Pang Wanchun stopped moving and stared intently at the other side, bow at his side. The current lighting conditions made shooting a person easy, but clearly identifying the red dot was no longer so simple.
Pang Wanchun aimed his bow for a moment, then leaned forward, and a bright line flashed before our eyes. Hua Rong stared at the arrow's trajectory. Suddenly, he lowered his head slightly, and the arrow grazed the top of Hua Rong's head, flying past and landing far away in the ravine.
Immediately someone shouted, "It missed!"
This was the first time such an event had occurred since Hua Rong and Pang Rong began their archery duel. Clearly, because of the bright light, Hua Rong had dodged an arrow thanks to his exceptional eyesight. The heroes, encouraged, cheered together.
Wu Yong nodded and smiled, "That's right, we should let him shoot."
Lu Junyi asked, "What do you mean?"
Wu Yong said, "Now I understand Brother Hua's intention. He took the initiative to shoot first, only seeking to score. In the later time, he didn't need to worry about anything else, just try his best to dodge."
As expected, Pang Wanchun missed his shot, his expression extremely solemn. He nocked another arrow but hesitated to fire. Hua Rong stared intently at his hand, remaining unmoved as well.
Someone muttered under their breath, "There's not enough time..."
We all looked at the monitor and saw that the countdown had reached 15 minutes. Half the time had passed, and Pang Wanchun hadn't even fired 20 arrows yet.
Wu Yong added, "It seems that Hua Rong's original intention was to create a time difference with Pang Wanchun. As long as he dodges with all his might, Pang Wanchun will inevitably slow down. In this way, he won't have a chance to fire all his arrows later."
Lin Chong said, "Now that the moon is out, it's even easier to hide. It's truly heaven's help."
Wang Yin glanced at the time and stood up nervously as well.
Pang Wanchun seemed to realize the problem as well. Without hesitation, he tugged at the bowstring, this time aiming for Hua Rong's heart. Hua Rong saw it clearly, pushed off the ground, and flew to the right. This arrow missed its mark again. Without further ado, Pang Wanchun pulled another arrow from his quiver with a slight movement of his arm. We only saw a blur before he released it. This time, we truly witnessed the speed of Pang Wanchun's arrows; it took almost as long as loading a semi-automatic rifle!
Pang Wanchun's second arrow struck Hua Rong squarely on the forehead, indicating that his first arrow was merely a probe and a feint, designed to catch Hua Rong off guard and prevent him from adjusting his posture, thus allowing him to score. This means Pang Wanchun had anticipated Hua Rong's movements, including how he would dodge the arrow and in which direction he would shift his body. Yang Youji's skill was truly remarkable; he not only possessed exceptional archery skills but also a keen understanding of human psychology!
We people down the mountain were all terrified. Pang Wanchun's second arrow was aimed at Hua Rong, who was in mid-air. If it had been even a centimeter or two off, it would have pierced through his brain!
Before we could even catch our breath, Pang Wanchun was already firing arrows at Hua Rong, one after another. With the moon high in the sky, it was impossible to fish in troubled waters anymore. Pang Wanchun used his old method: first, he would use one or more arrows to lure Hua Rong away, and then seize the opportunity to score. Because of this, he had to make up for any wasted arrows with effective scoring arrows, so he had to hit at least 10 points. Every arrow was aimed at Hua Rong's heart and head. Xiao Yangyouji's hands moved with lightning speed, almost like playing a zither or plucking flowers; to outsiders, it was a blur of motion, arrows constantly whizzing out, the monitor beeping rhythmically. It was just unclear whether he could catch up to Hua Rong's score at this rate.
However, gradually all of that became unimportant. Everyone down the mountain now had the same thought: they hoped the match would end quickly. Under Pang Wanchun's relentless attacks, Hua Rong dodged left and right. His maneuvering was not to avoid all the arrows, but mostly to make his body collide with them. As I said, people of their level don't care about their lives for honor!
According to the rules, if the opponent misses, they immediately lose; in other words, having an arrow stuck in one's body is the greatest humiliation for the opponent. This was exactly what Hua Rong was planning. He charged towards the oncoming arrows like a madman, much like a goalkeeper trying to save a penalty kick. At this moment, life and death were completely forgotten.
This was the most dangerous match any of us had ever witnessed, including these ruthless bandits. In their eyes, severed limbs and even heads were commonplace. But now, their opponent was their best brother, and they were in grave danger. No one knew if this seemingly lively and handsome young man would one day lie dead on the spot. And all of this was a trap he had set for himself!
We all share the same thought, yet none of us can voice it: we truly hope Hua Rong will just admit defeat. Even if he did, no one present today would underestimate him, not even Wang Yin and Li Tianrun. With none of this happening, all we can do is secretly pray that Pang Wanchun's arrows are accurate—even if it's just a victory!
