If a slave walks on the road alone, others have the right to catch them. Even if they killed the slave, it would be fine.”

“For someone like me whose mark has been removed and turned into a scar...”

“Although they won’t treat me like a slave, I...... will still be looked down upon by many people and, I’ll be humiliated by them!” With her face covered in tears, Little Ping gnashed her teeth and said, “The normal knife scars on faces are different from the knife scar on my face, which was done to remove the mark.”

“It’s just like the leader of bandits, who has a scar on his face; he is most likely a slave. As long as you have a scar like this, you will be looked down upon by people. It’s fine for him since he can fight, but I am just a kid.” LIttle Ping hopped off the hunchbacked beast and kowtowed as she begged, “Uncle, Big Sister Jun, please. I can just be your maid. Don’t drive me away! Please don’t drive me away!”

When Teng Qingshan heard this, he sighed.

In the Land of the Nine Prefectures, there were no slaves.

“Little Ping!” Li Jun jumped off the hunchbacked beast and held Little Ping in her arms. Her eyes reddened as she replied, “Don’t worry. As your sister, I will not leave you alone. I won’t.”

“Big Brother Teng.” Li Jun then looked toward Teng Qingshan.

“Take her with us then.” Teng Qingshan nodded.

Teng Qingshan also realized that...... Little Ping’s family in the past must be pretty good.

Slaves have no right to learn how to read!

However, before Little Ping lost her home and before she got sold three times, she must have learned to read at a very young age. Moreover...... although Little Ping was only nine years old, she thinks and talks like an adult. She was very smart! Unfortunately, being smart hadn’t been able to help her escape the fate of being a slave.

Soon, Teng Qingshan, Li Jun, and the little girl had already arrived the south gate of Danyang City. Although the city gate wasn’t crowded with people, there was a continuous stream of people entering and leaving. Many of them rode hunchbacked beasts, while some of them had freight wagons pulled by hunchbacked beasts. There were also people walking out of the city. Almost everyone was wearing very thickly lined jackets.

“Danying!”

Teng Qingshan cast a glance at the two huge words on the city gate tower. Teng Qingshan had learnt many words during the days on the sea, but out of the two words, Dan Ying, he only recognized the word Dan.

“Alright. I do know some words,” Teng Qingshan said as he comforted himself.

“Two coins for each entry,” The guards of the city gates asked for the entrance fees to enter the city.

Fortunately, Teng Qingshan had gotten a lot of coins from the bandits. So, Li Jun handed six coins over immediately and the man with a needle-like beard glanced past Teng Qingshan and Li Jun. He scrutinized Little Ping’s face and humphed, “Go in.”

Due to the guard’s stare, Little Ping could only lower her head.

......

In Danyang City, Teng Qingshan was carrying a huge sack on his back and holding the Dark Blaze Rod in his hand. Li Jun was pulling the hunchbacked beast, while Little Ping held Li Jun’s hand. All three of them were watching the flourishing Danyang City.

“Interesting, interesting.” Teng Qingshan’s eyes brightened.

The buildings and houses in Danyang City had mostly round or pointed rooftops. The windows were built rather securely, and the architectural style was totally different from that of the Land of the Nine Prefectures. As Duanmu Continent was cold all year long, the clothes and buildings of the inhabitants of Duanmu Continent were totally different.

As for the architectural styles of the island that Teng Qingshan and his companion had gone to previously, it only had simple wooden buildings. This was because the Liu Clan of the Dark Steel River hadn’t had the time to build some stone buildings when they had just escaped to the island, so they only lived in simple wooden houses.

Hunchbacked beasts and tall, big men dressed in thick cotton jackets and carried weapons on their back could be seen everywhere on the street.

“Big Brother Teng, where are we going now? I am a bit hungry.” Li Jun said with a smile.

“Little Ping should be hungry too.” Teng Qingshan smiled and cast a glance at Little Ping as he said, “Let’s go eat some food first. We can go buy a chariot and so on later.”

However, after Teng Qingshan, Li Jun, and Little Ping had just walked for a while...

“Young fellow, you dirtied my shoe and you are just leaving like this?” A loud voice came from up ahead. As Teng Qingshan, Li Jun, and Little Ping looked toward the source of the sound, they saw many people standing and watching in a circle.

Teng Qingshan was honestly curious and thought to himself, “Didn’t they say that fighting isn’t allowed in the city?”

As Teng Qingshan and his companions drew closer, Teng Qingshan noticed that a tall, muscular man wearing a felt hat was glaring at a skinny, tanned man with a mustache. The tall, muscular man shouted, “I am going to meet a noble guest, Yet you have dirtied my shoes. Why, do you think you can solve this with just these ten coins?”

The complexion of the tanned man with the mustache darkened as he said, “Brother, let’s each take a step back.”

“Who is your brother?” The tall and muscular man glared.

“How much do you want?” The small mustached guy lowered his voice.

The tall, muscular man apparently felt that this mustached man was easy to bully and lifted his brows as he said, “One tael of silver, and I will let this go.”

“Clang!” The small mustache man drew the long blade he’d been carrying on his back

The tall, muscular man’s expression changed slightly, and he took two steps backward hastily. The surrounding people also took several steps backwards.

“My name is Chang!” With eyes as sharp as a sword, the small mustached man glared at the tall, muscular man and said loudly, “I request a combat! Do you have the audacity to accept?”

Seeing this, the tall, muscular man was startled.

“Haha, is that guy scared?”

“Coward!”

It was as though the surrounding people wished for the whole world to be in chaos. Teng Qingshan and Li Jun were both slightly confused. Then Little Ping whispered, “Uncle, it is not allowed to kill in the city. If anyone kills in the city, they will be imprisoned. However...... if it’s a proper request for a combat and the other party accepts the request, it would be fine to kill.”

Teng Qingshan understood everything then.

At this moment, due to the words of the surrounding crowd, the tall, muscular man’s face flushed red. He then glared at the small mustache man and roared, “Request for a combat? I f*cking accept it. Since you have the audacity, I will send you to meet your ancestors.” With this, he drew the huge machete he carried on his back. However, the moment he drew the huge machete—

“Xiu!”

The small mustached man immediately took one step forward as he slashed!

The blade’s light flashed.

“Puchi!” Blood spurted out from the tall, muscular man’s throat like it was water. The tall, muscular man’s eyes grew wide, and he moved his lips as though he was still unwilling to die. He then collapsed, leaving a huge pool of blood on the ground.

The small mustached man sneered and said, “Idiot. Why bother talking crap if you have already accepted the request.”

Sheathing his blade, the small mustached man left the crowd. The surrounding people discussed a few words with each other and soon left as well.

“They just left like that? No one cares?” Teng Qingshan was slightly surprised.

“Uncle, drawing blades against each other just because of one disagreement happens all the time,” Little Ping said. “I have seen it many times. Sometimes, deadly fights happen in the city just because of a few words. The people of the Fang Clan, the master of Danyang City, will come take the corpse away later.”

Teng Qingshan nodded and thought to himself, “Drawing blades against each other just because of one disagreement? As expected of a place with families contending for hegemony. It has even more killings than the Land of the Nine Prefectures.”