The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen wanted to say more, but An Yaluoshan cut them off.

  “Enough. Gao Shang only gave me advice on this matter. I was still the one who made the decision. I am determined to head to the capital, so there is no need for the two of you to say any more!” An Yaluoshan declared with iron resolve.

  “Yes, Your Excellency!”

  When An Yaluoshan spoke, the two finally lowered their heads and said no more.

  Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen quickly withdrew, leaving only An Yaluoshan and Gao Shang in the hall.

  “Gao Shang, I leave this journey to the capital to you. Make sure everything goes right,” An Yaluoshan said.

  “Yes!” Gao Shang replied, and reverentially bowed.

  An Yaluoshan nodded and quickly left the hall. Outside, a man had been waiting for some time.

  “Did you find her?” An Yaluoshan said.

  “Milord, we found her on the plain at the base of the holy mountain. Everything is ready,” the man respectfully said.

  There was a conflicted look in An Yaluoshan’s eyes. He quickly mounted the prepared horse and rode toward the northwest, soon vanishing without a trace.

  ……

  A day went by in the blink of an eye.

  Deep in the night, amidst the lush grasslands of the steppe, an imposing mountain loomed, its dark figure like a coiled beast, its peak shrouded in the clouds.

  Mount Yaluo!

  This majestic mountain was one of the holy mountains of the Turks, and it was the origin of An Yaluoshan’s name.

  Several hundred years ago, when the Eastern Turkic and Western Turkic Khaganate did not exist, a single Great Turkic Khaganate spanned the steppe. At the time, Mount Yaluo had been the supreme holy mountain, the Mountain of the War God.

  (TN: Yaluoshan, or Zhaluoshan, was apparently the name of an ancient Turkic war god, but there exists no other details about this god.)

  But later on, as the Turks declined, their empire splintered, with both the Eastern Turks and Western Turks claiming that they were the right and proper successor and establishing their own holy mountains. The Western Turkic Khaganate declared Mount Sanmi to be its holy mountain while the Eastern Turkic Khaganate declared Otuken to be its holy mountain. As for the original Mountain of the War God, it gradually fell from prominence.

  From a distance, Mount Yaluo was dark, lit by only a few scattered bonfires. If one carefully listened, one could hear human voices from the mountain. These were some nomadic Turkic warriors who were still protecting this fallen holy mountain.

  But even so, Mount Yaluo was far from reaching the level of Mount Sanmi or Otuken.

  An Yaluoshan quickly dismounted. After glancing at the small and round bronze token in his hand, he quickly began to make his way toward the mountain.

  All was quiet and serene on the mountain, but before An Yaluoshan could get very far, two figures emerged out of the darkness to bar his path.

  “Halt! Stranger, leave at once!”

  “This is not a place you should be! Leave!”

  These men wore black robes and black scarves around their faces, Their voices were low and hoarse, and their threatening growls were strange and frightening.

  ”I’ve come to see Moyeshi,” An Yaluoshan sternly said, immediately flashing that round token to the pair.

  The two were shocked to see the round token, one of them even hastily getting down on his knees and bowing.

  “Ah, I see… Please, follow me. Moyeshi is waiting!”

  After saying this, that man quickly turned around and began to guide An Yaluoshan.

  About midway up the mountain, they stopped in front of a large tent. The man got down on his knees and did not dare to go any farther, a look of awe and respect on his face.

  “We’re here. The honored High Priest is inside. Please enter!”

  In Turkic, Moyeshi meant ‘High Priest’, and it was the highest of the priests, a female priest who venerated the gods. And if this man really was that child, he did not dare to continue even thinking about him. This level of existence was not something they could ever fathom.

  It was brightly lit outside the tent. There was a large fire burning within a basin inside the tent, casting an indistinct shadow onto the walls.

  An Yaluoshan stood at the entrance with a complicated expression. After a few moments of silence, he took in a deep breath and pushed past the tent flap.

  All was quiet inside the tent.

  An Yaluoshan immediately saw a massive fire basin upon coming in.

  In front of the fire basin was a massive, white ox head. All of the skin and flesh had rotted away long ago, leaving only the skull.

  The two empty and black eye sockets were aimed right at the entrance, right at An Yaluoshan, giving him an indescribably bizarre sensation.

  An Yaluoshan’s eyes flickered for a moment, but he quickly looked past the skull and fire basin, toward the figure standing in the back of the tent.

  This person had their back to An Yaluoshan. Their body was hunched into a ball, and they wore a spacious black robe that concealed their true figure.

