“Yes.” Mao Li walked to his place at the right hand seat of Shangguan Bing’er and sat down.
Zhou Weiqing looked on critically, realising that Company Leader Mao Li did not have much liking for the handsome youth Company Leader, not even giving him a look but instead just sitting down in his seat expressionless.
Shangguan Bing’er and Zhou Weiqing looked at each other, and he raised his eyebrow gently at her; this small action seemed very natural, and most others would likely not pay attention. However, Shangguan Bing’er was a Heavenly Jewel Master, and more importantly, an archer, how good was her eyesight? Furthermore, she was so familiar with Zhou Weiqing’s character – a thread of hatred flashed in her pupils. Sometimes, she really wished she could give this rascal a good beating.
“Little Fatty Zhou, you stand behind me. From today onwards, you are the Battalion Commander’s Personal Aide.” After she glared once more at Zhou Weiqing, she ordered with a tranquil expression.
“Yes.”The Zhou Weiqing said compliantly, and started walking towards Shangguan Bing’er’s back. It would be good to be her Personal Aide, not only would it be convenient to continue learning the more about Heavenly Jewel Masters, just being able to spend more time with her would make him satisfied. Luckily he did not dare to go too far when he in front of so many people, but his eyes still revealed his happiness.
“Wait.” At this moment, an inharmonious sound appeared suddenly, though Zhou Weiqing had to acknowledge that the voice was clear and melodious, sounding quite good – it actually belonged to that handsome young Company Leader.
“What’s wrong? Do you have any questions, Company Leader Xiao?” Shangguan Bing’er turned to look at him, the bitterness in her eyes vanishing as she assumed a tranquil, even gentle countenance.
The handsome youth Company Leader Xiao nodded his head slightly, not hiding his ardent look at Shangguan Bing’er, saying: “Battalion Commander, with your status you definitely should be assigned a soldier as a Personal Aide. However, your Personal Aide doesn’t need to only be able to handle the simple everyday routine business for you, but should also be able to shoulder the responsibility of protecting you. This Little Fatty Zhou is just a fresh recruit, won’t it be difficult for him to shoulder such a heavy responsibility?”
Shangguan Bing’er, who was easily able to maintain her cool as long as she wasn’t facing Zhou Weiqing, showed a faint smile and said: “Company Leader Xiao, do you really believe that I need the protection of my Professional Aide? What candidate do you have to recommend instead?”
Zhou Weiqing had halted his footsteps when Company Leader Xiao started speaking, feeling a sense of foreboding and vigilance in his heart, it was rather clear to everyone that Company Leader Xiao was looking at Shangguan Bing’er with an admiring expression. Zhou Weiqing couldn’t help but stare at him, secretly critiquing to himself : This fellow why does he have such a gigolo face? They say handsome gigolos like that do not have good intentions, one look at him I can tell he is a bad egg.
Originally, he did not have much hope for wooing Shangguan Bing’er, but when he became a Heavenly Jewel Master, our dear Zhou Weiqing, Little Fatty Zhou, had just ‘righteously’ regarded Shangguan Bing’er has his. Of course, that scheming mind of his that rightfully should not appear in an ordinary 13-year-old youth would not let him display those feelings outright.
Hearing Shangguan Bing’er’s question, Company Leader Xiao said in a serious tone: “Naturally, with our Battalion Commander’s strength, you do not need the protection of a mere Personal Aide, but as a fresh recruit can he even shoot arrows? By following you into battle, wouldn’t it be a loss of face for you*? Furthermore, even if you do not need the protection of a Personal Aide, but he should still be able to follow your steps in the battlefield. I, Xiao Se, am willing to resign from my commision as Company Leader to follow Battalion Commander about, I pledge to fight to the death to protect the Battalion Commander’s life.”
This Company Leader Xiao said it with such a strong sense of righteousness, with such an appearance that is unafraid of death, that Zhou Weiqing was almost moved by him. Yet, in the heart he was criticizing: If he doesn’t act, will he die?
Shangguan Bing’er said with a lovely smile: “Many thanks for your good intentions Company Leader Xiao, but you are our 3rd Battalion’s pillar of strength. How can I let you hold the mere post of a Personal Aide? As for Zhou Weiqing, although he is a recruit, but I have tested him these few days, and he is indeed has the talent to be developed. He also has had some previous practice with shooting, and should be competent enough to be a Personal Aide.”
Xiao Se wrinkled his brow, saying: “Battalion Commander, how about this? Let’s get Little Fatty Zhou to demonstrate his ability to us, at least we can all set our minds at ease.”
Shangguan Bing’er still had unfazed appearance, facing Xiao Se’s persistence, she did not pull rank. “Okay, let’s do as Company Leader Xiao said. But how does Company Leader Xiao plan to test my Personal Aide?” The composure she was maintaining did not truly represent her thinking in her heart, but in the third battalion, although she was the Battalion Commander, but Company Leader Xiao actually had greater influence than her. Even though his noble title was lower than hers, but he had a background that Shangguan Bing’er could not ignore.
Xiao Se stood up and with quick motion of his hand, he took out a longbow from beside his seat. His longbow was similar to Shangguan Bing’er’s, its body was entirely purple, and Zhou Weiqing was very clear on this quality material.
The wood from the Stars Trees from the Stars Forest could be used to create bows after the trees were at least ten years old, but generally speaking, the wood that the army uses was at least over 30 years of age. This was because the wood would be strong enough by then. The purple longbow that Xiao Se and Shangguan Bing’er used was also made from the wood of the Stars Tree, but it was made from trees of over hundred years old.
The wood from Stars Trees was a dark red colour, and when they grew to beyond a hundred years of age, they would transform into a deep purple, with thin, tiny surface trace lines like ox hairs present. If one examined it carefully, they would be able to see golden luminous spots as well. This is also one of the origin of one of the Star Woods’ nicknames, this kind of hundred-year old Stars Wooden characteristic was called Ox Hair Venus*.
When Stars Wood’s growth surpassed a hundred years, its would experience a substantial qualitative leap, its strength and tenacity increasing by a large margin. A longbow that was created with the Hundred Years Stars Wood had a tensile strength of at least three times that of an ordinary longbow, needing over 100 kilograms of pulling force to be able to draw it to the max. As such, its firing distance was also a lot further, the effective striking distance reaching 500 yards. If one were to further add Heavenly Energy, the effective striking distance would be even farther. Therefore, the longbow was also known as the Purple Dawn Bow, each one having the value of at least a hundred gold or more depending on the quality. This longbow was definitely not something that an ordinary Company Leader could use; even if the Heavenly Bow Empire was renowned for their bows and archery, it was rare enough that it usually warranted a rank of Battalion Commander to be given such a high quality bow.
Xiao Se took his Purple Dawn Bow and walked right in front of Zhou Weiqing, and with a faint smile said: “Little Fatty Zhou right. As long as you can draw my Purple Dawn Bow, it will show that you have qualification to be the Battalion Commander’s Personal Aide. Go ahead and try, use all the strength that you possess, but be careful do not overstrain yourself, if you wet yourself in the pants it will not be too good.”
Xiao Se’s words immediately caused those “No Feather Squad Leaders” to burst out in raucous laughter, especially the ten who were under his command, they were doubled up in laughter, not showing Shangguan Bing’er the respect the Battalion Commander seat warranted.