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Chapter 88: Chapter 88 Zhan Lan Makes a Sensational Debut!
Zhan Beicang watched Zhan Lan’s determined expression, slightly puzzled, wondering where this girl got her confidence from.
Although she was almost fifteen years old, in his eyes, she was merely an adult.
Moreover, he remembered that Zhan Lan’s archery skills were just passable!
He became more and more confused as to why Zhan Lan was doing this; could it be that she was provoked and angered by Zhan Feng?
Zhan Beicang shook his head, thinking that Zhan Lan was still too impulsive.
"Dad, aren’t you going to stop Fourth Sister from doing this?" Zhan Hui asked worriedly.
Zhan Beicang patted Zhan Hui’s shoulder and said, "Lessons learned by oneself through experience are far more effective than being taught. Let Lan try on her own!"
He wouldn’t stop her, as facing setbacks was an important life lesson for the young.
Zhan Hui’s hands clenched nervously, silently cheering for Zhan Lan.
Mu Yan leaned back in his chair, pulling out a folding fan to gently fan himself, his black hair flowing elegantly with the breeze.
His attractive eyes were fixed on Zhan Lan.
She had already taken her position, and three soldiers holding targets started moving a hundred steps away, they began to run.
Everyone held their breath, eagerly awaiting to see if Zhan Lan could hit beyond a hundred steps.
To them, hitting the target from a hundred steps away would be quite impressive!
Not to mention hitting the bullseye!
In most people’s eyes, that was a fool’s dream!
Zhan Feng stared intensely at the arrow in Zhan Lan’s hand, waiting to see her make a fool of herself.
During their last competition, they were just over twenty steps apart, and it was good luck that Zhan Lan had hit the target.
Now, it was a hundred steps away!
Zhan Feng’s lips curved up smugly, looking at Zhan Lan with a scornful gaze.
Zhan Lan raised her bow and slowly drew it back; it was a particularly heavy bow she had specifically chosen.
The four Old Generals and Zhan Beicang, seeing the bow Zhan Lan pulled, were all stunned.
"Am I seeing things? Isn’t that the bow used by Old General Zhan back in the day?"
"It seems so, look, there’s a red string wrapped around the bow, and it’s bigger and much heavier than the other bows!"
One of the Old Generals slapped his thigh exclaiming, "Oh indeed! Back in the day, I couldn’t even draw this bow and Old General made fun of me for that!"
Another Old General handed the melon seeds he was holding to the soldier behind him, and turned to his three old friends saying, "For an ordinary person, just drawing this bow without shaking is difficult, this Miss Zhan has extraordinary arm strength indeed!"
"Yes, yes!"
Listening to their conversations, Zhan Beicang’s gaze was glued to the arrow in Zhan Lan’s hand.
He really wanted to see just how strong Zhan Lan’s potential was!
Zhan Lan drew the bow and fitted an arrow.
Whoosh!
Thump!
The sound of the arrow cutting through the air rose, and the arrow soared like a meteor, firmly embedding into a target held in front of a soldier’s chest.
The soldier was startled by the sound of the arrow.
That sound still echoed in his ears.
It was not until the crowd erupted into exclamations that he reacted.
"It hit!"
"She hit it!"
"Miss Zhan really hit the bullseye!"
Everyone then turned their gaze to the soldier holding the target, who stood there dumbfounded like a stupid deer.
The soldier’s arm went numb from the shock of the arrow, he looked down and then his face broke into a smile, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, "Ah! Miss Zhan hit the bullseye right on!"
Dressed as a man, Zhan Lan’s hair blown by the wind and lips curved up, she lowered the bow in her hand.
Mu Yan glanced sideways at the beautiful and awe-inspiring Zhan Lan, his lips unconsciously lifted too.
He said, Zhan Lan must be pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger.
But with this girl’s archery skills, without a decade of practice, without ever being on the battlefield, it’s absolutely impossible to be this accurate!
Could it be that she started practicing archery at the age of four?
Originally, he had prepared a backup plan, there was no way he would let Zhan Feng win!
Now it seems, there’s no need!
Zhan Lan was naturally fully confident about this competition!
In her past life, she and this bow were old friends; it was a bow given to her by her grandfather.
Only because the grandfather said whoever could pull it and hit the target a hundred steps away, he would gift it to them!
To get this bow, Zhan Lan practiced intensely for more than half a year.
When it came time to fight the decisive battle with Beiyue, she had even used it to take the life of Beiyue’s Main General!
Zhan Lan was grateful to Mu Yan for giving her another chance to compete.
She had just seen this long-sealed bow and arrows in the military warehouse.
Zhan Beicang, Zhan Hui, the four Old Generals, and all the soldiers were dumbfounded!
This exceeded their understanding of a young woman!
An Old General stood up from his chair and walked forward a few steps, saying, "Am I seeing things? Let me get closer!"
"He hit it, he hit it! This girl is no ordinary person!"
The other three Old Generals also had shining eyes, they collectively put down the melon seeds in their hands, and like young lads, they rapidly moved forward to get a better view of the competition.
Zhan Feng was nearly driven mad with anger, he incredulously watched Zhan Lan put down the bow and arrows, quickly stepped forward and grabbed the bow, saying "For fairness, I’ll use this bow too!"
Zhan Lan indifferently nodded, "Whatever."
Zhan Feng immediately regretted grabbing the bow as his arms trembled and he used all his strength trying to pull the bow.
But, he had his pride and couldn’t possibly return the bow to Zhan Lan.
Because the bow was indeed too heavy, Zhan Feng’s bowstring was tensely drawn but not fully, and without even aiming at his target properly, having only pulled the bow halfway, the arrow already flew out.
Whoosh!
The arrow landed in an arc, ten steps away.
"Hahaha..." the soldiers burst into laughter.
The four Old Generals who had just run to the best viewing spot clicked their tongues.
The elder who claimed his eyes were blurry closed his eyes and said, "My eyes hurt, I will close them for a while, when it’s that girl’s turn, call me!"
Another one also shrank back his neck, sighed deeply, and was utterly disappointed with Zhan Feng, "Ah, this also..."
Zhan Beicang naturally knew the level of Zhan Feng’s archery. If the target was stationary, he could almost hit a hundred shots within twenty steps!
However, with his strength, he could not pull Old General Zhan’s bow!
Unsurprisingly, Zhan Feng would need to change his bow in the next round!
Zhan Feng’s cheeks were red, his chest was tight, and he felt as if every sound around him was mocking him!
This feeling of being surrounded and humiliated was simply awful!
He was resentful and defended himself, "I’m not familiar with this bow, I’ll still use my own bow and arrows!"
Zhan Lan walked over and took away that bow of the grandfather.
She carefully wiped the bow with a cloth; Zhan Feng was not worthy of using this bow!
If it weren’t for their second branch, grandfather would not have been angered to death!
Neither would her father have died tragically!
Zhan Lan lowered her gaze, nobody saw the wave of hatred in her eyes.
She once again strung the bow, and as she raised her eyes, her arrow shot towards the moving target like breaking bamboo!
Her movements were smooth and swift!
The arrow, with a whistling sound, shot out like a gust of wind!
