Chapter 51
When the aroma of grilled fish drifted through the air, Su Wangchuan arrived at the open space in the center of the village with a heavy heart.
Lin Xun glanced at him, seeming to know exactly what he was thinking. He picked up a grilled fish, golden and slightly charred, and handed it over as he said:
“Your Blackstone Village is very lucky. The Six Gates Constable Captain sent by the prefectural government is still staying in the county seat. If he had already left, given Blackwind Stronghold’s nature, they would have razed Blackstone Village long ago to avenge their dead brothers. Blackstone Village would not have fared any better than Tianshui Village.”
“…”
Su Wangchuan accepted the grilled fish and said:
“The Six Gates Constable Captain will eventually return to the prefectural capital.”
“It’s good that you understand that,” Lin Xun sighed softly. “The crisis facing Blackstone Village has only been postponed, not resolved. If I were you, I would leave Blackstone Village before the Six Gates Constable Captain returns to the prefectural government.”
“Does Brother Lin know when he plans to return?” Su Wangchuan asked in reply.
Lin Xun shook his head, a thoughtful look in his eyes. “Although I hold some status in the Yulong Gang, I still cannot access information at that level. According to rumors from the city, this Constable Captain seems to be investigating families involved in iron ore trade throughout Huishui County, checking iron ore stockpiles and tracing where the iron ore has gone. As for the exact reason, no one knows.”
Hearing this, Su Wangchuan froze. “Iron ore?”
“Is the court worried that someone is secretly hoarding iron ore to rebel?”
“Who knows?” Lin Xun said in an indifferent tone. “The world is in chaos everywhere anyway. It would not be strange if fighting broke out any day.”
Su Wangchuan had no way to think it through further.
Lin Xun abruptly changed the topic and advised him:
“Wangchuan, join the land-clearing team. Since you are already a Quasi-Martial Artist, you can directly enter the reserve team. I can help introduce you to the Yulong Gang. If we work together, we can make something of ourselves in Huishui County.”
Su Wangchuan immediately understood.
Lin Xun wanted to place his own people inside the Yulong Gang to expand his influence, which was why he had been giving him so much guidance.
“When Blackstone Village truly reaches a dead end, I will come seek refuge with Brother Lin,” Su Wangchuan said.
“Good. I’ll be waiting,” Lin Xun replied with a smile.
In his view, Blackstone Village would not last much longer. At most, after spring arrived, it would follow the same path as Tianshui Village.
“I still have some informants in Huishui County. When the Six Gates Constable Captain leaves, I will notify you immediately. When that time comes, do not hesitate. You must make a decision. Do not stay behind to be buried with Blackstone Village,” Lin Xun arranged.
Su Wangchuan nodded and sighed inwardly.
If that day truly came, the Yulong Gang in Huishui County might indeed be a viable retreat.
After finishing the grilled fish, and following Lin Xun’s reminder, Su Wangchuan and Li Zekai each found a wooden house with a wide field of view and hid inside.
The charcoal fire had already been extinguished, and even more grain had been scattered nearby.
The sparrow-catching operation began.
Before long, the sound of fluttering wings could be heard as more and more sparrows descended into the village clearing.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Arrows shot out through broken windows from wooden houses on both sides.
Two sparrows were nailed straight into the ground.
The rest of the flock was startled and immediately took to the air.
Su Wangchuan calmly drew his bow.
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Two sparrows were pierced through their bodies and fell from the sky one after another.
Su Wangchuan stepped out of the wooden house, walking as he nocked and drew his bow, his gaze fixed on the sparrows scattering and fleeing through the air. He continued to loose arrows.
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Another two arrows flew.
Before the sparrows could escape completely, two more were shot down.
In this round, Li Zekai was utterly defeated.
He was accustomed to shooting fish from a boat and was very experienced with moving targets in water, but the much faster sparrows caught him off guard.
Aside from his first arrow, which hit a fixed target, all of his remaining shots missed.
Three arrows, two misses.
