Water Margin: From a White-Robed Scholar to Donning the Yellow Robe

Chapter 123 Hua Rong's Skill Amazes Pang Wanchun

On the other side, Lu Zhishen fought against the two tigers. Without the worry of protecting Wang Lun, he was also exhausted and sweating profusely, but he was not injured. The two tigers, however, were injured to varying degrees.

The injured worm is stronger and faster.

Fortunately, Hua Rong had found an excellent position and began shooting arrows at the two large insects.

Hua Rong's arrows, though less powerful than Pang Wanchun's longbow, were extremely accurate. Even with two tigers running around and Lu Zhishen among them, his arrows never missed.

However, Hua Rong was only using an ordinary bow, which was not very effective against the tiger. Even though there were several arrows stuck in the tiger's body, it only made the tiger more ferocious, which made things more difficult for Lu Zhishen.

Knowing that he was not as skilled as Hua Rong in archery, Li Jun took up a knife and joined the battle.

With his arrival, Lu Zhishen felt much more relaxed, panting as he said, "Thank goodness for you."

Wang Lun, who was watching from a distance, was no longer nervous. After all, with two tigers gone, the remaining two were not a problem for Lu Zhishen, Hua Rong, and Li Jun.

Pang Wanchun's mind was on Hua Rong. He had been watching Hua Rong for a long time and found that Hua Rong's rapid-fire archery skills were quite remarkable. When shooting arrows, it seemed that he did not need to aim at all. The arrows he shot casually were very accurate.

His longbow was powerful and his arrows were mighty, but if it came down to a real comparison of accuracy, he knew he might not be a match for Hua Rong.

Pang Wanchun had traveled all over the country for many years and honed his archery skills on the grasslands. He thought his archery skills were unparalleled, but he never expected to meet Hua Rong now and feel a desire to compete with him.

Seeing that both tigers were exhausted, it was not difficult for Lu Zhishen and Li Jun to win.

Pang Wanchun drew his longbow and shot an arrow at the tiger's head on Li Jun's left.

This arrow was also very accurate; if it had hit, the tiger would have been dead for sure.

Hua Rong, also eager to compete, saw Pang Wanchun shoot an arrow and said, "Hero, this tiger is ours, you mustn't take it."

He fired two arrows in quick succession, but instead of shooting at the tiger, he aimed them at a point two feet in front of the tiger's head.

Li Jun laughed and said, "Brother Hua, what are you shooting?"

Two sharp "clangs" were heard as Hua Rong's two volleys of arrows struck Pang Wanchun's arrows, knocking them down. All three arrows fell to the ground at the same time.

Hua Rong knew that his arrows were not as powerful as Pang Wanchun's, so he fired two arrows in quick succession. He anticipated the trajectory of Pang Wanchun's arrow and hit it precisely.

Li Jun was so surprised he couldn't close his mouth: "Amazing!"

Wang Lun also praised, "Excellent archery skills."

Pang Wanchun, also eager to win, said, "Brother, your archery is superb." Without stopping, he fired another arrow with all his might, drawing the bow to its fullest extent, making the bow as taut as a full moon and the arrow as swift as a shooting star.

This arrow was aimed at the tiger in front of Li Jun.

Hua Rong didn't hold back either, predicting the trajectory of the arrow once more, and then shot two more arrows in quick succession. At this moment, he also drew his bow with all his might, and the three arrows collided, but all of them bounced far away before landing.

It's important to understand that the difficulty of shooting dead objects differs greatly from that of shooting living ones. Hitting a moving living object is even more difficult, requiring not only accuracy but also the ability to anticipate its movement.

Pang Wanchun's arrows were completely anticipated by Hua Rong and shot down by Hua Rong's arrows, which fueled Pang Wanchun's desire to win even more.

Lu Zhishen, who was far away, finally saw his chance and struck the tiger's head with his staff. The blow was solid, knocking the tiger to the ground. It roared twice but was too weak to get up.

He brandished his staff and hurled it out like a thunderbolt, smashing it into the tiger that was trying to escape in front of Li Jun, breaking its body in half.

The crowd cheered in unison, surprised that Lu Zhishen still possessed such great strength after such a long and fierce battle.

