After Exile, I Married the Amnesiac General [Rebirth] Chapter 17

The third round of the competition followed immediately after the second.

As the sun gradually moved westward, the wind on the drill ground seemed to grow ever more biting, the chill increasingly evident.

In the center of the field, the warhorses were already lined up in order. The soldiers mounted on them all wore armor, bows and arrows at their waists and backs, fully prepared to set off.

Because the camp had a limited number of warhorses, not many could participate in this round. Basically, only those who had achieved fairly good rankings in the second round were qualified.

Although it was said to be a comprehensive assessment, in reality it was still mainly a contest of mounted archery.

Pei Er rode a fine horse in the middle position of the first row. Beside him was Centurion Jiang. When their eyes met, both carried a trace of coldness.

“Kid, you won’t be so lucky next,” Centurion Jiang could not resist provoking him. A flash of viciousness passed through his bruised and swollen right eye, narrowed to a slit.

Pei Er ignored him. He subconsciously turned his head and looked again toward Li Chansiu, who stood on the eastern side of the drill ground.

Li Chansiu slightly withdrew his smile and made a gesture of encouragement toward him.

The corners of Pei Er’s lips unconsciously lifted. He instinctively touched the Buddhist beads he had carefully placed over his heart, feeling a faint warmth there.

Only after a long while did he reluctantly withdraw his gaze.

Beside him, Centurion Jiang let out another cold snort.

Pei Er finally raised his eyes and looked at him coldly in return.

When their gazes met, it was as if blades shot through the air.

After Pei Er withdrew his gaze, Li Chansiu quickly looked toward Zhang Hu.

Zhang Hu happened to turn his head toward him as well. Their eyes met, and they each gave a subtle nod, understanding without words.

On the drill ground, the wind howled. The atmosphere was grim and murderous.

As the bronze gong sounded, a loud shout rang out: “Begin, ”

In an instant, over a hundred fine horses shot out like arrows released from a bow.

For a time, the field was filled with neighing and the thunder of hooves. In the blink of an eye, only a cloud of dust remained.

The moment the gong sounded, Li Chansiu subconsciously closed his eyes, clasped his hands over his heart, and silently recited: Father, you must bless him.

After finishing his silent prayer, he opened his clear, beautiful eyes and gazed into the distance.

Far away, a long trail of dust marked where the warhorses had galloped.

At the very front of that dust cloud, Li Chansiu saw at a glance Pei Er riding the jujube-red steed, charging ahead, leaving Centurion Jiang and the others far behind.

The corners of his lips unconsciously curved into a smile. In his gaze was a trace of admiration he himself did not notice… and a faint, inexplicable pride.

The soldiers on the field could not help clenching their fists and shouting, faces flushed and necks red with excitement. “Pei Er, charge! Pei Er, first place!”

On the platform, seeing Pei Er far in the lead, General Chen could not help stroking his short beard and chuckling.

Jiang He, seeing the entire field cheering Pei Er on, frowned and suddenly turned his head to signal to someone beside him.

That person understood and quickly went down.

Soon after, another group below the platform began shouting, “Jiang Chong, charge! Jiang Chong, first place!”

“So shameless!” Chen Qing cursed angrily. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted hoarsely, “Pei Er, charge! Pei Er, first place! Pei Er, champion!”

As he shouted, he urged his underlings to shout too, and even found time to ask Li Chansiu, “Miss Shen, why aren’t you shouting?”

Li Chansiu: “……”

In the distance, Pei Er indeed grew faster and faster, leaving those behind him farther and farther away. At this rate, first place would surely be his.

All those participating in the third round had to follow the designated route, gallop to the mountainside of a nearby hill, and shoot down the prize.

Pei Er spurred his horse, flying like the wind. When he reached a certain slope, suddenly…

Several ropes were abruptly pulled up across the path ahead!

Caught off guard, Pei Er hurriedly reined in his horse. But before he could steady it, the ropes were yanked sideways toward him, dragging both him and his horse down the slope.

“What’s going on?”

“Why did he fall down?”

The soldiers on the drill ground, who had been gazing into the distance, stretched their necks to look. General Chen on the platform subconsciously rose to his feet as well.

Because the distance was too great, they could not see the exact situation. They only knew that Pei Er suddenly reined in his horse and then fell down the slope, vanishing from sight.

It was unclear whether he had reined in too abruptly and lost his footing, or whether there was another reason. The key question was, why had he suddenly reined in?

