The second-in-command of the Crimson Fire Horse bandits squinted, thinking, "This kid, Teng Qingshan, is truly strong, and within Yicheng territory, the populace is fiercely spirited. If we push them too hard, these roughnecks from Teng Family Village might actually fight back.
We lost quite a few brothers during the massacre at Blackwood Village before. If we were to fight today...
I suspect more than half of the thousand brothers I brought might perish!" The reputation of Teng Family Village for martial prowess was well-known throughout the region. Moreover, today, this second-in-command had discovered that Teng Family Village actually possessed an expert with Internal Strength, which compelled him to be cautious.
A village with an Internal Strength master—if they were truly forced into battle, his thousand bandits would achieve a Pyrrhic victory at best. With the Iron Mountain Gang poised for conflict with the White Horse Gang, incurring heavy losses at Teng Family Village was simply not worth it.
... As Teng Qingshan's voice faded, it seemed to vibrate the very ground.
Many within Teng Family Village secretly rejoiced, their gazes fixed upon the bandit leader. The bandits of the Iron Mountain Gang also looked to their second-in-command, everyone awaiting his decision!
"Hahahaha..." The second-in-command roared with laughter, his eyes sharply fixed on Teng Qingshan below. "Remarkable skill.
Seeing such talent in a young man like you makes my own hands itch for a bout. How about we spar a bit?" "A spar?" The clan members of the Teng family all turned to look at Teng Qingshan.
"Qingshan, don't go," Teng Yunlong whispered, his voice low. "This second-in-command has been roaming the world; he must have many tricks, and his Internal Strength is formidable—he shattered our main gate with a single blow.
He's not to be trifled with. If he shows ruthlessness during the spar, Qingshan...
you are still young." It wasn't just Teng Yunlong who worried; Teng Yongfan and Yuan Lan, his parents, were deeply concerned for their son. In their view, the second-in-command was a seasoned veteran, full of cunning.
Their son, despite having ventured within Yicheng territory, had only encountered a few Internal Strength masters. "Father, Mother, Grandfather, it's fine.
The second-in-command is a senior expert; he won't stoop to petty measures with a mere youngster like me," Teng Qingshan smiled, grasping his long spear and walking forward. He cupped his hands in salute.
"I've heard the second-in-command is extraordinarily brave, shattering our gate with one hammer strike. My own fighting spirit is thoroughly piqued." "Haha, a true man of spirit!" The second-in-command boomed, then laughed heartily.
"Just for agreeing to spar, this matter of the annual tribute can be settled with a single word. Come, young brother, be careful now!" With that, the second-in-command, wielding two bronze hammers, leaped from his horse and landed firmly on the ground.
"Everyone make way!" the second-in-command bellowed. Immediately, the bandits on the training ground pulled their reins, guiding their warhorses to the side, clearing a vast space easily twenty zhang wide and long.
Only the second-in-command, holding his twin bronze hammers, remained in the center. As the second-in-command dismounted, the Teng clan members realized how incredibly robust this man was.
Under the sunlight, the bald, muscular figure seemed forged from iron, holding the bronze hammers like a demon god. "Qingshan, don't be rash; self-preservation is paramount," Teng Yunlong watched his grandson, a mixture of worry and tension etched on his face.
Teng Qingshan smiled reassuringly at his kin, then strode toward the empty center of the training ground, carrying his plain steel spear. The second-in-command was massive, like a demon god.
Teng Qingshan was certainly broad, but compared to the bandit leader, he appeared distinctly smaller. After all, Teng Qingshan stood just over seven chi tall (about 1.8 meters), while the second-in-command towered over him by half a head, his waist thicker by a considerable margin.
The two faced each other in the central clearing. "Please," the second-in-command inclined his head.
"Please," Teng Qingshan returned the gesture. "Watch out!" The second-in-command stomped his foot, launching himself toward Teng Qingshan like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.
Simultaneously, his right hand began to whirl the iron chain attached to his weapons; one of the bronze hammers spun rapidly above his head like a fire wheel. The instant he closed the distance with Teng Qingshan, the second-in-command suddenly released his right hand.
"Whoosh!" The spinning bronze hammer shot out like a streak of lightning, whistling sharply, aimed directly at Teng Qingshan. Teng Qingshan, who had remained stationary, his eyes flashing with cold light, moved his steel spear in an arc like a coiling dragon.
With a slight contact, the bronze hammer immediately changed trajectory, veering sharply to the side. Pushing off the ground!
Whoosh! Teng Qingshan surged forward, his steel spear moving like a bolt of black lightning, thrusting directly toward the second-in-command's chest.
"Fine spear work!" the second-in-command roared. The iron chain swiftly wrapped around Teng Qingshan's spear shaft.
At the same time, he pressed his charge, swinging the bronze hammer in his free hand toward Teng Qingshan's head. "Hmm?" Teng Qingshan was surprised by the chain's maneuver.
The seemingly simple wrap required years of strenuous effort to execute so swiftly while maintaining control over both bronze hammers. "Break!" Teng Qingshan shouted.
He violently vibrated his spear shaft; carrying the tension of the chain, he slammed it into the second-in-command's waist. The impact sent the bandit leader flying backward, causing the tightly wound chain to slacken.
Teng Qingshan immediately retracted his spear, pushed off the ground, leaped into the air, and drove his spear toward the airborne second-in-command. "Mountain Shattering Hammer!" The second-in-command's face turned crimson.
