Chapter 1993: Diversion!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“w.a.n.g Chong, are you sincere?” Zhangchou Jianqiong solemnly said.
“Mm!”
w.a.n.g Chong nodded.
w.a.n.g Chong was not lying, nor was he exaggerating the threat. No matter how powerful the Arabian Empire was, all it could do at most was wipe out the Great Tang. But An Yaluoshan was different. An Yaluoshan could call forth the otherworldly invaders and plunge this world into destruction. The Nine Provinces, all of its people, and the very earth itself would cease to exist!
It was for this reason that w.a.n.g Chong was relentless in his desire to kill him.
“Okay!”
Zhangchou Jianqiong sternly nodded.
“w.a.n.g Chong, these words from you are enough! In the future, with anything related to this An Yaluoshan, you only need to call on me to obtain my full a.s.sistance!” Zhangchou Jianqiong sternly said.
King Song and Zhangchou Jianqiong quickly departed.
After they left, w.a.n.g Chong headed off in another direction.
“Your Highness!”
Several muscular figures emerged from the shadows, appearing in front of w.a.n.g Chong. One was Old Eagle, and the other… was like a mighty G.o.d, a full head higher than an ordinary man. It was none other than Li Siye.
To ‘welcome’ An Yaluoshan, w.a.n.g Chong had stationed Xu Keyi, Su s.h.i.+xuan, a hundred-some estate guards, ten ballistae, and numerous master archers at the city gate. While Li Siye and Old Eagle were not part of this force, given how they had appeared, they clearly had also been a part of this operation.
“Your Highness, why didn’t you give the order? Did An Yaluoshan not appear?”
Li Siye gripped his sword with both hands, a baleful energy rising from his body.
Li Siye and Old Eagle had taken part in that operation on the stormy night two and a half years ago, and they had personally experienced w.a.n.g Chong’s resolve to kill An Yaluoshan. For An Yaluoshan’s current visit to the capital, while w.a.n.g Chong had placed all those elites and ten lethal ballistae at the city gate, the true killing blow had never been meant to come from either the elites or the ballistae.
Li Siye and Old Eagle had been waiting in the shadows for w.a.n.g Chong’s order, upon which they would charge out and utterly pulverize An Yaluoshan and his Youzhou soldiers.
w.a.n.g Chong’s operation at the city gate was not meant to intimidate or threaten. It had been meant to kill!
After a few moments of thought, w.a.n.g Chong calmly said, “Because the conditions were not right and An Yaluoshan did not appear?”
“What?!”
Li Siye and Old Eagle were both struck dumb.
An Yaluoshan had been right there at the eastern gate, guarded stalwartly by Cui Qianyou and Tian Chengsi. And hadn’t w.a.n.g Chong ‘talked’ with him for such a long time?
What did he mean by ‘did not appear’?
“That man wasn’t An Yaluoshan!” w.a.n.g Chong firmly declared, his terse statement sending shockwaves through the minds of his two subordinates.
He wasn’t?
The An Yaluoshan at the gate was fake?
The two of them had considered many possibilities, but not this answer.
While An Yaluoshan had changed a lot compared to two and a half years ago, he seemed to them like the real deal. Moreover, when painting a tiger, it was easy to paint the skin but difficult to paint the bones. If that was a fake, how had his aura and demeanor been so similar?
“I don’t know how he did it, but that man was not An Yaluoshan! He must have used some special method to transfer his aura to that man, or even control him from a distance!” w.a.n.g Chong coldly said.
“How could this be?” Li Siye muttered. w.a.n.g Chong’s answer was utterly absurd, and it went against everything he knew.
A fake?
But how could it be so similar?
w.a.n.g Chong said nothing, but his eyes gleamed with a subtle light.
The moment An Yaluoshan had appeared at the gate, he had used the ‘True World’, but to his surprise, An Yaluoshan had some extremely powerful tool that was able to resist the probing of ‘True World’. But what truly allowed w.a.n.g Chong to confirm that this An Yaluoshan was a fake was the palm he had placed on An Yaluoshan’s shoulder.
An Yaluoshan was a man who had destroyed the world. If killing characters like Khatabah or Dusong Mangpoje could change the course of history, someone like An Yaluoshan had already transcended the level of ‘historical character’.
He was the most crucial inflexion point in the destiny of the world!
While he might not be stronger than Khatabah right now, he was at the apex of all ‘historical characters’.
Thus, two and a half years ago, when w.a.n.g Chong had gone to kill An Yaluoshan, just attacking him had elicited a notice from the Stone of Destiny.
