Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 135 Offering Skills
The performance venue for the Tianfeng School is a spacious mountain valley.

The valley is filled with low hills and ravines, which are not rugged and are suitable for riders to gallop and shoot.

Princess Nanahan led a group of female knights who rode and danced on horseback, occasionally performing techniques such as hiding in the stirrups, shooting from the left and right, shooting from behind, and shooting while riding.

Apart from the princess, the other female knights could only shoot one arrow from each side at most. Although they galloped back and forth on their horses, the embroidery on their uniforms shone in the sunlight like a cluster of flowers, the audience included many who had been on the battlefield, and after a while, they inevitably grew tired of watching.

"It's not all show and no substance, but it's still lacking something." The speaker was a burly man with a Guanzhong accent. In Han Dynasty terms, such a person would be called a "good family from the six prefectures."

This man had once fought bravely on the battlefields of Guanzhong, battling the Tibetans and Tanguts. In his eyes, the archery skills of these young women were indeed not very impressive.

The drumbeats on the sidelines suddenly became more intense, and a group of children who looked to be eleven or twelve years old skipped and hopped into the field. They were all dressed in brightly colored blouses and robes, their faces painted with eyebrows and powder, making them look even more beautiful.

They were exceptionally agile, grabbing the horse's tail or the female knight's outstretched hand, leaping onto the horse, straddling it, and sitting face-to-face in the female knight's lap. Because the children's bodies had not yet fully developed, and the female disciples of the Tianfeng Sect were generally tall, they appeared much smaller even riding on the laps of the beautiful women.

A collective gasp of envy rose from the audience, as countless people began to imagine how wonderful it would be if they were these children.

The children embraced the galloping horse girls, whispering sweet nothings and making all sorts of intimate gestures, which were truly captivating. They also hummed softly the songs that men on the grasslands used to express their love to their daughters, and their clear voices were even more enchanting.

The five colors confuse the eyes, and the five sounds deafen the ears. Most of the guests in the room now have been seduced into a state of confusion and deafness.

These young boys mounted their horses and embraced the girls, not merely to seduce them with their voices and looks. With their small, fair hands, they took arrows from the quivers at the waists of the girls beneath them and, with effortless grace, delivered them to the girls' fingers. With arrows delivered to them, the girls could easily fire five or more arrows in quick succession. The sound of arrows whistling through the air filled the air, the sharp arrows flying like the Weaver Girl casting her shuttle, spreading out a dense, intricate net.

Arrows occasionally landed in front of the spectators, eliciting screams before landing safely in the ground. The girl who fired the arrows let out a clear, bell-like laugh, appearing both beautiful and innocent, further arousing the men's desire to conquer.

On horseback, the women continuously fired arrows while simultaneously shifting their positions of contact with the young boys on their backs, creating a series of breathtaking and awe-inspiring scenes. Yet, the women themselves remained composed, completely absorbed in their performance.

Finally, led by Princess Nanahan, the ten girls fired arrows at the same time. One arrowhead hit the tail of another arrow, and was then pierced by another arrow from behind. They chased each other like shooting stars chasing the moon. In the end, all ten arrows lost speed and fell to the ground.

The crowd erupted in thunderous cheers.

The man from Guanzhong finally showed an appreciative look, and Zhu Wen nodded in agreement.

These young women from the Tianfeng Sect used a typical performance archery technique, also known as "literary archery." Their bows were light, their firing speed fast, and their shots easy to hit.

However, to achieve such a "ten stars aligned" effect, extremely rigorous training and countless rehearsals are still required.

“I heard from my junior sister that the core of the training is to focus on accuracy, which is called ‘shooting the bride’. The reason why these young ladies can shoot like this is firstly because the distance is relatively close, and secondly because the practice of ‘shooting the bride’ should not be underestimated.”

Zhu Wen said to Tian Jun.

Tian Jun understood that Zhu Wen was telling the truth. Although the archery skills of these Tianfeng female disciples were more for show, they could actually demonstrate considerable combat effectiveness on the battlefield, wielding powerful bows.

After the Tianfeng Sect finished their performance, beautiful maids gracefully collected the gold, silver, and silk items thrown by the guests. The amount won during the performance was a significant factor in the settlement. However, the opinions of the dozens of distinguished guests, experts in the arts, were even more crucial.

Among the six major sects, besides the Zhenyi Alliance, which has already openly rebelled, and the Shaolin Temple, a Buddhist sanctuary, representatives from the Bashu Tang Clan, the Jiangzuo Wenyuan Pavilion, the Huainan Cangjian Villa, and the Maoshan Shangqing Sect are all present, which is enough to demonstrate the importance that people in the martial arts world attach to the Five Peaks Incense Gathering.

The performance had ended long ago, but the audience was still buzzing with discussion, savoring the lingering fragrance of the beauties in the mud and dust of the racecourse. In particular, some merchants and wandering knights from You and Bing were incredibly excited, their minds filled with fantasies of riding alongside their beloved on the vast, verdant grasslands, enjoying each other's tender moments.

Next up are the nuns of the Songyang School. Most of them have shaved heads, wear monk's hats, and their beige nun's robes, which are thin and almost see-through, reveal their bodices tied with bows. Their faces are bare, and they look pitiful to behold.

