No More Archery
“Instructor Liang, you still haven’t told me how one wins the mounted archery competition,”
He Yan looked at Liang Ping who was beside her, “Are we looking at the number of prey or who reaches the end of the stables first?”
Liang Ping had not yet spoken, but Ma Da mei had beaten him to it. He smiled, “Young man, we will run a lap here whilst an incense stick is left to burn. This will be the starting and endpoint of the race. The four of us have different feathers on the arrows, so we’ll be shooting targets at the bend. Whosoever returns first after shooting the arrows will win.”
After hearing this, He Yan nodded her head in agreement, “Okay.”
Liang Ping couldn’t help but look at her. The most this young man said was ‘okay’. It was the same ‘okay’ that was said to Wang Ba, Jiang Jiao and Huang Xiong. And now, even to the instructors, he still replied with the same answer. He didn’t know when he would hear He Yan reply with a ‘no’.
“Then, let’s begin.”
As soon as Du Mao pulled the reins, a horn blew behind him, and the four horses scampered out of the way like arrows, leaving only smoke and dust in the blink of an eye.
The horse that He Yan rode was much well-behaved than the horse that He Sui brought to her in the school field back in the capital. It should’ve been specially trained and tamed. The horse understood her instructions with the small number of commands she gave. She also noticed that, from the three instructors, Liang Ping and Du Mao were good at horse riding but were not close to the astonishing Ma Da Mei. Ma Da Mei’s horse-handling skills were as good as her own, perhaps even better, but he didn’t show it.
She was overserving these three people, but the instructors were also observing her. Du Mao looked over at her and almost didn’t take his eyes off her head.
She wrapped the whip diagonally around her arm, commanding the horse to gallop in the desired direction. As she patted it lightly with her hand, she made Du Mao think. He Yan was not a son or a young master from the capital city who happened to cruise around. What did he mean by that?
The most surprising aspect was her casual attitude towards everything. She wasn’t left behind by any of the instructors, and she even had the heart to smile at him.
Du Mao looked away immediately.
The horse ran like a meteor. In the blink of an eye, it had reached the bend. He Yan touched the quiver behind her back and took out a few arrows to shoot at the straw targets on both sides.
The target was not as big as the ones at the other end of the arena; it was as small as a palm- unobvious to the eye and easy to miss. When He Yan was about to shoot, Liang Ping and Du mao looked at each other. One horse after the other caught up beside He Yan, each squeezing He Yan’s horse in the middle. The arrow in her hand disappeared, rendering her unable to shoot.
The horse was frightened. He Yan jolted a few times and pulled the reins to stabilize herself. She looked towards Liang Ping and Du Mao who were shooting arrows with their bows as if nothing had happened. Du Mao even had the gall to say to her, “He Yan, be careful! Don’t fall down!”
As if they weren’t the ones playing dirty!
He Yan raised her eyebrows. To be honest, she never knew how to forgive in a competition. How could she let go of the fact that her archery was disrupted?
Liang Ping and Du Mao had already shot their arrows but a green arrow sprang out from the slash with a thud. Their arrows split in half and landed on the ground in a different direction.
The two of them looked at He Yan at the same time. He Yan shrugged her shoulders, “Instructor, why are your archery skills so poor?”
Liang Ping was mute.
This young man was so arrogant that he could not forgive him.
The old man, Ma Da Mei, had already caught up with her from behind, smiling, “Young man, there’s no need to hurry. Take it easy.”
Wherever she moved, the three men would follow her from the back, front or sides- pressuring her as if nothing had happened. Her horse was frequently frightened due to which she couldn’t aim at the bullseye.
After trying so many times, she realized that the three instructors were deliberately against her. Although she didn’t understand why, it was probably part of the competition. They wanted her to miss every shot so that even if she finished the track first, she wouldn’t win.
She was outnumbered. It was an archery competition so she couldn’t fight the instructors. But to let it go like it was nothing was not something she could do.
Her eyes moved slightly and murmured, “Trying to trick me? No way.”
She suddenly raised her arm and the horsewhip that was wrapped around her arm spread out, falling into the wind with a crisp sound.
Du Mao frowned, “What is he doing?”
From the beginning to end, He Yan did not use the horsewhip. It was indeed rare that a whip was not used. But now that He Yan unravelled the whip. Was it because she couldn’t hold on and was going to use the whip while riding?
The moment he saw the horsewhip fly towards him, Du Mao was shocked. He dodged the attack.
The horsewhip didn’t hit Du Mao but curled up in a whorl and rolled the handful of arrows in the quiver. He Yan stretched out the whips again, releasing the whip in mid-air. The feather arrows fell in the wind.
Liang Ping, who witnessed the whole process was stunned, but before he knew it, He Yan’s whip was already aimed at him. He was taken aback and hurriedly rode his horse to avoid him. However, this time, it was He Yan’s turn to attack. Where could he run? With a pull, all the arrows in his quiver were thrown to the ground.
“He Yan!” Du Mao was livid.
“I think the instructors don’t want me to shoot,” He Yan smiled as if she hadn’t seen his ugly expression, “But I don’t want to lose either. So I have no choice but to prevent anyone else from shooting.”
“Hahaha!” Behind him was Ma Da Mei’s laughter. He was not the least bit nervous or angry. Instead, he was in high spirits, “This young man is quite smart. I don’t know if you can accept this arrow of mine or not.”
The corner of He Yan’s lips raised slightly, “How can I? I’m not going to take your arrows.”
Ma Da Mei’s equestrian skills were superb. It was tough to make contact, but it didn’t matter. As long as he had no target to shoot at after the bend, he would have to compete with her to determine who would reach the end first.
She and Ma Da Mei went head to head. She shot arrows, and Ma Da Mei shot to block them. Ma Da Mei shot arrows, and He Yan copied his movements to take them down. During this time, they had already left Liang Ping and Du Mao behind.
They were in a stalemate, so they made the last turn. No one was able to hit the target. The remaining competitors had to focus on the race to reach the finish line.
Ma Da Mei amusingly looked at He Yan, “Young man, you’re really good.” He swung his whip, and the horse sprinted in the air effortlessly.
He Yan looked at his back and praised, “It’s really true. There are lots of strong people under the vast sky.”
Clenching the reins tightly, she followed suit.