  Youzhou was at a critical juncture, but An Yaluoshan had put aside his plans for the time being, not even telling Gao Shang where he was going, and had come to the distant Mount Yaluo. All of this seemed eerie and strange.

  But An Yaluoshan knew that this place was extremely important to him.

  Chapter 1983 - The Riddle of Birth!

  Chapter 1983: The Riddle of Birth!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “You…”

  An Yaluoshan’s eyes flickered, and after a long silence, he finally asked his question.

  “You are my mother?”

  The air in the tent seemed to pulse as An Yaluoshan asked this question.

  As the future master of the Central Plains, the future true dragon, the one known by the Celestial God Organization as the ‘Child of the World’, and the ‘Your Excellency’ that Cui Qianyou and the others served, An Yaluoshan had always had an ambition to swallow the Central Plains and destroy the Great Tang.

  But deep in his heart, An Yaluoshan had also always had a small and selfish desire: to find his mother.

  He had been abandoned as a child, and his only proof of identity was the round bronze token that had been worn around his neck, the name ‘Yaluoshan’, and a paper slip that said, ‘When the time has come, I will appear before you again.’

  An Yaluoshan had always kept these objects by his side and memorized the words.

  He had attempted before to investigate his background, but there had never been any clues, and after countless disappointments, he forgot about the matter.

  But several days ago, to his surprise, he suddenly found a letter with the brand of that bronze token upon it. All it said was this:

  ‘The time has come! Come to Mount Yaluo!’

  All of his memories were recalled at that moment, and An Yaluoshan’s heart once more began to waver.

  The tent was quiet. An Yaluoshan stared at that hunched figure, his heart filled with anticipation.

  After a long silence, a voice finally spoke. “The Child of God… has no mother!”

  It was a hoarse and discordant voice, like two pieces of metal being rubbed together. It was both incredibly old and indescribably unpleasant.

  An Yaluoshan immediately frowned, but he suppressed his discomfort and continued with his questions.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Hoohoohoo, just as I said, you are the son of a god, the blood of the war god left behind in the mortal world. How could you have a mother?”

  The figure gave a cold and sinister laugh, like the cry of an owl in the night. Finally, that figure turned around.

  “Ah!”

  Even though An Yaluoshan had prepared himself, the sight of that figure still made him tremble in shock and take several steps back.

  The figure behind the fire basin had a face like tree bark,
thickly covered in wrinkles. It was a sinister-looking old woman who had to be at least seventy years old.

  But most shocking of all was her eyes. Just like that ox skull, she only had two empty eye sockets, a pitch-black void where her eyes should have been.

  An Yaluoshan swallowed and hoarsely asked, “Y-you are my mother?”

  He had had all kinds of theories, but he had never imagined that his mother would be an old granny in her seventies.

  “Kekeke, Child of God, how could you think such a thing? I am just a useless old granny. How could I be the mother of the Child of God? I am merely someone Moyeshi sent to wait for you here.”

  The elderly female shaman eerily laughed.

  “Then where is my mother?”

  An Yaluoshan’s brow creased.

  That black-robed man had said that Moyeshi was waiting inside, and he had also believed that the one inside was his mother. But this was seemingly not the case.

  “Hoohoo, if the Child of God wishes to see her, you naturally will, but not now,” the elderly shaman said.

  “The time has not come? Then why did you have me come here?”

  An Yaluoshan’s eyes narrowed and his voice chilled. The excitement he had felt when leaving the Andong Protectorate headquarters faded, and he immediately lost interest in these mysterious worshipers.

  “Hoohoo, although I am not Moyeshi, I can tell you everything you wish to know. In addition, Child of God, if you wish to see her, you will naturally see her on the day your mission is complete.”

  The female shaman strangely laughed again.

  An Yaluoshan fell silent. The dancing flames in the fire basin illuminated his plump face, creating patches of light and shadow that concealed An Yaluoshan’s thoughts.

  “Why did you abandon me, and after so many years, why did you contact me?” An Yaluoshan finally said.

  He found this old shaman extremely unpleasant, but this was his only clue to finding his mother. Most importantly… even if this woman wasn’t her, he needed to ask that long-buried question.

  He needed to know the answer!

  “Hoohoo, as expected, this is what you want to know the most?”

  The old shaman laughed, her empty eyes turning to an empty part of the tent. A few moments later, the old shaman gave the answer.

  “This is your fate! All of this was arranged by God, was what you needed to experience! If you were not abandoned, how could you become the Andong Protector-General of the Great Tang, and how could you attain your current status and return to the Mountain of Yaluo?!

