The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  “Heh.”

  Wang Chong chuckled as he ignored Ziyad. He had not brought an army to this place so that he could exchange pleasant conversation with Abu Muslim and Ziyad.

  Wang Chong turned to Bahram and said, “Great General Bahram, we can begin now.”

  “Understood!”

  Bahram somberly nodded, and then he gestured at a soldier behind him. The order was swiftly delivered.

  ______________1. This line is from the Zhuangzi, a Chinese philosophical text from the Warring States period. The full passage is ‘When the springs are dried up, the fishes collect together on the land. Than that they should moisten one another there by the damp about them, and keep one another wet by their slime, it would be better for them to forget one another in the rivers and lakes.’↩

  Chapter 1161 - Breaching Khorasan!

  Chapter 1161: Breaching Khorasan!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Wang Chong turned his gaze back to the walls of Khorasan, smiling as he squinted at the two figures standing there.

  “Abu Muslim, Ziyad, I’ve already given you a chance. Since you’re not willing to surrender, then I’ll do as you wish and have you live and die with this city!”

  With these words, Wang Chong closed his eyes and became motionless. The two hundred thousand soldiers behind him were also like sculptures, none of them showing any signs of movement. But this only made the pair standing on the wall even more uneasy. No one knew what Wang Chong was scheming.

  Abu Muslim turned to Ziyad. “Ziyad, check again. We can’t allow Samarkand to be repeated. The gates must be kept under strict watch. If any Sassanid tries to approach, they must be killed without question! In addition, has the news reached Baghdad? When will our reinforcements arrive?”

  Khorasan was the final gateway of the Arabian east. Once Khorasan was lost, the Arabian capital of Baghdad would be threatened. The two were only two-thousand-some kilometers from each other; only a few days would be needed to travel the distance. In the Arabian Empire’s history of constant conquest and expansion, this was the first time an enemy had ever gotten so close.

  This was the reason Abu Muslim had not continued to flee westward, instead choosing to remain in Khorasan.

  “I’ve already checked. All the city gates are under heavy guard. No mishaps will occur. The news has already reached Baghdad, but all the nobles in the capital are in panic.

  “In addition, in the previous battle, the forces of Cairo, Qutaybah’s northern war zone, and our own forces were deployed, and the eastern half of the empire has been essentially emptied out. There are no soldiers behind us that can be deployed. Although there are still other governors with their own armies, they wouldn’t be able to make it in time. The closest army would need at least half a month, and it doesn’t have many soldiers. Even if it managed to make it, it’s not guaranteed to be of much help,” Ziyad frankly reported.

  As he spoke, his gaze flitted over the vast sea of soldiers, a force of two hundred thousand soldiers made up of the Great Tang, Khorasan, and other factions. Every time he saw it, he felt a chill in his heart.

  When Arabia and the Great Tang had first begun to fight, the Tang army had only been one hundred and ten thousand, but now, the ranks of their army had swelled to an astonishing two hundred thousand. And all of these soldiers exuded abnormal strength, their bodies seething with killing intent as they stood arrayed outside the city.

  The rebels and survivors of old dynasties that he and Abu Muslim had failed to find were now borrowing the strength of the Great Tang to emerge from their hiding places. This was something Abu Muslim and Ziyad had never imagined.

  Abu Muslim’s heart sank upon hearing Ziyad’s report. At this time, he could only depend on himself.

  The only thought he had to comfort him was that as long as the gates stood, he still had time to wait for reinforcements.

  “It’s not right!”

  As he stared out the enemy, Abu Muslim’s eyes suddenly went wide, and a thought suddenly occurred to him.

  “There’s something strange! There must be something that we haven’t noticed. Ziyad, bring a group and examine the soldiers again. If you find any Khorasani spy, kill them on the spot!”

  Abu Muslim was treating every tree and bush as an enemy soldier, and he would prefer to kill a wrong soldier than let a potential spy go. Khorasan was simply too important. If it were lost, then even if he managed to survive, his fate would be little different from death.

