Die Kampfsportwelt ist ein Sumpf

Kapitel 145

"You can retreat to anywhere you want." If he could get her back, what did it matter if he lost the world? Only now did he realize the depth of his love. At that moment, he would rather give up the world for her, as long as she was safe. Even if she was crippled, had only one breath left, or was just a corpse, he would give everything for her. He could not abandon her again. Even if she was a corpse, he would hold her back.

Songtsen Gampo's face showed a hint of disbelief. "These are good conditions. Is the Emperor of Dayu really so devoted? To be willing to give up half of the country he has already acquired for a man? That's unbelievable. Well, I will give you an answer later." With that, he stepped down from the city wall.

Time passed slowly. After a long wait, a commotion broke out on the city wall. Then, a corpse was carried up to the top of the wall, long hair flying, chest stained with blood, handsome face still there, but the face that once shone with infinite brilliance was now pale and ashen.

At that moment, the world darkened, and the scenery before him gradually drifted away. He heard the sound of his chest shattering. No—no—how could she die? She was so young, so pure, so intelligent, so invincible. How could she die? But that face was so familiar to him, the face he had once lovingly caressed… The flesh was torn apart, and his shattered heart fell away piece by piece.

"Zijun—" Finally, a broken scream came, a scream that pierced the heart and was filled with utter despair, enough to make all things weep.

Why? Why was he too late again? Even dragging his broken body, rushing here recklessly, he was still too late. Why did he rush here so anxiously only to see this scene? Why could he always not keep up with her pace? Not even with the pace of death. His shattered body could not bear such heartbreak; a mouthful of blood gushed out, and he fell straight off his horse.

Ziju, wait for me... In the next life, I'll come find you... Wait for me, in the next life...

In the next life, you can't leave me behind...

My wish is actually very simple: I just want to hold your hand, watch the sunset, cry together, laugh together, sleep together, and grow old together. I want to be able to hold you and caress you in my lonely moments, to hold you until the end of time...

"Light it!" came the soldier's cold voice from the city wall. The lifeless body was hung on the wall, and then it was set ablaze...

"No—" Geshufa let out a mournful roar and fainted. The Western Turkic army began to stir, and suppressed sobs came from the ranks. In an instant, the Western Turkic army began to roar wildly, and they spurred their horses forward, charging toward the city gate with endless grief.

"Come back—" Miaozhou shouted, "Be careful, you've fallen into a trap—"

But the army, overwhelmed with grief, could no longer control themselves. Their Khan, the Khan who had stood by them through thick and thin, the Khan who loved them like brothers, the Khan who caused them so much heartache, the Khan whose unparalleled beauty made them steal glances at him every day… How could they do this to him? They couldn’t!

"His Majesty commands—withdraw the troops immediately—or be killed without mercy—" Miao Zhou roared at the out-of-control soldiers.

The soldiers stopped upon hearing the roar and looked over with suspicion.

...

Inside the city of Tarecuo, all was quiet as the Tibetan soldiers silently prepared their heavy crossbows and longbows.

“My son,” Songtsen Gampo looked at Gonson Gonzan, who was leaning against the couch, “You think Li Tianqi won’t keep his word? I believe he will. If it were me, I would agree to exchange cities with him.”

Gongsong Gongzan clutched his chest, the pain from his wound causing him to frown. "Father, how could you listen to the Han people? That Li Tianqi is incredibly cunning; he even deceives his own brothers. How could he have become emperor so easily? Father, don't be fooled by him. No matter what you give him, he will still turn around and continue to attack us."

"Alas, it's just unexpected that someone as remarkable as Wei Feng would die so young. What a pity. If Tibet had someone like him, how could we not have conquered the Central Plains and unified China? It's truly a shame." Songtsen Gampo sighed deeply. "My son, you have been too cruel to him. Such a person deserves a proper burial, yet you have hung his portrait on the city wall. How tragic."

Gongsong Gongzan looked dazed for a moment. He looked at Songtsen Gampo carefully and said, “Father, only in this way can we provoke them. By burning the corpses, we will surely arouse their hatred. They will be furious and attack the city. Once they rush into the city, our ambush in the city will annihilate them in one fell swoop and capture the emperor alive. Our Tibetan Empire will be able to enter the Central Plains in no time.”

"I hope so." Songtsen Gampo said with a worried expression. "If he hadn't died, I would have used him as leverage to blackmail Li Tianqi. However, a dead body will inevitably provoke his anger. As the saying goes, a desperate army will surely win. I'm afraid we won't have any good days ahead."

Volume 3, Dayu Chapter 133: Longing

One night, so much happened in this one night; this one night felt like a thousand years.

The entire Western Turkic army camp was shrouded in grief. That night, several soldiers secretly sneaked to the walls of Tarecuo City, intending to steal back their Khan's charred body, but were stabbed to death by the soldiers guarding the city.

