The Nine Cauldrons

Heavy Encirclement

Twenty-eighth of december, during the first glimmer of dawn.

In the house that belonged to the City Lord of Wu City.

“Brother Zhao, long time no see." A rectangular faced man wearing a golden fur cloak smiled as he greeted Zhao Danchen, who had just arrived Wu City. The City Lord of Wu City followed behind the rectangular face-shaped man. However, the lord of a city had no right to speak in such level of discussion.

“Brother Zhao, just let servants care for the Dark Demonic Horse. Come. Follow me.” Immediately, someone went to lead the Dark Demonic Horse away.

Zhao Danchen laughed and said while walking together with the man dressed in golden cloak, "Brother Wang, do you know how many men of Qing Hu island have arrived here?"

The golden cloaked man replied, “One hundred and fifty men dispatched Qing Hu Island just arrived. They are all resting at the backyard now while waiting for Brother Zhao's orders.” When Zhao Danchen heard this, he frowned. This time Qing Hu Island ordered the six stationary points from the county cities near to Wu City to dispatch their men here..

Each stationary point must send fifty men.

Now it seems like only the men from three of the six stationary points arrived.

“Yes, it’s still early.” Zhao Danchen looked at the sky and said, “Last time, we found out that Teng Qingshan is very cunning under the cover of darkness.” Zhao Danchen remembered that time very clearly. When they were in the Heavenly Flood Palace, when he and the King of Beasts, Wu Hou were in front of the Golden Dragon Turtle while Teng Qingshan was hiding in the corner, but they never noticed him.

Even Zhao Danchen was slightly afraid of Teng Qingshan’s ability to camouflage himself in the darkness.

Therefore——

They must attack during daytime!

Immediately, Zhao Danchen and the Golden Cloaked man headed towards the backyard.

Because the distances between the six cities and the Wu City are different, some arrived earlier than others.

“Jia!” “Jia!”

Over twenty yellow horses with blood-red hooves were galloping on the official road. They looked like sharp arrows piercing through the air. These horses were the Treading-in Fire War Horses and were considered as superior horses in the western regions. These horses could travel two thousand Li in one day.

A day's journey usually meant five to six hours of travel during the daytime. These horses could travel that far within five to six hours.

Since horses needed rest too. Price of this kind of war horses was over ten thousand silver taels and now, there were over twenty of such pricey horses together! In this whole world, there are only a few forces that have the power to be this extravagant.

“Lord, Wu City is ahead.”

“Yes.” Dressed in black, the handsome young man, who was leading those riders, replied. His face was as cold as ice. He was the man who was sent to Yuzhou to be a Protector, and to supervise the stationary point in the county city. Yan Danchen received news yesterday, which ordered him to lead fifty people towards Wu City of Yuzhou at the fastest speed possible.

Therefore, Yan Danchen immediately used the greatest wealth that Qing Hu Island possessed and managed to get twenty-six Treading-in-Fire War Horses.

He alone mounted one and the Vice-Protector was riding another. The rest of the Treading-in-Fire War Horses were shared among the others, with two people riding each horse.

“What is so urgent? What happened?” Yan Danchen asked.

However, he still maintained the same speed and soon led his men into the city. Apparently, the city guards today were given orders and didn’t stop them. Simultaneously, the city guards guided them towards the house which belonged to the City Lord.

“Stop!” Yan Danchen ordered.

“Neigh~~~” Twenty Treading-in-Fire War Horses raised their front hoofs? in excitement and neighed at the same time. The fifty people jumped off the horses.

“Men of Qing Hu Island, follow me to the backyard quickly. You all can leave the war horses to others!” The guards of the City Lord’s house had already opened the gate. Immediately, someone went to take the horses and Yan Danchen entered the house after following the guard.

Yan Danchen looked at the guard who was leading the way, “How many people arrived so far?”

“A total of two hundred men dispatched by the Qing Hu Island are already here. Now that your group arrived, now we are just waiting for the last group.” The soldier replied with a smile, “The first group arrived before dawn.”