After the four tigers were killed, the group surrounded Wang Lun and asked him about his condition with concern. They were relieved to see that Wang Lun had only suffered superficial wounds and had not broken any bones.

Upon seeing that Wang Lun was the leader of these men, Pang Wanchun stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "My esteemed heroes are highly skilled in martial arts. You have rid Jiankang of these scoundrels, truly bringing blessings to the region. I am Pang Wanchun, and it is an honor to have met you all."

Wang Lun was pleased to see that he spoke politely, and clasped his hands in greeting, saying, "My name is Wang Lun. I am not a hero, but I am an outlaw from Liangshan Marsh in Shandong. These are my Liangshan leaders, namely Lu Zhishen, Hua Rong, and Li Jun. Your name is Pang Wanchun. May I ask if you are Pang Wanchun, nicknamed 'Little Yang Youji'?"

Pang Wanchun had naturally heard of the name Liangshan Marsh. Upon hearing that it was the renowned Wang Lun and Lu Zhishen, he was immediately filled with respect. He was even more delighted to hear that Wang Lun recognized him, and said, "The title 'Little Yang Youji' is just a flattering one among the Jianghu people. This Brother Hua Rong is an expert archer. How could I possibly deserve the title 'Little Yang Youji'?"

Wang Lun laughed and said, "You don't need to be so polite. Your nickname is Little Yang Youji, and Brother Hua Rong's nickname is Little Li Guang. Haha, what a coincidence."

Yang Youji was a general of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. He was famous for his archery skills and was known as the "Number One Archer of the Spring and Autumn Period" by later generations. The stories of "hitting a willow leaf from a hundred paces" and "Yang Shu shooting a monkey" originated from him.

Li Guang goes without saying; the Tang poem "Frontier Song" describes him: "The forest is dark, the grass rustles in the wind, the general draws his bow at night. At dawn, he searches for the white feather, only to find it embedded in the stone."

In the original Water Margin, Pang Wanchun was recruited as a general by Fang La. When Song Jiang led his troops to attack Fang La, Pang Wanchun's archery skills were superb. Facing the Liangshan heroes, he shot Shi Jin with an arrow. Subsequently, he commanded his subordinates to shoot and kill heroes such as Shi Xiu, Chen Da, Yang Chun, Li Zhong, and Xue Yong. His combat power was extraordinary.

Wang Lun had admired this person when he read "Water Margin" before, but he never expected to meet him here.

Although Pang Wanchun and Hua Rong were rivals, they also genuinely admired each other. At this moment, their eyes met, and they nodded and smiled, which was considered a greeting.

The four tigers were dead. The group, along with four monks, carried the tigers back to the temple.

It turned out that Pang Wanchun led four monks to the den where the tiger often played. They waited all day but did not see the tiger. So they dug several traps under the tree and caught some wild animals as bait.

But after waiting another night, the tiger returned from its outing and went straight into the cave to sleep.

Not daring to alert the enemy, the group climbed up a tree to hide.

Before the tiger had even woken up, Wang Lun and his group arrived first. Pang Wanchun saw their figures from the tree and was worried that they might have fallen into a trap, but then he saw that Wang Lun and the others had also cleverly hidden themselves.

What follows is the encounter with the giant tiger, and Pang Wanchun's advice to Wang Lun to lead the tiger into a trap.

The group returned to Sifang, where the remaining monks wept bitterly and repeatedly thanked them.

Wang Lun, wanting to get to know Pang Wanchun, simply bandaged his wounds at the temple before leading a few people down the mountain to accompany Pang Wanchun to the government office to collect the reward money.

Wang Lun and others deserve credit for killing these tigers, and Pang Wanchun will share the dozens of strings of cash he received as a reward with them.

Wang Lun then suggested that Pang Wanchun host the dinner and spend the several dozen strings of cash.

Pang Wanchun was a wandering swordsman and not a stingy person. Upon hearing Wang Lun's words, he immediately led the group to Cuiyue Tower.

It seems that Pang Wanchun and An Daoquan share the same hobby, so Wang Lun had no choice but to follow him and ended up in this den of iniquity.