Chapter 39: Drawing the Bow, Shooting the Arrow

Jiang Xia heard the voice and looked over, and with his sharp eyesight clearly saw the person's appearance.

A young married woman with neat black short hair, pretty features, slightly smooth skin, dressed in a white tracksuit, was shouting at him.

"Just an ordinary person here to train?" Jiang Xia only glanced and got a rough idea of the woman calling him a pervert.

She wore a tracksuit, and her body's muscle lines were quite good.

Near her was a square wooden board made of wood, on which various colored scoring zones were drawn.

And on the sand beneath the board lay a red compound bow; thus the reason for her being here became clear.

Jiang Xia quickly averted his gaze, casually picked up the clothes placed nearby, put them on, and felt no emotion from being insulted.

Although their demeanor and appearance were gentle, their arm stability and strength were very robust.

Then a thought suddenly flashed in Jiang Xia's mind; they glanced at Cang Ze Zhenmei nearby, and after triple confirming, they calmed down.

Cang Ze Zhenmei's body carried the scent of a Tooth Blood Vampire; she should have had close contact with a Tooth Blood Vampire, but the scent was faint.

"Relax a bit; your body doesn't need to be tense all the time, just apply force with both hands." Cang Ze Zhenmei lightly patted Jiang Xia's shoulder.

Looking at the bowing Cang Ze Zhenmei, Jiang Xia smiled slightly and said, "I'm Jiang Xia, pleased to meet you."

Seeing Jiang Xia's clumsy manner, Cang Ze Zhenmei walked to Jiang Xia's side and said, "If you're careless, you could get hurt."

"Your strength should be great, but learning archery strength is only basic; you need to better master the sense of balance in force," Cang Ze Zhenmei said.

Yet Cang Ze Zhenmei never stopped observing Jiang Xia; after only a few hours, Jiang Xia could already keep the arrow lingering on the target for a long time.

Unexpectedly, the seemingly innocent little brother had such talent for bow and arrow.

His eyes were bright and pure, his skin delicate and smooth; seeing Jiang Xia like that, she quietly swallowed.

"I just want to shoot accurately," Jiang Xia said with a smile.

"Alright, I'll adjust a bit." Jiang Xia looked at the empty field-like target, nodded, and said, "Thanks, Zhenmei, for the instruction."

A whoosh was heard, and time seemed to freeze.

"Give archery a try," Cang Ze Zhenmei said to Jiang Xia.

Although this board had been used for a long time, covered with holes from her practice, she never imagined anyone could break it by shooting directly.

"You only need to adjust your force; the power you use to draw the bow must be even—don't overexert or jerk suddenly, so the arrow's accuracy can be ensured."

Just now he tried to overlay the Tooth Blood Vampire's power onto the bow and arrow to adjust its accuracy, and also to test the Vampire's power effect on the bow.

His finger lightly released the bowstring, a flash of colored energy streaked across the bow, sensing the power within.

Speaking, directly handling, Jiang Xia's arm, feeling Cang Ze Zhenmei's approach, his body instantly tensed.

Cang Ze Zhenmei could barely see the arrow's flight path, only feeling a streak of light flash before her eyes.

"Calm your mind, don't rush, watch the target," Cang Ze Zhenmei instructed.

"Still didn't hit the center? Still need practice."

Unsurprisingly, it missed the target again.

"No, your talent is excellent; with diligent practice, you'll become the foremost archer in this world," Cang Ze Zhenmei said to Jiang Xia.

"Just a little off," Jiang Xia lamented.

At this moment Jiang Xia truly encountered a compound bow for the first time; he had only seen archery on TV—aim, then release the arm.

Cang Ze Zhenmei carefully observed Jiang Xia's body and couldn't help but be amazed again.

"Then where should I start practicing aiming?" Jiang Xia, pulling the bow again, pointed the tip at the target and asked.

"The sense of force balance?" Jiang Xia felt as if he understood something, and again used both hands to pull the string with as even a force as possible.

A whoosh was heard, his fingers released lightly, the arrow left the string, flying toward the bullseye.

"Thud!" The arrow deeply embedded into the wooden board, the tip pierced straight through and lodged in the middle.

She thought, "He must still be in school; I really envy the female students who go to school with him."

Then she continued practicing until the sun fully set.

She tossed aside the earlier pervert speculation, thinking, "Now that he's grown like this, is it still necessary to call him a pervert?"

"Y-you-you!" Cang Ze Zhenmei's eyes widened, eyebrows rose, completely shocked by the scene.

She felt Jiang Xia truly was a once-in-a-millennium genius.

Jiang Xia took a deep breath, and with a soft exhale, released the finger from the bowstring.

Cang Ze Zhenmei opened her eyes to see the result; on the thin wooden board, just below the center point, a bowl-sized hole had already opened.

Jiang Xia, with a look of regret, looked at the bow in his hand and said, also taking a special look at Cang Ze Zhenmei.

However, it still missed the bullseye, only hitting the 4-ring, better than last time, at least it didn't miss entirely.

"That's right." Cang Ze Zhenmei crossed her arms, nodded appreciatively, and said to Jiang Xia:

"You've learned quickly; your posture only needed one correction to meet the standard, your strength is fine, but your aim still needs more practice."

An expression of disbelief froze on her beautiful face.

"Impressive!" Cang Ze Zhenmei exclaimed, noting that hitting the target on the second shot was already a very good result for a beginner.

"Yes, little brother Jiang Xia, want to try?" Cang Ze Zhenmei's eyes lit up and she said quickly.

The once intact target now was only half left.

"Sure, thanks, Zhenmei sis." Jiang Xia said, taking the red compound bow handed over by Cang Ze Zhenmei.

Cang Ze Zhenmei looked at this young man whose face showed gentle and warm expression.

Half‑turned, his hands exerted force, Jiang Xia tightened his right hand, pulled, and released.

"Give it a try!" Jiang Xia whispered.

"Are you practicing archery?" Jiang Xia glanced briefly at the board propped on a tripod in the sand.

It was aimed at the center, but only hit the 7-ring.

"I'm Cang Ze Zhenmei, sorry about earlier, that was a misunderstanding."

Jiang Xia calmly replied: "I didn't expect there to be anyone else here; I was just removing the bandage on myself."

The arrow accurately hit the wooden board with the target drawn on it, yet made no sound.

Jiang Xia stared straight at the target; he used to be able to see very far distances clearly.

As Jiang Xia became serious, the wooden target far away seemed to suddenly enlarge, until it was practically no different from being placed right in front of him.

This is the effect of life's evolution; all senses have been elevated to a non-human level.

Good news, the power is great; bad news, he missed his shot.

His stature is tall and straight, exuding a confident demeanor as he looks at the woman quickly approaching him.

"How impressive!" Cangze Zhenmei lightly touched the already-damaged wooden board with her hand.

"Jiang Xia, want to try again? I still have a backup target." Cangze Zhenmei looked at Jiang Xia holding the bow and arrow, pleading.

Thank you, Fengye Feiye, for the 1500-point coin tip.

(End of chapter)