Though it was only a group match, Liu Hong's shot was so spectacular that it sent the entire crowd into an uproar.
After Liu Hong galloped another circuit of the grounds and thoroughly basked in the limelight, Huan Wen immediately summoned him and personally presented him with a large goblet of wine, asking about his background and experience. Liu Hong actually kept the brocade robe slung over his back like a cloak, refusing to take it off, and merely knelt on one knee on the platform to recount everything in detail... Now everyone understood that this fellow had won more than a prize: with that single arrow, this Banner Chief of humble birth was about to leap straight over the hardest class barrier men like him faced.
What did "Three Armies Compete for the Prize" mean?
This was Three Armies Compete for the Prize in the most literal sense.
Now, not only were the other contestants rubbing their hands in anticipation, but Deng Xia, Huan Qian, and the others also abandoned their elevated seats on the platform to prepare early.
The matches that followed certainly did not lack excitement, but beside Liu Hong's shot, they really did lose some of their force. During the last few groups of the first round, in particular, there was even a small mishap-the wind picked up, and seizing the brocade suddenly became much harder.
Several groups failed to shoot down the brocade robe at all.
Fortunately, Liu Acheng had arranged a fallback early on, setting up ordinary archery targets beneath several other willows, with copper coins and similar objects hanging in front. The first four to hit them could also advance from the group match and try again in the next round.
In fact, without this arrangement, if the first few groups had all