Isolated town in northern border region

The mountains of Bingzhou are different from those of Yongzhou. Although they are not particularly steep, they have a more desolate and vast feel to them.

The stone walls on both sides of the official road are steep and sheer, and miscellaneous trees grow horizontally from the cracks in the rocks, rustling in the wind, as if hiding countless eyes.

It was already evening on the third day when Xiao Lie and his party entered Bingzhou territory.

The setting sun painted the mountain ridges a golden red, dispelling much of the summer heat. A breeze swept through the forest, carrying the scents of pine resin and damp earth, a cool stillness tinged with a hint of unease.

Xiao Lie reined in his horse and squinted at the continuous mountain shadows ahead.

"The daylight is just right, why rush on your way?"

"Let's set up camp here, hunt some wild game, and head into the prefectural city tomorrow."

He took the iron bow off his horse and gestured with his chin toward Ledo behind him.

"Ledo, I've heard you're quite skilled at archery. Shall we go for a stroll up the mountain?"

Ledo paused for a moment, then hurriedly dismounted and came to stand in front of Xiao Lie.

"Your Highness, this isn't our Northern Frontier. Your health is invaluable; what if..."

Ledo hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped, and Bisu also poked her head out of the carriage.

"Your Highness, Brother Ledo is right..."

"What if what?"

Xiao Lie mounted his horse and slung his bow over his shoulder.

"I've been practicing my archery skills diligently in Yongzhou these past few days, and I've long wanted to put them to the test!"

"Besides, who would dare to assassinate me?"

He patted the quiver at his waist.

"Come, accompany me to test whether the methods in this 'Archery Manual' are effective."

Seeing that Xiao Lie was in high spirits, Le Duo did not try to persuade him any further. He called out to the rear, and a dozen skilled archers emerged from the Canglang Cavalry.

The rest of the people stayed at their posts and set up camp on the spot.

"Let's go!"

"Your Canglang tribe are all warriors of the grasslands. Do you dare to challenge me to a duel in these mountains today?"

Ledo smiled and turned to face the dozen or so burly men from the Canglang tribe.

"Brothers, the prince is testing us!"

"Anyone who loses face today can go back and breastfeed their child!"

Xiao Lie laughed heartily, slung the iron bow over his back, and ran off with two quivers slung over his shoulder.

"The deadline is sunset; let's see who catches the most prey!"

"Brothers, charge!"

A dozen burly men charged into the forest with strange cries and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving only startled birds flying up from the trees.

Jiang Min lifted the carriage curtain, pursed her lips, and muttered helplessly.

"Sometimes I really can't understand this King of the Northern Frontier."

"With military prowess, one can pacify the northern frontier; with civil administration, one can bring prosperity and peace to the nation. When advancing, one's ambition lies in the world; when retreating, one can cede territory and be granted the title of king..."

"But with that kind of personality, it's really hard to figure out. Sometimes it's frighteningly calm, and other times..."

Jiang Min frowned, thinking about how to describe it, when Bi Su ran over with dried fruit in her arms.

"The prince is just a big kid!"

"Princess, would you like some plums? They're from Yongzhou, and they're very sweet!"

Jiang Min reached out and picked one up, putting it in her mouth.

"Yeah! Just a big kid!"

"Even you, Bisu, are like a child!"

Bisu had a preserved plum in her mouth, and her eyes squinted with sweetness.

"The prince once said that if one could stay a child forever, that would be the luckiest thing in the world!"

Jiang Min smiled, a strange look flashing in her eyes, as if she had remembered something.

"A child?"

The mountain is not high, but the forest is very dense.

Xiao Lie led a dozen or so people up a hunting trail, their feet sinking into a thick layer of fallen leaves that made no sound as they stepped on them.

After walking for about half an hour, a wild rabbit darted out of the bushes, like a gray shadow, so fast that it was almost invisible.

Xiao Lie drew his bow, inhaled, and slowly moved the arrow tip along the rabbit's trajectory...

He recalled the words in the "Archery Manual".

"The archer's form should be upright and his will righteous; his spirit should follow the momentum."

He didn't release the arrow immediately, but instead let it follow the rabbit's trajectory for a few steps before releasing the bowstring just as it was about to disappear into another bush.

