The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  One of the horsemen took out a piece of paper and began to write down the events in detail.

  The winds howled, and the group quickly vanished.

  ……

  As Wang Chong’s forces in the north were engaged in their investigation, his men in Youzhou were also making progress.

  At night, ten-some li from the Andong Protectorate headquarters…

  Hoothoot!

  A bird called out in the night, and then all fell silent. But a few moments later, the rumbling of hooves came from all sides. In the blink of an eye, ten-some war horses had gathered in this place.

  These men wore Youzhou uniforms, and some of them even wore the armor of the Andong Protectorate army.

  “How was it?” a voice said.

  This man had a slender figure that was brimming with strength, his body exuding an energy an entire level above the others. This was clearly the leader of the group.

  “An Yaluoshan! I’ve never heard of this man before, but he’s surprisingly frightening. He’s managed to make Andong Protector-General Zhang Shougui a mere figurehead!” a voice replied.

  “The Andong Protectorate army consists of six armies, and he’s got men in all of them. But on the surface, they still follow the command of Andong Protector-General Zhang Shougui!”

  Another voice added, “Cui Qianyou, Tian Chengsi, Tian Qianzhen, Zhao Kan, Baizhen Tuoluo, and Gao Shang… these people are all assisting him. Zhang Shougui is still a hero of our Great Tang, someone who defeated Ü-Tsang, Goguryeo, and the Eastern Turks. To think that he would be completely fooled like this…!”

  “His Highness’s judgment was correct,” another voice chimed in. “This An Yaluoshan disguises himself as a sheep to eat tigers. He’s far too good of an actor. Every day, he plays the fool in front of the Andong Protector-General, but in reality, he’s taken complete control of Youzhou. If this continues, a problem is going to crop up in Youzhou sooner or later!”

  The others all nodded. They had the same feeling.

  The Great Tang was at peace, and after the victory over the Arabs, its morale was its highest. But at this time, in Youzhou, right under the wings of Protector-General Zhang Shougui, a wicked and frightening figure was lurking.

  At the start, though they had accepted the order to head to Youzhou, they had not taken the mission too seriously, believing that their liege was overestimating this man called An Yaluoshan. But now, none of them dared to think this.

  “This matter is already confirmed without a doubt. This man is concealing his actions from the Andong Protector-General and undoubtedly has other motives. And I’ve just received word from our scouts sent to the Xi and Khitans that while the chiefs of these two peoples have apparently been in a stalemate with the Andong Protectorate army this entire time, they’ve secretly begun to collude with An Yaluoshan.”

  “…Lord Guo has already sent men to the Eastern Turks. If they’re also colluding with him, then this man is truly too frightening.”

  “In addition, the Andong Protector-General has not shown his face for some time. All of the military matters are handled by An Yaluoshan. It’s said that the Andong Protector-General is bedridden with illness, and we can’t rule out a connection to that man! Some of our brothers have gone to investigate. We just need to see the final report to see if An Yaluoshan is connected.”

  The men sounded off their findings in turn.

  This expedition to the northeast had been a massive mental shock to them.

  “Enough!”

  The leader of the men suddenly spoke.

  “Everything has been confirmed, so we’ll immediately report back to Lord Guo Ziyi and have the information sent straight to His Highness. What happens next will have nothing to do with us. While An Yaluoshan might be formidable, His Highness can deal with him!” the leader firmly declared.

  “Yes!”

  All the others fell silent and bowed.

  Gallop!

  A thundering of hooves came from the distance, and a few moments later, a black silhouette appeared in the darkness, riding toward the group.

  One of the horsemen squinted and then called out in pleasant surprise, waving at that distant figure. “It’s Zhao Six!”

  “Six, Six! Here! You’re the last one!”

  But to their surprise, before that figure was close, he called out in an anxious yell, “Run!

  “The Youzhou army has discovered us! Get out of here!”

  The voice frantically roared with all its strength.

  Everyone was struck dumb by this cry, but before they could understand what was going on…

  Bang!

