After all, it was the forest land at the foot of the mountain, and it was opened up as a hunting ground. There was no obvious boundary between the inner and outer fields. It was just divided by specially planted and trimmed shrubs, and a few wooden stakes were added as markers. Unlike the outer field, which was a place for fun, the inner field was a place for serious hunting. The arrows used by Langjun were heavier and the arrowheads were sharper. If they were scratched by stray arrows, at least a piece of flesh would be lost. Therefore, when Changning arrived near the wooden stakes, he immediately reined in his horse.
"Just stay here. If you go in, you'll be considered a prey." She turned to Xie Wangzhi and said, "Stand back and wait for them to come over so we can meet."
Xie Wangzhi was not familiar with riding and shooting, so he had no way of making his horse retreat. He just turned the horse's head slightly and let the horse walk a few steps towards an open area.
Just when he found a suitable place to stop, he heard the heavy and urgent sound of horses' hooves. It sounded like a group of horses running. Xie Wang was startled and instinctively looked in the direction of the sound of horses' hooves.
It was indeed a group of horses, each one was strong and tall, their horseshoes trampled on the grass, flattened the weeds, and trampled out a series of horse tracks. Running in front was a large group of deer, and the young men were riding their horses, some chasing behind, trying to close the distance, and even drawing their bows, while some ran in other directions, as if they were trying to outflank them.
"This is a contest between horses and deer, to see who can last longer." Chang Ning was sharp-eyed and analyzed with Xie Wangzhi, "But I think this time it's uncertain, these deer run fast, and after this point they will enter the forest, where it's not easy to run horses. But we can't shoot arrows here, there are too many people..."
She was still worried, and couldn't help but put herself in the shoes of the men competing for the throne, wondering how she could come out on top if she were in the group. But Xie Wangzhi didn't understand this, and she followed Changning to look inside, only to see Li Qishen running in front.
Strangely enough, Li Qishen was wearing riding clothes today, similar to lapel Hu clothing. Xie Wangzhi had seen him wearing light armor and riding a horse. It stands to reason that the light armor of the Tiande Army is more dashing, but now looking at it this way, he felt that this riding clothes was chic and neat, and it made his cold and beautiful face look more handsome. Zhao Ye also changed his bridle, and the leather mask covered half of his face. There was a bow on the left and an arrow on the right by the saddle, and the arrow feathers in the quiver were clearly visible, which made him look more like a warhorse of a light cavalry.
Li Qishen controlled Zhao Ye and ran for a while. Suddenly, he turned the horse's head and ran to the side. But he was indeed looking at deer. His light amber eyes were fixed on the leading stag, and he looked like a real hunter.
Xie Wangzhi couldn't help but think that at this moment Li Qishen looked like a young general, a hunter on the grassland, or a nobleman on a hunting trip. So what did he really look like
She was frightened for a moment, and for no reason she remembered the mask in the East Market at that time, which hung loosely on Li Qishen's face, covering his handsome face with the black cat mask, but leaving his eyes exposed, and her was clearly reflected in his pupils.
Xie Wangzhi closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, Li Qishen happened to be controlling Zhao Ye to run around a corner. Through the lush vegetation, they looked into each other's eyes for an instant.
A slight look of surprise appeared on Li Qishen's face, which soon turned into a faint smile. He said something to Xie Wangzhi, and the next moment he pulled the reins, which made Zhao Ye speed up and rush straight into the woods, continuing to chase the group of deer in front.
They were so far apart and it was just a quick glance. Xie Wangzhi couldn't read lips and was stunned for a moment.
"He told you to wait. With the prince's ability, I guess he wants to hunt a deer for you." Fortunately, Changning could read. She gave Xie Wangzhi a playful look and slowly turned her horse's head. "Okay, we've seen the people. Let's go back. I'll hunt some rabbits for fun."
"Okay." The words were normal, but Xie Wangzhi felt inexplicably shy. He didn't dare to look up at Changning, but just followed her pace and changed direction.
