novelraw Chapter 57
Chapter 57
Chapter 57: Yes, He Has Hunted Dragons
The exit of the zoo was a large souvenir shop.
As with most scenic spot designs, visitors had to pass through the shop to leave.
Zoo visitors were usually either couples or families with children, and the animal-themed merchandise sold in the shop held a strong appeal to both groups.
Of course, Xia Li knew that the prices in scenic spots were ridiculously high.
Shops like this, which were contracted out, were even more commercially driven.
Therefore, he would definitely not be spending any money today.
“Xia Li…”
Just as Xia Li was swiftly moving past the shelves, his eyes fixed on the zoo exit and refusing to look sideways,
the evil dragon beside him was instantly sucked away by some mysterious force. Lucia stood frozen in the middle of two rows of shelves, unable to move her feet.
“Little sheep.”
She pointed at a plush toy on the shelf.
“…”
Xia Li sighed and had to turn back.
Speaking of which, taking Lucia to the zoo today was like an evil dragon entering a buffet but not being allowed to eat a single bite.
It was simply too cruel for a dragon.
Xia Li stood in front of the plush sheep toy and hesitated for a moment.
He thought, even if he couldn’t afford the real thing, surely he could afford a fake one?
Even the sausages in this zoo were only sold for five yuan, how expensive could a sheep plush toy in the shop be?
Thinking this, Xia Li picked up the sheep and took a look.
Wow, they were really treating the tourists like sheep to be slaughtered.
Maybe he should just be the little sheep for Lucia.
298 yuan for an arm-sized sheep plush toy was really excessive.
“You could eat lamb chops for this price…”
Xia Li complained about it not being worth it, but he didn’t put the sheep back on the shelf.
Lucia’s eyes were sparkling.
Dragons, to some extent, all had a bit of a collector’s obsession. Lucia knew that this was a fake sheep and couldn’t be eaten, but she wanted to collect it.
This way, she could consider her thirst quenched.
Taking the plush toy to the cashier, Xia Li was about to line up to pay.
Looking up, he inadvertently glanced at the mobile stalls outside the zoo exit.
“Hmm? Wait a minute.”
Under Lucia’s expectant gaze, Xia Li turned around and put the black-hearted little sheep back in its original place.
The beautiful amber eyes of Lucia dimmed.
“Let’s not buy this one, there’s a bigger one outside.”
Xia Li pointed out the window.
Lucia slowly turned her head, her gloomy eyes brightening up again after looking outside.
◈◈◈
“Boss.”
“How much is it for one round of archery?”
In front of a stall with little business, the dozing owner woke up at the sound of the inquiry, quickly cleared his throat, and raised two fingers to Xia Li.
“Twenty, twenty yuan for one round.”
“I’ll take one round.” Xia Li swiftly took out his phone and scanned the QR code to pay.
Seeing this, the owner didn’t hesitate and placed a bucket of ten arrows and a black longbow in front of the young man.
Besides archery, there were also shooting, ring toss, and dart games at the surrounding stalls.
The rules of these games were basically the same: hit a certain number of targets to get points, then exchange the points for prizes.
Prizes ranged from first to fifth place, and there were even super prizes to attract attention.
Vendors like this had sprung up like mushrooms after the rain more than a decade ago. Tourists were initially interested in trying their luck, but as the vendors became increasingly deceptive, they were avoided.
Xia Li picked up the longbow and weighed it in his hand.
It wasn’t made of wood or steel, but plastic.
The arrows were even more childish, with soft tips that required a full draw to even pierce the foam target.
They were nothing compared to the steel-tipped, even poison-coated arrows that Xia Li had encountered in Azure Continent.
However, they were sufficient for entertainment.
Taking a deep breath, Xia Li raised the longbow.
His black eyes narrowed slightly, as if a sharp light was hidden within them.
The target was twenty meters away, and it was a stationary target…
Xia Li particularly remembered that when he first became a Brave Hero and was taking his mentor’s compulsory archery lessons, his mentor had him shoot sparrows with arrows.
If he hit, he got to eat. If he missed, he kept shooting until he hit and could eat.
