Chapter 56: Spear Duel
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
“May I?”
I don’t think so, thought Liang Ping, but just as he was about to say it out loud, someone chimed in, “Hey, why ask Instructor Liang? Just go ask He Yan! That kid knows what he’s doing. If he wants to duel, he will. If not, then forget about it. Isn’t it that simple?”
“Makes sense,” Du Mao nodded in agreement, turning to Jiang Jiao, “You should go ask He Yan directly. However, ” he added with a pause, “You can duel, but keep it controlled, no causing harm.”
With things pushed this far, Liang Ping had no choice but to watch Jiang Jiao walk towards He Yan.
As Jiang Jiao approached the group of new recruits led by Liang Ping, he immediately spotted He Yan who was practicing with the spear. It wasn’t that she was particularly eye-catching, but her petite figure stood out among the burly men. Instead of approaching right away, Jiang Jiao silently observed He Yan’s practice. Her movements were simple, thrusting and pulling back with the spear, but even in these basic exercises, she exhibited a focused determination, showing no signs of slacking off.
After watching for a while, someone noticed Jiang Jiao and asked, “Hey, buddy, what are you standing here looking at us for?”
“Looking for someone,” Jiang Jiao replied before striding purposefully toward He Yan.
He Yan was in the middle of a spear thrust when someone suddenly grasped the tip of her spear. The force caused the person to take two steps back, and she raised her head in surprise, asking, “Why did you grab my spear?”
Jiang Jiao, too, was pushed back a couple of steps by the force of the thrust, and he couldn’t help but feel astonished. He realized that He Yan’s seemingly frail appearance was deceiving – this simple thrust held a tremendous amount of power. If he hadn’t been trained from childhood in martial arts due to his family’s martial school, an ordinary person might have been knocked down by such a move.
Thinking this, he felt a bit of respect for He Yan’s skills and took a closer look at her. “I’ve heard about your remarkable talents, He Yan,” he said, “and I’m eager to spar with you in the spear discipline. What do you say?”
He Yan blinked, understanding the situation. Another challenger had appeared?
Hong Shan stood behind He Yan, muttering, “Oh no, trouble’s brewing. Remember when Ah He defeated Wang Ba? I knew something like this was going to happen again. This is the second one.”
“There’s more to come?” Xiao Mai asked in a hushed tone.
“Plenty more, there will always be a third, fourth, and fifth person,” Hong Shan shook his head, “People, you know, they just love competing and being victorious. But what’s the point of all this constant rivalry and competition?”
What’s the point? He Yan thought, feeling amused. She had been thinking that in order to get noticed by Xiao Jue and join the Nine Banner Battalion, she needed to establish herself as a remarkable and exceptional hero. However, Xiao Jue didn’t come to the training ground every day to watch the recruits practice, and she had no way to showcase her skills unless someone challenged her like Wang Ba did, continuously boosting her reputation. If word spread through challenges, it would naturally reach Xiao Jue’s ears.
But for some reason, no one had challenged her since her victory over Wang Ba. She suspected that the loss of the dry bread had discouraged the recruits from challenging her. She couldn’t actively approach others for challenges; otherwise, she’d spend her days endlessly competing.
Now, another challenger had appeared. What a fortunate coincidence.
“Sure,” He Yan placed her spear by her side, “How would you like to compare skills?”
Her straightforward response caught Jiang Jiao off guard for a moment. He hesitated, then said, “Let’s spar in the spear discipline, and we’ll stop when either of us concedes.”
“Alright,” He Yan agreed, “Go fetch your spear, and we’ll have our duel on the training ground stage.”
“You…” Jiang Jiao hesitated and asked, “Don’t we need to wait for ten days?”
He Yan paused, finding it somewhat amusing, “It’s not like it’s always ten days every time.”
Did they think she needed ten days to prepare? She had been training with the stone locks every day to build her strength. Although she couldn’t match the strength of a strong man, she was sufficiently prepared for regular archery practice.
A few training instructors who had come over crowded around. Someone nudged Liang Ping’s arm, saying, “Old Liang, I’ve been saying this. You can’t always assume that your recruit cares as much about these challenges as you do. Why are you worrying so much?”
Liang Ping: “…”
He had originally thought that He Yan would refuse, assuming that if He Yan personally declined, Jiang Jiao would probably drop the matter. However, to his surprise, He Yan had agreed on the spot. Did this kid not know the word “refuse”? Or had he become so confident that he welcomed challenges from anyone?
“I’m quite looking forward to it,” Du Mao said, taking a sip of water from his leather water pouch and fixing his gaze on He Yan as she ascended the elevated platform. “How about we make a wager?”
“I’m not gambling,” Liang Ping flatly refused. After the incident where a recruit lost his bread ration and went hungry for an entire month, the very idea was horrifying. If the new recruits didn’t gamble, how could the instructors gamble?
“He’s a coward. If he won’t, I will!” another instructor chimed in. “I’ll bet a bottle of yellow wine given at the end of the month that Jiang Jiao wins!”
…
Upon hearing the news that He Yan was going to have a spear duel with Jiang Jiao, the first thing Cheng Lisu thought to do was to find Xiao Jue in the neighboring room.
He rushed over eagerly, and Xiao Jue was in the midst of talking to his personal hidden guard. He furrowed his brows at the sight. “Cheng Lisu, what are you running around for?”
“Uncle, I came to get you to watch an interesting show!”
Xiao Jue motioned for the guard to leave, and once they were alone, he asked, “What’s going on?”
“My sworn big brother, Brother He, is having a spear duel today!” Cheng Lisu grabbed onto Xiao Jue’s sleeve. “It’s about to start, right now, on the training ground. Let’s go have a look, shall we?”
“He Yan?” Xiao Jue raised an eyebrow.
He remembered He Yan; in just a few months, her name had spread throughout the Liangzhou Garrison. First, her performance in the run, then her transition from struggling to draw a bow to hitting every target. Later, she even became Cheng Lisu’s sworn big brother. Cheng Lisu would sneakily bring her food every once in a while, and Xiao Jue turned a blind eye to it, treating it as a child’s game.
However, this person had an unwavering determination. Despite having average aptitude, she would continue training on the training ground long after the other recruits had retired to bed, practicing until the middle of the night before resting.
“Yeah, you know my big brother too!” Cheng Lisu tugged at Xiao Jue’s sleeve, pulling him along. “I heard today that youngster took the initiative to challenge my big brother. My big brother will surely teach him what real spear technique is!”
Xiao Jue glanced at him. “Sleeve.”
Cheng Lisu immediately released his hold on Xiao Jue’s sleeve and instead grabbed his arm, pleading, “Uncle, please just come and watch. My big brother is really amazing; he’s no less skilled than those strong men in your Nine Banner Battalion!”
Xiao Jue chuckled as if not confirming or denying the claim. Nevertheless, he didn’t stop in his tracks, instead following Cheng Lisu outside.
Cheng Lisu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, Big Brother, I can only help you this much.
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
