Martial Arts World Assassin

Chapter 375: Heavenly Monarch's Traces
Huang Sixi and Li Jing stayed outside Wuchuan Town for a while and prepared to return to Dali City along the same route.

Since there were daily Turkic cavalry patrols at the mountain pass, the two men chose a remote mountain road to cross it. Halfway through the journey, Huang Sixi, whose mind had been wandering, suddenly came back to his senses.

He waved to Li Jing, turned around and walked eastward: "Xuan Yong has returned from Mobei. He is on the mountain road outside. Let's go find him!"

Li Jing had long known that Huang Sixi possessed supreme spiritual secrets. These days, no matter which Turkic settlements the two of them visited, they were able to do so quietly, as if their whereabouts were invisible, without any leakage of information.

This was all thanks to Huang Sixi's extraordinary mental perception, which allowed him to spy on the every move of the Turkic camp from a distance, thus making it easy for him to avoid the inspection of the Turkish cavalry.

Therefore, Huang Sixi could sense the presence of people in the forests inside and outside the mountains across the mountain peaks. Li Jing did not find it strange at all. He followed Huang Sixi over two hills and indeed found a cavalry composed of dozens of warriors who were carefully moving through the rugged mountain path.

Huang Sixi and Li Jing stood on the top of the mountain. Instead of going down the mountain, they looked down at the cavalry from above.

The leader of the cavalry was a burly young man.

Huang Sixi summoned his inner strength and sent a message to the young man: "Xuan Yong, come up the mountain!"

This young man was none other than Zhai Jiao's senior brother Xuan Yong. When Huang Sixi ordered Zhai Jiao to return to the northern border to run a caravan, Xuan Yong was sent by Zhai Jiao to the outside of the Great Wall to purchase furs.

As a result, Xuan Yong accidentally met Shi Qingxuan who was heading to the Mobei grassland. Knowing that Shi Qingxuan had a close relationship with Huang Sixi, he inquired about Shi Qingxuan's whereabouts along the way.

Now Xuan Yong has returned, which means that he has found out the exact location of Shi Qingxuan. Of course, it is also possible that he lost Shi Qingxuan in the vast grassland.

When Xuan Yong heard Huang Sixi's message, he hurriedly looked around the top of the mountain. When he saw Huang Sixi suddenly appear, his usually calm expression inevitably became excited.

He first ordered the accompanying warriors to rest where they were, and then he climbed to the top of the mountain alone to meet Huang Sixi.

After he greeted Huang Sixi, he asked in confusion: "Why did Master Jianglong come to Yinshan?"

Huang Sixi smiled and said, "I came here to check the situation of the Turkic royal court. Unfortunately, Shibi Khan is not in Dali City, so I will go to Yinshan Mountain to see the scenery!"

When Xuan Yong learned of Huang Sixi's intention, he immediately pointed to the north of the mountain and said, "At the end of the year, the chieftains of the various tribes in the northern desert will come to pay tribute to Shibi Khan. Shibi Khan wants to show the might of his Turkic cavalry to the other tribes, so he organized a winter hunt. Currently, Shibi Khan's royal tent is staying by the Tabu River!"

Huang Sixi immediately asked: "Where is it parked on the Tabu River? How far is it?"

Xuan Yong answered in detail: "From here, walk north for ten miles to reach the Tabu River, and then walk north along the river for about a hundred miles to the location of the Turkic king's tent! When I came back this morning, they were still there, but I don't know if the king's tent has moved after half a day!"

There was only about half a day, so even if they moved, they would not go too far. After all, there were tens of thousands of Turkic soldiers participating in the hunt, and they were there to show off their military strength, not to march quickly.

It is possible that their royal tent stayed on the banks of the Tabu River for several days.

Huang Sixi and Li Jing had been waiting in Dali City for several days. Now they had finally received confirmation of Shibi Khan's whereabouts, so the assassination operation could naturally be launched.

Li Jing asked Xuan Yong: "Are all the leaders who came to pay tribute this time from Turkic tribes?"

Xuan Yong saw that Huang Sixi and Li Jing went deep into the Turkic royal court alone, and he must have planned to confront the Turks.

