Chapter 11: Qishan
Qishan, the Wen Sect held a grand Discussion Conference. The conference was to last for seven days. Each of the seven days' entertainment had been planned to be different. One of those days involved an archery competition.
The rules of the competition were as follow. Any disciples younger than twenty were to enter the hunting grounds. Of the more than a thousand life-sized paper mannequin targets, only one hundred were possessed by fierce spirits. If one shot the wrong target, they were out at once. One could only stay in the competition if they continuously shot correct paper mannequins that held evil spirits in them. In the end, the disciples were ranked by who shot the most, who shot with highest accuracy, and so on.
The Jie siblings weren't supposed to participate since they belong to nobody yet after the sector leaders' meeting and talking to them at Yunmeng, they finally agreed. They use to wear the Qinghe disciple's uniform or color but now they're wearing white with touches of green.
Wei Wuxian "Why is this place so hard to navigate?" Chun huffs "We shouldn't have come with you. Look, now we're lost" Xue fans his sister with a light chuckle "You were so persistent on not listening to Jiang Cheng"
A sharp sound caught their attention and they saw an arrow hit a bullseye, they turned their heads to an innocent looking boy who had a firm and steady posture. He draws back another arrow "Nice Shot!" Wei Wuxian cheered and the distraction caused the boy to shoot to their direction. Luckily Wei Wuxian caught it "That was close" Xue mumbles.
"Sorry about the idiot. Don't be nervous. What's your name?" They walked up to him "That was a good shot, I'd say you're skilled" Xue commented.
"I'm sorry!" the boy ran and hid behind a large rock.
Wei Wuxian scratched his head "Am I that good looking to scare him away?" Chun rolls her eyes "You're too forward" Xue thought it was a good time to ask "Uh.. we're a little lost. Do you know where the entry of the archery field is?" the boy peeked out and pointed "Well... it's over there"
'Ack! Look at those eyes and soft looks! Save my heart' Xue shook her head at Chun knowing that she wanted the kid to tag along making her pout but nonetheless they said their "Thank you"
"I'm Wei Ying from Jiang Clan, courtesy name Wei Wei Wuxian"
"I'm Jie Xue, courtesy name Han"
"I'm Jie Chun, courtesy name Hua. M-May we have your name?"
The boy finally walked out from his hiding spot "I-I'm Wen Ning from Wen Clan, courtesy name Qionglin" Chun let out a barely audible squeal, Xue bowed and started dragging his sister.
"Where did the three of you go?" Jiang Cheng looks at them disapprovingly "Wanyin~ We got lost and this cute boy helped us with directions. The boy just looked so huggable" Wei Wuxian pouts "She won't stop talking about him"
Everyone was told to line up as the sound of drumming echoed through the field and six flags were raised "Leaders of Jin Clan, Jiang Clan, Nie Clan, and Mr. Lan Qiren of Lan Clan has arrived!" They all went up and after what seems like a slight disagreement, they finally sat down but their gaze remained at the seat opposite of them and the seats above them "His Lordship Wen Chao has arrived" an arrogant looking guy walked up and dismissively saluted the other leaders.
Jiang Cheng, "Does he think he'll be the leader of us all in the future" Wei Wuxian mutters "I guess that's why the seats are arranged that way" Chun scoffs "As if. He looks like someone who'll pass out by scaring them" Huaisang spoke up "Chun-jie are you also referring to me?" Xue chuckles "You seem to have more wit than him, so you'll survive"
"Leader of Xian Clan and his Lordship Wen Ruohan" both mentioned figures sat on the remaining space. The top of the hierarchy as the Wen disciples kneels and bow as they praise them while the rest salutes.
The spokesperson of the Wen moved forward "Aside from the six greats sectors. We have also invited two disciples to participate in this year's competition" the sibling took this as a signal to make themselves known and stood before the steps as they bowed to the leaders. They had piqued the interest of one person among the rest.
"We are honored to be invited in such large gathering and competition. We shall show the best of our capabilities" Xue's voice was loud and clear.
Bin Kai -Leader of Xian Clan-, "So is it true that you are not disciples of Qinghe?" the two nods "We have trained under 3 Clans but we remain unassociated with any of them" they were motioned to return to their former position.
