The Human Emperor - Chapter 218: Truth!
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Chapter 218: Truth!

Chapter 218: Truth!

“…”

In an instant, everyone fell silent.

Black

Tortoise Peak didn’t have the support of a Princess Ni Huang and

neither were they as offensively oriented as White Tiger Peak either. In

fact, they didn’t even have a single master archer like Zhou Huang.

Yet, with just a s.h.i.+eld, most of them actually managed to survive this ordeal.

Even the experts whom Marchioness Yi brought here felt that Wei Hao and the others were way too lucky.

“Young general, that person… seems like w.a.n.g Chong from the w.a.n.g Clan!”

Just

as w.a.n.g Chong and Wei Hao were gathered together, no one noticed that

at the top of the peak, beside a blazing campfire, a few young men with

Hu characteristics along with some Han men were currently staring down

with cold gazes.

The Black Tortoise Peak was exceptionally high,

making it easy to survey the surrounding situation from here. They could

easily spot the escaping Goguryeons and Turks spreading themselves

within the forest, as well as the wolves whom the Goguryeons ordered to

stall the pursuing troops.

The Turks and Goguryeons had caused

quite the uproar with this a.s.sault. However, none of the gazes of these

young Hu and Han were on them. Rather, their focus was on w.a.n.g Chong

instead.

“Hmph, that kid sure is lucky. White Tiger is the

west-most peak, closest to the capital, and exactly where the Turks and

Goguryeons were focusing their efforts. Yet, he somehow managed to

survive!”

By

the campfire, a young Hu leader spoke coldly. The Origin Energy around

him coalesced into a green Halo of Thorns and slowly began to revolve

around him. Countless wolf fang arrows lay on the ground nearby but none

of them managed to even get close to him.

To most, this night was

no different than a nightmare. Yet, to those men standing by the

campfire, this was nothing more than a small game.

Be it the

Goguryeon condor snipers or Turk master archers, regardless of how

thickly the arrows poured in, they were no threat to them at all.

The

reason was simple. In this world, there wasn’t a single master archer

alive who could threaten a true Tongluo tribe member. Members of the

Tongluo tribe were the best cavalry in the world, as well as the cavalry

that possessed the least fear for archers.

As the second son of

great Hu General Abusi, Abutong had been learning how to grab arrows

with his bare hands from young and could now easily do so even when

blindfolded.

The barrage of wolf fang arrows threatening Black Tortoise Peak couldn’t harm him at all.

“Young general, it is currently chaotic now. Why don’t we…”

Beside

Abutong, a young Tongluo youth made a gesture to kill, hostile

intentions simmering in his eyes. w.a.n.g Chong’s memorial regarding the Hu

had already made him the thorn in the eyes of all Hu. Countless Hu had

been plotting how they could claim w.a.n.g Chong’s head, and this seemed to

be an ideal situation for them.

“No!”

Contrary to his expectation, Abutong waved his ma.s.sive hands and rejected the idea immediately.

“If

I’m not mistaken, that lady beside him should be Little Marchioness Yi,

the daughter of the only marchioness in Great Tang. Any woman in this

country who was conferred a t.i.tle of n.o.bility and placed in command of

armies is a lunatic, and that woman is a lunatic among lunatics!”

“Even

I don’t have the confidence to subdue her. If our operation fails and

we leave behind any evidence, the situation might backfire on us!”

Abutong

replied. He was clearly wary of Marchioness Yi. Different from w.a.n.g

Chong, she was a true expert who was reputable even among the geniuses

of the capital.

“But young general, do we just let this matter go?”

The

Tongluo youth replied indignantly. Tongluo men had always prided

themselves on their feral and aggressive nature, and tolerance wasn’t

their style of doing things.

“Hmph,

let the matter go? How is that possible! Why do you think I chose this

Kunwu Training Camp when I could have gone to Shenwei Training Camp

instead? The days are long, and there will be plenty of chances to deal

with this w.a.n.g Chong in the future!”

Abutong sneered as he flung his sleeves backward and returned back into the hall on top of Black Tortoise Peak.

The

battle at Azure Dragon Peak ended around the same time as that of Black

Tortoise Peak. And by the time w.a.n.g Chong arrived, the attacking

Goguryeons and Turks had already received the news and left.

The four peaks of Kunwu Training Camp were built from the very start with the intention of supporting one another.

In

truth, the battle had already ended from the moment that White Tiger

Peak triumphed over their enemies! At the time, the tides had already

changed, and no matter how indignant the Goguryeons and Turks were, they

could only flee in disappointment.

“It’s finally over!”

Below

the Azure Dragon Peak, w.a.n.g Chong wore a pallid appearance. He panted

deeply as he supported himself with his hands on his knees. The battle

had lasted a long time, while he’d been running around without a break

the whole time. Now that he could finally take a breather, he found his

Origin Energy and stamina were nearly depleted.

Were it not for

the additional benefit of enhancing his Bane of the Battlefield slaying

the Goguryeon warriors, he wouldn’t have pushed himself so much.

