Start with a red name

Chapter 81 Yuanzhou "Spider Web"

"Yeah." Geng Xuan responded directly.

Master Chai stared at Geng Xuan and said:

"Don't you think that you can be an archer just by holding a bow and carrying a bag of arrows?"

Geng Xuan shook his head:

"Master Chai, please don't be so mean to me. I made this decision after careful consideration."

"You've thought it over carefully. Did you come up with this idea on the spur of the moment?... Tell me about it." Mr. Chai has sat up straight and his attitude has become very serious.

Geng Xuan said:
“The hunting team I want to join is a new hunting team that was formed not long ago in the town.

During this period they have been operating under the leadership of the old hunting team, and as far as I know, their cooperation has been very good.

If I rashly join in at this time, not only will I not be able to help, but I will cause trouble for them.

Even if you choose to stand aside and do nothing, it is better than getting involved. It would be even better if you can restrain them from a distance without getting in the way.

As far as I know, none of the members of this new hunting team has practiced archery. What I'm doing can be regarded as making up for one deficiency.

...Whether for the entire hunting team or for me, there is probably no more suitable position than this."

Master Chai smacked his lips and muttered:

"You thought about it carefully and figured this out? ... Isn't this all bullshit?!"

Geng Xuan chuckled and said, "Of course the most important reason should be put last."

As he spoke, he looked at Master Chai and said seriously, "Master Chai, you said that I have strong talents in both blowing arrows and throwing hidden weapons.

But after my own personal experience during this period of time, I feel that my real talent does not lie in blowing darts or throwing hidden weapons.

The reason why I excel in these two aspects is that I just happened to choose these two!"

Master Chai looked at him askance and asked, "What is your real talent? ... Could it be from heaven?"

Don't use too harsh a mocking tone in your speech.

“It’s a long-range attack!

...Don't think I'm just fooling you, I really feel that way.

It's really hard to describe that feeling. When I look at a certain place, I know what my body should do to hit it without any experience or judgment.

It is not limited to a specific means, whether it is using a blowpipe or throwing with your hands, it is just a different way of achieving the goal.

Even if you change to a bow and arrow, the effect will be the same."

After hearing this, Mr. Chai looked at Geng Xuan intently. After a moment, he suddenly stood up and walked into the house.

After a while, he came out with a leather quiver in one hand and a longbow in the other.

The longbow is all black, without any exquisite patterns. It looks like a very standard and ordinary longbow.

Under Geng Xuan's eager gaze, Master Chai placed the black longbow on the table and said:

"If you can prove with your actions today that you are not just talking, I will give you this bow."

"You're giving this bow to me?... Thank you, Mr. Chai, thank you!" Geng Xuan quickly took the longbow on the table in his hand, with tears of gratitude on his face, and couldn't let it go.

Mr. Chai quickly stopped him.

“Stop, when did I say I would give you the bow? If you perform well, you can take this bow to participate in the autumn hunt.

If you can't, don't talk nonsense in front of me. While there is still some time, go and practice cooperation with the hunting team!"

"Don't worry, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

"..."

Before this, when Geng Xuan asked Master Chai for advice on the training techniques of the Featherless Arrow, he had already shared all his experience in training the Linked Tracking Arrow.

The corresponding information had already appeared in his mind.

However, because he didn't have a longbow and the need for this skill was not urgent, he did not improve it.

Now, everything is ready, including the east wind.

However, he did not immediately use up his good fortune to improve himself, but instead pretended to ask Mr. Chai for advice for an hour or two.

From time to time, he would pick up the longbow and practice with it in his hand.

Looking at his performance, Mr. Chai did not see any admiration for the genius in his eyes, but instead gradually began to look doubtful.

He seemed to be thinking, with this level of ability, how big of a face would one need to have to think that he had unparalleled talent in this area?
"Well, it's alright."

Seeing that the time was almost right, Geng Xuan focused his thoughts and a piece of information immediately emerged in his mind.

[The host has understood the essence of the "Linking Arrows", and his body also meets all the prerequisites for mastering this skill. He can quickly get started by consuming two points of luck. ]

【whether?】

"Yes."

As his thoughts became clear and his two points of luck were consumed, Geng Xuan felt a warm current flowing through his fingers and arms.

At the same time, some experience and insights about how to draw a bow, how to hold an arrow, and how to aim flooded into Geng Xuan's mind.

