The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Clangclangclang!

Halos radiated from the feet of the Tibetans, and dark energy seethed behind them. Massive Buddhas with six, eight, or ten arms, and three, six, or eight heads suddenly appeared, various weapons in their hands as they attacked Old Eagle in unison.

It was obvious that they were all top-class experts!

Old Eagle instantly paled.

……

At the King of Foreign Lands Residence…

Wang Chong frowned as he looked away from the map of the Imperial Palace, his eyelids twitching. For some reason, recently, whenever his eyelids twitched, he had an ill foreboding that some foul event had taken place.

“Reporting!”

Just then, in a rush of air, a Golden Guard came inside.

“Your Highness, it’s bad! There’s been an incident! We’ve just learned that Old Eagle was ambushed at Western Crane Pavilion! He was badly injured and is currently unconscious! His chances of survival are dire!”

The Golden Guard spoke with a trembling tone, and his face was grave.

Bang!

Wang Chong trembled, and he felt like he had been struck by a lightning bolt.

“What?!”

Old Eagle was extremely unique. He was one of Wang Chong’s earliest followers and also the most loyal.

And unlike others, Old Eagle resided in the rear, and Wang Chong would normally never bring Old Eagle to the front with him. This made him safer than most, and Wang Chong had never been too worried about him.

But Wang Chong had never imagined that Old Eagle would be ambushed, and this fact left him both stunned and enraged.

“Where is he now? Have you investigated the perpetrators?” Wang Chong asked, staring at the Golden Guard.

“We still don’t have the details of the situation. Lord Xu is currently escorting Old Eagle back to the residence,” the Golden Guard reported.

A few moments later, Old Eagle was carried in on a stretcher. Wang Chong’s subordinates Su Shixuan, Cheng Sanyuan, and Chen Bin had heard the news, and they rushed over with looks of sorrow and fury on their faces.

Old Eagle’s eyes were tightly shut, and his face was as white as a sheet of paper. His chest was stained with blood and it was apparent that numerous bones had been broken. Many of the crucial joints on his body showed heavy injury, and weapons shaped like golden hairpins had been thrust into several acupuncture points.

It was obvious that the attackers had shown no mercy and had made every attempt to take Old Eagle’s life.

“Lord Chen’s injuries are extremely serious. Twenty-nine places have been badly wounded, and in truth, the fact that he’s still alive is a miracle. I’ve already had him swallow pills and applied salve to his wounds, but the crucial part is that those assassination weapons were dipped in poison. This poison has already spread through his body. It will depend on Lord Chen to see if he can survive.”

A white-haired doctor put away a blackening silver needle that he had just removed from Old Eagle’s body and sighed. He began to put away his medicine box as he prepared to leave.

Once the doctor from King Song’s residence departed, an oppressive air descended.

“What’s going on here? How could Old Eagle have been injured?”

An ashen Wang Chong turned to the spy team member kneeling next to Old Eagle.

“Your Highness, we also don’t know what’s going on. Those Tibetans seemed to have already scouted out the area. They pretended to be patrons and entered the restaurant before we did. The moment the lord let his guard down, they charged in and shouted ‘Avenge Great Minister Dalun!’ while madly attacking him,” the spy team member said.

Buzz!

The mention of ‘Great Minister Dalun’ made everyone grimace. The only person this could indicate was the Ngari Great Minister of Ü-Tsang who had died at the Battle of Talas, Dalun Ruozan.

The spy team member continued.

“…Those men were incredibly savage and fearless. Even though we tried our best, we were still no match for them, and even when the City Guard and Imperial Army arrived, they still didn’t run. In the end, our lord had to activate a switch that had been set up beforehand and escape into an underground tunnel to finally throw them off.”

The spy team member’s eyes were streaked with blood.

The spy team members all placed Old Eagle on an extremely high pedestal, and almost all of them had received personal guidance from him. In this sense, Old Eagle was both their superior and their teacher.

The assassination attempt had provoked the entire spy team.

In truth, it was the spy team members who had brought Old Eagle over on the stretcher, and many of them had died escorting him.

Wang Chong said nothing, but everyone could sense the rage building up within him.

Ever since Wang Chong had become the most renowned War God on the continent, no one had ever dared to challenge him like this. Even the enraged Ishbara Khagan chose to back away when confronted by Wang Chong’s terse threat, let alone others.

