Chapter 808: The Arrow Never Misses Its Target (I)

"Master Liu, according to our agreement, it is time to put an end to the turmoil in Yunya Town."

Hu Lie's straightforward statement startled the crowd who didn't know the truth. They started whispering to each other, trying to find out the reason behind the incident.

At the same time, thousands of hesitant gazes were cast towards Liu Xunyi, who stood still, their eyes filled with surprise and curiosity.

"Cough cough..." Whether it was a recurrence of his injury or anger, Liu Xunyi was about to answer when his eyes suddenly changed. He hurriedly covered his mouth and nose with his sleeves, and a trace of crimson flushed out accompanied by a violent cough.

Seeing this, Pan Yuyin, Li Haitang and others were all shocked, and they looked at Liu Xunyi with worried and anxious eyes.

"Brother Liu, let me see..."

"No problem!" Before Pan Yuyin came forward, Liu Xunyi threw his bloodstained sleeves behind him nonchalantly, and then slowly stood up with the help of Li Haitang and Feng Tianba. He took a deep breath and replied calmly in the calmest voice possible: "We are ready, just waiting... just waiting for the prince to arrange."

"Very good!" Hu Lie nodded with satisfaction. "The Khan wants us to compete in archery first, then in weapons, and finally in boxing and kicking."

"No problem." Liu Xunyi agreed happily, then turned his serious gaze to Li Haitang who was eager to try, and warned, "Be careful."

Li Haitang stretched his limbs lazily and said with a confident smile: "Don't worry! I will dampen the Mongolians' spirit for you first, and let them see how powerful the Han people are."

"I... take back my presumptuous words just now. I hope you don't mind." Feng Tianba was worried that Li Haitang would be depressed and it would affect her performance, so he apologized angrily.

Hearing this, Li Haitang paused and asked without turning his head, "If I win the first game, can you not let Brother Liu take risks?"

"This……"

"Ah!"

Leaving behind a snort of unknown meaning, Li Haitang did not wait for Feng Tianba to hesitate any longer. He straightened his expression and walked towards Hu Lie with the gait of a dragon and a tiger.

"Everyone, I am..."

"No need to introduce yourself. It doesn't matter who you are." Wang Dechen interrupted Li Haitang's greetings in a bad tone, "Today, you only represent the Song Dynasty court."

At this point, Wang Dechen suddenly raised his voice and explained to the people who were looking at each other in bewilderment: "Today is the annual 'Nadam' meeting, and it is also the wedding day of the prince and the princess. Because the princess was born in the royal family of the Song Dynasty, the prince specially arranged three competitions, intending to make friends through martial arts, so that the Mongolian warriors and the Song Dynasty talents... can get to know each other and build relationships."

Wang Dechen was vague and did not explain the cause and effect of Yunya Town clearly, but at least he made everyone understand where the current scene came from.

At once, everyone's faces showed understanding. At the same time, their gazes towards Liu Xunyi and the others gradually changed from initial curiosity to contempt and provocation.

For the Song Dynasty today, these Mongolian descendants and envoys and merchants from vassal states naturally looked down on it. In their minds, the Song Dynasty today was just struggling to survive, and facing the increasingly powerful Mongolia, it was only a matter of time before the Song Dynasty followed the footsteps of the Liao and Jin dynasties.

"Arishan!"

Suddenly, Wang Dechen cast a sharp gaze towards the Mongolian man who had just won the title of "Master Archer" in the competition, and reminded him meaningfully: "Your opponent makes a living by shooting arrows in the Central Plains, and his archery skills are very impressive. Don't underestimate the enemy and bring shame to the grassland."

"General Wang, rest assured! If I lose to this Han Chinese, I would rather die as a token of my guilt..."

"Why do you have to say such absolute things?" Li Haitang smiled at the confident A Rishan, wiping his iron bow with his sleeve and hypocritically advising him, "If you unfortunately lose, wouldn't it be a cowardly death? If I were you, I would never make such a boast and cut off my own retreat before I have experienced the strength of my opponent."

"you……"

"No need to argue!" Suddenly, Hu Lie interrupted the angry Arishen and said with a smile, "I know you are eager to make achievements and I also know you want to bring glory to the grassland, but you have already played several games in the morning and you are inevitably tired. Therefore, the competition with the Han people... I don't want to trouble you."

"hiss!"

Hu Lie's words not only stunned Arishan and a group of Mongolians, but also shocked Han people such as Li Haitang and Liu Xunyi.

Wang Dechen frowned slightly and asked curiously, "If the prince doesn't send A Rishan, then... who will he send?"

"When I was young, I also practiced horseback archery for a few years. For so many years, I have been hiding in the central army tent to arrange the troops and formations. I rarely have the opportunity to fight. I don't know... whether the skills I used in the past have been abandoned." Hu Lie laughed at himself and pretended to be humble. "It's a rare opportunity today to compete with the young masters of the Song Dynasty. I am itching to show my skills myself."

"Ha ha……"

Hu Lie's explanation caused the Mongol Khan and a group of princes and nobles to laugh. It seemed that they were more interested in Hu Lie's personal participation than in winning or losing.

"My beloved concubine!"

Hu Lie cast a gentle gaze towards the absent-minded Zhao Xin and jokingly asked, "Are you interested in making a bet with me?"

"Ah?" Zhao Xin was stunned. "What bet?"

"If I lose, I will cook a whole lamb feast for you. If I win, you will accompany me to the grassland for horseback hunting. How do you think?"

"This……"

In public, in full view of everyone, Hu Lie openly flirted with Zhao Xin, which surprised everyone and made them laugh and cry.

