Chapter Seventeen: Shooting the Peacock with a Crooked Bow

  After the black eagles killed the white eagles, they did not stop. They dived towards a cave on the cliff and saw two small white eaglets' heads sticking out of the entrance. It turned out that there were still two young white eaglets in the cave. The black eagles wanted to wipe them out completely.

  "Dad, why don't you shoot quickly? If not, the little white eaglet will be pecked to death by the black eagle!" Seeing that the two white eaglets were about to be pecked to death by the black eagle, Guo Jing and Huang Rong were both extremely anxious. Among them, Huang Rong was crying out loud, then turned her head and said to Guo Jing beside her: "Guo Jing, Guo Jing, look! The white eagles have given birth to a pair of little eaglets, how did we not know? Guo Jing, you can also shoot arrows, quickly shoot an arrow to save the little white eagle!"

  Guo Jing was worried and anxious, his face filled with difficulty. He wasn't unwilling to save the little white eagle, but he had come in such a hurry that he hadn't brought his bow and arrows. Otherwise, he would have shot an arrow to help the eagle earlier and wouldn't have waited until now. Moreover, he was naturally rough and simple-minded, and for the time being, he didn't think of borrowing a bow and arrows from someone else, so he could only stand there anxiously watching.

  Temujin took advantage of the opportunity to teach his son, and just as he was in a good mood, he saw his daughter with tears streaming down her face. He smiled slightly, drew his bow tightly, and shot an iron arrow at the black eagle on the cliff. With a "whooshing" sound, the flying arrow shot into the body of a black eagle, killing it on the high cliff. The crowd cheered in unison as soon as they saw this.

  "You come and shoot." Temujin, having hit the target with one arrow, did not continue to draw his bow, but instead handed the bow and arrow over to his third son Ogedei, taking the opportunity to test his son's archery skills.

  Temujin took the bow and arrow and shot one dead. Immediately afterwards, Temujin handed the bow and arrow to Tuo Lei, who also hit one. Seeing that Temujin and the two princes had all taken their shots, the Mongolian generals and guards who accompanied them also drew their bows and shot arrows. However, at this time, the many black eagles on the cliff saw that things were not going in their favor and flew away in a flurry, but it was no longer as easy to hit as before. As the eagles soared high into the air, the sharp arrows shot by the crowd also lost their strength and often fell to the ground without even touching the eagles' bodies.

  Temujin was also excited at this time and shouted loudly: "There will be a reward for those who hit the target."

  Guo Jing's archery master, the divine archer Jebe, intentionally wanted Guo Jing to show off his skills. He came before Guo Jing, took up his own strong bow and handed it over to Guo Jing, whispering: "Kneel down and shoot at the black eagle's neck."

  Guo Jing had always been obedient, and upon hearing the words, he immediately took over the bow and arrow. He knelt down on his right knee, with his left hand steadily holding the iron bow, without any trembling at all. With a surge of energy in his right hand, he drew open the hard bow that weighed over 200 jin. Having trained in martial arts with the Six Freaks of Jiangnan for ten years, although he had yet to grasp the subtleties of superior martial skills, his arm strength and eyesight were already extraordinary. Seeing two black eagles flying side by side from the left, he slightly shifted his left arm, took aim at the eagle's neck, and released his five fingers. The bow curved like a full moon, and the arrow shot out like a meteor, instantly drawing out a dark shadow that pierced into the high sky.

  A black eagle let out a mournful cry, and was instantly pierced through the neck by an arrow. The arrow's force didn't diminish, and it continued to shoot into the abdomen of another black eagle flying above the first one. One arrow penetrated two eagles, and they plummeted down from high altitude. The remaining black eagles didn't dare to stay, and flew away in all directions.

  Everyone present couldn't help but cheer as they witnessed Guo Jing's incredible archery skills, and even Linghu Chong was impressed. Although he had known about Guo Jing's exceptional archery skills beforehand, seeing it with his own eyes still left him deeply shocked. If this skill were to be used against people, even an average martial artist would not necessarily be able to escape unscathed. Currently, Guo Jing has only learned some external martial arts from the Six Freaks of Jiangnan and can only use external strength; once he cultivates superior internal energy in the future, won't his divine archery skills become even more terrifying? By then, perhaps even top-notch masters will be caught off guard and fall victim to his arrows.

  "In this era of cold weapons, archery is still very useful. If practiced well, it's simply a sniper in the era of cold weapons! Since we've come to the Mongolian grasslands this time, we can't just come for nothing. We should find an opportunity to learn some archery skills and make up for the lack of long-range attacks."

  Just as Ling Yun was pondering, Hua Zheng suddenly whispered to Guo Jing: "Hurry up and present the Twin Eagles to my father."

  Guo Jing picked up the two jade pieces that had fallen to the ground, held them in both hands and ran to Temujin's horse, knelt on one knee, raised them above his head. Because he was clumsy with words, Guo Jing didn't say anything, but everyone present understood what he meant.

