I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 231 – The contest between the Pea Shooter and the Marksman
“Doot!”
As if aimed explicitly at striking Han Cheng, the Great Divine Child’s face, an unusual sound rang out before he could finish his thoughts.
Holding the bow, the Third Senior Brother appeared excited and incredulous as he looked at the feathered arrow nailed to the wooden stake. He hadn’t expected to hit the target on his first attempt.
“Many words will lead to failure, and many shots will hit the mark.” Shooting arrows many times doesn’t escape this rule.
Han Cheng couldn’t help but feel excited and curious about Third Senior Brother’s second arrow.
Third Senior Brother nocked the arrow, drew the bow, and with a release, a sharp thud resounded once again.
Two arrows were already embedded on the tree stump serving as a makeshift target.
With a mix of joy and surprise, Han Cheng watched the Third Senior Brother draw his bow again.
The third arrow missed, much to the disappointment of the onlookers and Han Cheng himself.
But upon reflection, Han Cheng’s mood lifted again.
Hitting two out of three arrows on his first attempt indicated that Third Senior Brother had considerable talent in archery.
Moreover, the stump used as a target differed from the circular targets commonly seen in later eras. Hitting this target was much more challenging than hitting a typical bullseye.
Although the power of the bow and arrow fell far short of expectations, Han was quite satisfied. After all, this was a hastily made, rudimentary bow and arrow.
The bow and arrow were passed to the remaining people, and few managed to hit the target like the Third Senior Brother did. His consecutive hits raised expectations for the bow and arrow, among others.
Han Cheng went over to pull out the feathered arrow stuck in the stump. He wanted to gauge the power of the bow and arrow.
Compared to a real bow and arrow, the difference in power was considerable. Even though the outer layer of the stump used as a target had decayed, the arrows hadn’t penetrated deeply.
Despite this, Han was content. After all, these were hastily made, rudimentary weapons.
The bow and arrow circulated among the rest of the people, with few managing to hit the target like the Third Senior Brother did. His consecutive hits raised expectations for the bow and arrow, among others.
When everyone cheered for Third Senior Brother, Second Brother’s expression soured slightly. After all, he used to be the best thrower in the tribe. Now, he was overshadowed by Third Senior Brother. While primitive people didn’t have the complex emotions of modern humans, many basic emotions were still present.
He picked up a few stones and approached Third Senior Brother, holding the bow and arrow, gesturing for everyone to move aside.
Then, he positioned himself next to Third Senior Brother, took a few steps back, and increased the distance from the wooden stump.
With a sudden wave of his hand holding a stone, the stone struck the wooden stump accurately.
All three stones hit the mark, and the last one knocked over the stump, which wasn’t buried in the ground but supported by a few rocks.
The people of the Green Sparrow Tribe cheered for Second Senior Brother when they saw this.
Han Cheng also gave Second Senior Brother a thumbs-up. This guy’s title as a Pea Shooter was well-deserved.
Throwing stones was a crucial skill in this era, and even later, after the widespread development of bows and arrows, stone-throwing remained a viable means of attacking enemies.
For example, the common practice of using slings to hurl stones.
One of the most famous instances was in the Water Margin, where Zhang Qing defeated seventeen generals of Liangshan with thrown stones in a single day.
Even Lu Zhishen, with his shiny bald head reflecting in the moonlight, was taken down by Zhang Qing’s stones.
Then there were the catapults, capable of hurling projectiles like small artillery…
Even today, stone-throwing remains a simple and effective method for hunting and combat.
Han Cheng wouldn’t hesitate to praise Second Senior Brother from that perspective.
The third Senior Brother approached the area where the Second Senior Brother was and also prepared his bow and arrow. Today, the two of them seemed to have the intention of competing.
However, the Third Senior Brother was disadvantaged in the contest this time.
After multiple shots, the hastily made makeshift longbow had lost some elasticity, naturally not matching up to Second Senior Brother, the pea shooter.
After this comparison, most people in the Green Sparrow Tribe believed that the bow and arrow made by the Divine Child were not as effective as their original stone-throwing skills.
Han Cheng didn’t mind the crowd’s attitude too much because he knew how vast the future of bows and arrows was.
