I will not stop you. I don`t need cowards using differences as an excuse to run.
The faint of hearts are free to go. Go! All of you!
You can call us cowards, but we have to fend for our selves.
We`ve captured Tang soldiers.
We might be able to trade them for our lives.
What are you doing? What on Earth! Damn...!
Stop! Where are you going?
They do have a point.
Anyone would tell you that it`s foolish to fight a trained army in these hills.
So is surrendering.
They don`t know who they`re dealing with. Li Wen will never let them live.
You don`t know that.
They may survive and we may all die.
We`ve come to surrender.
We don`t want to fight you.
We will let these soldiers go if you agree not to kill us.
Release the soldiers first and I will let you live.
You heard the general. Release the soldiers!
Archers foward.
archers foward!
Wait!
you said you`d let us live!
Shoot them!
Run! Get out of here!
I want all of them dead! Go after them!
Which direction?
-They`re on the ridgeline running this way. -How many are left?
At least half of them are dead.
We have to save the rest. Let`s go.
There you are!
Kill them.
It`s Dae Joyoung.
It`s Dae Jolyoung!
Fight!
They`re going to wipe us out! we have to retreat!
Retreat!!!!
Collect the weapons.!!!
We got rid of a good number of Tang soldiers but we lost a lit of prisoners too.
If they had listen to us, they would still be alive!
Take off their uniforms and dump the bodies in the stream.
I understand why you want the uniforms but dump the bodies in the stream?
Strip the Tang soldiers and dump the bodies in the water!
These men have something to say.
We should`ve listened to you.
We made a mistake.
Forgive us.
Don`t apologize to me. Apologize to the dead.
What? Damn!
-How much longer are you going to let that bastard do this? -I`m sorry, sir.
We were so caught up in the pursuit, that...
I don`t want your excuses!
I should`ve gone out there myself.
I shouldn`t have trusted you with this! (Li Wen)
Sir, there`s something we`re puzzled about.
Puzzles?
The forest of Mt. Guifu is like a maze of complex passages.
But Dae Joyoung moves through it like his own backyard.
Dae Joyoung knows this mountain very well.
Even we couldn`t get around this mountain without a map. How could Dae Joyoung know the passages?
That`s why we`re puzzled, sir.
He either has a map or someone who knows the way around this mountain.
I`m sure he has armed himself with the weapons collected from our soldiers.
And if he knows the way around Mt. Guifu, capturing him will not be an easy task.
General!
General, the stream water is red with blood!
Blood?
They must`ve dumped thebodies of our soldiers in the stream. The soldiers are scared out of their minds!
General!
Dae Joyoung, that bastard, is using phychological warfare.
How dare he turn this into a battle!
How many men do we have in all?
We have about a hundred Goguryeoans, Baekjeans, Shillans, Turks and the Khitans combined.
Listen up.
We niether have great weapons nor ample food to eat.
Every battle has victory and defeat, but no one know when our fight will end even if we manage to defeat them.
Still we must stand up and fight, because this is the only chance we`ve got.
We`re doomed to die one way or another.
Back home I fought for my country. Now I will fight for me.
Tell us what we have to do.
We will dig pit falls and set up traps with bamboo spears through this mountain.
If we are going to overcome our numberical inferiority and defeat the enemy,
we must use this entire mountain as our weapon and our fortress.
There`re several carpenters among us Shillans. We will take care of building the watch towers and making traps.
Thank you.
There`re stonemasons among us Baekjes.
We will handle anything that involves stones.
We will be using rocks and boulders to attack on narrow paths. I will let you handel that
Got it.
The turks will handel the hunting and gathering of food.
Thank you.
Heuk Sudol and Gulsabiwu, I want you to monitor the movement of the Tang army down below.
We must stop our work at the first sign of movement and evade the enemy.
-Got that? -Got it.
Don`t worry.
-Is the stream still bloody? -Yes, sir.
If Dae Joyoung knows his way around this mountain, we won`t be able to wipe them out all at once.
Then?
I want you to go to Lord Zhao Wenhui. We need reinforcements.
How many do we need?
As many as we can get.
Take this letter to him, and he`ll know what to do.
Yes, sir. But,
we`re dealing with only about a hundred prisoners.
If the word gets out that we requested reinforcements....
That`s why we must do this quietly!
I will become a mockery if we are here for too long. we can`t let that happen.
We must capture control of Mt.Guifu and get rid of Dae Joyoung at once.
There`s no time!
-Take my letter to Lord Zhao Wenhui now! -Yes, General!
Let`s get going!
Here, here!
~Chang`an, Tang~
You mean Dae Joyoung is dead?
It has not been confirmed, but I`m told there`re only a few survivors left now.
Then why hasn`t General Li Wen returned?
