Chapter 809: The Arrow Never Misses Its Target (Part )

"Well said!" Hu Lie nodded with approval. "If you can destroy the opponent's confidence with one arrow, you can win without fighting. The most powerful archery in the world is to have an arrow in your heart without an arrow in your hand. It seems that what your master taught you are all good things. I wonder how much you have learned?"

Seeing that Hu Lie was not frightened by his eloquent talk, but turned the passive situation into active one, and put on the profound attitude of a senior in the archery world in just a few words to oppose his instructions, Li Haitang couldn't help but murmur in his heart: "This Hu Lie... is he bluffing, or is he confident?"

"Three arrows hit five hearts... The meaning is very good, the king is very interested." Hu Lie asked calmly, "I wonder if you will go first or I will go first?"

"Since I proposed this idea, I will certainly be the one to throw out some ideas for you." Li Haitang collected his thoughts and said seriously, "Your Highness, please send someone to install the beams and hang the copper coins..."

"No need to go through so much trouble!" Wang Dechen interrupted with a wave of his hand. "Placing the crossbar is time-consuming and labor-intensive. I have a simpler method."

"What method?"

"Yin Zhan, call a few slaves over."

"As ordered!"

Under the confused gazes of Li Haitang, Liu Xunyi and others, Yin Zhan took the order and left. After a while, he led a dozen ragged slaves back to the venue.

These slaves included both men and women, young and old. They were all covered in dirt, skinny, and looked very pitiful.

Seeing this scene, the Mongolians, who seemed to have anticipated the outcome, shouted excitedly one after another. Foreign envoys and merchants were mostly curious and watched. As for Liu Xunyi and others, they were in a dignified state, with a vague sense of foreboding in their hearts.

"They are all Han Chinese, captured when we fought against them." Wang Dechen introduced with a smile, "Many of them were once high-ranking officials and prominent families, but unfortunately the Song Dynasty could not protect them, so they had to live on the grasslands and become our slaves."

As soon as these words were spoken, many foreign envoys subconsciously exclaimed, and a hint of amusement gradually emerged in their eyes as they looked at Liu Xunyi and others.

"General Wang, what do you mean by this?" Liu Xunyi's face was as gloomy as water, and his tone was as cold as ice. "Do you want to use a living person as a target?"

"I never force people to do things. I let them choose for themselves." Wang Dechen walked leisurely in front of a dozen trembling slaves and said jokingly, "If anyone among you is willing to help, I can give them freedom and give you enough money to go home."

As soon as Wang Dechen finished speaking, the eyes of more than a dozen slaves all lit up, and their originally sluggish spirits instantly became excited.

"Wang... Commander Wang, are you serious?"

"The Khan and the prince are here, how dare I go back on my word?" Wang Dechen laughed loudly, "But you must think clearly, arrows have no eyes, although you are not the target, but there is a possibility that you will be accidentally injured..."

"We do!"

Before Wang Dechen finished speaking, more than a dozen slaves knelt on the ground, vying with each other to recommend themselves.

Seeing this scene, Liu Xunyi felt a sudden pain in his heart. Seeing that they would rather risk their lives than wait to escape the fate of slavery, it is not difficult to guess that these people's lives on the grassland must be like years, or even worse than death.

"You don't need too many. Just pick three first. If someone gets into trouble, you can find someone else to fill in."

After saying that, Wang Dechen looked at the dozen slaves with interest, and pointed at a pregnant woman, a haggard old man, and a frail little girl.

The three slaves selected by Wang Dechen seemed random, but in fact they were the result of his careful consideration.

First, the three slaves were of different heights, weights and sizes, which undoubtedly increased the difficulty of the competition. Second, these three were weak, so whether they were released or killed, it would not be a loss to their masters. Third, the three slaves were old, young, and weak, and they were all Han Chinese, and they were naturally close to Li Haitang in terms of race. With them as targets, Li Haitang must have felt much more pressure than Hu Lie.

Sure enough, when Li Haitang silently watched Wang Dechen, who was enjoying this, placing the three slaves one by one, the hand holding the iron bow clenched a little tighter until the knuckles turned white and made a crackling sound.

Yin Zhan pulled a silver thread from the old man's head, then turned to Wang Dechen and asked, "General Wang, should we tie the hair to their hands?"

"No!" Wang Dechen gently pulled his ears with his hands and said with a wicked smile, "Pierce their ears, tie their hair to their earlobes, and hang copper coins on the sides of their necks."

"hiss!"

Wang Dechen's proposal not only changed the faces of Han people like Liu Xunyi, but also surprised Mongolians like Hu Lie.

The hair was tied to the earlobe and the coin hung on the side of the neck, which showed that the hair on which the coin was hung was much shorter than everyone expected, and was close to the cheek and neck. If the arrow deviated slightly, the consequences would be disastrous.

Hu Lie frowned slightly and said hesitantly: "Is this... too dangerous?"

"The worst that can happen is the death of a few slaves."

Wang Dechen didn't care, and turned his respectful gaze to the Mongolian Khan in the distance. Seeing that he was calm and expressionless, Wang Dechen's smile became brighter, and Hu Lie, who was hesitant to speak, did not hesitate any more.

