Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

Xue Wei threw the first bronze arrow. The instant it left his hand, he knew the arrow had failed. The bronze arrow drew an arc and accurately shot towards the neck of the bronze pot. "Clang!" The bronze arrow hit the neck of the pot and bounced off to the ground.

Xue Wei sighed inwardly. Muscle memory alone wasn't enough; he had to work with his mind. He knew where the problem lay. He should have thrown a high parabola, not a small arc. The bottle opening was too small; the copper arrow had to fall vertically at a 90-degree angle. Eighty degrees might be acceptable, but any smaller angle wouldn't be enough.

Xue Wei then took the second bronze arrow, which looked just like a ballpoint pen from later generations and felt heavy in his hand.

Xue Wei took a deep breath, found his rhythm, and calculated the angle. Without hesitation, he threw the bronze arrow. The arrow drew a beautiful high parabola and flew towards the mouth of the bottle three zhang away.

The bronze arrow struck the mouth of the bottle, but the angle was slightly too small. The arrow was bumped by the mouth of the bottle, and the bronze arrow bounced out of the mouth of the bottle and slid to the ground.

Xue Wei was stunned. He thought the arrow would definitely hit the target, but it bounced back.

Beside him, Gao Jian couldn't help but chuckle, a hint of mockery in his voice. "It's been a year, and Young Master Xue has regressed quite a bit!"

Xue Wei suddenly felt a little uncertain. He wasn't actually the Three Absolutes Young Master; he had merely taken over the body of the Three Absolutes Young Master and was using the last bit of muscle memory to gamble. Could he really succeed? He didn't want to lose all of his eight taels of silver.

"Don't panic! Don't panic!"

Xue Wei secretly told himself, "You can do it. Your steady, accurate, and ruthless swordsmanship and ability to seize opportunities in your previous life are unmatched. With the tempering of a year in the water prison and the muscle memory honed through countless trials, you won't be much worse than the real Three Masters. You just haven't found your rhythm yet."

In a dark corner of the gambling den sat a woman dressed in men's clothing. She wore a wide-brimmed gauze hat, the veil obscuring her face and making it impossible to see her features. However, her eyes were very bright, and even through the veil, one could feel the luster in them.

She seemed uninterested in anything at the gambling den, calmly sipping a cup of tea while her gaze, sharp as a knife, fixed intently on Xue Wei. Behind her stood three tall female warriors, each carrying a long sword on her back.

Xue Wei grasped the third bronze arrow, slowly closed his eyes, and everything went black before his eyes, as if he had returned to the days of the Blackwater Prison.

He took a deep breath and carefully calculated the angle and force. Although his eyes were closed, the copper kettle appeared in his mind with perfect clarity.

Xue Wei suddenly felt a strange sensation; the bronze arrow in his hand seemed to come alive. He seized this feeling and threw the third arrow without hesitation.

Once again, the copper arrow followed a high parabola, piercing the copper pot at an angle close to ninety degrees with a "whoosh!" and making a muffled "thud!" sound at the bottom.

An uproar erupted around them, and Gao Jian's expression changed as well. He had actually managed to hit the target with a single arrow, something that hadn't happened in almost a year. Even Xue Wei a year ago would have had a hard time achieving this, yet today he had done it on his third arrow.

At this moment, Gao Jian suddenly saw someone. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Wu Liankun. His expression immediately changed. Gao Jian knew something was wrong and he had to get away from this dangerous place. Taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention, Gao Jian turned around and quietly left.

"Good! One arrow to the end!" Cheers erupted.

"It was just pure luck, nothing special!"

A discordant voice came from the side. Xue Wei turned around and his pupils instantly contracted. It was Wu Liankun, his nemesis.

Wu Liankun took off his cloak, tossed it to his attendant, and stepped forward with a half-smile, saying, "We made a bet last year on the Lantern Festival, but unfortunately you went to jail the next day. There's no time like the present, so let's do it today!"

"What are we betting on?" Xue Wei asked casually.

Wu Liankun pointed to the wooden platform beside him, "The Sword Gambling Platform!"

Xue Wei looked at the wooden platform, which was about 10 feet long and 3 meters wide, or nine square meters in total. Since it was called a sword platform, it was probably for sword fighting.

He turned to the steward and asked, "What are the rules of the sword platform?"