He was filled with astonishment at Su Wangchuan’s record of landing five hits in a single breath.
“Wangchuan, impressive!”
Li Zekai could read Su Wangchuan’s movements clearly.
Unhurried, yet fast and precise.
Although they were both at the Minor Mastery stage of Archery, what he had just witnessed made him keenly aware of the gap between himself and Su Wangchuan.
Hong Kaibao and Bai Yuhui had already dashed out, quickly collecting the fallen prey and using accumulated snow to bury the bloodstains left behind by the sparrows.
“Senior Brother!”
“Excellent archery!”
The two of them felt a strong sense of pride and satisfaction, as if they had won back a round.
In truth, it was not only the three of them. Even Lin Xun was deeply shocked that Su Wangchuan had managed to land five hits in the span of a single breath.
Just like a veteran hunter.
Su Wangchuan smiled faintly.
He had spent an enormous amount of time training with the bow.
Across four training methods, he had shot well over fifty thousand arrows.
Lin Xun and Li Zekai had both entered the path through manuals, skipping straight to entry-level. In terms of muscle memory and experiential intuition, neither could compare to him.
He quickly checked his Status Panel and saw that the experience value of 《Archery》 had increased from 154/300 to 159/300. A smile appeared on his face.
“Again.”
“Let’s see if they still dare to land.”
The two archers concealed themselves once more and waited for the scent of blood to fade.
Sure enough…
Before long, another flock of sparrows descended upon Tianshui Village, attracted by the grain traps on the ground, hopping down to peck at the kernels.
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Su Wangchuan and Li Zekai moved.
Two arrows almost simultaneously struck their targets.
Li Zekai hastily accelerated his aim at a startled sparrow taking flight, but unfortunately the arrow brushed past, only knocking loose a few scattered feathers…
Amid the frightened chirping of the sparrows, Su Wangchuan maintained his own speed and rhythm. As he stepped out from the wooden house, he methodically drew and released his bow.
One sparrow after another was knocked out of the air.
This time, he hit six sparrows.
Two of them were pierced simultaneously by a single arrow.
“One arrow, two birds!”
“It’s actually one arrow, two birds!”
“Senior Brother is mighty!”
Hong Kaibao picked up the arrow with two sparrows hanging from it and ran back, so excited that he began waving his arms and jumping about.
Lin Xun showed a stunned expression and could not help stepping out to take a look. He then gave Su Wangchuan a thumbs-up. “With archery like this, you can graduate.”
Turning to the somewhat dejected Li Zekai, he continued:
“Although archery is rarely used by us martial artists, if it is trained to Wangchuan’s level, it is still a significant threat even to Ranked Martial Artists. You need to practice more.”
“Yes,” Li Zekai replied, nodding firmly.
At midday in winter, there were many sparrows foraging for food.
From time to time, another group would fly over.
Each time, Su Wangchuan was able to take down five or six, steadily pushing his experience value upward.
Li Zekai, on the other hand, felt increasingly frustrated.
Because he lacked muscle memory and had not undergone specialized moving-target shooting training, he was very accurate against fixed targets but could usually only manage to luck into a single hit at most. His experience progressed extremely slowly.
By around three in the afternoon, Su Wangchuan’s experience value had already broken past the 210 mark.
Seeing that he was about to be overtaken, Li Zekai simply proposed going to the stream to shoot fish instead.
In the sparrow contest at Tianshui Village, Li Zekai had been completely defeated, losing both confidence and competitive spirit.
“What about you, Wangchuan?”
“Are you going to the stream?” Lin Xun asked.
Su Wangchuan shook his head.
“There are not many fish in the stream. I will stay here and continue practicing.”
“All right then. I’ll accompany Li Zekai to the stream. If anything happens, blow this and I’ll rush over immediately,” Lin Xun said as he left, handing him a bamboo whistle.
Su Wangchuan nodded and accepted it, then concealed himself once more.
Waiting for the next wave of foolish sparrows.
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