77 Black Lightning and Bowstrings Buzz (1/2)

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

Lightning was white in real life, and sometimes it was purple, but it had never been black. Today, all the people on the lawn outside the Academy saw black lightning.

The students saw the black horse jump as fast as an arrow from the herd and run about wildly with a terrifying speed. It made people feel it would be impossible to catch up with him. They were shocked when they thought about how other awkward students had been thrown by the horse. They remembered the girl in red who was still standing outside the fence with a tear-stained face.

Their eyesight unconsciously followed the black lightning, and they saw Ning Que bow like a fallen leaf on the horse's back. They wondered what he had done to the stubborn, black horse that made it so obedient and made it display its shocking strength.

The size of the meadow outside the Academy was unknown, but the fenced in exam area was not that big. People were still in shock. It seemed that just as the girl in red lifted her right hand to cover her gaping mouth, the exam’s riding course had stopped abruptly. More accurately speaking, the black horse had led for almost half the way and came back to the end ahead.

Ning Que jumped off the horse and wiped his beads of sweat. Satisfied, he turned his head to slap the horse's neck. He heavily slapped its chunky crupper and waved his hand to let it leave.

The moment the black horse was released, it got rid of the terrifying bloody moor and came back to the happy earth. It neighed brightly and blandly rubbed against Ning Que's shoulder. Then it left, flinging up its heels, even faster than before and dared not look back.

Students standing in front of the entrance saw Ning Que coming towards them. It was like they were seeing a monster. Many people wanted to know how he could have done this but dared not to ask because he appeared so strange.

Ning Que felt many different eyes staring at him. He frowned and walked towards the exam area of the toxophily course directly. His purpose was not to draw attention from students or instructors. Showing off didn't conform to his thoughts, but he knew his other three courses were a mess. If he couldn't get a perfect score in the last two courses, he wouldn't pass the Academy entry exams.

He had prepared for many years, spent so much energy and money, and given up military status to run from the grassland to Chang'an. If he didn't enter into the Academy, his tolerance and low profile would be a sad D-minor serenade. In any case, he couldn't accept this, what did it matter if he was noticed?

Just as he was about to leave the riding course exam area, a girl blocked his way. She had big eyes and bushy eyebrows. She was close to beautiful and wore a red arrow robe with a tight belt. Her young body was so tight, she looked mighty in spirit. The tear stains on her face, however, seemed delicate and touching.

”How did you do it?” The girl asked angrily. ”Why did it not follow my orders?”

Ning Que thought it over and answered seriously, ”Maybe I have a better moral quality?”

”Moral quality?” The girl was a confused, and then angry. ”What do you mean?”

”I mean luck.”

Ning Que shrugged, smiled innocently, and politely asked her to move. He trotted towards the toxophily course exam area.

The girl froze. She was the daughter of the Yunhui general, the assistant marshal. She was beautiful and had a forthright character. Everyone knew who she was, and no one dared to answer her like that. This made her aware of Ning Que's attitude. When he was further away, she turned around to see his back, stamped her feet and asked, ”Who was that?”

A group of students were talking about Ning Que. Among them was a young man who came toward the girl in the arrow robe and said, ”Just now, someone saw the student roll, his name is Ning Que. He was recommended by the Military Ministry. He didn't have an extraordinary background, thus Miss Situ you don’t need to pay attention to him.”

Unhappily, the girl said, ”How could he tame that black horse so well if he didn’t have an extraordinary background?”

”Maybe...he had really good luck?” The young man answered awkwardly.

Another girl wearing luxury clothes walked towards them. She frowned and watched the lad far away on the grass slope. She shook her head and said, ”Recommendations from the Military Ministry sometimes include people from the frontier fortress, so it is not strange if he is good at equestrian events. You said he doesn't have an extraordinary background, but I don't think so. Today, there are hundreds of students, but he is the only one to bring a handmaiden with him and make Her Highness feel awkward. It seems the lad has been pampered in daily life. Maybe he is from a big family in Qinghe prefecture.”

”Is Qinghe prefecture good? It's not the time of Taizu (founder of the Tang Dynasty).” Miss Situ frowned and said, ”Miss Wucai, find out his background. I must figure out what's going on.”

There were a dozen or so recommended students from the Military Ministry, standing not far from these noble Chang'an ladies and men. One was a thirty-year-old retired lieutenant from the southwestern border shaking his head and saying to his companions, ”It has nothing to do with luck. If he's recommended by the ministry like us, he must have taken service in a frontier fortress and know horses well. He has a good skill, of course, but he is so young...”

It was as if his assumption needed evidence. An irritable neigh suddenly rang out in the riding course exam area, and a group of students called out. The black horse who near Ning Que had been like a gentle handmaiden was flinging out violently. A strong student fell down in the meadow with an extremely embarrassed look.

...

…

Ning Que didn't know what students in the riding course were saying about him. If he knew the military companion acclaimed that he had several knife skills, he would have praised himself silently: I have three knives.

In addition to the sword and arrow, maybe his best skills were the ones that he had learned in the mountains, forests, and grasslands for survival. He had confidence in fighting with a cultivator in low-grade Dongxuan. With one sword and a barrel of arrows, he would survive until the end. So it was easy to deal with the toxophily course exam.