1062 Arrow And Return (1/2)
Before the City of Wei, a lonely horse. On the fields, a lonely body.
Like the perplexed war horse, all the people in the city and the camps of Tang were bewildered. Where did the arrow come from?
Dead silence filled the field, it was absolutely quiet, everyone was stupefied.
After god-knows-how long, the sound of a horse's hoof was heard again. Another grassland cavalry soldier came out of the gate, riding slowly toward the Tang camp in the south.
Everyone's eyes were locked on him. They all knew that in the next moment, he would meet his demise. The commander of the Royal Court Duoer Cavalry clearly wanted to sacrifice this man to determine where the arrow came from.
A gentle woosh, another breeze blew through the sunrise. The calvary soldier's cape behind him flew up with the wind, disappearing before it could become a white cloud. Just like his life. Another typical arrow pierced deep into one of his eyes, conjuring a fountain of blood. When the soldier was killed, he had only went a little more than a hundred feet away from the City of Wei.
The galloping of horses echoed again as several cavalry soldiers rushed out of the city gates. The calvary soldiers brandished the whips in their hands, leaving one bloody mark after another on the horses' rear. Their roars shattered the dead silence before the city gates, showing their reckless defiance and lack of fear for death.
At this speed, even the best war horses would not maintain it for long. They would never reach the Tang camp in the south at this pace. But it was obvious that they did not care.
This time the grasslanders did not worry about their tempo, or using time and acceleration to build up morale. They pushed their mounts to their fastest speed from the start as they only wanted to rush out of the city gates.
They cannot allow the arrows that came from who-knows-where dampen the Duoer Cavalry's spirits. They cannot allow the arrow to completely break the tempo of their charge. They had to prove something.
Even if they were shot not long after leaving the gates, they could at least prove that the mysterious yet powerful archer cannot do the impossible, that he cannot stop all of the cavalry soldiers. But what happened next was truly impossible.
The morning breeze blew gently, the white capes spread apart like clouds. Three gentle whoosh passed by, and so the clouds gathered and blood appeared. The three soldiers fell from the backs of their mount to the ground without making a single noise.
Arrows were buried deep into their eye sockets. The fluid from their eyeballs were mixed with blood as it flowed out.
The three arrows were still the most typical, standard arrows used by the Tang army.
It was even more shocking and horrifying when the others found out that the three Duoer Cavalry soldiers were killed even nearer to the city gate, nearer than the second rider that went out. More precisely, they were shot dead right after they exited the gates.
Where… exactly did the arrows come from?
No one could perceive its origin yet because the arrow was too quick. How could a typical arrow be shot so far? And so quickly? Speed and distance depended on the archer's strength, but what about its accuracy.
The Duoer Cavalry were fully clad in armor, only their eyes were exposed. Furthermore, it was far more difficult to hit them when they are riding at high speeds. But that person was hitting every shot from such a far distance!
Who was the archer?
Across the plains, there were countless talented archers within the ranks of the Royal Court and the Northern Battlefront army, or even among the horse thieves by the Shubi lakeside. But none of them could do this!
The fields beyond the City of Wei fell into dead silence again.
Some of them could roughly guess the origin of the arrows, not in the geographical or directional sense, but the person who shot them. Those who had a hunch were the national master, Lebu, and A Da.
To ignore such a long distance, killing elite riders with a single wooden arrow, one must had unimaginable strength, and must be an ace that has reached the epitome of cultivation.
When people talked about a true ace whose archery was legendary, they would first think of General Xia Hou. But after he was slain, only one ace remained — the one who slayed him.
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Not everyone missed where the arrow came from. At the very least, the Tang common soldiers saw it clear as crystal.
In front of an inconspicuous archer tower at the northern corner of the Tang camp were chevaux de frise that were just set up last night. Behind the chevaux de frise stood some people, and something that looked like a short fence.
The dozen of Tang soldiers stared at that person in shock, unable to speak, and did not know what to do. Only now did someone realized this and reported to the superiors swiftly.