The arrow flew through the forest and landed half a foot in front of the hare in the mud, its fletching still buzzing.

The centurion stood to the side, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

Xiao Lie walked over, picked up the arrow, and shook his head.

"The lead time was still not calculated accurately!"

"Again!"

The second one was a pheasant.

This time, he lowered the arrow tip, calculated the pheasant's forward leap as it flapped its wings, and released it. The arrow pierced through the grass and precisely struck the pheasant's neck.

The centurion went over, picked it up, weighed it in his hand, and then turned back to give Xiao Lie a thumbs up.

"Your Highness, what excellent archery skills!"

Xiao Lie smiled but didn't say anything.

He felt that the concept of anticipation was similar to the prediction in shooting games in his previous life. Once he understood this, archery would no longer be a mystical art based on intuition, but a fixed trajectory that could be continuously replicated.

Next, Xiao Lie seemed to suddenly find his rhythm, his accuracy became more and more stable, and the range of his bow strokes became larger and larger.

The arrows were gradually changed from ordinary bamboo arrows to heavy lacquered wooden arrows!

"call out!"

The arrow shot through the air, piercing a muntjac directly. Its force did not diminish, and it even blasted a large hole in the tree behind the muntjac!

"What a powerful arrow!"

"What a stiff bow!"

Ledo was quite shocked by the arrow and stared blankly at the tree that was almost half broken off for a long time.

Xiao Lie used the string-twisting technique from the "Archery Manual" to greatly enhance the arrow's power!

"That's the feeling!"

"I am simply a genius!"

An hour later, the group descended the mountain carrying various wild game, including rabbits, pheasants, and muntjacs.

The campsite was set up and the campfire was burning brightly.

Bisu was cooking a pot of wild vegetable soup by the fire when she saw Xiao Lie return and greeted him with a smile.

"Your Highness, you've reaped quite a harvest!"

Xiao Lie put down his bow and was about to speak when he caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye.

Jiang Min stood at the entrance of the camp, her green dress standing out in the twilight.

She probably heard the sound of horses' hooves and came out specifically to wait.

Her gaze lingered on Xiao Lie for a moment, then swept over the game in his hand, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

"Your Highness has had a fruitful trip; it seems your archery skills have improved considerably."

Just as Xiao Lie was about to reply, his gaze suddenly froze.

On the hillside behind her, the last rays of the setting sun shone through the gaps in the bushes, reflecting a tiny, extremely bright light!

It couldn't be dew at this hour...

That must be the reflection from the iron!

Xiao Lie's mind snapped into focus. He instinctively turned his head, using the movement to catch the reflection in his peripheral vision. At the same time, his ears caught a very faint sound...

It was the muffled sound of the bowstring vibrating!

Even from nearly a hundred paces away, the muffled thud of the bowstring could still be heard; this must be a powerful crossbow!

"Get out of the way!"

Without thinking twice, he lunged forward and shoved Jiang Min away!

Almost at the same instant, an arrow, carrying a strong wind, pierced deeply into Xiao Lie's body!

"Protect the Prince!"

"Your Highness!"

"Ding!"

Amid the gasps of the crowd, a sudden metallic clang rang out.

Xiao Lie grimaced as he pulled out the arrow. There was no blood on the arrowhead, and the arrowhead was deformed!

"Enemy attack! On the western hillside!"

"Surround them and capture them alive!"

The soldiers of the Trapped Camp reacted extremely quickly!

The campfire was extinguished instantly, shields were closed, crossbows were nocked, and the camp immediately went into battle alert. Everyone found their positions within three breaths.

Ledo had already led a group of men to encircle the hillside in a fan shape.

Bisu lunged forward, using both her hands and feet to shield Xiao Lie.

"Your Highness! Oh my! Your Highness! Don't scare me!"

Xiao Lie gently pinched Bi Su's chubby cheeks.

"Silly girl, I'm alright!"

"That simpleton Luo Daniu really saved my life!"

He reached into his robes and pulled out the Panlong Guard's iron plaque. The arrowhead smashed a large hole in the dragon pattern's recess, and the shaft was already broken.

If it weren't for this iron plaque, the arrow would have already pierced through his chest.

Jiang Min got up from the ground, her face pale.

"Your Highness...are you injured?"