However, it was all over now. All that was left was to sweep the entire area.

A strong mountain wind blew across the night sky.

While

w.a.n.g Chong, Marchioness Yi, Wei Hao, and the other camp members were

clearing the corpses and carca.s.ses from the four peaks, no one knew that

a pair of eyes had been silently observing their actions and the entire

Kunwu Training Camp from the shadows.

No one knew exactly how

long he had been standing there, but without a doubt, from the start to

the end of the a.s.sault, there wasn’t a single detail that had managed to

escape his notice.

“Are the preparations complete?”

In the

darkness, a shadowy figure was standing atop a rocky prominence with his

hands behind his back. His voice was authoritative and cold, and it was

impossible to discern any emotions from it. A slight star-lit radiance

shone upon him, allowing one to vaguely see the shape of Great Tang’s

uniform.

“All preparations are ready! Quill, Imperial, Serpent,

Dragon, Tortoise… All six armies stand ready. Not a single one of those

master archers, warriors, or wolves will get away!”

A young man moved to kneel before that figure respectfully. His tone was composed but the content of his words was shocking.

If

w.a.n.g Chong was here, he would definitely be astounded. Quill, Imperial,

Serpent, Dragon, and Tortoise—they were all regiments under the

Imperial Army.

w.a.n.g Chong and the others thought that the master

archers had sealed all news from getting out, but the royal palace

somehow seemed to have had advance knowledge.

“Very well! Relay my

orders! Kill every single one of them, especially the master archers!

Since the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates and Goguryeo sent us so

many master archers and condor snipers, it’ll be a little embarra.s.sing

if we don’t accept them properly!”

The figure ordered coldly and callously.

If

Zhao Qianqiu was here, he would be even more astounded. The person

standing here issuing orders was the very same one who said that he

would return to the capital to report to the Sage Emperor! Instead of

returning to the royal palace, he was hiding here instead!

The

command was swiftly relayed, and in all directions, in places where none

could see, another battle raged on. This one ended much quicker than

the previous a.s.sault. There was no stalemate. It was a completely

one-sided slaughter.

Or perhaps, calling it as a battle was a little inaccurate. To be more exact, it was a prepared harvest.

“Lord, are we being a little too heartless here?”

The young kneeling man finally questioned after relaying the orders.

“Heartless?”

That

figure perched atop a towering prominence appeared taken aback,

seemingly unable to comprehend the meaning behind the young man’s words.

“Over

a hundred master archers and several hundred Goguryeon warriors… In

truth, this a.s.sault could have been entirely prevented. So why did we

keep the news from them despite receiving earlier warnings? Those

recruits are still children; they aren’t at an age to enter a

battlefield yet. Aren’t we being a little too callous to them?”

The young man was involved in this matter, so he was aware of the entire proceedings.

It

was due to the lack of preparation that this sudden a.s.sault caught so

many off guard, resulting in ma.s.sive losses. The Goguryeons and Turks

had concealed their movements well; their planning being also very

thorough; and their sense of timing was, in addition, excellent.

But to the Great Tang, an operation of this level wasn’t in their blind spot yet.

The

Three Great Training Camps were just twenty to forty li away. At such a

distance, how could the capital possibly be completely unaware of the

happenings here?

In truth, there was no secrecy behind this

a.s.sault in the first place. Even though the Turks were extremely

careful, and the wolves were slowly slipped across the border one by one

over an extremely long period of time, it was still insufficient to

hide from the eyes and ears of the royal court.

Just that, the

royal court intentionally concealed the matter. Not only so, they even

allowed their enemies free reign, and this a.s.sault on the Three Great

Training Camps was the result.

“You’re sympathizing with them?”

That person replied indifferently.

“Yes!”

The young man grit his teeth and affirmed.

“Heh, do you know of the death quota of the Three Great Training Camps?”

Weng!

The

young man was initially confused when suddenly a ghastly comprehension

dawned on him and his body trembled. He abruptly raised his head.

“Lord, you mean that…?”

“Hmph, do you think that I have the right to make a decision for such a huge matter?”

That person replied.

“So that means that the Sage Emperor…”

The young man’s face turned pale.

“It’s

good that you understand! Only after the quota is exceeded will we step

in, and currently… the number of deaths is still within the permissible

range!”

The figure replied nonchalantly as he continued to

observe from above. On the other hand, the young man listening to these

words trembled violently, as though he was struck by a bolt of

lightning.

Tongluo Tribe -> Toŋra Tribe -> They are a part of a nomadic tribe cla.s.sified under Tiele.

are Turks coming from the heritage of Xiongnu.

Xiongnu

is a confederation(alliance) of nomadic people who formed a powerful

influence in the third century BC to late first century AD.

Note:

As China has a more organized method of recording history and their

records are more complete, most of the history of these tribes are

transliterated and pa.s.sed down in Chinese. According to

Wikipedia(Chinese), in the original language, Tongluo should refer to

Toŋra. However, for the sake of convenience, I’ll use the transliterated

version.