"Your Highness, everything is ready." After placing the hair, copper coins, and bull's eye one by one, Yin Zhan shouted loudly to Wang Dechen from a thousand steps away.

Hearing this, Li Haitang, whose heart was in turmoil, suddenly changed his expression. He turned to look at the three slaves who were trembling all over with tears streaming down their faces due to extreme fear. The hands holding the bow and arrow began to tremble slightly involuntarily.

"Haitang, don't treat them as living people, just as dead things. Everything is normal, don't let your imagination run wild!"

Liu Xunyi saw through Wang Dechen's plan to "destroy Li Haitang's heart", and seeing that Li Haitang was confused and uneasy, his heart sank immediately, and he hurriedly spoke to comfort her.

"Despicable villain!" Feng Tianba cursed indignantly, "He actually used the elderly, the weak, women and children as targets to confuse Li Haitang's mind. Does he think we are as cold-blooded as these prairie wolves and treat human lives as worthless?"

"Amitabha! What a sin! What a sin!"

Wu Chan seemed afraid to look directly at the tragic scene. The helpless old man, the frightened woman and the panicked child all made him feel heartbroken. His compassionate heart that wanted to save all people in the world made him heartbroken and burst into tears.

At this time, Zhao Xin was also secretly sweating, looking at the three terrified slaves with anxious and fearful eyes. If the Mongolian Khan had not acquiesced, she would probably have been unable to resist and advised Hu Lie.

"Little brother, please!"

Hu Lie's voice was like a death knell, suddenly ringing in Li Haitang's ears, shocking him and causing a trace of panic to flash across his eyes for an instant.

In fact, hidden arrows hurting people... or even killing people with cold arrows are all commonplace things for Li Haitang. What really makes him uneasy is not the loss of life, but the three people in front of him... They are too weak and pitiful.

The underworld has its own rules, and killing people also has its own rules. If they are vicious and bloodthirsty underworld tyrants, Li Haitang will shoot them without blinking an eyelid, but he will never kill the elderly, women and children.

It’s not that he doesn’t believe in his archery skills, but if something goes wrong... Li Haitang will feel guilty for the rest of his life.

An invisible pressure made Li Haitang feel suffocated and short of breath in his chest. When he mustered up the courage to give it a try, he suddenly found that he couldn't pull the iron bow in his hand no matter what. He became flustered and irritated.

"Why not... let me go first!"

As if he could see Li Haitang's dilemma, Hu Lie hesitated for a moment, then walked closer with a bow and arrow in hand, and said soothingly: "Please think for a moment, I will show you my ugliness first."

"This……"

Before Li Haitang could hesitate, Hu Lie stepped forward, drew his bow and arrow, concentrated his energy into his dantian, and narrowed his bright eyes slightly. Two sharp gazes intertwined along the arrow shaft and merged into one with the arrowhead, turning into a lightning meteor, which pierced through the center of the bull's eye a thousand steps away before the arrow did.

At this moment, the huge "Nadam" venue was silent as death.

Everyone around was concentrating and holding their breath, and they dared not even blink. They stared at Hu Lie, whose posture was as sharp as a gun and as quiet as a clay sculpture, with nervous and expectant eyes.

The three slaves kept shivering and sobbing, causing the three copper coins hanging from their earlobes to tremble and shake uncontrollably in a very irregular manner.

At this moment, Liu Xunyi's heart seemed to be about to jump out of his throat. His half-open mouth felt as if a huge egg was stuffed into it, making his muscles numb and his throat tight.

"Whoosh!"

When everyone was not ready, Hu Lie's fingers suddenly loosened, and the first arrow flew out, piercing the ears of the girl, the woman, and the old man in quick succession. At the same time, three swaying copper coins fell one after another.

"Whizzing!"

Before everyone could exclaim in surprise, the other two arrows came one after another like shooting stars chasing the moon, accompanied by two almost inaudible crisp sounds of "ding ding". The second arrow pierced through two copper coins in succession, and then with a "click", the third arrow hit the tail of the second arrow. The sharp arrow head split the tail in the middle in a flash, and with the momentum of an unstoppable gust of wind, it penetrated deeply into the shaft of the second arrow, causing its shaky posture to tremble in the air, and its speed increased by three times, and finally with a "bang" it hit the center of the bull's eye a thousand steps away.

"it is good!"

The arrow hit the target, like a stone that caused a thousand ripples. The people, whose hearts were hanging by a thread, could no longer suppress their inner fury and burst into thunderous cheers.

At the same time, Liu Xunyi, Li Haitang, Feng Tianba, Wu Chan and Pan Yuyin were all horrified. They subconsciously widened their eyes and looked at Hu Lie, who was calm and composed, in disbelief. The shock and horror in their hearts were beyond words, making them dazed and unable to recover for a long time.

Even Zhao Xin, who was not familiar with martial arts, could not help but stand up after seeing Hu Lie's amazing archery skills with her own eyes. She stared blankly at Hu Lie with her clear and beautiful eyes filled with surprise and astonishment, and was so surprised that she could not close her mouth.

Liu Xunyi and others never expected that the Mongolian prince, who had been stationed in the central army for many years and had not seen a single battle for a long time, actually possessed such a hidden and amazing archery skill under his slightly bloated appearance?

……

(End of this chapter)