The Nine Cauldrons Book 8: The Path to Emptiness Realm - Chapter 12: Who captures who?

Chapter 12 Who captures who?
The yard was neatly paved with pieces of limestone, and there was no accumulation of snow nearby except atop the plants in the vicinity.
“Ao, hoo hoo~~” A deep-sounding, pained howl rang out from nearby.
A sturdy bodied, one-eyed man had been tied to an iron pillar. At this moment, there were people shoving pliers meant to bend metal into the one-eyed man’s mouth. Fresh blood poured profusely from his mouth, but at this time, everyone’s attention had been attracted by Teng Qingshan.
“Protect the Matriarch!”
“Catch the assassin!”
Shouts rose and fell in succession.
“Rumble rumble~~” A large number of soldiers, guards and visitors rushed in.
“Stop!” A melodious, and commanding voice resounded. It came from the gorgeous woman who sat up high on the seat. Immediately, the experts gathered in the yard stopped their assault on Teng Qingshan. However, they stood their ground and surrounded Teng Qingshan, ready to unleash their attacks at any given moment.
Teng Qingshan was intrigued. He raised his head to take stock of this Dong Zhezi while pondering, “Matriarch? Keeping male concubines? A sadistic hobby of killing people?”
Teng Qingshan examined Dong Zhezi closely. What does the female lord of this generation look like?
This Dong Zhezi had a curvaceous body and a ruddy complexion. Especially those eyes of hers, which shone with a faint allure!
After she had taken notice of Teng Qingshan, her eyes sparkled as she praised, “What a suave young man.”
In Dong Zhezi’s eyes, Teng Qingshan possessed a better temperament than her other male concubines. In comparison to Teng Qingshan, her male concubines were worth nothing.
“You’re looking for me?” Dong Zhezi remained seated on her throne. The corners of her mouth curved into a smile. Her hands rubbed softly against each other as she said with a smile, “You are indeed courageous, to think that you have the guts to assassinate me. Who knows how many people want me dead, but I, Dong Zhezi, am still alive today!”
“Despite that, I am a very two person. I can pardon your crime, but from today onward, you will become my tenth male concubine.” Dong Zhezi’s voice echoed within the yard.
Teng Qingshan was stunned by her words.
“Male concubine? She wants me to be her male concubine? Ah… this Dong Zhezi, death is near at hand, yet she does not seem to have a clue!!” Teng Qingshan sighed inwardly and strode toward Dong Zhezi with large steps. With a smile on his face, he replied, “Dong Zhezi, you old witch, death is near, yet you haven’t noticed a single thing! How ludicrous!”
Upon hearing that, Dong Zhezi’s facial expression changed slightly.
Old witch?
She abhorred people who mentioned anything regarding her age. As an Innate Realm expert, Dong Zhezi’s appearance had been retained at the age of 30, the age where a woman was most alluring. Even though she was almost sixty years old, no one could tell her age through her appearance.
“Seize him!” Dong Zhezi yelled with a sunken expression, and immediately followed up with another sentence, “But don’t kill him.”
“Yes!”
Immediately, the large group of men that encircled Teng Qingshan replied together. Like a pack of ferocious lions and tigers, they lunged toward Teng Qingshan with weapons in hand.
“How intriguing!” Teng Qingshan examined the group of Inner Strength experts and soldiers who wished to make merits, then shook his head. “Forget it; I shall not bother with them!” While under the assault of hundreds of men, Teng Qingshan’s figure drifted about, ducking in and out like a ghostly apparition.
Every time his silhouette flickered, he would appear several zhang away.
“Stop right there!”
“Hey!”
Two henchmen struck their palms toward Teng Qingshan simultaneously, yet Teng Qingshan disappeared in a flash, and they hit each other instead.
Dong Zhezi’s expression changed as she witnessed this scene from her seat on the throne. “What a powerful body art. Based on this technique alone, he should be an Innate Realm Martial Saint. A Martial Saint is actually here to assassinate me… but I can’t seem to recognize this person!”
Many clans attended that particular auction of the set of Blunt Vanadium Stone Tablets held in Nanshan City, but the Dong Clan and Jiang Clan were warring with each other during that period. Hence, Dong Zhezi had not attended.
“Kill him!” Dong Zhezi yelled fiercely.
After the command had been given, the visitors and the soldiers who had originally been standing around helplessly shouted and attacked. Whether it be sharp arrows, concealed weapons, or poison…all the manner of weapons rained down toward Teng Qingshan, blotting out the skies.
“Swish!”
Teng Qingshan took three consecutive steps, every step covering a distance of eight zhang, and directly strode out of the encirclement of the masses and appeared within ten zhang of Dong Zhezi.
“Old witch, you think you could kill me with these small fries?” Teng Qingshan chuckled as he strode forward.
Teng Qingshan was neither hurried nor impatient, every step he took was considerably slow-paced.
“Get him!” Dong Zhezi waved her hands.
Almost immediately, the sounds of ‘clink, clank’ of swords leaving their scabbards came from the row of experts situated behind her. They practically drew their swords from the scabbards on their back at the same time. All 16 of them were equipped with blades.
“Die!”
The sixteen men pounced on Teng Qingshan.
Teng Qingshan took a step out, crossed 2 zhang over and easily flitted past the 16 experts, which caused their faces to become discolored, and rendered them in a crazed state as they circled Teng Qingshan.
Teng Qingshan’s lips curled up into a smile. He took another step, once again appearing two zhang away. In the eyes of Teng Qingshan, it was as though the experts in the vicinity never existed.
At this moment, he was merely two zhang away from Dong Zhezi.
“Hmph!” Dong Zhezi slapped her throne and fled backward at a rapid speed, leaving a red afterimage.
