Chapter 129: Difference

Since there were so many participants, the mounted archery test wasn’t done one person at a time. Instead, there were 200 targets on one side of the field, and the participants were divided into groups of 200, and they went up to show their skills.

Mounted archery test was comprised of three parts. There was horseback riding, archery, and mounted archery.

However, the test this year was special. Principal Zhou removed the horse-back riding, and he said that Great Sui only had two cavalry legions after trying to train more cavalrymen for many years, so these participants might not use their horse-back riding skills ever.

The generals who led those two legions were hand-picked by the Emperor. Even if a student of the Martial Arts Academy was extremely talented, it would take three years before this student could enter the military, and the chance of entering one of those two cavalry legions would be close to zero.

Without the horse-back riding test, the participants were tested on archery and mounted archery.

Every turn, 200 participants would each shoot out an arrow at the same time. Each of them would get ten arrows; five for shooting while standing still and five for shooting while moving.

Fang Jie was in the third group of participants. When others shot their arrows, he waited on the side and observed carefully; it looked like he wanted to remember every detail.

On the other side of the targets, soldiers from Right Reverent Guard were recording the results.

Professor Qiu Yu who was supervising the test stood behind the targets. It seemed like she wasn’t worried about arrows harming her by accident. With hands behind her back, she walked back and forth calmly.

Seeing that he was about to go up, Fang Jie squatted down and straightened his attire. He found a few ropes and tied the top of his boots onto his lower legs. Then, he stuck the hem of his robe into his belt and tied his sleeves with ropes as well. After he did that, he heard the examiner’s voice.

“Next group!”

Fang Jie took a few deep breaths and looked at the ten arrows and the bow.

On the other side of the targets, the soldiers who were responsible for recording the results took off the arrows on the targets and backed out into the hideout.

With the sound of a bronze gong, Fang Jie and the other 199 participants stood in a row behind the white line.

There were five parts. The participants needed to first go to the white line that was 70 meters away from the targets. After shooting one arrow, they needed to quickly move back and shoot one arrow at the same time. After they were 80 meters away from the targets, they needed to stand still and shoot the third arrow before moving back and shooting another.

There were five white lines, and they needed to move back four times, shooting nine arrows in total. The last arrow required the participants to change positions when they were 120 meters away from the targets and shoot while moving.

The overall rating would consider the time used, the movements, and the accuracy.

Although the rules were simple, it wasn’t easy to shoot these ten arrows well.

The arrows that the participants used were made by Great Sui’s weaponry workshops, and it was easy to shoot these arrows more than 200 meters away. However, the participants would need to calculate the landing spot of the arrows when they were 70 meters away from the targets. When they were about 110 meters away, the arrows would need to travel much further in the air, and even a sliver of wind might change the trajectory of the arrows.

On top of that, they needed to hit the bull’s eye while moving. It was easy to imagine how hard it was.

Fang Jie tied the quiver to his back so that he could pull out arrows by raising his hand. Then, he pulled on the bowstring a few times, getting used to the power of this bow.

Before the test started, he found a small rock on the ground and shot it out with the bow.

Then, he memorized the trajectory of the rock and the hand-feel of the bow.

When the bronze gong sounded again, Fang Jie instantly raised his hand and pulled out the first arrow from the quiver.

Without aiming, he pulled the bow open and shot the arrow in one go. He was 70 meters away from the target; this wasn’t hard for Fang Jie since he was standing still.

After shooting the first arrow, Fang Jie didn’t wait to see if the arrow was accurate. Also, he didn’t copy others who were looking back to aim while running back.

Instead, he kicked the ground and dashed backward like a kite. While dashing into the air with one kick, Fang Jie pulled the second arrow out of the quiver. When he landed, the bow was already loaded and pulled. When he leaped again, the arrow shot out rapidly.

With a few light kicks, he reached the second white line, which was 80 meters away from the targets. He pulled out an arrow and shot it before moving back and shooting the fourth arrow. His movement was smooth like flowing water.

When he reached the third white line that was 90 meters away, not many participants kept up with him.

Zhang Kuang was only about 10 meters away to the left of Fang Jie. Although he was injured, he still showed shocking talent in this test.

While Fang Jie moved back after shooting the fifth arrow, he glanced around and saw that Zhang Kuang was slightly faster than him by about half a meter.

On the other side, Yu Xiao, the son of Great General Yu Manlou of Left Martial Guard, was almost on par with Fang Jie.

Clearly, Great General Yu Manlou was strict with his son. Yu Xiao’s posture when running and shooting was textbook; even the trainers in the military couldn’t be any better.

Different from Fang Jie’s style, Yu Xiao shot his arrows without stopping at all; his archery seemed even better.

He shot every arrow after only slight aiming.

Further away, there were a few talented participants on par with Fang Jie. About 70 percent of them came from the military.

In these tests, the advantages of soldiers were showcased completely.

It took Fang Jie less than two minutes to move back four times and shoot out nine arrows.

Only one to two people were faster, about seven others were on pair with him, and about five people were slightly slower.

At this moment, trouble appeared.

Zhang Kuang and another soldier who reached the fifth white line earlier than Fang Jie froze for a second, not knowing how to shoot the tenth arrow.

When Fang Jie got in position, he finally realized why Zhang Kuang hesitated after getting to this line first. The tenth arrow required the participants to switch positions. If the people in the lead moved to the next position, their vision would be blocked by the participants who were still running back.

These participants who were slower than them were the obstacles in the way of their tenth arrows.

However, if they waited for others to get to the fifth white line, the advantage that they obtained would be gone.

