Chapter 171 Great Shaman

Amid the flying snow, dark clouds continued to gather in the sky, rolling over and over, as if to carry all the coldness of the far north southward. In such a weather, a strong wind gradually arose, blowing the land outside the Great Wall into a bleak state, and making the mountains, rivers and streams all lose their color.

Pushed by the strong wind, thick dark clouds slowly floated from the horizon to the top of the head, until the entire sky was covered with a dark world.

Under the strong wind and dark clouds that were moving southward, dense crowds of people were also rumbling towards the south. Looking around, it was found that 70% of them were cavalrymen wearing felt hats and leather armor with fur collars on the left side.

There were so many cavalrymen that marching in the snow was like a broom, slowly smoothing out the entire grassland. Looking down from the sky, one could see that the snowy grassland was full of gullies left by horses' hooves, revealing the dark brown soil under the snow.

Further south, at the end of the cavalry's sight, a dilapidated earthen wall suddenly appeared on the grassland, beside the Wuluan River, forming an earthen fortress. Judging from its style, it looked more like a Han city, but it seemed that after hundreds of years of destruction and weathering, this earthen fortress had already collapsed for the most part and became dilapidated.

The continuous wave of cavalry finally stopped.

Thus, the earth-brown fur collars and leather armor on their bodies blended with the dark clouds in the sky to form one, as if the whole world was shrouded in darkness. In the mutual reflection, it seemed that everything became dim and lightless, with only countless darkness.

A royal flag, also black, slowly moved to the front of the formation.

Under the banner, a series of sturdy figures surrounded a fat and fierce-looking giant who appeared in front of the formation and looked at the earthen fort in front of them together.

The giant was very tall, and the mount under his crotch was much more handsome and muscular than that of others. The dark beard on his chin was tied into a small braid, and he was dressed in a large brocade silk coat and a sable coat. He could be said to be wearing gold and silver, but on him, it could not be said to be noble. Instead, apart from a deterrent aura, he only looked rustic.

However, other people did not dare to look down on him, because he was none other than Yelu Lage, the King of Mobei on this vast grassland, the younger brother of Yelu Abaoji, who seized the throne through a coup.

Moreover, the Khan of Mobei has always been elected by hereditary system. At first it was the Daha clan, and then the Yaonian clan. A hundred years ago, the Khanship was always held by these two clans in Mobei. Now the power has fallen into the hands of the Yelu clan. If the Khanship was elected by hereditary system, several of Yelu Abaoji's brothers might have the chance to become the Khan. It can be said that the Khanship was taken in turns.

However, after Yelu Abaoji served as the Great Khan for nine consecutive years, he established the throne and wanted his descendants to inherit it. This had already aroused the dissatisfaction of his younger brothers, but due to Abaoji's excessive prestige, they had been able to endure it.

As soon as Abaoji was defeated in Yan, Yelu Lage immediately conspired with the third brother (Yelu) Diela, the fourth brother Yindishi, and the fifth brother Anduan, won over his cousin Yelu Huago, and joined forces with his uncle Yelu Xiadi to launch a coup, imprisoned his nephew, killed all of Abaoji's trusted followers, and took control of the royal court.

However, what is dramatic is that at first everyone agreed to support Yelu Xiadi as the King of Mobei, but as soon as Yelu Lage used Xiadi's influence to reach an agreement with the eight major tribes, he immediately launched another coup. The four brothers of Yelu Lage were all Abaoji's younger brothers, and the power they possessed was enough to crush Yelu Xiadi. The final result was naturally self-evident.

This time, Yelu Lage easily gained the loyalty of his three brothers by promising to restore tradition, and took away all of Abaoji's foundation in the royal court, firmly sitting on the throne. This can be said to be a true "brotherly friendship and respectful brotherhood"...

Although Yelu Lage is Abaoji's younger brother and is only 31 or 32 years old this year, his experience in battle is not much less than Abaoji's and he still has great prestige in the army. It's just that his political influence and reputation are far inferior to Abaoji's.

So no matter what, although Yelu Lage came to power through a coup, he at least had some foundation in the control of military power and could be said to be quite adept at it. And he was anxious to go south to eliminate the Queen Shuliduo because he wanted to eliminate his own political shortcomings.

……

"Such a beautiful grassland, with rivers and pastures, but a hundred years ago the Tang people built a mud city here."

Yelu Lage pointed at the earthen fort in front of him and said, "This Bei'an Prefecture has always been the end point for the Yan people in the south to go north to forage for grass and valleys. Before I was born, the governor of Li Tang dared to go deep into the grassland for hundreds of miles to this place and built such an earthen city. Therefore, we Mobei people dare not graze here on such fertile grasslands. It's a pity."

