Chapter 496: Tension! As Nimble as Fire! (1/2)
Chapter 496: Tension! As Nimble as Fire!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”Old Eagle, go and take a look.”
Wang Chong's brow creased in thought. In these last few days, he had swept through every encounter, meeting essentially no resistance.
Part of it was because the Tibetan cavalry were scattered and had no reinforcements. The other part was that the Tibetans were still not on their guard.
But if the Tibetans had gathered together, then things had completely changed.
Moreover…
As he recalled the information he had heard from the fleeing Great Tang soldiers, Wang Chong began to form a vague idea of what was going on.
Swish!
There was a rush of air as Old Eagle raised his hand and the massive eagle on his shoulder took flight, vanishing into the clouds.
………
At the same time, several dozen li away, the clouds of war had gathered. The highland steeds of the plateau had congregated, their large eyes wide open as they occasionally scanned the surroundings.
On each of their backs was a fierce Tibetan horseman.
The area was quiet, punctuated by the occasional gust of wind. These horsemen would occasionally raise their heads to warily glance to the north.
The air was suffused with a frenetic tension.
”Have you figured out what's going on?”
It was a hoarse voice, like the vibrating of a zither string. It reverberated in the air and felt like the gnawing of a horde of ants on the mind, and it was imbued with the accent unique to Ü-Tsang.
”Yes. Tang reinforcements suddenly appeared out of the north, an exceptionally formidable force. All of our forces in the north have basically been wiped out.”
The other face was tinged with fear.
”Impossible! As long as there are at least one hundred of us Tibetans, we can immediately form a Halo of Fortress, and coupled with our thick armor, who can break our defense? Besides, didn't we still have Ciren Luri in the north…”
”Ciren Luri was killed!”
The hoarse voice immediately stopped, and what followed was a long and oppressive silence. It was clear that the owner of the voice had not expected this outcome.
”When did this happen?”
”Just recently.”
”Wasn't Ciren Luri at True Martial Tier 9…”
”But our people personally witnessed it. A giant Tang man killed Ciren Luri with a single slash!”
One could hear the profound fear in that voice.
Ciren Luri had been a mighty Tibetan commander, but he had been slain with a single blow. Such strength was utterly ridiculous.
The Tibetan cavalry had one of the most powerful charges in the world, second only to the Great Tang's Tongluo elite horsemen. Perhaps they could have understood if that giant had been from the renowned Tongluo Tribe, but that person had clearly been a Tang man!
Had the Great Minister been wrong? Were the Tang still just as strong as they were in the past?! Had they not actually waned?
But hadn't the Tang been thoroughly routed on the shores of the Erhai?
Weren't the Big Dipper Army, Beiting and Anxi and all the other regular armies of the Great Tang being suppressed? When did the interior armies of the Great Tang become so strong?
”Hmph! Dengba, you think too highly of the will of those Tang men and too poorly of your own side's power!”
That hoarse voice coldly snorted and rebuked his subordinate. This was a fully-armored Tibetan commander, those red cheeks characteristic of the plateau the greatest proof of his ethnicity.
Tibetans normally had bodies a little shorter than the people of the Central Plains, but this person's body was completely different. He was extremely sturdy and tall, a head taller than the average person of the Central Plains.
Streams of Stellar Energy flowed under his skin like pythons, and he exuded an astonishing aura.
The most unique part about him was the pair of golden gauntlets on his hands. They seemed incredibly heavy and bursting with power.
”I don't believe that the Tang are this formidable. Continue to gather our comrades. I want all the Tibetans in a radius of several hundred li to gather here.”
”Yes, Milord!”
Dengba quailed at his commander's anger and hurriedly lowered his head. The Tibetans rigidly enforced the command hierarchy, even more than the Tang.
Although he was the deputy commander, he did not dare to lightly offend his commander, who was only one rank above him.
”First kill those one thousand Tang, and then we'll deal with that Great Tang Commandant Xu. With the Annan Protectorate finished, I don't believe that there's still anyone left in the southwest that can resist us!” the Tibetan commander coldly said.
Tibetans were noble and powerful. Those Tibetans in the north had lost merely because those Tang men had not encountered any real opponents.
He thought it utterly impossible for there to be anyone in the southwest that could stand against him!
”Sound the horn! I want these leftover Tang soldiers completely cleaned up!”
”Yes, Milord!”
……
Bwoooom!
After a few moments, a row of Tibetan horsemen took up their large white horns and blared so loudly that it could be heard a hundred li away.
This was the horn of the white yak!
No matter where a Tibetan was, they all knew that the horn of the white yak was a signal for them to gather.
This was the prelude to battle!
……
”Reporting! Tibetan scouts have been discovered up ahead!”
A muscular Great Tang scout rode over, his waist bent in a slight bow. His sudden voice immediately shattered the previous calm.
Wang Chong was sitting cross-legged at a high vantage point, adjusting his energy. Behind, Old Eagle and Li Siye were standing guard like warrior attendants.