The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  On this night, many people went down the mountain.

  Just like Wang Chong, they all needed to go back for a spell. So many things had happened that it was necessary to give their clans an explanation.

  The once-packed Deflecting Blade Manor suddenly became quiet. Only the lonely lanterns remained, swaying in the cold wind.

  Coocoo!

  The sound of a nighthawk came from overhead, whistling through the wind as it flew to the mountain.

  "How much longer?"

  In the solitary darkness, Wang Chong stood at the edge of the summit, his hands behind his back as he surveyed the pitch-black mountains. The blowing of the winds ruffled his robes, making a snapping sound that made the atmosphere seem even colder.

  "The Imperial Army has already begun to move, and even the Court of Judicial Review has dispatched troops over here. I have even heard that there is activity in the palace…"

  Old Eagle's apprehensive voice came out of the gloom.

  He was standing close to Wang Chong, the nighthawk that had just flown down perched on his shoulder. He threw the white paper he had just finished reading into the air, where it broke into pieces and was blown away by the wind.

  Impulse had a price to pay. A significant number of Hu had died in Drunken Sparrow restaurant, and no small number of Youzhou soldiers had died in that courtyard on the edge of the capital.

  This was a large incident, an armed military clash, that had taken place at the feet of the Son of Heaven, in the very capital of the empire. It had even involved a major general of the border, Zhang Shougui. The Imperial Army and Court of Judicial Review could not act like they were blind.

  Before the battle, one could say that these factions had been caught off guard. But now that the dust had settled… there was no doubt that these people were coming to arrest Wang Chong.

  "In addition, the Chamberlain of Dependencies are also sending people. They might arrive even faster than the others!"

  With these last words, a dark cloud seemed to settle over Old Eagle's face.

  This was not Wang Chong's first conflict with the Chamberlain of Dependencies. This incident originally had nothing to do with the Chamberlain of Dependencies.

  But a great number of Hu had been injured or killed, and some powerful Hu merchants of the capital had been among them. This just so happened to be under the scope of the Chamberlain of Dependencies.

  The Chamberlain of Dependencies had a unique status and enormous authority. And it wasn't like it hadn't wanted to deal with Wang Chong for a while. In the past, however, the influence of the Wang Clan and Wang Chong's prudence had not given them any chances, leaving them helpless against him.

  But this time…

  Wang Chong had delivered himself to them!

  Wang Chong's expression was calm, and there wasn't much surprise to be found on his face.

  Everything had its price. Before starting this operation, he had already known what the consequences would be. It wasn't his first time facing imprisonment.

  But Wang Chong was not afraid.

  If Wang Chong craved wealth and rank, he would be afraid. If Wang Chong lusted for life and feared death, he would be afraid. But as someone who had lived twice, Wang Chong had already seen through all these things.

  He had appeared here for one goal, one reason.

  'I am willing to give my life for the good of the country, or is it that one should flee in the face of disaster and approach in times of blessing1?' This was a saying from the other world that Wang Chong had come from, a saying that Wang Chong used to console himself.

  Thus, Wang Chong didn't care who came, whether it was the Court of Judicial Review or the Chamberlain of Dependencies. His true concerns had never been on these things.

  Wang Chong waved his hand and leisurely said, "I understand. In a little while, whether it's the Court of Judicial Review or the Chamberlain of Dependencies that shows up, don't stop them. Just let them come in."

  "This… Yes, Young Master."

  Old Eagle clenched his teeth and finally lowered his head.

  Wang Chong said no more. The howling of the winds could be heard in the darkness. This wind seemed to upset the stars and also upset Wang Chong's mind.

  Walking along the back of the mountain, Wang Chong slowly and aimlessly descended. The operation to kill An Yaluoshan had failed. After today, he would have to carefully organize his thoughts and contemplate what he should do in the future.

  If he didn't clear things up, Wang Chong would never be able to calm his heart.

  ……

  Time slowly passed. Wang Chong walked alone through the mountains, not letting a single person follow him.