  “But, Milord, if the Tang want to take Khorasan, they have to breach the walls. The gates are under our control, so how can they get in? And we’ve recruited thirty thousand militia. Even if there are spies in Khorasan, they will find it very difficult to shake our position. What are they going to do, drop from the sky?”

  “Drop from the sky?”

  Abu Muslim’s eyes widened at Ziyad’s last words. He seemed to grasp at something, but he couldn’t yet determine what it was. For a moment, time seemed to stop.

  As Abu Muslim was frozen in thought, a loud bang came from the southeast part of Khorasan. At that moment, numerous soldiers began to holler and shout.

  Buzz!

  The sounds of fighting caused Abu Muslim to tremble as if he had been struck by a lightning bolt. He had finally realized what was wrong! Wang Chong and his men might not be able to come in from the sky like birds, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t come out of the ground!

  Although the Tang weren’t familiar with this place and didn’t have the time to excavate a tunnel underneath the walls, the same could not be said of the Sassanids. And most importantly, this had once been the capital of the Sassanid Dynasty.

  “Damn it!”

  Abu Muslim’s face twisted and contorted, his hard and determined face instantly turning into a nasty grimace. He knew that he had still managed to underestimate Wang Chong.

  But by the time Abu Muslim could react, a roar came from outside the city. The motionless army of two hundred thousand soldiers gave heaven-shaking bellows, and as the pair of Arab commanders watched, they began to push out metal weapons from the rear.

  “Fire!”

  Su Hanshan swung his hand down, upon which these metal weapons hastily constructed by Zhang Shouzhi fired sharp metal anchors from long metallic tubes. Dingdingding! The sharp metal anchors, dragging out long ropes behind them, firmly stabbed into the walls.

  Flying Grapples!

  These were weapons that Zhang Shouzhi had ordered his craftsmen to create while on the westward march. Although time had been short, the grand craftsman Zhang Shouzhi had succeeded in creating many of these Flying Grapples.

  These objects had a very simple structure. All they required were formidable elastic force and firing power, which were no problem for someone who had studied the mysteries of ballistae. Discarding the more complicated components and leaving only the crucial parts had resulted in the Flying Grapples.

  “Go! Everyone, prepare to ascend and attack the walls!”

  With this order, countless soldiers began to climb up the ropes like monkeys, quickly ascending the walls.

  “Everyone, attack!”

  Clang! Bahram unsheathed the sharp Wootz Steel sword and thrust it into the air.

  The eight-thousand-some Aswaran Cataphracts charged into Khorasan through the tunnel that had been furtively excavated in the era of the Sassanid Dynasty.

  The imperial household of Khorasan and the Aswaran Cataphracts had used precisely this tunnel to escape from the Arabs and vanish without a trace. Now, it had become a vital tool in attacking the Arabs in Khorasan.

  “Hurry! Stop them!”

  “Hack off the anchors! Cut down the ropes! We can’t let them climb up!”

  On the high walls, the Arabs were in a state of panic. Everyone began to move, vigorously hacking at the Flying Grapples.

  “Hurry!”

  Abu Muslim furiously roared, both shocked and angered by this sight. Boom! Pitch-black
energy exploded out of his body. Clangclangclang! Ten-some sharp Flying Grapples were immediately pulverized.

  “Hahaha, Abu Muslim, there’s no need to waste your strength. You’ve already lost this battle!”

  Wang Chong loudly laughed, and then he stomped on the ground. The Stellar Energy in his body exploded with the roar of a dragon. An enormous golden dragon rapidly spiraled into the air, soaring toward the walls of Khorasan.

  Leaping Dragon Art!

  At his new level of cultivation, the same techniques displayed vastly different levels of power. The walls of Khorasan seemed to soar into the clouds and were almost impossible to jump up to, but things were different with Wang Chong’s Leaping Dragon Art.

  Bang! The moment the first Leaping Dragon Art’s energy was about spent and his speed began to slow, Wang Chong pressed his right foot against the back of his left foot. There was immediately a metallic boom, and a visible shockwave emerged from the bottom of Wang Chong’s foot. Relying on this repulsive power, Wang Chong once more spiraled into the sky as a golden dragon. Once, twice, thrice… In just a few seconds, before anyone could react, Wang Chong had appeared on the edge of Khorasan’s high walls.

