âOh? We have reached Talas,â Shu Yichao murmured, seeing the cityâs name on the minimap.
Talas was an important fortress belonging to Chach of Central Asiaâs Nine Kingdoms.
Decades ago, the Tang general, Gao Xianzhi, fought the Abbasid Caliphate in Talas.
Chach had betrayed Great Tang and sided with the Abbasid Caliphate, so Gao Xianzhi dispatched troops to conquer Chach and capture their king. Chachâs prince escaped to the Abbasid Caliphate and requested help, and the Tangs and the Arabs ended up fighting in Talas.
The Karluksâ backstabbing resulted in the Tangs suffering a defeat in Talas. Thousands were killed, and thousands were taken as prisoners.
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This battle wasnât that important. It was just a border skirmish, and neither side thought too highly of it. Even so, it was still a clash between the two powerful empires of the East and the West, so it was thoroughly analyzed later in the future.
There were all kinds of analyses and research.
âThe Battle of Talas? Brothers, some of you might have even been involved in this battle,â Shu Yichao remarked to the ghost horsemen.
âGrar!â Some of the ghost horsemen nodded in agreement.
âReally? What are we waiting for?!â Shu Yichao exclaimed in excitement. âItâs time to exact vengeance! We have just dealt with the Karluks who backstabbed Great Tang; itâs high time to deal with the Chach traitors now!
âBrothers, come with me! We shall avenge our brethren who have died in the Battle of Talas! Letâs show them how sharp our Great Tangâs modaos are!â
âGRARRR!â the ghost horsemen exclaimed hoarsely.
A cold, sinister wind blew toward Talas like a brewing snowstorm.
âThey are here! The Tangsâ vengeful ghosts are here!â
Horrified screams ensued.
The Chachsâ garrison troops in Talas stared at the specters blowing toward them with faces distorted with fear.
There had been rumors for months now that the Anxi army had returned to the mortal world, bringing with them an undead army. Even the Tibetan Empire had suffered a series of setbacks to them.
However, the people of Chach didnât think much about it as all these had happened a far distance away, and they hadnât witnessed it in person.
But days ago, with the sudden appearance of the White Calamity and the Black Calamity, Suyanâs collapse, the demise of the Karluksâ Governor Ye and chieftainsâŠ
The ones who called the shots in Central Asiaâs Transoxania had been the Karluks. It was shocking to learn that the regional powerhouse had been destroyed in the blink of an eye.
Chach, who was accustomed to depending on stronger powers, was baffled, but there was not much time for them to dwell on it.
According to their most recent intelligence, the Tangs would soon be knocking at their gates!
âGeneral, what do we do?!â
The flustered soldiers turned to a Chach general for their next move.
âReinforcement! We need to look for reinforcements!â
The Chach general didnât even hesitate before asking for his soldiers to request reinforcements. He knew that the soldiers stationed in Talas wouldnât be a match for the Tang army.
âYou have to tell His Majesty that weâll be dead meat if he doesnât come! The Tangs wonât stop at Talas; they will continue to advance deeper. Even the capital will not be spared from harm⊠Donât forget how the Tangs attacked our capital decades ago!â
In other words, they were in the same boat. If I die, youâre next!
âWhy donât we surrender?â a soldier proposed. âI heard from a Shule merchant that the Tangs donât kill those who surrendered. Itâs only those who resist to the bitter end who are killed.â
The Chach general viciously slapped the soldier who said those words. âThose are dead people! Iâve never heard of anyone surrendering to dead people! Besides, we should only surrender if we can get something good out of it!â
While the Chach general was berating his subordinate, he suddenly heard exclamations from the other soldiers.
âLook! Whatâs that?!â
âIs it a snowstorm?â
âNo, itâs an army of specters!â
âThey are coming! The Tangs are here!â
The Chach general quickly scaled the city wall, and his heart nearly stalled to a halt.
Before him, countless specters flooded over like an avalanche that would bury everything. Everyone in Talas could only watch in horror as the snow rushed at them, seeking to crush them underneath.
âKikiki!â
The sneer of a single specter shook a personâs heart, but the sneers of millions of specters induced a deep-rooted fear that seeped inside oneâs bones.
âGlug glug!â A weird sound could be heard coming from the Chach general. It took a while before he finally relayed his first order, âPut up the defenses! We have to stop them!â freewebnĂžvel.coɱ
Unfortunately, the defenses of the cities in Transoxania were lacking compared to the key fortresses in the Western Regions, such as Shule and Khotan. There were fewer mages to guard the city, and their artifacts were weaker too.
Shu Yichao might have struggled with the barriers of the Western Regionsâ fortresses, but that problem didnât apply here.
Bzt bzzt!
Lightning crackled in Shu Yichaoâs hands.
âI bring the spark of death!â
Lightning Arrows burst forth like silver serpents, decimating all the defensive mechanisms on the city walls. In the blink of an eye, countless garrison troops were either reduced to cinders or were blasted off amidst the artifactsâ explosions.
âYou bastards! Hold on! Make sure to hold on!â
The Chach general angrily reprimanded the soldiers who were balled up next to a ballista, having lost their will to fight.
âWhy are these people so much easier to deal with than the Tibetans?â Shu Yichao was baffled to see the bawling soldiers on the city walls.
He hadnât lost to the Tibetans yet, but the battles he had fought against them hadnât been easy either. He thought that the Karluks and Chachs would have been difficult foes comparable to the Tibetans, but each of them turned out to be weaker than the previous.
âAttack!â
Shu Yichao suspected that it was a trap, so he sent the specters forth first to test the waters out. The snickering specters raised a tsunami against Talasâ city walls, looking reminiscent of a tiger biting down on a pitiful rabbit.
âGAHHH!â
âUWAAAA!â
âWeâre goners! Weâre goners!â
âNOOOOOOOO!â
The Chach garrison troops had learned about the specters from the refugees. Seeing the unstoppable wave of specters gushing toward them scared the soldiers out of their wits, and they screamed their heads off.
Not a single one of them could muster the willpower to fight back.
At this rate, Talas would be completely flooded by the specters.
It was then that it happened.
A fiery inferno suddenly rose from the underground, forming a blazing wall that protected Talas from danger. Any specter that dared to approach this wall of flames was burned to cinders. Even a brief touch with a spark would cause the specters to disintegrate like a speck of cloth.
Just like that, the humongous snowstorm of specters was stopped in its tracks.
âKikiki!â
Unwilling to concede defeat, the specters tried to breach the wall of flames, but they were incinerated like moths leaping into fire. They failed to achieve anything other than to make the flames blaze with greater fervor.
âItâs the high shaman!â
Chachâs garrison troops were so relieved that tears and snot flowed freely down their faces. They cheered in delight at having survived the ordeal.
âOur savior is here!!!â
âHm?â Shu Yichao looked at the sky.
A figure was slowly rising in the sky. It was a figure dressed in a black cloak, his face obscured by a mysterious mask that only revealed his pitch-black eyes.
A resounding voice echoed across the battlefield, âTang bandits, Iâll give you a chance to live. Scram with your specters right now and never appear on this land again. Otherwise, die!!!â