The Human Emperor

Chapter 1033: The Black Corrosion of the Sun! (II)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

“This is…”

The scene of disorderly horses and soldiers in the rear of his army made Dalun Ruozan’s brows rise and his expression turn solemn. To the north of the Tibetan camp, a fierce wind was sweeping a white and frigid fog toward the camp. The icy air caused the temperature to plunge, and that engulfing white fog also had an enormous effect on the Tibetan army.

From Dalun Ruozan’s position, he could see that one-fifth of the camp had been consumed by this fog, so thick that it was impossible to see through it. Moreover, the fog was rapidly spreading through the entire camp.

“Ah, so cold!”

“What’s going on here! I can’t see anything! Someone come and help me!”

“The warhorses don’t like cold. I’m about to lose control over them! Ah, shit, it got away!”

The entire camp was in chaos. As the cold fog swept through, the stronger soldiers felt barely anything, but the weaker ones became so cold that they began to shiver.

“Bastards! Can you trash not even keep hold of some warhorses!”

Huoba Sangye was instantly furious. Before the others could react, he had pulled over a warhorse, mounted, and charged off to where the fog was the thickest. Several Mutri Great Cavalry followed closely behind him.

“Great Minister, it’s still not the season for snow, so why did the temperature drop so much? Is this situation normal?” Huoshu Huicang suddenly said.

Tibetans also had an understanding of the Western Regions. The temperature would normally only begin to drop in advance of snowfall, but there was still at least two months until that time.

Dalun Ruozan said nothing, his eyes flashing. He had a vague idea of what was going on, but he was not able to fully grasp it just yet.

“Look at that!”

As he was thinking, he was interrupted by yet another alarmed shout. At the start, no one had noticed in all the chaos, but gradually, more and more cries of alarm could be heard as more and more soldiers looked up.

“Great Minister, look at the sky!” Huoshu Huicang blurted out, having finally looked up at the sky.

With a slight jolt, Dalun Ruozan raised his head upward. When he saw the source of the alarm, even Dalun Ruozan couldn’t help but be deeply astonished.

“This is… the black corrosion of the sun!”

A dim red sun hung up high in the sky, and in the center of the sun, several large black spots could be seen, as if those pieces had been corroded away.

“The oracle!” someone exclaimed—not Dalun Ruozan, but Dusong Mangpoje and Huoshu Huicang in unison. The two stared at the black spots on the sun, wearing expressions of unprecedented shock.

“How could this be? The Holy Temple’s prediction came true!” Dusong Mangpoje muttered to himself. At this moment, the same thought occurred in all three of their minds.

‘The black corrosion of the sun! The three-eyed golden crow! The horse riding upon white frost!’

This was the prophecy issued by the highest oracle of the Ü-Tsang Empire. When the oracle had issued the prophecy of ‘danger rises in the east’ three times in a row, the Tsenpo had conducted a shamanic offering at enormous price to finally obtain more specific information from the oracle. Every six thousand years, the Tibetan Plateau would experience a massive upheaval. All civilizations of the plateau would be wiped away and everything would return to the primal state.

This calamity would be preceded by three phenomena. The black corrosion of the sun would be the beginning of it all.

Based on what the oracle had said, if all three of these phenomena occurred, the entire Ü-Tsang Empire and the civilization it represented would be utterly extinguished.

At this moment, Dalun Ruozan, Huoshu Huicang, and Dusong Mangpoje, these three supreme figures of the Ü-Tsang Empire, felt their hearts sink.

“Great Minister, will the oracle’s words really come true?” Dusong Mangpoje gravely asked Dalun Ruozan.

Dalun Ruozan raised his head and said, “Whether they come to pass or not, we won’t let it happen. Isn’t that exactly why we appeared here?”

Dusong Mangpoje silently nodded his head.

The sun was a bright and resplendent existence of limitless energy. Its purity could never be corrupted. No one had ever seen anything as abnormal as the black corrosion of the sun. There had been a time where everyone believed that the time the oracle spoke of was very far away, but now that they had witnessed that black corrosion in the sky, they all felt a threat that cut deep into their bodies.

If you don’t die, I will die. The danger rises from the east, and all our threats arise from the Great Tang. If we want to avoid the disaster predicted by the oracle, we must exterminate the Great Tang. No matter what, we must win this battle! Dusong Mangpoje said to himself as he cast his gaze at Dalun Ruozan and Huoshu Huicang. Dusong Mangpoje knew that at this moment, these two were thinking the same thing.