He must be trying to kill the rest of the prisoners. (Heichi Changzhi:Former Baekje General)
This is a dilemma. Once he gets back, (Empress Wu Zetian:Empress of Tang)
the civil officials will push to restore Xian to the seat of the Crown Prince.
You must make a decision, Your Highness. (Xue Rengui)
A dicision?
There is no way to stop Prince Xian`s restoration at this point.
We will suffer terrible persecution if Prince Xian takes the throne.
And?
what decision do you require from me?
Answer my question, General Xue.
You have faithful warriors who will die for you starting with myself.
Don`t spare your command, Your Highness.
-Don`t spare my command? -The master is not to spare his command,
and the servant is not to spare his life.
It`s comforting to hear your words of loyalty. Don`t spare my command....
Yes....
How i wish I could command you as my heart truly desires.
But His Majesty the Emperor still holds the sword of the state.
How could I wield my power with him above me?
But Your Highness...
I will indeed command you in due time, so don`t act in haste.
The high ministers of this state are not to be understimated.
Welcome, General Xue. What brings you here?
I was so anxious I couldn`t stay away.
Prince Xian?
He has been cinfined to the palace, (Li Kaigu)
but civil officials` visit have not ceased.
Civil officials` visits?
The Prince is officially under house arrest in the East palace!
That restriction was broken long ago. (Chulin)
Broken? By whose permission?
He is to become the Crown Prince soon.
How can we stop the officials from risking their lives tomake an impression on him? (Shin Hong)
I won`t allow this!
Prince Xian must be stopped from becoming an heir to the throne for our own survival!
I don`t disagree with you, but we don`t know how.
Then I`ll tell you how.
Get rid of him!
General, are you being seriou?
Prince Xian is the one that poisoned Dae Joyoung`s wine.
But we don`t have a shred of evidence against him.
Then kill him and leave no shred of evidence behind.
You don`t have to be at war to fight an enemy.
We kill for our own survival. This is war.
we are on the middle of the bloody battlefield right now!
So when will general Li Wen be coming back with Dae Joyoung`s head?
Actually, that is why we are here.
What do you mean? Is Dae Joyoung still alive? (Li Xian:Deposed Crown Prince)
Your Highness, I must ask you to lower your voice.
He is said to have been killed, but in fact he`s leading the survivors
-resisting General Li`s army in Mt.Guifu. -Is that right?
He survived the human hunt?
I`m afraid so.
Then it`s true what they say about him. No one`s ever survived the human hunt before...
General,Li Wen is requesting reinforcements. ~Zhao Wenhui~
Reinforcements?
Is the situation that serious?
No, but if this takes too long, the Empress might order Dae Joyoung released.
That`s right, Your Highness.
The only reason why she agreed to send Dae to Mt. Guifu was to test his ability.
We must finish him off before the Empress learns that he is still alive and fighting off General Li`s attack.
-Did you allocate the reinforcements? -Yes, Your Highness.
I willpersonally take an army of 5,000 baded outside the city.
We have a lot to do.
Take care of the situation quickly and come back.
I will, Your Highness.
The Empress must not be allowed to find out about this. Make certain that the word doesn`t get out.
Yes, Your Highness.
Dae Joyoung survived the human hunt...
Dae Joyoung....
-My lady. -Is my father here?
He awaits you inside.
General Xue instructed you to get ridof Prince Li Xian?
-Yes, Khan. -We can`t do that.
They could wipe out our entire tribe for this!
That`s right.
General Xue is indeed the man we serve, but Tang is a foreign state. (Li Jinzhong: Khan)
-It is not our place to get involved in their battle for the imperial throne. -But if Li Xian takes the throne,
what is to become of Khitan tribe`s future?
Are you planning to commit this murder?
There is no reason not to.
Chulin!
The Empress didn`t assing us here just to baby sit the prince.
That`s right.
If she`s backed up against the wall, the Empress will no doubt order Li Xian killed.
And when she does, we can`t defy her order.
This is a frightening situation... What have we gottend ourselves into?
But if the ship begins to sink, we have to get on another ship.
What do you mean by that?
You mean betray the Empress and line up with Li Xian? ~Sun Wanrong~
Isn`t that the only wise thing to do?
It`s foolish to stay on board knowing that the ship is sinking.
But who knows which ship will sink?
If we side with Li Xian and the Empress rises to power over him...
There would be no failure if we could make such a prediction.
For now, we will just have to play both sides.
-Play both sides? -Yes, Khan.
And when we feel the ship tipping, we will have to quickly get our selves off and get on the other ship.
This is truly a pathetic situation.
We would not need to stoop to such level of indignity if we only had strength...
We would have nothing to fear if this were just about us. But the future of the Khitan people is at stake.
