The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  "That works better for me."

  In truth, Luo Chong's arrow didn't kill the Goguryeon head, but it did seal the conclusion of this fight. Outnumbered, the three Goguryeon experts were already hard pressed to stand their ground. With one severely injured, it wouldn't be long before they fell.

  More importantly, the arrow’s impact also broke the intimate cooperation among them.

  It was due to this very cooperation that they withstood the combined might from the group for so long!

  Compared to how the allies on Wang Chong's side were fighting independently, the Goguryeon warriors showed incredible synergy in their teamwork.

  Boom!

  With a resounding boom and a few cries of agony, the battle at the monastery finally came to an end. The three powerful Goguryeon heads had finally fallen.

  The surroundings were a complete mess.

  【Congratulations to user for killing Grade-5 Commander Dae Hyeonseok! For changing the flow of destiny, you are awarded 3 Destiny Energy.】

  【Congratulations to user for killing Grade-5 Commander Dae Insu! For changing the flow of destiny, you are awarded 1 Destiny Energy.】

  【Congratulations to user for killing Grade-5 Commander Dae Gyeonhwang! For changing the flow of destiny, you are awarded 1 Destiny Energy.】

  As the the trio fell, three independent notices sounded in Wang Chong's head.

  "Hm, Dae Hyeonseok, Dae Insu, and Dae Gyeonhwang..."

  Wang Chong was surprised. In Goguryeo, commanders whose name were granted the title of 'Great' possessed superior standing to their peers.

  Regardless of what their surname was before, upon reaching that rank, they would be addressed as “Dae”, such as Dae Hyeonseok. This reflected their standing within Goguryeo.

  "Dae Hyeonseok, this name sounds a little familiar!"

  Frowning, Wang Chong fell into deep thought. Soon, he suddenly recalled something. Dae Hyeonseok, wasn't that the Koguryoan name of the Goguryeon warrior Li Jiuhuan, who led a huge group of Goguryeon warriors to raid the northeast of Great Tang, resulting in massive unease among the populace back then?

  In that period of chaos within the Central Plains, that person was the most hated Goguryeon warrior amongst the populace living around the Eastern Protectorate Manor. Who knew that he would actually end up dying here?

  To think that he would be together with the King Sosurim from the very start. If not for this operation, he would have escaped back to Goguryeo together with King Sosurim after the assassinations and caused great harm on Great Tang's northeast border, Wang Chong thought.

  Considering how Dae Hyeonseok, or rather, Li Jiuhuan, had been in Great Tang alongside King Sosurim for so long, it was no wonder why he would eventually lead an army back here and ravage the northeast border.

  Too bad he wouldn't be given the opportunity to do so in this life!

  But very quickly, Wang Chong's attention turned away from Dae Hyeonseok.

  Hahaha, to think that I would actually obtain 5 Destiny Energy. It sure is an unexpected gain!, Wang Chong chuckled heartily within as he looked at the additional Destiny Energy he had earned.

  All he did was to lead a squad of cavalry and charge into the Goguryeons' formation twice before instructing Luo Chong to shoot an arrow, and yet, he had already earned 5 Destiny Energy.

  He knew how hard it was to earn Destiny Energy, and so far, this 5 Destiny Energy had been the easiest to earn. He had practically obtained them just by speaking a few words!

  Given Wang Chong's current strength, it would have been impossible for him to kill any of those three Profound Martial realm Goguryeon commanders and obtain this Destiny Energy. If it were on any other occasion, he would surely flee as far as he could. This time, he had benefited from the efforts of the Imperial Army that the royal court dispatched, as well as his Uncle Li Lin.

  It's a pity that this is a one-time only event. There won't be such opportunities in the future anymore!, Wang Chong thought regretfully.

  Enemy commanders would never appear alone, By their sides were always huge armies of elites.

  Killing them was never, and would never be, an easy task!

  With this operation, the Goguryeons had suffered a severe blow. They would be unable to conduct assassinations or the like within the capital for a short period of time. At the same time, the other nations, such as those from the Western Regions, would be deterred from plotting any schemes.

