Ch. 577 - The Triumphal Arch at the Foot of the Autumn Famous Mountain
The Famous Detective of the Red MansionThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
A strong wind suddenly rose, and the grass and trees were breaking.
More than ten riders deviated from the official road and drove onto the paved road. The previously dull sound of horse hooves suddenly became noisy and dusty.
The knights were galloping silently when suddenly one of them called out, "My Lord, let me go and get some wine and vegetables!"
As he spoke, he turned his horse's head and ran towards the gentle slope on the left, taking about a dozen steps. He bent down and grabbed the horse's belly, which gave him an iron-tire bow in his hand.
He saw him swing the reins and pull out his feathers from his arrow pouch; with a swift holding of the bow, an arrow was released.
Immediately, he hung the iron-tire bow back onto the horse's belly, urged the horse to come forward and grab a fat and healthy deer, and then triumphantly turned back onto the racetrack.
At this moment, more than ten riders were only able to hold onto the reins.
He returned to the team and lifted the deer into the air with a big grin, saying, "I will bake it in the General Supervision Room at noon so that I can give my brothers a try."
Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but focus their attention on Sun Shaozong, the leader, to see how he would deal with him.
However, Sun Shaozong was not in a hurry to express himself. He still sat upright on his horse, calmly scanning the people and beasts across from him.
On the contrary, Xu Shouye, who was standing beside him, couldn't hold back any longer. He knocked on his horse's belly and rushed out of the crowd, sternly scolding, "Han Bang! Do you still have rules in your eyes?"
"Rules?"
Han Bang lifted the deer onto the horse's back and collapsed with a playful smile, saying, "Thousand Household Xu, which family's rules are you talking about? The court hasn't issued an order yet. It seems that we don't belong to you at the moment, right?"
"You..."
Xu Shouye became increasingly angry and was about to continue scolding but was stopped by Sun Shaozong's hand.
After Xu Shouye retreated to the side, Sun Shaozong looked at Han Bang, but his heart was quite speechless.
He originally thought that with his recent fame and connections in the military, he could smoothly subdue this mixed army.
Who would have thought that there were still some people who didn't open their eyes and wanted to jump out and force him to deal with it?
This Han Bang was a Hundred Households in the patrol camp, known for his excellent cavalry and archery skills. However, he was also known for not caring about anything, constantly leading and retreating. Therefore, he has been fighting in the military for more than ten years but was still in the sixth grade.
Originally, Sun Shaozong didn't want to care about such a brainless man, but now he was provoked and had to muster up his energy to deal with it.
He saw him urging his horse to slowly step forward and staring at Han Bang a few more times. Although this guy still had a stiff neck, his face was full of arrogance and coquettishness. The hand holding the reins and iron-tire bow was already swollen with veins.
This scumbag…
Was he still planning to take action against him?
Sun Shaozong couldn't help but burst into laughter and spread his hand in front of him, saying, "Show me that bow."
Han Bang was taken aback and instinctively wanted to refuse, but he couldn't find a suitable reason. Even though Sun Shaozong had not officially become his superior, he was still at the third level of the official college, as a fourth-grade counselor.
It was just that…
He has a waist knife!
With such thoughts in mind, Han Bang pressed his hand on the handle of the knife and handed the iron-tire bow forward, but refused to directly hand it over to Sun Shaozong. He stopped just a little bit away.
This was awkward!
No wonder even his colleagues in the patrol camp refused to speak for him.
Sun Shaozong was too lazy to argue with him, so he took the initiative to take the iron-tire bow and played with it back and forth in his hand.
Han Bang watched coldly and couldn't help but sneer inwardly. If this person, surnamed Sun, wanted to imitate the story of Li Guang and break his bow and string to stand firm, he would be humiliating himself.
The bowstring of his iron-tire bow was made of several high-quality threads twisted together. Usually, without a force of 400 pounds, it couldn’t be pulled at all.
To break it, it would take at least six to seven hundred pounds of force to do so.
While Han Bang was disdainful, he suddenly saw Sun Shaozong make a strange move. He grabbed one end of the bow with both hands and began slowly squeezing towards the center.
Was this person surnamed Sun crazy?
The body of his iron-tire bow was made of cooked iron wrapped with cow tendons, cowhide, silk, hemp, and other materials, and its toughness was far superior to the bowstring.
If he wanted to destroy this bow, not to mention the force of six or seven hundred pounds, even a thousand pounds would be enough!
Thinking of this, Han Bang couldn't help but sneer repeatedly, just waiting to see Sun Shaozong's joke.
