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Chapter Sixteen: The New Leader

  The village of Hengs family is surrounded by high wooden fences, and there are also clansmen guarding the gate.

  "The Hunters Party has returned!" a shout came from the gate guards.

  Inside the martial arts arena of the tribe, many tribal people ran over laughing and chatting, but as soon as they saw it, many faces changed greatly. From a distance, they could see the bloodstains on the hunters bodies, bandages, and some tribespeoples corpses being carried away.

  Someone from our tribe has died!

  "Qiangzi!" A sorrowful cry rang out.

  "Go quickly and inform the clan elder!" someone immediately shouted loudly, their voice shrill.

  ……

  After a while, nearly two thousand people gathered in the martial arts arena, except for those who were working in the fields, everyone was here. Every single person had a heavy expression, especially some family members of the deceased, who knelt on the ground and wept. The tribe leader, Xun Yunlong, also had a hint of sorrow on his face.

  "This time the hunting team went up the mountain and encountered the Wolf King on patrol! The hunting team lost five people, four were disabled!" Teng Yunlongs voice was low and mournful, with faint sobbing sounds in the crowd.

  "Teng Yonglian, Teng Yongqiang, Teng Yongyi..." Teng Yunlong rattled off five names in one breath.

  "They died for the Teng family, and their families will be compensated with 100 taels of silver each. From now on, the clan will support them!" Teng Yunlongs voice was calm, as if he was stating an old rule: compensation of 100 taels of silver for those who die in battle for the clan, 50 taels for those who are disabled, and their families would be supported by the entire clan.

  Hong Qingshan silently watched this scene.

  In these years, although he had heard that other villages were killed by bandits and thieves, he hadnt seen it himself, only heard about it, without the shock. Because Tengjiazhuang was a relatively strong village, ordinary bandits and thieves didnt dare to mess with it, and the White Horse Society also collected annual fees.

  The villagers of Hengjiagang have been living very peacefully for a long time and no one has been killed for a long time.

  After all, entering the depths of the mountain, encountering the Wolf King on patrol is something that can only happen once in decades.

  " Ignite!" Teng Yunlongs voice suddenly rang out, startling Teng Qingshan awake.

  Cremation.

  This is an internal rule of our family.

  Flames shot up into the sky, and on the wood lay bodies that were once familiar elders of the tribe. The surrounding area was filled with sobbing sounds, but more people just silently watched everything. Because they had experienced even deeper, more unforgettable hardships.

  They had long known that in order to survive on this land, bloodshed was necessary.

  So people of this clan have been practicing hard since they were young and never relaxed for a day.

  *******

  The ancestral hall of the Heng family.

  "Rustle!" The heavy iron gate was opened, and the family members holding five boxes of ashes cried as they entered the ancestral hall.

  Teng Qing Shan and his father, Teng Yong Fan, stood together in silence, gazing at the scene before them. The ancestral hall was enormous, rivaling the armory in size. Row upon row of urns filled with ashes were neatly arranged within the hall, numbering in the tens of thousands, densely packed and perfectly aligned.

  "These are the ashes of our ancestors who have died for the clan over the past thousand years." Teng Qing Shan also knew this.

  Not everyone can enter the ancestral hall.

  In the thousands of years of history of the Teng clan, those who died for the sake of the clan and made contributions to the clan could enter the ancestral hall after death. As for the ordinary and mediocre ones, they would be cremated at most after death and could not enter the ancestral hall. Their names could not be inscribed on the Teng Clan Stele either.

  "The Stele of the Deng Clan!"

  Teng Qing Shans gaze turned to the ancestral hall, where stood a number of towering stone tablets, each over one zhang high. On every tablet were densely packed names, each representing an ancestor in the Teng clans history.

  "My name is engraved on the monument of the Teng clan." Teng Yunlong said in a low voice.

  Suddenly, an old man with white hair appeared, holding a chisel and walking to the bottom of a huge stone monument, seriously carving down the names of five people.