After learning the news, the Queen of Supi was stunned for a long time. Gazing at the dark palace in the night, a tear rolled down her cheek.

The stunningly handsome man, who had remained unconscious, seemed to have gone with the other person, leaving only his body with a trace of warmth. He didn't utter a single murmur or a soft groan, as if he didn't want to leave any more sound in this world.

The person who wanted to follow her back woke up, but his face was haggard and his black hair was now frosty. He forced himself to wake up because he had to go and bring her back.

I finally understand what it means to have white hair overnight; it's not just an empty phrase.

His snow-white hair, intertwined with his ashen face, made him seem to have aged ten years in an instant.

Lin Huajing let out a long sigh. What kind of grief and sorrow could have led to this? In this world, love truly is the most hurtful thing.

Only Miaozhou sat there quietly, thinking until late at night. Then, he secretly went to the city of Tarecuo, only to find that the corpse was no longer there.

No one suggested holding a funeral, and no one believed that the man was gone. Although they knew in their hearts that it was a fact, they could not believe that the man who could single-handedly repel the enemy would die. Even the soldiers who had recklessly rushed towards the gates of Tarecuo City that day began to have doubts. Fortunately, they were stopped by Miaozhou.

Miaozhou was even more incredulous. He knew of Gongsongzan's ability to disguise himself; he had once disguised himself to assassinate her. He couldn't believe she had simply died like that. How could they have just burned the body of a Khan? Even her corpse should have been a valuable bargaining chip. He didn't believe it, and he hoped the man whose hair had turned white overnight didn't believe it either. He didn't want to hear that heartbroken soliloquy anymore. Hearing those words, even he, who considered himself as hard as stone, secretly shed tears.

From that night on, Li Tianqi neither ate nor drank, nor spoke. He would only speak when he was alone at night. He would always hold the clothes she had changed out of the night before she left, muttering to himself.

"Zijun, I haven't seen you all day again. Did you run back to the Western Turks? You're so disobedient, I have to chase after you."

"Zijun, Tesalu isn't eating or drinking and might starve to death. Come back and check on it quickly; it misses you."

"You... you're so stubborn and strong-willed. Once you've decided to do something, no one can stop you. This time I won't stop you. Just come back soon when you've had enough of staying there..."

"Zijun, what are you eating now? Is the food good? There's not much good food in the Western Turkic region. Thinking about the two years you spent there, eating so simply, it breaks my heart."

At this point, he would break down in tears. Those suppressed, broken cries would echo every night, lonely and sorrowful in the quiet darkness.

A dozen days later, Li Tianqi summoned his generals to his bedside and devised one attack plan after another. He remembered the words that Jun had told him in his dream that day: continue to annihilate the Tubo.

Due to extreme grief and shock, Li Tianqi's weakened body was temporarily unable to rise, but this did not diminish his wisdom and dignity as a ruler. Even on his bed, his schemes still plunged Tibet into crisis.

On the day Li Tianqi issued the order to attack, He Lu awoke, seemingly thinking of avenging her, or perhaps of finding her again. He woke up in a great hurry. From that day on, apart from marching and deploying troops, He Lu never uttered a word. The only thing that kept him alive was the belief that she might not be dead. Even if he died, he wanted to see her body. He and she had been so intimate; he remembered every part of her body, every detail. No matter how she was burned, he would recognize her.

The two men finally stood together for the same woman. One stood upright on his warhorse, cold and lifeless, yet exuding a resolute determination. The other was carried to the battlefield in a palanquin, his eyes deep and his hair as white as snow, yet radiating a resolute aura.

From that day on, the two men often stood together. Although they didn't exchange a single word, they could feel her presence when they stood together—the woman they both loved.

When one person misses her, their heart aches so much they feel like dying. When two people stand together and miss her, it seems they can support each other and stumble forward to continue fulfilling her wishes.

In June of the third year of the Jiande era of the Dayu Kingdom, on the day of Renshen, the horn of war against Tibet sounded once again. The allied forces of Dayu, the Western Turks, and Supi, totaling 400,000 troops, began their invasion of Tibet from the north, heading towards the Tibetan royal court, Lhasa. At the same time, an army of 200,000 troops led by Chen Chang entered Tibet from Linqiong County of Jiannan Road in Dayu, attacking the Tibetan capital, Bowo.

Meanwhile, the Dayu garrison of the Western Turkic Kunling Protectorate, led by Ashina Mishe, entered Tibet from the Western Turkic territory, crossed the Gangdise Mountains, and directly threatened Tibet's Gongtang.

The three armies attacked simultaneously, raising clouds of dust and blood, and all headed straight for Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

According to Li Tian's plan, the Supi allied forces bypassed Taracuo and went straight for Lhasa. Meanwhile, the Dayu and Western Turkic armies would first take Taracuo and then Lhasa.

