110. Seeking to become an apprentice

The young prince truly hadn't expected the Grand Tutor to be so capable.

He originally thought that when the Grand Tutor said he could shoot arrows, he was only at the level of "knowing".

But I never expected it to be mastery!

The young prince felt that the Grand Tutor could go to the battlefield and become a great general himself.

Taking the enemy general's head amidst a massive army—just thinking about it is so cool!

Meanwhile, the second brother stood there, his little mouth wide open, big enough to fit an egg.

He mechanically raised his bow and drew it back, mimicking Qu Zijin's movements.

The arrow flew out and started off well, but it quickly lost momentum and fell limply before it had even traveled half the distance.

Clearly, the outcome is decided.

The young prince instinctively looked at his second brother.

He had no good intentions when he initially encouraged his second brother to compete with the Grand Tutor.

In his mind, if the Grand Tutor won, it would be a good opportunity to curb the brat's arrogance.

If the second brother wins—yes, the young prince had in mind the possibility that the Grand Tutor would lose.

Because he truly had no idea that the Grand Tutor was such a hidden talent!

He was just thinking that if his second brother beat the Grand Tutor, he would definitely be too proud to resist showing off, and then the Grand Tutor would get angry and teach him a lesson...

Unfortunately, this idea was never going to work out from the start.

Because the young prince didn't know why the Grand Tutor called the little dumpling "teacher," he didn't know the story behind it, and he didn't know that the Grand Tutor always honored his bets.

Quite, exceptionally, extremely capable of losing.

The oblivious little prince secretly glanced at his second brother, wanting to see if he would become angry or throw a tantrum.

However--

"That's...that's amazing!"

The second brother's eyes suddenly lit up, and he rushed to Qu Zijin's side, kneeling down with a thud: "Master, please accept my bow!"

This kneeling and shout stunned everyone.

The young prince also learned the answer—neither.

Like Qu Zijin, the second brother unexpectedly managed to accept defeat.

Qu Zijin was so frightened that he took two steps back: "Lizhi, this is absolutely unacceptable!"

"Master!" The second brother kowtowed three times without regard for anything else. "Please teach me the peerless martial art of shooting an arrow through a willow leaf from a hundred paces! Your disciple will definitely study and practice diligently to carry forward the sect's unique skills!"

The second brother stared at Qu Zijin with shining eyes, as if he had seen some unparalleled master hidden in a storybook: "Master! Please accept me as your disciple! With the archery skills you teach me and my own superb swordsmanship, I will definitely dominate the martial arts world and become the leader of the martial arts alliance in the future!"

"Peerless Master", "Leader of the Martial Arts Alliance"...

Under the long-term influence of her second brother, Jin Lanyue also became excited when she heard these two words.

Seeing this, she followed her brother's example, kneeling down on the ground with a thud and shouting in a childish voice, "Yue'er wants to become a disciple too! Yue'er wants to be a female knight-errant!"

"No..." Qu Zijin hurriedly tried to help, but the little dumpling's body was so soft that it tilted as soon as he tried to lift it up. It was a lot of effort before he was finally able to get it out.

The little princess laughed loudly from the side: "Hahaha, the Grand Tutor is going to become a martial arts master!"

"Your Highness, please stop making a scene..." Qu Zijin was sweating profusely as he pulled the two little devils to their feet. "I am merely sparsely skilled in archery; how dare I presume to claim any extraordinary skill..."

"Master is too modest!" Second Brother said with admiration. "That 'hundred paces, one shot' technique is clearly the long-lost Meteor Shattering Moon Thunder Arrow Technique!"

Qu Zijin was stunned: "What kind of archery technique?"

"Master!" The second brother lowered his voice and leaned closer mysteriously, "Don't you have even more powerful techniques you haven't used yet? Like the Dark Flame Dragon Sky-Piercing Arrow? The Chaos Sky-Splitting Galaxy Arrow?"

Qu Zijin was stunned: "...?"

Qu Zijin: "What are you saying? I don't understand."

"That move Master just used!" The second brother tugged at Qu Zijin's sleeve. "That move where you hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces! Isn't that what it's called?"

"...There is no such strange move name."

"What's strange about it? It sounds great! Master, you know, every cool move needs a cool name!"

"...Actually, it's not necessary."

"Why? Master, do you not know how to get it? It's okay, I'll get it for you. Just use the one I got for you!"