Then, the Mongolians, who were naturally bold and unrestrained, could no longer suppress their excitement. For a moment, the crowd was boiling, and a burst of cheers filled with laughter and ridicule broke out, which made Zhao Xin, who was caught off guard, blush and feel ashamed. Seeing this scene, Liu Xunyi's heart seemed to be repeatedly stabbed with a knife. He felt a mixture of emotions, which made him burst into tears and sad.

"As long as His Majesty is happy, I... of course have no objection." Zhao Xin forced a smile and said no. Her complex eyes were erratic, as if she was deliberately avoiding something.

"A word is settled!"

Seeing Zhao Xin's pitiful and touching appearance, Hu Lie laughed heartily amid the jokes of the crowd, and turned to Yin Zhan and ordered: "Bring me my bow!"

Li Haitang looked at the enthusiastic Hu Lie and the depressed Liu Xunyi, and could not help but feel indignant. He secretly vowed to humiliate Hu Lie in public and vent Liu Xunyi's anger. So he said seriously, "How do you want to compete, Your Majesty? Shoot the 'living thing' or the 'dead thing'?"

"You are the guest, you come up with the questions." Hu Lie weighed the bow and arrow in his hand, and said with a smile, "If we can't decide who is better, I will come up with a new question."

"Okay!" Li Haitang did not refuse, and said with a fake smile, "But... I have watched the competition this morning. Shooting 'inanimate objects' is nothing more than 'shooting an arrow through a willow bar at a hundred paces', and shooting 'living objects' is 'riding a horse and shooting at a target'. Even your 'master archer' A Rishan is only proud of his 'killing two birds with one stone' and other such trifling tricks. Compared to these childish tricks, it is simply an insult to the prince's status."

"What the hell did you say?"

"Boy, you are so arrogant!"

"Killing two birds with one stone is just a trifle? I don't see that your archery skills are superior to others, but I see that your ability to brag is unmatched."

"Ha ha……"

Li Haitang's remarks immediately attracted ridicule and even slander and abuse from all around.

"A bunch of frogs in a well!"

Li Haitang ignored the ridicule from the people around him, suddenly turned his horse around, turned over, drew his bow and arrow, and the arrow flew out like the wind.

"Whoosh!"

Accompanied by a sound of breaking through the air, a sharp arrow shot out like a black lightning and disappeared in the light of the scorching sun in the blink of an eye.

"boom!"

Before everyone could raise their eyes to look for the direction of the arrow, a muffled sound startled the crowd who were looking around in confusion. They all looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a sharp arrow piercing three wild geese lying at Li Haitang's feet.

"hiss!"

With just this one move, the noisy conference hall immediately fell silent. Everyone who had just sneered at Li Haitang was now stunned and pale.

Little did they know that Arishen's "killing two birds with one stone" plan had taken half an incense stick of time to prepare.

On the other hand, Li Haitang bent his bow and shot the wild geese like flowing water, in one go, and he shot one more wild goose than A Rishan. Isn't this amazing skill breathtaking?
At this moment, Wang Dechen and other Mongolian princes all looked solemn. Even the calm Mongolian Khan couldn't help but reveal a hint of amazement when he looked at Li Haitang.

"A child's trick is a child's trick. I was already good at this trick when I was nine years old."

Li Haitang used his astonishing strength to prove his "crazy words". Although everyone was indignant, they had nothing to say.

"Good archery!"

Feng Tianba was so happy that he danced with joy. Liu Xunyi, Wuchan, and Pan Yuyin beside him also had their eyes shining and their confidence increased.

However, just as everyone was deeply impressed by Li Haitang's perfect archery skills, Hu Lie, the other protagonist of this competition, reacted calmly and asked calmly: "In your opinion, how should we compete?"

"I am not talented, but I do have a way to compete in archery. Maybe it's not brilliant, but at least... it's not a child's trick, and it's relatively more in line with the noble status of Your Majesty." Li Haitang pretended to be a pig and tried to make things difficult for Hu Lie under the guise of flattery.

"what way?"

"This method is called 'Three Arrows Hitting Five Bullets'." Seeing Hu Lie take the bait, Li Haitang was secretly delighted and explained in a serious manner, "Within a range of a thousand steps, three horizontal beams are set up with three hundred steps as the boundary, arranged vertically, and a copper coin is hung under the beam with hair, a total of three coins. A thousand steps away, set up a bull's eye. When we shoot arrows, send someone to swing the three copper coins at will, and three arrows must be released before any of the copper coins stop. The first arrow will cut the three hairs and make the three copper coins fall. The second arrow will hit the three copper coins in succession, and the arrowhead will pass through the holes of the three copper coins. The third arrow will hit the tail of the second arrow, so that the second arrow, which is at the end of its strength, has enough power to shoot towards the bull's eye. In the end, the one whose arrow passes through the three copper coins and hits the bull's eye wins, otherwise it loses."

"hiss!"

Li Haitang's "three arrows hitting five targets" has clearly exceeded the scope of the "Nadam" competition. For most of the Mongolian warriors present, they have never even thought that archery can have so many tricks. Regardless of whether this appalling archery method exists, just listening to Li Haitang's endless explanation of the rules is enough to scare people and make them smack their lips.

"Is this your special skill? It does sound impressive." Hu Lie stared at Li Haitang intently and asked quietly, "However, three arrows are three arrows, with five centers... the center of the hair, the center of the copper coin, the center of the arrow tail, and a bull's eye. Then... what is the last center?"

Hearing this, Li Haitang raised a sly smile and said in a pretentious manner, "Master said that the first four points are just advanced archery techniques. Only by hitting the last point can one reach the highest level of archery."

"What is it?"

"The confidence of the opponent."

……

(End of this chapter)