However…
The indestructible bow in his heart, in the next moment, slowly bent inward, then bent again, and finally forcefully closed together under his nose!
Not to mention that, Sun Shaozong even put the hooks hanging on both ends together and twisted them into a Fried Dough Twists shape.
Clash!
The iron ring, like a bow, slammed heavily on the bluestone slab, only splattering sparks.
This…
How could this be possible?!
Han Bang almost stared out of his eyes for a moment, because no one knew better than him what kind of strange power was needed to achieve this!
In silence, Sun Shaozong smiled and patted the shoulder of the Han Bang, saying with a smile, "How can these decaying things deserve your reputation of divine archery? When we go to the General Supervision Room, I will personally pick a good bow for you!"
Although he didn't have much strength in his hands, Han Bang still leaned his body to one side and almost fell off his horse.
After finally stabilizing his position, he saw that Sun Shaozong had already reached the front.
He looked at the back of Sun Shaozong, and then at the iron-tire bow that he regarded as a precious treasure, but was abandoned by others like a humble shoe. He was suddenly lost in his soul.
"Divine Archery? Jokes!"
A person said arrogantly, "Master Sun of our family can withstand a heavy shield weighing hundreds of pounds and walk like a flying bird. Not to mention you're using an iron-tire bow, what if you're using a bed crossbow?"
This boasting was blowing too much.
Sun Shaozong was originally secretly rubbing the tiger's mouth, but later he had already described himself as a humanoid tall man. He couldn't help but turn back and glance at him, only to see that it was none other than the only seventh-grade inspector on the team, Wang Zhen. He had already been transferred to the Tiger Camp.
Sure enough, even if he didn't become a eunuch, this guy was still a good flatterer.
At this moment, Sun Shaozong was supposed to continue on the road, but he had just shown his authority. He seemed to have nothing to do, but in fact, his hand was as soft as noodles, and he was afraid that if he raced, his flaws would be exposed.
So he pretended to ask Xu Shouye beside him, "Brother Xu, how far ahead is there to reach the General Supervision Room?"
Fortunately, he was too busy before and only had the size sent over without personally measuring it; otherwise, it would have been difficult to start a conversation.
"It's not too far either."
Xu Shouye pointed to an inconspicuous small hill in front of him and said, "This galloping road is built for the direction of the General Supervision Room. When you bypass the Qiuming Mountain, you will see the General Supervision Gate."
Needless to say, this so-called Qiuming Mountain was naturally written by Prince Zhongshun.
At first, he had a liking for the terrain here, which was surrounded by mountains and rivers. He wanted to relocate his supervisor, but he also disliked the original name, so he changed it to Qiuming Mountain.
"Qiuming Mountain, this name really fits the occasion."
Sun Shaozong was speaking solemnly, rubbing his hands vigorously in his sleeves, making it easy for him to regain some consciousness. Only then did he lead the team to continue rushing toward the General Supervision Room.
As Xu Shouye said, bypassing the Qiuming Mountain, a towering and majestic iron gate appeared before everyone.
The thick and heavy door panels, which were as high as two zhang and as wide as five zhang, with a solemn heavy metal color tone, seemed like exotic animal reliefs that were about to be laid out, enough to shock every new stranger.
However…
What kind of name was the character "Triumphal Arch" carved on the lintel?!
Xu Shouye saw him looking at the lintel and explained on the side, "I heard that when Prince Yizhong supervised the construction of this gate, he once threatened that the weapons leaving from here would bring one victory after another, so he simply named it “Triumphal Arch.”
Tch!
Prince Yizhong really had his fun when he got the chance!
Sun Shaozong speechlessly urged his horse forward, and the soldiers guarding the door immediately shouted and asked, "Who is there?"
"Sun Shaozong, a Thousand Households from the Northern Town Governor's Office, coming in the name of the Ministry of War to inspect the weapons."
Sun Shaozong said, kicking off his horse, took out the document seal from his arms, and handed it to the door for inspection.
After the gatekeeper verified everything, he did not let Sun Shaozong in, but instead assigned one person to report.
Not long after, he saw a young official in a green robe, carrying his robe and welcoming him with great enthusiasm.
"I, as the Left Colonel, have met Lord Sun."
Although this Left Colonel was from the eighth rank, he was in charge of the treasury of the army's weapons and was the best person to receive everyone.
Sun Shaozong politely said a few words to him, but as he was thinking about another matter, he couldn't help but urge him, and wanted to go and examine those weapons.
Zhang Yi naturally didn’t dare to neglect and quickly led everyone in, as they examined the weapons and equipment that had already been prepared.