  In other words, such easy Destiny Energy would be the first and the last time for him.

  But at the very least, Wang Chong did learn a vital piece of news from this.

  So it seems that if I kill a commander of a hostile state and change destiny, I'll be able to obtain a bit of Destiny Energy, Wang Chong thought.

  In truth, he felt that this was his greatest gain from the operation. As the Stone of Destiny didn't mention such stuff, he had to uncover it himself.

  While he only earned a total of five points from this, it was cumulative.

  Stacking them up, they would surely form a sizeable harvest!

  Chapter 261: Old Woodsman

  Chapter 261: Old Woodsman

  "Right!"

  At that moment, Wang Chong suddenly recalled something. If he could obtain 5 Destiny Energy from slaying three Goguryeon warriors, surely he could earn much more from foiling King Sosurim's plan for a mass assassination of Great Tang officials?

  Upon thinking of this, his heart suddenly started pounding excitedly.

  While the enhancement of his Bane of the Battlefield aura was a valuable gain, it couldn't compare with the Destiny Energy reward.

  I wonder how much Destiny Energy I'll get for taking down King Sosurim... That, the 5 Destiny Energy from killing the three Goguryeon commanders, and the final reward, I've really made the right choice coming here today!, Wang Chong thought in delight.

  He was certain that he would receive at least a total of 10 Destiny Energy from the entire operation as a reward.

  When he first started on this agenda, he was only thinking of upgrading his Little Yinyang Art, enhancing his Bane of the Battlefield aura, and halting the Goguryeons' assassination. He never thought that he would gain Destiny Energy as a reward as well.

  It was truly an unexpected but pleasant gain!

  AHHH!

  At that moment, a sorrowful cry echoed from the monastery, shaking the heavens.

  "NO, NO! THESE FELLOWS AREN'T KING SOSURIM! ——"

  That voice which was laced with irrepressible wrath immediately caught everyone's attention.

  "It's Ma Yinlong!"

  Taken aback, Miyasame Ayaka quickly turned her gaze over to the monastery. After days of working alongside with Ma Yinlong and the group, she had roughly deduced their history.

  In this operation, Ma Yinlong's eyes were completely fixated on King Sosurim.

  Is there no one within that is King Sosurim?, Miyasame Ayaka thought in shock.

  There was no Profound Martial realm expert who could be termed as ordinary. Despite how the three Goguryeon heads could stand their ground for so long despite the relentless attack of such a huge group of people, none of them was King Sosurim?

  If none of them were King Sosurim, then where could he be?

  This was such a huge operation, but he wasn't on the field?

  "Wait for me, I'll go down to take a look!"

  A gleam flashed across Wang Chong's eyes as he leapt onto his saddle. Jya! Leaving a billowing cloud of dust in his wake, he galloped down to the bottom of the mountain.

  In truth, although no one might have known, he had known from the start that none of the Profound Martial realm experts was King Sosurim.

  Di da da!

  The pitch-black war steed leapt across the tattered walls of the monastery and landed in the courtyard.

  The Great Tang Imperial Army was indeed well-disciplined. Some of them immediately dashed forward to pursue the fleeing Goguryeon soldiers, whereas the others remained near or in the monastery, clearing aw
ay the corpses.

  Such was the sight Wang Chong saw when he entered the premises.

  "Wang gongzi, are those your subordinates?"

  Within the ruins of the monastery, the austere but powerful Imperial Army general asked as he lifted his gaze. These were the first words he had spoken to Wang Chong since the start of the operation.

  "Un," Wang Chong nodded.

  "Not bad. They are true warriors." A hint of respect flashed across the eyes of the Imperial Army general. Leaving behind these words, he walked out of the monastery with his horse in hand.

  Wang Chong was astonished by the abrupt praise, but soon, his attention was taken away by something else. Leaping down the horse, he walked over to the region where the battle had been the most intense.

