Chapter 28: Disgrace
“Go, Decai!” Guo Xin waved his fist and shouted toward Guo Decai.
Many people heard Guo Xin’s shout and began to discuss, only then realizing that the third young master of the Guo family was also participating in the competition.
“This is going to be interesting. The young masters of the Guo and Xu families, both of the biggest clans, are competing in archery. Whoever outperforms the other, the loser will surely find it hard to save face!”
“I think neither family will look good in the end. If neither of their sons makes it to the finals, it’ll be a public humiliation.”
The impoverished villagers of Luhugou had always considered the landlords to be lofty and untouchable, but today they had the chance to witness the young masters of the landlord families exposed in the public eye. Their tongues grew loose, and the comments became increasingly bold.
Some voiced concern, “That’s unlikely, isn’t it? After all, they’re sons of landlords. They should be better at archery than us common folk, right?”
As soon as this was said, scoffs erupted around them—“Nonsense!” “Give me a break!”
Someone piped up, “So what if they’re landlords? Does that mean they have three heads and six arms? I don’t see anything special about them, and they definitely can’t match the hunters who’ve spent their lives hunting.”
Another added, “Especially that young master from the Xu family. I think the Guo family is better off this time. The Xu young master is really going to disgrace his father’s name. Not only is he charging admission to the arena, but he’s made the competition so difficult that even the old hunters are scoring poorly. If he misses with his own arrow, the spectacle will be great!”
Laughter erupted among the villagers. Just then, a sharp voice cut in.
“What do you know?”
A villager turned around angrily to see who dared speak so boldly, and saw “the former number one archer of Luhugou,” Li Six-four.
The villager suppressed his temper and forced a smile, “Oh! Isn’t this Li Six-four? Why aren’t you competing today?”
Li Six-four shook his head, his eyes fixed on his own son. “You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”
…
Guo Decai and Lei Laohu were in the second batch. After witnessing the “superb” performances of the first batch, some were already losing confidence.
“Who came up with this competition format? The bullseye is so tiny, the target so far away—how precise must you be to score high?” complained one hunter.
Another nodded in agreement, “It doesn’t make sense. You’d never need this in mountain hunting. I bet this was invented by the landlord’s sons for their amusement.”
Upon hearing this, Lei Laohu scoffed silently. Unlike the local hunters of Luhugou, he appreciated the challenge because it was hard enough!
He remembered the rainy night when he slew seven men with a bow and arrow; had he missed even once, he wouldn’t be standing here today.
“All participants, prepare!”
As they stepped up to the archery platform, the archers fell silent. Difficult as it was, none would give up—they were born hunters, with courage and competitiveness in their bones.
“Begin!”
Arrows whistled through the air, each racing to the target as if fleeing for their lives, the sound of arrows striking the targets echoing now and then. In the VIP seats, Xu Changshui suddenly turned and asked, “Does your son know archery?”
Guo Xin grinned with pride, “I haven’t really supervised him much; he just plays around... By the way, does your son know archery?”
Xu Changshui half explained, half mused, “He’s confident, so I suppose he knows something. He never tells me what he’s learned.”
Guo Xin exaggerated, “You don’t know whether your son has played with bows?”
“He’s never played with them, not since childhood.”
Guo Xin wanted to laugh but dared not, settling for, “Then I wish him good luck.”
But in his heart, he thought: Today, my Guo family will outshine yours.
Guo Decai didn’t just play with bows. Since he was fourteen or fifteen, he practiced for an hour every day.
He started shooting at straw men, then had servants carry a door panel and run about while he shot at them for fun.
If Guo Xin hadn’t stopped him, Guo Decai would have been roaming the mountains long ago.
Guo Xin had some confidence in his son’s archery skills.
Meanwhile, the competition had ended, and Ah Fa began announcing the scores.
“First platform: 16 points!”
“Second platform: 18 points!”
The second batch generally performed better than the first. The third platform belonged to Guo Decai. Guo Xin squinted, trying to see the score, but couldn’t even make out the target.
“Third platform... 6 points!”
Guo Xin slumped into his seat.
Six points!
So far, this was the second lowest score.
Guo Xin bit his sleeve, staring hard at his third son, cursing him in his heart.
How could he shoot only six points!
Suddenly, Xu Changshui spoke to his wife, “The third platform seems to be the Guo boy?”
“Yes.”
“He scored six points. That’s not bad.”
After a pause, he added, “To play around and achieve this is decent. But if Wen Shan ever wants to play, I’ll make sure he learns properly. Don’t mess around—there’s no glory in it, and it’s easy to embarrass yourself.”
Guo Xin was so angry he couldn’t speak, and had no way to retort.
On the field, Guo Decai stuck out his tongue after hearing his score.
He couldn’t help it! The targets were simply too far this time.
More importantly, the targets didn’t move.
He was confident that if his family’s servant were carrying the target, he’d hit it more easily.
If he missed, he’d kick the servant holding the door panel—next time, surely, he’d hit it.
…
The highest score in the second batch was Lei Laohu on the eighth platform: forty-six points.
“Tsk, only six points more than that guy.”
Lei Laohu glanced toward Wu Yi, who was sitting under the canopy. Their eyes met. Lei Laohu gave a wild grin; Wu Yi turned his head away.
Both had already marked each other as their greatest rival in the competition.
“Third batch, prepare!”
Once the arrows were removed from the targets by the servants, the third batch of archers entered the arena.
Xu Wenshan was among them.
Xu Wenshan, clad in splendid robes, stood out sharply against the hunters dressed in coarse short jackets. As he entered, the jeers inside and outside the archery field grew louder.
“Don’t embarrass yourself!”
“Hurry up and leave! The third young master of the Guo family has already shamed his father!”
“You really think you’re good? How long have you played with bows? The hunters have shot more arrows than you’ve eaten meals! Get out while you can!”
…
Li Dazhuang worriedly glanced at Xu Wenshan at the end of the queue. He never doubted that Xu Wenshan could take first place. He only worried that the curses might affect Xu Wenshan and cause him to perform poorly.
Fortunately, there was no expression on his face; the insults brushed past him like a gentle breeze, leaving no ripple at all.