  Behind Zhao Six, a massive firework rocketed upward from the Andong Protectorate headquarters, brilliantly exploding in the air.

  Whoosh!

  Everyone instantly paled.

  “Run!”

  At this moment, a feeling of danger welled up in all their hearts, and they turned their horses around and began to ride toward the southwest.

  Chapter 1963 - Pursuit in the Night!

  Chapter 1963: Pursuit in the Night!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Although the horsemen could not sense any enemies, they all felt an intense danger. It was their liege that had come up with the idea of using fireworks as signals, and it had only begun to spread to the rest of the army over the last half-year. The firework’s explosion could be clearly seen for ten-some li, and all the soldiers in that area would begin to move out.

  No one understood more than them that the enemy had discovered them and were now converging on their location.

  Rumble!

  A few moments later, the earth thundered with the stampeding of hooves, so numerous that they sounded like raindrops striking the ground.

  “The young commander has ordered that not a single person is allowed to escape!”

  “Kill one and be rewarded one hundred taels of gold!”

  “Lord Gao has said that if you let one go, you can take your head to see him!”

  “Scoundrels, you can’t escape! Dismount and get on your knees, and we can spare you!”

  “Our young commander has been waiting for some time!”

  Loud cries penetrated through the darkness.

  The pounding of hooves made the hearts of the horsemen sink. While the enemy seemed scattered, in their pursuit, they maintained their cohesion and pace. This was something only army elites were capable of.

  Even more disconcerting was that one of them had said ‘our young commander has been waiting for some time’. This meant that the enemy had been ready and waiting this whole time.

  But they had moved very furtively, and no one except a small number in their liege’s inner circle knew of this operation. Not even the Bureau of Military Personnel’s Zhangchou Jianqiong had been informed. But these people had somehow been ready.

  “Report back to His Highness that An Yaluoshan is plotting rebellion!” the leader suddenly said.

  This was not their first mission, and they were certain that they had not left many clues. For them to be quickly discovered could only mean that An Yaluoshan and his Youzhou crew had been plotting rebellion for some time and had been on their guard throughout.

  Thwish!

  As the leader spoke, he suddenly took a bow from his saddle and loosed an arrow in the direction of the hooves approaching from behind.

  At the same time, the others did the same, taking out their bows and loosing arrows.

  “Careful!”

  “Raise shields!”

  This sudden assault left the pursuing Youzhou elites rather surprised. They had not expected the enemy to dare attack while also trying to escape.

  But these were still Andong elites who had survived in the northeast. They reacted with incredible speed, engaging in evasive maneuvers while returning fire.

  “‘S’ formation! Don’t get too far! Try to exhaust them and kill a few, or else they’ll just keep pursuing us!” the le
ader sternly ordered.

  They were extremely experienced when it came to escaping under high pressure. Focusing solely on escape would mean that the enemy would pursue them endlessly, perhaps even ignoring their own safety to try and stop them. Only by killing a few and striking some fear into their hearts did they have a chance at escaping.

  As the countless people of Youzhou slumbered, an intense pursuit and battle was unfolding in the darkness.

  The Youzhou elites exhibited their impressive horse archery skills. While riding in full pursuit, they bent their bows and loosed their arrows. A few of them, their eyes sharp and fierce, were able to use their bow with either hand. Moreover, the Youzhou elites also displayed incredible teamwork.

  In the midst of the pursuit, the Youzhou elites quickly sent a small team to charge in front. These men had small shields which they used to block and bash, sheltering the men behind them from arrows.

  All of them displayed a superb level of training and coordination, without the slightest mistake, but unfortunately, they were dealing with Wang Chong’s elites…

  Thwish!

  With a shrieking whistle, an arrow pierced through the darkness, but this was not aimed at any of the riders. There was a shriek as an arrow struck the left foreleg of a horse. Its rider was caught off guard and was immediately thrown from his horse.

  Plush! Another sharp arrow pierced through the neck of one of the shield riders.

  Without even a chance to groan, the shield rider dropped lifelessly to the ground.