But this time, when w.a.n.g Chong placed his hand on An Yaluoshan’s shoulder and sent a small portion of energy to probe his body, the Stone of Destiny had given no reaction. There was no warning about any ‘Destined Foe’, which meant that something strange was going on.
w.a.n.g Chong was well aware that the Stone of Destiny could never be wrong about something like this!
At that moment, w.a.n.g Chong was sure that this man was not the real An Yaluoshan!
“If that’s true, why did he need to get the help of the Prime Minister and the other officials? Moreover, using this fake would be in defiance of the Sage Emperor’s will, deceiving the sovereign. Does An Yaluoshan not realize what would happen if Your Highness exposes him? Wouldn’t one palm be enough to expose his true self?
“Moreover, if the fake were killed, how would An Yaluoshan explain himself? If he faked his death, wouldn’t he lose the Andong Protector-General post with it?”
Old Eagle frowned.
He had served at w.a.n.g Chong’s side for very long, and with this abundant experience, he could quickly sense when something was wrong.
If w.a.n.g Chong had decided to kill the fake on a whim, the fake would become the real. An Yaluoshan would have to ‘truly die’ if he wanted to avoid the crime of deceiving the sovereign, and he would lose his Andong Protector-General status with it!
An Yaluoshan had finally managed to push out Zhang Shougui after great difficulty and obtained the post of Andong Protector-General. Using a stand-in was clearly counterproductive.
w.a.n.g Chong was silent. He naturally understood what Old Eagle was thinking.
“Did you notice that scholar near him?” w.a.n.g Chong suddenly said.
“Your Highness is speaking of that Gao Shang?” Old Eagle quickly replied. He naturally had a detailed report on Gao Shang in his intelligence files.
w.a.n.g Chong had once attempted to capture Gao Shang, but the man fled and managed to reach An Yaluoshan.
Gao Shang had played a significant role in An Yaluoshan’s overturning of Zhang Shougui!
“An Yaluoshan knows that I’m in the capital, so he had to have made preparations. Two and a half years ago, I was nameless, and with Zhang Shougui present, I still dared to commit murder, so why not now? Although I don’t know what they did, there was one thing that is beyond doubt. An Yaluoshan was trying to bait me, hoping that I would strike.
“Li Linfu did not come to stop me. On the contrary, he came to spur me into action!”
w.a.n.g Chong placed his hands behind his back and slowly raised his head, a profound and all-seeing light in his eyes.
“If An Yaluoshan wanted me to strike him, his actual body couldn’t be very far. Thus, when the time was right, he could make a timely appearance, take the place of his subst.i.tute, and accuse me of attacking him and defying the Sage Emperor. While this wouldn’t be enough to substantially threaten me, it would hinder me for a time. The Sage Emperor might even strip me of my n.o.ble t.i.tle and demote me to a commoner!”
The Imperial Court was being managed by w.a.n.g Chong, and he was already doing his best to avoid direct confrontation with the ‘Sage Emperor’. A pretext like this would undoubtedly leave that ‘Third Son Xuan’ overjoyed.
One could see from this that An Yaluoshan’s gaze was incredibly sharp.
“But An Yaluoshan knows of my abilities, so he also wouldn’t be too close. In the short time available, you would have never been able to find him!” w.a.n.g Chong said.
He had a few ideas, but they went by in the blink of an eye, and w.a.n.g Chong did not elaborate on them.
“In addition, take note of that Gao Shang. Just like An Yaluoshan, he’s not the real person either. When I attacked, Cui Qianyou and Tian Chengsi made no movement to guard those two important strategists, not even glancing at them. That’s simply not normal. Given how much An Yaluoshan values him, he would never carelessly reveal himself in front of us.
“Gather our experts and make drawings of him. I need to know what he looks like. This time, he must be the one making the plans for An Yaluoshan. He is our true opponent this time!” w.a.n.g Chong said.
An Yaluoshan had not managed to overthrow the Central Plains in his last life for no good reason. If An Yaluoshan was a fierce tiger, Gao Shang was his wings. A tiger that could traverse both the skies and the earth was truly unstoppable!
Li Siye had been rendered speechless some time ago. He was just a simple warrior who had been waiting for w.a.n.g Chong’s signal to charge out with the Wushang Cavalry and crush An Yaluoshan and his treasonous Youzhou soldiers.
He had never imagined that this simple welcome at the gate would have so many schemes lurking under the surface.
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Old Eagle was much faster to react, lowering his head and immediately speaking.
A man who could toy with Zhang Shougui was no ordinary figure. He was already prepared for this possibility.
Li Siye and Old Eagle quickly withdrew, and w.a.n.g Chong soon called over Zhang Que and Xu Keyi.
“Your Highness!”
The two of them bowed.
“Has everyone withdrawn?” w.a.n.g Chong said.
“Everyone has withdrawn from the estate.”