【Lucky: 474
Linked Arrows (Beginner)+】

Geng Xuan put down his longbow, stretched out his hands and casually did a few chest expansion warm-up exercises, taking the opportunity to roughly digest the various gains he had made after this upgrade.

Then he picked up the longbow again, drew an arrow from the quiver beside him, and gently placed it on the longbow.

As the posture and strength of the arms, shoulders, neck, and even the entire body were adjusted accordingly, the longbow in his hand had been pulled seven points, and then the posture was frozen in this state.

At first glance, it does look quite realistic.

But Master Chai, who thought he had seen through Geng Xuan's true colors, couldn't help but say, "Okay, kid..."

"Whoosh!"

Geng Xuan gently loosened his hand holding the arrow, and the long arrow flew through the air and hit a tree trunk at least forty or fifty steps away.

With a satisfied look on his face, Geng Xuan turned his head to look at Master Chai and asked curiously, "Master Chai, what do you want to say?"

From the moment the arrow flew out, Mr. Chai's movements were as if he was under a spell. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were fixed in a daze. He had no intention of responding to his joke.

Of course, shooting an arrow at a tree trunk forty or fifty steps away is not a great feat.

There is no need to practice the "Continuous Tracking Arrows" specifically. An ordinary person can achieve similar results after training for a period of time.

The real essence of this arrow lies in the fact that when the arrow was flying through the air and was about to hit the tree trunk, a dead leaf falling in the wind happened to float into the path of the arrow.

So, when the long arrow was nailed into the tree trunk, the dead leaf was also "entrained" and nailed to the tree.

Master Chai was surprised at his sudden amazing performance, and Geng Xuan was also very satisfied with the effect of this arrow.

If you compare them horizontally with the two skills of blowgun and featherless arrow, you can find that all three skills are at the entry level.

Well, both in terms of range and accuracy, the chain of tracing arrows are much better than blowgun arrows and featherless arrows.

This is also a matter of course. If the power of a bow and arrow of the same level is only equivalent to that of a featherless arrow or even a blowgun arrow, then there is no need for him to practice this archery skill anymore.

In terms of range, accuracy, and even absolute lethality at the same distance, bows and arrows are far superior to featherless arrows and blowguns.

Even if a better longbow is used and more targeted arrows are made, the lethality will be even more terrifying.

These are the advantages of bows and arrows over hand throwing and blowgun darts.

However, on the other hand, this is also the disadvantage of the bow and arrow compared to the other two.

If you are just playing with a bow, what if you run out of arrows?
What if you don’t have your bow and arrow with you?
All your abilities instantly dropped to zero.

In comparison, featherless arrows thrown barehanded, regardless of any "weapon", have much greater freedom and reliability.

——Whether it was a specially made hidden weapon or a randomly picked up stone, it could be used as a means of defeating the enemy from a distance. However, the range and absolute lethality of the blowgun arrow were both the smallest.

But it also has advantages that neither bows nor featherless arrows have.

The first is concealment, and it can be done silently before the enemy is hit.

Another thing is that it can be successfully performed in almost any environment.

Not to mention the bow and arrow, an open space, at least enough to draw a bow, is necessary.

Featherless arrows have fewer restrictions in this regard, but if you are in a narrow cave that is only wide enough for a person to crawl through, there is no room to move your hands, so it is naturally impossible to make a throwing motion.

……

Mr. Chai was stunned for a moment, then his expression returned to normal.

He picked up the teapot on the table, took a sip from the spout, and said calmly:

"What I'm teaching you is the continuous tracking arrows. The tracking is a bit difficult, so I won't make it difficult for you... Just shoot me a series of arrows. It doesn't need to be many, just two in a row, just to show your appreciation."

Geng Xuan asked, "Master Chai, are you sure you are not deliberately making things difficult for me?"

Master Chai curled his lips and said, "Can't do it? Then your level is not that good, just barely enough to get started."

Geng Xuan didn't fall for it and just asked, "Is this kind of archery skill good enough to be a shooter?"

Master Chai hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and said, "Okay, you can use this bow... I'm not giving it to you as a gift, remember to return it to me after the autumn hunt is over!"

He waved his hand and told Geng Xuan to get out.

Geng Xuan also put the quiver on the table on his back.

Then he thought of something and said, "Master Chai, it's no use having a bow without arrows. Please give me some more arrows."

Master Chai waved his hand and drove them away:
"Go, go, go, ask me for everything.