  All the Youzhou elites paled, but before they could react, another arrow shot out, colliding with the arrow loosed by a Youzhou elite.

  “What?!”

  The Youzhou rider’s face was stricken with shock.

  But in his moment of distraction, a sword pierced through his head, in through the front and out through the back. The Youzhou rider immediately toppled from the back of his horse.

  One rider, two riders, three riders…

  In this intense pursuit, one Youzhou elite after another was being cut down.

  Meanwhile, the ten-some cavalry continued to dodge their attacks in an S-shaped formation. A few of them were struck by arrows, but the rest were unharmed.

  In this clash, Wang Chong’s men displayed a higher level of skill and a more frightening strength. They were able to react before the Youzhou elites could even attack and evade them. This was not pure instinct, but a skill that had been honed through rigorous adversarial training.

  Adversarial training!

  This was a new training method Wang Chong had implemented in his army. Rather than using wooden weapons, both parties used real weapons and were armed to the teeth. In addition, the concept of a death ratio was introduced. What this meant was that a certain level of casualties was tolerated while using this training method. This sort of method was the only one that could produce true top-class elites.

  Ordinary soldiers were one thing, but the true elites, including the scouts, were all made to go through this extreme training. Wang Chong would even make Wushang Cavalry or Aswaran Cataphracts their adversaries on occasion.

  It was precisely because of this harsh training that Wang Chong’s men could display a strength above that of the protectorate armies.

  In this pursuit, as their casualties continued to climb, the Youzhou elites felt their hearts grow cold.

  Zhang Shougui was second only to War God Wang Zhongsi in the Central Plains, and without Wang Zhongsi, he would have been the true War God of the Great Tang.

  All of them had gone through Zhang Shougui’s special training, and their level of skill was far above that of the other protectorate armies. This was the first time they had faced an opponent that was above them in all aspects, whether it was horse archery, teamwork, speed, strength, or reaction time.

  “Bastards! Lord Gao was right! These people aren’t normal! Not only can we not stop them, if this continues, we’ll lose them!

  “Pass on my order! Get more men over here! We can’t let them escape!” the captain of this Youzhou squad sternly ordered.

  All of them felt suffocated. Amongst all the protectorate armies, Youzhou’s protectorate army was the most arrogant.

  They were pursuing an outnumbered foe, but not only were they failing, they were losing many men. This was an unprecedented disgrace.

  “Yes, Milord!”

  Bang!

  Another firework shot into the air, and more neighing could be heard as Youzhou elites began to join the pursuit.

  But it was all too late. When it came to escaping and counterattacking, Wang Chong’s men were extremely experienced.

  They had begun to plan their route from the moment they were discovered, their scouts releasing eagles to observe the surroundings and navigate a path through the enemy. When the second firework shot up, they picked up speed.

  “This is the territory of Youzhou’s protectorate army. We have to get out of here as soon as possible! Once we get out of this region, An Yaluoshan won’t be able to do anything to us!” the leader of the squad said.

  They were all military elites, and all of them had identification that they could reveal if necessary, but all of them knew that this identification would be useless in this place. No matter what they did, An Yaluoshan would not let them go.

  Bang!

  Just when the squad leader was speaking, boom! A fist-sized object with a metallic glint howled through the air. By the time the squad leader realized what was coming, it was already mere inches from his face.

  “Not good!”

  The squad leader immediately sensed intense danger.

  Fast!

  Too fast!

  He had sensed no signs of energy before this. In other words, the object had started from ten-some meters away, but it had taken a split-second to reach him, and he had no time to dodge.

  The squad leader only had time to cross his arms and concentrate his Stellar Energy around them.

  Kaboom! The squad leader screamed as his Stellar Energy was dispersed and he flew backward like a ragdoll, thrown from his horse by the terrifying impact and slammed into the ground.

  “Milord!”

  All the other horsemen cried out in alarm, their faces paling.

  Several of the horsemen had instinctively rushed over, but there was simply no time. That squad leader had been almost instantly struck and heavily wounded.

