The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  Unfortunately for them, Wang Chong had come prepared.

  "Kill them. Don't leave a single one alive!"

  Wang Chong's voice was callous and stern. The righteous did not grasp for wealth and the kind did not command soldiers. The current him was his true self!

  It's the thirty-ninth year of the Sage Emperor's reign, so this should be your first time entering the capital… but you were already beginning to gather troops back then!

  Wang Chong's gaze was like a bolt of lightning as it swept through the restaurant, his mind completely calm.

  The Hu in Drunken Sparrow were wearing all sorts of clothes and came from a myriad of ethnicities. Wang Chong had even met a few of them when he went to see Big Golden Tooth. Wang Chong was well aware that none of these were Hu from the border, but the Hu merchants and guards of the capital.

  In the interior of the Great Tang, it was only natural for Hu to get along with Hu. And that person in particular was unsurpassed in his ability to use money and power to make friends and entice talents.

  When that great calamity swept down from Youzhou in the northeast at the start of the rebellion, even the Han had been enticed, much less the Hu.

  If his guess was right, he was the one who had gathered all these people here.

  And in the future, these people would be the source of that worldly calamity. Wang Liang had only unintentionally run into their attempts to gather together and court favor with each other.

  No matter what, none of these people could be allowed to leave.

  "Everyone else, come with me!"

  After leaving enough people to deal with the Hu warriors on the first floor, the icy-faced Wang Chong began to lead his forces to the second floor.

  Wang Chong had arrived like a shooting star, taking no breaks, but now that he was in Drunken Sparrow restaurant, the closer he got, the slower his footsteps became, and the colder his expression.

  Right before a tiger pounced at its prey, its soles would become soft and its movements silent. Before an alligator struck, the water would be calm and the surroundings silent.

  After half a lifetime at war, Wang Chong had made a habit of calming himself down at crucial moments. Only when the mind was like placid water could he maintain his composure, and only by maintaining his composure would he strike true!

  Rumble!

  The activity on the first floor had already alarmed the second floor. By the time Wang Chong was clanking his way up the steps to the second floor, it was in complete uproar.

  Countless sabers and swords had been unsheathed, the sound of metal constantly ringing in the ear. There was also a fierce energy, smelling of blood and battle, seeping through the floorboards.

  Wang Chong was no stranger to this energy.

  This was the smell of military men, elite troops who had spent a long time on the battlefield and seen blood!

  "Just who in the world are you?"

  As Wang Chong's groups ascended the stairs, they were welcomed by cold flashes of light. In an instant, they were surrounded.

  Unlike the Hu of the first floor, all the Hu here were armored and well-trained, and appeared extremely formidable.

  And behind these people was a man of about thirty years old with a hawkish nose and sunken eyes. He had a muscular body, but also the rare refinement of a scholar. This middle-aged leader of the Hu was looking at Wang Chong with a stern and ashen complexion.

  Unlike the Hu on the first floor, this one spoke Han, and he spoke it flawlessly. Wang Chong had rarely seen this amongst the Han, let alone the Hu.

  And flanking the middle-aged man, two other Hu leaders were looking at him.

  Wang Chong's gaze flitted over them, going straight to one of them, a slightly fat and relatively short Hu.

  ……

  Right when Wang Chong turned his head, the Stone of Destiny in his mind exploded with a torrent of warnings.

  But he heard none of them.

  At this moment, time seemed to stop. Wang Chong's eyes were red, all his focus on that slightly plump figure standing to the side.

  Kang Yaluoshan!

  Whether he was called Kang Yaluoshan or An Yaluoshan, or even if he changed his name; whether it was this life, his last life, or a life many reincarnations later, Wang Chong would never forget this face.

  How many years!

  After so many years, he once more set eyes on this person. How many times had he thought about crushing this person's bones into dust! The Kang Yaluoshan before him was not as fat as the one from his last life, and Wang Chong had never met him when he was this young.

