Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 115: The Best of the Best (5)

While walking, Jian Cheng and Zhao Xingde came to the place where the arrows were shot.It is relatively quiet here. Facing the target a hundred steps away, the archers raised and opened their bows quietly, only hearing the sound of "swish", and the arrows were shot out one by one, steadily. Plunging into the arrow stack, none of them missed the target.

"Good arrow!" Zhao Xingde secretly praised.It seemed to see dozens of sharp archers shooting together, instantly shooting and killing an enemy team on the spot.

However, a dark cloud covered Jian Cheng's face: "It seems that the competition is indeed fierce." He gently squeezed the horn bow in the quiver with his right hand, "'shoot' the tiger, 'shoot' the tiger, don't let me down "It felt like the horn bow was psychic, like an extension of his own arm, and he just stabilized his mind a little bit.

In addition to the weapons issued by the court, Xia Guo's archers usually prepare a good bow that really suits them, and practice it day and night, just like a part of their body.After the expiration of the service period, he retired with this bow.This "'shooting' tiger" horn bow is made of top-quality Zhe wood, with a two-foot-five-inch high-quality ox horn as the belly, deer tendon as the back, and fish maw as glue. It took three years to make.This bow shoots two stones and five fights, the bow is soft, the tension is even, and it is not easy to cut fingers. It complements Jian Cheng's resolute and resolute character, and it is his precious treasure. .I usually store this bow in the bow bag, and take good care of it all the time, and I am reluctant to take it out until it is ready for use.

"Follow!" Following the officer's order, the sergeant turned the winch, and the arrow stack was dragged ten steps forward. All the archers raised their bows again and opened their bows. Dozens of arrows "swish" and went away in response, and three rounds of arrows rained down. , only five arrows missed the target.A trace of annoyance flashed in the corners of the eyes of several sergeants, and they calmed down immediately, and entered the state of no distractions.

"Back!" The officer ordered again, and the arrow stack was dragged back ten steps again, reaching a distance of 120 steps.All the archers raised their bows again. This time, all the bows seemed to be drawn more fully than before, and some raised their bows slightly upwards. After shooting a breakthrough, other archers also released their arrows one after another. In this round, three arrows missed the target, and in the next two rounds of arrow feathers, a total of eleven arrows missed the target.

The officer who selected the archers kept giving orders and dragged the arrow stack back to a distance of 150 steps. Most of the sergeants took the method of "shooting" the arrow obliquely upwards to get the right arrow. Seventy percent of the arrows were firmly stuck on the target.

The fierce competition made Jian Cheng, the tenth commander of the Tiger Wing Army, feel a little nervous, and casually asked beside him, "Which army are you from?"

Just as Zhao Xingde was about to speak, he heard the officer on the school field yell "Come on!" Dozens of sergeants pushed the winch vigorously, and the dozens of arrow piles quickly attacked the sergeant who shot the arrows like an enemy, and the tracks underneath were like The snake bends like a stranger dodging left and right.

All the archers showed their housekeeping skills, staring at the arrow stacks rushing at full speed without blinking. Many people held the bow in their left hand and took several arrows in their right hand at the same time. When the thumb pulled the string, the other fingers There were still several in his hand, and after he let out an arrow, he moved his fingers nimbly and moved the arrow between his thumb and index finger, and he opened the bow and released the arrow again almost instantly.

"Lianzhu arrow!" Zhao Xingde secretly exclaimed, unexpectedly, half of the archers are using the lianzhu arrow technique taught to him by Yuwen Bingxin, and the other archers put a few arrows in the left hand holding the bow. First, after an arrow is shot, the right hand quickly takes an arrow from the left hand, draws the bow again and releases the arrow, but the intersecting of the left and right hands is a little slower than the fingers of the right hand, and it is slightly affected by the arrow. A little more stability in holding the bow hand.

Zhao Xingde noticed that most archers did not wear finger pullers, but relied on the thick calluses they had developed for a long time to withstand the pull of the bowstring. The flexibility of their thumbs accelerated their shooting speed. a little.

The ancient adage that you can only shoot three times before an enemy is almost completely broken by the skill of Lianzhu arrows. Dozens of archers poured out the arrows like water.The nerves of all the archers were so tense that when the arrow stacks were drawn in front of them, some people even put down the bows and arrows without thinking, and pulled out the protective flat saber like a conditioned reflex. It was only after he slashed at the arrow stack that he realized that this was just a competition.

After the arrow stacks with densely packed arrow feathers stopped, the archers relaxed slowly. Some were panting heavily, some had bean-sized sweat dripping from their faces, and some felt numb in their shoulders and backs. I went all out.

Zhao Xingde was shocked by the elite level of Xia Guo's archers. Let alone the infantry, even the same number of cavalry, in front of this group of archers, it would be difficult to please them. Duozi is the proof.

Just when he was dumbfounded, Jian Cheng patted him on the shoulder and said in a deep voice, "It's our turn." He strode towards behind the white line where the archer was standing.

Zhao Xingde followed behind Jian Cheng and also stood behind the white line.The sergeant was counting the results of the archers in the previous round, when he saw Zhao Xingde approaching, he asked casually, "Which army is it and what's its name?"

