Chapter 98

Xie Chen followed the soldiers. There were flags flying on both sides of the field. The competition was still going on. He followed the soldiers to a high platform.

"Greetings to Commander Zhao and Lord Commander Zhang." Xie Chen bowed.

"Captain Wei Sui was hit by twelve arrows today. It's true that young people are to be feared." Captain Zhao stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder and praised him.

"It's just that there was a problem in one round of the competition today, so we had to re-conduct it. Including you, there are a total of three people who hit the target today. In order to choose the winner, I decided to let the three of you compete again." Captain Zhao sat down and looked at the people around him.

"How do you plan to compete, Commander?" asked Zhang Houchang.

"Our border guards are the best at riding and shooting, so let's compete in horseback archery."

"This is good. We have been competing for a whole day and everyone must be tired of watching. Let's compete in this." The officials around also agreed.

Xie Chen nodded, bowed to them and went to the competition venue.

He first went to the stable and brought his horse over. A soldier came to help him. He waved his hand and fed the horse a handful of grass, touched its mane, and said with a smile: "It's up to you later."

"Captain Wei Sui, the competition is about to begin. The commander wants you to go over immediately." A soldier ran over and said.

"knew."

Xie Chen led his horse over and saw two officers standing on the field, one of whom was Han Jue, whom he had met in the morning. The other one had a very imposing aura and it was obvious at first glance that he was a martial artist.

Wasn’t Han Jue hit by eleven arrows? Why are you here? He guessed at a few answers but said nothing.

Han Jue took the initiative to say, "There was a problem with my crossbow in the morning, so I tried it again. I didn't expect that it performed well this time, so I was able to try it again with the two of you."

Before Xie Chen could speak, the other man's expression did look a little ugly, but he obviously knew Han Jue's identity, and swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth out of fear.

Han Jue saw his reaction, and a hint of dissatisfaction flashed in his eyes, "Captain Liu seems to have something to say?"

"I dare not." Liu Gu said.

Han Jue glanced at Xie Chen, who remained silent, and Liu Gu, who dared not speak out, and said bitterly in his heart, "Just wait and see."

After a gong sounded, the entire stadium fell silent. Zhang Houchang explained the situation to the officers watching, and then announced the start of the extra test.

Accompanied by the tight drum beats, Xie Chen quickly mounted his horse, whipped the horse, and moved his body with the horse's movements. He rode to a hundred steps away from the target, raised the crossbow, aimed at the red bull's eye, and shot out the sharp arrow. Everyone's eyes followed the arrow closely, and they heard a sound like a broken string, and the arrow hit the target heavily.

"Good." Someone said loudly, and the clerk next to him also wrote down a point on the paper.

Xie Chen swung his sword in succession and shot three arrows. He sat upright on the horse, his green hairband fluttering in the wind, making him look even more unrestrained and unrestrained.

Han Jue in the distance also hit the target with an arrow, and there were a few cheers. The army has always been judged by strength, and Xie Chen was hit by three arrows in a row, so the onlookers naturally turned their attention elsewhere.

Xie Chen clamped his legs around the horse, pulled the reins, and shot another arrow from the side. The arrow flew towards the bull's eye like lightning, but he didn't expect that another arrow followed from behind, and the two arrows hit the bull's eye almost at the same time.

"Nice shot."

"Good archery skills." There were warm cheers from all around.

Xie Chen took a deep breath and tried again.

He pulled the reins, the horse neighed, kicked up a cloud of dust, and two more arrows hit the target.

The drumbeats on the field became more and more intense. Han Jue saw that Xie Chen had been hit by several arrows in a row. In his anxiety, his hand became unstable and the arrow fell to the ground. He gritted his teeth and rode towards Xie Chen.

Xie Chen here has been hit by ten arrows in a row. He is quite excited at the moment, enjoying the feeling of riding a horse at gallop. There are only two arrows left.

The horse neighed, and he raised the corner of his mouth slightly. He pulled out an arrow from the quiver, nocked it, and shot it. The arrow flew across the sky and went straight to the target.

There is only one left.

He was about to draw his arrow when he heard the rapid sound of horse hooves, followed by Han Jue's voice, "Brother Wei, be careful. The horse is frightened."