“Haha, Dong Zhezi, to think that you’d encounter a day like this… ha ha…” The one-eyed man who had been tied to the metal pole chortled and howled with excitement. “This brother, Tie San, thanks you, haha…” many of his teeth had been plucked, yet this one-eyed man was feeling incredibly excited.
Teng Qingshan’s figure streaked across the yard in an eerie curve, as though he was a mudfish slipping through the water.
“Old witch, don’t try to escape.” Teng Qingshan’s voice was like the roar of thunder, resonating in Dong Zhezi’s ears.
She saw a flash before her eyes, and Teng Qingshan appeared in front of her!
“Y-you…”
Dong Zhezi’s face paled slightly as she stared at this youth.
“Who sent you after me?” Dong Zhezi retreated two steps back, “No matter how much they paid you, the Dong Clan will double that amount… no, triple that amount! Tell me; the Dong Clan will fulfill their promise… you should know how wealthy the Dong Clan is. We’re definitely able to afford it.”
“You can’t afford it.” Teng Qingshan smiled as he dashed forward, his right hand like a sharp claw as he grabbed onto Dong Zhezi.
Dong Zhezi’s gaze revealed a shred of viciousness. She swiped toward her waist, and a violet light flashed out. It was Dong Zhezi’s sword. At the same time, a black streak of lightning shot out from her left hand toward Teng Qingshan.
“Swish!”
Teng Qingshan waved his left hand, catching the sharp concealed weapon, while, his right hand easily clasped onto the violet-colored saber.
“Y-you…” Dong Zhezi’s face was instantly drained of blood. Her violet-colored Innate Realm True Origin burst forth as she struggled to wrestle her violet-colored sword from his grasp. However, Teng Qingshan’s grasp was like an iron hoop; there was no way for the violet-colored sword to escape!
“How is it possible for him to grab a Divine Weapon bare-handedly?” Dong Zhezi was stupefied. “I am a Martial Saint, yet he can catch my sharp sword bare-handedly. Who..who is he..”
“You want to use concealed weapons against me?” Teng Qingshan exerted a little force with his left hand, and with a mere pinch, the concealed weapon immediately disintegrated into dust.
Teng Qingshan took a step forward!
“Bang!” With lightning speedTeng Qingshan smashed his fist into Dong Zhezi’s abdomen; it was so quick that Dong Zhezi could not even avoid it. She retreated several steps back from that punch, “Pu!”, fresh blood spewed from her mouth, and her face turned pale in an instant.
Dong Zhezi’s face expression changed drastically as she spoke forlornly, “Y-you… you destroyed my Dantian!”
“Cease this nonsense.”
Teng Qingshan’s figure flickered, and easily held onto her shoulders. Exerting a slight force, he dislocated her shoulders, and Dong Zhezi slumped over powerlessly.
“Let’s go!” Teng Qingshan hoisted Dong Zhezi onto his shoulders and was made to leave.
“You bastard, you bastard, release me this instant, if not, if not, you’ll definitely regret it!” Dong Zhezi began screaming, “My Dong Clan will not let you off.”
Dong Zhezi was instantly captured, even the Innate True Origin that she cultivated arduously was destroyed. Thus, Dong Zhezi had sunk completely into madness.
“Let our Matriarch go!”
The soldiers and henchmen were equipped with weapons yet were still hesitant. They had witnessed Teng Qingshan’s strength, and knew they could do nothing to him, but, they couldn’t really just watch him leave, could they?
“Who dares act imprudently in our Dong Residence!!!”
An angry yell reverberated in the skies above the Dong Residence like the rumble of heavenly thunder.
A black figure darted towards Teng Qingshan from afar. Yet Teng Qingshan carried Dong Zhezi on his shoulder and flicked a glance toward the approaching dark figure. He shook his head smilingly and flew to the roof with a leap.
“Release me!” Dong Zhezi hissed.
Teng Qingshan strutted along the roof with Dong Zhezi on his shoulders. With a cold and detached voice, he said, “Old Witch, one more word of nonsense and I’ll sell you to a brothel!” Once he said this, Dong Zhezi’s face turned white… she was an esteemed matriarch, someone who had been referred to as Queen Dong.
Being sold into a brothel? That would be worse than taking her life.
“Die!” That black figure shot toward Teng Qingshan and the flicker of a sword flashed past.
Teng Qingshan’s This individual flashed eerily—Swimming Pisces Body Art!
He evaded with ease, then reappeared beside that black figure and followed up with a swift kick!
“Bang!” That kick smashed directly into the black figure’s abdomen. The terrifying force of several hundred thousand Jin sent the person streaking downward like a meteor.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
A tree was broken into fragments, a wall was smashed, and the figure finally came to a stop after leaving a deep furrow on the ground.
“How was this possible!” Dong Zhezi gawked with widened eyes.
That person…
That individual was the Dong Clan’s best expert, someone who had already stepped into the True Dan Innate Expert. He was sent flying with a kick? One move?
“Haha, bitch, to think there is a day that you would end up like this, haha!!!” The one-eyed man who had been kidnapped and strapped to a metal pole could not resist raising his head and released a hearty laugh, fresh blood flowing profusely from the corners of his mouth.
“Who is that person?”
With difficulty, the black figure sat up and watched as Teng Qingshan, who carried Dong Zhezi on his shoulder, vanished from his sight.
All the while, the troops and visitors looked on foolishly. Every one of them gawked on in stupefaction. The only sound left was the One-Eyed Man who had his head raised as he laughed, his laughter resonating in the skies above the Dong Residence.
……
A moment later…
“Screech~~~”
A cheerful cry resonated throughout the heaven and earth. Teng Qingshan sat on Whole Gale Eagle’s back with Dong Zhezi on his shoulders as they swiftly headed toward the Southern areas.