Li Chansiu frowned tightly. He did not need to think to guess that Centurion Jiang had ordered someone to play tricks. But at present, he could do nothing. He could only place his hope in Zhang Hu, whom he had instructed in advance.

Zhang Hu and Centurion Jiang happened to be right behind Pei Er, one in second place and one in third.

Both were riding at full speed. Seeing Pei Er fall down the slope, Centurion Jiang felt a surge of joy and immediately whipped his horse forward, rushing ahead.

Zhang Hu’s face turned cold. Gritting his teeth, he chased after him, thinking: Just as Miss Shen expected, this Jiang Chong has used underhanded methods midway.

Although the third round allowed mutual combat and obstruction of others, it absolutely did not allow people who were not participating to lie in ambush beforehand and strike at competitors.

He had promised Miss Shen to help Pei Er. Now that Pei Er had already been dragged down the slope, what use would it be even if he blocked Centurion Jiang? Better to…

Zhang Hu clenched his teeth and suddenly drove his horse hard to the side in a violent collision.

He had already been tightly pressing Centurion Jiang, almost riding parallel. With that collision, he directly knocked the other man down the slope as well, precisely at the spot where Pei Er had just fallen.

At once came a burst of frantic neighing. Immediately afterward, Zhang Hu also rode down the slope.

This slope was not steep. Falling down would at most scrape some skin and leave arms and legs aching for a while.

When Pei Er first fell, he ignored the pain. Rolling once, he scrambled up, intending to mount his horse again. But suddenly four or five men rushed out from beside him and fiercely pinned him down.

“Surnamed Pei, of all people you could offend, you just had to offend Centurion Jiang. Isn’t that courting death?” The men pinning him down used almost the strength of nursing infants, pressing his hands and feet with all their might.

Pei Er’s gaze turned icy. He struggled with all his strength. Just then, another person suddenly fell from above, landing squarely on the four men restraining him.

“Ow!” The men cried out in pain and were knocked apart.

“Which b*stard doesn’t have eyes, ” one of them cursed before even getting up, but when he lifted his head, he froze. “Centurion? Oh! Centurion, how did you come down too?”

He hurriedly scrambled to help Centurion Jiang up.

Seizing the opportunity, Pei Er quickly rolled and scrambled to his feet.

Centurion Jiang was covered in dust from the fall. Before he had even regained his senses, he shouted urgently, “Don’t worry about me, go stop him!”

The four or five subordinates who had just gotten up immediately reacted and rushed forward, trying to drag Pei Er back.

At that moment, Zhang Hu arrived. He charged forward and kicked two of them away, then said to Pei Er, “I’ll hold them off. You leave quickly.”

Pei Er’s expression sharpened. He kicked away the other two men. With no time for formalities, he only said, “Many thanks,” before rushing toward his horse.

But just as he grabbed the saddle, another powerful force came from behind. Centurion Jiang had suddenly scrambled up and lunged at him, dragging him down to the ground.

The two rolled several times down the slope and immediately began grappling.

Centurion Jiang was no match for Pei Er. Even though he struck at Pei Er’s injured spots with every move, Pei Er was desperate to win and had no time to entangle himself. His attacks were fiercer than ever before.

Seeing that Pei Er was about to break free, Centurion Jiang’s eyes turned ruthless. He suddenly pulled out a dagger and viciously stabbed toward Pei Er’s chest.

Pei Er’s expression tightened. He swiftly grabbed his wrist, but only managed to deflect half the force. The dagger still plunged down without deviation, slipping through the gap between the armor plates, 

Centurion Jiang felt a surge of joy, thinking he was about to kill him in one strike. But suddenly, the tip of the blade was blocked by a round, hard object.

It was the Buddhist beads.

Pei Er’s expression instantly turned savage.

Centurion Jiang, having missed his strike, was clearly stunned. But before he could pull out the dagger, Pei Er’s face had already gone cold. He lifted his leg and kicked him violently.

“Ah!!” Centurion Jiang suddenly doubled over, his expression twisted in agony. The shrillness of his cry even startled several overwintering birds from the mountain woods.

Zhang Hu, who was still entangled with the others nearby, shuddered involuntarily and glanced over.

Pei Er shoved Centurion Jiang away, delivered another kick square to his chest, then swiftly turned, scrambled up, and ran toward the jujube-red steed.

He had thought Centurion Jiang would chase after him again, but a glance back from the corner of his eye showed the man severely injured, still hunched over, body curled up, face contorted in pain.