  "..." The low sobbing of the deceaseds family members made the atmosphere even more sorrowful.

  Teng Yunlong walked to the side of the deceaseds family, the dead were all in their prime, and most of their children were still just teenagers, with the oldest only twenty years old. Teng Yunlong patted a child on the head, his eyes looking at those teenagers: "Your dads, are all good men of my Teng clan, they died for our family, you should be proud of them!"

  "Mm." Each of the boys nodded vigorously.

  Years later, these young men will also fight for the protection of their clan just like their fathers. The reason why the Teng family can last for a thousand years without being destroyed is because of this unyielding spirit that has been passed down from generation to generation.

  ******

  The residence of Patriarch Wu Yunlong, where eight people gathered in the main hall.

  In addition to the head of the clan, Feng Yunlong, there were also Teng Yonglei, Teng Yongxiang, Teng Yongfan, and three elderly people within the clan, plus one more person - Teng Qingshan!

  "Yong Lei, you guys did a great job this time. The wolf kings corpse, ordinary knives and swords cant pierce its fur, especially since the wolf kings body is snow-white all over, and its fur didnt suffer any damage. This wolf skin, which is even bigger than that of a fierce tiger, many rich and influential people want to buy it, and its price isnt lower than that of ermine!" Teng Yunlong said.

  This times harvest within the family is indeed not small.

  The wolf king skin is even rarer and more precious than sable fur, especially since this wolf king has a pure white coat.

  "Tribe leader," Teng Yonglei said, "This time, actually, it was all thanks to Qing Shan. If not for him, we would have been lucky to escape with two or three people. Not to mention killing the Wolf King, those four wolf leaders and one Wolf King, as well as over a hundred wild wolves, were all killed by Qing Shan."

  Many people present looked at Teng Qing Shan, who was still just a teenager.

  Although it was sad that some of their tribesmen had died, living in such a chaotic world, after learning about the astonishing martial power of Mount Tung, they were secretly thrilled.

  One person killed a hundred wild wolves, four wolf kings... what kind of terrifying strongman is this? And such a strongman is not even ten years old yet, how powerful will he be when he grows up? Most importantly... such a strongman is from their Tian clan!

  "Green mountain, good!" Teng Yunlong said.

  "Its fortunate that Qing Shan didnt go to Gui Yuan Zong in the first place," Teng Yongxiang sighed. "If he had, he might not have developed such exceptional marksmanship skills. This kid Qing Shan... has honed his skills on his own, and is even better than those who were taught by others." As soon as they learned of Teng Qing Shans achievements, everyone tacitly acknowledged his strength.

  Undisputed number one good man in the clan!

  Teng Yunlong and others were also fortunate that Teng Qingshan was not sent to the Imperial Court. If Teng Qingshan had been in the Imperial Court, he would have been unable to help his clan at that time. Unless Teng Qingshan held a high position in the Imperial Court, it would be possible for him to provide some assistance to his clan. Distant water cannot quench present thirst; with Teng Qingshan being in the clan, of course, he could offer more help to his clan.

  "The long spear of Qing Shan was broken when he was fighting with the Wolf King, and that spear is a bit short for the current Qing Shan." Teng Yongxiang said.

  "Ah, yes, its time to switch to a longer spear. Qing Shan, lets go, were heading to the armory now." Teng Yunlong stood up with a smile.

  Teng Qing Shan followed everyone and headed towards the armory.

  At that time, he was still a six-year-old child, and the seven-foot-long spear was a bit too long for him. However, now that he is over nine years old, in just three months, he will be ten years old. His current height is five feet eight inches (1 meter 45). Using a seven-foot-long spear again would be too short for him; considering his height, the best length for a spear should be around seven feet six inches.

  The arsenal burst open with a loud noise.

  "Qingshan, choose a long spear for yourself." Teng Yunlong said with a smile.

  There are many long guns stored in the clan, and they dont need to be specially refined, just come and choose.

  Even the best wood for spears, such as the highest quality nanmu, is considered inferior material by Qing Shan.