First we must survive.
Then we must build our strength and create a world that is ours.
Yes, we must.
After all, that is why we`re here putting ourselves through this.
Welcome, my man!
I thought you might show up about now.
I`ve brazenly come to trouble you again. ~Dae Jungsang~
Trouble? Oh no. ~Xue Rengui~
As the old saying goes,
"Whe friends gather around from afar, do, do..."
Hongpei, aren`t you going to see the guest in?
"When friends gather around." ~Hongpei~
-Hongpei! -Yes, sir.
No sir, I won`t.
This way,
I don`t know how to thank you for your kidness.
Don`t say thing like that.
Things have to changed now.
You`re not my enemy anymore. You are my friend.
Let`s drink our tea.
Do you really think of me as a friend?
Then I will ask without hesitation.
About my son Joyoung...
He...is already dead.
That`s the word around the palace anyway.
I`m told there are only a handful of survivers left of the human hunt.
And chances are they won`t last very long either hiding in the mountain.
I know your pain.
But some things are beyond our control.
Your grief won`t bring your son back from the dead.
Put it behind you and move on.
Find your place here in Tang like General Go Sage and Heichi Changzhi.
I will find a suitable position for you and put in a recommendation.
Rengui, help me.
Send me to Mt.Guifu.
I must retrieve my son and my subordinates` bodys.
I can`t let the wild animals get to them.
Jungsang, Mt. Guifu is no place for you.
I must find whatever is left of them and return to Goguryeo.
They lives and died for their country.
They may have died on foreign soil, but I must take their souls back home.
My man...
I`m sorry.
I have nothing to offer you in return.
But don`t hold that against me and send me to Mt. guifu.
Li Wen is there, and he may come after you.
That`s why I`m asking you.
If I am there with your permission, Li Wen won`t be able to harm me.
My man! No, your...
-We are back, general. -Good work.
What have you learned?
-Geumlan was able to get quite close to Mt. Guifu. -Is it rue that most of the prisoners are dead?
Yes. There are some survivors, but I don`t think they will last.
But I heard a strange rumor on my way back.
A strange rumor?
An army of 5,000 soldiers base outside the city were deployed to Mt.Guifu. ~Geumlan~
What do you mean? Why would they send an army of 5,000
-to deal with a handful of survivors? -But it`s true.
Lord Zhao Wenhui took the army under secrecy.
That is strange. They couldn`t bereinforcements.
What could be happening?
something is going on.
What happened in your meeting with Xue Rengui?
He`s taking me to Mt. Guifu.
Xue Rengui is coming with you?
Yes, You should prepare to leave as well.
We will find out soon enough what is going on in Mt.Guifu.
-I`m thoroughly impressed by Shillan`s talens. -It`s not just woodwork.
You should see the traps they built.
How is the protective rock wall coming along?
It`s almost complete thanks to the Baekjeans.
I`m truly amazed.
Goguryeao, Shilla and Baekje soldiers came together and turned this into a mountain fortress almost overnight!
It`s their last days.
-Joyoung! -Joyoung!
-We`ve got a problem... -What is it?
Reinforcements have arrived at the base of the mountain.
How many of them are there?
There has to be at least 5,000 of them.
5,000?
They assembled 5,000 soldiers to destroy us?
Yes!
-Thank you for taking the trouble to come all this way. -It was nothing compared to what you`re going through.
I take it the Empress doesn`t know about this.
Of course not. ~Zhao Wenhui~
The imperial house has no clue about the soldiers outside the city.
Thank you, Lord Zhao.
Why weren`t you able to wipe them out all at once anyway?
Dae Joyoung anticipated our every move from the very start. ~Li Wen~
-Is that true? -Yes!
And he knows this mountain like the back of his hand.
If I hastily took the troops into the hills, we were sure to come under attack.
Dae Joyoung is quite extraordinary.
No prisoner has ever fought back against us in Mt.Guifu prior to this.
We can ravage the entire mountain with the reinforcements you brought.
Dae Joyoung will have no way out this time unless he knows how to fly.
Yes, of course.
Let`s not dawdle.
Prince Li Xian wants us back in the city as soon as possible.
There`s no reason to wait now that you`re here. We will search every inch of the mountain
and take Dae Joyoung`s head.
We`re dealing with seven thousand soldiers between the arrived reinforcements and the labor camp guards.
Seven thousand...
My men have complerely lost their fighting spirit.
So have my men.
They`ve been living on roots and tree barks.
They`re weak and discouraged.
I don`t think we have a chance against 7,000. ~Mukchul~
It certainly will not be an easy fight.
But we have three very critical advantages just as powerful as their reinforcements.
Three critical advantages?
Take a look.