Xie Chen reacted very quickly and pulled the reins hard. The horse stood up and the red tassel almost hit Xie Chen's eyes. Dust flew everywhere. Xie Chen used both hands to steady the horse under his crotch.

Suddenly, Han Jue was thrown off the horse, and the horse rushed towards Xie Chen again. At the critical moment, Xie Chen patted the horse, and the horse let out a very human cry, and actually carried Xie Chen over Han Jue's head.

Xie Chen jumped off his horse and saw a flash of cold light. He was startled and caught the arrow with one hand. He looked at the arrow that did not belong to him, curled his lips, lightly scratched his arm, and stabbed it back with his backhand.

He jumped onto Han Jue's horse and pulled the reins hard with both hands. The horse cried out in pain. He had great arm strength, and the horse was restrained by Xie Chen and gradually became motionless.

The dust raised blocked the view. People outside the field only knew that Han Jue was riding his horse towards Xie Chen. They thought that the horse must have been frightened and ran towards the two of them.

But then an arrow shot out from the yellow dust and hit the target in the distance with a clang. The feathers on the arrow were still vibrating slightly. The soldier who was scoring was stunned and quickly added another point.

All twelve arrows hit the target.

When the dust settled, everyone saw Xie Chen getting off his horse with blood still flowing from his arm. They then looked at Han Jue, who was lying on the ground holding his arm but still holding an arrow in his hand, and no one dared to say a word.

From this scene, any discerning person could see that it was Han Jue's horse that got frightened and caused trouble for Captain Wei Sui. As for the injury on Captain Wei Sui's arm, it must be related to Han Jue.

Each officer participating in the competition had only twelve arrows, and Xie Chen's quiver was empty. All the arrows were stuck on the target. Everyone knew how the wound came about. It couldn't be that Captain Wei shot himself.

"What's going on?" Captain Zhao rushed over and asked.

Everyone bowed and saluted.

Han Jue's eyes were filled with hatred. "Uncle, this man is cruel and ruthless. You want to give me my arm..."

"Shut up and take him away." Captain Zhao shouted.

"Captain Wei Sui, I'm sorry for frightening you today. I will give you an explanation for this matter," he looked at everyone, "Today's competition in Zhonggu Sui Wei Zhongxuan is the champion," he said, raising Xie Chen's uninjured hand.

Liu Gu was hit by ten arrows. The officers cheered loudly, saying that he was a young hero who remained neither humble nor arrogant even when framed. This is how a son should be.

When He Xin and Lao Zhang arrived, Xie Chen was bandaging his wound.

"Captain, let me do it, let me do it. We have all heard that that guy named Han is a piece of shit. He has no ability but he is jealous of other people's talents. It would be better for him to practice archery instead of wasting time." Lao Zhang said as he helped him tie the bandage.

He Xin looked at Xie Chen's face and said, "Captain Tunnel, Captain Zhao needs to give us an explanation for this matter."

Xie Chen raised his eyebrows, "I've already given it to you. Let's go back to the Eternal Tunnel."

"Hey, Captain, can you ride a horse with your injury?" Lao Zhang followed closely behind, and when he saw that Xie Chen mounted the horse more skillfully than him, he smacked his lips and kept silent.

He Xin lagged behind two people and heard the voices of soldiers talking.

"I heard that the commander severely punished Han Suizhang, gave him fifty military sticks, and dismissed him from his post, making him start as a soldier."

"I think the punishment is because I heard that he tried to shoot arrows at someone in the competition. Who wants to suffer the consequences? The captain of the guards was hit by twelve arrows in a row, but what about him? Not only did he fall off his horse, but he also injured his arm."

"I heard he was wounded by an arrow."

"That means he was injured by the arrow because of his poor skills. Didn't he drop the arrow on the ground?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, luckily he is the nephew of Captain Zhao, otherwise with his level, how can he be even one ten-thousandth as good as the other guard captain?"

"Keep your voice down, you're going to die."

He Xin looked at the two people's receding backs, his heart slightly moved, and he silently said to himself: Never offend the tunnel master, and then hurriedly caught up with Xie Chen and Lao Zhang.

…

Ganzhou County Government Office.

