Greedy Qin San

Gu Sheng stepped out of his home, carrying a wooden tray with three steaming teacups on it.

Outside Teng Yunlong's residence, Gu Sheng saw from afar a row of fine horses and muscular men in armor and blue capes standing at the entrance. The riders had sharp gazes, and each of them was clearly quite capable.

Even the weakest are Third-Rate martial artists. It seems this Lord Li truly runs a substantial business.

Gu Sheng muttered to himself, but did not slow his pace. Before long, he arrived at the entrance.

"You're the brat delivering tea? Get in!"

A rider gave Gu Sheng a cold glance before waving him inside. Gu Sheng entered the courtyard with a smile, without the slightest trace of anger on his face.

"Grandfather! Uncle Yongfan!"

Gu Sheng bowed to Teng Yunlong and Teng Yongfan, then nodded at Teng Qingshan behind them.

He then glanced at the seated burly man. The man in the black fox-fur coat casually looked him over, his gaze sharp as a blade. For some reason, the wooden bench beside the fur-clad man had shattered into a pile of splinters, and the ground was covered in dense little holes.

The atmosphere in the courtyard was somewhat tense. The fur-clad leader's expression was gloomy, while Teng Yunlong and Teng Yongfan's smiles were somewhat forced.

"My lord, please have some tea!"

After placing teacups beside Teng Yunlong and Teng Yongfan, Gu Sheng carried the last cup over and respectfully set it beside the fur-clad man, Qin San.

"Hmph."

Qin San snorted. He seemed rather thirsty as well, and picked up the teacup, removed the lid, and drank.

"Mm!"

The moment the tea passed his throat, Qin San's hand froze. A flicker of uncertainty crossed his face. Then he took another large gulp, and a trace of barely perceptible delight flashed through his eyes.

Qin San slowly set down the teacup. "This tea is quite good! Is it produced in Teng Village?"

"My lord!"

Teng Yunlong and Teng Yongfan did not know how to answer when Gu Sheng quickly cut in. "These tea leaves come from an ancient wild tea tree deep within Mount Dayan. This year's harvest was limited, and it is all at my home. If my lord wishes it, I will bring it all over and present it to you shortly."

"Mm! You are thoughtful!"

Qin San was quite pleased by Gu Sheng's flattery and tact, and became a little more courteous toward Teng Yunlong and the others. "Clan Head Teng, here are eight thousand taels in banknotes as a deposit. That should be enough, yes? They bear Yangzhou Bank's seal, so inspect them carefully."

The fur-clad man tossed a stack of banknotes onto the table. Before Gu Sheng entered, Teng Yunlong had been discussing the matter of the deposit with Qin San. A deal worth twenty thousand taels was still far too difficult for Teng Village.

Teng Village was merely a small village. Whether all the village's assets combined even amounted to twenty thousand taels was questionable. Asking Teng Village to fully bear the material costs of forging 182 Jade Chill Blades was simply a joke.

"Banknotes? This..." Teng Yunlong frowned, but Gu Sheng spoke first. "Grandfather, since my lord has said so, we should do as he says." He repeatedly signaled with his eyes toward Teng Qingshan behind Teng Yunlong.

"Grandfather..."

Teng Qingshan also spoke quietly into Teng Yunlong's ear.

"Since my lord has said so, let us draw up a contract." Teng Yunlong rose to his feet and laughed heartily.

"That's more like it!" The leader laughed.

Both sides immediately signed and sealed the contract, which detailed the delivery location, time, payment, and other matters.

"My lord, this is the tea I prepared for you!"

Gu Sheng took out a packet of tea leaves he had prepared beforehand and handed it to Qin San.

Qin San grabbed the packet, tore open the oil paper wrapping, and sniffed it. A trace of delight appeared on his face. He casually tossed a gold ingot to Gu Sheng. "You're a good lad, very much to my liking. This is your reward! Brothers, let's go!"

At his command, the cavalry troop thundered away in grand fashion.

Gu Sheng remained where he was, rolling the gold ingot in his hand as he silently watched Qin San lead his men away.