This was the first time anyone had attacked one of Wang Chong’s subordinates like this, and in broad daylight, right at the feet of the Son of Heaven!

Everyone knew that Old Eagle’s heavy injuries had already provoked Wang Chong’s ire, and those people would have to pay a heavy cost.

“Your Highness, could it be people from the Ngari Royal Lineage…?” Xu Keyi proposed.

In the Battle of Talas, Ü-Tsang had lost two Great Generals. While Dalun Ruozan and Huoshu Huicang were already dead, the commander of the Mutri Great Cavalry, Huoba Sangye, had survived. Moreover, Dalun Ruozan had been highly regarded throughout Ü-Tsang, and ever since his death, an undercurrent had been flowing under the surface of the plateau.

Those people loyal to Dalun Ruozan and Huoshu Huicang had been constantly talking about avenging Dalun Ruozan. “If we can’t kill the enemy on the battlefield, we’ll kill him off the battlefield!” Such cries could be heard loud and clear within Ü-Tsang.

They had already been thwarted several times. If these men were coming for Dalun Ruozan’s sake, then they had ample reason.

“Impossible!”

Wang Chong shook his head and firmly rejected the idea.

“This matter can’t be that simple. Dalun Ruozan died at our hands, so if they had really intended to avenge Dalun Ruozan, they should have come for us. What does it have to do with Old Eagle? And besides, Old Eagle never even took part in the Battle of the Talas, nor was he responsible for intelligence gathering during the battle.

“I was the one who set down the rules of the spy team. Old Eagle has fifty-seven active locations spread across the capital that he moves between each month. A few Tibetans who had infiltrated the capital wouldn’t know the area, so how could they so precisely pin down Old Eagle’s movements? Moreover, Old Eagle was in disguise and has never revealed his face to outsiders.”

“!!!”

These words left the others stunned, and the hall fell quiet.

They had all believed that this was simply a Tibetan attempt at revenge, as the attackers truly had been Tibetans. It was so clearly laid out that none of them had doubted it. But Wang Chong’s words had left their eyes wide open, and they had finally noticed how suspicious the incident was.

Yes!

If the Tibetans had wanted revenge, they had large and obvious targets like the King of Foreign Lands Residence or Wang Family Residence. There would be no need to go through more trouble.

They could have just attacked the King of Foreign Lands Residence.

More importantly, Old Eagle was constantly moving between bases, and not even his friends knew his exact location.

This matter was not as simple as it seemed.

“Your Highness, what do you mean?”

Now that they had all noticed how suspicious the incident was, they turned gravely toward Wang Chong.

Wang Chong said nothing, only gazed at Old Eagle with sorrow and rage. No one could ambush his subordinates like this without paying a price. No matter who his opponent was, he would make them regret it!

Wang Chong clenched his fists and coldly ordered, “Pass on my order! Mobilize all our men! Have the City Guard and Public Order Squads move out. Even if we have to turn over the entire capital, those Tibetans must be captured!”

“Yes!”

All of them replied in unison, and a few moments later, the entire capital began to move.

Countless soldiers began to scour the city for those Tibetans, and none of them was more enraged than Zhang Que.

Zhang Que was Old Eagle’s disciple, and Old Eagle had been both teacher and father to him.

Upon learning that Old Eagle was heavily injured and in a coma, his survival uncertain, Zhang Que had immediately moved to take control of the almost paralyzed intelligence network. Repressing his rage, he had cast a vast net over the entire capital.

Only one day later, Zhang Que had tracked them down.

They had been found in a caravan that was moving south.

These Tibetan experts had swiftly noticed the danger that they were in and were trying to flee the capital. But they had not chosen to use the gate traditionally frequented by the merchants of the Western Regions, the western gate, instead choosing a caravan that was moving south. Once they were a safe distance from the capital, they would leave the caravan and circle back to Ü-Tsang.

Wang Chong’s experts quickly moved out, working with the City Guard, Public Order Squad, and ten-some master archers who had participated in the border incident to form an interception squad.

After a short but intense battle, half of the eight Tibetan experts were killed, and of the remaining four, two chose to commit suicide.

The last two were captured, one of them heavily injured, and escorted to the prison beneath the King of Foreign Lands Residence.