Prologue
I gripped the bow.
Then I drew the bowstring.
Draw and release.
Nothing more than sending the nocked arrow flying.
The wind howled in my ears.
The arrow traced a perfect arc and struck the invader dead on.
A hundred times.
A thousand times.
Ten thousand times.
I drew and loosed the bowstring more times than I could count.
Yellow Turban Rebels in their yellow headscarves.
River pirate gangs notorious for their brutality on the Yangtze.
And rebel armies that rode the tide of chaos into my territory.
I shot them dead.
So no one could trespass on my territory.
Defend the domain.
Protect the people and safeguard the Han Dynasty.
I simply put into practice the archery and teachings I received from my father. As a member of the Han Imperial House, I had a duty and responsibility to repel rebels and barbarians, and to protect the people of the domain.
I poured that sense of royal duty into every arrow I loosed.
That should have been all there was to it.
"The enemy commander was struck by an arrow and fell!"
"The Crown Prince has slain the enemy commander! The rebels are all fleeing!"
"Long Live the Han Dynasty! Long Live the Han!!"
-The Last Flame of Han
-Greatest Archer Under Heaven (天下第一弓)
-The Legitimate Eldest Son of Liu Chong, King of Chen. Crown Prince of Chen Kingdom.
-Guardian of Jiangdong, who vanquished all the rebels and barbarians of the Central Plains.
The storytellers sang my praises and the common people cheered.
My fame spread throughout the world as the only member of the Han Imperial House who successfully defended his territory against the tide of chaos unleashed by the Yellow Turbans.
'All I did was shoot arrows at targets that moved and screamed...'
You see those sometimes, right?
People with peculiar hobbies they can't easily confess to others.
My hobby was simply shooting at moving targets—especially ones placed at distances so extreme that everyone else would balk.