On that day, horns sounded from all directions, and the allied forces of the Western Turks and the Dayu besieged the city of Tarecuo, beginning a brutal siege that lasted for nearly twenty days.

Li Tianqi, who could only lean against the palanquin, insisted on guarding the battlefield. Even if he was lying there, he wanted to watch the army break through Tarecuo, and then he would be the first to rush in to find her.

On the summer grassland, the sun blazed fiercely, and the black iron armor gleamed coldly in the sunlight as the warriors of the Western Turks and Dayu roared madly as they charged toward the city walls.

Blood splattered, arrows flew, and boulders and logs crashed down, but nothing could shake the warriors' determination to attack the city. They had one belief: to kill Gongsong Gongzan and avenge their Khan. They also had a sliver of hope: that by capturing Tarecuo, they might be able to find their Khan.

Gazing upon the surging, desperate army, the army that seemed oblivious to pain and death, the army that fought with the ferocity of lions, Songtsen Gampo was shaken. This man, who had become king at the age of thirteen, who had sought revenge for his father at a young age, and who had never known fear, finally felt a trace of dread. For the first time in all his years of valiant conquest, he felt a deep-seated fear—a fear that the empire he had built over the years would truly be trampled flat by the enraged lion of the Western Turks.

Seeing the unstoppable momentum, after holding out for twenty days, Songtsen Gampo ordered the back gate to be opened and led his army to abandon the city and break out.

Li Tianqi did not send anyone to pursue them; instead, they rushed into the city to search frantically.

He wouldn't allow her to die. Wei Zijun would never die. He would turn Tarecuo upside down. He wouldn't give up until he found her body.

When the Western Turkic warriors stepped onto the city walls, when they stormed into the palace of Tarecuo, when they trod on the stone-paved ground, when they pounded on every piece of plaster, the sounds of frantic searching, interrogation, and torture seemed to reach one's ears.

The cacophony of sounds kept creeping in, seeping into her ears, sometimes clear, sometimes blurry. She couldn't quite understand them, yet she seemed to understand them all at the same time. When that familiar voice rang out, her eyelashes trembled, as if she were trying desperately to open her eyes, but in the end, she only trembled slightly.

Then she heard another familiar voice, and she felt a sense of relief and wanted to smile. They were all fine, all alive. Being alive was enough.

She did everything she was supposed to do.

Her parents' revenge was complete, and they were all alive and well. There were also those she loved... her master, Dieyun, Liu Yunde, her third brother, Dilan, and her own brother, as well as many others she cherished: Xin'er, Liulang, even Old Man Zhang... Now, she only hoped that those she loved would live well and not grieve for her. From now on, her second brother would no longer have to cry in front of her, and she hoped Helu could find a good woman...

However, she only completed half of her grand plan to eradicate Tibet and eliminate future troubles, but they are working on it, and they will continue to do so.

My wish has been fulfilled, and I have no regrets.

There was simply no chance to offer them any more warmth.

"He Lu... Second Brother..." What came out of her heart was a faint expression of love.

Finally, those two names were called out? Finally, love was acknowledged. There were no more constraints, no more hesitation. There was no more restraint. Love could be unrestrained. One was buried deep in the heart, and the other could not be abandoned.

I've experienced joy, happiness, pain, sorrow, and love, but this love was divided into two kinds: one I gave to him, and the other I gave to him.

I have no regrets about meeting them in this life and receiving their sincere treatment.

A wave of excruciating pain washed over Wei Zijun, causing her to furrow her brows. Her meridians ached all over, as if countless tiny snakes were biting her, releasing their thick green venom...

But does the soul also feel pain?

They ultimately found no trace of her. Filled with immense disappointment and sorrow, they relentlessly pursued the Tibetan army, determined to find out her fate only by capturing Gongsong Gongzan.

The flames of war, fueled by the rage of the Western Turkic army and the grief of two men, finally began to spread across an unprecedentedly vast area. Three armies, numbering 600,000, simultaneously attacked Lhasa. The long battlefront stretched ever wider, and countless soldiers—soldiers of the Western Turks, Dayu, Supi, and Tibet—left their lives in this campaign against Tibet.

The brutality of this battle was unprecedented. One side, consumed by hatred and sworn to revenge, the other, determined to defend their homeland and fight to the death. Both sides, filled with fervent loyalty and unwavering resolve, fought a desperate, relentless battle. Hundreds of thousands of these men roared like thunder, their cries like hurricanes. Heads were left on the battlefield, blood stained the grasslands, a stench filled the air, and billowing yellow sand filled the sky...

