Chapter 55 - 53: Astonishing Archery, Zhang Meng’s Falling-out
"Sir, we have a situation."
Chen Chong and Xu Jun, who had been chatting idly, immediately fell silent and looked ahead.
At some point, a flock of pheasants with long tails and patterned necks had appeared about a hundred meters ahead.
The flock wasn’t large, but there were at least seven or eight of them—clearly the same type as the one Wang Biao had killed with a rock before.
Because the three of them were hidden behind a patch of grass, the pheasants hadn’t noticed them. Even so, the birds were cautious, pecking at grass seeds on the ground while periodically raising their heads to watch for danger.
Wang Biao took the wooden bow off his back but didn’t rush to act.
He was calculating the right moment.
He would wait until the pheasants entered his optimal firing range before making a move.
Chen Chong and Xu Jun remained motionless, staring intently ahead...
As the seconds ticked by, the flock of foraging pheasants drew closer and closer.
Finally, the moment arrived!
Wang Biao’s eyes widened. He shot to his feet, immediately nocking the three arrows he already held in his hand.
With a rapid series of draws, three arrows flew from the bowstring one after another.
THWIP—
The startled flock of pheasants took flight, disappearing into the woods in just a few seconds.
The three of them hurried over. On the ground lay two pheasants struck by arrows, one in the neck and the other in the abdomen. Though they were still twitching, they were as good as dead.
"What a pity. I failed to predict the escape route for the third one, or we would have caught three pheasants."
Wang Biao said regretfully as he picked up the one arrow that had missed its mark.
Chen Chong and Xu Jun looked at each other, both thinking, ’He pulls off something that incredible and he’s still not satisfied?’
They had only known that Wang Biao was skilled in hand-to-hand combat; they never expected his Archery to be this incredible!
This was the first time they had seen him in action since he’d gotten the bow and arrows.
He hadn’t had a chance to use it in the past few days, and only now did they realize just how formidable he was!
The two of them had seen it with their own eyes: in less than two seconds, Wang Biao had aimed, predicted, and fired three times.
And most importantly, he had actually hit two of them!
’As expected of a Martial Artist who served in the army...’
"Your Archery is amazing!" Xu Jun said with a look of admiration. "So you weren’t just bluffing before when you said you were skilled with the longspear and bow?"
Chen Chong also gave a thumbs-up. "Impressive. We definitely gave this bow and arrow to the right person."
Wang Biao smiled. "You praise me too much, Sir. Just like stone-throwing, Archery is a required skill in the army. Before I became a Centurion, I was an archer. Since I’ve also been using a bow since I was a child, I suppose you could say I’m fairly accomplished."
’No wonder.’
Chen Chong understood immediately. In ancient armies, archers, like cavalry, were both high-impact combat units.
People might see archers firing from the rear and mistakenly assume they have average physiques and can be easily taken down in close combat.
In reality, if you actually managed to get in an archer’s face, you would discover they were even more formidable in unarmed combat than the average soldier.
In ancient armies, anyone selected to be an archer was, without exception, strong, sturdy, and possessed incredible arm strength. It was no exaggeration to say they were one in a hundred.
Not to mention someone like Wang Biao, who had trained with a bow since childhood and later became a Centurion. His Archery was bound to be far superior to that of an ordinary archer.
He had known that Wang Biao could use a bow, but he never knew just how skilled he truly was.
Now, he finally had a clear picture...
Wang Biao removed the arrows and weighed the pheasants in his hands. "These two are pretty good. Together, they’re almost five pounds."
"It’s a shame these pheasants can only be used as food. We can’t raise them like the wild ducks and wild rabbits."
Xu Jun said with a look of regret, gazing at the two heavy pheasants in Wang Biao’s hands.
"These things are hard to catch alive anyway. This is already a great haul," Chen Chong said calmly.
The three of them had already discussed before they came that even if they caught these pheasants, they probably couldn’t be domesticated.
Trying to catch wild fowl alive was incredibly difficult. At the slightest disturbance, they would flee in an instant.
The only way would probably be to catch them with traps.