No matter how large their army, there`re only three paths on this mountain to get to us.
We`ve already palced countles traps and snares along these paths.
They will lose a considerable amount of their force getting to us.
That is our first advantage.
But those traps will not kill all 7,000 of them.
We have another very powerful ally.
Another ally?
The darkness.
The darkness? The Darkness, you say?
It will be dark by the time they make it up here through all of the traps.
We`ve become very familiar with this area but they will be completely lost in the darkness.
If we take advantage of this and attack with speed and surprise, there will be nothing more powerful.
There`s more.
The enemy may have lots of fancy weapons, but we have a weapon that they don`t have..
Fear.
Fear? What do you mean?
They call this mountain a mountain of death.
That`s because no prisoner has ever made it out alive.
I want you to dress your men in Tang military uniforms.
Burn the pine resin and rub the ashes on their faces.
They will see us as ghosr of the dead Tang Chinese soldiers.
They may out number us,
but we have three powerful weapons that they don`t have. Do you still believe we don`t have a chance?
Have no fear.
We are prepared.
And I assure you, we will win!
There`re three paths leading up to where they are.
Subong, you will take the path along the gorge.
Yes, general!
Wumeng will take the ridge passage, and Chunga will take the passage on the other side of the ridge.
Yes, sir!
I will lead the main unit and follow behind. Remember.
All operations must be executed before sunset. Is that clear?
Yes, sir!
Joyoung,
we`re back.
Good. What did you observe?
-They`re resting for the night. -It looks like they`ll launch a full scale attack in the morning.
You can`t fight off the hunters without a weapon.
Just promise me one thing.
Don`t die.....
It`s all right if I never get to see you again.
Just keep yourself safe...
-we`ve done everything we can. -We sure have. with one tinydagger, we prepared fpr a war. ~Gulsabiwu~ ~Heuk Sudol~
Now it`s up to the gods to decied our fates.
Yes, all we had was this tiny dagger.
We`ve done everything we could possibly do.
Princess Sukyoung certainly had foresight getting you that dagger.
Princess Sukyoung may have given me this dagger, but it belongs to someone else.
What do you mean?
This is a dagger used by the Khitans.
-The khitans? -Then...?
Princess Sukyoung went to the East Palace to find me?
Yes.
I told her it was dangerous and tried to stop her, but she insisted on seeing you.
How much more weaponry do we need, Your Highness?
At least a thousand like I told you before.
It`s very difficult bringing weapons through the gate of the East Palace.
Then stop bringing them in for a while. But you must keep the weapons tightly secured.
Yes, Your Highness.
I hope I can rise to the throne without having to use these...
You will, Your Highness.
-Where are they coming from? -I think they`re coming from the stable.
The stables?
Over there, My lady!
-Chulin, it`s you! -Come this way!
I witnessed something disturbing at the stable just now.
Suspicious men have weapons stored in there.
Weapons?
Weapons in the stable?
From what I heard,
I think they might be plotting treason.
Could it be Li Xian?
You put yourself in terrible danger coming here.
I had to know about what`s happening in Mt. Guifu. Do you know anything?
I`m prepared.
Just tell me what you know.
I will let you know when we receive an official report.
Then I guess the disturbing rumors is true.
General!
The tang army is approaching us!
-Li Wen`s main army has begun its move at last! -He will launch an all out attack.
Clear out the camp at once and take your assigned positions.
Uncle Dolbal and General Mu Yeom, lead the Shilla soldiers for us.
Got it.
The two of you will lead the Baekjeans.
Yes, sir!
The sun will set by the time they reach this camp and begin their descent,
and we will use the darkness to wipe them out in a single strike.
Until then, we must not reveal our selves. Is that clear?
-Yes, sir! -Let`s go!
General!
-General, we`re back. -What did you find out?
The prisoners have built a camp
so they`ve been busy.
We will attack their camp at once!
-Let`s go! -Let`s go!
-Is this everyone? -Yes.
And the soldiers?
-We`ve placed them at their assigned posts. -The traps have been double checked as well.
Li Wen is probably attacking our camp by now.
-The sun is about to set. -Now we wait for them to descend.
General! General!
It looks like they`ve run away, sir.
There`s not a soul in sight?
We will search the perimeter immediately.
Something`s not right.
What do you mean?
We didn`t spot any of them on the way up either.
General,
Descend immediately.
But we climbed all the way up here. sir, are we to return empty handed?
It will soon be dark. It`s unsafe to stay here.
But sir.
Dae Joyoung might be setting us up.
What are you waiting for? Round up the troops and descend immediately!
Go!
-Prepare to descend! -Prepare ro descend!
Come, Li Wen!
I will pay you back for all the pain you`ve caused.
Come, Li Wen, Come!
sub by:robster38