After the deafening shouts of battle, only piles of corpses remained, attracting countless eagles circling wildly. Even though the bodies, which decompose easily in the summer heat, were buried in time, a plague still swept across the entire battlefield, afflicting both armies and causing countless soldiers to perish.

The Tibetan army, weakened by the plague, was clearly at a disadvantage. To defend their homes and the enemy, almost all Tibetans participated in this protracted war. Men aged fourteen to sixty were all conscripted, and later, as the death toll rose, the conscription expanded to include men aged twelve to seventy. Tibetan women who had lost their husbands and sons also took up arms.

This was an unprecedented and tragic battle; no one had ever seen such a brutal battle. Watching those frail old men with white beards fall one by one under the broadswords, blood flowing over their white heads... Watching those women and Tibetan soldiers who were still like children die tragically under the swords, the soldiers of the Western Turks and Dayu could no longer bring themselves to swing their long swords at the old, weak, sick, and disabled. Li Tianqi could no longer bear to see those innocent lives die tragically at his hands. Finally, he ordered the siege of the city.

One day, two days, three days. One month, two months, three months.

Summer passed under the scorching sun and amidst the crimson sky; autumn came and went...

Large swathes of Tibetan territory had been taken over by the Western Turkic army, with only Lhasa and some surrounding cities remaining in fierce resistance. The two sides fought intermittently, and the Dayu army made no progress. Li Tianqi ordered the siege to continue.

Winter came, and unable to communicate with the outside world or conduct trade, the Tibetan army began to stir with unrest. Winter passed...and spring came again...

Finally, Songzan Gampo sent an envoy to request peace talks with Li Tianqi. Not wanting further innocent casualties, and with Tibet struggling to conquer, Li Tianqi agreed to the peace request. He knew that if she were alive, she would have done the same; she could never bear to see so many lives lost.

......

Spring has come again. The willows are green, the grasses are growing tall, the sky is clear and blue, and the azaleas are blooming in competition. At sunrise in Lhasa, a middle-aged man with a red silk turban on his head stands with his hands behind his back in the magnificent palace, his face inscrutable.

The Potala Palace, perched atop Marpo Ri Hill, is a magnificent complex of buildings and halls. This palace, the domain of successive Tibetan kings, emerges like a sparkling jewel, its grandeur reaching the heavens. The solid, thick granite walls rise tens of meters high, the gilded roofs of prayer pillars gleam with dazzling light, the eaves project outwards, prayer flags flutter, and the copper tiles and painted murals are breathtaking. Inside, the corridors intertwine, the halls are scattered, winding and mysterious, deep and enigmatic.

The spring sunlight streamed in through the wooden window lattice, illuminating her almost translucent, fair face with a crystalline glow.

Songtsen Gampo's sharp eyes were fixed on the face before him. That person, the one who rode forth on horseback amidst a vast army, the one whose unparalleled beauty and fame resounded throughout the land—she lay there, seemingly asleep. Even lying there motionless, her elegance remained undiminished, her radiance overflowing; even lying still, she was almost captivating. Songtsen Gampo sighed deeply. One could imagine how dazzling she would be if she stood up. Her every smile and gesture, coupled with her immense talent, would surely captivate all. Such a woman was especially suited to be a woman by an emperor's side.

No wonder Li Tianqi found it so hard to let go; who would let go of someone like that?

His rough, large hands stroked her cheeks, gently caressing them.

Seeing him place his hand on her face, Gongsong Gongzan, who was standing to the side, was stunned. "Father, I regret that I kept her hidden away. Now, I am willing to exchange her with Li Tianqi so that he will immediately withdraw his troops and return Tibet to us."

Songtsen Gampo's hand stopped on Wei Zijun's lips. "Now that my Tubo has suffered heavy losses, even if he temporarily retreats, he will surely make a comeback immediately. You are right, all's fair in war. False promises are what the Han people like to do most. Perhaps, she is the best choice in our hands. When I rebuild my country's strength, she will be the best bargaining chip."

“But I never imagined that such a remarkable figure would be a woman.” As the saying goes, heroes cherish each other. Songtsen Gampo sighed again. “Keep her here. Don’t send her back. She’s already dead. From now on, there will be no more Wei Feng. Search far and wide for famous doctors to treat her. Perhaps, she is the best weapon for Tibet to regain its prestige.”

"Father, what if Li Tianqi demands that you hand over your son during this peace negotiation? They have always believed that I am the murderer of her." Gongsong Gongzan seemed to feel the weight of his sins, and he knew that those two men would never let him go.

Songtsen Gampo raised a brow with his long, narrow eyes. "Can't you run away? If the one burning on the city wall isn't the Khan of the Western Turks, then I am innocent. As for where you took her body, I have no idea."

"Your subject understands."

“My son, remember, endure this humiliation for now, only to reclaim the territory I have lost.”