Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Zhan Shou snorted coldly, pointing at the archery range beside him. "If His Highness the Sixth Prince is willing to compete with me, best of three, then I'll yield!"

The logic of these military men was simple: either you had enough clout in the army, or you could earn their respect. Otherwise, even if they followed orders, they wouldn't truly respect you.

Lu Yunqi was about to say something when Murong Jie unexpectedly agreed on the spot: "Fine! Since General Zhan issued the challenge, I'll take you on."

Zhan Shou burst into laughter upon hearing this. "Good! The Sixth Prince has some real balls!"

Murong Jie asked, "How do you want to do this?"

Zhan Shou replied, "Simple—hit the bullseye to win. If it's a tie, we go another round!"

Murong Jie nodded. "Agreed."

Lu Yunqi grew anxious and said, "Are you insane? With your noodle arms, you want to go up against one of my Lu Family Army's top five generals? Did you lose your damn mind?"

If he'd mastered the Nine-Death Survival Skill, no one in this world could touch him.

But right now, he was in the weak phase before the skill was complete—no inner energy, no martial force, and even for archery, he could only use the lightest bow.

Zhan Shou had clearly picked up on that. This scrawny Sixth Prince still wanted to take him on? Was he just begging to be humiliated?

Zhan Shou stepped forward and picked up a massive bow that weighed at least a hundred jin. He lifted it one-handed without breaking a sweat, nocked an arrow, and casually let one fly—right into the bullseye!

Cheers erupted, and Zhan Shou laughed smugly. Then came the second arrow, the third—all hitting the bullseye dead center.

The applause was deafening. Zhan Shou's archery was legendary, and everyone in the army knew it.

Lu Yunqi sighed in admiration too. "No wonder he's one of the Five Divine Generals. Babe, how about we just throw in the towel? Losing to him isn't embarrassing."

Zhan Shou tossed the bow aside and said coldly, "Sixth Prince, your turn!"

Murong Jie nodded and stepped forward to select a bow. He walked right past the rack of massive bows to the very end and grabbed the lightest, smallest one there.

Zhan Shou laughed outright upon seeing this. "Your Highness, that bow is for the kids' training camp. You're not seriously planning to beat me with that, are you?"

Murong Jie said nothing, just carried the bow to the range while jeers rippled through the crowd.

This overlooked, invisible prince had only gotten anywhere by latching onto the Lu family's young heir, so the Lu Family Army naturally looked down on him.

Whispers drifted through the crowd: "He's just here to make a fool of himself, isn't he?"

"The young heir's being reckless too. And Lord Nine Thousand Years is going along with it—how can they stomp all over the soldiers' loyalty like this?"

"Lord Nine Thousand Years is indeed a hero, but this young heir..."

"Ah, let's just call it a day! A kids' training bow? He's just begging to be humiliated."

At that moment, Murong Jie spoke calmly: "Lu Yunqi, do you have any copper coins?"

Lu Yunqi responded, "I've got about a dozen or so. Is that enough?"

Murong Jie replied, "Enough. Listen for my command—when I say throw, you throw."

Lu Yunqi thought, Is he seriously planning to shoot an arrow through a coin's hole?

That would be a clever way to settle this, but the bow was so light that even if he nailed the coin, it might not be enough to beat General Zhan.

Still, Lu Yunqi answered, "Alright, I'll cooperate with you."

Murong Jie stood still, drew the bow, aimed for a moment, then said, "Now, if you don't mind, come over and blindfold me."

At that, the murmuring stopped. They wondered—was he really going to shoot a hundred paces blindfolded?

Lu Yunqi was stunned too. He walked over with a cloth and said, "Seriously, are you sure? Don't screw this up. Blindfolded, can you even hit anything?"

Murong Jie said, "Just do as I say."

"Fine, fine, fine!" Lu Yunqi said impatiently. "Anyway, it's not my face on the line."

With that, he blindfolded Murong Jie and stepped back a short distance. Then he heard Murong Jie say, "First arrow—throw one copper coin about ten meters in front of me."

The moment the words left Murong Jie's mouth, the coin flew from Lu Yunqi's hand. Whoosh... crack... thud.

The arrow left the string, threaded through the coin's hole, and hit the target a hundred paces away—dead center.

For a good ten seconds, the field was dead silent. Then all that broke it was Lu Yunqi's exclamation: "Holy shit!"

Murong Jie didn't stop. "Again! Second arrow—two coins, throw them at the same time about ten meters in front of me!"

Lu Yunqi hurled the coins upward, and two arrows flew—whoosh, whoosh... crack, crack... thud, thud.

The sounds overlapped, and both arrows hit the bullseye.

Third arrow—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... crack, crack, crack... thud, thud, thud...

After those three shots, the only sounds on the field were the arrows, the coins, the targets—and the soldiers' sharp intakes of breath.