  “Your experiences endowed you with immense strength—is that not so?”

  An Yaluoshan’s brow furrowed, but he could not retort. This was not the answer he wanted to hear, but it was true. If not for all that he had experienced, he would have never reached his current status.

  “You said that God arranged a mission for me. What god, and what mission?” An Yaluoshan sternly said.

  “Keke!”

  The female shaman gave a bizarre laugh, but a split-second later, the smile vanished, and her face turned grim.

  “Do you not already know the answer?”

  An Yaluoshan was taken aback, his brow creasing. But he seemed to realize something, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

  “Since she is not here, why did you call me? If there is nothing, I will take my leave,” An Yaluoshan coldly said, quickly regaining his composure.

  Since he could not get the answers he wanted, he had no reason to tarry here.

  “Hoohoo, we naturally had reasons for the Child of God to come.”

  The shaman’s face turned strange and mysterious.

  “Moyeshi has divined that a danger has recently appeared in your destiny. If all is as predicted, you are probably about to go very far away from this place.”

  Whoosh!

  An Yaluoshan had already turned to leave, but when he heard this, his body trembled and his feet stopped.

  “Kekeke, so it was right. Moyeshi said that you will encounter the greatest enemy of your life, and to carelessly go over as you are is not a wise decision. Moyeshi has prepared something for you, and she says that it will be of great assistance.”

  The old shaman ended the suspense. Her shriveled claw of a hand reached into her robes, and when it emerged, it held a bronze sphere.

  An Yaluoshan’s eyes widened when he looked at the sphere. Mysterious black inscriptions had been carved onto the sphere, and the sphere exuded halos of bizarre light.

  Even though he didn’t know what it was, An Yaluoshan sensed that it was bursting with mysterious high-level energy.

  This object was clearly extraordinary!

  Such was An Yaluoshan’s instinctive judgment.

  “Hoohoohoo, take it!”

  With her strange laugh, the female shaman threw over the bronze sphere.

  Time seemed to slow to a crawl as An Yaluoshan’s eyes tracked the bronze sphere. Almost as if he was drawn to it, he instinctively reached out.

  “So heavy!”

  This was An Yaluoshan’s first sensation.

  “What immense energy!”

  An Yaluoshan almost immediately sensed a strange energy surging into his body with a life of its own.

  This energy unexpectedly shared the same origin as his own energy. Without any further refinement, An Yaluoshan could absorb this energy and use it as if it were his own.

  “This…”

  An Yaluoshan’s mind was stifled, and he raised his hand to ask the old shaman more questions. But to his shock, he discovered that the tent was now empty, the old shaman gone.

  The female shaman had simply disappeared.

  “How could this be?”

  An Yaluoshan was shaken, his mind in disbelief.

  There should have been no place for the old shaman to hide in this tent, and the tent showed no signs of damage. How could she have so mysteriously vanished, and how had he not noticed despite being so close?

  After a few moments of silence, An Yaluoshan left the tent with the bronze sphere.

  It was dark outside the tent. If he carefully listened, he could still hear the voices of the Turkic warriors.

  An Yaluoshan walked over to where he had encountered those black-robed men, but there was no one there now. They had all withdrawn at some point.

  Only the empty tent midway up the mountain served as evidence that none of this had been an illusion.

  “First it was the Child of the World, and now, it’s the Child of God, and some sort of divine mission… I, An Yaluoshan, am a chess piece for no man. I will do what I want, and execute my own mission. No one will control me.”

  An Yaluoshan raised his head and laughed at the darkness, and then he strode away like a shooting star.

  It was almost daybreak, and it was time to return to the Andong Protectorate headquarters.

  ……

  Several days went by. In the main hall of the Andong Protectorate headquarters, An Yaluoshan sat on his throne, staring into the distance as if he was waiting for someone.

  A gust of wind blew past, and suddenly, there were three puffs of smoke that manifested into three people. Their leader was a man wearing a white mask, and where the eyes should have been were two runes like wriggling tadpoles. This man with the bizarre mask was one of the leaders of the men in black, Genesis Supreme.

  The two men flanking him were clearly his followers.

  “Are you ready?” Genesis Supreme said.

  “We can leave at any time,” An Yaluoshan coldly said, his expression unperturbed.

  Chapter 1984 - Gathering at the Capital!

