gnovel Chapter 3 Father and Son Working Together
Chapter 3 Father and Son Working Together
"Haha!" Liu Bang looked up at the sky and laughed wildly. The resentment from being chased dissipated, and he felt a sense of satisfaction: "My archery skills are divine! What can mere pursuers do?"
"King of Han, how old are you? How dare you steal the credit of a child?" Xiahou Ying was speechless upon hearing this.
"Shut up!" Liu Bang shouted. "A mere child dares to presume to instruct me? I was just teasing him. With my archery skills, killing these brainless Chu soldiers would be a piece of cake."
"Did you shoot before I gave you instructions?" Liu Ying rolled her eyes.
Liu Bang: "..."
Zhongli Mo was a general under Xiang Yu and was highly trusted by him. After defeating Liu Bang at Pengcheng, Xiang Yu sent him to Pei County to arrest Liu Bang's family. Empress Lü and Liu Taigong thus fell into Zhongli Mo's hands.
To Zhongli Mo's surprise, Liu Ying and her brother escaped, and he launched a manhunt. While searching for Liu Ying and her brother, he unexpectedly encountered Liu Bang, who had fled to Pei County. Overjoyed, he was like a starving dog that had been hungry for ten days finding a large, fragrant pile of excrement; his eyes were practically glowing with greed, and he led his men to hunt down Liu Bang.
Just as they were about to catch up, Liu Bang suddenly displayed his might and shot down all fifteen Chu soldiers who were at the forefront.
Liu Bang's archery skills were extraordinary; he never missed, and every arrow was deadly, greatly surprising Zhongli Mo. Watching this, Zhongli Mo was astonished: "When did this scoundrel Liu Bang acquire such extraordinary archery skills? He's almost on par with Xiang Yu!"
Unaware that it was the result of Liu Ying's training, he thought that Liu Bang's archery skills had greatly improved and that he was now comparable to Xiang Yu.
"Chase! Chase quickly! We must capture that treacherous Liu Bang alive and present him to King Xiang!" Zhongli Mo, a burly man clad in gleaming silver armor, rode a tall and magnificent warhorse, leading his elite cavalry in pursuit.
If Liu Bang had fallen into Xiang Yu's hands, Xiang Yu would have made him regret ever being born, to avenge the attack on Pengcheng.
"What a pity, so many fine horses!" Xiahou Ying looked at the warhorses that had lost their masters and scattered in all directions, his face full of regret.
Liu Bang was riding in a four-horse chariot. Originally, it was drawn by four fine horses, but during the escape, two were shot down by the Chu army, leaving only two. They were running at full speed, and the two horses were at their limit, on the verge of collapsing. If they could gather these horses, they could escape.
"Let me summon the horses." Liu Bang looked at the fleeing warhorses with a pained expression, put his right hand into his mouth, and blew hard, trying to summon the warhorses back.
The whistle was loud and carried far, but the warhorse completely ignored him.
"That's not how you whistle," Liu Ying shook her head.
"You can?" Liu Bang glanced sideways at Liu Ying.
"It's a trivial matter, how could I not do it?" Liu Ying put her right hand in her mouth and blew hard.
The whistle rang out loudly and carried far.
"Nonsense... uh..." Liu Bang didn't take it seriously, but something surprising happened: the galloping warhorse stopped.
Liu Ying kept whistling, and the warhorse turned around and charged towards Liu Ying.
"Great! Lucky you!" Xiahou Ying exclaimed with delight.
"A blind cat stumbles upon a dead mouse." Liu Bang smiled contemptuously.
"Quickly, shoot!" Zhongli Mo rode his warhorse at full speed. Seeing the warhorse chasing after Liu Bang, he made a decisive move, took the hard bow from his back, nocked an arrow, and shot it at the nearest warhorse.
His archery skills were extraordinary; he shot an arrow right into the warhorse's neck, and the horse let out a mournful neigh before collapsing to the ground.
They absolutely could not let Liu Bang get his warhorses, otherwise it would be difficult to catch up. The Chu army opened fire and shot down the nearest warhorses.
Two warhorses were too far away for the Chu army to shoot down, and they successfully charged to the side of the chariot. Liu Ying blew a whistle, and the two horses stopped.
One of the horses was still dragging the corpses of Chu soldiers as it galloped along, leaving a chilling trail of blood that was both vivid and horrifying.
"Quickly! Change the horses!" Liu Bang was overjoyed and kept urging.
"We're in such dire straits, why are you changing horses? Why can't you ride a horse?" Liu Ying looked at Liu Bang, speechless.
"None of your business!" Liu Bang said irritably.
"King Han, Liu Ying is right. There's no time to change horses. We have to escape on horseback," Xiahou Ying reminded him, pulling on the reins to bring the carriage to a stop.