Lin Shuge had just met Su Cheng, and naturally he also saw Chu Xu, Su Cheng's rebellious best friend. He was indeed a good seedling, calm in the face of adversity and steady in character, quite like Zhongxuan of the past. If he was trained well, he might be of great use in the future.

He also ordered people to clean up the two rooms in the inner house, because Su Cheng and the others were in Pingxiang, too far away from the county town, and their families were poor and they could not afford to buy a house in the county.

Lin Shuge thought of himself who had to get up early every day to go to work, so he asked them to stay in the county government office temporarily and make further plans after they found a place to rent.

The two of them naturally expressed their gratitude. After listening to the flattery, he leisurely returned to the inner house to rest and eat. Today was his birthday, so he didn't care. However, A Yuan and A Xuan had been waiting anxiously.

When I returned to the inner house, I saw that everyone was there. The twins, Lu Yuechuan, and Yang Yan were all there except Su Cheng and Chu Xu who had just said they wanted to buy something.

As soon as they saw him come in, they gathered around to congratulate him, and then had a lively meal together before leaving.

The evening breeze was cool. After seeing off Lu Yuechuan and Yang Yan, Lin Shuge sat in the courtyard. Seeing Lin Qingyuan and Lin Xuan approaching awkwardly, he pretended not to know: "What's wrong? Did you not eat enough today or do you have something to talk to me about?"

Lin Qingyuan threw something to him and said, "Happy birthday, big brother. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."

Lin Xuan was very disappointed with Lin Shuge, so she gave the gift she had prepared long ago to Lin Shuge in a proper manner and spoke to him in a kind voice. Lin Shuge was quite moved and thought that her love for them was not in vain.

He thought of the other one who was far away in the Endless Tunnel and sighed. In fact, he still didn't know how to face Xie Chen. He couldn't hit him or scold him, but the two of them had actually crossed the line and walked over the red line. Things were different from the past.

The moon was above the willows. He stood up and took his things to the room. Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. His heart tightened and he opened the door quickly. Su Cheng and Chu Xu were outside.

"Sir, thank you for your care. I hope you will accept this little token of my gratitude." Su Cheng said.

Seeing that it was a pack of dim sum, Lin Shuge took it and said, "You're welcome. What are you doing? Why don't you come in and sit down?"

Su Cheng said, "Sir, I'm fine. It's Chu Xu who wants to see you about something. I won't bother you any more." After saying that, he pushed Chu Xu into the room and disappeared in a flash.

Chu Xu touched his ear and said, "Sir, I want to hear how the saddle you mentioned is made."

Chu Xu was very interested in the art of war. Today, he was chatting with Lin Shuge and heard about the saddle, but he didn't dare to ask too much as he was still worried about it. Su Cheng saw that he was distracted and asked him to come to Lin Shuge to ask for clarification.

Lin Shuge smiled and said, "Well, come in and sit down. You will understand after I draw it."

Lin Shuge took out a pen and paper, carefully drew the shape of the saddle, and explained to him how to use it. Chu Xu was smart and immediately understood the benefits of the saddle. He asked him a few small questions, and Lin Shuge answered them patiently.

The two were talking so seriously that they didn't notice that the moon was already high in the sky. There was another noise outside the door. Lin Shuge thought it was Su Cheng. He laughed and said, "I didn't even notice the time. It looks like Su Cheng is here to urge me."

The lights were bright and he smiled brilliantly. Chu Xu looked up and blushed inadvertently. Lin Shuge didn't notice his reaction and got up to open the door.

"I'm here to find..."

"What's wrong, sir?" Chu Xu rubbed his red ears and asked curiously without hearing what Lin Shuge said next.

"Zhongxuan, why are you here?" Lin Shuge asked in surprise.

Outside the door was the dusty Xie Chen.

He originally thought that Xie Chen would not come since he had already sent the birthday gift, but he did not expect that he would actually come.

Chu Xu walked over and when he saw that it was not Su Cheng, he asked, "Sir, who is this?"

Just as Lin Shuge was about to introduce them, he heard Xie Chen sneer, "Brother, who is this and why is he in your room in the middle of the night?" His face was as gloomy as water, but there was a hint of sweetness in his voice.

"Or maybe I came at the wrong time?" Xie Chen tilted his head and asked, a hint of hostility flashing in his eyes.