PS: Something came up today, so Im updating now, sorry about that. Yeah, two chapters are being updated together today.

  The world is divided into nine states, among which Yangzhou is the most prosperous and wealthy.

  Yangzhou Prefecture, Jiangning County, Yicheng

  Within the borders of Yicheng, there is a large mountain called Dayan Mountain. At the foot of Dayan Mountain, there is an estate called Teng Family Estate. The entire estate has houses that are very close to each other, like a single entity. On the outskirts of the Teng Family Estate, there is also a large area surrounded by nine-foot-high wooden fences.

  With this wooden fence protection, the wolf pack on the mountain cant easily enter the village and eat people.

  In the yard of a house in Hengs village, more than ten people were gathered. One of them, a robust man in his late 20s with a short shirt, was pacing anxiously outside the door.

  "Yongfan, stop wandering around." A serious voice sounded, and the speaker was an old man with white hair but a strong back.

  "Master, I..." The short-sleeved strong man didnt know what to say.

  He couldnt help but feel anxious, his wife was inside giving birth, and for women, the first child is always more dangerous, difficult labor leading to death, its not unheard of in Tunjiacun. He had been married for almost eight years before his wife became pregnant, and he placed great importance on this child. At this moment, he was naturally flustered.

  "Brother Fan, have you thought of a name for your kid?" A thin man beside him asked with a smile, changing the subject.

  "My child will be of the Qing generation, Ive already thought of a name. If its a boy, hell be called Qingshan, if its a girl, shell be called Qingyu." The burly man, Teng Yongfan, rarely showed a smile.

  The words had barely fallen—

  A loud cry of a baby came from inside the house.

  Everyone turned their heads to the door at the same time, and all they heard was a creaking sound. A woman rushed out with a baby in her arms, her face filled with a surprised smile, and exclaimed loudly: "Yongfan, its a boy, its a boy."

  "What about Alan?" The robust old man was the first to shout.

  "Head of the clan, Alan is fine, both mother and child are safe." The woman smiled happily.

  At this time, Teng Yongfan had already taken the baby from the midwife and carefully looked at him, with a big smile on his face: "Haha, its a son, haha, I, Teng Yongfan, finally have a son..." Just then, the robust old man next to him took the child from his arms.

  "Master, take care of the child, Ill go see Alan." Teng Yongfan immediately rushed into the house.

  The robust elderly man was smiling as he looked at the infant in his arms.

  "This little guy, just now cried out loud, hmm, not bad." The robust old mans face was full of smiles.

  "Master, this little guy is staring at you." A group of people next to them laughed and watched.

  "Look, these big round eyes staring at me without blinking, haha..." The robust old mans laughter was loud and clear, and he immediately reached out to tease the babys little nose. "My dear grandson, Little Qing Shan, come on, call Grandpa!" As he spoke, the old man couldnt help but laugh too.

  After all, the child has just been born, how can he possibly speak?

  ……

  The surroundings were filled with laughter, but Teng Qings mind was a mess.

  "Whats going on? I...I didnt die?"

  Teng Qing Shan clearly remembered that after the battle between Mingyue Hu and Shennong Organizations two giants, Shiva and Vishnu, and killing Shen Yangming, he himself had died.

  When I regained consciousness again, I was already in my mothers womb, and before long, I was born.

  "This old man, is he my grandfather? My mothers father?" Teng Qing Shan carefully observed the old man in front of him. "The language spoken by people around me I can understand, its also Chinese, looking at what he wears and what people around him wear...the style of clothing......its clearly not modern society. This is ancient times! Me, how did I come to ancient times?"

  Even if Teng Qing Shan had undergone killer training and his mind was as firm as ever, he was completely shocked at this moment.

  Just then, Teng Qing Shan felt a wave of fatigue and drowsiness: "The babys brain is still immature, Ive only been thinking for a while and Im already tired."

  Teng Qing Shan closed his eyes and started snoring loudly.

  ******

  Teng Qing Shan arrived in this world on a winter day of his first year.

  Goose feather-like snowflakes are drifting down freely, and the whole world is dressed in silver.

  "Qing Shan, isnt the snow beautiful?" A kind-faced woman, Yuan Lan, held her son Teng Qing Shan and admired the snowy scene.

  "Hmm!" Teng Qing Shans small face turned bright red.

  Less than a year old, the vocal cords are not yet fully developed, and the child can only make cooing sounds. However, Teng Qing Shan often acts like a little adult, nodding his head and making an "uh-huh" sound, but he can only make sounds like "uh", "ah".

  "Its almost noon and your father still hasnt come back," said Yuan Lan.

  "Hey, sister-in-law." At this time, a voice came from outside the courtyard gate, and the gate was pushed open. A young man wearing a raincoat walked in with a big wild rabbit, smiling, "The hunting team that went up the mountain has returned, and this wild rabbit is for your family. Hmm, take it well, Ill go back first."

  He put the wild rabbit beside the doorstep.

  "Thanks," said Yuan Lan with a smile.

  "Its nothing." The man walked out.

  Teng Qing Shan, after all, possessed the wisdom of an adult. In just a few short months, he had gained some understanding of Teng Family Village. This village was self-sufficient and often had teams going up into the mountains to hunt. The spoils from hunting would be distributed according to each households contribution in the village. For example, Teng Qing Shans father, Teng Yong Fan, was the number one blacksmith in Teng Family Village.

  The weapons made in Yicheng are very popular, and naturally, they also have a high status in Tunjiacun.

