Ma Chao raised his head in surprise and looked at Cao Zhang in front of him: "Losing is losing, winning is winning. Is there any such thing as a tie?"
Cao Zhang said to Ma Chao sincerely: "Brother Meng Qi, in terms of the actual result of the horse battle just now, I am not your opponent at all. In the previous more than forty rounds, I didn't stab you with a single shot. It was the best." proof.”
"But now I have far more white spots than you. According to our agreement, I lose!" Ma Chao admitted his failure frankly.
"Brother Meng Qi, if we just talk about our gambling match and the current situation with us, I did seize the opportunity at the last moment and stab you multiple times in succession, winning you on points."
"What I just said on the high platform, General Ma, is that there are no rules on the battlefield. I deeply believe it. On the battlefield, there are only moments of life and death. How can there be so many opportunities for opportunism?"
"In the first duel, when I used the green sword to cut off Brother Ma's weapon and win, Brother Ma accepted it calmly and even said that the quality of the weapon was the key to victory or defeat. The Ma family and his son were open-minded, aboveboard and bearish. I am deeply impressed by my magnanimity in winning and losing, and I am deeply ashamed of myself for taking advantage of loopholes in the rules!"
"If it were a real battlefield, Brother Ma's marksmanship was so good that he wouldn't have lasted more than fifty rounds. He had been shot multiple times before and would have been defeated long ago. Even if he could barely hold on until the end, Brother Ma stabbed me in the ribs. That shot was enough to kill me on the spot, so how could I possibly catch your spear and launch a counterattack?!"
"Since our previous battles, the final judging criteria were all based on actual combat! This time, we used the rules to win points, but we definitely did not defeat Brother Meng Qi in terms of force. That's why I said, our battle The competition can only be considered a draw!" Cao Zhang made an impassioned speech, expressing his attitude that he felt that he was invincible.
The reason why Cao Zhang did this was that after seeing Ma Chao's reaction, he suddenly realized that although he defeated him with clever tricks, he actually once again increased the other party's dissatisfaction.
Blindly relying on opportunistic ways to win is too dishonest. How can Ma Chao be truly convinced?
Cao Zhang wanted Ma Chao to return home, so he decisively chose to admit that he had taken advantage of the loopholes in the rules to give Ma Chao face and make him feel more comfortable.
Of course, Cao Zhang would not be stupid enough to admit defeat directly and let his work go in vain.
He deliberately said that the two sides were in a draw, which not only gave Ma Chao a step forward, but also ensured his own interests. Anyway, in the three competitions, he won one and tied another. Even if he lost the final riding and shooting competition, the total score between the two sides was still a tie.
But Cao Zhang believed that his candid admission of his opportunistic behavior would win Ma Chao's favor, eliminate his resentment, and bring the two of them closer.
Sure enough, Ma Chao looked at Cao Zhang with shocked eyes. Apparently he didn't expect that Cao Zhang had already defeated him, but he took the initiative to give himself face and turned the defeat into a draw.
Of course, Ma Chao was not willing to lose the competition like this. After all, in terms of real ability, Cao Zhang really couldn't beat him. But after all, the opponent gave him face and a chance to equalize. Ma Chao softened his tone a lot and took the initiative to express his gratitude to Cao Zhang.
"Master Cao has an open mind. Thank you very much. Since you said so, it would be disrespectful for me to refuse!"
Ma Teng, Zhong Yao and others on the stage also showed admiration after hearing Cao Zhang's words. He has brains and knows how to behave in the world. He wins without being arrogant and leaves room for Ma Chao. They all showed this. His mind and ability.
No wonder he was trusted so much by Cao Cao at such a young age and was entrusted with the important task of serving as the coach of the Western Expedition. His future must be limitless.
Ma Yunlu stared straight at Cao Zhang, lost in thought. His eyes were full of admiration and love.
This man was not only highly skilled in martial arts and personable, he was also so humble, knew how to take care of other people's emotions, and left room for others at every turn. He was such a humble and gentleman, and instantly captured her heart, making her unable to extricate herself from it.
