荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

“Your Excellency, the capital is a dragon’s den, that man’s territory. Does Your Excellency truly wish to go to such a dangerous place?” Cui Qianyou suddenly asked, his expression fraught with worry.

“That’s right!” Nearby, Tian Qianzhen was also worried. “Your Excellency, while we’re far away in Youzhou, not even that man can do anything to us, but if we enter the capital, everything changes. It’s simply not worth it if we’re only going to probe the Great Tang’s strength. Your Excellency, please reconsider!”

The dragon of the Great Tang had changed, and the Sage Emperor now might as well have been a separate person from his past self. A great deal of information on this development had already reached Youzhou.

But An Yaluoshan felt that this was far from enough. He wanted to personally enter the capital and see the situation for himself before he began his operation. Cui Qianyou and the others had tried many times to persuade him otherwise, but they had failed. This made all of them very worried.

In their view, while they had control of Youzhou and thus a basic foothold, they were still weak in comparison to Wang Chong, who had control over the entire Tang army.

For An Yaluoshan to go into the capital alone was far too risky.

“Stop trying to persuade me! I must go to the capital this time, and besides... there is a reason that I must go!” An Yaluoshan firmly declared, his back facing his two generals.

At this moment, a sharp and intimidating light flitted through his eyes.

“Generals, there is no need for worry,” Gao Shang said. “Everyone knows that the Sage Emperor has summoned our lord for an audience. If that man in the capital dares to strike, he would risk defying the entire realm. Moreover, His Excellency is an important subject of the empire, the Andong Protector-General. With this entirely new status, that man would not dare to recklessly strike, killing without decree a major official of the court!”

Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen shook their heads. Gao Shang had joined them later, so he had never seen Wang Chong for himself. He only knew about Wang Chong through the information gathered by Youzhou’s scouts and did not know just how terrifying that man truly was.

Secular laws and authority were useless against him.

On their original trip to the capital, Wang Chong had been far from famous. He had been one of the capital’s many hedonistic scions, but still he had dared to lead soldiers against Zhang Shougui to kill An Yaluoshan, and he had even killed Ashina Sugan right in front of everyone’s eyes.

Those scenes had deeply embedded themselves into the minds of all present and had left behind an extremely frightening impression. It was one of the reasons they refused to call Wang Chong directly by name, instead referring to him as ‘that man in the capital’.

Although they had the protection of the Sage Emperor’s decree for this trip to the capital, it might not be enough to stop that man.

“Enough. Gao Shang, telling them a little will be fine, so as to avoid everyone getting worried over nothing,” An Yaluoshan suddenly said.

“This...”

Gao Shang hesitated. After glancing at the confused Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen, he finally decided to say it.

“His Excellency has another important reason for heading to the capital... related to the Dragon Qi!”

Boom!

As expected, Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen both trembled in shock on hearing this, their eyes flying open.

Dragon Qi?

These two had never heard this term before.

“This is actually no secret. For generations, whenever dynasties change and dragons and snakes begin to battle above the heavens, the old and new true dragons of the realm will mutually restrain each other. If the future true dragon can get within ninety feet of the current True Dragon Son of Heaven, their Ziwei energies will push against each other.

“Not only can this hasten the decline of the old dynasty, it can also drain Dragon Qi from the Emperor of the old dynasty to strengthen the future Emperor. At the same time, the destiny of the entire Central Plains will be thrown into disarray, and only if the Central Plains is in decline can our Youzhou have the opportunity to rise!” Gao Shang said.

Tian Qianzhen and Cui Qianyou were struck dumb.

Gao Shang was speaking on a level far beyond their understanding. They were generals, skilled in killing on the battlefield and military tactics. Dragon Qi and destiny were things that they had never heard about.

And besides, was a meeting really enough to steal Dragon Qi?

The two still found the idea absurd.

Gao Shang simply chuckled. Destiny was one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. If he had not seen An Yaluoshan with his own eyes, how the energy of the world poured into him while he did nothing at all, Gao Shang would also not have believed it.

But it was this sight that had sparked many ideas in Gao Shang’s mind.

Gao Shang had read about Dragon Qi in a very old book.

In every dynasty, traitorous and rebellious Kings had all been suppressed and pursued by the ruling Emperors. It was basically impossible for the old and new true dragons to meet, and across history, such a thing was truly unprecedented.

But An Yaluoshan was different. He was the future True Dragon Son of Heaven, but not only was he not suspected or hunted down by the Sage Emperor, he was even being favored and richly rewarded by him, obtaining a title of high status and power.

Gao Shang had observed the night sky and seen the Ziwei Star in chaos. This was an extremely rare chance, and he would have never encouraged An Yaluoshan to head to the capital otherwise.

And stealing Dragon Qi was naturally not something that could be accomplished through a simple meeting. But there was no need to give the two generals a detailed explanation.

“Generals, there is no need to worry. I have planned out everything. While this journey to the capital is fraught with danger, in the future, if we want our Youzhou to rise and our lord to become the true master of the Central Plains, we must do this,” Gao Shang said.

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.