Tiger Guards

Chapter 60: Shooting the Cake at the Gate
Soon, Ximen Jian came striding over wearing Zhao Ji's gilded armor.

The gap in the curtain faces south, just in front of the central military camp and the main camp entrance.

The officers and soldiers in the camp were also alarmed and came to observe, crowding on both sides of the passage.

Zhao Ji carefully selected the arrows. The arrows in the quiver were the ones he had picked before, and now he was trying to make them even better.

Hu Qian was similar. Although no fellow villagers or followers stood up to cooperate with him in archery, it did affect morale to some extent.

But he was confident in his archery skills and did not think that Zhao Ji could shoot a hundred and twenty steps away.

Ximen Jian and Han Shu walked about fifty steps away, holding the cakes. Han Shu asked, "Captain Ximen, who will go first, you or me?"

"I don't know. It depends on the arrangements of the village chief."

Ximen Jian was still a little worried about Hu Qian's archery skills, so he tied a bone mask he found from somewhere on his face.

Han Shu saw that the bone mask was covered with grease, and then looked at the exposed eyes and brows. He wanted to make a joke but felt it was unlucky, so he kept silent.

After Ximen Jian put it on, he asked, "What about you?"

"I believe in the captain's archery."

After Han Shu finished speaking, he looked carefully at where the curtain was.

Zhao Yan stood in the middle. Seeing that Zhao Ji and Hu Qian had already chosen their arrows, he asked, "Which of you will go first?"

Hu Qian stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Lord Zhao, I am challenging you, so I should shoot first."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ji took a few steps back to make room.

Zhao Yan hummed, put his arms behind his back, and carefully observed the shooting skills of the two men.

The others also stopped talking and remained quiet.

Hu Qian observed the swinging amplitude of the flags in the distance and near, determined the wind direction and strength, held his breath, concentrated, and drew the bow perfectly.

Aim carefully and release accurately.

The arrow flew through the air. Ximen Jian, who was standing there, only saw a fleeting afterimage. The cake that the arrow in his hand was stuck in was immediately shot into pieces and fell beside him.

"color!"

The officials and powerful men of Beijiang shouted in unison, and the soldiers watching from the camp also shouted: "Come on! Come on! Come on!"

The cheers gradually died down, and Hu Qian turned to look at Zhao Ji: "Zhao Zhonglang, please be cautious."

Zhao Ji grinned and stepped forward to assume a shooting stance, while Ximen Jian picked up the broken biscuits on the ground and stood aside.

Han Shu took a deep breath and stood in the middle, holding a plate-sized Hu pancake on his head with an arrow.

Worried that the Hu Bing would shake, the bottom of the Hu Bing was stuck to the feather of his helmet.

Zhao Ji pulled the bow to 80% and released the arrow in one go. The arrow flew through the wheat cake.

Seeing this, Jia Tong raised his arms and shouted: "Cheers!"

The onlookers, the Tiger Guards, followed suit and shouted wildly with joy: "Color! Color! Color!"

They tried to suppress the previous cheers by speaking in a more coordinated voice.

Zhao Jize took a few steps back, breathing normally: "Hu Wengong, it's your turn."

At this time, Ximen Jian took a piece of bread, inserted an arrow into it, and retreated twenty steps.

But Hu Qian still had confidence. He shot the cake from seventy steps away. The size of the cake was similar to the center of the bull's eye, which was also within the distance of his daily archery practice.

There is no wind at the moment, which is undoubtedly good news.

Hu Qian pulled the bow perfectly, held his breath and aimed for five or six heartbeats, then released it quickly.

The arrow's afterimage flashed, and the cake broke into pieces again. Ximen Jian went to pick up the cake on the ground again.

"color!"

Amid the cheers, Han Shu picked up a piece of broken cake at his feet, blew on it, put it in his mouth, and while chewing it, he walked to Ximen Jian's position and raised the Hu cake with a hole in it above his head again.

Han Shu stood straight, looking directly at Zhao Ji in front of the curtain.

This time, Zhao Ji still pulled the bow to 80% of its strength, without aiming, and released it directly.

The arrow flew in a straight trajectory and pierced through the hole in the cake again!

"color!"

"Cai~!"

The onlookers, regardless of their identities, shouted and fell into a carnival mood, and many of their faces turned red.

Hu Qian stepped forward and looked at the relatively complete pancake in Han Shu's hand, and suddenly felt some pressure.

Ximen Jian took another loaf of bread, pierced it with an arrow, and came to a distance of ninety steps.

Hu Qian could also shoot at a target ninety steps away, but hitting the target and hitting the bull's eye are two different concepts.