The omens had already appeared. If they wanted to avoid the fate that the Zhangzhung Dynasty had experienced thousands of years ago, Ü-Tsang would have to defeat the Great Tang, and Talas would be the location of this most crucial of battles.

Whoosh!

Clouds gathered in from all directions, swiftly drowning out that dim red sun. The world became much colder and more sinister. Neither Dalun Ruozan nor Dusong Mangpoje knew that this would be the last time they would see the sun this winter.

Hssst! Streams of churning white wind swiftly engulfed the Tibetan camp. At the same time, the Western Turk camp several dozen li away, the city of Talas, and all of the north were swallowed by this white and chilling fog.

“It’s already about to begin?”

In the northern training ground of Talas, Wang Chong stood beneath the flapping banner of the Great Tang, staring at the white fog around him and looking up to the sky as he muttered to himself. At this moment, no one except himself knew what he was thinking.

……

Flap flap! Following the black corrosion of the sun, the arrival of eagles brought Dalun Ruozan some unexpected developments. These eagles that arrived at dusk carried news from the Tibetan Plateau.

The last two of the Ü-Tsang Empire’s three training camps, the Yarlung Royal Lineage, the great clans of the plateau, and the many valiant Tibetan generals had all written letters expressing their support of Dalun Ruozan.

The appearance of the black corrosion of the sun had threatened and worried these ancient clans and factions of the plateau. Even though the plateau was currently experiencing a severe shortage of soldiers, these ancient clans and factions were doing all they could to assist Dalun Ruozan.

A force of around forty thousand elite cavalry was setting out from the plateau to reinforce Dalun Ruozan at Talas.

……

While Dalun Ruozan, Duwu Sili, Wang Chong, and everyone in the north were experiencing a cold snap, down south in Khorasan, all was hot and torrid, with waves of heat reaching into the skies.

“Ho!”

“Ha!”

In the lordly estate at the center of Khorasan, fires burned and smoke roiled. The muscular and bare-chested Arab smiths stood in circles, wielding heavy hammers that they raised high into the air and brought swinging down in explosions of sparks. Boomboomboom! The ringing of the metal hammers resounded through the skies in a never-ending din.

Through the endless hammering of the Arab smiths, suits of armor slowly began to take shape.

Nearby, Aybak looked at the industrious scene in the courtyard and gave a satisfied nod.

“Not bad! In one month, all ten thousand suits of armor should be ready. When the time comes, we will make the Mamelukes the strongest existence in history!”

Aybak’s eyes exploded with ambition. The Mamelukes had always been the strongest force of the Arabian Empire, and now, with the metal of these Meteoric Stars gifted by the High Priest, an even stronger force of Mamelukes would appear under his command. The suits of Meteoric Star armor coupled with the superb fighting power of the Mamelukes would make it so that no force in the continent could compare to the Mamelukes, not even those Wushang Cavalry.

High upon the steps of the courtyard, Aybak asked, “Faisal, have the Sindhi sent over that Hyderabad ore yet?”

“Milord, it is still on the road. In three more days, it will arrive at Khorasan, and we can begin forging it into weapons at any time! Ghassan is personally leading the escort party, so there should be no mishaps.”

The speaker was an eagle-eyed and high-nosed Mameluke officer behind Aybak. A black crescent earring hung from his left ear. This man had an extremely sharp gaze, and he exuded an extremely dangerous aura.

Faisal was the deputy commander of the Mamelukes, the number two individual of the army.

It was rumored that once, when the Arabian Empire was conquering a powerful country in the north, Faisal had accidentally ended up separated from the main army and surrounded by the enemy. When the Mamelukes went to find him, he had been fighting the enemy for seven days and seven nights. Mountains of corpses had been piled up around him, including those of several renowned generals. The blood that had gushed from those corpses had painted all the streets of the city a deep red.

From this battle, Faisal gained the title of ‘Eagle of the Death God’!”

“Very good!”

Aybak’s eyes glimmered with a bright light. Ghassan was the number three individual of the Mamelukes, a peak Brigadier General with enough fighting power to threaten even a Great General. With him escorting the convoy, no problems would occur. Even if those remaining rebels wanted to try something, they would never succeed.

“Tell Ghassan that if he encounters any rebels while escorting the Hyderabad ore, he has the right to kill on sight!”

“Yes, Milord!” Faisal sincerely said.

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