  Chapter 1984: Gathering at the Capital!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “Very good! We devoted all our strength to assisting you, so now, it is time for you to serve us!”Genesis Supreme extended a hand, and a bronze box covered in exquisite inscriptions appeared in it.“During your audience, I hope that you can offer the object within
to the Great Tang’s Sage Emperor. Relax; it is of no danger to you. It will only have a very small effect on the situation in the Central Plains. If you succeed, the time it will take for you to dominate the realm will greatly decrease, and you will become the True Dragon, Son of Heaven, all the faster!” Genesis Supreme sternly said.“Even if it were a little dangerous, it would be fine. But you are sure that this thing will work?” An Yaluoshan said.He did not need to open the box or ask any detailed questions to roughly guess at his aim.Only if the Sage Emperor died would he have a chance to replace the dragon. In this aspect, both sides shared the same goal.Genesis Supreme simply chuckled in reply.An Yaluoshan understood and said no more.“There is one last matter. That one known to you as the Child of Destruction—every day he lives is another day that I will find it hard to reach my desire…” An Yaluoshan said.“Hahaha, be at ease. Although we have no way of entering the capital, if you are outside of the capital, we can guarantee your safety. As for within the capital, you are currently the Andong Protector-General, a major border official with an imperial decree. Not even he would dare to recklessly move against you. With your abilities, you should be able to easily deal with him,” Genesis Supreme said.On his throne, An Yaluoshan finally cracked a smile. He had been waiting for exactly these words.“Give the box to me. Tomorrow, I will set out. You may rest easy knowing that I will deliver your ‘precious’ smoothly into the Sage Emperor’s hands,” An Yaluoshan said, an eerie light in his eyes.Dragon Qi!This was his true objective.He was not merely going to deliver a gift.……Twenty-some days flew by in the blink of an eye, and it was soon time for the feast of all countries. While the Great Tang was rich and powerful, never before had it held such a sumptuous feast of all countries.The feast had yet to begin, but the entire Imperial City was already festooned with bright lanterns and streamers, awash with a joyous mood.The Battle of Talas, the war of the northwest, the Youzhou war…These wars had all left the Tang people panicked and uneasy, but now, they were all in the past. The grandiosity of the feast of all countries calmed their minds, and standing at the entrance of any tavern in the capital, one could see the streets packed with people and carriages.With this unprecedented feast nigh, everyone in the capital was dressed in their best attire.The taverns, tea houses, inns, and restaurants had all hung up large red lanterns and brightly-colored silk banners.And at the city gates, carriages from the various countries had lined up as they waited for entry.These carriages were also decorated with silk streamers, and beautiful lanterns hung from their roofs. Inside the carriages were various treasures and letters of good will the countries had prepared to offer to the Great Tang.The Sage Emperor of the Great Tang had announced to the world that he was holding a feast of all countries, and almost all the countries, except those in the most remote corners of the world, had sent emissaries, including a significant number of Princes and Princesses. Even those small countries bordering Arabia had sent Princes, Princesses, generals, and high officials.While the world was vast, when it came to wealth and military power, no one could surpass the Great Tang after the war of the northwest.This was the true hegemon of the world!But unlike the Arabian Empire, the Great Tang had a much softer touch. This was also why all of these various kingdoms had seized this moment to come with their precious gifts.This was the best opportunity to get on good terms with the Great Tang and the Sage Emperor, and the best way to avoid an invasion.At the western gate, a puzzled voice came out of a carriage pulled by four highland steeds. “Great General, this feast is just for the Great Tang Emperor to flaunt the strength of his country. Is there really a need for us to travel so far to deliver this state letter to their capital?”After a moment of silence in the carriage, a deep and gruff voice replied, “Your Highness, we currently have no choice but to come. The moment the Great Tang’s Son of Heaven made his announcement, if all the other countries came with their best while our Ü-Tsang sent no one or only ordinary emissaries, how would the Great Tang treat us?”Inside the carriage was a muscular figure, his cheeks carrying the characteristic highland blush. This was none other than the last Great General of the Ü-Tsang Empire, Namri Songtian.Next to him was a young man, and while his actions were rather timid, his opulent attire was evidence of his unusual status.This was the Second Prince of Ü-Tsang, Mangri Rinda.The last time Ü-Tsang had sent an emissary, it had been Dusong Mangpoje, and with him had been the First Prince, not the Second Prince.But Dusong Mangpoje had been slain at the Battle of Talas, and as for the First Prince, he had deeply offended Wang Chong on his visit to the capital and had been taught a sharp lesson by him.