Xiahou Ying picked up Liu Le, who was still terrified and hadn't recovered yet, jumped off the chariot, rushed to a warhorse, put Liu Le on the saddle, and then leaped onto the horse himself.
Liu Ying, with her short legs, jumped off the high carriage and rushed to another warhorse dragging a corpse, trying to get the corpse's feet out of the stirrups, but she was too weak to do so.
Liu Bang rushed over, shoved Liu Ying aside, grabbed his foot and pulled him out. Then he bent down, untied the quiver from the corpse's waist, hung it on his right hip, and leaped onto his horse.
Liu Bang didn't have many arrows left, and his quiver was stuffed full of them, which solved his immediate problem.
"Are you going to abandon me?" Liu Ying's heart tightened as he witnessed Liu Bang kicking him out of the carriage.
Xiahou Ying gripped the reins with both hands, his eyes wide open, staring intently at Liu Bang.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Liu Bang glared at Liu Ying, leaned down, grabbed Liu Ying by the neck with his right hand, lifted him up, put him on the horse's back, spurred the horse, and galloped away.
Liu Ying's anxiety subsided.
Xiahou Ying was relieved and rode alongside Liu Bang.
"Hiss!" Liu Bang kept shivering, his buttocks twisting and turning on the saddle, extremely uncomfortable.
"What's wrong?" Liu Ying asked, puzzled.
"Shut up!" Liu Bang shouted.
"Could it be that you injured yourself there?" Liu Ying's gaze fell on Liu Bang's groin, and he made a guess.
Liu Bang's face darkened, and he slapped Liu Ying on the back of the head: "What's it to you?"
"Really?" Liu Ying's gossip-loving spirit was burning brightly: "Is this why you insisted on escaping by carriage instead of on horseback?"
Everyone knows that riding a horse is more convenient and flexible than traveling by carriage. When traveling by carriage, you have to follow the road, but there is no such restriction on horseback. If the situation is not right, you can take a side road or even cross mountains and valleys, which is helpful in shaking off pursuers.
Liu Bang insisted on riding in the carriage even though he would rather kick Liu Ying and her brother off the carriage, which Liu Ying couldn't understand.
"Hmph!" Liu Bang snorted coldly.
Xiahou Ying listened with a strange expression and glanced at Liu Bang.
"You unfilial son!" Liu Bang's face was grim as he repeatedly slapped Liu Ying on the back of the head.
"Did you play deep throat with a beauty?" Liu Ying covered the back of her head with her small hands, determined to gossip to the end.
"Deep throat?" Liu Bang was puzzled by this new term and knew it couldn't be anything good, so he slapped Liu Ying again.
"Deep Throat?" Xiahou Ying was stunned for a moment before he realized, "When Xiang Yu fought back, the King of Han commanded the great battle and was hit by a stray arrow."
"Was the gun broken, or were the balls crushed?" Liu Ying asked excitedly.
Xiahou Ying rolled his eyes and didn't answer.
Liu Bang slapped Liu Ying hard, and only then did Liu Ying give up his desire to gossip.
"Liu Bang, you scoundrel, where do you think you're going!" Zhongli Mo led the Chu army in hot pursuit.
Liu Bang's constant twisting and turning severely hampered his horse's control, preventing him from gaining speed and allowing Zhongli Mo to catch up considerably.
"Release." Liu Ying snatched the reins from Liu Bang and spurred the horse forward.
The warhorse was very obedient, moving as if it were an extension of its own arm, and its speed increased considerably in an instant.
Liu Bang was quite surprised to see this.
"Liu Ying, how do you know so much? You can instruct the King of Han in archery, summon warhorses with a whistle, and you're also an excellent rider," Xiahou Ying asked, turning to look at Liu Ying.
This is basic stuff, okay?
"Some people are just born smart, there's nothing you can do about it." Liu Ying certainly wouldn't tell the truth, and instead boasted.
"Liu Bang, you treacherous dog, take this!" Zhongli Mo held a strong bow, nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring to its fullest extent, aimed at Liu Bang's back, and decisively released the bowstring. The arrow flew like lightning, whistling through the air like a bullet.
He was only three feet away from hitting the warhorse, but he collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
"How much strength does that take?" Liu Ying turned to look at Zhongli Mo and roughly estimated that the distance from Zhongli Mo to the warhorse was about 150 meters. Zhongli Mo's strength was truly astonishing.
This was during the chaotic end of the Qin Dynasty. Bow-making technology at that time was far less advanced than in later generations, and most people could only shoot up to 60 meters. Therefore, the distance of an arrow refers to 60 meters.
Zhongli Mo could shoot 150 meters because of his great strength.
"Just like Xiang Yu, all brawn and no brains!" Liu Bang's expression changed, but he didn't forget to belittle Zhongli Mo.
"Can you shoot it back?" Liu Ying asked Liu Bang, looking up at him with her small face.
Liu Bang's face darkened, and he remained silent.