There were also female lay Buddhists who practiced with their hair still intact. The leader was dressed as Guanyin Bodhisattva, with a beautiful face and dignified demeanor. When she occasionally revealed a frown or a smile, she captivated the souls of many onlookers.

"The Songyang School is located on Mount Taishi, opposite the Shaolin Temple on Mount Shaoshi. Since Mount Song belongs to the Eastern Capital Region and is under the jurisdiction of Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Capital, some people jokingly use Wang Wei's poem to say, 'The daughter of Luoyang lives across the street'..."

Zhu Wen saw the two boys who had been hit on the head for making lewd jokes before; it seemed they hadn't learned their lesson.

Another boy chimed in, "Judging from the looks of it, even the high monks of Shaolin Temple are bound to be distracted and lose their Buddhist faith."

The boy with peach-blossom eyes smiled meaningfully: "That's right. I've heard that every year, many abandoned babies are found in the villages and towns around Mount Song. Can you guess where they come from?" He then looked around: "These days, many of the most enthusiastic viewers of the Songyang nuns' performances are bald. If you ask them, they'll definitely claim to be disobedient monks who have been expelled from the temple. But how many of them are eminent masters from famous temples like Shaolin Temple and White Horse Temple? Who knows?"

"Food and sex are human nature, how could Buddha possibly stop them?" another boy clapped his hands and laughed loudly.

Then several bald men surrounded them, pinned them to the ground, and beat them mercilessly.

"Speaking frankly will only bring disaster," Zhu Wen lamented in his heart.

If you know something is wrong, but you still say it out loud in public, then you deserve to be beaten up.

The alluring nuns of Songyang stood on the stage, striking wooden fish and chanting Buddhist hymns, their bodies adorned with nearly ten-foot-long sandalwood and jade prayer beads that trailed on the ground like silk.

As the ranks shifted, the beautiful nuns began to frolic, binding each other with long prayer beads. Then, with unimaginable physical resilience, they shifted their postures and escaped from the tight bindings like fish swimming free.

The most excited by this scene were indeed the monks, who chanted Amitabha Buddha repeatedly, their eyes redder than those of wrathful Vajras. On stage, the nuns' robes fluttered slightly, while below, the monks danced with abandon.

The items donated by monks are often prayer beads, wooden fish drums, meditation staffs, alms bowls, and robes, all made of rare materials and of considerable value.

After the Songyang School's performance, it was the Hengzhou School's turn. By then, it was already dusk, and the performance venue was moved to the Taishan School's Moon Palace.

A murmur arose among the onlookers.

"Have you heard? Master Zhang Haohao is actually going to command all her disciples to perform the 'Dance in the Palm'!"

"There really is such a dance? I thought it was nonsense!"

A curtain was drawn on the stage, and Zhang Haohao sat in it, holding a pipa. Although she was old, her posture was still extremely dignified and elegant. Her pipa skills had reached their peak. Between the loud and soft sounds, there was also a gentle and ethereal quality, as if it were celestial music.

The female disciples lined up in front of the curtain, preparing to perform a dance.

"Hey, the Hengzhou faction is all petite girls, where did all these tall ladies come from?" someone exclaimed.

“These women are even taller than the female knights of the Tianfeng Sect; few men can compare to them.”

While the audience was whispering amongst themselves, the group of tall women changed into men's clothing in full view of everyone, looking like a group of very tall and handsome young men.

They spread their large hands out in front of them like fans, and the petite girls behind them suddenly seemed to fly up, soaring into the air and landing on the palms of the women dressed as men!
"It's silk thread," someone whispered.

It wasn't hard to guess, but the extremely fine threads were completely invisible to the audience, making the delicate young girls appear to be flying through the air, swaying and drifting in the hands of the men dressed as beauties, like water birds walking on lotus leaves, coming and going unpredictably.

"So that's how Zhang Haohao's palm dance was done back then," a wealthy man in red exclaimed. "After seeing it, I realized it wasn't magical. But such an idea is still truly admirable."

Lan Suting, sitting below the stage, frowned and tugged at Zhu Wen's sleeve, whispering, "The plan you devised for Sister Zhuoying also involves using silk threads, doesn't it? It's the same idea as Zhang Dajia from the Hengzhou School. What should we do?"

Inside the Chengde Villa, Zhu Wen was attacked by Lady Aqing with silk threads, which inspired him. Unexpectedly, Zhang Haohao's unique skill, "Dance in the Palm," was also performed using silk threads.

Upon hearing this, Tian Jun also showed a look of anxiety.

Zhu Wen remained calm and collected: "What are you two little girls afraid of? The silk thread is just one part of the plan. Although both rely on silk thread, the methods of use are quite different. The Shadow Maiden's performance will definitely exceed your expectations."

It seems that even the "Palm Dance" personally trained by Zhang Haohao was not taken seriously by Zhu Wen.

"The Hengzhou School of today no longer has the stunning beauty that Zhang Haohao possessed in her youth to carry the weight of the industry," Zhu Wen laughed. "Even if their singing and dancing skills are no less than Zhang Haohao's in her prime, this aspect has been greatly diminished."

(End of this chapter)