"The Boss is dead!" "The Boss is dead!" ... Inside the blood-soaked, limb-strewn stronghold of the Iron Mountain Gang, the White Horse Gang members erupted into chaos.
Fourth Master Hong's prestige had been too immense! This White Horse Gang was built by Fourth Master Hong with his own hands.
Although the surviving members of the Iron Mountain Gang had scattered and fled, the death of Fourth Master Hong dealt a crushing blow to the White Horse Gang; their horse bandits were thrown into disarray. "Get out of the way." The Iron Mountain Gang's Boss, 'Wang Tieshan,' charged maniacally toward the southwest.
Splat! His mountain-cleaving saber cleaved in half anyone who dared obstruct his path.
Seizing the confusion, Wang Tieshan quickly burst into the Great Yan Mountain range. "You whelps of the White Horse Gang listen up!
I, Wang Tieshan, will return! As for the surviving leaders of the White Horse Gang, clean your necks and wait for me to come and take them!
If you're scared, disband the White Horse Gang right now... Hahaha..." A burst of wild laughter echoed over the entire camp.
No one knew where Wang Tieshan's figure had vanished to. "Wang Tieshan, you let him escape?" A scarred man, clad in armor and riding a Crimson Fire Horse, roared.
"Third Leader! That Wang Tieshan was too fast, and everyone at the time was focused on the Big Boss..." The horse bandits of the White Horse Camp could only express their helplessness.
"Father, Father." Just then, a figure dashed over, immediately kneeling beside Fourth Master Hong's corpse. It was the Young Master, 'Hong Zhenjie.' "Zhenjie," the scarred man spoke, "Don't cry.
Your Big Brother is dead, but what's most important now is guarding against Wang Tieshan! We wiped out their Iron Mountain Gang today, killing two of his brothers; he is sworn to a blood feud with us!
You heard his final threats." Young Master 'Hong Zhenjie' straightened up: "Third Uncle, I understand. We suffered heavy losses this time—my father, my senior brother, my second uncle, they are all dead!
Of the managers, only you and I remain. In the future, many matters will have to rely on you, Third Uncle." The scarred man nodded, sighing, "The White Horse Gang lost quite a few men this time, even the White Horse Camp suffered heavy casualties." "Mmm..." Hong Zhenjie surveyed the surroundings.
The White Horse Gang had brought over six thousand men this time; only a little over a thousand died in the actual fighting. However, many were injured, and quite a few were crippled.
Such crippling naturally reduced their combat effectiveness, leaving them as little more than mouths to feed, even alive. "The White Horse Gang must weather this storm," Hong Zhenjie stated.
"Although Wang Tieshan is troublesome, he is only one man; he isn't too difficult to handle," the scarred man frowned. "The worst part is that the Big Brother is dead!
Big Brother held immense deterrent power over the various factions in Yicheng. Many gangs submitted to us, even paying tribute, purely because of Big Brother.
But now that he is gone, the numerous large and small factions will surely become restless." Hong Zhenjie felt a pang of worry upon hearing this. The Boss of a powerful gang was needed to keep people in check.
Otherwise, even his subordinates might not remain loyal, and enemies would surely make their moves. "Our White Horse Gang has been in Yicheng for decades; our foundation is deep, not something easily shaken by others," Hong Zhenjie scoffed.
"But Third Uncle is not entirely wrong; we must absorb some new members. The worst situation is the loss of several dozen men from the White Horse Camp.
Men of such caliber as those in the White Horse Camp—men my father spent decades cultivating—are difficult to replace." The White Horse Camp was the very core of the White Horse Gang. Two hundred men in the White Horse Camp possessed the combat strength of over two thousand ordinary horse bandits.
This was the elite force Fourth Master Hong established, emulating the 'Black Armored Army' of the Guiyuan Sect. "Zhenjie, it's getting dark.
Should we stay here for the night and leave at first light tomorrow?" the scarred man inquired. Looking up at the sky, the twilight deepened.
Hong Zhenjie nodded. "First, let's properly assess how many brothers are injured and how many have died.
Calculate everything!" Hong Zhenjie also felt the burden; when his father, Fourth Master Hong, was alive, the Young Master could indulge in a leisurely life, protected by his father's presence. But with his father gone, Hong Zhenjie realized that sitting securely on the throne of Yicheng's local emperor was not so easy.
** Deep within the Great Yan Mountains. Crack!
Snap! A low, rumbling sound emanated from Teng Qingshan's bones and sinews.
His body elongated, regaining its former height, and his physique returned to normal. Teng Qinghu, though having witnessed it once before, still found it hard to believe.
"Qingshan," Teng Qinghu worried, "You heard the sound when the Iron Mountain Gang Boss fled just now. This Wang Tieshan is sworn to a blood feud with the White Horse Gang.