  "This place only has ordinary iron spears and puiron spears! The quality of the iron spear is much worse than the puiron spear, and its also a lot lighter." Teng Qing Shan walked around in a circle, his eyes stopping on a puiron spear shaft. He stretched out one hand, trying to swing it a couple of times. "This puiron spear shaft has good workmanship, and its weight is just right. Adding the spearhead, its about two meters long. Although its a bit taller than me, it doesnt have much impact on me. In the future, when my body grows taller, I can continue to use it for a while."

  Teng Qing Shan turned his head towards Teng Yun Long: "Grandfather, just this one."

  "Qing Shan, this is a high-quality iron spear, with the spearhead added, its eight feet long and weighs fifty-two catties. If we encounter a fierce battle, it will be too exhausting, lets switch to another one." Teng Yunlong said, human strength is limited, wielding heavy weapons for a long time will exhaust all energy.

  Teng Qing Shan smiled: "This one, no need to change!"

  Reaching the state of man and gun as one, Teng Qing Shans muscles only partially exert force when using his long spear, while another part rests. He probably wouldnt get tired even after fighting for a whole day. With his mastery over the Xingyiquan style, controlling his tendons and muscles, how could he possibly get tired wielding a 52-catty long spear?

  Whats more, he also has internal energy!

  "Alright, cant argue with you." Teng Yunlong smiled and went to the box, took out a matching gun head. The craftsmanship of this iron gun was indeed very good, the connection between the gun head and the gun body was not a card slot type, but rather an internal thread that was nearly a foot long, which firmly connected the gun head to the gun body.

  That red tassel was even more stained with a bloody aura, apparently this iron spear had drunk countless blood.

  "Huh?" Teng Qing Shan was shocked and twisted the gun stock, rotating it, splitting the entire gun stock into two halves.

  Teng Yunlong smiled and said, "This gun rod is divided into two sections, the middle is also threaded connection. Normally outside, long guns are too long to be cumbersome can be disassembled. When used, connect again." Teng Qingshan was very satisfied with this technique, after connecting the iron long gun, he casually danced twice.

  "Hoo! Hoo!"

  Bullets flew through the air, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound.

  "Not bad." Teng Qing Shan was increasingly satisfied, the toughness of this iron spear was very good, if internal energy was infused, it could withstand a force of 10,000 kilograms without any issues.

  "Tribe leader." At this time, Teng Yonglei spoke up beside him, his face with a hint of bitterness. "My left arm is now broken and Im no longer suitable to be the leader of the hunting team. From today on, Ill just stay in the tribe. As for the leader of the hunting team, Tribe Leader, you should also choose another person."

  The atmosphere changed instantly.

  "Alright." Teng Yongfan comfortingly patted Teng Yongleis shoulder, having lost his left arm, a very painful thing for a martially-inclined man.

  "Yong Lei, from now on youll stay in the clan. As for the leader of the Hunters Team..." Teng Yunlong turned his head, his gaze falling on Teng Qing Shan.

  The other elderly people present, as well as Teng Yongfan, Teng Yonglei and Teng Yongxiang all turned their heads to look at Teng Qingshan.

  Hong Qingshan was shocked?

  Whats wrong with you? Youre still only 10 years old, just three or four months from now.

  "Green Mountain!" Teng Yunlong stared at him, "A hero doesnt ask about age, in this chaotic world, we dont look at age, only at your strength! From today on, you are the leader of the Hunter Team! You must remember... you are now the number one good man of our Teng clan! As the first person in the clan, you must take on the responsibility!"

  Hong Yongfan also looked at his son: "Qingshan, a man must have a sense of responsibility! The number one hero in the clan must have the responsibility of the number one hero. From today on, you will learn to take on this responsibility. In the future, the clan will rely on your leadership!"

  "Yes, Father." Teng Qing Shan suddenly felt a sense of responsibility fall upon him.

  In the past, all kinds of troubles in the clan were solved by his father and uncle, so he could live without worries.

  From today on, he must stand out!

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