The spokesperson explains, "Hundreds of evil spirits dwell in the stone forest. The one who shoots the most wins. There would be black flame thag indicates you to leave if you miss or shot the wrong mannequin" he ordered for the array to be opened "The archery competition of the Cultivation Conference begins now!"
As people were moving Wen Chao halts his clan's line up "Who's that standing at the end of the line?" It was Wen Ning who hesitantly looked back "You're just a dustant relative who possibly can't even draw a bow. Get him out of here"
Chun puts her arms over Wen Ning's shoulder "Who said he can't draw the bow?" Wei Wuxian stood beside them "Not only can he draw it, he's also good at it" Wen Chao leans forward "Who was that?...Wei Wuxian, they say your skills are pretty good" he shrugs "Good enough for hunting pheasants" Wen Chao's gaze landed on Chun "Jie Chun, you're quiet a looker. I heard rumors about you" Xue stood blocked his view "Rumors are nothing but spouted nonsense" the pompous Wen huffs
"Wen Ning, they say you can shoot. Let's see what you've got"
Compared to Wen Ning's earlier stance, he was more tensed and shaky "Relax, You were doing so good earlier" Xue tried to ease his nerves but he still misses making Wen Chao burts into laughter.
Chun walks up to him "It's okay, we get nervous at times. But next time don't mind them, okay?" he shyly nods "You're really good y'know? Among everyone here there are only a few people better than you" he then points at Jiang Cheng "You might be even better than him" this earned him a hit with an elbow "Ah... don't worry, just a little more practice and you'll shock them"
"What are you still blabbering about? Hurry up and head in...Aren't you two going in as well?" Jiang Cheng looked at the duo who now were eating bread "Where did you- neveremind"
Chun yawns "Why did I even agree to this, I'm so sleepy" Xue chuckles "You're just bored" the then felt the faint presence of the evil spirits "They're near" he nods "Let's make it so we can nap" they proceeded to follow the trace of it and was met with a group of possessed mannequins "Just don't miss, right?" Chun nods "This'll be easy" Xue grins.
~
A few green hued fireworks shot up indicating that the Jie siblings had already made the first hit.
Guangshan faces the group on his side "You've really disciplined them well. They might actually carry themselves and win" Qiren didn't have much to say since he rarely saw any performance from Chun but for Xue he wasn't surprised at his excellence "We only corrected their ways but it is too early to speak about the results" Mingjue smiles just then the other sector symbols illuminates the sky...except for the Wen. This brought a smirk on Mingjue's face and satisfactory feeling to the rest.
It was few more rounds of others scoring until the Wen did but multiple Wen disciples were soon then eliminated a long with a couple of Xian's. Wen Chao slams his cup and walked up to his father to ask for permission to participate which was undoubtedly granted.
"Careful, the Jie sibling may be playful but they bite" Fengmian warns but was completely disregarded "Why do you even bother to warn him"
~
Disciples continue to battle on the mannequins but it was also between Wei Wuxian and Wen Chao who steals easy target but an unexpected one came to the left side of Wen Chao. A glint of silver passed before his eyes "Careful, they're not exacyly friendly" Xue calmly said which came off as mocking to the brat.
Wen Chao grew irritated and tried to shotnone but missed and Wei Wuxian takes it "Wei Wuxian, you-" he grabs three arrows and aims it but some disciples arrived "Do you have a problem with your eyes? Didn't you see you were eliminated" Wei Wuxian points at the Pyro.
"What?" Jiang Cheng then repeats the rule to Wen Chao "I am the rule!" the disciple sighs and turns to leave "He thinks he's above the rules since he's a Wen" this irritated the arrogant male to which he shot his arrow at him "Ouyang! Watch out!"
An arrow pierced through the middle one thay deflected the other two and it continues kill an evil spirit. Lan Wangji lands not far from them "What's going on" Chun who had a slightly disheveled hair groans "Eh? Am I still dreaming? Why is that conceited moron here?" Xue puts a hand over his sister's mouth "Shh..you're awake dumb dumb. He's out but wouldn't leave and tried to shot someone" he whispers
Wen Chao glares at her" What did you say?!" Chun removes her brother's hand "Besides being blind are you also deaf?"
