The Human Emperor
chapter-937

Chapter 937: Night Battle (II)

Though Li Siye’s men had encountered nothing but victory, Li Siye did not feel relaxed. On the contrary, his expression grew even more stern and tense.

“Remember! In this night raid against Dalun Ruozan, you can’t get careless. Even if you have the catapults covering your attack, even if you have the Tibetan armor and have twenty teams running around making trouble and disrupting his judgment, someone of Dalun Ruozan’s abilities can’t be delayed for long. Moreover, the Tibetans and Western Turks have three Great Generals. Thus, the moment the time comes, you must immediately retreat without the slightest delay!”

As the winds howled around him, Li Siye recalled Wang Chong’s orders, which he had emphasized time and time again.

Battles between experts could be decided in seconds. In this exchange between Wang Chong and Dalun Ruozan, the slightest delay could result in a completely different result. A competition of schemes and intelligence was different from a competition of martial arts. There were no explosions, no gleaming of swords and sabers, but it was far more dangerous.

Whether in victory or defeat, a clash of martial arts might result in hundreds of people dying or being injured, but a clash of schemes could result in the loss of thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions. No martial art could achieve such results.

Not even a general like Li Siye had the ability to intervene in this kind of clash. All he could do was faithfully carry out each of Wang Chong’s orders.

Neigh!

Li Siye continued to lead his army in wreaking havoc amongst the Tibetans. In a few short moments, thousands more Tibetans had fallen. But at the most intense moment of fighting, Li Siye glanced at the sky and immediately gave the order.

“Withdraw!”

With this shout, the four-thousand-some Tang elites, as well as the twenty-some raiding teams spread out through the Tibetan camp, suddenly pulled on their reins and began to gallop toward the second Tang defense line.

So abrupt was this scene that the Tibetans were left dumbstruck.

“After them!!”

A few moments later, they finally came to their senses and began to chase after them.

But the distant Li Siye and his men seemed to have already predicted this.

“Cutting Formation!”

They turned around and scattered the Tibetans into disarray before continuing their retreat to the Tang camp.

Boom!

Moments after Li Siye had gone, a force of cavalry armored in gold and red rode out from the fire.

“Damn it! A step too slow!”

Huoba Sangye clenched his fists as he glared at the retreating Tang army. Following Dalun Ruozan’s orders, he had done his utmost to reach this area as quickly as possible, but these Tang seemed to have predicted this and already started to retreat. Huoba Sangye found this unbearable, like he had punched at empty air.

“Milord, what do we do?!” one of the Mutri Great Cavalry beside him asked.

Huoba Sangye said nothing, a thoughtful look in his eyes. According to Dalun Ruozan’s plans, they should have entered a fierce battle with the enemy forces, but it was clear that Dalun Ruozan’s calculations had been off. He needed to make his own decision now.

Buzz!

As he was thinking, he felt a strange sensation and turned his head. A powerful energy was rapidly approaching from the northwest. Phweeeet! A long whistle shrieked through the air.

“This is… the Celestial Wolf Great General of the Western Turks!”

Huoba Sangye’s pupils constricted as he recognized this man. But Duwu Sili clearly paid them no attention, keeping his body pressed against his horse as he galloped past the Mutri Great Cavalry and into the darkness.

“Where are you running!”

Everyone could hear Duwu Sili’s roar of anger!

“Go! Follow him!”

Huoba Sangye’s eyes flashed as he made his decision. The five-thousand-some Mutri Great Cavalry galloped off in pursuit.

……

“General! What do we do? It’s the Celestial Wolf Great General!” A Wushang horseman suddenly spoke, his eyes brimming with anxiety.

Duwu Sili’s roar had traveled very far, and more importantly, they could all sense Duwu Sili’s storm of energy approaching with the speed of a lightning bolt.

At this speed, Duwu Sili would catch up in no time. Being caught by an elite Imperial Great General was certain to be a disaster of unimaginable proportions.

“There’s no need to worry!”

Li Siye smiled, his expression relaxed.