After saying that, he turned to look at the person next to him, stroking his braid proudly, and said with an arrogant smile: "But now Li Tang is gone, this earthen city has collapsed, and my Mobei is getting stronger and stronger under my leadership. General Ba, just wait and see, in the future this pasture will not only be extended to this place, but I will also herd sheep directly beside the Great Wall!"

"Your Majesty has plenty of military power, so he can do so." The scarred middle-aged man who was almost riding a horse with Yelu Lage smiled.

However, he has a somewhat gloomy temperament, and even when he smiles, he doesn't seem easy to get along with.

This person is the 'General Ba' mentioned by La Ge, and he is the one in Sanqianyuan whom he highly respects.

It can be said that if Yelu Lage were to launch a coup himself, it would be a complete mess, and he would not be able to know everything about Abaoji and Shuliduo's movements. If he himself caused chaos, the most likely possibility was that Shuliduo, who was still in Bei'an Prefecture at the time, would return and easily suppress it.

It was Sanqianyuan who gave him the blueprint, and it was also Sanqianyuan who helped him sit firmly on the throne. Regardless of whether he was sincerely grateful or wanted to make friends with the State of Jin through Sanqianyuan, he would only give special treatment to the latter.

Therefore, during the past six months, Sanqianyuan has always had a very high status in the royal court, and can be said to be equivalent to Lage's brothers.

This time when they go south to eliminate Shulido, he will naturally be brought along to show how much they are valued.

At this moment, Yelu Lage looked at the earthen city of Bei'an Prefecture in front of him, sighed and said, "What a pity! Why doesn't General Ba stay in the royal court and assist me? From now on, I will let General Ba be the Khan of the southern grassland. General Ba, do you think it's not right?"

Sanqianyuan smiled bitterly and said, "I appreciate your kindness, Your Majesty. I am anxious to go back because the Holy Lord is urging me to go back. I have been living happily in the royal court for more than half a year. I am just a Shatuo man, and now I have to return to Taiyuan no matter what."

Yelu Lage smacked his lips, then put his arm around Sanqianyuan's shoulders and laughed loudly, pretending to be heroic: "It's okay. If I can meet with the King of Jin in the future, I will ask for you."

The people around him also laughed and tried to please him, but they were all a bunch of rough men, so don't expect to hear any nice compliments, just laugh it off.

Finally, the vanguard troops escorted Yelu Lage into the earthen city.

There were still bloodstains in the earthen city, and broken body parts were scattered everywhere. Although some of them had been collected, some frozen body parts and dead bodies could still be seen in some corners.

They were the corpses of some Mobei soldiers.

Yelu Lage walked up to a complete dead body, kicked it casually, sneered nonchalantly, and called out, "Third brother, come and take a look."

A skinny figure walked over from the side, then squatted down, with light flashing between his fingers. He pinched the neck of the corpse in mid-air, twisted it to check the eye sockets that seemed to be bulging with fear, and then spoke calmly.

"It is indeed an illusion. As far as I know, there is such a talented person beside Shuliduo, the priest Da Hefeng. This person has practiced witchcraft for many years, so it is not surprising that he has such a pinnacle of illusion."

The man was wearing a white hooded robe, his face hidden in the shadows, almost only his pale jaw could be seen. His voice was also very hoarse. He stood up and pointed at the bloody body parts all around.

"These and the corpses we saw along the way were either killed by illusion or violently dismembered. Shuliduo has a strong man beside him. He used to be a member of the Yaoyan tribe. I don't know his name, but I know he is commonly known as 'Yaoyan's younger brother'. He is half a meter tall and holds a miasma horn made by Dahe Feng. A sorcerer and a strong man are a good match."

Yelu Lage laughed grimly, "This bitch has unknowingly won over quite a few experts. No wonder she was able to stop Yuan Lanzi for nearly ten days..."

"The Rangers are scouts. They can fight with the help of the earthen city. No matter how many Rangers there are, they will be useless." The man in the robe said calmly, "Da He Feng is proficient in witchcraft and seems to have learned poison. With a strong man and a few soldiers, he is bound to be difficult to deal with. But once the vanguard arrives, they have no choice but to flee south, and..."

His voice paused, and he tilted his head to look towards a corner. Then, in the puzzled gazes of Yelu Lage and everyone in the Three Thousand Courtyard, he suddenly walked to a corner, squatted down, stretched out his fingers, and picked up a rosary.

"This Da He Feng is no longer a threat, Your Majesty, please do not worry."

Sanqianyuan crossed his arms across his chest, looked at the man coldly and indifferently, and said nothing.

In the past six months in the royal court, he has known almost all the nobles in Mobei to some extent, but he doesn't know much about the man in the robe in front of him, Yelu Diela, the third brother of Yelu Abaoji, who is said to have created the Mobei language. This man is very mysterious, and his strength may be above the middle heaven level...