  Temujin's life was most fond of good generals and brave warriors. Seeing Guo Jing shoot an arrow that pierced two eagles, he was extremely pleased in his heart. To know the great eagles of the northern country are not ordinary, with wings spread out over a zhang long, feathers hard as iron, swooping down can grab whole small horses and big sheep into the air, really is extremely fierce, even tigers and leopards encountering great eagles also have to dodge, it is the grasslands' number one fierce creature.

  So the good archers on the grassland often like to show off their bravery by shooting down eagles, and those who can shoot down eagles are called eagle shooters, highly respected. Guo Jing not only shot down an eagle, but also shot two eagles with one arrow, which is extremely difficult. Then Temujin ordered his personal soldiers to pick up the two eagles, smiling and praising Guo Jing: "Good boy, your archery skills are great!"

  Guo Jing chuckled and said: "It's all thanks to Master Qiu Chuji's teachings."

  Jebe was the one who taught Guo Jing archery and was also a great general under Genghis Khan. In fact, in Mongolian, Jebe means "divine archer", not his real name, but he was famous for his divine shooting on the grassland, and the Mongols called him Jebe, after a long time, his real name was forgotten, and he simply changed his name to Jebe.

  Temujin burst out laughing: "The master is Jebe, and the apprentice is also Jebe."

  At this time, Jebe said to Temujin: "Father, you said that whoever shoots the target will be rewarded. Anda has shot two vultures with one arrow, what reward will you give him?"

  "Haha, anything will do." At this time, Temujin was in high spirits and started boasting.

  Tuo Lei Xi said: "Really, what reward would be fine?"

  "What a childish thing to say! Can't I, your father, the great hero Temujin, deceive a child?" Temujin laughed and asked Guo Jing: "Guo Jing, what do you want?"

  Guo Jing had been living with Temujin for many years. The generals all liked his simplicity and kindness, and did not discriminate against him because he was a Han Chinese. Now seeing the Khan's delighted expression, everyone looked at Guo Jing, hoping that he would receive a heavy reward.

  It was Ling Muyun who also shifted his attention over, wanting to know what reward Guo Jing had received. Although he had read the original work in his previous life and was generally familiar with the plot of the original work, after all, it wasn't that he had memorized the entire original work, those important plot memories were still quite vivid, as for some insignificant details they were fuzzy and unclear.

  "Just then, Guo Jing said: 'The Khan treats me so well, my mother has everything she needs, there's no need to give me anything more.'"

  Temujin smiled: "You child have a filial heart, always remembering your mother first. What do you want for yourself? Speak freely, don't be afraid."

  Guo Jing hesitated for a moment, then knelt down on both knees before Temujin's horse and said: "I don't want anything for myself, I just want to ask the Great Khan something on behalf of someone else."

  Temujin smiled and said: "Speak, what is it?"

  Guo Jing said: "Wang Hao's grandson Da Shi is both cruel and evil, after Hua Zheng marries him she will definitely suffer. Please, Great Khan, don't arrange for Hua Zheng to marry him."

  Ling Yun shook his head secretly, this Guo Jing was indeed silly and lovely. Wang Khan was Temujin's adoptive father and also the most powerful Khan on the grassland. It was obvious that Temujin had promised his daughter Hua Zheng to Wang Khan's grandson for political reasons. Would such a political marriage change because of the plea of an insignificant youth like him?

  Indeed, Temujin was taken aback after hearing Guo Jing's words and burst out laughing, saying: "That's really childish talk, how can that be? Alright, I'll reward you with a treasure."

  As he spoke, Temujin took a short knife from his waist and handed it to Guo Jing. The Mongolian generals standing beside him all nodded in admiration and envy. This was a dagger that Temujin particularly cherished, having used it to kill countless enemies; if not for the fact that he had already spoken his mind, he would never have given it away so easily.

  Guo Jing thanked him and took the short knife, playing with it in his hand. Linghu Chong stole a glance at it and saw that the scabbard of the short knife was made of gold, and on the end of the hilt was cast a golden tiger head, ferocious and powerful. Although the blade was hidden in the scabbard and not exposed, since it was Temur's dagger, it must be extremely sharp; otherwise, it wouldn't have been worn by Temur, a heroic warrior who often took part in battles personally.

  Ling Mochou suddenly had an idea in his mind: "I remember that in the original book, Guo Jing was conferred the title of Golden Saber Son-in-law by Temujin. Could it be because of this saber that he got this title?"

  Temujin said: "Guo Jing, this is my personal dagger, I reward it to you today, from now on you should use my golden sword to replace me in killing enemies."

  Guo Jing replied: "Yes."

  Huazheng suddenly burst into tears and jumped onto the horse's back, galloping away. It was because she saw Temujin reject Guo Jing's request, obviously insisting that she marry Wang Khan's grandson, and her heart was extremely disappointed, so she cried and ran away.

  Temujin's heart was as hard as iron, but seeing his daughter so distressed, he couldn't help but soften in his heart, and with a faint sigh, he turned his horse around and returned to the camp. The Mongol princes and generals hastily followed behind him. The other Mongols who had come to watch the commotion saw that the eagle fight was over and Khan had left, so they too did not linger and rode their horses back one after another.