The steward bowed slightly. "The two will fight with wooden swords. The one whose sword falls from their hand or lands on the platform will be the loser."

Xue Wei nodded. "How much money did I win?"

"According to the rules, if a player can shoot the arrow to the bottom of the pot in one go, they are exempt from taking a cut, so the young master can get 165 strings of cash!"

Xue Wei glanced at Wu Liankun and said calmly, "I'm betting 165 strings of cash!"

Wu Liankun sneered, "A little over a hundred strings of cash? Ha! Ha! You think you can fob me off like a beggar? I'll bet a thousand strings!"

Wu Liankun was a year younger than Xue Wei. He knew his nominal elder brother very well. The Three Masters referred to archery, polo, and horse archery, while his weakness was swordsmanship.

Wu Liankun would certainly not touch Xue Wei's strengths, but instead chose his weaknesses to wager. He wanted to defeat Xue Wei openly, which was much more satisfying than insulting him.

Gamblers crowded around to place their bets, with many betting on Wu Liankun to win. Xue Wei was unaware that his predecessor had lost badly three times in sword-fighting matches, but the gamblers knew this. Soon, a 30/70 split was formed, with a total bet of several thousand strings of cash placed, of which only 30% was placed on Xue Wei.

At this moment, a tall female warrior dressed in a blue samurai outfit stepped forward, placed a ticket on the betting table, and coldly said, "My master bets one thousand taels of silver on Young Master Xue!"

The gambling den manager's expression changed slightly. He glanced at the mysterious woman in the corner, nodded, and said expressionlessly, "Write it down: one thousand taels of silver, bet on Young Master Xue to win!"

Xue Wei then noticed the woman in the corner, but he didn't pay her any mind. The Twelve Palaces were full of powerful and influential people, and there were many sons of nobles and dignitaries. Who knew which prince or nobleman's daughter this was?

The casino waiter brought over two wooden swords, made of southern ebony, which were very heavy and could cause serious injury if struck on the head. So he also brought over two mountain helmets to protect against heavy blows.

Xue Wei put on his helmet, then casually picked up a wooden sword. The blade was rounded and blunt, weighing about seventeen or eighteen pounds. It felt heavy in his hand, and the hilt was slightly long, making it a two-handed sword.

Xue Wei walked onto the wooden platform without saying a word. He didn't know how good Xue Wei's swordsmanship was, but swordsmanship was his forte. He had been the national fencing club épée champion and the owner of a fencing club.

Xue Wei struck a fencing pose, which seemed rather strange to the people of the Tang Dynasty. However, the Tang Dynasty was open to all new things, and no one objected to Xue Wei's pose.

Wu Liankun had been taught by a famous master and was highly skilled in swordsmanship. He held his breath, gripped the sword with both hands, curled up slightly, and held the wooden sword horizontally above his head.

"Kill him—" Wu Liankun roared, his wooden sword sweeping horizontally towards Xue Wei's waist with incredible speed, creating a whooshing sound. The surrounding gamblers, their blood boiling, couldn't help but shout, "What superb swordsmanship!"

Xue Wei seemed to have returned to the fencing arena of his previous life. He took a steady step back, dodging Wu Liankun's sweeping sword, and his wooden sword flashed towards Wu Liankun's throat.

The sword strike was fierce and incredibly fast. Wu Liankun never dreamed that Xue Wei's swordsmanship would improve so drastically in just one year. He had underestimated his opponent and was unable to dodge in time, so the wooden sword pierced his chest.

With a loud thud, Wu Liankun groaned as the intense pain caused him to fall to his knees, using his wooden sword to support himself. His vision blurred with pain, and he was drenched in cold sweat.

Xue Wei stepped forward, lowered his voice, and said coldly, "Now, who's acting like a dog?"

Wu Liankun looked up and glared at him viciously. Xue Wei showed no mercy and kicked Wu Liankun off the sword platform. Wu Liankun screamed and fell to the ground, his wooden sword flying out of his hand and two zhang away.

The sword fight ended in just one round, and everyone was stunned into silence.

The woman in the corner suddenly stood up, staring at Xue Wei in shock, her eyes filled with disbelief. This was not the Xue Wei she knew. When did Xue Wei's swordsmanship become so superb?

Just then, the maid A-Ping quietly approached Xue Wei and gently slipped a small note into his hand.