  “Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art!” Wang Chong yelled in a cold and callous voice. At the same moment, a light more dazzling than the sun exploded from his body. In the blink of an eye, Wang Chong had become a fierce red sun that occupied half the sky of Khorasan.

  “Ah!”

  The moment this red blazing sun appeared, screams began to fill the air.

  On the walls, the surprised Arab soldiers felt the blood and energy pouring out of their bodies and surging into Wang Chong. Twenty to thirty of them that had been vigorously hacking at the Flying Grapples were immediately sucked dry and dropped to the ground.

  And this was far from the only effect of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art.

  “Milord, watch out!” Ziyad cried out in alarm. Even though Ziyad was doing his utmost to resist, his blood and energy were still escaping his control and being drawn away by the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art.

  And Abu Muslim was in almost exactly the same situation.

  Now that Wang Chong was a Great General and had reached the peak of this realm, his strength had risen to an inconceivable level. He was also extremely proficient in a variety of martial arts, and his mastery over the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art could make any expert tremble in fear. Even though Abu Muslim and Ziyad had recuperated the majority of their energy, they were still no match for Wang Chong.

  “Damn it!”

  Abu Muslim’s eyes twitched. Wang Chong had appeared too quickly, needing only a few seconds to appear on the walls.

  “Get out of my way!”

  Abu Muslim gathered up all the black energy around him and viciously flung it at Wang Chong. As he struck, he began to rapidly withdraw.

  In a ringing explosion, black and gold energy clashed in the air. The collision of Stellar Energy caused that powerful suction force to immediately vanish, and Abu Muslim’s stern resistance caused Wang Chong to tremble and fall from the wall.

  Chapter 1162 - Killing Ziyad!

  Chapter 1162: Killing Ziyad!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “Haha, Abu Muslim, it’s pointless. Even Qutaybah was killed. Do you really think you have the ability to exchange blows with me!”

  With a single thought from Wang Chong, the air for hundreds of feet around him was thrown into turmoil, all the air raging and churning under Wang Chong’s control. Wang Chong’s body also exploded with an immense suction power. By aiming at the thick walls of Khorasan, Wang Chong was able to pull himself back up the wall.

  “Great Destruction Art!”

  Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Chong used the strongest move of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art. The entire world seemed to become deathly still, and all light began to distort. From a distance, the walls of Khorasan seemed to have been plunged into darkness, and deep within this darkness was a most dreadful destructive energy.

  “Not good!”

  With a loud bellow, Abu Muslim and Ziyad both trembled, looks of extreme shock on their faces.

  “Ocean Ring!”

  “Asmodai’s Fury!”

  Enraged and dismayed, both of them used their strongest moves.

  Rumble!

  Three torrents of energy collided in the air, and then there was a mighty explosion. “Aaah!” Ziyad and Abu Muslim were both flung back, screaming. Meanwhile, Wang Chong flew up, flipping in the air before smoothly landing on the walls.

  Thudthudthud! The enormous power of the attack forced Abu Muslim to take six or seven steps back before he finally succeeded in stabilizing himself.

  Nearby, Ziyad’s chest trembled and he vomited blood. He raised his face and stared at Wang Chong as if a demon god had descended, his eyes tinged with despair. He knew that Wang Chong was strong, but not this strong. The two of them together were simply no match for him.

  “How could this be? How could a single person become this strong in such a short amount of time! There’s no one else like this Tang who can advance in power so quickly!”

  Ziyad could feel pain in every part of his body, and his eyes were ashen and lifeless. Everyone needed many months and years to advance from the basic level of Great General to the very summit, but Wang Chong had managed to achieve this astonishing transformation in just a few days.

  Even as he thought back to it, Ziyad still felt immense shock.

  All of this was enough to make anyone despair.

  “Abu Muslim, Ziyad, everything is over. Let this place be your end! Hand over your lives!”

  Wang Chong’s eyes were sharp, and his loud voice resounded to the horizon.

  Abu Muslim had been the one to start this war, for the sake of Arabia’s ambitions on the Great Tang. Now, it was time for this war to end with the two of them.