  Without his noticing, the skies in the east gradually began to whiten. Wang Chong thought that he would keep being like this until he reached the bottom of the mountain, yet events took a completely different and unexpected turn.

  Coocoo!

  The strange call of a bird, different from any other sound in these mountains, disrupted the tranquility of the mountains and broke Wang Chong's train of thought.

  Wang Chong frowned and inadvertently looked up. In the overcast sky, Wang Chong glanced toward the southwest, where a massive bird was flying like a lightning bolt toward him.

  This massive bird was like some mixture of hawk and sparrow. It was covered in golden feathers, and was at least double the size of a normal hawk.

  The most striking part of it was the two red fiery-red rings on its legs.

  Buzz!

  The sight of those red rings caused Wang Chong's hazy eyes to suddenly blaze as he came back to his senses.

  An extremely bad feeling welled up in his heart. Wang Chong's entire body became agitated, all drowsiness dispelled.

  Wang Chong recognized that bird.

  It was a hybrid of an eagle and a magpie that originated from the Gobi Desert in the Western Regions. It had a fierce personality and possessed incredible speed. It was capable of hunting down gyrfalcons, birds that reigned at the top of the hierarchy of the skies.

  Wang Chong had seen it with Old Eagle before.

  But none of that was important. The important thing was that this 'Eagle King' that Old Eagle had spent countless hours training had been sent by Wang Chong half a year ago to Solitary Wolf, to the southwest of the empire.

  This Eagle King was extremely fierce and powerful, so it could break through an aerial blockade of gyrfalcons. As a result, when Wang Chong sent it to Solitary Wolf, his orders had been clear.

  The Eagle King could not be dispatched unless the information was absolutely critical, the situation extremely perilous.

  As a result, even though Solitary Wolf had the Eagle King with him all this time, he had never used it. The normal information had been sent through ordinary channels.

  This Eagle King appearing here meant only one thing: the southwest had experienced an upheaval of epic proportions.

  "How could this be… My orders were clear, so why did he use this bird?"

  Wang Chong's brows furrowed in thought as a terrible foreboding gripped his heart.

  Hwoom!

  While Wang Chong was in deep thought, the winds howled. The Eagle King, its eyes sharp and bright, flapped its giant golden wings and slowed itself as it descended toward Wang Chong.

  Wang Chong subconsciously extended an arm.

  Boom!

  The world quaked as an icy and dreadful voice resounded in Wang Chong's mind.

  "User has lived for one year and has accumulated over 400 points of Destiny Energy. 'Mission: Trial of Destiny' officially begins. Upon completion of the mission, user will receive the new title of 'Controller of Destiny'. In addition, user's ability to survive, ability to resist the World Constraint, and ability to rule fate will be greatly boosted. At the same time, a new set of rewards will be unlocked.

  "Mission failure will result in death and the search for a new user!"

  Boom! This voice of warning jolted Wang Chong's mind, but before he c
ould even think, crash! Countless bloody lights surged into his vision.

  The entire world before Wang Chong's eyes seemed to be shrouded in a curtain of blood, everything dyed a thick red.

  At the same time, countless images began to surge toward him like waves…

  ______________

  1. This saying comes from a poem by Lin Zexu, an official of the Qing Dynasty who was notable for his staunch opposition to opium. His attempts to end the illegal trading of opium triggered the First Opium War, with disastrous consequences for the Qing Dynasty. For his failures in this conflict, Lin Zexu was exiled to Xinjiang. Before taking leave of his wife at Xi'an, he wrote the poem from which this line was sourced, expressing his love for his country.

  Chapter 462: Upheaval (II)

  Chapter 462: Upheaval (II)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  "The Trial of Destiny, mission contents:

  "'When Zhuan Zhu assassinated King Liao, a comet streaked across the moon. When Nie Zheng assassinated Han Gui, a white ray of light shot toward the sun1.' The collapse of an empire does not occur in a single day. The signs of its end are visible…!"

  Boom!