  But even with this young and tender face, Wang Chong had still recognized him at a glance.

  "…I've finally found you!"

  Wang Chong clenched his fists, his eyes a bloody red.

  Fate had countless 'turning points'. If one used them well, one could thoroughly alter one's own and the world's fate. 'Vast Crane Pavilion' had been the turning point in the Wang Clan's fate, so by provoking Yao Feng, he had altered the fate of the Wang Clan. The 'Consort Taizhen incident' was the turning point in King Song's fate. By altering King Song's stance toward Consort Taizhen, he had naturally changed King Song's fate.

  And 'Kang Yaluoshan' was undoubtedly the turning point for the millions of lives in the entire world. In his last life, he had used more than thirty years to finally kill Kang Yaluoshan, but it had already been too late by then.

  And right before his eyes was clearly his best chance.

  Wang Chong had not expected that the wounding of his older cousin Wang Liang would bring him before his greatest foe. If everything had gone as expected, this was still Kang Yaluoshan's first visit to the capital.

  The current him was much less powerful than the one from his past life, and he had far fewer guards at his side. And he certainly did not have the ability to mobilize the foreign invaders.

  This was undoubtedly a most important turning point.

  If he could successfully kill him, Wang Chong was sure that the fate of the world would undergo a massive change. Unlike in his past life, he wouldn't have to waste thirty years to complete his mission.

  These thoughts needed only a fraction of a second to fly through Wang Chong's mind, and he quickly regained his composure.

  "Kill him!"

  Wang Chong's eyes flashed as his right foot stepped forward. Under everyone's eyes, he suddenly extended a finger toward the slightly plump, silent, and inconspicuous figure standing next to the middle-aged Hu leader.

  "Wait a moment, just who are you!"

  The cultured middle-aged Hu flew into a rage, shouting for Wang Chong to stop.

  Even though things had reached this point, he still didn't know what was going on. These Han had charged in and immediately begun killing. Although he wasn't afraid of fighting, he at least needed to know why.

  But Wang Chong paid him no attention. Since Kang Yaluoshan had appeared here, the two other two Hu leaders were probably part of the Four An Brothers.

  Although he didn't know why only three of the four had appeared, this was not Wang Chong's concern.

  The erosion of wind and rain might play a part in the collapse of a great building, but its collapse assuredly had to do first with the rotting of its foundation.

  Although Ü-Tsang was strong and the Abbasid Caliphate was rich, even though the Great Tang was surrounded by powerful foes, none of them could compare to internal decay.

  In the future, when Kang Yaluoshan's rebel army roared into the south, the An Brothers would be a part of it.

  Boom!

  No one cared about the Hu standing across from Wang Chong. If they had to kill one, they would kill, and if they had to kill one hundred, they would still kill. When Wang Chong gave the order, they would all execute it.

  Deflecting Blade Manor, the spirit vein, and the experts from the Wang Clan and the other great clans formed a force that no one could look down on.

  Boom!

  With a flash of light, a red, fiery cloud
emerged from behind Wang Chong and instantly vanished into the dense crowd of Hu experts.

  The Crimson Blaze Spear, Zhao Yatong!

  At this moment, the first person to support Wang Chong was the eldest daughter of the Zhao Clan, Zhao Yatong, who he had met on his training mission.

  As a comrade who had experienced life and death with Wang Chong, Zhao Yatong had never seen someone that Wang Chong so loathed. But unlike others, Zhao Yatong didn't have any complicated thoughts.

  Since Wang Chong wanted to kill this person, she would help him.

  There was no 'why' or thought about what would happen afterward. Some people were natural companions and didn't need to ask for reasons.

  Trust was trust. Since Wang Chong wanted this person to die, this person absolutely had to die.

  Boom!

  Halos resonated and Stellar Energy exploded. The one following Zhao Yatong was not the Bai Clan's Bai Siling, nor was it the Xu Clan's Xu Gan or Fang Xuanling. It was the Huang Clan's Huang Qian-er.

