Chapter IV: Examination and Teaching
Li Kuan made a twist and asked to follow Li Jing's army to Saiwai to conquer the Turks. He has been waiting for Li Er's reply for the past two days, if Li Er does not agree, he is ready to run away from home again, anyway, he did such a thing two years ago.
On this day, he was on the edge of the Taiye Pond, holding a fishing rod, leisurely fishing. Tianxiang sat on a small bench beside him, supporting his chin with both hands, and watched Li Kuan fishing. The big eyes were full of satisfaction, this kind of thing was her favorite thing to do, just stay by the master's side, just look at him quietly, don't ask for superfluous words, don't need any eye contact, just stay by his side. This place is located between the East Palace and the Yeting Palace, and the foundation of the Lin De Hall that Li Er wants to build is on the high ground on one side, but now it is abandoned, and the general foundation is potholed, and few people come. Li Kuan took a fancy to the leisure here, so he chose to spend this boring afternoon here. The two masters and servants did not speak. Li Kuan squinted his eyes to recuperate, Tianxiang looked at Li Kuan with a red face, and the atmosphere was very peaceful and comfortable.
But the figure of a small yellow door broke the quiet atmosphere, and the sharp voice brought the news that Li Er wanted to see Li Kuan. So Li Kuan stuffed the fishing rod in his hand into Tianxiang's little hand and patted the little girl's face: "Wait for me here obediently!" I'm going to see my father! As he spoke, he ignored the little girl's round mouth, and turned straight away.
In the side hall of the Lizheng Palace, the court meeting has long ended, and Li Er is here to review the important matters that have been screened by officials such as Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province. After the little yellow goalkeeper Li Kuanwan arrived here, he went in to report. Li Kuan waited patiently outside.
After half a ring, Li Er's voice came from the side hall: "Kuan'er, come in!" Don't you hate these rules the most on weekdays? Why are you waiting outside today! There was a faint banter in Li Er's voice, he knew that if it weren't for Li Kuan, this kid needed his consent and wanted to go out with the army, I'm afraid this kid would have come in directly, I'm afraid he wouldn't even be able to stop Xiao Huangmen.
"Erchen has seen his father!" Li Kuan entered the door and saluted Li Erxing, who was sitting behind the desk.
"Okay, don't be polite! Come. Come here! Li Er beckoned Li Kuan to come to his side.
"Father!" Li Kuan approached according to his words, he didn't know what kind of medicine Li Er was selling in the gourd now, it stands to reason that he should have given him an answer. But what do you call him to do here?
"Hmmm! Let my father take a look at ......" Li Er said and stretched out his hand and pressed it on Li Kuan's shoulder, Li Er is very tall and not short to sit on a chair, but Li Kuan has gone crazy in recent years. Li Er was sitting and really couldn't reach out and press Li Kuan's shoulder. So Li Er stood up. In the past few years, Li Er has been busy with state affairs, but he has neglected to practice martial arts, his figure is a little out of shape, and his waist is a lot thicker, which is growing his belly.
"Not bad! Very sturdy! Li Er's hand pressed Li Kuan's shoulder, but found that Li Kuan did not move at all, and he also felt the muscles on Li Kuan's body, the loose muscles were slowly tightening, and a weak rebound force acted on his palm. As if to bounce her hand away.
"This ......" Li Er was a little surprised, his muscles firm. Tightness can be regarded as a strong appearance, but this weak rebound force is not a normal reaction, this is the autonomous resistance of muscles, if Li Kuan intends to control zhì, maybe this force alone is enough to guard against ordinary people's fists and kicks. Is this a concept? In other words, Li Kuan standing and letting ordinary people beat him may not necessarily hurt him.
"Father? What are you doing here? Li Kuan was puzzled, it seemed that Li Er was checking whether he was strong, but wasn't this what the imperial doctor did?
"Good boy, your martial arts are good, I didn't expect you to have such martial arts attainments at a young age, but I don't know if you can be alert to avoid the stray arrows after you go to the battlefield? In this way, I will take you to the test later, if you are qualified, I will allow you to go to the side of the fortress, if you don't have a good pass, then don't blame me for guarding you, I believe that with your current ability, you can't escape the eyes of those people I arranged, before you were ordinary elite soldiers, this time you are a super master of the secret guard. Li Er said directly to Li Kuan. This is also to dispel Li Kuan's idea of running away from home, Li Er is really afraid that Li Kuan will run away again, he and his eldest grandson almost died in a hurry last time, although he did not move on the surface, he secretly sent countless secret sentinels to find this kid.
"Good!" Li Kuan waited for what he wanted and agreed directly. He has confidence in his current skills, and he believes that he can pass the test of Guò Li Er. And if you can't even pass Li Er's test, then you may not be able to protect yourself on the battlefield, and in the melee, the stray arrow is the most dangerous.
