Chapter 1196: Hyderabad Mine!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“The high priest has existed for an extremely long time and is almost a living myth. I once heard that he knew many ancient secrets and truths, including about the Elam Dynasty. If you are interested in the Book of Paimon and the symbol you’ve mentioned, you might be able to find him and ask a few questions.”
Bahram’s words caused Wang Chong’s eyes to brighten. After pausing a moment, Bahram continued.
“But like all people who grasp secrets and have lived for an extremely long time, the high priest of Sindhu rarely reveals himself. Many people have heard of him, but only an extremely small number have actually seen him. Not even the Sindhi of Hyderabad know his exact location. Every time, they only hear his voice but never see his figure. Moreover, even when the Emperor of my Sassanid Dynasty wanted to see him, he was not able to get his wish.
“In Khorasan and the surrounding regions, that person is a god-like existence. Out of respect for him, no one has ever tried to meddle in Sindhu. If you wish to find him, you should go there and take a look.”
Bahram’s words were like a boulder splashing into the lake of Wang Chong’s mind, stirring up countless waves.
The war was over and Arabia had lost many people. No matter how muddle-headed or impulsive Mutasim III was, he would not be launching another war any time soon. With this period of peace, he might truly have a chance to take a trip to Sindhu.
Moreover, Sindhu possessed an enormous amount of Hyderabad ore. Now that Arabia had been defeated, he might be able to negotiate with the Sindhi to obtain the quota usually set aside for Arabia.
The coalition army quickly ratified Wang Chong’s articles. Based on these rules, anyone who disrespected the Great Tang disrespected the coalition army. Bahram and the other rebel leaders embraced this article even more enthusiastically than the Great Tang had.
If the Great Tang was willing to establish this rule, it indicated that it was willing to establish a base here, which was exactly what Bahram and the rebel leaders wanted to see.
Meanwhile, with Feng Changqing present, he immediately began to display his superb skills in logistics. Through a series of decisions, he succeeded in greatly boosting the opinion of the people of Khorasan toward the Great Tang.
And as long as it could rule over the people of Khorasan, the Great Tang could similarly gain the allegiance of the people in other places.
Ten-some days later, with the arrival of the first batch of family members from the great clans, the Great Tang formally hammered its first nail into Khorasan, and everything began to travel on the right course.
At this time, Wang Chong handed over everything to Gao Xianzhi, Wang Yan, and Su Hanshan, while he himself took Li Siye, Cui Piaoqi, the Gangke King, and Zhang Shouzhi, as well as one thousand Wushang Cavalry. Setting out from Khorasan, they traveled northwest toward Sindhu.
After traveling for seven or eight days, the group finally entered new territory.
“This… this is Sindhu? What a barren place!”
Atop a muscular horse, Xue Qianjun took in the view before him in shock. He knew that Sindhu was a very poor place, and he knew that Sindhu was different from all the other empires, but only by stepping on its soil did he know just how ‘different’ Sindhu was.
Before his eyes was a black world. In the distance, tall and craggy peaks soared into the sky, their peaks like sharp swords or sabers. Moreover, their surfaces were bare and free of any plant life.
As for nearby, the ground was black mud that exuded a thick and pungent stench.
Upon entering this region, all the Wushang Cavalry, Li Siye, and the Gangke King couldn’t help but cover their mouths and noses.
This was a forgotten world, and also a degenerated world. At a glance, it was like they had ventured from the human world into the domain of the god of death.
Decaying bodies could be spotted in the mud, flies buzzing around them while maggots crawled through the mud. The sight was simply unbearable.
“I truly can’t believe that Sindhu would be like this!” Li Siye couldn’t help but say.
“There is a saying that goes, ‘Only when you see Sindhu will you know what the underworld is like’. Only when you see how tragic and wretched it is will you come to cherish all you own and count yourself fortunate to have been born in the Central Plains, in the Great Tang!”
Zhang Shouzhi trotted up from the rear. He paused as he gazed at the frightening corpses in the mud and then warned, “In addition, Sindhu is wracked by various kinds of plagues and diseases, and miasma hangs in the air. This is partially one of the reasons it is rarely invaded. Everyone, don’t be careless. Don’t forget to take the pills that we prepared.”
Gulp!
Everyone immediately responded to Zhang Shouzhi’s words. They took several brown pills from their medicine pouches and used water to swallow them down.
After making their preparations, they set off once more into Sindhu. The deeper they went in, the more corpses they saw, and they started to notice small clouds of poisonous miasma. There were also many dark-skinned and emaciated Sindhi kneeling on the side of the road, their stomachs grumbling as they begged for help.