  At the very center of the monastery, the ground was distorted like fried dough. Innumerable deep depressions filled the ground, and fragments from the brick wall, floor tiles, and pebbles were scattered around the area.

  At the center of this ruins was a broken down Ma Yinlong kneeling on the floor. The determination and sharpness he had displayed before had vanished without a trace.

  Beside him stood the despondent Old Eagle, Steel Arms, and Solitary Wolf.

  The battle had ended. They had managed to take down the three Goguryeon heads, but King Sosurim wasn't inside.

  It had taken them fifteen years of waiting for this very day, but seeing their mortal enemy escaped right before them had crumbled all of their faith.

  How many of their brothers had been killed and humiliated within the last fifteen years, and they actually allowed the culprit to get away!

  They couldn't help but blame themselves for their ineptness. In the end, after all that was done, they still lost in this war against King Sosurim.

  "Chong-er!"

  Upon seeing Wang Chong, Uncle Li Lin sighed in sympathy. He had never known these men, but he had heard of King Sosurim's name. He was already a youth back when King Sosurim conducted his first round of mass assassinations.

  Judging from the reactions of these men, Li Lin could roughly guess their history, but there was nothing he could do to help them.

  "Allow me," Wang Chong said calmly.

  "Un." Li Lin patted Wang Chong's shoulder before turning around to leave.

  "Heh, you are giving up now?" Wang Chong chuckled.

  The group of four remained completely silent, like statues built out of mud. No one here was in the mood to chat with Wang Chong.

  "It can't be that you all think that King Sosurim has managed to get away?" Wang Chong laughed without the slightest hint of sadness in his voice.

  Weng!

  The hearts of the four immediately jolted, and they quickly raised their heads to look at Wang Chong.

  "Wang gongzi, do you mean that King Sosurim hasn't gotten away yet? He made use of these three to divert our attention while he escaped alongside those Goguryeon soldiers?"

  The one who spoke was Steel Arms. He acutely understood what Wang Chong was hinting through his words. A spark of flames immediately reignited within the eyes of the four.

  "Heh, I didn't say that. The entire mountain is filled with members of the Imperial Army, do you really think that King Sosurim is that dumb?" Wang Chong shook his head, denying Steel Arms's conjecture.

  The cunning chief spy of Goguryeo who came up with this monastery and spent four months to master it, built a secret tunnel linked to the interior of the capital, and was vicious enough to lay his hands on the officials of Great Tang...

  How could such a figure be so shallow? One would be severely underestimating the famed chief spy with such conjectures.

  "Then what else do you mean?"

  In an instant, the flames of hope that had barely rekindled flickered weakly.

  "Don't worry, he won't be able to get away." Wang Chong smiled mysteriously without explaining. There was no rush for the matter regarding King Sosurim; the urgent matter at hand was to clean up the battle.

  "Speaking of which, it should be about time for them to move?" Wang Chong lifted his head and gazed into the depths of the mountain. Vague battle cries seemed to echo out from there. Finally, the ambush of troops that he had planted had worked its wonders.

  What that awaited those fleeing Goguryeons was an elaborate net that sealed every single path of their escape.

  The thousand Goguryeon elites were destined to be buried on this very mountain.

  ------

  "To think that... it would be a failure!"

  Pushing time back a bit, just when the monastery was consumed by raging flames, far away on another mountain, beneath a willow tree, a woodsman stood. His wrinkly face was slightly veiled under a bamboo hat, and his hunched back was carrying a bag of lumber. At this moment, complex emotions were gathering within his eyes.

  From his location, he could clearly see the happenings on the monastery without risking encirclement from the Imperial Army.

  Besides, there were plenty of woodsmen like him in the capital who entered the depths of the forest in the middle of the night to sell their wood in the day.

  "It is never too late for a gentleman to get his revenge. These are the words from your Central Plains. Wait and see, you won't be delighted for too long!"

  The old woodsman gazed motionlessly into the distance. He had no intention to warn the Goguryeons, and neither did he plan to change anything at all. Instead, he decisively turned around with his bag of lumber and proceeded down the mountain.