  In an instant, a scene drenched in bloody light unfurled before Wang Chong, countless illusions assailing him. With a rumble, a massive land stretched out in front of Wang Chong.

  The Central Plains!

  Although this was his first time seeing it all at once, Wang Chong was absolutely confident.

  But then there was a rumble. The sky fell over the southeast while the earth sank in the northwest, and right before Wang Chong's eyes, the southwest quaked and sundered as a bloody light soared into the sky. In a flash, it transformed into a roaring flame that swept from the southwest to engulf the entirety of the Central Plans.

  In just a few seconds, all of this enormous land had transformed into a blazing sea of fire.

  "Aaaaah!"

  As the earth sank, Wang Chong could hear a scream of misery in his ears, almost tearing apart his eardrums. One scream became ten, then hundreds, thousands… countless.

  Crash! Boom! Countless buildings collapsed while fire and smoke scorched the land. Corpses, countless corpses: old, young, strong, infants, woman, men… tens of thousands of corpses were piled up in the thick smoke and fire. Mountains of corpses stretched as far as he could see, covering all of the earth.

  Thick blood surged between these corpse mountains, gushing like rivers to cover all of the Central Plains.

  Wang Chong heard countless clashes of metal, saw an endless horde of foreign cavalry and war banners reigning freely over the Central Plains!

  The sky was dyed red and the earth was sinking…

  In the final scene, Wang Chong saw countless white bones floating in a sea of blood while dragon banners toppled amidst thick fire and smoke.

  This mighty empire that had prospered for almost three hundred years, the culture of the Central Plains that had flourished for more than three thousand years, had all become ash…

  Hwoooo!

  The rushing of air made Wang Chong open his eyes. In the sky, that massive golden Eagle King had only just landed on his arm.

  "The development of any incident has clues that can be sought. Growth and decline, birth and destruction, the replacement of any empire and the life and death of any culture has an underlying context.

  "When the southwest collapsed, the entire earth fell with it, and an empire that lasted for more than three hundred years expended its last bit of strength. Under the light of the setting sun, it toppled to the ground. 'Qin lost the deer and all the world pursued it2.' The god of death walked the earth, and the horn already blares. When a massive beast falls to the ground, it attracts a pack of starving beasts!

  "This is the final chance. Either salvage this war or descend into the abyss of death and meet your destruction!

  "The Trial of Destiny: 'The Empire's Dirge' begins!"

  ……

  When the golden Eagle King was folding its wings and standing on Wang Chong's arm, the voice of the Stone of Destiny was finally fading from Wang Chong's mind.

  As he looked at the Eagle King, Wang Chong felt a chill assailing him, a hand of unprecedented cold seizing his heart.

  The Nanzhao War!

  That sonorous voice of warning in Wang Chong's mind made Wang Chong think of only one thing.

  Only the Nanzhao War in the southwest could correspond to the warnings from the Stone of Destiny. But how could that be? Wasn't the Nanzhao war still half a year away?

  Why was it happening now? He found it impossible to accept.

  "No, no, it can't be!"

  With this final sliver of hope, Wang Chong opened the metal tube tied to the Eagle King's leg.

  The metal tube contained a wrinkled letter, the words hastily written. It was clear that the letter had been composed under very pressing circumstances.

  There were even a few spots of blood.

  But Wang Chong was able to recognize the writer of this letter at a glance. It was Solitary Wolf's writing. He had already seen a great deal of this handwriting through Old Eagle's reports.

  'For Young Master Chong: Sent by Solitary Wolf

  'According to Young Master's orders, upon entering the southwest, your subordinate interacted many times with Zhang Qiantuo, the Governor of Jiange… The situation has changed, the southwest is in dire peril…'

  The letter here was smudged with many charcoal smears. It was like this letter had been written next to the stove of some commoner's home.

  'The wife and daughter of King Geluofeng of Mengshe Zhao entered Jiange… According to Young Master's orders, I closely monitored Zhang Qiantuo's son, yet there was nothing suspicious about Zhang Qiantuo's son…

  'Geluofeng's wife and daughter lingered for fifteen days!

