Chapter 11, Shan Ye Cun Fu

  Zu Zhaowan dismounted his horse quickly and said to Zhang Yuan in a calm tone: "Brother, I'm leaving."

  Zhang Yuan involuntarily narrowed his eyes and replied emotionlessly, "What's next? Do we need to continue comparing?"

  The surrounding rogue children started booing loudly. Only Zhang Yu said loudly: "My brother was hit by two arrows, and you didn't hit one arrow. Even if you won the third round by luck, it's still a loss." Two or three rogue children also echoed loudly, repeatedly emphasizing "still lost", with sarcastic intentions that couldn't be hidden.

  Zu Chao smiled and said: "Even if Brother has a sure win in his grasp, any matter should have a beginning and an end."

  Zhang Yuan just thought that Zu Zhao had pinned his hopes on the third game to regain some face, so he responded very casually: "The young master is right. Well, Zhang will accompany you to the end." After speaking, he patted his horse's buttocks and ran out at a moderate pace.

  Anyway, the outcome was already decided, and Zhang Yuan had no burden on his mind, so his movements naturally became much more relaxed. When he approached the crooked-neck tree about eighty steps away, he shot out his last arrow. This arrow flew into the air with a slight tremble, and finally brushed past the tip of the wine gourd before being nailed to the trunk. He didn't pay too much attention to this either, after all, his three arrows had all hit the wine gourd, which was already a significant difference from Zu Zhao's two completely missed shots.

  Zu Zhao threw the deer horn bow to Zhang Yu from a distance, and then clapped his hands leisurely.

  "The three arrows are done, only the eldest son has one arrow left." He hugged his arms with both hands and strolled back and forth in front of Zu Zhao, clamping the horse's belly with his legs.

  "Azhong, take the four-stringed bow." Zu Zhao handed over the wing-shaped bow in his hand to a nearby attendant while calling out behind him.

  Ah Zhong immediately fetched a longbow, with two pairs of protruding short horns at both ends, making a total of four small horns. This bow was nearly three and a half feet long and should have belonged to the category of infantry bows. Zu Zhao only started using this bow frequently after he had made the saddle and stirrups, and it was this very bow that he carried with him when he last repelled the Hu cavalry. The Four-Toothed Bow's draw weight was one stone two jin, making it a truly powerful heavy bow.

  The young men of the ancestral home were not surprised to see Zu Chao practicing horseback archery with a longbow, as it was not uncommon. On the other hand, many young adventurers, including Zhang Yuan and Zhang Yu, had never seen anyone use a longbow on horseback before. Horseback archery was a test of both riding and archery skills, and controlling the bowstring while on horseback was extremely difficult. The longbow was cumbersome and prone to getting in the way, making it hard to maintain a full draw, and even a slight mistake could cause a serious accident by entangling the legs.

  "What is he going to do?" Zhang Yu exclaimed in surprise.

  Zhang Yuan's face gradually changed, and he felt another unpredictable side of Zu Chao. If the first two arrows were intentionally shot off-target... then this last arrow was the key to determining victory or defeat! But what trick could this kid play now?

  Zu Zhao took over the reins of the four-wheeled carriage, exerted some force to squeeze the horse's belly, and rushed towards the crooked-neck tree.

  Whether it was the young master or the wandering knight, after all, this was the final shot of the competition, and everyone in their hearts held their breath, focusing on Zu Zhao's galloping figure.

  Only then did Zu Chao charge from the northwest direction, and when he was about a hundred paces away, he bit the reins in his mouth, holding the longbow horizontally in front of him, using both ends of the bow to balance his body. He took out the last feathered arrow from the quiver, raised the longbow above his head again, and then drew the string. At high speed, he amazingly drew the three-and-a-half-foot-long bow to its full length.

  Zhang Yuan's victorious posture was immediately shaken, although it is not impossible to use a heavy crossbow while riding and shooting, but if he were to ride and open the string at the same time, he feared that it would already be beyond his ability.

  Zu Chao's last arrow had been drawn back for a long time, until it was about seventy paces away. With a loud shout, he released the bowstring. The string vibrated, and the arrow shot out with force. Before outsiders could even see clearly, the gourd hanging from the crooked neck tree branch suddenly made a "bang" sound, bursting into pieces in an instant. Fragments of the gourd mixed with the remaining wine splashed all over the ground.

  The arrow is firmly nailed to the tree trunk!

  The onlookers in the rear were shocked into a commotion by Zu Chao's astonishing arm strength. The young rascals one by one pulled down their faces, and from then on, not a single hint of mockery or teasing could be seen. Even Zhang Yuan himself couldn't help but take a deep breath, truly astonished that a youth of only ten or fifteen years old could possibly possess such extraordinary strength. Although the first two arrows had all fallen short, this last arrow was enough to intimidate people's hearts.

  It seems this kid is indeed quite capable!

  Zuo Zhao slowed down his horse and returned at a moderate pace. The Zuo family's younger generation was silent for a moment before erupting into long-awaited cheers, putting aside the "mistakes" of the first two rounds. The eldest son's final arrow truly brought great joy to everyone's heart. Moreover, because of the emotional buildup from the losses in the previous two rounds, the excitement at this moment was even more pronounced.