Dozens of people were completely silent at that moment, not even a whisper could be heard. Li Tianrun stood frozen, camera in hand, while Wang Yin, clutching his spare quiver, was oblivious to his surroundings. Xiang Yu frowned and shook his head incessantly, while Fang Zhenjiang stared in utter disbelief. The previous two matches had been life-or-death struggles, but compared to this one, they were nothing.
Hua Rong was initially enveloped in a hail of arrows, but gradually, Pang Wanchun slowed his movements. Among the six points marked on his body, a strange bright spot appeared below the one on his forehead—a bead of sweat on the tip of his nose. It seemed he hadn't expected Hua Rong to fight so desperately. Clearly, whether for honor or as a modern man, he didn't want to pierce Hua Rong through; Pang Wanchun was tense.
But he didn't stop there; he simply fired even more carefully at the other side. The bowstring made a monotonous sound: thud—thud—like scratching at one's heart, making the atmosphere even more tense than before.
I felt like I was about to break down if I didn't say something, so I whispered, "When the two of them were shooting at each other, if one of them picked up the other's arrow and stabbed himself with it, and then claimed that the other shot him, wouldn't he have won? Anyway, it was so dark just now, no one could see it."
The heroes glared at me but didn't reply. Suddenly, one of them slapped me hard on the head and said, "Do you think everyone is as despicable as you?" I turned around and saw it was Hu Sanniang. I had been looking up and didn't even realize when she had arrived.
I asked her, "Where's Xiuxiu?"
Hu Sanniang said, "I took her to school and then came here."
I glanced at Pang Wanchun's monitor; it showed 295 points. I nudged Dong Ping: "Pang Wanchun, how many arrows have you fired yet?"
Dong Ping said, "Sixteen arrows!"
I nudged Xiao Rang again, saying, "Quickly, figure out who will win!"
Xiao Rang said with dissatisfaction, "I can't tell fortunes!"
"Who told you to tell fortunes? I told you to do math!"
Xiao Rang said helplessly, "Pang Wanchun scored 195 points with the first 18 arrows, but only 100 points with the last 16 arrows. He still has 16 arrows left, so we'll have to see how he shoots them."
I counted on my fingers and said, "Pang Wanchun has 295 points and 16 arrows left, while Hua has 405 points and 5 arrows left. If we calculate each arrow as 10 points, wouldn't that be a tie?"
Dong Ping said in a deep voice, "We don't know what will happen next. The Pang family is already in a state of panic, and I'm afraid Brother Hua Rong is in danger!"
If an archer is distracted on the battlefield, his enemy is undoubtedly lucky. But in the current situation...
No one spoke again. Hua Rong was still in a precarious situation and didn't seem willing to make a move. There were only five minutes left in the match, and Pang Wanchun had to shoot five arrows per minute. Chaos made mistakes easy, but it also put Hua Rong in a more precarious position…
Just then, Shi Qian, whose eyesight was better than others in the night, suddenly pointed to the mountain opposite and shouted, "Look, there are people climbing up the mountainside!"
We were both taken aback. I looked closely and saw a slender figure struggling to climb less than 10 meters from Hua Rong. I knew who it was without even seeing her face. Lin Chong beside me exclaimed in surprise, "It's Xiu Xiu!"
Several people immediately asked Hu Sanniang with grim faces, "Why is she here?"
Hu Sanniang said blankly, "I clearly took her back to school—I know, she was following me!"
Wu Yong said, "She must have sensed that we were hiding something from her. When she returned to school today and found that Hua Rong wasn't there, she secretly followed San Niang here."
I stamped my foot: "Let's not talk about that now. What do you think she's going to do?"
Hu Sanniang said, "Is that even a question? Of course, we want to help Hua Rong!"
Li Kui shouted, "Xiuxiu, come back!"
Compared to the danger just moments before, there was now an unusual sense of urgency. No one knew what Xiuxiu was planning, and the heroes stood frozen in place. Only Li Kui continued shouting loudly. Many others waved and shouted along, but we were over 300 meters away, the mountain wind howling—how could Xiuxiu hear us?
I was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly pushed through the crowd and ran over there. No sooner had I started running than Wang Yin shouted, "What are you doing?" and followed me.
On this rugged mountain path, I ran, stumbling along, waving and shouting desperately at Hua Rong every few steps, hoping he would notice me or Xiu Xiu. But he remained unmoved, preoccupied with dealing with Pang Wanchun.
When I reached the fork in the road, I watched as Xiuxiu's head was already level with the mountaintop. I saw her continuing to climb, her gaze fixed intently on Hua Rong, her eyes firm yet tender. Hua Rong, completely unaware of the person beneath his feet, was still dodging the arrows hurtling towards him.