“Oh.” Yan Danchen was secretly surprised, “It looks like Qing Hu Island ordered many stationary points to send men here.”

Moments later, they arrived the back yard.

The back yard was packed with people, but it was still quiet. There were only some soft discussion sounds. No one dared to talk loudly because Zhao Danchen and a golden cloaked man was sitting opposite each other in the pavilion.

“Yan Danchen, protector of the stationary point in the Wunan County at Yuzhou, greets the elder!” Yan Danchen immediately walked over and bowed respectfully.

“Oh. Danchen, you were sent out by Qing Hu Island?” Zhao Danchen looked at the young man before his eyes with a surprised expression.

Regarding Yan Danchen, Zhao Danchen still remembered him very clearly, because Yan Danchen showed an incredible progress this year and because Yan Danchen’s name was too similar to his name. The only difference was their surnames, while their names sounded the same. One was Danchen, and the other was ‘Danchen’.

TLN: Zhao Danchen (赵丹尘) Yan Danchen (阎丹辰). The last character is wrote differently but pronounced the same.

And so, Zhao Danchen remembered this youngster.

“Yes, Elder.” Yan Danchen said respectfully.

“Okay. Bring your men and rest. We will discuss the plan when the last group arrives.” Zhao Danchen ordered. Immediately, Yan Danchen backed away and left.

Later Yan Danchen sat on the chair he found. Because there were too many people in the backyard, only the people of positions could sit on chairs, while many people stood at the side.

“Senior Martial Brother, why did Qing Hu Island urgently assembled people from six stationary points here? And each stationary point actually had to send fifty men!”

“Something big must have happened! Even the men from Emperor Yu’s Hall are here! It might be related to Emperor Yu’s Hall and it might also be related to Teng Qingshan. Who knows…..They will only tell us such secret right before the action.”

When Yan Danchen heard the discussions beside him, his frowned and said to himself, “It might really be related to Big Brother Teng!”

Regarding Teng Qingshan, Yan Danchen felt grateful because Teng Qingshan saved his life..

However, Yan Danchen was also very loyal to Qing Hu Island. It was Qing Hu Island that taught him his martial arts and his teacher was also extremely nice to him. Therefore, it was impossible for him to betray Qing Hu Island or to do anything that would cause Qing Hu island to suffer.

“But I must return the favor. If this thing is related to Teng Qingshan, I have to…….” Yan Danchen was feeling slightly anxious.

At this moment, dense footsteps sounded and another group of people came in through the gate.

“Brother Zhao, everyone is assembled now!” The golden cloaked man in the pavilion at the backyard stood up and said with a smile. Zhao Danchen also stood up and looked towards the three hundred people in the backyard. The Protector, who was leader of the last group, bowed with respect and said, “Ying Xingzheng, Protector of the Stationary Point in Huayang county city of Yuzhou, greets the elder.”

“Mhm.”

Zhao Danchen was carrying a pile of papers with his left hand as he walked to the center. He scanned the surroundings and said, “Everyone, gather around me. The six protectors, come to my side.”

Immediately, Yan Danchen, Ying Xingzheng, Bai Bo, and the other protectors stood beside Zhao Danchen while the others stood around them.

“This time, Qing Hu Island came to this Wu City to catch Teng Qingshan alive!” Zhao Danchen scanned the crowd around him as he spoke. The men of Qing Hu Island were slightly surprised as they knew nothing and could only make some guesses——We found where Teng Qingshan is? When Yan Danchen heard that, he felt his heart skipped a beat.

It’s a big trouble now!

“Teng Qingshan being alive is the greatest shame for Qing Hu Island! Over ten thousand Silver Dragon Soldiers of the Qing Hu Island died because of this despicable person. Even the Young Island Lord was killed by him!” Zhao Danchen stared at the crowd and said, “From now on, everyone of you must listen to me very carefully.”