That person was wearing a normal Tang army uniform, and he looked like a normal Tang soldier. He held an unusual iron bow in his hand, the bow was dark in color, engraved with extremely complicated patterns and lines, as if endowing the iron bow with a magical power.
The short fence beside that person was not a real fence, but an array of arrows arranged closely. At least a thousand arrows were stuck in the soil and pressed together, giving them the appearance of a fence.
The galloping of horses could be heard coming from the City of Wei again. An unknown number of Duoer Cavalry attempted to rush out of the city gates once more.
From the forest of arrows, that person picked up an arrow, put it on the bow, and pulled the bowstring silently. When the bowstring was halfway to its limit, he released his fingers, the bowstring returned to its place, and the arrows flew far with a swoosh.
A dull moan echoed from below the walls of Wei, and then a heavy thud of a fall. The man had already plucked his second arrow by then, repeating what he did before. Another dull moan and heavy thud from the city gates of Wei, most likely the sound of another cavalry being shot down.
Every trained Tang soldier knew that shooting an arrow consisted of several actions. Starting with plucking the arrow, ending with releasing the bowstring. The people around who watched in shock did not find anything peculiar with that person's movements… it even seemed simpler, more mechanical compared to the typical Tang technique. It was because it was simply mechanical, it did not stand out. Nor could it be described as elegant. But the arrow was so fast, it was beyond the realm of human imagination.
From the City of Wei, unlike the lone soldier just now, several Duoer Cavalry rushed out at once.But that person did not perform any legendary feats like the heroes in sagas. From the first to the sixth arrow, the Tang soldiers around that person did not blink. It was not because they were awestruck, but they had no time to blink.
In a moment before one could blink, six arrows flew out. The soldiers could not see each step of that person's actions. But they could tell because that person's movements were absolutely accurate, it was steady beyond imagination. Each action, repeated without variation, fingers always pulling the bowstring at the same spot, even his sleeves did not flutter one bit.
The six repeated actions were stacked together in the morning breeze. Combining them, one could see clearly. But they were merely afterimages. More arrows left the ground, went on the bowstring, and pierced through the air.
The Grassland Cavalry rushing out from the city gate fell on the ground one after another, their splatters of blood forming crimson flowers on the earth.
The cavalry soldiers continued to rush, and the arrows kept on coming without rest.
At last, the cavalry soldiers were too quick. That person could no longer aim, he stopped aiming, and instead, he just shot by flicking his wrist, elbows straight.
The sharp arrow traveled a long distance, approaching the front of the City of Wei, arriving on the bodies of the soldiers, on the horses, or the tough leather armor. And piercing through the tough armor! When the arrows touched the surface of the leather armor, their mission was completed. The shaft might be shattered by the great force, but it drove the sharp arrowhead into its final destination, deep into the flesh and blood of the riders or mounts.
Looking at that person's silhouette behind the fence, the Tang soldiers' eyes were filled with awe and fear. What they witnessed was inconceivable. How terrifying was the power of the arrows?
What was that person's body made of? How could he dish out such powerful shots continuously? Even if he was a martial arts master in the army, he would have to rest after a dozen shots. Otherwise, his muscles and tendons would suffer terrible injuries. But he shot over a hundred arrows without a frown. His body was unmoving like a mountain. Was he short of breath? His chest did not even move one bit!
Suddenly, a hasty horn was sounded around the Tang camp.
Several Duoer Cavalry went round the city walls, attempting to occupy the meadows at higher ground from the flank, and then rush toward the Tang camp. That person ignored them. He was focused on the city gate.
The Duoer Cavalry hid within the city accustomed the arrows' tempo. They found an opportunity, opened their gates wide, sending out several dozen of their best riders out at once! The second the several dozen Duoer exited the gates, as if countless clouds burst forth from a door between two mountains!
At this moment, even if that person's archery was godlike, he wouldn't be able to kill several dozen cavalry at once, not to mention the several hundred or thousand cavalry soldiers awaiting their turn into the fray behind.