...Go and ask Chen Rongshan. Isn't the team you want to join led by his son? As long as your archery skills are good enough, he will prepare it for you. You don't need to worry about it.

Otherwise, go and tell Li Xun that he is in charge of the autumn hunt and doesn't need your arrows."

So Geng Xuan left quickly.

But the next day, he came again.

Although Mr. Chai was cursing, Geng Xuan could feel that the old man's mental state had improved a lot while he was chatting with him.

Anyway, the autumn hunt was approaching and Geng Xuan had no other plans, so he just regarded it as caring for the elderly.

Besides, coming here doesn't really mean wasting time.

As Mr. Chai talked about all sorts of things, Geng Xuan's understanding of the world became deeper and deeper.

Although, because the old man stayed in Changpingfang for many years, his knowledge and experience were not updated in time, and many things were old news from many years ago.

But to Geng Xuan, the value of these old news is no less than that of "news".

Moreover, because it was old news from many years ago, the old man had no scruples when talking about it.

……

"Mr. Chai, can you please tell me more about the underground black market?" Geng Xuan said.

Master Chai waved his hands and said, "I have told you everything I know. It's just a few things. Do you think it's really mysterious and complicated?"

Seeing Geng Xuan staring at him eagerly, full of curiosity, he felt that if he didn't say something, he would be sorry for this kid who cared so much about him.

——Of course he knew that this kid had come to him these past two days just to learn more from him. He didn't think there was anything wrong with this, but was very happy, thinking that this guy had really opened his mind.

Unlike other young people in Changpingfang, he only has three things in his mind.

Practice, practice, and damn practice.

It seems that as long as you practice wholeheartedly and become stronger than you were yesterday, the road ahead will become wider and wider.

But in his eyes, this was a typical stupid behavior of only knowing how to lower your head and hurry along, but not knowing how to look up and see the road.

Now that he finally has someone who is sensible, he is so happy that he can’t contain himself.

Although he cursed, he would rack his brains to recall every time, trying not to disappoint the Geng family boy's expectations.

At this moment, he felt that all the stories about the underground black market had been emptied out by the other party and there was nothing new to tell.

Suddenly, he had an idea and thought of something else.

He coughed lightly, picked up the teapot, drank slowly, and sorted out his thoughts.

Geng Xuan, who had already figured out his habits, sat up straight and listened attentively when he coughed lightly.

"Boy, you already know that in Yuanzhou, there is an underground black market under almost every market, but the sizes vary.

Then let me ask you a question, do you think the bazaar came before the underground black market, or did the underground black market come before the bazaar?"

After hearing this question, an answer immediately popped into Geng Xuan's mind.

Of course, the bazaar preceded the underground black market.

Without the prosperity of the market and the existence of a large number of practitioners, as well as the corresponding demand generated by them, there would naturally be no soil for the emergence of an underground black market.

In Geng Xuan's opinion, this is a matter of course.

Demand is the strongest driving force.

The reason why there is an underground black market in every market is that the mixed practitioners gathered in these markets have many shady trading needs.

However, before he could give the answer, he swallowed it back.

If the matter was so simple, Mr. Chai would not have asked about it at this time.

Obviously, then, the real answer is probably another one.

So, he said slowly: "The underground black market existed before the market."

Mr. Chai nodded, without commenting, and then asked: "Then do you know the reason?"

Geng Xuan shook his head: "I don't know... Please help me, Master Chai!"

Uncle Chai nodded, stroked his sparse beard, and transformed from an old man who spoke in a swearing manner into the role of a teacher.

"Below Kangleji, in addition to the underground black market, there is a larger area around it, and there are many tunnels spread out like a spider web. Do you know?"

“Well, I know a little bit.

...I heard that many families in the market have tunnels leading directly underground, which are interconnected in all directions. No one even knows how big it is.

I also heard that those places are very unsafe and no one knows what dangers are lurking there.

Even a master like Master Fan doesn't dare to investigate further."

Master Chai nodded and said calmly:

“Then let me tell you about this underground network.

Not only in Kangle Market, but also in all the markets in Yuanzhou!

Moreover, the scale will never be smaller than the one below Kangleji.

It is even said that the tunnel network under each market does not exist in isolation, but is connected together.

It’s just that in some places the tunnels are sparse, while in some places, the tunnels are densely intersecting.

The market is built at the point where these tunnels intersect most densely!
Before the bazaar was established, when the land was still barren, underground black markets already existed.

The underground black market at that time was much larger than it is now.”

(End of this chapter)