You can't admit defeat. After the cheers died down, everyone was watching.

Hu Qian pulled his bow to perfection again, holding his breath, aiming, and releasing it according to his feeling. He was slightly startled by the afterimage of the arrow, but Ximen Jian raised his arm slightly, and Hu Bing was hit by the arrow again, falling to the ground in one piece.

Hu Qian stood there in a daze. He was highly concentrated in that instant and he was sure that Ximen Jian had raised the cake a little higher.

But in the eyes of the vast majority of officials and soldiers on both sides of Ximen Jian, it should have happened simultaneously.

The arrow hit the cake, and the cake moved while pulling Ximen Jian's arm as it flew.

The more accurate truth should be that Ximen Jian noticed the trajectory of the arrow and caught it.

Zhao Yan was old and his eyesight was blurry, so he couldn't see clearly, but Zhao Ji, Jia Tong, Xu Huang and others noticed it.

Some people from Beijiang also discovered it and went to see Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji was completely unaware, and Hu Qian hesitated and took a few steps back to make room.

Han Shu stepped forward to fill the position, but he was too close and did not notice Ximen Jian's little movement.

Ximen Jian picked up the relatively intact cake on the ground, lowered his head and took a deep breath, then put the cake into the leather bag around his waist and hung it up.

Then he looked back to normal and went to see Han Shu.

Han Shu still hung the cake on the feather of his helmet, and his breathing became heavy.

At this moment, more than a thousand people were watching him. Although he was not the one who shot the arrow, his courage was still worthy of praise.

With the honor bestowed upon him, Han Shu's mood gradually calmed down.

This time, Zhao Ji drew his bow to its full extent, took aim, and shot an arrow. The wheat cake Han Shu was holding shattered into pieces.

As the arrow was shot, cheers rang out, wave after wave, without stopping.

Then Ximen Jian took a step forward to measure and stood one hundred and ten steps away.

He was also afraid of death, so he raised his right arm high, trying to keep the arrows away from his head.

The cheers in the camp gradually died down. Ma Shizhi had to squint to see the outline of the wheat cakes. His expression was heavy.

This is far beyond the normal shooting range of a normal person. The difficulty of ninety steps and one hundred and ten steps is far beyond what can be described by the distance of twenty steps.

Many people looked at Hu Qian, and he took a deep breath.

But he turned his head to look at Zhao Ji: "Zhao Zhonglang, are you sure?"

"Between 60% and 70%."

Zhao Ji gave a rough estimate and asked Hu Qian, "What about you?"

"Not as good as you, only two or three out of ten."

As Hu Qian spoke, he picked up the arrow, stood straight, drew his bow, aimed, and held his breath.

After shooting the arrow, he knew that it was a little too high.

He didn't care about Ximen Jian's safety, which was simply a underestimate.

The arrow flew through the air, and the Hu Bing in Ximen Jian's hand remained unchanged.

There was no cheering or booing.

Hu Qian turned around, holding his bow, and saluted Zhao Yan: "Mr. Zhao, I am honored to present my humble service."

Zhao Yan nodded: "Don't be discouraged."

At this time, Zhao Ji stepped forward, and Han Shu also took his position. Han Shu turned his head to look at Ximen Jian beside him and asked: "Captain Ximen, is he so short of horses?"

"You and I both know that the village chief is a sharpshooter. This is for his own good."

Ximen Jian took off the animal bone mask on his face and asked, "Did you understand what I did just now?"

Seeing Han Shu's doubt, Ximen Jian uttered two words: "Catch the arrow."

Han Shu suddenly realized what was going on and held up the Hu Bing and placed it on the feather ornament on top of his helmet.

Zhao Ji saw this from a distance and turned to the Huben beside him and said, "Tell him to lift it up!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Ji was also afraid of the normal dispersion error of the arrows, so the Hu Ben beside him strode forward and ran over.

Han Shu had no choice but to hold up the Hu Bing with his right arm.

Seeing this, Zhao Ji drew his bow to the full moon and shot an arrow.

Under the gaze of more than a thousand people, the Hu pancake in Han Shu's hand was broken by an arrow.

Zhao Ji slowly exhaled a breath of foul air. People near and far were stunned for a moment, and Zhao Yan couldn't see clearly either.

Immediately, there was a thunderous roar of applause. Even Hu Qian raised his arms and shouted, "Great! This is really wonderful!"

Ma Shizhi was also smiling at this moment. Although he was a little unhappy, his morale was high now. What else could stop him?
Zhao Xu quickly walked over to Ma Shizhi and warned him, "Captain, now is the perfect time to slay the White Horse and swear an oath!"

(End of this chapter)