Even minutes later, there was still silence—until Murong Jie pulled off the blindfold and thunderous cheers finally erupted.

"Excellent!" Zhan Shou stomped his foot and strode forward with a booming laugh. "Impressive! Damn impressive! Sixth Prince, from today on, I, Zhan Shou, will follow your every order! Hahaha!"

With that, he slapped Murong Jie hard on the back. Murong Jie's face went dark, and with a loud "hwa," he spat out a mouthful of black blood and crumpled to the ground.

Lu Yunqi rushed forward in a panic, caught him, and let him slump into his arms. He kicked Zhan Shou hard and cursed, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Don't you know he's frail and sickly?! What are you standing there for—go get the medic!"

Zhan Shou was terrified too. He'd never thought much of this useless prince before, but if he accidentally killed a prince with a casual slap, his own life was over.

The military doctor hurried over, checked his pulse, and let out a relieved breath. "Rest easy, Young Heir. The Sixth Prince spitting out that stagnant blood actually relieved years of pent-up congestion. I'll prescribe some medicine to regulate his condition, and he'll recover soon."

Lu Yunqi said happily, "That old bastard Zhan Shou—he accidentally knocked the stagnant blood right out of Murong Jie?"

Zhan Shou was shocked too, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He said awkwardly, "Young Heir... so... does that mean I won't be punished?"

Lu Yunqi sneered. "Let's see if you dare disrespect the prince again!"

Zhan Shou replied, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. I'll... go take my fifty strokes right now!"

Lu Yunqi didn't stop him. With Zhan Shou's thick frame, fifty strokes was nothing.

By then, Murong Jie had woken up. After just vomiting blood, his already ghostly pale face was now white as paper, his handsome features so sharp they looked painted on by a master artist.

Lu Yunqi stepped forward. "You're awake? You're a lucky one—no, wait, you should say I'm your lucky charm. That slap from Zhan Shou knocked years of stagnant blood out of your lungs. You'll feel way better from now on. The doctor prescribed medicine—drink it, rest a bit, and I'll take you back to the manor."

Murong Jie sat up with Lu Yunqi's help and asked, "I didn't make you look bad back there, did I?"

Lu Yunqi clicked his tongue. "At a time like this, don't worry about that. But seriously, you really surprised me! When did you learn to shoot like that? Hitting that accurately blindfolded—you should do that more often."

After saying this, Lu Yunqi shot Murong Jie a meaningful look and raised an eyebrow.

Seeing that Murong Jie remained silent, Lu Yunqi let out a couple of chuckles and said, "You did really well today. Zhan Shou has been won over by you. These fifty thousand troops are the backbone I, your husband, am giving you. Remember, this must not be known to your father or your three brothers. Don't think your father actually gives a damn about you just because he's been calling you in a lot lately. He's a bigger piece of shit than your three brothers!"

Murong Jie looked up at Lu Yunqi and asked, "And what about you? Why do you help me so much?"

In any of his past lives, Lu Yunqi would've been down on his knees licking his boots, but no matter how fast he knelt, what use was it? Three lifetimes of being killed by him couldn't be wiped clean with a few sweet-talking words.

He lounged down next to Murong Jie, cracked him a sharp slap across the face, then tilted his chin up and said, "Why, you ask? Obviously, because I like you... this face! With a face like that, wouldn't it be a crime not to spoil you? And I won't just spoil you—I'll pop out a few kids for you too. So do your part and get me knocked up soon."

Murong Jie narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he thought this guy was out of his mind and everything he had just said was nothing but mad ramblings.

He'd actually been feeling a little grateful to Lu Yunqi for all that help, but after that hot, stinging slap across his face, he instantly snapped back to reality. Lu Yunqi was just a born horndog—he only ever showed anyone favor because of their face.

He'd been hitting up brothels since he was fourteen, so he'd probably banged a ton of beauties by now.

If it weren't for his exotic, striking looks, he'd probably still be nothing but a punching bag for Lu Yunqi to take his moods out on.

Now he was just a toy Lu Yunqi rewarded when he was in a good mood—so why should he feel guilty?

If that's the case, then I'll gladly accept your fifty thousand troops, Lu family.

As dusk fell, Lu Yunqi brought Murong Jie back to the Lu residence.

Even though he'd coughed up blood, Murong Jie actually looked a lot better. That evening, Lu Yunqi fed him some deer blood, and his face instantly regained a rosy glow.

With his color restored, Murong Jie's face was more stunning than ever—one glance was enough to bewitch a person's soul.

Lu Yunqi asked the system, "Little system! Am I pregnant yet?"

The system replied with great regret, "Not yet, master. Pregnancy isn't something that happens just because you want it to."

Lu Yunqi, furious, strode over, grabbed Murong Jie by the collar, and pressed his lips against his, thinking, You useless thing—I told you to shoot more, so tonight you'd better shoot plenty!