  Boom!

  A vast sea of Psychic Energy flew through the air, dividing into two and stabbing like spears into the minds of Abu Muslim and Ziyad. While these two were having their minds shaken, Wang Chong’s halo clattered and golden Stellar Energy erupted from his body. With a heaven-toppling momentum, he charged at Abu Muslim and Ziyad.

  Kacrack! Even before Wang Chong’s attack had landed, the sturdy walls beneath the pair began to groan and sink, cracks appearing across their surface. The entire city of Khorasan began to quake, completely incapable of enduring the power of this dreadful strike.

  “Run!”

  Even Abu Muslim and Ziyad paled at this strike. The strength Wang Chong had displayed had completely exceeded theirs. This was a strength that made them despair.

  Bang!

  Abu Muslim’s eyes gleamed with resolve, and he suddenly stomped down, shrouding himself in frenzied energy as he prepared to charge at Wang Chong. But just as Abu Muslim was prepared to move, an energy came from behind him and viciously pushed him back.

  “Milord, get out of here! I’ll cover for you!”

  Before Abu Muslim could react, Ziyad was already rushing at Wang Chong, his eyes streaked with blood and his face determined.

  He would not be able to escape. After so many battles, he had accumulated injuries far worse than Abu Muslim’s. Moreover, Ziyad knew that Wang Chong would never let him escape. In his current state, his chance of surviving was minuscule.

  Moreover, with Qutaybah, Aybak, and Osman dead, if even his commanding officer Abu Muslim died as well, then the Caliph would have no other choice than to execute him so that he could accompany all the other governors who had been killed in battle.

  “Milord, we’ve fought together for ten-some years. Milord has always taken care of me, so now, let me take care of Milord. At the very least, if Milord can survive, you will still have a chance to avenge me and Lord Qutaybah!”

  Ziyad’s hair was blown about by the fierce winds, and as he stared at Wang Chong, his hands clenched into fists.

  �
��Tang, come! Let’s fight to the death!”

  Ziyad howled, and then without the slightest hesitation, he threw out the Ocean Ring. Countless waves of black energy immediately began to converge on Wang Chong.

  “Not knowing your own strength!”

  Wang Chong coldly snorted.

  The golden light on his body surged, rumbling like a mighty wave as it shattered Ziyad’s attack with one blow. Clack! Before anyone else could react, Wang Chong had shot forward and wrapped his fingers around Ziyad’s neck, sealing off his Stellar Energy as he slowly raised him into the air.

  With the power of the Ocean Ring, Ziyad had a strength similar to Cheng Qianli in the form of the Supreme Desolation God. Seven or eight days ago, before Wang Chong had broken into the Imperial Great General level, Ziyad might have had a chance, but now, if Ziyad thought that he could contend against Wang Chong, he was truly naive.

  But to his surprise, the captured and doomed Ziyad cared little for his own fate or what danger he was in. He put all the strength in his body into a single heart-wrenching roar.

  “Milord, hurry and go!”

  This roar was like a thunderclap, shaking the souls of many and even startling Wang Chong. He had never imagined that there was actually a person like Ziyad amongst the pugnacious and fierce Arabs. At the final moment, he was not thinking of himself, but Abu Muslim, completely disregarding his own life.

  Fwoosh!

  The winds howled. A hundred-some feet away, Abu Muslim had been just preparing to charge at Wang Chong when he suddenly heard that roar. His body trembled while great waves tossed and turned in his mind.

  “Ziyad!”

  Abu Muslim ground his teeth so hard that they seemed on the verge of shattering.

  “Run!” Ziyad sternly said.

  “Kill!”

  At this time, the air resounded with the sounds of fighting, and close to Abu Muslim, a Great Tang soldier appeared, the first to scale the walls with a Flying Grapple. Behind him, more and more people were reaching the top of the walls.

  “Charge with me! Open the gates!”

  The city itself was also in chaos, weapons clanging against each other as more and more Khorasani entered Khorasan through the tunnel. The eight-thousand-some Aswaran Cataphracts that the Arabs had spent so much time searching for had appeared before them in a completely unexpected fashion and were now swiftly charging at the gates.