Rebirth of a Star General: Chapter 51
Here’s the promised bonus chapter! Thank you StarryNight for the ko-fis!
TIED AGAIN
Translator: Sylph
Editor: Emme
He agreed to it.
Liang Ping, who had remained silent, was now looking at He Yan in a very different light. Having experienced the previous times, he knew that this young man wouldn’t be speaking empty words, and since he had agreed, he should at least be confident.
He could shoot living things?
“If you want to shoot wild animals, we have to go into the woods,” said Wang Ba. The forest was on Baiyue Mountain, he looked towards Liang Ping, who withdrew himself from his thoughts and shook his head, “No.”
Wang Ba and He Yan were both new recruits, they had never been to Baiyue Mountain, therefore were not familiar with the road. The new recruits would have to wait for some time to enter the mountain, but the time was not now. He said, “Let’s use the flying bird as a target.”
Flying birds… the recruits were shocked again. Simply said, catching wild animals was more difficult than shooting a straw target, but flying birds were definitely more difficult of a target than wild animals. People were located on the ground, whereas birds in the sky, the natural distances were different. And shooting arrows from the ground to the sky required greater aim and arm strength.
Wang Ba let out a loud laugh, “Sure!”
He Yan also smiled and said, “No problem.”
They both agreed so lightly, but it made the recruits, who had calmed down just now, excited again. It seemed that Wang Ba was often up in the mountains shooting birds and wolves but what about He Yan?
Mak quietly tugged on the corner of Shi’s clothes, “Brother, do you think Brother He can win?”
“I don’t know,” Shi replied.
Mak looked at his big brother in surprise. Even Shi couldn’’t even deny it outright. Did that mean that He Yan could actually shoot?
“You guys go get the bows.” Liang Ping said and turned to take care of another recruit who didn’t know what to do. That new soldier listened to instructor Liang, who instructed a few words, turned around and went to the shelf in the arena to find a gong. He took the gong and ran to the forest not far away.
A few moments later, with a “boom” sound, he struck the gong fiercely, only to hear a “fluttering” sound, stirring up countless wild birds.
Baiyue mountain was a densely-covered with jungle, and there were many wild birds. He Yan saw White-bellied Blue Swallows and a Green Pearl Sparrows, as they flew into the sky quickly. The wild birds quickly flew into the sky, and in a split second, Wang Ba immediately set up his bow and shot arrows and his movements were skillful and relaxed. He had an aspirational ease as if he was determined to win.
The arrow flew towards the sky, only to see the birds in the flock that were spreading their wings, hit by something, sinking downwards. In the arena, the screams of men rang out. “Shot! Shot!” The recruit picked up an arrow on the ground with a squeaky red on it.
This was Wang Ba’s prey.
Wang Ba looked proudly at He Yan.
He Yan smiled, and calmly drew her bow and pointed it at the sky, her movements were faster than Wang Ba’s, so fast that one wondered if she was actually aiming at her prey, yet the arrow had already flown out. The sunlight was so great that it blurred one’s vision, making it impossible to distinguish the direction of the arrow for an instant.
Shi looked unblinkingly at the sky and said after a while, “It hit.”
“Really?” Hong Shan looked with suspicion, “Why can’t I see?”
In a corner of the arena, another voice rang out, “I’ve picked up He Yan’s arrow! Here!” He ran up to Liang Ping with the arrow, “Here!”
There was a willow string hanging from the arrow
Liang Ping and Wang Ba looked at He Yan at the same time.
The former was abruptly surprised to discover that the man in front of him was a treasure, while the latter was full of disbelief.
How did he do it?
Wang Ba tightened his grip on his bow and said, “Again!” He yelled at the gong-beating recruit, “Go on!”
The new recruit struck the gong several times, and from the woods, a large flock of birds immediately flew out. Wang Ba placed several arrows in his hands and fired them at the same time!
A few arrows rushed into the sky together, but it was hard to tell if they hit or not, but a few moments later, someone in the arena shouted, “Bingo! I have the arrow!”
A hundred shots, a hundred bull’s eyes[1], Wang Ba was already one in a hundred, no, it could be said that he is one in a thousand. What about He Yan?
Everyone then looked at He Yan, who was smiling slightly and also followed Wang Ba’s example, putting a few arrows on the bow together.
The bow was drawn to it’s full, and the youngster’s face held a relaxed smile as if she was going to the Sishui river for an outing, casually playing with the art of shooting at will.
She drew the bow.
Arrows also rushed into the flock of birds, birds panicked and dodged, someone in the arena shouted, “Hit, hit, hit! I picked up the arrow!”
Being able to bring the arrow in front of the instructor was also worthy of success.
“You!” Wang Ba gritted his teeth and turned around to carry the arrow quiver, “I don’t believe you’ll be lucky everytime!” He set up his bow and shot arrows nonstop, actually trying to shoot all the arrows in the quiver.
Each quiver contained twenty arrows, having differently colored arrow feathers, making it easier for the new recruits to distinguish them when practicing. Wang Ba took the red arrow feathers, and He Yan picked out the green ones. She also followed Wang Ba’s example, shooting arrows non-stop.
For a while, neither of them spoke, they could only hear the constant clanging of the gong in the woods and the frightened sparrows flying in the sky.
“It’s so good! It’s so much fun!” Cheng Lisu’s eyes widened at the sight, grabbing Liang Ping’s arm and praising, “This is much more interesting than the hunting grounds in the capital! Instructor Liang, why are your soldiers so interesting? How did you find such talents?”
Liang Ping smiled, he was also at a loss, he didn’t know either! Wang Ba was already a surprise, and now there was He Yan too and Liang Ping simply wondered if he was dreaming.
Twenty arrows were used up in an instant.
The new recruits on the arena were also enthusiastic, gathering up the fallen arrows and bringing them to Instructor Liang. Twenty red arrows, and twenty green arrows, no arrow was shot in vain.
Among the new recruits of the Liang Zhou, there were two such divine archers who shot stones and drank feathers[2]. Liang Ping thought that he was about to be promoted, and even if he wasn’t, at least, the monthly payment would go up.
“I didn’t expect Brother He to be so good…,” Mak had been stunned and was muttering to himself.
“I didn’t expect it either,” Hong Shan hadn’t returned to his senses, “It’s good that I bet on He Yan to win…”
Right oh, the bet wasn’t over yet. Hong Shan’s words were like a reminder to the crowd, and a new recruit suddenly yelled, “This… is a draw! Didn’t He Yan and Wang Ba get the same result? Then how is this round calculated?”
Yeah, how does this count?
Wang Ba lowered his head, no one knew what he was thinking, after a moment, he raised his head, his face cloudy, “You didn’t win.”
“Yes,” He Yan didn’t deny it, she even genuinely praised her opponent, “It’s your archery skill that’s too good, I’m overstating it.”
“Then even if it’s a draw, you still didn’t win against me today.” Wang Ba said in a domineering tone. The matter had come to this, he was also a little panicked. In reality, the fact that He Yan was able to keep up with his pace meant that his and He Yan’s skill were comparable.
He couldn’t find any other way to outsmart He Yan.
“Ten days ago, I said that after ten days, I would defeat you. How can we make peace now that the winner is still undecided?” He Yan fanned wind with her hand, “If you can’t think of a way to compete, how about I mention one?”
[1] Shoot target a hundred times without a single miss, hit one’s mark every single time and never miss
[2] The arrow hit the stone, concealing the feathers of the arrow tail which means the arrow was extremely powerful and could also be used to describe martial arts high strength.
