The Nine Cauldrons

Chapter 18: Lone Wolf

Out of the three Giants of the ‘God Kingdom’ organization, Brahma and Shiva were both extremely keen on fighting. However, the Eldest Brother, ‘Vishnu’, was the one who was the most unfathomable. Originally, Vishnu had not planned on making a move in the operation to kill Teng Qingshan. However, he had never expected that this would be the result.

Shiva, one of the three Giants, was actually killed!

“I… Must kill you.” Vishnu, dressed in white, spoke in a low voice.

Teng Qingshan merely responded with a smile.

“Hu, hu,” ‘Vishnu’, dressed in white, was extremely agile. As he moved, he turned into a stream of white illusion appeared before Teng Qingshan within the blink of an eye.

With a swing of his hand, Teng Qingshan performed the Bursting Fist while taking a step back.

The strange thing was that Vishnu had not shown any signs of fending off Teng Qingshan’s Bursting Fist. He merely moved slightly to the side, allowing Teng Qingshan’s fist to land on his arm.

“That’s not right,” The moment Teng Qingshan’s fist came into contact with his opponent, he felt as if there was a great python that was slithering under the puffed up white clothes. His fist actually slipped away as it landed.

Vishnu, dressed in white, was not hurt at all. However, he borrowed the force from Teng Qingshan’s punch and slid down onto the ground. His two legs moved like the spitting tongue of a venomous snake and clamped down on Teng Qingshan’s right leg.

As he applied force, Teng Qingshan immediately dropped down onto the ground. If he had not done so, his right leg would be crushed.

“Buzz~” The muscles on Teng Qingshan’s right leg trembled fiercely like a quivering string of a bow after the shooting of an arrow. At the same time, a peculiar inner strength shot towards Vishnu’s legs.

However, the legs of ‘Vishnu’, who was dressed in white, were like two huge snakes. He instantly moved his legs up and wrapped them around Teng Qingshan’s upper body.

Python Body Bind!

At this moment, Teng Qingshan recalled some scenes of pythons killing people in primitive forests. He instantly felt the terrifying and suffocating forces flowing towards him.

“Hmph,” Teng Qingshan let out a low snort.

‘Vishnu’, dressed in white, sensed the twisting and trembling of the muscles all over Teng Qingshan’s body. Suddenly, Teng Qingshan, whom he had entangled, seemed to have turned into a dragon. Bringing along a mysterious spinning force, he got out from the entanglement and darted upward, like a hidden dragon soaring into the sky.

Drilling Fist, Dragon Form… At Teng Qingshan’s level of mastery, his entire body could turn into a swimming dragon.

“Smack!” ‘Vishnu’, dressed in white, fiercely slapped down onto the ground. His entire being seemed to have turned into a great centipede as he leaped up and grabbed out toward Teng Qingshan’s ankles.

Teng Qingshan flipped in midair and slashed out toward Vishnu with legs spinning like the wind fire wheels.

“Swoosh!” With his left arm tilted, Vishnu fended off Teng Qingshan’s kick. The weird thing was that his bones did not break even when he twisted his left arm at an angle of 90 degrees.

One must admit that the Ancient Yoga really had its unique traits for the training of one’s flexibility.

And Vishnu’s right arm grabbed onto Teng Qingshan’s left ankle.

Teng Qingshan stomped down with his left and right feet, forcing Vishnu to release his grip. Even so, he still felt a pain in his left leg.

“Oh no! My bones have been disjointed.” Teng Qingshan thought to himself. At this moment, his left leg dangled in a strange position.

Propping his hands onto the ground, Teng Qingshan once again leaped up into midair.

Teng Qingshan immediately propped up his left leg while he was in mid-air. As he exerted pressure and turned, a crack sounded and his bones were joined back.

At the Grandmaster Realm, one would know each and every piece of his bones extremely well. Of course, their ability to join their bones back would be extremely high.

“To think that one’s fasciae could be trained to such a degree.” Instantly, Teng Qingshan had a plan.

When dealing with ‘Vishnu’, he should use the Drilling Fist!

‘Vishnu’, dressed in white, suddenly let out a sharp and piercing cry.

“Buzz——” Upon hearing that cry, Teng Qingshan felt slightly dizzy.

Vishnu immediately got closer. Like the Buddha, he performed the Mudra hand gesture, joining the tip of his thumb and index finger while stretching out the other three slightly bent fingers. Teng Qingshan stomped the ground and a powerful rebounding force flowed from his legs to his right fist.

The muscles in his entire body twisted. As he sent his fist out, an explosion of air occurred. It was as though the air had been drilled by an electric drill.

Vishnu put up his palms and blocked Teng Qingshan’s punch.

Receiving the impact with his palms, the center of his palm sunk in. Vishnu actually managed to negate this drilling force.