Xuan Yong knew that he could not delay Huang Sixi and Li Jing's important matters because of his own information.

He replied cautiously, "I didn't dare to go deep into the hunting area, so I couldn't find out the details, but when I came back, I met the horse teams of the Huihe and Khitan tribes on the grassland. The Huihe people love tattoos, and the Khitan people, like the Turks, use the wolf as a totem and hold a wolf flag. These two tribes must have participated in Shibi Khan's hunting. There should be many other non-Turkic tribes, but I didn't meet them!"

"How many soldiers do they have in total?"

"I haven't visited their military camps, so I can't calculate it, but I guess the total number of people in all the tribes will not be less than 100,000!"

"Are all these 100,000 men cavalry?"

"In addition to hunting, they also hold horse racing, archery and wrestling competitions. The nearby herdsmen will participate, and the nobles of various tribes will also bring their families. They are definitely not all cavalry! But..."

"but what?"

"People on the grasslands are born to be with horses. Once they mount a horse, they are warriors. Even if ordinary herdsmen do not belong to the cavalry regiments of various tribes, if a war breaks out, they will be no different from cavalry when they pick up sabers!"

After hearing this, Li Jing had no way to refute it, as what Xuan Yong said was the truth.

Li Jing turned his head to look at Huang Sixi and asked, "The Turkic king's tent is only a hundred miles away from Yinshan Mountain. After they have participated in the hunting activities on the banks of the Tabu River, they should return to Dali City. My dear, why don't we wait for Shibi Khan to move his tent back?"

"No! We can't wait!"

Huang Sixi shook his head: "The Huihe and Khitan are both ambitious tribes on the grassland. They are now weak and are forced to submit to the Turks. If we kill Shibi Khan in front of them and provoke internal strife and division among the Turks, they will definitely rebel and divide up the Turkic territory!"

Huang Sixi wanted to create conflicts on the Mobei grasslands and induce the small tribes that had been oppressed by the Turks for decades to unite and attack the Turks.

Now is the best time for him to rush to the banks of the Tab River to assassinate Shibi Khan. If he waits for Shibi Khan to return to Dali City, the small tribes that participated in the tribute will have returned to their pastures. They will not have the courage to rebel because they will not see Huang Sixi assassinating the Turkic nobles.

On the Mobei grasslands, from the earliest Xiongnu to the Xianbei, Rouran and today's Turks, they have successively become overlords of the grasslands, relying not on cultural heritage or orthodoxy, but on force and fists.

Whoever has the strongest army and the most powerful martial arts can undoubtedly become the boss.

The tribes on the grassland are brave and worship the use of force. If Shibi Khan and his cavalry guards were defeated by Huang Sixi with a crushing force, the prestige of the Turkic royal court would be completely destroyed, and it would no longer be able to deter and rule other tribes, and rebellion would break out in an instant.

When Li Jing saw that Huang Sixi was going to go north immediately to assassinate Shibi Khan, he said, "I will go to the Tabu River with you, my lord!"

"You can't go! Just let Xuanyong accompany me!"

Huang Sixi refused to let Li Jing go with him, and instead instructed: "Wuxia, Hongfu, Shiji, and General Tu have all returned to the Cangtou River stronghold, and the Wagang volunteers have also gathered. You go back to lead this army. When I succeed in assassinating Shibi Khan, I will let Xuanyong send you a message. You, Wuxia, Hongfu, and Shiji will immediately lead the troops to attack Dali City!"

Historically, Li Jing led thousands of cavalrymen in a surprise attack and captured the city of Dali. At that time, Shibi Khan had died, and his brother Jie Li Khan succeeded him. He was captured by Li Jing in one fell swoop, and the Eastern Turks were also declared extinct.

At that time, the cavalry under Li Jing were all elite soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, and their combat effectiveness was far superior to Zhai Jiao's five or six thousand Wagang volunteers, but now the defense of Dali City was also quite weak.

Shibi Khan led the elite Turks away from the royal court of Dali City. Once he was stabbed to death by Huang Sixi, Dali City would not be rescued.