Our Yicheng will likely descend into chaos, and in the future... our Teng Family Village might not find peace either." Teng Qingshan walked through the forest with Teng Qinghu, saying, "The White Horse Gang suffered massive losses this time.
That Fourth Master Hong and the Young Master are both dead, and even the White Horse Camp lost many men." "That Young Master is dead?" Teng Qinghu was overjoyed. He was on the mountainside and couldn't clearly see what was happening below.
He had only heard the words Wang Tieshan uttered while using his internal force as he fled. "Yes, dead," Teng Qingshan confirmed, as he had personally shot him.
"Good riddance, good riddance!" Teng Qinghu spat hatefully. "The Iron Mountain Gang's losses are even greater.
Those twenty-plus bandits with internal force, and three thousand core members—they are either dead or fled. The Iron Mountain Gang is finished this time!
However..." Teng Qingshan frowned, "With such heavy losses for the White Horse Gang, the other factions in Yicheng will definitely stir up trouble." Teng Qingshan and Teng Qinghu moved deeper into the mountains. Although Teng Qingshan knew chaos was coming, he wasn't worried!
This was because, with the inherent martial might of the Teng Family Village, especially the emergence of several internal force masters, the village feared no common gang. And with the White Horse Gang suffering such massive damage, their focus would shift entirely to internal affairs, making it unlikely they would bother harassing minor villages.
... The sky was pitch black, nearing the dead of night, when Teng Qingshan and Teng Yongfan finally traversed the mountains and arrived outside the gates of the Teng Family Village.
"Who goes there!" The guards at the Teng Family Village gate shouted upon spotting two blurry figures in the distance. "It's me, Qingshan," Teng Qingshan called out.
Though the Great Yan Mountain was vast, if it were Teng Qingshan himself, a distance of a hundred li could be crossed in half an hour—a calculation based on his speed from his previous life, achieving fifty-six kilometers per hour, even on mountain terrain. Of course, only a superhuman entity like Teng Qingshan could manage such a feat.
Teng Qinghu was much slower. It took the two of them nearly four hours, arriving near midnight, to reach the Teng Family Village.
"Qingshan is back?" Several figures immediately rushed over from the training grounds. Teng Qingshan and Teng Qinghu entered through the side gate and saw the Clan Leader Teng Yunlong, along with Teng Qingshan's parents and Teng Qinghu's parents.
"Qingshan, you scared me half to death," Teng Yunlong walked over, smiling. "Thinking about those two boys running off with the White Horse Gang made me terrified.
Well, you've finally returned alive." Teng Qingshan, catching the light from the torches near the main gate, could see the bloodshot eyes of his maternal grandfather; he realized his grandfather and the others had likely been waiting sleeplessly since their return today, unable to relax. The rest of the family was also awake, waiting on the training grounds.
"Maternal Grandfather." "Grandpa." Teng Qingshan and Teng Qinghu felt the deep concern of their elders. "You both saw quite a bit today, didn't you?
Come, tell me in my quarters," Teng Yunlong directed. "Alan, you women go back to sleep first.
Yongfan, you two brothers follow me." Immediately, Teng Qingshan and the others followed the Clan Leader Teng Yunlong to his residence. Inside the main hall, with the door closed, only five people remained.
Clan Leader Teng Yunlong, Teng Yongfan and Teng Yonghang, and Teng Qingshan and Teng Qinghu. "What was the outcome?" Teng Yunlong inquired immediately upon entering.
Teng Qingshan spoke, "Both the White Horse Gang and the Iron Mountain Gang suffered heavy losses. The Iron Mountain Gang is almost entirely wiped out; only a very small number of ordinary members escaped.
As for the masters, only the Boss, 'Wang Tieshan,' got away! The White Horse Gang...
also suffered immense losses. Both Fourth Master Hong and his son, the Young Master, are dead." "Fourth Master Hong is dead?" Teng Yunlong, Teng Yongfan, and Teng Yonghang were utterly shocked.
The three words, Fourth Master Hong, were a golden trademark. In Yicheng, Fourth Master Hong was the local emperor!
He could be said to control the life and death of many people. "That old villain actually died?
Good riddance, good riddance!" Teng Yunlong couldn't help but laugh heartily, tears streaming from his eyes. "I never thought I, Teng Yunlong, would live to see that old villain die first." "Damn dog of an old villain, he's finally dead," Teng Yonghang cursed as well.
Teng Qingshan and the others could understand the resentment held by their fathers' generation. For decades, the White Horse Gang had acted tyrannically.
When the Teng Family Village was weak, they endured too much bullying. Many women in their fathers' generation were abducted; the accumulated blood debts were immense.
"How did that old villain die?" Teng Yunlong pressed. "I couldn't see clearly from the mountainside; Qingshan snuck inside, he must have seen it," Teng Qinghu explained.
The three of them—Teng Yunlong, Teng Yongfan, and Teng Yonghang—immediately turned their gaze to Teng Qingshan.