  At this moment, all of the horsemen were dumbstruck.

  Chapter 1964 - The Yeluohe!

  Chapter 1964: The Yeluohe!Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: MichyrrOn the Youzhou mission, the leader of the squad was undoubtedly the most seasoned and most capable of the soldiers, far above the rest in both experience and strength. All of the others were extremely confident in him. But to their surprise, with one strike, their leader had been heavily injured without even the opportunity to dodge.In a flash, everyone turned their heads to the other side.Gallop!Hooves thudded against the ground, the sound several times heavier than before. As the wind gusted past, two points of red light appeared in the darkness. Soon, a horseman that was much taller than an ordinary man slowly emerged from the night.He wore armor completely different from the rest of the Youzhou army, and he exuded an intimidating pressure that made him into a fearful existence in the night.But the most disconcerting fact was that none of them could sense the energy of a normal person from this horseman.Yes!Whether one was an ordinary human, a part of the Youzhou cavalry, one of Wang Chong’s men, an Arab, or a Turk, so long as one was a living creature, they would all share the same kind of energy, but this creature was different.When they all looked at him, they instinctively classified him differently from the other Youzhou cavalry, not as a simple matter of race, status, or martial art. It was a difference that had its basis in life itself.“The Yeluohe! It’s the Yeluohe!”(TN: Historically, the Yeluohe were an elite force set up by An Lushan. In Turkic, Yeluohe means ‘the brave’.)Before Wang Chong’s ten-some soldiers could take action, the Yo
uzhou elites who had been fiercely pursuing this entire time suddenly began to rapidly scatter in alarm, like mice encountering a cat.This was the first time in this long pursuit that they had appeared so terrified.Gallop!The earth shuddered even more as more thudding horse hooves sounded in the darkness.Behind that strange horseman, more and more horsemen wearing the same kind of armor appeared like ghosts.All of these horsemen were equipped with the same armor, were the same height, and had the same energy. Even those pairs of glowing red eyes in the darkness were the same.These eerie horsemen said nothing as they spread out in a row to block the advance of Wang Chong’s men.Whoosh!At this moment, there was a piercing whistle in the air. A heavy meteor hammer flew at one of the horsemen’s hands, the thick metal chain curling around his wrist.The sight of these strange opponents made Wang Chong’s men turn grim and wary.None of them knew who the Yeluohe were, but if they could send their leader flying with one strike of a hammer, then they were no ordinary individuals and had to possess astonishing strength.Gallop!More and more horses could be heard in the darkness. By now, the other Youzhou cavalry had completed the encirclement, and the seven ‘Yeluohe’ began to charge forward, their expressions silent and cold like ghosts.“Kill!”Finally, in this stifling pressure, several of Wang Chong’s elite cavalry furiously roared and charged at the ‘Yeluohe’.“Stop!” a weak voice called out from the rear. Even though he was heavily injured, the squad leader still raised his body and yelled, blood trickling from his mouth, but it was too late.Bang! Bang!There were two heavy thumps. Those horsemen that had charged out had barely been able to get halfway before they were knocked back by the meteor hammers, instantly flying backward like ragdolls.The others could only watch as the two crashed to the ground, their armor shattered and blood gushing out.Wang Chong’s elites had participated in the border incident, and they had managed to completely overwhelm the Youzhou cavalry, but these powerful soldiers were almost made of paper in front of the mysterious Yeluohe, so weak that they couldn’t even fight back.Moreover, it was apparent that these eerie Yeluohe were not even using their full strength, yet they had easily managed to heavily injure these two horsemen.“Little Six!”“Little Five!”The others charged over to the two, their expression stricken with grief.An outsider would have been stunned to see this sight, that there was a force in the world that could completely overwhelm the soldiers of the King of Foreign Lands. This alone could be taken as proof that the Yeluohe were an extremely powerful force of soldiers.At this time, though, the Youzhou elites were unsurprised. For them, the moment the Yeluohe appeared, these horsemen were dead.On the contrary, the ones they truly feared were their own men, the Yeluohe.The moment the Yeluohe took action, the Youzhou cavalry all subconsciously backed away, instinctively wanting to keep their distance from the Yeluohe.Clipclop!One of the Youzhou elites subconsciously took two steps forward, but he was quickly pulled back by his captain.