  'Everything was normal. Your subordinate did not think anything would happen!

  'Fifteen days later, your subordinate entered the governor's mansion to visit Zhang Qiantuo. Zhang was not there… The maids were dead, Zhang Qiantuo's son had been killed, and corpses were lying all over the mansion… Geluofeng's wife and daughter were killed, the throats of their guards shattered… How! It was too sudden! How could this be!

  'The governor's mansion was set ablaze… Leaving the governor's mansion, your subordinate discovered that black-clothed strangers were roaming about. They were extremely powerful. Your subordinate was not their match!

  'Mengshe Zhao attacked the city, breaking through the walls! Following Young Master's orders, your subordinate promptly returned to the governor's mansion. Zhang Qiantuo had returned to the mansion and was preparing to commit suicide. Your subordinate rescued Zhang Qiantuo, but was suddenly assailed by a large number of black-clothed individuals. Your subordinate was heavily wounded…'

  The writing grew increasingly sloppy the further Wang Chong read, and many words were indistinguishable smudges. Apparently affected by his injuries, Solitary Wolf was writing whatever came to his mind.

  "It's Solitary Wolf's blood!"

  Wang Chong suddenly understood that the specks of blood on the paper were Solitary Wolf's blood. Wang Chong had been paying close attention to the affairs of the southwest all this time, so before Solitary Wolf left, he had ordered Solitary Wolf to report all details concerning Zhang Qiantuo, no matter how trivial.

  Solitary Wolf had been injured and events had happened too suddenly, so it was impossible to write everything down. Thus, he could only write whatever came to mind.

  '…Other than the Great Tang and the Mengshe Zhao, there was a third faction in the city. Your subordinate personally witnessed them slaughtering the Mengshe Zhao cavalry! The city began to burn, and there were corpses everywhere…

  'The black-clothed individuals were searching for Zhang Qiantuo all over. They spoke not a word. They completely ignored me, and all their attacks were aimed at Zhang Qiantuo. It was like they would only be happy if they could leave with Zhang Qiantuo's b
ody… Your subordinate does not understand. If they wanted to kill Zhang Qiantuo, they had plenty of opportunities when Zhang Qiantuo was preparing to commit suicide in the governor's mansion. Why did they not strike then?

  '…Zhang Qiantuo is still unconscious and has already swallowed the medicine provided by Young Master. There are too many puzzling matters. The carrier pigeon sent out this morning was caught. No information can get out of the city, due to the black-clothed individuals!

  'The situation is urgent. The Mengshe Zhao cavalry are prowling through the city. Fortunately, following Young Master's orders, your subordinate had prepared a secret passage.

  'Those people have not relented in their pursuit. There is a danger of being discovered at any moment. There was no chance to send news! No chance to send news…

  'Tomorrow will be the final attempt. Young Master, be at ease. Your subordinate will not fail his mission. Governor Zhang will be sent out!'

  ……

  The letter stopped here.

  Everything was beyond doubt.

  The Nanzhao War!

  It truly was the Nanzhao War!

  Wang Chong's last sliver of hope was quashed and his heart was a block of ice. And behind this ice was unprecedented panic, impatience, and unease!

  There was nothing in front of Wang Chong, yet thunderous explosions were ringing at his ears. Wang Chong felt like he was seeing the southwest region of the empire sinking into the earth, collapsing, flames soaring into the heavens. An intense sense of danger was assailing him, choking the breath out of him!

  "Why is it like this? Why? Why…?" Wang Chong muttered to himself, his mind in complete disarray.

  As the day gradually brightened, Wang Chong felt like he could hear the gate of the capital slowly opening in the distance. Peace was still being celebrated with singing and dancing within the capital, and other than him, no one understood what the empire was facing at this very moment.

  An Yaluoshan's assassination had already failed, but Wang Chong had never expected the Nanzhao War to begin almost immediately afterward.

  ______________