Li Er put down half of his official duties, took Li Kuan out of the Lizheng Palace, and headed towards the Imperial Garden, the terrain of the Imperial Garden is complicated, because there are countless trees, flowers, rockeries, and flowing water. In short, the terrain here is rugged, and the scenery of peaks, trees, and flowers on a small site is wonderful. Li Er set Li Kuan's test location here, which invisibly reduced the difficulty of dodging, Li Kuan could use the terrain to dodge arrows, but it also enhanced the enemy's stealth, and the difficulty was similar.
Long before Li Er brought Li Kuan here, a team of sharpshooters selected by the Xuanjia Army had already been ambushed in this imperial garden. The men all carried a bow in their hands, and a pot of arrows with arrows removed and replaced with cork. This is specially replaced for this test, this cork is an ordinary tree in the land of Guanzhong, and most of the children's teethers are made of this thing. Teething children like to bite and put everything in their mouths, but if there is something in their mouth to grind their teeth, then they will not bite anything else. With this teether, you are not afraid of the little one eating something unclean.
When Li Kuan walked into the Imperial Garden, he felt an indescribable atmosphere, as if something was filling the air, giving people a gloomy and cold feeling. Although Li Kuan couldn't see or touch this thing, he knew what it was, because as long as this thing was on the battlefield, people who had been fighting for a long time would carry it, which was evil.
"Kuan'er, are you ready, I'm going to make an order when I'm ready!" Li Er asked.
"Hmm!" Li Kuan didn't speak, just hummed, and then nodded.
"Alright, let's go!" As soon as Li Er's voice fell, a wind sounded, whistling from a small corner.
"Three-stone strong bow?" Li Kuan's pupils shrank, the force of this arrow was not light, and the sound of cutting through the air sounded like it should have come from a three-stone strong bow. This is a test, can you use such equipment? Li Kuan sighed in his heart, although he knew that Li Er would not let him be seriously injured, but even if the cork was shot out by the three-stone strong bow, the blow would definitely be bruised.
Turning sideways, Li Kuan suddenly turned sideways, and an arrow shot against his chest, hitting a stone beside him, making a crackling sound. After Li Kuan turned sideways, he began to move, and his footsteps were very small, but they were very broken, very fast. The figure is scurrying around in the imperial garden, never stopping in one place for long. Because a pause gave the soldiers in the shadows a chance to be targeted, and now Li Kuan moved and arrows suddenly shot out from the shadows, whistling in the direction of his advance. Li Kuan had to change direction or speed to avoid the arrows.
"What kind of body is this?" Li Er's brows furrowed, Li Er had never seen the small broken steps used by Li Kuan, and the route he took was also strange, not the 'zigzag' that circulated in the army. Rather, it is an arc-like shape, as if two large arcs were flipped together in the middle. This is the 'S'-shaped running method of soldiers dodging bullets in later generations, although Li Kuan has never seen this kind of footwork, but he also knows some through some military novels or reports.
"Speed up your arrow!" Li Er gave an order to the soldiers in the shadows. As a result, the sound of 'whooshing' arrows breaking through the air became intensive, and Li Kuan's actions suddenly became much more difficult.
An invisible pressure made Li Kuan feel unsustainable, but it made him more concentrated in his heart to move the footwork under his feet, the skilled 'S' shape was run out by him, and his steps were also bigger, and he began to become proficient from jerky, and there was a faint indescribable charm between the movements, just like the flowing water in the mountains, meandering, but it was always flowing down the mountain. Arrows shot out from time to time and not directional, all aiming at Li Kuan, either in front of him or behind him, but Li Kuan's sensitive hearing and extraordinary reaction were vividly exerted at this moment, the moment he heard the wind, he reacted, even if there were several rumors at the same time, but Li Kuan could still accurately determine the landing point of these arrows, so as to dodge. This is the so-called prediction, and it is also the intuition of a real master.
Li Kuan dodged all the way, jumping up and down all the way, which was very hard. And the arrows are getting denser and denser, more and more tricky, Li Kuan gradually struggled: "No, you can't blindly dodge, you have to fight back, otherwise you will be shot sooner or later!" Li Kuanxin made up his mind, suddenly changed his strategy, rolled on the ground with a lazy donkey, grabbed the two arrows on the ground, and then waved his hands to knock the arrows to the ground.
"Swing your sword to block arrows?" Li Er was surprised for a while, this is a life-saving skill for battlefield recruitment, wielding the green blade in his hand to block the arrows shot by the enemy, not only relying on excellent swordsmanship, but also having excellent intuition, where will arrows be shot, where will they shoot, and when will the sword swing turn here. It takes a lot of hard work to be able to use it freely, which is not something that ordinary people can master lightly, but Li Kuan is actually using it now, and it is very smooth, how can this not surprise Li Er.
But Li Er was still behind, Li Kuan waved two arrows, blocking countless arrows, and suddenly, Li Kuan shot out an arrow in his hand, and the arrows with the sound of the wind flashed away, and disappeared into a clump of grass in the distance, and a muffled snort came from inside.
"Shot?" Li Er was really shocked, was this kid born for the battlefield? (To be continued......)