This scene suddenly reminded him of the early days of experimenting with steam trains, when someone on horseback easily surpassed the train, thinking it was nothing special.
But what about later? No matter how hard the horse tried, it couldn’t catch up with the high-speed bullet train.
Second Senior Brother beat his chest to express that he wouldn’t use bows and arrows in the future. On the other hand, Third Senior Brother appeared somewhat disheartened as he approached Han Cheng with his bow and arrow.
Third Senior Brother liked bows and arrows. While he wasn’t very accurate at throwing stones by hand, he could achieve great precision with a bow and arrow. Therefore, he was unwilling to give up on them.
Han Cheng formulated a plan after looking at the bow for a while. He reached out and patted Third Senior Brother’s shoulder, indicating that he shouldn’t be discouraged.
“This is just the most rudimentary bow. We can make a bow and arrow that shoots farther and with greater power with some improvements.”
Third Senior Brother perked up, recalling the story of “Hou Yi shooting the sun” that the Divine Child had told him last night, looking at Han Cheng hopefully. “Can we shoot down the sun too?”
Han Cheng was speechless. He shouldn’t have told the story of “Hou Yi shooting the sun” in the first place.
He replied seriously, “We can’t shoot down the sun, but we can shoot even farther.”
Then he added, “There’s only one sun in the sky now. If you were to shoot it down, we wouldn’t be able to live.”
Upon hearing this, the Third Senior Brother finally realized the problem and felt embarrassed.
Instead of dwelling on shooting down the sun, he asked Han Cheng for advice on making a stronger bow.
Han Cheng gave him explicit instructions. “Go to the mulberry forest and cut down a thick tree.”
He demonstrated the size with his hands, indicating a bowl-sized circle.
“After you return, I’ll teach you how to make a more powerful bow and arrow.”
Third Senior Brother received the information he needed from Han Cheng, feeling elated, and dashed off. Han Cheng called for the Second Senior Brother and the others to accompany him.
After all, it’s better to have company in the wilderness.
With the bow and arrow matter temporarily settled, Han Cheng could finally implement his sudden inspiration.
Chapter 231 – The contest between the Pea Shooter and the Marksman
“Doot!”
As if aimed explicitly at striking Han Cheng, the Great Divine Child’s face, an unusual sound rang out before he could finish his thoughts.
Holding the bow, the Third Senior Brother appeared excited and incredulous as he looked at the feathered arrow nailed to the wooden stake. He hadn’t expected to hit the target on his first attempt.
“Many words will lead to failure, and many shots will hit the mark.” Shooting arrows many times doesn’t escape this rule.
Han Cheng couldn’t help but feel excited and curious about Third Senior Brother’s second arrow.
Third Senior Brother nocked the arrow, drew the bow, and with a release, a sharp thud resounded once again.
Two arrows were already embedded on the tree stump serving as a makeshift target.
With a mix of joy and surprise, Han Cheng watched the Third Senior Brother draw his bow again.
The third arrow missed, much to the disappointment of the onlookers and Han Cheng himself.
But upon reflection, Han Cheng’s mood lifted again.
Hitting two out of three arrows on his first attempt indicated that Third Senior Brother had considerable talent in archery.
Moreover, the stump used as a target differed from the circular targets commonly seen in later eras. Hitting this target was much more challenging than hitting a typical bullseye.
Although the power of the bow and arrow fell far short of expectations, Han was quite satisfied. After all, this was a hastily made, rudimentary bow and arrow.
The bow and arrow were passed to the remaining people, and few managed to hit the target like the Third Senior Brother did. His consecutive hits raised expectations for the bow and arrow, among others.
Han Cheng went over to pull out the feathered arrow stuck in the stump. He wanted to gauge the power of the bow and arrow.
Compared to a real bow and arrow, the difference in power was considerable. Even though the outer layer of the stump used as a target had decayed, the arrows hadn’t penetrated deeply.
Despite this, Han was content. After all, these were hastily made, rudimentary weapons.
The bow and arrow circulated among the rest of the people, with few managing to hit the target like the Third Senior Brother did. His consecutive hits raised expectations for the bow and arrow, among others.