  Suddenly——

  The ground shook violently, as if there had been an earthquake.

  "The robbers have come to collect the annual fee." Yuan Lans face changed, and he immediately tied Ceng Qingshan behind his back. Then, he picked up a red-tasseled spear from home and rushed out.

  The whole village of Tengjiazhuang, regardless of whether they were strong men, old men or women, all charged out with long spears and bows and arrows.

  "Bandit?" Teng Qing Shan was startled.

  "Dont be afraid, Qing Shan, its okay." Yuan Lan comforted her son on her back while running.

  Soon, Yuan Lan arrived at the largest martial arts arena in Tengjiazhuang. The arena was two hundred meters long and wide, and by this time, thousands of people had gathered there, men and women, young and old, almost everyone holding a red-tasseled spear, and many others holding crossbows.

  "A Lan." A simple, fur-wearing, chest-baring strong man also came over with a long spear in hand. The person was Teng Qing Shans father, Teng Yong Fan.

  "Brother Fan." Yuan Lan immediately walked over.

  Teng Qing Shan looked back, in this cold winter month, his father was only wearing a fur coat, those thick arms and strong chest muscles were all exposed, clearly a very robust man. To become an excellent blacksmith, its impossible without sufficient arm strength.

  "Son, dont be afraid." Teng Yongfan affectionately patted Teng Qingshan.

  "You stay here, dont run around." Teng Yongfan instructed, and immediately rushed forward.

  The heroes of Heng Family Village stood at the front of the martial arts arena, while the women, children and elderly were armed behind them.

  "Hey, you young rascals of Teng Family Village!" A loud shout came from outside the fence.

  Teng Qing Shan looked through the crowd and saw a group of people outside the fence, all riding tall horses. The man at the forefront had a chest full of black hair and a deep scar on his face. He shouted loudly, "Its time to pay the annual fee! Old rules apply, half a silver coin per person!"

  "That man, in the cold winter month of December, was only wearing a single layer of clothing, hes absolutely an expert." Teng Qing Shan made his judgment at a glance, "The number of bandits, cant be seen clearly, but there are several hundred, for sure."

  "But the several hundred good men of Teng Family Village are not so easy to bully." Teng Qing Shan could also see that the men of Teng Family Village, each and every one of them, had undergone long years of training. Standing there, they seemed like a group of fierce beasts. The bandits outside were strong and numerous, but it would be difficult for them to win.

  At this time——

  The crowd at Hengs village dispersed, and a robust old man with white hair walked over.

  "Grandfather." Teng Qing Shan identified him at a glance.

  Teng Qing Shans grandfather, named Teng Yun Long, was the patriarch of the entire Teng Village, with absolute prestige in Teng Village. Teng Qing Shans mother, Yuan Lan, was a foster daughter raised by Teng Yun Long back then.

  "Haha, this time its actually the Third Master himself who has come." The clan leader, Feng Yunlong, laughed loudly. "We also know the rules, one person half a silver coin, our Teng Family Village has 500 households and 2,000 people, thats 1,000 silver coins, am I right?"

  "Haha, Old Teng, youre absolutely right! One thousand two hundred silver coins!" The scar-faced man laughed loudly.

  The population of Hengjiagang Village is certainly not exactly two thousand people. But its close enough. The bandit leader wont quibble over this point either.

  "Open the door." Teng Yunlong shouted.

  "Ka ka ~~" The high gate of Tengjiazhuang was suddenly opened, and at the same time, two men from the clan carried a large trunk each, came to the front of the gate, put it down, and slammed it onto the snowy ground.

  "Three hundred taels in each box, five hundred taels of silver." Deng Yunlong shouted.

  "Get out of here." The scar-faced man immediately ordered his subordinates.

  Two of his men immediately jumped off their horses and ran over to open the box. Inside, only a portion was silver, while the rest were strings of copper coins, with each string containing one hundred coins. The two bandits clearly had experience doing this and were very skilled. In just an instant, they finished counting everything and nodded at Scarface.

  "Old Teng, you go back and have dinner, haha, kids, lets go!"

  Hundreds of robbers rode on fine horses and galloped away.

  ……

  The people of the Heng clan also began to disperse one by one from the martial arts training ground at Heng Village.

  "Son, lets go back and have dinner." Tan Yongfan smiled and picked up Tan Qing with one hand. However, Tan Qing was still thinking to himself: "Those bandits actually had hundreds of fine horses, each horse costing a lot. Being able to buy so many fine horses, it seems they are also a very powerful bandit group."

  Based on the scene just now, Teng Qing Shan also understood in his heart: "Pay annual protection fees? Since its annual fees, they should be paid every year. This gang can make Teng Village pay protection fees every year, and the hundreds of people who came out this time shouldnt be all of them."

  "It turned out that it was the White Horse Gang coming to collect the annual fee, I thought it was some other bandits." The voices of other men in the clan came from beside.

  "Any other bandits who dare to mess with our Tunjia Village are asking for death." Those men were all hot-blooded.

  But apparently, for Bai Ma Gang, they also cant do anything about it.

  "How strong is this White Horse Gang after all?" Tang Qing Shan thought to himself.

  Alas, he was too young and his vocal cords had not fully developed, so he couldnt speak at all. Even if he could speak, would he dare ask his father, "Dad, how powerful is the White Horse Society?" His father would probably be shocked stiff, and the whole village of Tengjiazhuang would likely be in an uproar.