Cui Buqu finally opens his mouth, "Since this is the case, then let Qiao Xian be the archer, and I be the target bearer."
"No way!" The Second Prince fights back, "That woman is only your servant. Just now I've stated that the archer and the target bearer must both possess considerable status, a servant cannot be called on the field. Do you mean to say that a woman can represent the Sui Empire?!"
Cui Buqu replies steadily, "Qiao Xian is not my servant. She also holds a position in the Zuoyue Bureau, in other words, she is also a subject of the Crown."
"But just now, Eastern Göktürk sent their Commander to be the archer, their Vice Commander to be the target bearer!" The Second Prince retorts, "If you change to another person, perhaps it will work, but that woman's identity cannot compete to the Vice Commander of Eastern Göktürk. Naturally, the victor can only be determined by strategy."
He turns towards Khan Apa, "Lord Father, what do you say?"
"This..." Khan Apa touches his beard, giving a hesitant look, but he did not object to it.
The Second Prince feels even more confident, so he tells Cui Buqu, "Do you people still want to let that woman onto the field?"
Cui Buqu furrows his brows and indecisively turns to look at Feng Xiao.
The latter rises to his feet slowly and says, "Let me do it."
His strategy worked!
The Second Prince is very satisfied.
Fo Er did not blink as he watches Feng Xiao take the bow, pulls it, and released the arrow towards Cui Buqu atop the horse, steadily shooting towards its target.
It hits the apple.
And the distance between Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao is practically the same as Fo Er's round.
Jin Lian feels a little nervous, afraid that Khan Apa is showing bias.
But this time the Khan is very fair, "Both guests are excellent marksman, there is no victor or loser."
The Second Prince snorts, he could not have imagined that Cui Buqu and his people would settle this so quickly.
Fo Er's expression is not obvious, but inside, he is very happy.
He dares to bet his life on it that no matter where Feng Xiao is injured last night, just now, his performance has definitely wounded his injuries and made them worse.
Feng Xiao puts down the bow and turns towards the Khan to put his hands together and bows, his movements are smooth, and did not know signs that he was wounded.
However, Fo Er notices that his adversary's right shoulder is stiff, the way his body turns look very unnatural.
Perhaps the spectators did not notice it, but this would not escape Fo Er's eyes.
After all, the Sanmi Mountains are very hot in the day, so a lot of people only put on light clothing. All except Feng Xiao, whose collar seems to expose a white shirt inside, and on the outside, he is still wearing thick robes. Fo Er knows that this isn't because Feng Xiao is afraid of the cold, but because his shoulder is heavily bandaged by cloth, so he needs to wear thicker to not show that his left and right shoulders are uneven.
So he is wounded on his right shoulder, Fo Er smiles faintly.
Following this scene, both Fo Er and Feng Xiao's performance made the other small neigbouring countries feel like they could not compete.
Although there are some that are envious and jealous, some went onto the field either way, but if it wasn't not because their distance lost to Feng Xiao and the rest, then their arrows hit thin air, and some of them even shot the horse, practically wounding the person riding on it.
From then on, the rest of the guests no longer dared to try, and the first round ended with both of them without a sole victor.
Being unable to shame the people from the Central Plains, the Second Prince is dissatisfied, so he starts to create trouble again.
"Lord Father, today the first round ended too quickly, so for the second round, we can no longer end it casually!"
Khan Apa nods his head, "What ideas do you have?"
"Yesterday, that woman among the Sui Empire's ambassadors gave me a deep impression." When he says the last few words, the Second Prince could not help but grits his teeth, his smile also widens, "Namuduo from my clan wishes to spar with her, so they could learn from each other."
The Khan turns towards Cui Buqu, "What does the guest of honour thinks of this?"
Cui Buqu, "Who is Namuduo?"
The one who has always been standing behind the Second Prince, a young man who seldom speaks, walks forth and bows towards Cui Buqu.
As someone who can remain by the Second Prince's side like this, yet not showing any posture, there is no need for Feng Xiao to remind him, Cui Buqu himself can immediately see that this is a person with the skills of a top fighter.
Cui Buqu asks Qiao Xian in a low voice, "Do you have confidence?"
Qiao Xian, "I have never seen him fight, yesterday this man is not by the Second Prince's side, but judging by his exterior, it is worth a short. I am willing to try."
In other words, if this person is present yesterday, then perhaps it wasn't so easy for Qiao Xian to pin the Second Prince under her foot, and treated him like a ball on the carpet to step and roll around.
Many people are watching as Qiao Xian takes a step forward, looking weak and delicate, so they could not help but show a hesitant expression.
Yesterday, those who did not witness Qiao Xian sending the Second Prince to the ground feel that this girl is too beautiful and young, that she would never be the Göktürk champion Namuduo's match.
Without waiting for everyone to catch up, Namuduo unleashes his first fist!
His punch is powerful, with one look one could tell that it is a punch with incredible force and strength.
Qiao Xian's body is thin, her steps and movements were also light, the complete opposite of Namuduo, but under such a powerful and strong opponent, she is not at a disadvantage.
The audience watches as one grey, one white, one lively and powerful like a tiger whose single punch should shatter mountains and earth, suck out air and break the wind, and the other whose light and weightless like a dragon, the glare of her sword and wind flying here and there, her gentleness bringing intense killing intent.
For Namuduo to face an opponent like Qiao Xian, logically he would have underestimated his opponent, but in this case, he did not, he resumes to give all his attention and focus as he fights with Qiao Xian, not distracted by anything happening from his surroundings.