When everyone cheered for Third Senior Brother, Second Brother’s expression soured slightly. After all, he used to be the best thrower in the tribe. Now, he was overshadowed by Third Senior Brother. While primitive people didn’t have the complex emotions of modern humans, many basic emotions were still present.
He picked up a few stones and approached Third Senior Brother, holding the bow and arrow, gesturing for everyone to move aside.
Then, he positioned himself next to Third Senior Brother, took a few steps back, and increased the distance from the wooden stump.
With a sudden wave of his hand holding a stone, the stone struck the wooden stump accurately.
All three stones hit the mark, and the last one knocked over the stump, which wasn’t buried in the ground but supported by a few rocks.
The people of the Green Sparrow Tribe cheered for Second Senior Brother when they saw this.
Han Cheng also gave Second Senior Brother a thumbs-up. This guy’s title as a Pea Shooter was well-deserved.
Throwing stones was a crucial skill in this era, and even later, after the widespread development of bows and arrows, stone-throwing remained a viable means of attacking enemies.
For example, the common practice of using slings to hurl stones.
One of the most famous instances was in the Water Margin, where Zhang Qing defeated seventeen generals of Liangshan with thrown stones in a single day.
Even Lu Zhishen, with his shiny bald head reflecting in the moonlight, was taken down by Zhang Qing’s stones.
Then there were the catapults, capable of hurling projectiles like small artillery…
Even today, stone-throwing remains a simple and effective method for hunting and combat.
Han Cheng wouldn’t hesitate to praise Second Senior Brother from that perspective.
The third Senior Brother approached the area where the Second Senior Brother was and also prepared his bow and arrow. Today, the two of them seemed to have the intention of competing.
However, the Third Senior Brother was disadvantaged in the contest this time.
After multiple shots, the hastily made makeshift longbow had lost some elasticity, naturally not matching up to Second Senior Brother, the pea shooter.
After this comparison, most people in the Green Sparrow Tribe believed that the bow and arrow made by the Divine Child were not as effective as their original stone-throwing skills.
Han Cheng didn’t mind the crowd’s attitude too much because he knew how vast the future of bows and arrows was.
This scene suddenly reminded him of the early days of experimenting with steam trains, when someone on horseback easily surpassed the train, thinking it was nothing special.
But what about later? No matter how hard the horse tried, it couldn’t catch up with the high-speed bullet train.
Second Senior Brother beat his chest to express that he wouldn’t use bows and arrows in the future. On the other hand, Third Senior Brother appeared somewhat disheartened as he approached Han Cheng with his bow and arrow.
Third Senior Brother liked bows and arrows. While he wasn’t very accurate at throwing stones by hand, he could achieve great precision with a bow and arrow. Therefore, he was unwilling to give up on them.
Han Cheng formulated a plan after looking at the bow for a while. He reached out and patted Third Senior Brother’s shoulder, indicating that he shouldn’t be discouraged.
“This is just the most rudimentary bow. We can make a bow and arrow that shoots farther and with greater power with some improvements.”
Third Senior Brother perked up, recalling the story of “Hou Yi shooting the sun” that the Divine Child had told him last night, looking at Han Cheng hopefully. “Can we shoot down the sun too?”
Han Cheng was speechless. He shouldn’t have told the story of “Hou Yi shooting the sun” in the first place.
He replied seriously, “We can’t shoot down the sun, but we can shoot even farther.”
Then he added, “There’s only one sun in the sky now. If you were to shoot it down, we wouldn’t be able to live.”
Upon hearing this, the Third Senior Brother finally realized the problem and felt embarrassed.
Instead of dwelling on shooting down the sun, he asked Han Cheng for advice on making a stronger bow.
Han Cheng gave him explicit instructions. “Go to the mulberry forest and cut down a thick tree.”
He demonstrated the size with his hands, indicating a bowl-sized circle.
“After you return, I’ll teach you how to make a more powerful bow and arrow.”
Third Senior Brother received the information he needed from Han Cheng, feeling elated, and dashed off. Han Cheng called for the Second Senior Brother and the others to accompany him.
After all, it’s better to have company in the wilderness.
With the bow and arrow matter temporarily settled, Han Cheng could finally implement his sudden inspiration.
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