Ma Yunlu looked at Cao Zhang from a distance, and the smile on her face became brighter and brighter. She felt that her face suddenly became hot, and her heart seemed to be hiding a little deer, beating non-stop...
"Brother Meng Qi is welcome, let's start the riding and shooting competition! The rules of the previous competitions were formulated by me. Brother Meng Qi will decide the rules of this riding and shooting competition!" Cao Zhang took the initiative to explain the rules of the third game. The decision-making power was given to Ma Chao.
Ma Chao was not polite, nodded, and said: "Then let's set up an archery target on one side of the school field. We will ride across the school field from a hundred steps away. After shooting ten arrows in three rounds, whoever hits the target will be the winner." Whoever has more wins!"
"Okay, let's follow Brother Mengqi!" Cao Zhang agreed immediately.
Immediately, a soldier carried the archery target a hundred steps away, set the target up, and then waved to signal Ma Chao.
Ma Chao turned to Cao Zhang: "Master Cao, please go first!"
Cao Zhang understood Ma Chao's intention of letting him shoot first, because he wanted to see his hit rate first, and at the same time, he also did not give himself the chance to "turn defeat into victory" with his strategy.
Anyway, now that he is in an invincible position, Cao Zhang did not refuse and immediately agreed: "Okay, then I will show my shame first!"
Seeing the start of the third match between the two sides, everyone on the stage became focused again, staring at the archery target in the distance, wanting to see what the result would be between the two this time.
Ma Yunlu once saw Cao Zhang's archery skills. At that time, she was attracted and moved by Cao Zhang's heroic appearance of killing jackals with his arrows. At the same time, she also knew Ma Chao's shooting skills very well, so she was not sure who of the two would win.
But this result has become unimportant in her heart. At this time, she only has Cao Zhang in her eyes, and she just wants to appreciate his handsome riding posture again.
Cao Zhang took off his rigid bow and rode his horse forward across the school grounds, preparing to complete his mounted shooting.
Cao Zhang bent his bow and nocked an arrow, and the tip of the arrow pointed at the target in the distance.
The distance of a hundred steps was far enough. At this time, the red heart of the arrow target in Cao Zhang's eyes had turned into a small red dot. Coupled with the high-speed movement of the war horse, it was very difficult to aim.
Fortunately, the original owner had a really good foundation in cavalry and archery. At this time, Cao Zhang did not have the pressure of winning or losing, and his mentality was extremely relaxed, so the arrows he shot were much smoother and more accurate.
After ten arrows, nine of Cao Zhang's arrows hit the red heart on the target. This result is considered quite good.
If Ma Chao wants to win, he must hit all ten arrows. This should be considered a very difficult requirement.
After listening to the soldiers report Cao Zhang's results, Ma Chao's expression was as calm as water, without any fluctuations. He just nodded lightly, then took off his bow and got ready to start shooting on horseback.
Cao Zhang stood at the other end of the school field and looked at Ma Chao seriously, wanting to see how he would perform.
"Drive!" Ma Chao clamped his legs on the horse's belly, spurred the horse forward, and started his riding shot.
Compared with Cao Zhang, who took three rounds and shot every arrow very smoothly, Ma Chao's shot was much faster. He used a continuous arrow method and shot all ten arrows in just one charge.
After Ma Chao shot all the arrows, he turned his horse's head and returned to the high platform. Together with Cao Zhang, he waited for the soldiers to check the arrow targets and report the results.
The soldier walked to the archery target, checked it carefully, and shouted loudly in the direction of the high platform: "Young Master has been hit by nine arrows!"
Nine arrows!
Ma Chao actually also had nine arrows and tied with Cao Zhang again, but in terms of overall results, he lost to Cao Zhang.
Ma Teng, Ma Tie, and Ma Xiu on the high platform all had regret written on their faces, feeling sorry that Ma Chao lost the game in the end.
Ma Yunlu didn't care about the result of the game at this time. Her eyes were just staring at Cao Zhang, who was carefully observing the archery target in the distance.
Ma Chao snorted after hearing the results reported by the soldiers. Unexpectedly, Cao Zhang shouted out before him: "You are wrong. Brother Meng Qi was not hit by nine arrows, but by all ten arrows." !”