"It's okay, the bone might be fractured, but you won't die."

Xiao Lie gritted his teeth and stood up.

"This arrow wasn't aimed at me; the target should be Her Highness the Princess."

"The arrow pierced right through your back from where Your Highness was standing."

Jiang Min's hands were trembling slightly, but she didn't panic. She just quickly glanced at the situation in the camp.

"How could this be?"

"No rush, Ledo will bring the person back soon."

"Let's ask slowly."

Soon, the search team returned from the hillside.

Ledo carried a corpse and threw it in the center of the camp.

The man was dressed in tight black clothes, and his face was covered with burn scars, making it impossible to recognize his original appearance.

With a shattered venom sac in its mouth, it was lifeless.

He's a standard suicide bomber!

He committed suicide by poisoning himself immediately after the operation failed.

He had no markings, no tokens, nothing to trace his identity, and even his crossbow was destroyed, reduced to a pile of broken parts.

Xiao Lie squatted down, brushed aside the pile of weapon wreckage, and stopped when his gaze fell on the end of the crossbow.

At the tail of the crossbow arm is an exquisite metal disc.

The turntable is made of brass and is polished very smoothly with fine teeth, like the craftsmanship of a watchmaker.

He reached out and flicked it; the turntable was stuck with a winch rope, clearly indicating that it was a crossbow that was cocked using a winch.

This type of crossbow mechanism is not uncommon; it is typically found on large siege crossbows to save effort.

But this thing is extremely rare on small infantry crossbows!

If a regular bowstring is used, an ordinary person can pull it open, so why bother installing a winch?

There is only one explanation...

The bow of this crossbow is extremely strong!

Xiao Lie pried open a small piece of veneer remaining on the crossbow arm, revealing a section of dark yellow wood with fine, silky grain and a heavy feel, unlike ordinary materials.

He tried to break the piece of wood, but even after his fingers were pricked by splinters, he felt no discomfort.

Finally, they had to use a knife to split it open, and found that the inside was incredibly smooth with extremely fine wood grain!

"This is definitely not ordinary wood!"

Ledo came closer.

"Your Highness, what should we do with this assassin?"

Xiao Lie glanced at it and sighed softly.

"Bury him."

"Tell the brothers to be careful; we'll take turns on watch tonight."

"By the way, regarding the princess, have the elite troops select a few good ones to guard her with shields."

"Yes, Your Majesty! I will give the order immediately."

After arranging everything, Xiao Lie took the piece of wood to find Jiang Min.

Jiang Min had regained her composure and was sitting in the tent.

"Princess, you are very knowledgeable, do you know what kind of wood this is?"

After listening to Xiao Lie's words, she took the piece of wood, looked at it in the candlelight for a moment, and then remained silent for a long time.

"This is ironwood."

"It grows deep in the mountains of the Bohai Kingdom in the southeast. Its texture is comparable to pig iron, making it extremely difficult to process, but its toughness and elasticity far exceed those of ordinary wood."

"Looking around the world, almost no one would use it to make crossbow arms. First, it takes too much effort to process, and second, it simply doesn't require that much force."

"Every year, the Bohai Kingdom would exchange state gifts with other countries, and ironwood was almost exclusively circulated only within the royal families of those countries."

She paused, then looked up at Xiao Lie.

"Could it be that His Highness's reconquest of the powerful families of Yongzhou has driven the Chu Emperor to desperation?"

"Or perhaps a powerful family in Yongzhou hired someone to commit murder?"

Xiao Lie shook his head.

"I don't know, I need to think about it carefully."

He carefully put the piece of wood away.

"There aren't many people who can get their hands on this kind of wood."

"Please, Your Highness, investigate this matter; perhaps you can find something."

That night, Xiao Lie had Le Duo and Bi Su impersonate him and stand in the same position as Jiang Min, while he himself located the assassins and aimed his crossbow.

As soon as Xiao Lie lay down, mimicking the assassin's movements, he was certain that the killer was after Jiang Min!

because……

Looking down from the hill overlooking the crossbow towards the camp, Bi Su, disguised as "Jiang Min," was right in the center!

A large rock at the bottom of the hillside happened to block Ledo's disguise as "Xiao Lie"!

Xiao Lie couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Damn it! I really did run into it myself!"