With a sudden, explosive roar, the bronze hammer in his right hand cut through the air with a strange resonance, smashing toward the steel spear. This strike descended like ten thousand pounds of falling rock, inducing a sense of utter helplessness.
Teng Qingshan, still mid-air, guided his spear like a viper, striking precisely past the edge of the bronze hammer. Clang!
As the steel spear made contact, it smoothly pivoted— The Shadow-Following Spear Technique! "Thwack!" The spear pierced toward the second-in-command's chest.
But who could have predicted that as the second-in-command unleashed one hammer strike, the bronze hammer in his left hand would simultaneously descend? "Clang." Just as Teng Qingshan deflected that strike, the second-in-command twisted his body in mid-air, seizing the opportunity to grab Teng Qingshan's spear shaft with his right hand.
"Let go!" the second-in-command roared. Teng Qingshan felt a surge of powerful Internal Strength transmit through the shaft.
The force he exerted on the spear instantly magnified tenfold, the strength of ten thousand pounds channeled directly into the second-in-command's hand. The bandit leader felt a sharp pain shoot up his right hand and involuntarily released the shaft, immediately channeling his Internal Strength as he plummeted rapidly downward.
The second-in-command descended, trailing the iron chain and two bronze hammers, his right hand trembling slightly, throbbing with a burning, sharp pain. "Trying to grab my spear shaft, you courted death," Teng Qingshan thought grimly.
Having achieved unity between man and spear, the weapon was an extension of his limbs. Asking him to release his spear was like demanding he sever a limb—hardly an easy feat!
"Aaaargh~~~" The second-in-command’s face contorted with ferocity. Gripping the handles of his two bronze hammers with both hands, he roared and instantly charged back toward Teng Qingshan, whirling the hundred-pound hammers.
"Eighteen Mountain Shattering Hammers!" The bellow echoed above the training ground. The two bronze hammers followed one after another, ceaseless like the flow of a great river, each blow stronger than the last.
"Qingshan!" The clansmen of Teng Family Village and the bandits alike were momentarily stunned. They could barely track the shadows of the bronze hammers; the speed and density of the hammer strikes resembled a sudden, violent flood.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"... A dense symphony of impacts erupted, the silhouettes of the spear and hammers blurring into an incomprehensible haze.
"Thump!" The sounds of impact suddenly ceased. "Phew." Teng Qingshan was thrown back, then landed heavily, his face flushed.
He cupped his hands in salute. "The second-in-command’s strength is astonishing; I willingly admit defeat." The second-in-command’s face was also flushed red.
After retracting his hammers, he studied Teng Qingshan carefully, then burst into laughter. "Good!
Truly magnificent skill! In all of Yicheng territory, no more than ten people could withstand my Eighteen Mountain Shattering Hammers and survive!
You are one of them. I, Wang Tiefeng, count you, Teng Qingshan, as a friend." "Since we are friends, I, Wang Tiefeng, will give you face.
Your Teng Family Village need only pay a single string of cash per person, and this matter is settled," the second-in-command declared magnanimously. "The second-in-command is indeed generous," Teng Qingshan replied with a smile.
"Grandfather," Teng Qingshan turned to look over. Hearing the demand for one string of cash per person, Clan Leader Teng Yunlong immediately gathered the others.
One string per person meant the entire Teng Family Village would only owe two hundred taels of silver—since ten strings equaled one tael of silver, this was significantly less than the annual tribute demanded by the White Horse Gang. His father, Teng Yongfan, promptly presented the two hundred taels of silver.
"Collect the annual tribute," the second-in-command ordered. Immediately, a bandit stepped forward to take the silver.
"Brother Qingshan, come visit the Iron Mountain Gang anytime, and I promise you the best food and drink. We won't linger today.
Brothers, let's go!" The second-in-command, 'Wang Tiefeng,' swiftly vaulted back onto his Crimson Fire Horse and took the lead, guiding his band of outlaws away in a noisy rush, rapidly vanishing from sight. Far down the road from Teng Family Village, the ranks of bandits stretched out like a dense mass.
"Second-in-command," a youth riding a green-maned horse called out, "You're just letting that kid go?" "Hmph," the second-in-command snorted lowly, sharply reprimanding him. "How old is he, yet so powerful?
And one who can teach such a formidable disciple—what do you think his master is like? It’s better to avoid making enemies than to create them, especially at this critical juncture of fighting the White Horse Gang." "The second-in-command speaks wisely," the youth flattered immediately.
The second-in-command himself lowered his head to look at his chest, where his tunic bore a small hole. Recalling the instant before, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat on his back: "This Teng Qingshan, to withstand my Eighteen Mountain Shattering Hammers and still possess the energy to kill me—today, I truly walked past the gates of hell.
If this Teng Qingshan hadn't been mindful of my elder brother and the three thousand men of the Iron Mountain Gang, I probably would have perished today." That moment had been too fast; outsiders couldn't see clearly, but the second-in-command himself knew. Teng Qingshan appeared to have been thrown back, admitting defeat.
But in reality, Teng Qingshan had managed to touch his clothes with his spear tip, yet deliberately withdrew the blow and staged the backward fall, feigning loss. At that moment, Teng Qingshan was perfectly capable of killing him.
Since the young man had shown him respect, Wang Tiefeng would return the courtesy by only accepting the single string of cash per person. Furthermore, if a true battle had erupted...
even if they had slaughtered Teng Family Village, few of his thousand men would likely have survived. Most crucially, he himself would not have survived.