On the side, Yelu Lage shook his head and sneered: "Yelu Huage is such a waste. He asked to be the marshal of the vanguard army, and I specially assigned him a thousand rangers. But he lost more than 200 cavalrymen. All of them died at the hands of such a group of people. It really pissed me off."

But he immediately changed the subject, looked around, and laughed out loud: "Luckily I have a third brother, otherwise that bitch Shuliduo would have been so proud. Hahahaha, third brother, tell me what reward you want, and I will reward you handsomely!"

Yelu Diela, the man in the robe, shook his head and crushed the bone rosary with ease, saying casually, "If the king wants a reward, just give it to those Uighur wizards. It is also their credit that Da Hefeng was severely injured."

Yelu Lage turned around and saw several people in robes standing with their hands down and not saying a word.

But the robes of these people were all brown, and the material was extremely rough, making them look like ascetics, with wooden faces. However, they did not have the mysterious hoods, and their faces that were exposed had deep eye sockets and hooked noses, and they looked like people from the Western Regions.

He grabbed the pigtail on his chin and waved his hand proudly: "This king will only reward you. You can reward these wizards as you wish. If the money is not enough... Come, move all the gems and agates that this king brought to Third Brother's tent!"

The servant standing beside him left, and the man in the robe seemed unmoved, just bowed slightly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Yelu Lage continued to instruct the generals: "Send someone to tell Yelu Hua Ge to keep going south without stopping. I want him to quickly find out where Shuliduo is. I want to see what other tricks Shuliduo has!"

"Take orders."

Some people rode their horses and headed straight south, while the army outside began to set up camp beside the earthen city.

Bei'an Prefecture is only 180 miles away from Gubeikou. If Shulido is outside the Great Wall, the royal army will be almost face to face with her at this distance. Yelu Lage can afford to wait.

After everything was arranged, Sanqianyuan asked with a smile: "Your Majesty, since you have the help of the third brother, why should you be afraid of Abaoji?"

At this moment, the man in robes was standing nearby, but he did not shy away from it, which made him seem more open.

The man in robe ignored everything and remained silent.

But Yelu Lage gave a rare bitter smile and waved his hand.

"General Ba, I don't know how you are in the Central Plains. In our Mobei, there is a man. Although he is not a Khan or a king, his appeal cannot be underestimated. Even I am afraid of him..."

Sanqianyuan narrowed his eyes and guessed, "Great Shaman?"

Yelu Lage nodded, then sneered, his face a little ferocious: "That bitch Shuliduo gave birth to a good daughter. General Ba doesn't know that the reason why I have been so busy for so many years is..."

Sanqianyuan was about to listen attentively, but Yelu Lage suddenly stopped talking at this point, and then laughed heartily: "Forget it, I will tell General Ba about it after I capture Shuliduo."

He could only joke, "Then I will wait two more days before returning to Taiyuan... But I have heard that this great shaman has great sorcery skills. How did the king capture this queen?"

"Ah……"

This time, it was the man in the robe who spoke before Yelu Lage, and seemed a little disdainful.

Yelu Lage gave a mysterious and sinister smile, "Since General Ba wants to know, I will tell you. My third brother has more than just a few wizards. He sent quite a few wizards south before. When Shuliduo saw such a scene, why couldn't he send out a great shaman?"

Sanqianyuan frowned in thought.

But the man in the robe stretched out his bony hand from his sleeve, put the rosary ashes on his fingertips into his mouth and tasted it, and then between his pale jaw, one could see the corners of his mouth raised greedily.

"I've long wanted to meet this reincarnated goddess—

My little niece."

…………

Under the dark clouds.

In the joint camp on the banks of the Wuluan River, there was a panic scene everywhere, with soldiers in a state of disturbance and many Mobei soldiers coming out of their tents.

"In the north, we found Wang Tingyuan's guard..."

This news spread everywhere in the camp, and the people's hearts, which had only been stable for ten days, suddenly became uneasy.

But Shulido obviously had no intention of paying attention to all this. She walked hurriedly, looking as calm as possible, and entered a tent.

Inside the tent, Yaoyan's younger brother fell to his knees.

"Queen, I am incompetent. Da He Feng is injured. I am unable to resist the vanguard of the royal court..."

"With you here, who can seriously injure Da He Feng?"

"Wizards, four or five wizards... They hid in the far barrier, and I was caught off guard, and I almost died in Bei'an Prefecture..." Yao Nian's brother fell to the ground, saying in agony, "Even if we retreated south, they followed closely behind us."

Shulido narrowed her beautiful eyes.

On the side, Shili Qixiang, who followed closely in, was horrified, "When did the royal court have so many wizards?"

The queen raised her hand to stop her, and then said coldly: "Those wizards, are they going south with you?"

“It should be so…”

"Where?"

Yao Nian's younger brother looked a little pale, and whispered: "I'm afraid it's less than ten miles away from the camp..."

(End of this chapter)