Volume 1, Chapter 61 – Liu Ping

At the base of all four city walls, several makeshift ranges had been set up. Only those who could hit the target within a hundred paces were qualified to go up on the walls and help defend the city.

After all, refined steel bolts were consumables. Once the demonic beasts started storming the walls, it would be hard to recover them. Only with accurate enough archery could they inflict the greatest possible damage.

The Demon-Slaying Crossbow weighed close to a hundred jin. For ordinary Mortals, it was obviously a heavy burden. Holding it up to aim and fire was basically impossible, so they used ordinary bows and crossbows for the tests instead.

As long as their accuracy was good enough, once they were on the walls, they could use the battlements themselves as a brace. It wouldn’t be as tiring and they’d still be useful.

Shi Lan stood at the side of the range, bringing those who passed up onto the wall. The veil under her helmet was making it hard to breathe, so she simply took the helmet off and set it on the top of the wall.

The one currently being tested in front of the targets was a dark-faced old man of about sixty. He was tall and broad, his right arm especially thick with muscle compared to his left. Thick calluses covered the tiger’s mouth, thumb, and little finger.

The old man took the ironwood bow and arrows handed over by a nearby Demon-Suppressing Army soldier. He gripped the bow in his left hand, took a deep breath, then moved with surprising speed as he drew and nocked. The muscles in his right arm bunched, his back straightened, and the bow bent into a full moon.

His gaze on the distant target suddenly grew sharp. After a single breath, he loosed the bowstring without hesitation.

“Whoosh—”

“Puff!”

The arrow hit the bullseye dead center, sinking almost halfway into the straw. The feathers at the tail quivered lightly and only slowly stilled.

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A hint of satisfaction flashed in the old man’s eyes. He returned the ironwood bow to the Demon-Suppressing soldier beside him, glanced around the range, and, seeing Shi Lan walking toward him, his eyes lit up.

“Fine lad, mind letting this old man have a go with that crossbow on your back?”

Most Demon-Suppressing soldiers found the Demon-Slaying Crossbow heavy and cumbersome, so they left them sitting up on the walls.

With Shi Lan’s current strength of over a thousand jin, she didn’t feel that the extra hundred jin on her back made any difference. In fact, the weight of the Demon-Slaying Crossbow made her feel more secure, so she’d kept it slung behind her instead of putting it down.

Shi Lan glanced at the crossbow on her back, then at the old man.

“Uncle, this thing is very heavy.”

“Just let me have a look.” The old man rubbed his hands together. He’d never had the chance to try such a half-man-tall giant crossbow before.

Shi Lan had watched his performance just now. She could tell at a glance he was someone who had handled bows and crossbows for years. It was normal for a man like that to get excited when he saw a new weapon.

In any case, the old man would be using a Demon-Slaying Crossbow sooner or later. Shi Lan didn’t fuss about it. She unstrapped the crossbow and handed it over, reminding him one more time, “Careful.”

The old man took the Demon-Slaying Crossbow in delight. His waist dipped, his legs stumbled, and he nearly lost his footing. His face flushed as he hugged the crossbow to his chest, hands trembling slightly.

“Uncle, are you all right?” Shi Lan started forward, ready to take the crossbow back.

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“I’m fine, I’m fine, just didn’t brace myself for a second there.” The old man gave an embarrassed grin, steadied himself, and drew on his right arm to lift the crossbow level.

“Fine lad, load me a bolt. Let this old man try a shot!” He didn’t try to draw the bowstring. Instead, he passed the Demon-Slaying Crossbow back to Shi Lan. He knew perfectly well that string wasn’t something he could pull.

Shi Lan didn’t refuse. She pulled out a refined steel bolt, drew the bow and set it, then handed the crossbow back again.

The old man raised it once more. This time, his hands didn’t tremble at all. They were steady as bedrock.

“Bang—”

He pressed the release. The refined steel bolt shot from the string, punched through the bullseye, and embedded itself in the city wall behind it.

The moment the bolt left the string, his hands started shaking again. Shi Lan gave a small shake of her head and took the Demon-Slaying Crossbow back. “Uncle, come up on the wall with me.”

The old man let out a breath and wiped the sweat from his brow, giving Shi Lan a grin. “Can’t afford not to admit I’m old. Back when I was young, I could draw a three-stone bow and loose a whole bucket of arrows in one go.”

At that, Shi Lan looked at him with real surprise. A three-stone bow took three hundred jin of strength to draw, and a bucket of arrows had to be at least a dozen shafts. Drawing a bow like that a dozen times in a row—this kind of strength was far beyond the average person.

Noticing her gaze, the old man thought she didn’t believe him. He thumped his chest and added, “Years back, I even went into the mountains and brought down a big tiger. Sold it to get travel money for my boy!”

Shi Lan smiled and nodded. “Still going strong at your age.”

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Ordinary Mortals, by the time they reached sixty, already had their blood and qi declining. There were few who still moved nimbly, let alone ones like this old man who could still draw a bow and lift a crossbow.

The old man followed behind Shi Lan as they headed up toward the wall. As they walked, he struck up a conversation, proving quite talkative.

After some idle chatter, Shi Lan had a rough picture of him. His name was Liu Ping, an old hunter. He’d lost his wife young and had only one son, named Liu Ziming, who had left Twin Moon City to train in the martial path nearly seven years ago.

When he mentioned Liu Ziming, pride crept across Liu Ping’s face. “That boy started going into the mountains with me at eight. By twelve, he could draw a two-stone war bow. Everyone said he was born to train in the martial path!”

As he spoke, his expression dimmed. He was past sixty now, and his only son had been gone from home for seven years, wandering the world with only the occasional letter. It was hard not to feel that his knees were a little cold and lonely at times.

After a moment of silence, Liu Ping came back to himself and asked curiously, “You’re such a handsome lad and that capable. You must’ve married by now. Got any children?”

Shi Lan paused, then couldn’t help shaking her head with a faintly amused look. “I haven’t started a family yet.”

How could she possibly marry and have children right now?

Liu Ping sounded genuinely surprised. “You don’t seem that young. In Twin Moon City, most folks your age already have kids running all over the streets.”

Shi Lan didn’t reply, just walked toward the battlements in silence.

Thinking she was embarrassed, Liu Ping spoke up again:

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“This is a big deal. You can’t keep putting it off. I got married late myself, and the kids who grew up alongside my Ziming are pushing fifty now. Got any girl you fancy? If not, I can ask around for you. There are still plenty of good girls in Twin Moon City.”

Shi Lan felt both helpless and amused and shook her head to decline his kind offer.

“True enough. A lad like you, good-looking and capable, won’t have any trouble finding a girl. I just wonder if Ziming’s found someone he likes by now. He’s no youngster anymore, either…”

By the end, Liu Ping’s voice had grown quieter.

The two of them soon reached the top of the wall. The thick smoke in the distance seemed to have crept a little closer.

“I heard City Lord Nie say that big thing flying in the sky that came a couple days back will be returning soon to take everyone out of the city. Do you know how long we’ll be gone from Twin Moon City?”

Shi Lan’s expression flickered. “City Lord Nie… said that?”

“He did. Say we all leave when it comes back, and what if Ziming returns around then and can’t find me? What’s he supposed to do?”

Shi Lan lifted her gaze, looking toward the rolling smoke and dust at the horizon, faintly forming a ring around them. Her tone was long and slow. “Maybe… this storm will pass quickly. Then there’ll be no need to leave Twin Moon City at all.”