Chapter 38: Small Tricks (Part 2)

Their interest didn’t mean Sima Tai was interested either. Half of the crowd had already dispersed. “These trivial tricks that everyone knows are really uninteresting. Guys, I’ve already told the kitchen to slaughter a big fat pig.”
It was supposed to be the host who decided, but Yang Zhenen was too eager. “Let’s take a look first…”
Liu Yongfu was more concerned about Sima Tai’s remark about “tricks everyone knows.” The idea that every soldier in Xiliu Camp could disassemble and reassemble rifles with their eyes covered seemed unbelievable to him.
But seeing that no one showed any reaction—having grown accustomed to it—and Sima Tai’s mocking tone forced him to accept the fact.
Xiliu Camp was strong, extremely strong.
He had miscalculated. While every infantryman in Xiliu Camp could disassemble and reassemble rifles, doing so with their eyes covered was different. In many other armies in another realm, this was a basic skill for new recruits, but in Xiliu Camp, it was a highly advanced technique mastered only by a few like Jing Shiyi.
However, since everyone had seen it many times and Jing Shiyi only added the eye-covering trick, they believed that with a few more months of practice, they could do it even better than him. So Jing Shiyi’s skill was clearly just a show for the blind.
Jing Shiyi now removed the black cloth and picked up the Remington rifle again. “The next trick won’t disappoint you! Step back, step back—let’s go to the shooting range.”
Over there, Colonel Jeken had already prepared chest targets to inspire his students. “This time, you’ll truly be amazed. Let’s go to the range.”
Sima Tai was getting annoyed. “Still going to the shooting range? Who doesn’t know your terrible marksmanship? Besides, Xiliu Camp has rules—no random shooting. It’s better to stop watching.”
Jing Shiyi, however, looked pleased. “Today, I’ll show you something amazing. I just mastered it yesterday!”
He spread his hand, revealing five golden military rifle bullets. “Approved by the commander—these five bullets won’t be wasted.”
“Stop watching. Go to the kitchen instead.”
But Liu Yongfu and the others were too eager to see Jing Shiyi’s performance; nothing could stop them. They followed him. “Let’s go take a look.”
Unfortunately, only six or seven people showed up to watch Jing Shiyi. Sima Tai shouted, “I’ve already asked the kitchen to slaughter a big pig. Everyone, go have a drink.”
Seeing Liu Yongfu start walking, he reluctantly followed.
The shooting range was east of the village. It had taken Liu Yu a lot of effort to prepare it—all the trees were cleared, the terrain was specially modified to ensure clear visibility within 500 meters, and various training facilities were built. Xiliu Camp regularly conducted live-fire drills here.
Seeing only a dozen people follow him, Jing Shiyi felt disheartened. But when he noticed unfamiliar faces present, he became excited again. He clenched his fist and waved at Sima Tai. “Watch this!”

Jeken had already carefully placed the gun bottle down. He jogged forward, set up the chest target, planted warning flags at a high position, then jogged back, waved his hands again, and shouted loudly, “First rifle drill: five shots, 100 meters, lying down, with a support…”

Liu Yu used the PLA’s regulations for rifle shooting—Drill 1 through Drill 3. What Jing Shiyi was practicing now was Drill 1.

Lying on the support, he narrowed his eyes and focused on the distant chest target. He loaded the rifle, aimed, aligned everything in a straight line, and pulled the trigger.

Everything was flawless!

Bang! A plume of white smoke erupted, and the intense recoil caused his body to tilt backward involuntarily. He checked his results but was somewhat disappointed.

He ejected the shell, repeated the process, though slower this time, striving to achieve a better score.

Liu Yongfu and the others were astonished. Although they knew this youth named Jing Shiyi could disassemble and assemble a rifle blindfolded, showing an unparalleled familiarity with it, they hadn’t expected his movements to be so skilled. The Remington rifle in his hands seemed like an extension of his body. Clearly, to ensure accuracy, he had slowed down his firing rate significantly.

What surprised them even more was his marksmanship. So far, four shots—all hitting the target, seemingly all in the center. There were probably only a few dozen such expert marksmen in the entire Black Flag Army.

Bang! Another shot, another hit.

Jing Shiyi sat on the ground, looking disappointed at the chest target 100 meters away, head bowed, scratching his hair furiously.

Jeken was already in motion. As he ran, he shouted at Jing Shiyi, “Collect the shells!”

“It’s not interesting!” Sima Tai didn’t want to leave just yet. The dejected Jing Shiyi picking up shells was the most entertaining sight: “Let’s see how many rings before we go.”

“Forty-one rings!” Colonel Jeken, carrying the chest target, jogged back and announced the score. “Not bad. Have you collected all the shells?”

Jing Shiyi’s head dropped even lower. Sima Tai beamed even wider: “It gets worse each time—two rings less again.”

Over there, Liu Yongfu, Yang Zhenen, and Wu Fengdian gathered around Colonel Jeken to examine the chest target he brought back.

The performance was excellent! Either nine or eight rings—only one shot scored seven rings. They couldn’t relate such results to the smug Sima Tai or the disheveled Jing Shiyi.

Their main firearms were still shotguns, so their concept of shooting remained at the shotgun era. They did have target practice, but their targets were larger, and they shot standing up at 50 meters. As for shooting requirements, just not missing the target was enough. Even so, they often missed three times out of ten shots.

But this marksmanship was absolutely precise—hitting exactly where aimed. Why wasn’t there even a little applause?

They glanced again at the smug Sima Tai. “Squad Leader Sima, how many rings did you get?”

Sima Tai said proudly, “Naturally, higher than him.”

Although he was an experienced marksman, his skill level in rifle practice was no better than Jing Shiyi’s. Yet once, he managed to achieve the best score of 44 rings, surpassing Jing Shiyi by one ring. Jing Shiyi’s score was actually quite good as well—by the standards of the People’s Liberation Army, 35 rings was considered passing, 40 rings good, and 45 rings excellent, all of which were considered good results. Unfortunately, recently, Xiliuying had started experimenting with a new rifle practice exercise, drawing everyone’s attention away. The exercises—200 meters kneeling without support, 150 meters kneeling without support, and 100 meters standing without support—were far more difficult than the first exercise, and only officers like Sima Tai and a few key fighters had begun training in these. This was the highest level of shooting training at Xiliuying. As for the third rifle exercise, Liu Yu couldn’t find a substitute for Dian Dian for now, so it had to be put on hold. Currently, Sima Tai evaluated Jing Shiyi’s shooting skills as a squad leader who had completed the second exercise: “Trivial tricks, too simple.” However, Jie Ken smiled and said, “It’s not simple. It’s just an appetizer; the real action is yet to come. Jing, let’s get started.”