The bow back then was much heavier than this one, and the flight path of the sparrows was difficult to capture with the naked eye.
“Xia Li, shoot!”
Lucia, standing beside Xia Li, was even more anxious than he was.
The sign said that hitting three targets would win a prize, eight targets would win the first prize, and ten targets would win the grand prize.
Lucia didn’t know many characters, she only knew that next to the first prize was a super-sized sheep plush toy, even bigger than the one she had seen in the shop, it was practically a 1:1 replica of a real lamb!
If it were this sheep, Lucia wouldn’t mind cuddling it to sleep at night.
◈◈◈
It would definitely quench her thirst even more.
“Wind magic, blessing!”
Lucia waved her small hand, a short basic incantation escaping her lips.
A gentle breeze lifted her skirt, her soft long hair swaying slightly.
Lucia hummed twice and changed to a more chuunibyou gesture.
“Gale, accuracy spell, spatial acceleration!”
“…”
The stall owner had just woken up from his nap and was unscrewing his thermos to drink tea.
He slowly turned his gaze towards the young man.
The young man was focused, his posture when holding the bow was more standard than he had ever seen. The owner took another look at him while drinking his tea.
Could he be an archery expert?
However, even if he was an expert, it didn’t matter.
The bullseye was only so big, it was impossible to fit ten arrows in it.
Let alone ten, the owner himself had tried it while standing close to the wall, he could usually get about seven in, but it was difficult for the subsequent arrows to hit the bullseye.
“Whoosh—”
The sound of the arrow piercing through the air.
In his five years of business, the owner had never heard a customer draw his plastic bow with such a sound.
He glanced at the target, it hit the bullseye as expected.
He was indeed trained.
The owner thought to himself.
Just one arrow, you can’t possibly hit them all, can you?
He took another sip of tea.
When he looked up again, there were five more arrows in the center of the bullseye.
“Pfft—cough, cough.”
When did that happen?!
Forget the sound of the wind, this time he didn’t even see how the arrow flew out!
In the blink of an eye, nine arrows had hit the bullseye.
The red circle, less than three centimeters in diameter, was riddled with plastic arrows. The arrangement of the arrows was incredibly exaggerated, they filled the bullseye completely, leaving no gaps.
“Wait, wait…”
Seeing this, the owner panicked.
If this young man hit one more arrow, he would be finished.
Ten arrows hitting the bullseye was the grand prize, and the grand prize was a ten-day trip to Europe.
Forget about a ten-day trip to Europe, he couldn’t even afford a round-trip plane ticket after a year of running this stall. Having a grand prize here was purely a gimmick.
If this young man really won it, wouldn’t he go bankrupt?!
“I, I’ll refund you double the money…”
“Don’t do this to me, young man, please.”
Just as the owner was pleading, another whooshing sound came.
“Whoosh—!”
The owner closed his eyes in despair.
The sound of the impact… there was no mistake, the young man had hit again.
A ten-day trip to Europe…
Maybe he should change Europe to Yangzhou now, at least it was still within the country.
“Go get the sheep.”
Xia Li exhaled, put down the bow, and patted Lucia on the shoulder.
“Yay!”
Lucia ran faster than a rabbit and unceremoniously grabbed the super-sized sheep plush toy placed at the first prize spot.
The sheep was so big that Lucia’s head was completely submerged in it when she held it in her arms.
Hearing this, the owner finally opened his eyes.
The young man’s last arrow did hit the bullseye.
But… it hit the bullseye of a different target.
He had hit the center of the target from a sideways angle.
Such skill, even among national-level athletes, was rarely seen…
“That was fun, I’ll come again next time.”
Before leaving, Xia Li greeted the stunned owner.
“You… you must have participated in hunting before.” The owner felt like crying.
“He has hunted dragons!”
The young woman beside the young man emerged from behind the giant sheep and excitedly explained to the owner.
Seeing the ‘old employee’ that the young woman was carrying away, the owner wanted to cry even more.
“Forget it, forget it, I lost to you… next time I see you, I’ll just close up shop!”
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