At the moment of the competition, Zhao Xingde was concentrating his mind, silently meditating on the energy flowing through his whole body, and when he was asked, he casually replied: "Tiger Wing Army, Zhao De."He even felt the palm of the bow holding the bow slightly warm, as if he was about to establish a connection with the bow in his hand.Zhao Xingde knew that this was all an illusion, but it helped improve the accuracy of 'shooting' arrows.

Hearing Zhao Xingde's self-reported identity, Jian Cheng gave him a strange look, his lips moved slightly, but he didn't speak, and continued to gather his breath, making preparations before 'shooting' the arrow.

The bow in Zhao Xingde's hand was "loaned" to him by Ma Rui, and it was called "Shooting the Sun". The treasure is self-obscuring, tied with an inconspicuous hemp rope, and at a rough glance, it is just an ordinary horn bow with a large size.This bow 'shoots' three stones, and the bow's 'nature' is strong and fierce, which just complements Zhao Xingde, and the man and the bow complement each other.

Seeing another group of archers enter the arena, Zhou Yuanzhong, the commander of the Chengying Army, turned his face on the stands of the school field.The Chengying Camp fights alone in the enemy's territory, mostly sneak attacks. The battles are fierce and short, and there are even missions of assassination and assassination. Therefore, the role of the sharp archer is even more extraordinary.Zhou Yuanzhong once commanded thirty archers to ambush a Turkic general who often crossed the border to plunder. Each of them "shot" two arrows. The enemy general and fifty guards all died without even making an effective response. The location is favorable, the people are harmonious, and it is also Zhou Yuanzhong's proud work in his life.

As the arrow stacks gradually moved away under the pull of the winch rope, the archers had all taken out their bows, holding the bows in their left hands, and standing upright behind the white line.The bow held by one of them was one size larger than the others, which caught Zhou Yuanzhong's attention.He reckoned that either the person's arm strength was insufficient, and he used a long and soft bow to increase the stroke of the string, or the person's physical strength was amazing, and if the bow was a really hard bow, it was possible to 'shoot' more than two stones and eight buckets of force.A sharp archer with a three-stone bow can penetrate armor at a distance of two hundred steps, even in Xia's middle school, it is rare.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yuanzhong couldn't help but focus on that person. He was tall and straight, he raised his bow, opened it, every posture and movement was rigid, but his strength seemed long and soft, as if he was pulling a big soft bow, not like a bow. The strong and powerful feeling of a hard bow.

When Zhou Yuanzhong was slightly disappointed, before he had time to look away, the officer on the school field issued an order, and the bow was like a thunderbolt. With a "swoosh", the powerful arrow fired by that big bow was obviously faster than other arrows. The speed was as fast as lightning, and it broke through the wind, and with a "snap", it plunged deeply into the arrow stack, leaving only a short tail feather.

"It's actually a hard bow, a hard bow with three stone power!"

In the stands, apart from Zhou Yuanzhong, there were also other officers including General Zhang Shanfu of the Army Division of the Grand General’s Mansion. Everyone’s eyes were very vicious. This archery target was made of thick elm wood, and the arrows could 'Shooting' into such a deep place immediately attracted the attention of the officers who were paying attention to the archer competition.Two or three people were still whispering, "Which army does this person belong to? Why haven't I heard of it?"

The officer who issued the order below had no time to care, and still followed the predetermined procedures, ordering the sergeants to move the arrow stack back again and again. When the arrow stack moved 150 steps away, the trajectory of the arrows emitted by the three stone bows was obviously faster than that of the arrow stack. The others are much lower, and the archers who 'wield' the bow are becoming more and more conspicuous.Almost all the generals and lieutenants in the stands noticed this side of the field.

Zhao Xingde was unaware of the changes outside the field, because the most tense moment was approaching, he took out five arrows at a time without hesitation, one was on the string, and four were between his fingers, holding the bow firmly with his left hand, Accompanied by the officer outside the field yelling "Come on!" He quickly drew the bow with his right hand, barely aiming, and 'shot' the arrow out with an intuition, then put another arrow on it, bent the bow and shot 'out.When all five arrows were released, there were still more than 50 steps left in the stack of arrows. Zhao Xingde quickly lowered his right hand to explore the quiver, and when he raised his hand again, five arrows were caught between his fingers. 'Shoot' out, because the arrow stack is approaching, at this time there is no need to fully draw the string, and the shooting speed is faster than just now, when the arrow stack rushed in front of him, he actually 'shot' five more arrows.

When the stack full of arrows approached him, Zhao Xingde instinctively backed away for a bit. When the arrow stack stopped, he realized that the competition was over. Feelings surged up, and even my eyes turned black.

There was already an uproar outside the field, only the archers on the field only paid attention to their own results, and did not pay attention to others, and Zhao Xingde didn't realize it at all, because of his special performance, the officers in the stands of the school grounds were already discussing in surprise up.

"He actually used a three-stone bow to shoot five consecutive arrows!" "The arrows were returned without fail!" "Which army is it from? Why haven't you seen this person in previous years?"

The commander of the Chengying Army, Zhou Yuanzhong, was smiling, and when he heard the last question, his face changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice: "He came here to participate in the selection of the Chengying Camp, so he is naturally a member of my Chengying Army." .Old Zhou, my ugly words are up front, no one is allowed to get stuck and not let anyone go!"