Gu Husha
Tang Tiansong glanced at Yang Yue'ao, who was dressed in rhinoceros hide armor, with disheveled hair and a dirty face, bone ornaments Yang Yue'ao from his ears, and black horizontal stripes tattooed on his cheeks, and frowned slightly. "Nothing particularly special about him."
In the past four years, the Tang Household siblings have killed at least twenty, if not fifty, tribal leaders like Yang Yue'ao from the Western Rong tribes.
"Yang Yue'ao, can you understand the language of my Central Lands?"
"You have invaded the villages and towns under the jurisdiction of my Tang Household and slaughtered my Tang Lineage members. You should be executed right now." Tang Tiansong said with a stern expression.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I learned the local dialect at my wife's family home."
Your Majesty, please spare my life! If you kill me, you will indirectly kill three thousand men, women, and children of the Gaoxin Tribe.
I have no subjects of the King of Slaughter; I brought my people here, intending only to steal...
I only wanted to borrow some rice and money...
I have given orders that my people must never kill anyone in the city.
"Your Majesty, spare my life!" Yang Yue'ao, whose arms were tied behind his back, immediately knelt down and begged for mercy.
Tang Tiansong's lips twitched slightly. "Lift your head."
When Yang Yue'ao, his face streaked with tears, raised his head, a piece of jewelry that had been hanging around his neck had slipped down to his chest when he knelt and kowtowed: it was a jade pendant.
The Western Rong lived in the Ten-Thousand-Li Rong Mountains. There were at least eight hundred or a thousand tribes of varying sizes, with a total population estimated to be over 1.5 million.
Years ago, before the Tang Household embarked on the path of cultivation, Tang Tiansong, as a martial artist, went to the Miao Household Stronghold to resist the Western Rong and also had dealings with this Western Rong Gaoxin Clan.
The people of the Western Rong worship mountains, rivers, trees, birds, beasts, fish and insects. The ornaments they usually wear are mostly wolf teeth, tiger bones, bird feathers and amber. They do not wear jade.
With the acquisition of coal and copper mines, the Tang Household became wealthy and built the Tiger Prison Pass, a strategically important location about 150 li west of Miao Household Stronghold, equipping it with 500 muskets and nine cannons.
About two hundred li southwest of Tiger Prison Pass lies the territory of the Gaoxin Clan.
Tang Tiansong glanced at the jade pendant worn by Yang Yue'ao and his lips twitched slightly. "Yang Yue'ao, I remember that for many years, your Gaoxin Clan clan has been relatively mild-mannered, rarely invading my Central Lands. On the contrary, you occasionally engaged in barter trade with my Central Lands. Why have you recently invaded my territory so many times?"
Do you really think that I, Tang Tiansong, a member of the Tang Lineage with Meridian Opening Eighth Layer, am made of clay?
Aren't you afraid I'll burn down your village and wipe out your entire clan?!
As soon as Tang Tiansong unleashed his Spiritual Qi pressure, Yang Yue'ao immediately collapsed to the ground, unable to breathe, only able to move his mouth.
With a cold snort, Tang Tiansong withdrew his oppressive aura.
"Great King Tang, even if you beat me to death, I, Yang Yue'ao, would never dare to invade the Tang Household."
"But I have my reasons." Yang Yue'ao kowtowed again, repeatedly.
"Untie Yang Yue'ao, let me see what troubles he has." Tang Tiansong smiled.
After being untied by the Tang Lineage soldiers, Yang Yue'ao touched his purple face and kowtowed again, saying, "King Tang, my life is so miserable."
Originally, I, Gaoxin Clan, disliked competition and only wanted to enjoy fishing and hunting by Xin Lake and live my life peacefully.
My family's clan shamans for three generations have all been from your city.
However, in recent years, the Yangshe Man, in order to pave the way for the Gu Husha, have been constantly attacking other tribes and forcing us shepherds to invade the city.
Yangshe Man?
Gu Husha?
Tang Tiansong frowned.
As Yang Yue'ao continued to complain, Tang Tiansong's brows furrowed more and more deeply.
"City dwellers" was the term used by the Western Rong and Northern Wasteland people to refer to the people of the Central Lands.
Shepherd, the outskirts of the city, is called a shepherd.