Zhao Danchen released his arms and with a “Bang” sound, the pile of papers dropped on the ground. Zhao Danchen took the paper on top of the pile and said, “This is the map of the entire Wu City and it shows the location of the inn which Teng Qingshan is residing.”

“What all three hundred of you need to do is to dispatch men to watch every street and alleys within three lis from the inn. This way if Teng Qingshan escapes, our men could find him immediately. I want him cornered!” Zhao Danchen took out six maps from the pile of paper and handed them to the six protectors beside him.

“I already arranged and marked the streets for you six to be in charge.”

Zhao Danchen already planned everything out in the pavilion before. And obviously these maps were provided by the Emperor Yu’s Hall.

“Protector Bai Bo, your men will be in charge of the first region south of the inn. Each group of fifty men will watch three alleys and a street.”

“Yes.” Protector Bai Bo immediately responded with a bow.

“Protector Ju Yanfeng, your men will be in charge of the second region east of the inn. Watch the place I marked carefully.

“Yes.”

“Protector Yan Danchen, your men will be responsible of the third region north of the inn.

……

Soon, the six Supreme Protectors received their tasks. It was obvious that the three hundred people had to watch the area three li from the inn carefully. Zhao Danchen continued, “Teng Qingshan has disguised himself as the merchant, Qin Wei. This is Qin Wei’s portrait. Each Protector take three of these and everyone under your command must remember Qin Wei’s appearance.”

The six supreme protectors took the three drawing and looked at it. As they looked, they were amazed——Teng Qingshan’s skill of disguise was really shocking.

“Just catch Teng Qingshan. I don’t need you guys to kill him,I will kill him myself.” Zhao Danchen said coldly. “Once Teng Qingshan escape, you guys must find his location. Of course, the possibility of him escaping towards your places isn’t very high.”

“Remember.None of you can enter or even be near the Inn.”

Zhao Danchen scanned the surroundings and said indifferently, “With Teng Qingshan’s ability, if he sees a few of your men, he can easily notice that something is wrong.” The natives of Wu City and the natives of Yangzhou were slightly different in terms of aura and accent. As the saying goes, the unique features of a local environment always gives special characteristics to its inhabitants.

With Teng Qingshan’s eyesight, If any stranger disguised themselves to keep watch on Teng Qingshan, Teng Qingshan would easily notice and identify them.

“If anyone disobeys the orders, the others are allowed to execute him immediately.” Zhao Danchen said, “Depart now!”

“Yes.”

The six supreme protectors bowed in response to the order. No matter how anxious Yan Danchen felt, he couldn’t think of a way to help Teng Qingshan because of the way Elder Zhao had set up the trap.

……

Zhao Danchen and the Golden Cloaked man left the house and walked together towards the inn. The two didn’t seem to be walking fast, but they were floating in the midst of the crowd. Soon, they were quite far away from the crowd. They did not walk along the main street, but went into an alley and crossed the river. They wanted to reach the inn as soon as possible.

“Brother Zhao, I think you are making a very big deal out of this. This time, Teng Qingshan wouldn’t be able to escape even if he had wings.” The Golden Cloaked Man laughed.

Zhao Danchen said indifferently “There is nothing wrong with being careful. If we let Teng Qingshan run away again, I will feel ashamed to look at the Island Lord and the others.”

“Don’t worry. Three Golden Dan Innate Elders of Emperor Yu’s Hall are in the opposite inn.” The Golden Cloaked Man laughed, “In this Wu City, Emperor Yu’s Hall had arranged over a thousand people to spread throughout it. Even if Teng Qingshan noticed them and wanted to escape. He was slower than the three Golden Dan Innate Elders of Emperor Yu’s Hall, thus, how was it impossible for him to escape from Wu City.

“If it wasn't because we had to take Qing Hu Island into consideration, if it wasn't because we wanted to let you Qing Hu island kill Teng Qingshan, Emperor Yu's Hall would have made its move long ago.” The Golden Cloaked Man said confidently.