In the past few days, Li Jing has already thoroughly explored the terrain, Turkic garrisons and outposts near Dali City. Even without Huang Sixi's support, it would be absolutely no problem for Li Jing and the Wagang volunteers to capture Dali City.

When Li Jing heard Huang Sixi asking him to lead the army to defeat the enemy, he was immediately excited. You must know that Dali City was originally the territory of Dingxiang County of the Sui Dynasty. It was built to accommodate the tribes of Qimin Khan, the leader of the Eastern Turks. Qimin Khan was a vassal of the Sui Dynasty, and the Eastern Turks were also subordinate to the Sui Dynasty. However, after Qimin Khan died, his son Shibi Khan launched a rebellion, broke off diplomatic relations with the Sui Dynasty, and began to occupy Dali City. It has been more than ten years since then.

If Dali City and Dingxiang County can be recovered by Li Jing, it will be a great achievement and will be of great benefit to the people of China.

Li Jing only needs to station troops in Dingxiang County to ensure that the Hu people will not invade Yinshan again!
Li Jing accepted Huang Sixi's order without hesitation: "My dear, you are attacking the Turkic king's tent alone, so please be careful!"

Huang Sixi smiled slightly: "No matter whether the assassination succeeds or fails, I can escape unscathed. There is no need to be cautious!"

He turned his gaze to Xuan Yong and said, "I just wonder if you, Brother Xuan, have the guts to follow me into the wolf's den!"

Xuanyong was in his youth and could not resist the ambition to achieve unprecedented achievements and be remembered through the ages.

He knelt down in front of Huang Sixi and said loudly, "If I can kill the Hu chieftain together with Master Jianglong and capture the Turkic royal court, Xuan Yong will die with no regrets. I am willing to follow Master Jianglong and follow him wherever he wants!"

Huang Sixi nodded at him and said, "Okay, go tell the horse team at the foot of the mountain to follow the pharmacist back to the Cangtou River stronghold, and you accompany me north to the Tabu River!"

Xuan Yong immediately stood up and did as he was told.

Li Jing bowed to Huang Sixi before saying goodbye and leaving.

After watching Li Jing lead a cavalry of dozens of people away and disappear into the mountains and forests, Huang Sixi and Xuan Yong headed north.

On the way, Huang Sixi asked Xuan Yong: "I heard from Wuxia that you went to track down Shi Niangzi's whereabouts. Where is she now?"

Xuan Yong's mind was filled with thoughts of beating up the barbarians and gaining fame in the Middle-earth, and for a moment he even forgot about Shi Qingxuan.

He hurriedly said, "Mrs. Shi went to the Wasteland Market next to Buyuer Lake!"

Huang Sixi knew Buir Lake, a large lake located on the Mobei grassland, more than a thousand miles away from the Yinshan Mountains.

The wilderness market that Xuan Yong talked about was actually a large market where tribes from all over the grassland traded.

Since Huangyuanji is surrounded by the Turkic territory to the west and the habitats of ethnic minorities such as the Mohe, Shiwei, Korean, and Xi people to the east, it is an ownerless area where various ethnic groups live together. It is also a battlefield for various forces to compete with each other. No force has ever been able to gain absolute control over Huangyuanji.

Therefore, Wasteland Village became an ideal refuge for desperate criminals on the grassland, and bloodshed occurred every day.

After Shi Zhixuan snatched the Evil Emperor's relic from Kankan and Shi Qingxuan, he did not dare to stay in the Middle-earth. He was mainly worried that Huang Sixi would come to him to ask for the relic back, so he fled north into the prairie.

However, martial arts were popular in the grassland, and there were many masters. As soon as he entered the grassland, the trace of the evil emperor's relics was exposed. He had no time to refine the relics and had to flee on the grassland all day.

He did not dare to flee westward, for the west was entirely Turkic territory, so he could only trek eastward. The eastern part of the grassland was a place where various ethnic groups lived together, making it suitable for him to find a desolate place to live in seclusion.

He eventually escaped to Wasteland Village, and Shi Qingxuan followed him there.

Xuan Yong continued, "From the Wasteland to the east, there is no more flat grassland. There are more mountains and tribes are clustered together. The terrain is quite complicated. I can no longer follow Lady Shi's trail, so I returned to report to Master Jianglong!"