Xie Wangzhi was not good at horsemanship, so he did not dare to run immediately. He just let the horse follow his will and slowly accelerate. After running a few steps towards the outfield, the horse controlled by Changning suddenly neighed, startling Xie Wangzhi's horse's feet and running straight forward. If it was not a horse with a gentle temperament that was specially selected, the girl on its back would probably fall off.
Xie Wangzhi was not very good at controlling a horse, so he had to hold the reins tightly and try to calm the horse as much as possible. Only when they ran all the way to the resting place outside did the horse stop, still in shock.
"This horse is quite docile, unlike mine, which can't be controlled when it gets sick. I'm sorry." Chang Ning smiled bitterly and tapped the horse on the head, "Are you okay?"
"It's okay, just a little tired." Xie Wangzhi was telling the truth. Her horse was frightened, so it ran at this speed. It was probably the same speed Zhao Ye ran at in Chang'an City. "But I need to rest."
"Okay. I'll come find you later. You take a rest." Chang Ning responded and turned to the waiting horse trainer and said, "Check for my lady to see if the horse is too frightened. If not, take my lady to pick a new one. It must be docile and obedient."
The horse trainer responded, and several servants came forward to help Xie Wang get off the horse. Xie Wangzhi was wearing a tight riding uniform, and in public, he didn't act pretentiously. He got off the horse and looked up at Changning who was still on the horse and said, "The princess's horse seems to be frightened, why don't you change it?"
"It's okay. Why are you scared? Just run another round and it will be fine." Chang Ning didn't care at all. He turned the horse's head and whipped it. The horse was frightened by the sound and ran forward with Chang Ning, taking him back to the place where the horse was scared before.
The field was still the same field, and there were no more traces of horseshoes, which seemed to indicate that no one had been there before. Chang Ning breathed a sigh of relief, slowed down the horse, and turned the horse around a few times before finding what she was looking for.
She immediately dismounted, bent over and pushed aside the medium-long grass, and picked up the arrow that was shot at Xie Wangzhi.
The horse's rhetoric was purely to fool Xie Wangzhi, taking advantage of her lack of hunting experience. The horse Changning used was also specially selected, not for running fast, but for stability. This horse had been raised in the hunting ground for two or three years, and was used to the arrows used in hunting. Not to mention one arrow, as long as it was not aimed at itself, it would not be moved even if there were thousands of arrows.
Unfortunately, the incident happened suddenly, and the arrow was aimed at Xie Wangzhi. Changning couldn't alert the enemy, and Xie Wangzhi's horsemanship was not particularly superb. If she shouted and scared her, it would be counterproductive. She really had no choice but to let her horse scare Xie Wangzhi's horse. Fortunately, both horses were very considerate, one was obedient and the other was timid, so they returned to the place where they were resting smoothly.
The arrows in the hunting ground are all specially made so that they can distinguish who hunts the prey. Changning touched the arrow feathers forward, and after touching it twice, he felt the words on it and immediately deduced who shot the arrow.
She clenched the arrow and put it into the quiver. The noise was so loud that the horse tapped its front hooves in anxiety.
“… idiot.” Chang Ning frowned, pulled the reins, and got back on the horse.
**
An arrow flew through the air, bringing with it a whistling sound. The leading stag had no time to dodge as the shiny, cold arrow pierced straight through its eyes and pierced into the softer part inside. Turbid liquid mixed with fresh blood splashed out, wetting a small area of the stag's front legs and feet.
The stag whimpered in pain, but it had lost one eye, limited its vision, and was in great pain. It changed directions randomly, barely avoiding the arrow that hit its eye. It couldn't avoid the rest of the rain of arrows. It didn't run a few steps before arrows pierced its neck and legs, and blood spurted out of the wounds. When the wind blew, it was full of the smell of deer blood.