"...Thank you, but no need."

"Oh, don't be so polite, Master. Just use it freely. Should I go out and spread the word for you? Everyone will be envious of your amazing skills!"

"No!" Qu Zijin panicked, feeling that his lifelong reputation was about to be ruined. "Please don't! Also, I am your tutor, not your master."

"Huh? Why? Didn't my disciple just successfully become an apprentice?"

"That's absolutely not true..."

Qu Zijin regretted it.

He should have firmly refused in the first place and shouldn't have agreed to the competition.

He's so stupid, really.

"Why, Master, Master, Master..." His second brother kept pestering him.

What's even more terrifying is that when he shouts, he can also get Jin Lanyue to act together.

Qu Zijin, unable to resist his persistent advances, placed his hands on Qu Zijin's shoulders to maintain distance: "You want to learn archery, right?"

"Yes! Is Master finally going to impart his ultimate skills to his disciple?"

"I won't take you as my apprentice, nor do I have the ability to teach you any extraordinary skills, but I can teach you archery, as your tutor." Qu Zijin tried to correct him.

The second brother said dejectedly, "Ah... alright then..."

Qu Zijin succeeded. He breathed a sigh of relief and steered the conversation back on track: "Okay, let's start with the basics..."

"If I study well, can I become your apprentice? Can I call you master?" the second brother persisted.

Qu Zijin froze for a moment: "...It's best not to."

"That means they reluctantly agreed!"

"..."

For the next half hour, the sound of masters' voices echoed throughout the training ground—

"Master, am I drawing the bow correctly?"

"Master, how did I shoot?"

"Master..."

Qu Zijin felt his scalp tingle from being yelled at, and to make matters worse, his second brother would occasionally mimic him, walking around the field with his hands behind his back, earnestly instructing the other children: "Relax your wrists, yes, just like my master said..."

Finally, when it was time to rest, Qu Zijin was about to slip under the shade of a tree to catch his breath when his second brother followed him like a little tail.

"Master, are you thirsty? Your disciple will pour you some tea!"

"Master, are you tired? Let your disciple give you a back massage!"

"Master..."

Qu Zijin leaned against the tree trunk, utterly dejected: "Lizhi, I'm really not some kind of martial arts master..."

"I understand, I understand!" The second brother had a knowing look on his face. "Masters always hide their identities! Don't worry, Master, I will keep my mouth shut!"

Qu Zijin: "..."

On the other side, the little dumpling was sharing pastries she brought from home with the little princess.

The little dumpling's cheeks were bulging, and it didn't forget to call out to Qu Zijin, "Master! Eat cake!"

The second brother seized the opportunity to try and bribe him: "Master, if you accept me as your disciple, I can eat such delicious pastries every day..."

"Stop it..."

After the break, Qu Zijin quickly stood up: "Next, we'll practice moving targets!"

He pointed to a small cart pushed out by the palace servants, on which were placed several rotating wooden discs: "Whoever can hit the rotating target will..."

"Take him as your last disciple?" The second brother's eyes lit up.

"Then we won't have to do today's written homework..." Qu Zijin added weakly.

Although it wasn't quite what they expected, the children's enthusiasm remained undiminished: "Yay! No homework!"

“…It’s not that everyone doesn’t have to do it, it’s that the first person to be hit doesn’t have to do it.” Qu Zijin finished explaining and met four pairs of disappointed eyes.

"...Alright, as long as one of you can hit the target, then none of you need to do it." Qu Zijin finally softened his heart.

"Great!!" the little ones cheered.

The second brother took the lead, bringing them good luck by not having to do homework.

Next, even though he could only hit the target two or three times out of ten, he would shout every time he hit the target, "Master, look how amazing I am!"

The little dumpling couldn't possibly shoot that far, but she still earnestly followed along, muttering to herself, "Hey! Look how powerful the Moon Heroine is!"

---

Mini-theater:

Second brother: Master, I'm going out to promote your moves! (Starry-eyed) (Seeking praise)

Qu Zijin: (The sky has fallen) (I feel like my lifelong reputation has been ruined in an instant)

Second brother: Can I become your apprentice? Master.

Qu Zijin: (politely declining) It's best not to.

Second brother: Hey, he said it's best not to (wise expression). He didn't directly refuse, so that means he agreed!