Ü-Tsang naturally did not dare to send the First Prince at this time, so it could only send its Second Prince.In the carriage, Mangri Rinda fell silent at Namri Songtian’s words.The power of the Great Tang was at its peak now that Arabia had been vanquished. Meanwhile, Ü-Tsang was weak and drained. If it offended the Great Tang at this juncture, giving it any sort of pretext, the consequences would be unimaginable.When the roof was too low, one had no other choice but to lower their head.For the first time, Mangri Rinda felt a stifling oppressiveness.“If we don’t want to offend the Great Tang and become everyone’s enemy, we have to come. But we haven’t come this time merely to deliver the official letter. You should have heard those stories about the Great Tang’s Sage Emperor, yes?” Namri Songtian said.“Yes!”Mangri Rinda restricted himself to one word, not daring to say more.“In the past, the Great Tang’s Sage Emperor was wise and powerful, but now, he seems like a completely different person. Past sovereigns of the Central Plains and sovereigns of other countries might have been willing to hold this sort of grandiose feast of all countries, but that man would never do such a thing! There’s something strange going on here. His Majesty sent us both to get on good terms with the Great Tang and also investigate the situation in the Great Tang.“Alas, the Great Tang is simply too powerful right now. Otherwise, we really might have been able to exploit this opportunity.”Namri Songtian deeply sighed.In any other dynasty, the news of this sort of Emperor in the Central Plains that loved to feast and make merry would immediately prompt Ü-Tsang to invade. But now, until it knew the truth, Ü-Tsang did not dare to act recklessly.The carriage soon fell quiet, with only deep sighs suffused with an indescribable melancholy.It was not just this Tibetan Great General arriving at the capital.In a tavern in the western part of the city, a middle-aged Hu man leaned against the railing, looking down at the festive capital.“All these countries are coming to pay respects to the Emperor! Such magnificence!”The Turkic middle-aged man derisively smirked.“Great General, many important figures have come to the capital this time,” a Turkic youth next to Wunu Shibi said. “Ü-Tsang, Mengshe Zhao, the kingdoms of the Western Regions and even farther west, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, and even Goguryeo, who the Great Tang just had a war with, have all sent generals and high officials.”“When the Sage Emperor calls an audience, who would dare to not come?! Yeon Gaesomun doesn’t want to see his country crushed, so he would naturally send an emissary,” Wunu Shibi jeered.“But if it was merely to have an audience with the Sage Emperor, there would be no need to send so many officials. I feel like there’s something else going on with this feast!”“Haha, if First Prince is able to sense this, then perhaps His Majesty was right about you!”Wunu Shibi chuckled as he flicked over a slip of paper that was the width of two fingers.“This is an intelligence report we received recently. First Prince, please take a look.”“Ah?”The First Prince of the Western Turkic Khaganate, Irbis Shiyun, was astonished.The slip of paper was covered in information, and as he looked down to glance at it, he trembled in shock.“How could this be? The new Andong Protector-General is in conflict with the King of Foreign Lands!”Irbis Shiyun was in disbelief. The Tang Empire was at the height of its power, and its two most dazzling general stars, the ascendant An Yaluoshan of the northeast and the conqueror of Arabia, Wang Chong, were both deeply favored by the Great Tang’s Son of Heaven.An Yaluoshan was particularly favored. It was said that this feast of all countries was being hel
d for him.It was unthinkable that these two crucial figures of the Tang Empire had once fought with each other!“Ha, who says it can’t be true?” countered Wunu Shibi. “This news came out not too long ago, but it’s been about two years since the incident. While it was covered up at the time, with the appointment of the new Andong Protector-General, all the countries probably know about this incident.”An amused smile appeared on Wunu Shibi’s face. This would be just an insignificant incident in the past. After all, Wang Chong had quarreled with far too many people.But now was different. With An Yaluoshan’s outstanding performance in the Youzhou war and his victory over Yeon Gaesomun, he had ascended from a nameless general of Youzhou and stepped onto the world stage as the focus of all the countries.Everyone was now gathering intelligence on him, and given that this feast of all countries was said to be held for him, it was even more worth gathering information on him.And Wunu Shibi’s men had made an unexpected harvest half a month ago.“The incident was two and a half years ago. At that time, the feared King of Foreign Lands of the Great Tang was merely a sixteen-year-old with not a single feat to his name, and he had never met An Yaluoshan, who had yet to become the Andong Protector-General. But on a stormy night, he led a group of soldiers charging into a tavern to hunt down this man with whom he had no relationship, no grudges or quarrels. Don’t you find it strange?”Wunu Shibi softly chuckled, a playful look in his eyes.