  The famous Fairy of Dainty Hands of the capital was completely drenched, but her eyes were as sharp as ever and her expression even prouder than before. A man's promise was worth a thousand jin of gold, and a woman's promise had never lost out to a man's.

  Since it had already been promised that the Huang Clan would serve Wang Chong and follow Wang Chong, Huang Qian-er would carry out this promise until the end.

  Boom! A streak of lightning seemed to sear through the air. Like a phantom, Huang Qian-er instantly appeared in the crowd of Hu, the five fingers of her right hand twinkling with a yellow and lustrous light. With just one strike, Huang Qian-er shattered the Halo of Thorns and protective Stellar Energy around the True Martial realm Hu expert. Her delicate fingers pressed against that person's chest and his armor shattered, blood splashing out. Although that Hu expert had done all he could to defend, he was still sent flying like a lost kite.

  And Huang Qian-er was so powerful that she sent three nearby Hu warriors flying as well. While those three people were still in the air, Huang Qian-er used her tyrannical energy to shatter their organs. By the time they came back to the ground, they were already corpses.

  "Attack, kill them!"

  An Wenzhen was furious. He was the oldest of the three, and the one with the highest status. He had been the one to arrange this gathering, but he had not expected this sort of problem to occur.

  "Don't go easy. If anything happens, just blame me!"

  An Wenzhen's heart had hardened.

  He no longer cared that this was at the feet of the Son of Heaven. Since these people had dared to strike at him, no matter where they came from, they would all die!

  Since he had already given a lesson today, there was no harm in killing again. Anyone who was so blind as to bully around the Hu was overestimating their intelligence and seeking their death!

  He didn't care about other Hu, but in the capital, the Four An Brothers were generals who never let anything go unfinished!

  To die at his hands was to die in vain.

  Chapter 445: Hunting Down An Yaluoshan!

  Chapter 445: Hunting Down An Yaluoshan!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  An Wenzhen was not able to keep his ferocity for long, because soon after, he heard the twanging of bows at his ear.

  Not even the storm outside could block out those sharp whistles.

  Thwishthwishthwish!

  Hundreds of arrows, each carrying a powerful energy, converged on the building like a cloud of locusts. Boomboomboom! In a set of explosions, these arrows pierced through the walls, honeycombing it with holes.

  "Ah!"

  Miserable screams filled the air. The Hu had been putting all their focus on Wang Chong's party and had been caught completely off-guard by this sneak attack.

  It was simply impossible to block these arrows as they burst through the walls. In a flash, more than half of the Hu had been either killed or injured by these arrows.

  The archers that Wang Chong had brought were basically all master archers, and every one of their bows had been infused with destructive Stellar Energy. When that powerful energy pierced through the chests of the Hu, it sent them flying before nailing their bodies against the floor.

  Although some of the more powerful Hu experts had Stellar Energy protecting their bodies that was able to knock away one or two arrows, the dense rain of arrows still broke through in the end. They managed to last for a few moments before their chests, and even heads, were shot through.

  Blood gushed out, pooling into rivers and seeping through the floor below, frightening the Hu on the first floor.

  "Damn it! Master archers! He actually brought master archers! Go! Quickly!"

  An Wenzhen's complexion had gone ghastly pale.

  If one added up the number of people in this gathering and the Hu experts of the capital they had invited on the first floor, they numbered more than a hundred, and all of them were at the True Martial realm and above.

  They even had many experts who were on the brink of reaching the Profound Martial realm.

  The Hu had fierce personalities and were extremely aggressive, and all of them were experts who had engaged in real combat. An Wenzhen had originally believed that just this force alone would have been enough for them to boldly stride across the capital.

  He had not expected to run into this mysterious and ferocious youth.

  An Wenzhen was well aware that a master archer was not someone an average person could run into, and not even a great clan could easily gain access to one.

  The youth before him was undoubtedly no ordinary person.