Due to the introduction of assembly line operations by Prince Yizhong, coupled with the increasing improvement of water forging machines, these weapons, although not finely crafted, could still be considered solid and durable.
After spot-checking all the way, Sun Shaozong did not see any flaws. Seeing that everyone was not dissatisfied, he casually selected an Iron Bow for Han Bang and prepared to tighten his grip.
It was also good to go to the Buddhist place to have a private meeting with You-Shi while it was still early.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Yi stated that the weapons ordered by Sun Shaozong had already been produced, so it would be better to also inspect them together.
So he had to follow him and go to another separate warehouse.
The storage in this warehouse was mostly high-quality equipment customized by military generals, shining brightly on shelves one by one. Some were small and even came with specialized boxes for storage.
Because of this, Sun Shaozong ordered the Golden Hammer and Mace, which seemed inferior.
Not to mention others, even Sun Shaozong felt that this was too rushed.
Of course, in terms of durability, there were probably not many that could be stored in the entire warehouse.
Sun Shaozong shook his hand slightly, feeling a slight discomfort of being top-heavy and light-footed. However, considering that he had not fully recovered from his collapse at the moment, this thing should be quite useful.
It was just that this was abrupt, compared to those nearby weapons, it was really…
Especially next to it, there was a square painted halberd, which stood tall and shining with silver and was adorned with some red tassels in the middle. It looked so refreshing.
Zhang Yi couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the painted halberd in the sky and said, "My Lord, don't you think that thing looks glamorous? It's actually just an ordinary thing. The guards in front of the palace rely on it."
As he spoke, he pointed to the hammer in Sun Shaozong's hand and praised it, "You're different now. If you were on the battlefield, one knock is enough to cause the opponent's death!"
Even if the power was enough, it was still three points less decent.
It was just that…
Who made him rush to leave the Capital? He didn’t have time to wait for them to carve it out meticulously.
Otherwise, if he could delay for another month or two, it shouldn't be a problem to strike a halberd that could be used for practical combat or a falchion sword.
Sun Shaozong reluctantly put the hammer back in its original position and was about to summon everyone to leave when he heard Wang Zhen exclaim in shock, "What kind of weapon is this?"
Everyone couldn't help but follow the sound, but they saw that Wang Zhen had somehow slipped into the innermost part of the arsenal.
There were also weapons racks arranged there, but one of them was unique and was completely wrapped in red silk.
At this moment, Wang Zhen was pulling away the red silk and looking inside, praising it with a clicking sound, "This sword is really unique, and I don't know who ordered it..."
So it was a sword.
Sun Shaozong suddenly lost interest. The sword was often used for solo combat, and he emphasized its lightness, agility, and speed. Compared to masters like him who were equally powerful, he had no problem with it.
Just as he was about to call Wang Zhen back, Wang Zhen suddenly lifted the red silk and pointed to the blade inside, shouting, "My Lord, I'm afraid only you can use this sword."
On the ebony shelf, there was a huge sword that was five feet long, facing the crowd from the side.
The hilt of the sword was a dark blue color that was almost black, and the protective hand part gradually faded until the edge of the sword turned into a dazzling silver-blue color.
For some reason, there was a sheep-headed demon embossed on the sword, with its horns entwined around its guard. Two crescent-shaped inverted blades extended from its chin beard.
Under the crescent-shaped blade, the blades on both sides show serrations and concave half-moons, two completely different shapes
Why did this thing look a bit familiar to him?
And the sheepshead demon should be a feudal superstition of foreigners, right?
Should it be that…
"This is the thing that was... supervised and manufactured back then."
As Zhang Yi saw Wang Zhen rummaging through this thing, he couldn't help but secretly complain. However, everyone looked curious and could only stutter, saying, "It's been more than ten years since it was made, and it has been stored in the warehouse."
"What year..."
There was an inconspicuous person who wanted to ask further questions, but they were stopped by their companions long ago.
The only thing that could make a General avoid such taboos was naturally something personally supervised by Prince Yizhong.
Sun Shaozong secretly thought to himself, "Sure enough," but couldn't help but wonder, "Do you know if this sword has a name?"
"This sword is called “Frostmourne.”
Damn!
Prince Yizhong was really…
No wonder he felt it a bit familiar. Although Sun Shaozong has never played World of Warcraft, Warcraft III has accompanied him for several years.
As he carefully examined the sword, he naturally felt a strange feeling in his heart. After a while, he couldn't help but ask, "Can this sword be used for practical combat?"