Teng Qingshan came to Gu Sheng's side and likewise watched Qin San's retreating back. "Cousin, what you gave him... was it really that?"

"That's right! My tea isn't so easy to drink! That fellow is greedy—extremely greedy."

Gu Sheng narrowed his eyes at Qin San's retreating figure, pondering how to arrange everything. As someone narrow-minded, there had only ever been one rule: he took advantage of others, never the reverse.

The twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month was an auspicious day, favorable for travel! While the sky was still dark and most households in Teng Village had yet to rise, the Hunter Squad members, Teng Village's clan head, the spear instructor, and other important figures had gathered outside the weapons shop.

"Bundle ten Jade Chill Blades together, making eighteen bundles, with twelve Jade Chill Blades in the final bundle!" Teng Yongfan directed from the side. "Qingshan, wrap every bundle of Jade Chill Blades in beast hides, then put them into cloth sacks. They must not look like weapons from the outside!"

The Hunter Squad members carefully wrapped the blades.

A large quantity of beast hides obtained from past hunts was brought out. Before long, all 182 Jade Chill Blades had been packed.

"Yongfan, Qingshan, Qinghu!" Teng Yunlong walked over and looked at the three of them. "You must be careful along the way! There must not be any mishaps!"

"Yes, Grandfather." Teng Qingshan smiled.

Teng Yongfan also said, "Master, just wait for us to bring back the silver."

At that moment, Teng Qinghu, Gu Sheng, took out a wooden bottle. "Uncle Yongfan, Qingshan, distribute this among the clansmen shortly. Have every one of them carry a pill on them."

Teng Qingshan gave Gu Sheng a deep look, silently accepted the wooden bottle, and walked toward the crowd to distribute the pills.

"This is..."

Teng Yongfan was somewhat confused. He kept feeling that his son and nephew were hiding something from him.

"The antidote! The poison I made cannot be cured without it!"

Gu Sheng spoke quietly. Since he lived in troubled times, he had naturally planned methods of self-preservation early on. Using the Great Reincarnation System to build a database, then collecting available plants and herbs to make medicine, was one of them.

To put it bluntly, Teng Qinghu was absolutely one of the rare masters of medicine in this world. The poisons he concocted were nearly impossible to cure.

"They've all been distributed!"

Teng Qingshan returned with the empty bottle and handed it to Gu Sheng. "Cousin, it would be better to use such methods less often in the future."

Though Teng Qingshan had been an assassin in his previous life, as a Xingyi Boxing Grandmaster, he had mostly killed openly and directly. He had never used such underhanded methods as secretly poisoning others. Thus, he still found Gu Sheng's hypocrisy somewhat difficult to accept.

"Qingshan! Don't forget that we are the weaker side right now. Doing whatever it takes to ensure our survival is what we should be doing."

Gu Sheng stared directly at Teng Qingshan. "We are the weak ones. We have no right to pity them yet. Poisoning may indeed be despicable, but compared to the lives of our clansmen, it means nothing."

"Qinghu is right. If we have a way to guarantee the clansmen's safety but refuse to use it merely because the method is despicable, that is simply acting on impulse."

Teng Yunlong, standing nearby, saw things more clearly. Seeing that Teng Qingshan and his father still seemed to have objections, he shook his head and said solemnly, "Yongfan, Qingshan, remember this well. If our Teng Clan is to endure in these troubled times, never act on impulse!

So what if we poison them? So what if people curse us? As long as it keeps our clansmen safe, a few harmless insults are nothing at all."

"Understood, Master!"

Teng Yongfan nodded.

"Yes, Grandfather!"

Teng Qingshan slowly nodded as well, silently accepting the small flask Gu Sheng handed him.

"Qingshan, Qinghu, we depart!" Teng Yongfan said.

"Move out!"

Teng Qingshan immediately gave the order. The Hunter Squad members took up their sharp spears, some carrying bows on their backs, and the group set off.

Teng Yunlong, Teng Yongxiang, and a number of other clan members watched from afar, able only to pray that the journey would go smoothly.