Chapter Thirty: A Youth Swears to Eat Feces, Dazhuang Earns Top Marks in Fury

"If Xu Wenshan is the best archer in Deer-Crane Valley, I’ll eat the filth from my own latrine!" the young man declared.

Li Sixteen replied, "Why make an enemy of filth itself..."

"You!" The youth seized Li Sixteen by the collar, and those around hurried to pull him back.

Through gritted teeth, the youth said, "You’re too much of a sycophant! Let me tell you, the rich are no better than us. They’re just people! What makes you think someone who’s never trained with a bow could outshoot a diligent old hunter?"

"My second uncle is an old hunter. I’ve witnessed his hardship with my own eyes. He started hunting at ten and has been at it for over twenty years. Every day, he braves the wind and rain, plunging into the forest. He puts his life on the line each day—without that, he couldn’t bring back a catch, couldn’t survive. He pours his life into drawing that bow. So what makes you think some pampered landlord’s son could surpass him?"

By now, the youth’s eyes were red with emotion.

Li Sixteen sneered. "And what right have you to speak of hard work before me?"

That retort drew the attention of everyone outside the archery field.

"Here in Deer-Crane Valley, I may not be the best archer, but I’m confident no one works harder than I do. Go and ask your uncle—see if he can outdo me. None of you here have the right to talk to me about effort!"

The youth was taken aback. "But why then..."

"Because effort alone doesn’t guarantee a good shot!" Li Sixteen shouted.

The onlookers fell silent.

"If I held a knife to your throat and demanded a perfect arrow on the spot, could you do it? You couldn’t, could you? If effort alone solved everything, why would I still be stuck here?"

"To forge a great archer, you need talent, hard work, a master’s guidance, and the right temperament—none can be lacking. Your uncle only hunts to make a living—once he leaves the mountain, he never touches a bow, just boasts all day and deceives himself about his own prowess. Why should he be able to shoot well?"

The youth stammered, "My uncle... my uncle..."

Li Sixteen spoke loudly, "Believe it or not, I’ll say it here and now: Xu Wenshan is the finest archer I have ever seen!"

But his impassioned words did not win over the crowd—instead, they grew more skeptical.

"They say Li Sixteen is a bootlicker—I didn’t believe it before, but now it’s clear enough."

"Exactly. Claiming the young master of the Xu family is better than all the hunters! Who could believe that?"

...

"Shooting complete! Begin scoring!"

"Target One, twenty-one points!"

In the athletes’ rest area, Wu Yi said, "Scoring has begun for the third group."

"So?" said Thunder Tiger.

"Aren’t you curious if there’s anyone here who could contend with us for the championship?"

"Nothing to be curious about," Thunder Tiger replied. "There’s no one in the third group worth my notice."

Ah Fa’s voice continued with the tally: "Target Two, seventeen points!"

Wu Yi grinned. "You think just like I do. From the start, I knew—only you are my true opponent in this competition!"

"Target Three, thirteen points!"

Li Dazhuang was at Target Five, gripping his bow so tightly his palm nearly sweated through.

"Target Four, seventeen points!"

...

Outside the range, Li Sixteen said, "Next is my son. He’s been training with Xu Wenshan lately and has made some progress. He’s not as good as Xu Wenshan, but his score should be decent..."

The people around him sneered openly—let’s see him eat his words soon enough...

Just then, Ah Fa’s voice rang out:

"Target Five, seventy-four points!"

A roar of astonishment swept through the crowd both inside and outside the field.

"Seventy-four? Did I hear that right?"

"How is such a high score possible? Surely it’s a mistake?"

In the athletes’ area, Wu Yi and Thunder Tiger exchanged looks. "How can that be?"

"Impossible!"

"There must be an error!"

The two spoke at once.

"Must be a miscalculation—how could anyone score seventy-four?"

Thunder Tiger shook his head. "If the numbers are right, I’m guessing someone shot at the wrong target."

Wu Yi nodded. "That’s possible. When I was shooting, I thought it’d be easy to aim at the wrong one."

The onlookers clamored as well: "It’s a mistake! Recount! Do it again!"

Ah Fa snapped, "Who’s the referee here, you or me? Do you think you know better than I do?"

With that, Ah Fa instructed the young assistant, "Count the score out loud again for everyone to hear—let’s see if a mistake was made!"

The attendant counted once more and replied, "It’s indeed seventy-four points—no mistake!"

The crowd quieted for the moment, but Wu Yi called out from the pavilion, "Maybe someone else’s arrow ended up in the target?"

Ah Fa didn’t catch his meaning, so Wu Yi repeated himself. This time, everyone understood and chimed in, "Must be—someone else’s arrow hit his target, or how else could the score be so high?"

Xu Wenshan stood silently, eyes fixed on Ah Fa. To avoid suspicion, he couldn’t say a word now—it all depended on Ah Fa’s wit.

Ah Fa’s eyes darted. "Each of you uses different arrows. Just check if all the arrows in the target match—simple as that!"

Wu Yi raised his hand. "Let me go and check as well."

Ah Fa considered, then pointed at him. "Fine, but only you—check and come right back, and don’t touch anything."

Wu Yi nodded and walked slowly to Li Dazhuang’s target, scrutinizing it closely.

The moments dragged on, everyone inside and outside the range holding their breath.

To everyone’s surprise, Wu Yi found nothing amiss with the arrows.

"They’re all the same," he said reluctantly.

This young man had truly scored seventy-four points by his own skill—over thirty points higher than me!

Recalling how he’d boasted earlier that only Thunder Tiger could be his rival, Wu Yi flushed with embarrassment.

He glanced at Li Dazhuang and saw the youth’s calm face, as if he’d known all along his score was genuine, and was utterly unbothered by anyone’s doubts.

He had lost—not just in skill, but in composure as well.

Ah Fa said impatiently, "Are you done? Then get back! Any more baseless accusations and you’ll be disqualified!"

Wu Yi, head down, dared not reply and hurried back to the athletes’ area.

Thunder Tiger shot him a glance, but neither could say a word.

They both understood. Even if they made it to the finals, there was no way they could defeat that boy.