If a deer could still get up after being hit by so many arrows, it must be a divine deer. Obviously, this deer was not one of them. It struggled for a few times and fell to the ground, raising dust and grass ash. Its chest and abdomen were still twitching slightly, and the blood oozing from its body dyed the grass red. It was just holding on to its last breath.
After the head deer died, the other deer being chased became even more panicked and immediately split into many small groups, running in different directions in twos and threes.
The male deer that was leading the escape fell down, and the man who was leading the hunt also stopped. The other hunters naturally stopped chasing, and only shot a few arrows at the deer. Those who were lucky actually hunted some slow-running female deer or young deer.
The battle situation was not bad, so Huo Jun went to check first. He was a military officer, so he was accompanying them this time, so if they encountered any trouble, it would be easier to deal with. He rode his horse around for a while, and when he came back to report to Li Taoqi, his expression was dull: "One male deer, two female deer, and one young deer. Two young deer also had injured legs."
Li Taoqi nodded.
He acted calm, but Sun Yuandao, who was traveling with him, was very active. He looked at the half-dead deer on the ground and shook his head: "What a pity, they are all dead deer and can't bleed. Young deer are too boring."
"Isn't the stag still alive? If you are in a hurry, you can dismount and bleed it now. You can also drink directly from the wound." Li Qishen recognized who was talking and said to him, "The herd of deer are scattered, so they should not have run far. You might as well go and hunt for a live one."
Sun Yuandao's smile froze. He was not good at riding and shooting. He was OK when riding with the young lady, but when he was really in the hunting ground, he couldn't even shoot an arrow. Li Qishen's words were like a slap in his face in public, but he couldn't say anything back. He could only smile and say, "I don't have the skill of the prince. I can't hunt."
"Okay." Since Li Qishen came back, the two brothers haven't spoken much to each other. There's also the matter that the Crown Princess caused in the past. Li Taoqi has been avoiding his brother a lot, so he spoke up to smooth things over, "Go collect the arrows."
The young men who had shot arrows earlier dismounted and went to retrieve their arrows from their respective prey. Li Taoqi and Li Qishen also had to go. Coincidentally, they were all staring at the leading stag.
When Li Taoqi hunts deer, he likes to shoot at the neck, killing the deer with one arrow, which also saves the deer from pain. This time, he chased for a long time before finding a suitable position to shoot the arrow. The arrow was originally stable, but someone shot an arrow from behind, which went straight through the deer's eye. The deer jumped around in pain and avoided his arrow.
But since it was just hunting for fun, it didn't matter who got the first prize. Li Taoqi found the arrow he had shot later on the stag and accidentally shot it below the deer's neck. The wound was open, but the deer was not dead yet, and its chest was still rising and falling slightly.
Li Zhuoqi couldn't help but feel some pity and sighed softly: "This deer is pitiful."
"What's so pitiful about it? If you are in the wild, you may die in the mud even if you escape the hunt." Li Qishen had no mercy at all. He reached out and grabbed the arrow he had put, and pulled it out violently. The arrowhead had a barb, and this pull pulled out everything in the deer's eye socket, which dripped down stickily.
The pain made the deer neigh, but it squeezed out the last bit of its strength. It raised its head suddenly, pointed its antlers at Li Qishen, and tried its best to charge at him. Li Qishen was not panicked at all. He grabbed the antlers, quickly threw away the arrow and took out the knife. With a flash of the blade, he cut the deer's throat with one blow.
Blood splattered, and the two were covered in blood, which made Li Taoqi feel sick. Li Qishen put away the short knife, and a thin line of blood flowed just under his eyes, making him look like a Shura.
But he didn't even wipe it off. Instead, he smiled and said, "Brother, it seems that I won this time."
The author has something to say: It’s a competition.
Thank you all for your comfort, I am fine, I am extremely fine (really), I can still write another hundred chapters (false) but if I am blocked again, I will be bad again, so I am Schrödinger's goodness and Schrödinger's hundred chapters (touching chin)
Thanks for the investment and nutrient solution!!!