He then grabbed onto Teng Qingshan’s right forearm and left behind countless of bloody holes with the powerful force of his ten fingers.

Teng Qingshan actually couldn’t free himself from his Vishnu’s grasp. Realizing that the situation was bad, he quickly lowered his body, supported himself up with his left hand, and darted toward his opponent.

Suddenly, Vishnu bellowed furiously and tugged fiercely—

Hiss!

Teng Qingshan’s right arm was forcefully torn off and blood was spurting out.

His right arm was torn off!

Teng Qingshan, who had shot out toward his opponent, revealed a savage expression. He opened up his legs, just like a crocodile with its mouth wide-opened, and then clamped down on Vishnu’s right leg!

Simultaneously, he grabbed Vishnu’s shin with his intact left hand.

With an enraged bellow, he exerted force in his left hand and legs and then twisted——

“Kacha!”

Vishnu’s entire right leg was torn off.

Teng Qingshan and Vishnu were completely entangled together.

“Ahhh!” In immense pain, Vishnu let out a maniacal bellow. His intact left leg brought along endless power and smashed down toward the ground, crashing against Teng Qingshan’s back. As the sound of broken bones rang out, Teng Qingshan spurted out a mouthful of blood and even spat out pieces of his internal organs.

“Boom!”

With a furious bellow, Teng Qingshan’s legs kicked backward directly on Vishnu’s crotch. Fortunately, Vishnu instantly withdrew his genitals into his stomach. Despite so, he was still sent flying and the sound of cracking bones could be heard. Clearly, the bones on his left thigh had shattered.

Within only one-to-two seconds, the two extremely powerful experts had suffered great injuries.

“Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives, your close combat skill is quite adept. You earned my respect.” The man dressed in white said as he struggled to sit up. With a calm smile, he looked toward Teng Qingshan.

“Your close combat skills are amazing as well.” Teng Qingshan also broke into a smile.

At this moment, the two top-notch experts were both smiling.

It was because…

Teng Qingshan could not defend against Vishnu’s enraged kick. The powerful kick had not only broke the tendons and bones on Teng Qingshan’s back but also seriously injured his internal organs.

Teng Qingshan knew that with such serious injuries, unless there was some sort of a miracle, otherwise, even with the strong vitality of an expert in the Grandmaster realm, he would at most have half a month left to live. If ordinary people were to be inflicted with such serious injuries, they would probably die on the spot.

As for Vishnu, his right leg was torn off and his left upper thigh was also crippled.

From that day onward, he was only a cripple, no longer an SS-rank expert.

Both of them were doomed.

…

The elites of the special operation team watched this battle nearby and were absolutely stunned.

“Those two are monsters! Lunatics!” Yang Yun blurted out.

“The Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives is too terrifying. Not only had he killed Shiva, he had also beaten up Vishnu into a cripple.” One of the female elites couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. She then looked toward Qin Hong in confusion as she asked, “Brother Qin, what’s wrong? Why are you appearing to be in such a daze?”

“It’s nothing.” Qin Hong shook his head as he answered. However, for some reason, he felt an indescribable pain in his heart when he saw the Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives spew out pieces of his internal organs after receiving a kick on his

“Everyone, the Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives is seriously injured and probably won’t have long to live. Vishnu is now just a cripple who can’t even stand up. This is our chance. We must take action immediately! Arrest them together! To be able to arrest two SS-rank hitment in one swoop… We’ll be able to claim great merit! Yang Yun hastily said.

In that instant, everyone’s eyes lit up.

As the Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives were able to fight against the two Giants by himself, he was undoubtedly a SS-rank expert.

Now, they actually had the opportunity to catch the Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives and Vishnu. If they were to tell others of this merit in the future, they would be able to feel great pride.

Yang Yun immediately began planning.

…

Just as the group from the special operation team was planning their move, Shen Yangming and his three subordinates were waiting amidst the messy bushes nearby.

As it was late at night, the members from the special operation team did not notice that there was another group of people several dozen meters away.

“You three must remember that no matter what happened, Qin Hong is always the first target.” Shen Yangming whispered, “You three will attack immediately after I take action and we will retreat immediately after we have succeeded.”

“Got it, Big Brother.” The three other fugitives answered in a soft voice.

“Good,” Shen Yangming said as he glared into the distance.

This time, he will risk everything to kill Qin Hong.

“They’ve made their move!” Shen Yangming’s eyes lit up. The members of the special operation team had quietly began their operation. At this moment, they were coming from all directions and surrounding Teng Qingshan and Vishnu.

…

Teng Qingshan and Vishnu were both half-lying on the ground.

“Lone Wolf, those people are also thinking of capturing us.” Vishnu laughed and said.