“Ignore them!“These fellows are dead! Can’t you see that the Yeluohe have already moved out?”Not too long ago, their young commander had set up a force made up of the cream of the crop, the Yeluohe. These fellows had boundless strength and didn’t even seem human.Those who lived in Youzhou were all unruly individuals. When the young commander set up the Yeluohe, many of the soldiers were upset to learn that they had not been included.Later on, some of them broke into the Yeluohe base, one of them being an elite horseman who could use a bow with either hand and unleash an arrow that could shatter stone. He used this chance to attack a Yeluohe, loosing an arrow at a fatal point while slashing with a saber that dug deep into his armor. But that Yeluohe warrior had not even trembled after being struck in a fatal point, and even though there was a saber buried in his body, no blood flowed out. In fact, with a single palm, he killed the Youzhou horseman who had ambushed him.This incident sent shockwaves through the Youzhou army.It wasn’t because the Yeluohe had killed a warrior of Youzhou, but because they didn’t seem like humans. A normal person, no matter how formidable, would still bleed if they were struck by an arrow or saber.And as time passed, they realized that the Yeluohe didn’t even eat. No one in the Youzhou garrison had ever delivered food to them.Various legends began to spread about the Yeluohe that made all of the Youzhou elites fear them. On normal days, even when the sun was out and the sky was clear, no one dared to get within several thousand feet of the Yeluohe base, and these Yeluohe rarely descended from their mountain.For the Youzhou elites, the Yeluohe charging down the ten-some horsemen signified the end of this battle.“Fight to the death!”As the inhuman Yeluohe got closer and closer, Wang Chong’s men had nowhere to run. The ten-some horsemen turned red in the eyes as they prepared to fight to the death.Neigh!Just when these horsemen were about to be exterminated, a sharp neigh cut through the sky, and then the earth shuddered with the rumble of approaching cavalry.Thwishthwishthwish!The air shrieked as five arrows cut through the air and accurately struck five Youzhou elites.Plush! Plush! Plush! Without even a chance to make a sound, the Youzhou elites were shot through the head, the arrows entering through the backs of their heads and emerging from their foreheads. Their eyes widened in disbelief as their bodies toppled to the ground.“Watch out! They have reinforcements!”As the others cried out in alarm, the deafening clatter of a halo filled the air. A storm of energy wreathing a man and his horse approached with incredible speed.Boomboomboom!Before anyone could react, the Youzhou cavalry in the back screamed as they were tossed into the air like leaves, blasted aside by what seemed like a maddened dragon.There were so many of them, but not a single one of them could hold fast!“Stop him!”“Kill!”The area fell into chaos!In a flash, one of the Yeluohe reacted, fiercely turning around. He gripped his spiked meteor hammer and sent it flying at the approaching enemy.Bang!The air rumbled as the meteor hammer flew out, leaving a long white trail in the air. But a moment later, an even stronger energy collided with the meteor hammer and knocked it back.This newcomer was unhindered, continuing to approach with astonishing speed. Swiftly, he struck that Yeluohe warrior, his terrifying Stellar Energy sending the Yeluohe crashing into the dirt.“Everyone, follow me! Retreat!”A vigorous roar bursting with energy rumbled across the sky like a peal of thunder, throwing the air for one thousand feet around into turmoil.“Milord!”Upon seeing that heroic figure with his symbolic white tassel, everyone rallied.This was none other than the general commander of this mission, General Guo Ziyi!“Hurry! Cui Qianyou will be here soon! We don’t have much time! Leave at once!” Guo Ziyi sternly said, his hair flying about in the wind. The air exploded as he swung his spear and thrust it at the nearest Yeluohe warrior.Plush! The powerful Yeluohe was simply no match for Guo Ziyi, and a large hole was immediately punctured through his armor.