The Western Rong also knew that the word "Rong" not only meant weapons, but also carried a derogatory connotation of barbarity and uncivilization.
Therefore, the Western Rong people liked to call themselves "shepherds": people who herded livestock, fished and hunted, and were unrestrained.
Yang Yue'ao belonged to the Gaoxin Clan, Yangshe Man belonged to the Gaoyang Clan.
Three generations ago, Gao Xin and Gao Yang were originally one family.
This person called Gu Husha is the half-brother of Yangshe Man Barbarian.
Six years ago, with the help of Yangshe Man, Gu Husha the previous leader of the Gaoyang Clan and declared himself king. Yangshe Man is now Gu Husha's number one general.
Yangshe Man, approximately forty years old, has reached the Meridian Opening Fifth Layer.
Gu Husha, approximately twenty-six years old, with a cultivation level of the Meridian Opening Fourth Layer.
In recent years, Gu Husha has shown a growing momentum to unify the thousands of tribes of the Western Rong.
"King Tang, most of my tribe's elite troops have been plundered by Gu Husha. He has also forced my father to invade the Central Lands."
My four older brothers and my father have all been killed by the powerful cannons at Tiger Prison Pass.
Our clan suffered heavy losses, which is why the Gu Husha haven't been exploiting us as much lately.
However, this year, locust plagues and droughts have struck, and the remaining three thousand or so members of our clan are mostly the elderly, children, the sick, and the disabled, who are now on the verge of life and death.
I had no other choice, which is why I brought three hundred tribal soldiers to borrow...
I came to steal some rice, grain, and valuables, hoping to ensure the continuation of my Gaoxin Clan.
King Tang, let me give you a heads-up.
This Gu Husha the ambition of a wolf; he is currently accumulating strength, and given time, he will surely invade eastward.
He had said he planned to lead 20,000 herdsmen and soldiers all the way to Dragon Scale Plain and drink from the Bitter Chaos Sea. Yang Yue'ao looked worried.
Tang Tiansong smiled and said, "The Bitter Chaos Sea was originally a freshwater river. It is blue because it is extremely deep and wide, hence the name 'sea'."
Because this Bitter Chaos Sea is the dividing line between the Northern Continent and the Central Continent, for thousands of years, the mortal dynasties on both sides have attacked each other, resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of mortal soldiers and generals, hence the name Bitter Sea.
This Gu Husha knows about the Bitter Chaos Sea, so he seems to have some knowledge, but he's far too arrogant.
Dragon Scale Plain is located east of Dragon Breath Valley.
Gu Husha intends to annex the entire Prosperous Dragon Lake and Dragon Breath Valley, and directly confront the Wu Household, a prominent cultivation Aristocratic Clan in Pingyang Commandery.
He's just a Meridian Opening Fourth Layer cultivator with Qi-Bearing Stage cultivation; he's far too arrogant.
I am currently at the Meridian Opening Eighth Layer, with the cultivation level of the Essence Sustaining Realm.
Believe it or not, I'll go to Western Rong right now and kill that arrogant Gu Husha.
"King Tang, I advise you not to go." Yang Yue'ao gave a wry smile.
"Gu Husha has a special bloodline; he can transform into an unparalleled Dharma form: a giant ape."
He is currently at the Meridian Opening Fourth Layer Realm. Once he Meridian Opening Sixth Layer and the Lower Yang Stage, he will be able to spar with cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm.
He won't have to wait ten years. Once he reaches the Middle Stage of Qi Refinement Refining, his strength will be comparable to that of Foundation Establishment.
What?
Gu Husha can transform into the form of a giant ape!
In less than ten years, this Gu Husha has reached a level comparable to Foundation Establishment!
Yang Yue'ao said that the Gu Husha, whose Qi Refinement was Foundation Establishment, which made Tang Tiansong feel that Yang Yue'ao was exaggerating.
However, as Yang Yue'ao recounted some of the Gu Husha's deeds, Tang Tiansong gradually felt a chill run down his spine: given time, it was hard to say whether the Gu Husha would be able to kill his way to Dragon Scale Plain and drink from the Bitter Chaos Sea, but this Gu Husha would definitely be a major enemy of the Tang Household in the future.
Tang Tiansong frowned, thinking to himself, "It seems I must kill this Gu Husha as soon as possible..."