“What’s going on here? I remember that I gave the Sindhi an enormous amount of food, and the Sindhi also should have gotten several million taels of gold from the Hyderabad ore, enough money to buy vast amounts of food. Why are there still so many people starving to death?” Wang Chong said, his brow furrowed. He had already placed two enormous orders with Sindhu, paying far above the market price, but it seemed like his actions had no effect on Sindhu whatsoever.
Yuan Shusong rode forward, spoke with the short Sindhi guide for a few moments, and then quickly rode back and communicated to Wang Chong what had been said.
“Milord, our guide in Sindhu says that the current situation is the best Sindhu has been in several decades, with not even half as many people dying from starvation. All of Sindhu is extremely grateful toward the Young Marquis of the Great Tang. He was willing to be our guide entirely because we are Tang. He would like to ask if we have ever seen the Young Marquis, and if we could introduce him so that he could give his thanks in person.”
Bang!
At Yuan Shusong’s words, everyone began to laugh, and even Wang Chong couldn’t help but smile.
Bahram had found this Sindhi guide on the edge of Khorasan, and when requesting his help, Bahram had only mentioned that he needed him to help some Tang. Moreover, the news coming out from Khorasan regarding Wang Chong said only that he was a young commander of the Great Tang. Few people knew that Wang Chong had another title: the Young Marquis. This Sindhi guide was clearly not one of them.
“Tell him that he has already thanked him.”
Wang Chong smiled.
The dark-skinned Sindhi was quite confused by all the laughter and Yuan Shusong’s words. In the end, Yuan Shusong had to whisper a few things into his ear, upon which his face became extremely agitated, and he began to excitedly shout, barely able to keep control of himself.
Knowing Wang Chong’s identity, the Sindhi guide immediately became more diligent. Moreover, whenever he ran into other Sindhi on the side of the road, he would excitedly run around and shout, quickly attracting a crowd of Sindhi who prostrated on the side of the road.
Wang Chong found this rather hard to bear and ordered his subordinates to distribute some food. Three days later, after crossing more than half of Sindhu, Wang Chong and his men finally reached the most famous mountain range in all of Sindhu, the Hyderabad Mountains.
“This is where the ore for Wootz Steel is mined? Wow! What precipitous mountains!”
When they saw the Hyderabad Mountains, the first thing they felt was not grandeur or majesty, but that these mountains were extremely steep.
Sharp crags jutted out from the hard and pitch-black surfaces of the mountains. They felt that if they were not careful, they would plummet into the abyss and shatter all their bones.
“I find it hard to believe that the Sindhi can mine ore from a mountain range like this. Even traversing this mountain on foot would be difficult, much less on horseback.”
Li Siye couldn’t help but mutter to himself as he gazed at the enormous mountain range, lurking there like a giant beast. His eyes were also brimming with shock.
The Hyderabad Mountains truly lived up to their reputation. Even the Wushang Cavalry couldn’t help but feel some dread when they looked at these mountains, as if they were insurmountable.
Wang Chong said nothing, only watched from the rear, but he felt the same. However, he also sensed a unique sensation from the Hyderabad Mountains, but before he had time to think, he heard a shout.
“They’re here! It’s Ablonodan and Arloja!”
Wang Chong raised his head and saw the familiar figures on the precipitous mountainside, leading a group of black-robed Sindhi who were rapidly and confidently traversing the Hyderabad Mountains. Upon close inspection, the two leaders were none other than the monks that Wang Chong was extremely close with, Ablonodan and Arloja.
The mountainous terrain was extremely complex and covered in sharp stones, but the ascetic monks led by Ablonodan and Arloja were able to swiftly navigate their way down.
“Lord Marquis!”
Seeing Wang Chong and Li Siye in the distance, Ablonodan and Arloja began to excitedly shout and move even faster.
“Haha, Venerable Sirs, long time no see!”
Wang Chong urged his horse forward to welcome the pair.
Wang Chong and this pair were old friends, but they had not met for more than a year now. Ablonodan and Arloja had both gotten thinner, but they appeared even more energetic. Wang Chong could even see the small symbol of a mountain on their chests. It appeared that they had been given rather significant promotions.
“Lord Marquis, you’re finally here. We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. When we heard that you were battling with the Arabs at Talas, we were greatly concerned, but Ablonodan and I were confident that Lord Marquis would emerge victorious!” Arloja said.
“When we heard that Lord Marquis had made it all the way to Khorasan, we were both relieved.”