“Lord Marquis predicted all of this. Everyone, continue with the plan!”

With these words, Li Siye urged his horse to move even faster.

……

“Hmph! Do you think you can escape?”

In the deep darkness, Duwu Sili rode his divine Turkic steed in hot pursuit, his eyes shining with a scorching light. If one looked carefully, one could even see the anger surging within them.

Duwu Sili had left right after Huoba Sangye, but unlike Huoba Sangye, he could have gone straight to the scene. With his Great General strength, he should have arrived before Huoba Sangye, but reality proved otherwise. This was because when Duwu Sili walked out of the Tibetan commander tent, he noticed fire rising from his own camp. At some point, Wang Chong’s catapults had begun to target the Turkic camp. Duwu Sili was beginning to receive more and more reports on the matter.

He had even received news that the Tibetans had attacked his camp and the two sides were fighting against each other.

Duwu Sili was anxious to deal with the Tang raiders, but he could not do so with all these pressing issues. However, by the time he arrived at his camp, the catapults had stopped firing and all the urgent reports had stopped. The only issue left was the Turks fighting with the Tibetans.

Duwu Sili felt like he had been toyed with.

As one of the best Great Generals of the Western Turkic Khaganate, Duwu Sili had never been so disgraced. This was the reason for his inextinguishable anger.

“No matter where you run, the only thing awaiting you is death!”

Duwu Sili’s body was seething with killing intent that rose to the heavens. To Duwu Sili, killing a force of four to five thousand Tang soldiers was as easy as flipping his palm. But in the middle of this pursuit, the Tang force suddenly scattered like panicked birds.

“!!!”

Duwu Sili immediately felt his heart drop. He did not think that the Tang raiding force would scatter. Even as a Great General, Duwu Sili could not chase down each of the fleeing Tang cavalry.

“Damn it!”

Duwu Sili clenched his fists, his body boiling with rage. For a moment, he did not know what to choose, but then his eyes turned cold as he locked onto that giant figure in front.

“I’ll kill you first, and then the others!”

Duwu Sili urged his horse to gallop toward Li Siye. Li Siye’s figure was far too tall and muscular, his more than two meters of height extremely obvious. During the day, Duwu Sili had taken note of this leader of the Wushang Cavalry. If he could kill this commander who wielded that giant sword, he would be dealing a severe blow to the Great Tang cavalry.

“Die for me!”

Shouting, Duwu Sili and his horse leapt into the air as he used the Celestial Wolf’s Divine Procession. From a distance, Duwu Sili seemed like a shooting star, approaching Li Siye at astonishing speeds. Li Siye might have been the commander of the Wushang Cavalry, but he was still a far cry from an elite Imperial Great General like Duwu Sili.

Boom!

Duwu Sili slashed with his sword, unleashing a radiant Sword Qi ten-some zhang long. Even Li Siye seemed insignificant before this thunderous strike.

“Not good!”

Li Siye felt an intense danger behind him, and his heart sank as he smelled the stench of death. He was pushing his Ferghana steed as fast as it could go, but he had not expected this move from Duwu Sili. The sharpness and speed of this move were unavoidable.

But just when Li Siye was about to close his eyes and wait for death, a soft and jeering chuckle rang out in the darkness.

“Celestial Wolf Great General, I was waiting a long time for you!”

A massive stream of energy suddenly exploded out of the void. Before Li Siye could even react, dreadful Sword Qi of the peak Saint Martial realm swept past Li Siye and smashed into Duwu Sili.

Rumble!

The air was awash with light and Sword Qi, fierce winds sweeping in every direction. Two supreme Great Generals clashed on this open plain, and Li Siye couldn’t help but mentally gasp at the power in their collision.

Gao Xianzhi!

In all of the Great Tang’s northwest, the only person who could singlehandedly fend off Duwu Sili was probably Gao Xianzhi.

“Damn it! It’s you!”

Duwu Sili’s eyes narrowed, crackling with lightning as he stared at the figure standing across from him.