  He handed the four-toothed bow to a follower, Zu Zhao rode his horse through the Zu family's children and came before Zhang Yuan. His forehead was already sweating, but he maintained an elegant posture and bowed his head in courtesy, saying: "Fortunately, I won this round, but unfortunately, I ruined my brother's wine gourd. Another day, I will certainly repay it at a fair price. My brother has superior skills, I am grateful for the lesson, from now on I must work twice as hard. This time, I lost with a willing heart and mouth."

  As soon as the words fell, Zhang Yuan was about to speak, but unexpectedly, Zhang Yu on the side coldly hummed and said first: "Originally lost, what else can be said? If it weren't for my elder brother's three arrows all hitting the wine gourd, shooting a hole in it, how could your last arrow have shattered it into powder? Your whole family is still smiling, truly shameless."

  Several young men following close behind Zu Chao heard this and couldn't help but grit their teeth, anger burning in their hearts. One of them shouted: "Two of your three arrows didn't even have any force, they could only pierce the mouth of a wine gourd, what a joke."

  "It's like this, my family's young master shot and killed seven horse bandits, each one a fatal hit. The first two arrows were just letting you off."

  "My ancestors' family has been renowned for three generations. As the eldest son, he has studied diligently and practiced hard since childhood. Not to mention shooting through this bird's gourd, how could a stone wall be any obstacle?"

  The young heroes were also unceremonious, each and every one of them retorting with a sharp tongue.

  The more they talked, the more out of tune they became. Zu Zhao immediately raised his hand to stop them, saying: "Shut up. Losing a technique is nothing, as the saying goes, 'knowing shame and then being brave', losing one's dignity is what's truly shameful."

  The family members and children of the ancestors all fell silent after hearing this, although some people still had objections in their hearts, but they only turned into grievances on their faces. Moreover, those wandering sons also came to a realization and stopped speaking sarcastically.

  Zhang Yuan's face was serious, and his tone lost its strong momentum as he said: "The young master is indeed a straightforward person, Zhang admires him."

  Zu Zhao bowed to Zhang Yuan and said, "Since the outcome of our contest is already decided, although I am willing to concede defeat, I still insist on my original intention. I hope to discuss with you how to prepare for this year's banditry. Please give me more guidance."

  Although Zhang had three parts of falsehood in his heart, he was older and in front of so many people, so he calmly accepted it. He laughed loudly twice, gradually recovering a bit of his proud demeanor, saying: "Good, good, preventing thieves and guarding the home, a great man cannot shirk this duty. This time Zhang has yielded..."

  The words had hardly been spoken when someone pointed towards the crooked neck tree and shouted: "There is someone there."

  Zhang Yuan, Zu Zhao and others turned their heads to look, only to see that at some point, a figure had appeared under the crooked-necked tree, examining the several feathered arrows nailed to the trunk. The person was tall and large in build, with a longbow slung over his back and an old arrow quiver at his waist, looking like an ordinary hunter from his attire.

  "This person... where did he come from?" Zhang asked with narrowed eyes.

  "Just now I haven't seen it yet." Zhang Yu hastily said.

  Zu Chao also found it strange, he turned his head to look at the onlookers in the distance, those ordinary people had mostly dispersed after the trial was over, only a few were still discussing and looking around. It was impossible for someone from among these onlookers to run over from such a great distance.

  "Your Excellency, I'll go ask what that person does." Zu Ji asked.

  "Why not go together?" On the one hand, it was out of curiosity, and on the other hand, he also wanted to interrupt Zhang Yuan's self-boasting words. Zu Chao immediately replied. After finishing speaking, he led the horse forward, and Zu Ji and the other young masters of the Zu family followed behind him.

  Zhang Yuan and Zhang Yu, two brothers, seeing this, also brought other wandering children together to follow.

  Arriving under the crooked neck tree, I took a clear look at that person's appearance, seemingly similar in age to Zhang Yuan, but because of the full beard, it made him appear even more mature. The other party naturally heard the sound of people and horses coming from behind, but still didn't respond, continuing to wander around in front of the tree.

  "Hunting, who are you and what are you doing here?" Zhang Yu asked loudly.

  "What's going on here? Are you done fooling around? Can't decent people rest here?" The other person responded without turning his head, his tone unadorned and displeased.

  "Hey, you rough and uncouth fellow! My elder brother is having a contest with someone here, how can it be just for fun? Scram quickly, otherwise don't blame me for being ill-tempered!" Zhang Yu was furious and couldn't contain himself, brandishing his whip and scolding loudly.

  "Hmph, so you think you can?" The man said nonchalantly.

  "Good thief, looking for your own death!" Zhang Yu shouted loudly and raised his whip to strike.

  That man didn't move a muscle, but one hand reached for the hilt of the dagger at his waist.

  "Halt." At this critical moment, Zu Chao urged his horse forward and blocked Zhang Yu's path.

  "Get out of the way." Zhang Yu shouted at Zu Zhao.

  "Zhang Yu, stop being rude." Although Zhang Yuan was also dissatisfied with the hunter-like man, he didn't want to lose face in front of Zu Zhao, so he immediately spoke out to stop his younger brother.

  "Brother, how can we tolerate such arrogant and unruly commoners?" Zhang Yu said with a disgruntled face.

  "There's no need to be on familiar terms with a rustic like Mountain Village Husband." Zhang Yuan said disdainfully.