The terrain in this forest was different from the grassy plains; it was full of branches and twigs, making it impossible to use a bird net. If they brought one over, it would likely get tangled in the branches before they could even spread it out.
Besides, the riverbank was too far from here. It would take a tremendous amount of effort to haul the net and its poles all this way.
Instead of trying to catch pheasants, it was better to leave the net where it was and see if they could catch another wild duck to pair with the one they already had.
After putting the pheasants in his bag, Chen Chong led the other two toward their next destination to retrieve the Card mentioned in another piece of intel...
....
「The School Gymnasium.」
There were even more structures on the gymnasium floor than before.
Low-tier structures were crammed together one after another.
The most eye-catching was an ancient bluestone well in the very center, with a large open area cleared all around it.
Clearly, the Fighting Club placed great importance on it.
Coarse, murky-colored salt was scattered around the well’s edge, and several club members were continuously pulling something out of the well, dumping it into a nearby pot to be cooked and processed...
「The Second-Floor Conference Room.」
Fan Kai, the club leader, sat at the head of the table.
But unlike his usual calm demeanor, his expression was now so dark it looked like it could drip ink.
Below him, countless members of the Fighting Club were scattered about, some standing and some sitting.
Every person’s face was covered in bruises and bloody scrapes of varying severity.
The atmosphere in the conference room was incredibly tense, filled with an air of defeat...
SLAM!
Just then, the door was thrown open.
Zhang Meng, who had a scar on the corner of his mouth, stormed in with a blond-haired young man, not stopping until he was right in front of Fan Kai.
"Boss, why did you make Da Mao and Old Zhang stay behind to cover the retreat?"
"Even if our Fighting Club has fewer members than the Survival Association and we can’t beat them for now, that’s no reason to sacrifice our brothers’ lives just to buy time to escape, is it?"
"Do you have any idea? I had to watch them suffer all night, and now they’re..."
Zhang Meng’s eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his forehead bulged as if they were about to burst.
Fan Kai looked at him. "Are you questioning me?"
"I’m asking why you used our brothers’ lives to hold back the Survival Association! I wasn’t here yesterday, otherwise I never would have just stood by and watched..."
"Answer me. Are you questioning me?" Fan Kai roared before Zhang Meng could finish.
Zhang Meng froze.
Fan Kai’s gaze swept across the room before he finally spoke.
"If I hadn’t used those two to hold them back, our casualties would have been even higher. This is the price of fighting for resources."
"If you want to get more resources, injuries are unavoidable. It was true this time, and it will be true next time. But I will find a better way, and I will fight to keep casualties to a minimum!"
"The Survival Association is just relying on their numbers. Next time, I will absolutely defeat them!"
Zhang Meng roared, "You call that fighting for resources? Are you sure you didn’t just pick a fight because you couldn’t stand seeing the Survival Association recruit so many students and threaten our club’s status in the school?"
Fan Kai didn’t say a word, just lashed out with a hook punch.
Zhang Meng stumbled backward, bright red blood trickling from the corner of his mouth...
"If you want to be the leader of this club, then beat me. If you can’t, then you’ll listen to me. And if you don’t want to listen, then get the hell out of the club."
"Bo...ss!" Zhang Meng snarled, each word seeming to be squeezed from his throat.
Fan Kai completely ignored him, turning to look at everyone else in the room.
"Does anyone else have the same opinion as him?"
"Either beat me and take my place, or get out with him!"
No one spoke. Everyone lowered their heads...
Disappointment filled Zhang Meng’s eyes. Without another word, he turned, pushed the door open, and walked out.
The only one who followed him was the young, blond-haired subordinate who had been with him all along.
...
Meanwhile, Chen Chong and Xu Jun were squatting together, with Wang Biao standing beside them.
"Brother Chong, I’ve never seen a Card like this before. What a strange find!" Xu Jun said, his face full of curiosity.
Chen Chong had found the Card mentioned in the other piece of intelligence.
But when he saw the Card’s type, he fell silent.
’To think I’d actually find a Card like this.’
’What is this supposed to mean?’
’Is this the heavens trying to give me a sign?’
....