While Fang Jie quickly thought about this, he saw Zhang Kuang looking over. He instantly understood Zhang Kuang’s intention, but he shook his head.

They were about ten meters apart, and at least six people were in their way.

If the two of them tried to change positions, it would be too long, and other participants in between them might reach the fifth white line and block their way.

They were only ahead by a little, so they couldn’t waste the lead.

Since there was no time to waste, Fang Jie instantly jumped to the spot next to him. He lowered his center of gravity when he landed and gathered strength in his legs.

For a moment, he felt his leg muscles contracting and bulging up. This feeling instantly increased his confidence.

His legs unleashed an explosive force after he bent his knees, and he jumped into the air while taking out the last arrow and shooting it toward the target.

At this moment, the participant in the way was less than a meter away, and Fang Jie’s arrow almost scraped his scalp.

This participant gasped and subconsciously bent his back to dodge.

Fang Jie smiled at him apologetically, and his tensed-up muscles relaxed.

Then, he walked back and untied the quiver on his back. A soldier on the side walked over and took back the bow and quiver.

Fang Jie found a boulder and sat down. While chewing on a hairy grass, he watched other participants take the test. It was a unique feeling now watching others after finishing the test.

Zhang Kuang handed his bow and quiver to a soldier, walked over to Fang Jie, and sat down. He said with a smile, “I thought I could be better than you in this test, but I hesitated and lost the lead. Ah, if I knew a participant like you is from the military this year, I wouldn’t have come.”

Fang Jie smiled and said, “You could be even faster.”

Zhang Kuang froze for a moment before shaking his head with a bitter smile, “I reached my limit.”

“How many times did you look at me during the test?” Fang Jie asked.

“Four times,” Zhang Kuang answered honestly.

“You wanted to win too much,” Fang Jie sighed and said in a calm tone while stretching, “Because you wanted to win too much, you got distracted. You checked my position repeatedly to see if I surpassed you. Although the time used in one glance is minuscule, it would still affect your concentration. If you focused on shooting your arrows, you would be faster than me by two meters. However, you were only faster than me by one meter when you reached the fifth line, and your hesitation in the last moment wasted the lead.”

Zhang Kuang nodded and said after a moment of silence, “I did really want to be better than you.”

He pulled a hairy grass from the ground and chewed on it like Fang Jie. “I already said that this is the only chance I have to be better than you in one test. After this test, I won’t get another chance.”

“Why do you want to win this bad?” Fang Jie asked.

Zhang Kuang hesitated for a long while. Then, he turned toward Fang Jie and said earnestly, “Probably because of jealousy.”

Fang Jie patted Zhang Kuang’s shoulder and didn’t speak.

Zhang Kuang smiled and said, “People are like this; we are jealous of stronger people. Sorry, you see me as a friend, but I see you as an opponent.”

Fang Jie slowly shook his head and said lightly, “If I didn’t see everyone as my opponent, how could I be better than most people?”

Zhang Kuang froze for a moment and nodded as if he understood something.

At this moment, a fat figure floated toward Fang Jie and laughed, “Little Fang Jie, did you miss me after not seeing me for a few days? I’m here to see if you f*cked up your tests. If you did, I plan on eating good food to celebrate.”

Fang Jie smiled when he saw this figure, but his expression turned stern when he saw how dirty this man was.

“What happened?” Fang Jie asked with a frown when he saw that Xiang Qingniu’s daoist robe was torn at several places.

“I went to take care of your trouble. Instead of handling it, I got f*cked!” Xiang Qingniu sat down beside Fang Jie and said while panting, “I found that… Who is this?”

Xiang Qingniu pointed at Zhang Kuang.

Zhang Kuang recognized the daoist robe that Xiang Qingniu was wearing and knew what it represented. He instantly got up, cupped his hands, and bowed while saying, “Greetings, Spiritual Master. I’m Zhang Kuang, a participant in the entrance exam. I’m a lieutenant from Anyan City.”

Xiang Qingniu laughed and said, “You are a peer of Little Fang Jie. Haha, you sure look talented. Can you rest on the side? I have something to talk to Little Fang Jie.”

“Ok,” Zhang Kuang said with a smile, “I will go and check on other brothers.”

After saying that, Zhang Kuang turned around and walked away. When he turned around, the humble and sincere smile on his face disappeared. He thought of something, and sadness flashed in his eyes.

While walking toward other participants, Zhang Kuang’s expression turned cold.

Hearing Fang Jie chatting and laughing with that fatty in black, Zhang Kuang’s expression turned even gloomier.

“I was foolish enough to try to come on top once. The Emperor values you, and you have relationships with people in the Royal Guard, Gold-Sharing Duke Wu Yidao, the boss of Beckon of the Red Sleeve, and several grand scholars. That pretty female professor even seems to like you. Now, a spiritual master appeared and seems to know you well. How can I be compared to you?”

“Fang Jie… What is your real identity?”

“Zhang Kuang… How dumb are you? You are only a little lieutenant who has little future. You don’t know people in the Royal Guard, Gold-Sharing Duke, and grand scholars. You never walked into Beckon of the Red Sleeve, you can’t casually chat with the professors of the Martial Arts Academy, and no big figures in the Daoist Sect would come to talk to you. You won’t be valued by His Majesty. You are only a small figure who had to marry the daughter of a clan chief of Northern Man before killing her for military merit to survive.”

“Zhang Kuang, the difference between you and Fang Jie is too big.”

Zhang Kuang thought to himself as he walked away with a bitter smile on his face.