  More importantly, this youth had outnumbered them!

  "Hahaha, do you think you can leave?"

  Right after he had given the order to run, right after the first rain of arrows, someone outside Drunken Sparrow restaurant began to roar with laughter and jeer in the Hu tongue. This laughter was like thunder and blended together with the wind and rain. Although the speaker was speaking in Hu, they spoke flawlessly. It was the Invincible Great General, Li Siye.

  Li Siye's aspirations had been on the Western Regions, for which he had studied the Hu language. The conversations of those Hu were no secret in his ears.

  Boom!

  With a heaven-shaking explosion, a burly figure rammed through the wall of Drunken Sparrow restaurant, leaving a man-shaped hole in the southeast wall.

  On his back was a giant Wootz Steel sword, even taller than a normal adult man.

  Hum! At almost the same moment, Li Siye struck.

  Rumble! In an instant, a numbing energy suddenly appeared in everyone's perception. The sky dimmed and the entire restaurant was plunged into darkness. Soon after, a massive saber energy, thirty zhang long, vast and resplendent like a god and demon, slashed down from the heavens.

  The large Drunken Sparrow restaurant seemed to be made of paper as this monstrous energy cleaved it in two. This saber not only cut through the entire restaurant, it also hacked at all the Hu on the second floor.

  The screams and the shattering of floorboards, chairs, and tables blended into one.

  An Wenzhen had been standing in the direction of this saber energy, and he was sent flying, blood splattering everywhere.

  "A Profound Martial realm expert!" An Wenzhen screamed, terror in his heart.

  The An Clan was originally a Turkic clan of generals with a great store of knowledge. However, they had been excluded and massacred by the other Turkic clans, causing them to join the Great Tang.

  Even so, the An Clan continued its tradition of martial arts.

  This fact was evident from An Wenzhen's True Martial Tier 9 cultivation. This cultivation level played an important part in his leading tonight's gathering.

  Someone who could shatter his protective Stellar Energy and easily defeat him with one slash of a saber could only be a Profound Martial realm expert, and one at Tier 5 or above.

  Just where did this youth come
from?

  An Wenzhen's mind was in a panic as he was sent flying, and only this one thought remained.

  He could disregard that massive number of True Martial realm experts, but Profound Martial realm experts were all proud, and each one had a deep backing and would not easily serve another.

  No normal clan could gain the servitude of a Profound Martial realm expert, nor could any ordinary faction.

  But even now, An Wenzhen did not know when he had offended this person. Everything was like a bad dream, an unforeseen disaster.

  Boom!

  When they saw the strongest of their number, An Wenzhen, being sent flying by this single saber slash and the massive restaurant being chopped into two, the morale of the valiant Hu quickly crumbled.

  "Run!"

  In an instant, all the Hu experts still alive began to scatter, escaping through the rain.

  "Old Eagle, kill him!"

  The storm poured in from outside while thunder exploded overhead. Wang Chong's gaze was like lightning, paying no attention to the other Hu. His eyes were locked on that slightly plump figure who had escaped the farthest, several dozen zhang away.

  Whether in his last life or this, whether he was at the height of his fame or still utterly obscure, Kang Yaluoshan had always been slippery, acting according to circumstances. If things didn't look right, he would always be the one to escape first and farthest.

  But unfortunately for him, Wang Chong had come for him today. No matter how crafty he was, he wouldn't escape today!

  Several dozen zhang away, the plump figure seemed to hear that order. He came to a sudden stop, but then he began to move faster, charging through the rain toward a warhorse.

  And the moment he began to run, a figure like a great eagle arced down from the dark sky.

  This was Old Eagle, in hot pursuit!

  And though Old Eagle was fast, another person was even faster. Rumble! There was a flash of light, and then the scene from before replayed. A saber energy, vast and resplendent, fiercely slashed through space, descending upon that plump figure in the distance.

  At the crucial moment, Li Siye had finally struck.