“You don’t have your legs, so you will easily become the target. If

“Since your legs are gone, you can only be their shooting target. With your current situation, you will die from the heavy gunfire.” Teng Qingshan teased. He then turned his gaze somewhere nearby and saw that three people were approaching quietly. The tallest out of the three was his younger brother, ‘Qing He.’

Just then…

“Hmm?” Teng Qingshan suddenly turned and saw another group of people located at about forty-meter away.

“Shen Yangming!” With Teng Qingshan’s vision, he could instantly see how one of them looked like.

Currently, Shen Yangming retrieved his gun and fired it toward Qin Hong’s head.

“Qinghe!”

Teng Qingshan’s muscles instantly tightened up, and out of reflex, he performed his “Crossing Worlds” technique. The remaining inner strength in his body gushed forth, running amok as if they were cheap running water. Teng Qingshan instantly turned into a series of blurred illusions, disappearing from his original spot.

The three-man team led by Qin Hong was closing in on the two powerful expert, the ‘Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives and Vishnu.

However, Qin Hong suddenly noticed a gun.

“Shen Yangming.” During this moment of life or death, Qin Hong saw Shen Yangming. Indeed, Shen Yangming had purposely stood up so that Qin Hong could see him.

“Die.” Shen Yangming fired his gun. His gaze had a hint of satisfaction from having his vengeance.

The speed of bullets was very fast.

Even the most powerful Grandmaster would not be able to match the speed of a bullet.

In order to avoid the bullet, one must have already started to dodge before it was shot.

“Swoosh!”

The bullets passed through a distance of several dozen meters and rapidly flew towards Qin Hong.

The bullets was so fast that Qin Hong could not react in time.

“No—” In that instant, the image of his pregnant wife Li Ran flashed across his mind. Could it be that the child was going to be fatherless from the moment it was born?

“Pffft, pffft!”

The weird thing was that Teng Qingshan, who had originally disappeared from the spot, actually appeared a distance of ten-meter away from him.

The two bullets hit Teng Qingshan.

“Die,” Teng Qingshan’s gaze was extremely cold.

With a swing of his hand, a flying knife shot out. The speed of the flying knife was in no way slower than that of the bullet and it cut across the air, piercing through Shen Yangming’s throat.

There was only shock in Shen Yangming’s eyes. He was not even able to dodge in time.

“Bang!””Bang!””Bang!”…

Three people stepped out from behind Shen Yangming, crazily shooting out in Qin Hong’s direction. However, after being threatened once, Qin Hong was already on the move to dodge.

Concurrently, Qin Hong and his team members also started shooting.

Their shooting skills were very accurate. The three fugitives were struck in the head and died on the spot.

At that moment, Yang Yun and the others immediately rushed over.

Teng Qingshan’s body went limp and dropped down to the ground.

“Qin Hong, are you alright?” Yang Yun and the others asked in concern.

“I’m fine,” Qin Hong felt as if he just had a nightmare. Cold drops of perspiration drenched his back. It was only then did he completely wake up from the shock.

“Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives,” Qin Hong suddenly remembered the person who had saved him and immediately ran over.

The other members of the special operation team also ran over. None of them understood why the Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives would sacrifice himself to save Qin Hong.

“Shen Yangming is finally dead.” Teng Qingshan heaved a sigh of relief. Earlier, he had requested for help from Elena to track down Shen Yangming just so that he could kill him and rid the threat for his younger brother. He had thought that he wouldn’t be able to kill Shen Yangming because of this battle.

However, Shen Yangming actually came here.

Now that his younger brother was safe, Teng Qingshan felt relieved.

“Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives… you… why did you save me?” Qin Hong went up to Teng Qingshan and asked as he looked toward Teng Qingshan.

Teng Qingshan felt an immense pain in his chest. After the battle with Vishnu, he was in a seriously injured state. Teng Qingshan knew that performing the ‘Crossing Worlds’ in such a weak state had caused his injuries to aggravate.

In such a state, he even hurled the flying knife with his full strength. Thus, he was left with no energy to defend himself against the bullets.

Three bullets had shot into his chest.

Teng Qingshan could sense that his vitality was slipping away.

“Qin Hong…” A smile showed on Teng Qingshan’s face. He stared at Qin Hong like an elder brother and tried to stretch his left hand toward Qin Hong. Qin Hong did not dodge. Teng Qingshan patted Qin Hong on the head and answered, “There’s no reason. Bear in mind. Take good care of your child and live well in the future. That’s all I want.”

As he spoke, Teng Qingshan felt something gushing out from his throat.

“Pffft,” a mouthful of blood spurted out, together with pieces of his internal organs.

“You… you… why?” Qin Hong could not understand this at all. However, as he saw the state Teng Qingshan was in, his heart ached.

Teng Qingshan looked at his younger brother and carefully observed every facial feature.

It had been twenty-two years. He had never looked at his younger brother so carefully before.