Pei Er had no time to think. He had already heard hoofbeats passing above, someone must have overtaken him. He had to speed up.

He swiftly mounted his horse, his gaze sharp and cold, and leapt up the slope in one bound.

“He’s appeared! Pei Er’s appeared!” On the drill ground, soldiers immediately burst into cheers.

The tension in Li Chansiu’s face finally eased slightly, and he fixed his gaze tightly on the red horse and the cold, handsome figure upon it.

Pei Er was already ten places behind. He leaned forward, almost lying against the horse’s back, charging at full speed, ignoring the dangers of the mountain path and the snow not yet melted, 

He passed one rider.

Then two more.

Fourth.

Fifth.

…

His eyes were like an eagle’s, fixed tightly on the front.

On the drill ground, everyone’s hearts rose with the chase.

Without realizing it, Li Chansiu clenched his fingertips.

Aunt Xu could not help murmuring “Amitabha.” Chen Qing waved his arms desperately beside her, shouting until his face and neck were red.

Finally, Pei Er drew level with the rider in first place.

The drill ground erupted in thunderous cheers.

Gradually, his horse’s head began to edge past the other’s…

At this moment, only a little over a hundred paces remained to the pine tree. The two competing riders both gritted their teeth and simultaneously nocked arrows and drew their bows.

“Whoosh!”

The sound of something slicing through the air rang out. Pei Er was faster and released his arrow a step ahead.

The rope suspending the prize snapped in response. Almost at the same instant, Pei Er charged beneath the tree, stretched out his long arm, and snatched the falling prize.

“Whoa!” At the same time, the reins tightened. The fine horse reared its forelegs high with a loud neigh.

The soldier guarding beneath the pine tree stared in astonishment.

Then the soldier responsible for relaying the news came to his senses, quickly mounted his horse, and galloped toward the drill ground, shouting all the way, “First place is Pei Er! Pei Er won! Pei Er shot down the prize!”

Beneath the pine tree, Pei Er held the prize in one hand, his back straight as the green pine beside him, tall and upright. The tension in his face finally eased slightly after so long.

The soldier he had just overtaken also reined in his horse. He was in fact a thousand-man commander, yet he cupped his hands and said, “Congratulations.”

His tone carried admiration; he conceded wholeheartedly.

In truth, even if he had released his arrow first, he would not have won. A distance of a hundred paces was still somewhat far for him. Just now, seeing Pei Er overtake him, he had grown anxious and tried to gamble, but the result… his arrow had still missed.

Thinking of this, he felt even more respect.

Pei Er, however, had no mind for conversation. He gave a polite nod and immediately spurred his horse back.

Because of the distance, those on the drill ground had only seen Pei Er and the other rider draw their bows and shoot at roughly the same distance, but had not seen who actually hit the target. For a moment, they whispered among themselves, speculating.

Then, carried faintly over the sound of hoofbeats, they heard shouting from afar. At first, they could vaguely make out the words “Pei Er,” and then the voice drew nearer, 

“…Pei Er won! Pei Er shot down the prize!”

At last, the words came through clearly, and the drill ground instantly boiled over.

“Pei Er won? It really was Pei Er?”

“This year’s champion is actually an unknown kid?”

“Hahaha, incredible! Our camp truly has talent springing up!”

“Where’s Centurion Jiang? Why did he fall down the slope and disappear?”

Centurion Jiang was still curled up below the slope, groaning, both hands covering that spot.

Seeing how badly he was in pain, his subordinates had no time to continue fighting Zhang Hu. They hurried over and anxiously asked:

“Centurion? Are you all right?”

“Centurion? Where are you hurt? How is it this serious?”

“…Get lost!” Centurion Jiang clenched his teeth, the words forced out almost from between them. “Go, quickly go stop Pei Er.”

The subordinates looked at one another. Finally, one of them gathered his courage and said cautiously, “Centurion, just now someone passed by above to report the news. Pei Er… Pei Er has already taken first place.”

No sooner had the words fallen than Centurion Jiang was visibly enraged and burst out cursing, “Useless trash!”

He lifted his leg to kick someone, but the moment he moved, his face turned pale and green, and pain overtook him again.

“Centurion!”

“Centurion Jiang?!”

His subordinates hurriedly cried out.

Zhang Hu still stood to the side with his fists clenched, staring blankly. This… probably didn’t require him to fight anymore?

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