Chapter 69

PS: At the beginning, I mentioned that I had a brain lapse and missed a crucial detail while writing the spiral shooting technique. After a reminder from a reader, I made slight revisions to chapters 67 and 68.

Princess Pingyang had a deep understanding of archery. She saw endless possibilities in Luo Shixin's trick of the spiral shooting technique, but she emphasized the basics repeatedly. Even in hunting, cunning prey wouldn't give much time to aim, let alone on the battlefield, where life and death were at stake.

Eyes, mind, and hands must move in unison. This is not the realm of a master but the basic requirement for a general using a bow on the battlefield.

Luo Shixin's skills had greatly improved, but due to his late start, he still had the problem of overemphasizing aiming.

Luo Shixin knew he had this issue and did not reject Princess Pingyang's guidance; he accepted it gladly.

"You figure it out yourself, I won't keep you company!" Princess Pingyang laughed and rode away to find prey. Pei Qingyi and two female knights followed at a distance, neither disturbing Princess Pingyang's mood nor neglecting her safety.

Seeing Pei Qingyi's protection, Luo Shixin was not worried about any accidents. With his archery skills, if he followed Princess Pingyang, he would definitely not even get a taste of the hunt. He chose a direction with no one around and galloped off.

In this vast, grassy plain, wild rabbits and mountain chickens were not uncommon, but these animals were extremely alert. At the slightest disturbance, they would panic and flee, disappearing without a trace. It was not easy to shoot them. Luo Shixin managed to catch a rabbit and an eagle, but not wanting to linger in the plain, he decided to go up to Heng Mountain to see if he could find larger prey like deer, foxes, or wild boars.

Heng Mountain connects to Yanmen Pass to the west, spans the Taihang Mountains to the east, shields the three Jin regions to the south, and overlooks the Yun and Dai regions to the north. It is vast and majestic, towering over the land.

Deep in the mountain, Luo Shixin felt like a grain of sand in the vast sea. In ancient times, the mountains were more treacherous than later, with dense vegetation and thorns everywhere. Deer and other prey roamed freely, as if they were the true masters of the forest. Luo Shixin, agile like a monkey, wielded a sharp Tang knife, cutting through the thorns without hesitation. However, he was not a hunter and lacked hunting experience, not knowing the habits of animals. He often scared them away with his clumsy movements, resulting in no success.

With a "twang," the bowstring sounded, and the arrow shot into the dense forest, disappearing without a trace. Luo Shixin approached to search for his arrow, hoping to see his results. Disappointingly, the arrow had missed its target, embedding itself half a foot deep into a tree trunk. When he pulled out the arrow, he noticed a trace of blood on the sharp tip.

"Still a bit off!" Luo Shixin muttered to himself, his tone lacking regret but with a hint of excitement. The prey was a red fox, which he had seen calmly eating a mouse. Upon hearing the noise, it quickly darted into the thorns.

Luo Shixin did not have time to aim, but he shot an arrow by instinct. Although he did not kill the prey, he felt he had grasped a bit of the feeling Princess Pingyang had described.

A loud "bang!" startled Luo Shixin. He quickly slung his bow and arrow over his shoulder and ran down the mountain, ignoring the thorns and grass along the way.

They had agreed to signal with a cannon if anything happened, notifying everyone to gather.

The hunt had only started an hour ago, so the cannon sound indicated something had gone wrong.

Rushing down the mountain, Luo Shixin found his horse at the foot and galloped to the meeting point.

On the way, the sound of hooves echoed, and female knights were heard responding to the signal.

Arriving at the agreed camp, over ten female knights surrounded the main tent, some pacing anxiously. Mo Huer, who had arrived earlier, saw Luo Shixin galloping in and hurried over.

"Little Tiger, what happened?" Luo Shixin dismounted, not even bothering to tie the reins.

"Her Highness has fainted again and is bleeding! We don't know what's going on," Mo Huer said anxiously.

Luo Shixin remembered that Princess Pingyang had fainted once on the way to Dingzhou, and a bad feeling surged in his heart. He quickly walked to the main tent, shouting, "Move aside, move aside!"

Below Princess Pingyang, Luo Shixin was the highest-ranking person.

The female knights immediately scattered.

Inside the tent, Princess Pingyang lay motionless on a mat, with Pei Qingyi anxiously kneeling beside her, pinching her nose.

Princess Pingyang's military attire was covered in grass and dirt, her beautiful face pale, and there were traces of blood around her eyes, nose, and mouth. Luo Shixin knew this was not a normal faint.

Luo Shixin approached and felt Princess Pingyang's pulse. Although he could not diagnose much, he could tell if she was alive or dead. Feeling the weak pulse, he felt a slight relief.

"Miss Pei, tear down this tent and build a simple stretcher. Carry the princess straight to Zuo Ren City. Remember, don't rush; be steady and avoid any unnecessary jolts. Little Tiger, take four horses and take turns riding to the Dingzhou military camp. Tell the Prince of You that the princess's old illness has flared up and is critical. Ask him to quickly find a famous doctor from Yi Prefecture to come to Zuo Ren City."

At this moment, Su Dingfang also arrived on horseback.

Luo Shixin immediately said, "You came just in time. Dingfang, take four horses and take turns riding to Yi Prefecture. Try to bring the most famous doctors to Zuo Ren City."

He then led Princess Pingyang's fine horse and his own Hequ horse, taking a shortcut to Zuo Ren City.

Luo Shixin alternated between the two fine horses and reached Zuo Ren City in just an hour.

Zuo Ren City was a small town. Luo Shixin rushed to the county office and learned from the county magistrate about the only famous doctor in the city. He borrowed a carriage from the inn and took the elderly doctor, who was nearly seventy, to meet Pei Qingyi on the way.

The elderly doctor knew that the patient was the famous Princess Pingyang and gritted his teeth to endure the jolts.

When they met Pei Qingyi, the elderly doctor took one look and his expression turned serious.

On the way, Luo Shixin had already given the elderly doctor a rough idea of the situation, and he had a vague feeling. Now, seeing it with his own eyes, he was almost certain.

"This is not easy to handle!" the elderly doctor muttered softly. Without taking her pulse or asking about her condition, he used his withered fingers to gently press various spots on Princess Pingyang's head, finally pressing the back of her head and gasping, "Just as I thought. This is not a disease but an old injury. There is a blood clot at the back of her head, which has been there for many years, but it was never discovered. This fainting spell likely caused the blood clot to be hit, triggering the old injury!"