"Be greatful you have looks or I would've hit you by now"
"I'd like to see you try" Wen Chao grabs his bow and an arrow but before he can even draw it back, Chun already had her arrow pointed on his eye. It was the same thing Xue pulled off at Gusu
Chun's other hand snaps Wen Chao's arrow before backing away "You didn't even get a chance" he stomps away clearly infuriated by the humiliation.
"How do you and Xue keep doing that?" Jiang Cheng asked "If you're quick enough and everyone lose focus on you even with the slightest bit, it looks like we're disappearing and reappearing" Xue explained.
Lan Wangji starts to walk away "Lan Zhan! Your forehead ribbon is crooked" Wei Wuxian got close to him "Liar" he turns away "I'm not lying this time" as Wei Wuxian was about to reach for it, Xue and Chun tried to stop him but their quiver unintentionally tugged off the ribbon, shocking Lan Wangji.
There was an uneasy silence as Wangji looks at them with a drak expression he snaps his bow before grabbing his forehead ribbon and walking away.
---
The competition had finalky come to an end "What? He left before it even finished? When?" Wei Wuxian asked in shock "When his headband was removed" Xue and Chun walks up to the Twin Jades of Gusu.
They saluted "We apologized for causing distraught to Second Young Master Lan" Xue started "We tried stopping Wei Ying from touching the headband but it got caught on our quivers instead and got pulled" Lan Wangji felt somewhat at ease
Lan Xichen softly smiles at them "So it wasn't touched by anybody besides Wangji?" Xue nods "Yes and we just wanted to helo but in the end we caused more trouble" Wangji looks away "Don't mind it" the Jie's exvused themselves as the final announcement was about to begin.
"The champion of this year's archery competition goes to Wei Wuxian of Jiang Clan" as the Yunmeng disciples cheered for him, Fengmian glances at Jiang Cheng and smiles as if to say he was also proud of his contribution.
"The runner-up is Lan Xichen from Lan Clan. Third place goes to Jin Zixuan from Jin Clan. Fourth place goes to Lan Wangji from Lan Clan" the fourth person caused murmurs on how even if he left early, he managed to be on the ranking.
"Fifth place are Jie Chun and Jie Xue who managed to tie"
'Wahh they managed to pull that off?'
'Only the two of them an they're on the top 5'
'Not even the Wen or Xian managed to make it'
'Have you not seen them the entire competition? I saw why they placed that up in the ranking'
"Nice...All great four clans and the two guest disciples indeed have great talent" Rouhan stated despite being disappointed by the outcome and so was Bing Kai "Since the match has ended, we shall leave now" they left along with Wen Chao.
"You can tell that they're unhappy" Guangshan shuts his fan "The youngsters made a hit this year...trouble might come our way"
"It is a competition wasn't it?" Mingjue proudly smiles
"Besides, our future lies on the hands of the young ones...the future is not predictable" Fengmiang stated.
The Jie siblings ran up to the leaders and saluted "We hope are performance was satisfactory" Xue said they all nodded "I don't mean to offend but I was not expecting much since a two man team against a larger number can be quiet difficult" Mingjue stated
"Quality over quantity, i guess?" Chun nervously laugh "We only tied since you slept halfway through" Xue exposes her making the two sector leader laugh as Qiren shook his head in disapproval.
Guangshan suddenly chimes in "How about you both train at Lanling? I heard you were hopping from sector to sector" Xue looks at his sister the Zixuan and Yaliang arrived.
"Have you met my son Yaliang?" Chun analyzes him as she puts on a smile "I've heard about him but haven't really met him" this delighted the clan leader "Great, so how about you two-"
"With all due respect Sector Leader Jin, I believe your son doesn't like me since he says I spend to much time around men and have probably slept with them. So lets not push an interaction that might turn into bloodshed" she sweetly smiles at them "I do appreciate the kind offer but my brother and I would just travel around and maybe pass by if given a chance"
"Xue! Chun! You said you still have some steamed buns!!" a female Nie disciple yells.
Xur hold onto his sister's wrist "If you'll excuse us, we seem to be needed there"
Mingjue laughs "You can't really force anything on those two" Fengmian nods "Even my son can't go against her. It's always her and her brother"
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