From Joy of Life to Becoming a Saint

Chapter 53 An archer at the peak of the eighth rank?
Chen Qiye took the note and read it. There was only a simple sentence on it: "There is a forest ten miles east of the city."

Apart from this sentence, there was nothing else, but it was obvious what the other party wanted to express. First, he threatened his personal maid, and then left an address for him to go there.

If you don't go, next time it might not be rouge scratches, but a dagger cutting your throat.

Chen Qiye narrowed his eyes. He knew that the people who were secretly observing him couldn't help themselves after all. Whether it was to test an ambush or to recruit them, he had to go there.

If he uses his maid to intimidate him first, then he is definitely not a grandmaster. A grandmaster has his own integrity. If he wants to take action, he will either give the order directly or kill him alone with a sword. He will not use such despicable means.

Since he is not a master, even if he hides his strength, as an archer at the peak of the eighth rank, there are few people in Kyoto who dare to take a direct hit from him.

He casually threw the note in his hand, gathered his strength and turned it into powder, then returned to the room to get his bow and arrow, ready to meet the person who invited him.

"You go and keep Xiaoling company."

Qin Feier looked at him worriedly: "Sir, this is obviously a trap..."

"I have my measure."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Qiye quickly walked out of the house and headed straight out of the city.

A man and a horse, carrying bows and arrows, left towards the east gate.

Not long after, Chen Qiye appeared in the woods mentioned in the note. He stopped at a place on his horse, closed his eyes and quietly observed the movements around him.

Soon, he noticed two long breaths about fifty steps ahead. Just by listening to the breaths, he could guess that they were probably from the upper eighth grade or the peak of the eighth grade.

In fact, he is fully capable of killing them with two arrows, but doing so would expose his strength as a ninth-grade archer, so he chose not to take action directly.

He rode forward a few steps and shouted, "Since you lured me out, why don't you show up?"

On two large trees with dense branches and leaves that were close together in the woods, two figures leaned firmly against the branches to hide their bodies. Both of them were covered with veils and their faces could not be seen clearly. One of them held a spear and the other held a long sword, both of them had extraordinary momentum.

"Thank you, sir. I'll go and try him first. You just wait and watch..."

Before the man with the spear could finish his words, a sharp arrow came flying through the air at an extremely fast speed and without any warning. The man with the spear didn't even have time to react before he was pierced through the chest. The arrow still had some force left in it, causing him to fly backwards three or four feet before falling from the sky.

The man with the long sword looked horrified. He kicked the tree trunk with both feet and used all his strength to change his position. The next moment, another sharp arrow came and shot the branch he had just been on, causing it to explode.

"Idiot, I am the master of long-range warfare, how dare you talk so close to me?"

This sarcastic remark also reminded the man with the long sword. He had no time to be surprised and approached Chen Qiye at an extremely fast speed. As expected, the closer the distance, the smaller the opponent's advantage.

The man with the long sword chopped off the oncoming arrow with one blow, then flew over and stabbed Chen Qiye in the face.

Seeing this, Chen Qiye had to abandon his horse and leap backward to avoid the attack. He then drew out the long sword from his waist and held it across his body to block the second attack from the man with the long sword.

Then, the two began to compete in swordsmanship in the woods.

At this time, the advantage of the man with the long sword was fully demonstrated, and his exquisite swordsmanship forced Chen Qiye to be on the defensive.

His sword moves looked disorganized, no, it should be that he had no sword moves at all, he just relied on his feeling to strike the sword, and in terms of swordsmanship he was no match for the man with the long sword. If he was not strong enough, he would have been defeated.

Seeing Chen Qiye dodging and defending blindly, the man with the long sword drew his sword and said coldly: "It seems that apart from the bow and arrow, your close combat strength is average."

Chen Qiye gritted his teeth and said, "If you have the guts, distance yourself from me and have a good fight."

"I see that you are also an excellent swordsman. As a swordsman, you should have the spirit of fair duel. What do you think? Do you dare?"

The man with the long sword snorted coldly.

"You are an archer at the peak of the eighth rank. Even a ninth rank archer wouldn't dare to distance himself from you. Do you think I'm stupid?"

Chen Qiye looked very anxious and seemed overwhelmed.

"Your companion has been shot by an arrow. If he is not treated in time, he will die." The man with the long sword stopped his actions after hearing this.

Even with his face covered by a veil, his indignation could be clearly felt.

"We just want to test your kung fu, otherwise why would we just scare your little maid?"

"But you were so ruthless the first time you attacked. Isn't that a bit unreasonable?"

Chen Qiye shrugged: "I am a stubborn person. If anyone dares to touch the people around me, I will fight him to the death."

"You are testing me. I wonder who you are? Why are you testing me?"

"You don't need to know this. Anyway, this is your chance to change your life. You also hurt my companion. Let's forget about what happened today."

After the man with the long sword finished speaking, he turned around and left, quickly rushing towards his companions.

Chen Qiye sneered in his heart, your mother, you really think you are so great just because you are a prince.

Lift the longbow, put the arrow on it, and draw the string...
The man with the long sword who was about to carry his companion and leave suddenly changed his expression and quickly dodged to the side.

"Ahem... Well, don't be afraid, sir. I'm just testing whether my bowstring is loose or not. You are so powerful, the person behind you must be powerful. Chen is very willing to make friends with you, haha..."

The face of the man with the long sword turned pale instantly under the veil. If His Highness had not given any instructions, he would have fought this man to the death today.

I also became alert in my heart. This person has such a erratic personality. I am afraid he will not truly submit to Your Highness. I have to talk to Your Highness in detail when I return.

after a while···
In a certain courtyard in Kyoto City.

The second prince Li Chengze looked at his subordinate on the bed with blood on his chest and asked the doctor, "How is his injury?"

After the doctor stopped the bleeding, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned back to salute respectfully.

"Your Highness, I almost died. Fortunately, the arrow missed my heart by a small amount."

Li Chengze nodded upon hearing this, and walked out while eating grapes. Xie Bian immediately followed him.

"Interesting, Xie Bian, is this Chen Qiye who suddenly showed up really so good at archery? Even you have no choice but to run for your life?"

Xie Bian was somewhat dissatisfied with this statement.

“Your Highness, after closing the distance, Chen Qiye’s Kung Fu becomes very ordinary. I am confident that I can defeat him.”

"What if you can't close the distance? Will you just run for your life?"

"Your Highness."

"I ask, you answer."

Xie Bian didn't dare to say anything more, and clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, if there is a cover, I can get away."

This answer surprised Li Chengze.

"That is to say, under certain conditions, you will almost certainly die if you meet him?"

Xie Bian nodded: "That man's archery skills are very advanced. He is the most powerful archer I have ever seen except Yan Xiaoyi. He is an archer at the peak of the eighth rank. Not to mention me, even a ninth rank archer would have to avoid his edge if he met him."

"hehe?"

Li Chengze smiled, picked a few grapes and put them into his mouth.

"Interesting, he's a talented person. We need to hurry up and make sure the prince doesn't find out."

(End of this chapter)