"How is his martial arts compared to Qiao Xian?" Cui Buqu asks.
"In due time, he might have become another Fo Er." Feng Xiao responds.
Cui Buqu could not help but frowns.
To train martial arts, one must go through hardship and review talents. Feng Xiao's talent is naturally unsurpassed, but Fo Er does not fall behind. Without talent, one cannot truly become an unsurpassed top martial artist, or even make it to the grandmaster tier.
For Feng Xiao to say that Namuduo would become another Fo Er, meant that his talents are gifted, in fact, even when faced before a woman like Qiao Xian, Namuduo does not underestimate her or become overly confident of himself. He might even be better than Fo Er. So for Qiao Xian to have him as an opponent, her chances of winning is very silm.
There are innumreous talented people under the sky. Even if a mountain is tall, there will be another mountain taller than it; even if someone is skilled, there will eventually be someone more skilled than them. In such a big kingdom like Göktürk, Fo Er is not the only skilled fighter, and suddenly, someone like Namuduo emerges.
Feng Xiao, "If Qiao Xian wants to win him, it is a bit difficult."
If Feng Xiao can tell, then Fo Er can tell as well.
As he looks at those two, one who flies and turns in the air, and the other one as steady as a mountain, he could not help but smiles.
However, the Second Prince is a little bit impatient. His martial arts are only so-so, so he cannot tell who is the more powerful of the two, he is not much different from the audiences, who feels that Namuduo's moves are steady, and Qiao Xian's moves are quick and curt.
"What are you laughing at?!" The Second Prince glares at Fo Er when he catches him smile, unable to suppress his fire.
Fo Er is not angered, in fact, he is in a very good mood, so he responds calmly to him, "I am being happy for your Highness."
The Second Prince is not so good tempered, "What is there to be happy about!"
Fo Er, "Namuduo's victory is nigh."
The Second Prince is shocked, "Are you saying that Namuduo can win that woman?"
Fo Er mulls, "Although that woman from the Central Plains have qinggong, but she will deplete it quickly, on the other hand, Namuduo's inner strength is superior to her, and his technique is strong. To use the words of people from the Central Plains, this is called: The clever often is not found flaunting his skills."
Just as he finished speaking, Namuduo strikes Qiao Xian's stomach with a fist, and the latter falls back, takes a few steps backwards, barely able to hold her stance. Of course, Namuduo would not let this chance pass, he quickly runs after her and leaps into the air, kicking away the sword in Qiao Xian's hand, turning in the air, it brushes past her waist.
Qiao Xian's face pales. Shooting out with a palm, she pushes Namuduo backwards, but a splatter of blood has leaked from the corner of her lips. It is obvious that she is injured.
"Stop!" Cui Buqu suddenly rises to his feet, "We surrender, there is no longer the need to fight!"
The Second Prince looks extremely satisfied and orders Namuduo, "Go on! Keep on fighting!"
However, Namuduo refuses to carry on, he instead responds sternly, "She has already admit defeat."
The Second Prince angrily, "Who is your master?! I want this woman dead!"
"Khan!" Jin Lian could not bear to watch any longer, so she interrupts.
"Ade, sit down!" Khan Apa opens his mouth.
The Second Prince frowned, "Lord Father, these people from the Central Plains send a woman to be their ambassador. Is this not a shame to us? This woman even wounded me yesterday, in my competition, I want her to die in public. Is this not fair revenge?!"
Khan Apa says coldly, "Today is the gathering of the Eight Ministries. It is not a place for you to claim revenge. When I ask you to sit, then sit!"
Qiao Xian slowly turns around and walks towards Cui Buqu.
"How are you?" Cui Buqu asks after her.
Qiao Xian shakes her head, meaning that she is alright.
Her skills can be considered second-tiered in the Jianghu province, so it is not strange for her to lose to Namuduo.
Before she got into the battlefield, Feng Xiao, Cui Buqu, and even Qiao Xian herself, has already been prepared for this result.
Cui Buqu gives a slightly angry yet controlled panic, and in Fo Er's eyes, this verified Fo Er's predictions of Feng Xiao.
He thinks that Cui Buqu, Feng Xiao, and Qiao Xian, have already been cornered, with no options left. Originally, they wanted to show-off all they can, but they did not expect themselves to be forced into the corner like this.
However, today, Fo Er's shaming of them would not stop here, it is time he gets onto the field himself.
As he thinks of this, Fo Er rises to his feet and casts a look at Feng Xiao, saying, "I, Fo Er, wishes for a match with Lord Feng."
He squints his eyes as he looks at Feng Xiao.
In the two times they have fought, he wasn't able to kill him, so today, in the eyes of public, he wants Feng Xiao to die compliantly.
Fo Er puts all his focus onto Feng Xiao, completely ignoring everything that Cui Buqu has said.
But Feng Xiao, however, hears it.
Cui Buqu says, "Qiao Xian and I have went through much to build up this scenario for you, so please, Commander Feng, be mindful not to waste it."
Feng Xiao smiles, "Are you so heartless to treat a wounded soldier as such?"
Cui Buqu says nothing more, but on his face, the message is clear on every feature, staring back at him: Yes. His heart is made of steel.
Author's Notes:
A short scene of Wushuang characters as animals that is unrelated to the story:
Fox Cui Buqu is digging a pit, and Tiger Feng Xiao is next to him lying in wait for the prey, Rabbit Qiao Xian is responsible for luring the hunter.
Then, Fo Er is lured.
Tomorrow I will finish writing the competition. There is something very important in this arc, but at the present, our readers will not discover it yet ~~