  His movements were extremely slow but stable, just like an ordinary woodsman. From time to time, he would cut down some wood to add it to his bag. Soon, he reached the bottom of the mountain.

  After resting by the road for a moment and taking a sip of water, he continued on his way.

  It was still early. The woodsman didn't use the secret tunnel beneath the walls of the capital as he usually did—the monastery beyond the capital had been discovered and encircled, there was nothing that could be considered safe at the moment.

  He would risk having his identity exposed were he to use it.

  Thus, he walked over to the city entrance and took a seat by the wall, where the other woodsmen were gathered too.

  Seeing the familiar face of the woodsman, some of them were warmly greeted him and offered him their pipe to smoke.

  They had met him several times on the mountain and by the city wall, and they had a good impression of him.

  The old woodsman chuckled as he used fluent Han speech to reject the pipe.

  The city gates would only open near dawn, so he would have to wait here for a moment.

  The old woodsman was in no hurry, either. In his view, the more people there were, the safer he would be.

  Relaxed, the old woodsman even closed his eyes and slept for a moment.

  Hong long long, after some time, the city gates finally open. Slowly, the old woodsman rose from the ground, and amidst the crowd, he entered the city gates.

  As it was still early and there weren't too many people on the streets, the old woodsman finally tossed aside his disguise and hastened his footsteps, displaying an agility that was in stark contrast to his age.

  Turning through alley after alley, the old woodsman finally arrived at a barren lumber yard in the south of the city.

  This was his safehouse in the capital. Not even those who were closest to him knew of it.

  The old woodsman looked around, and after confirming that no one had followed him, he entered the lumber yard. There wasn't anything much within the lumber yard, but it was extremely clean.

  The woodsman swiftly put down his lumber and took off his bamboo hat before skillfully opening the dusty boxes to the side of the room.

  He took off his dirty woodsman clothes and switched them with a clean silk robe. In an instant, the woodsman had turned into a majestic silk merchant.

  "I'm finally back!" Only at this moment did the woodsman heave a sigh of relief.

  Chapter 262: King Sosurim!, Part One

&
nbsp; Chapter 262: King Sosurim!, Part One

  The Great Tang Imperial Army might have found his arrangements in the monastery beyond the city, but he was still a step in front of them.

  Sacrifice was inevitable for those who wish to achieve great things!

  He didn't feel anything sacrificing a thousand Goguryeon warriors and three of his loyal subordinates.

  Instead, he thought that it would be more worthwhile for them to die here than on the battlefield.

  Once Great Tang invaded Goguryeo, the death toll wouldn't just be capped at a mere thousand. The best they could do now was to get rid the potential threats to them within Great Tang, and weaken Great Tang.

  For that, this little bit of sacrifice paled in comparison!

  All he felt was a little pity that the plan didn't go according to his design.

  But regardless of how many men had been killed, as long as he remained, he would make sure that Great Tang would pay a terrible price for their deaths.

  After a long moment, he took out a notebook from his chest, sat down by his bed frame, and fell into deep contemplation.

  This was a habit of his—regardless of which operation it was, he would earnestly evaluate his actions and learn from the experience.

  This was one of the main reasons why he was able to single-handedly grow the Goguryeon influence in Great Tang to such a huge scale and organize many assassinations within it, creating a long river of blood, yet still remain scot-free.

  There's something very bizarre about this operation. Exactly where did I go wrong?, he thought grimly on the bed frame.

  For more than a decade, his plans had not failed so utterly. Not to mention, it was on such a vital operation.

  He had spent four months preparing for this operation, consisting of over a thousand elites from his homeland, and he had ensured that he had taken all aspects into consideration.

  There were no giveaways throughout the entire process, and he hadn’t detected the slightest anomaly, either. Where could he have gone wrong?

  A storm stirred up within his mind. If he couldn't resolve this problem, he would be unable to plan his next operation.

  And that wasn't all of his worries. The dozens of gathering points in the capital were also established painstakingly through years of efforts.