To be able to take a good look at his younger brother before he died was already a blessing from the heavens.

Gradually, Teng Qingshan felt his consciousness blurred and dizziness overcame him.

“Am I going to die?” Teng Qingshan could no longer see clearly.

All the scenes from this life flashed before him like a movie.

The happy life he had back in the orphanage when he was still a child… The hellish days he had spent with his wife, ‘Little Cat’ in Siberia… His Internal Martial Arts cultivation as well as the many missions he had undertaken as a hitman… In a trance, Teng Qingshan seemed as if he could hear that song he liked the most, the song that seemed to be the illustration of his entire life—

I am a wolf that comes from the north…

Walking amidst the boundless wilderness…

The bitter north wind blows…

…

“Little Cat, I’m coming to accompany you.”

Teng Qingshan felt that there seemed to be a gush of cold wind blowing, causing his body to turn cold. However, he broke into a faint smile.

…

Teng Qingshan’s corpse turned ice cold. His chest had long been dyed red from the blood. The small cauldron, that was also dyed in red by the fresh blood, disappeared the moment Teng Qingshan died.

However, because the small cauldron was under his clothes, no one noticed that.

Qin Hong quietly knelt before the corpse.

“He’s dead.” Yang Yun stood beside him.

“Why… why did he save me?” Qin Hong was stunned.

“I don’t know. Besides him, no one else knows..” Yang Yun shook his head and let out a sigh.

“Chief Yang,” The other members immediately ran over. “Vishnu’s dead. He committed suicide. He’d rather die than to be apprehended by us.”

Yang Yun shook his head and sighed as he said, “Having sustained such serious injuries, Vishnu is no longer as powerful as before. He probably doesn’t want to live a pathetic life either.”

“Why on earth did you save me? Why did you save me at the risk of your own life?” Qin Hong asked as he looked at Teng Qingshan.

“Why…”

No one knew. Teng Qingshan was dead. There was no one else who knew!

“Teng Qingshan! Teng Qingshan!” Just then, a voice rang out as Lin Qing ran over from afar, looking everywhere. However, when her eyes landed on Teng Qingshan’s corpse which was lying down before Qin Hong, she was in a complete shock.

Lin Qing sprinted over and dropped to her knees.

“Teng Qingshan… Teng Qingshan… What… What happened to you?”When Lin Qing saw the wounds from the gunshots on Teng Qingshan’s chest as well as his lost arm, tears gushed down her cheeks.

“What did you call him?”

Qin Hong was stunned as he abruptly turned to stare at Lin Qing.

The special operation team did not know the true name of the Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives. In fact, the name ‘Teng Qingshan’ had also been made up by Teng Qingshan himself. He got the surname ‘Teng’ from his Master, ‘Teng Bolei’, and used the name ‘Qingshan’, which he had used when he was back in the orphanage.

“Teng Qingshan… How could you… How could you have died? How could you have died?” Lin Qing could not stop crying.

“Qingshan… Qingshan…”

“No!” Qin Hong stared at Teng Qingshan with his eyes agape. He fiercely tore off Teng Qingshan’s clothes near his waist and there was a purple-colored birthmark on Teng Qingshan’s waist.

In that instant, Qin Hong’s face turned extremely pale without a hint of blood.

“You were the one who killed that hitman… You were the one who killed Li Mingshan…” Qin Hong trembled as he spoke.

“What?!” Lin Qing, who was beside Qin Hong, trembled as she looked towards Qin Hong, “Who did you say was the one who killed Li Mingshan? Teng Qingshan?” To Lin Qing, the person she was most grateful to was probably the benefactor who had killed Li Mingshan and released her from hell. However, she had never known all this time who was the one who had killed Li Mingshan.

However, Qin Hong’s eyes were completely on Teng Qingshan.

“You were also the one who called…”

“You are the one that sacrificed your life to save me…”

Qin Hong trembled as he said. His voice had already turned hoarse.

“Why? Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you reunite with me? Why…” Qin Hong’s heart was aching so much that he felt like it was going to shatter. As a member of the special operation team, he knew that of the bad blood the Lone Wolf of the Flying Daggers had gotten. He instantly understood the painstaking effort of why Teng Qingshan had not told him.

“For my safety?”

Qin Hong felt aggrieved and in pain. He was unable to publicly reveal the true relationship between himself and his elder brother, ‘Teng Qingshan’. For his wife and for his child, he could not do it.

If he were to do so, then his wife and their child who was going to be born soon would be in grave danger.

If he were to do so, the painstaking effort his elder brother ‘Teng Qingshan’ had gone through to not reunite with him before his death would all be to waste.

His elder brother was right before him, yet he did not dare to even call him.

“Ahh~~” Qin Hong lifted his head and let out an agonizing cry. He could only shout out internally, “Elder brother!!!