After hearing this, Huang Sixi thought that if Shi Zhixuan insisted on going east, Shi Qingxuan would definitely follow him, and the father and daughter would most likely live in seclusion in Liaodong.

After Huang Sixi assassinated Shibi Khan and finished his work at the Turkic royal court, he went straight to Liaodong. He had a Feng Shui compass that could sense the exact location of the evil emperor's relics. No matter how secretly Shi Zhixuan was hiding, Huang Sixi was sure he could find out Shi Zhixuan's whereabouts.

Huang Sixi asked Xuan Yong again: "In the message you sent to Wuxia, you said that Shi Niangzi had participated in a fight. Do you know the identity of the person who fought with her?"

Xuan Yong said: "The fights that Shi Niangzi participated in were all fought by people with great martial arts skills. Among them were foreign tribes from the grasslands, as well as people from our Middle-earth. Those foreign tribes did not speak the same language, so I did not know their identities. However, the people from the Middle-earth had introduced themselves during the fight, so I do know a little bit about them!"

"Oh? Who is there?"

"I was watching the battle nearby at the time, and I heard Lady Shi mention the Demon Commander Zhao Deyan and the Evil Sect's master You Niaojuan. They are all among the eight great masters of the Demon Sect, and have long enjoyed great reputations in the Middle-earth!"

"Zhao Deyan is working for Shibi Khan and is far away from the Turkic royal court. Is Wu Zun Bi Xuan traveling with Zhao Deyan?"

"No one went with them! Only Zhao Deyan rushed to the Wasteland Market. Wu Zun Bi Xuan has been guarding the Turkic king's tent to protect Shibi Khan! By the way, I met a strange man with purple skin at the Wasteland Market that day. At that time, some foreigners laughed at his strange skin color, and he immediately started killing people. He also called himself "Heavenly Lord"..."

Huang Sixi suddenly interrupted Xuan Yong: "What? Are you sure this person's nickname is 'Tianjun'?"

Xuan Yong said confidently: "This is what he called himself. He is very skilled in martial arts. He killed all the foreigners who laughed at him. He also ridiculed these foreigners for not knowing their own strength and daring to provoke the 'Heavenly Monarch'. They really deserved to die! I have heard in the Middle Earth that among the eight great masters of the Demon Sect, there is a 'Heavenly Monarch' Xi Ying, who ranks fourth and is second only to the Demon Marshal Zhao Deyan in prestige. Therefore, I have a deep impression of him and will definitely not make a mistake!"

According to the information revealed by Fan Qinghui, the 'Heavenly Lord' Xi Ying fled to the Western Regions.

However, Shi Zhixuan's visit to the prairie caused the news of the evil emperor's relics to leak out, and incidentally attracted Xi Ying from the Western Regions to Liaodong.

In this way, Huang Sixi no longer has to go to the Western Regions. He can go directly to Liaodong, where he can not only find Shi Zhixuan and Shi Qingxuan, but also Xi Ying.

Huang Sixi and Xuan Yong chatted about the situation in Huangyuanji while riding their horses.

At dusk, the two arrived at the banks of the Tarbes River.

Looking around, both sides of the river are filled with densely packed round felt tents.

Xuan Yong immediately said, "My dear, Shibi Khan's tent has not been moved. He is still staying by the river!"

Huang Sixi told Xuan Yong: "I will sneak in alone, you stay here and wait. After I launch the assassination, no matter what happens in the Turkic camp, you just stay on this hillside and wait for me to come back. Don't worry about anything else!"

At this time, Huang Sixi and Xuan Yong were on the top of a mountain outside the Tabu River, several miles away from the Turkic hunting area.

Xuan Yong understood that Huang Sixi asked him to stay on the top of the mountain just to take care of his safety.

Huang Sixi was a martial arts master who could easily kill anyone in and out of the Turkic camp, but Xuan Yong did not have such ability.

Xuan Yong didn't want to drag down Huang Sixi, so he clasped his fists and said, "I'll follow your orders!"

(End of this chapter)