THE NEW COMPETITION
Translator: Sylph
Editor: Emme
Is she going to have a crossbow competition again?
Instructor Liang looked at her inquisitively. Cheng Lisu whispered, “Instructor Liang, is there anything comparable in this crossbow competition?”
Instructor Liang shook his head, “I don’t know about this…” Her crossbow skills were actually comparable to quite a few, but it was most similar to Wang Ba’s.The rest was not difficult to imagine. But the meaning of her words was that she was set to outshine Wang Ba undoubtedly. Still, was there something that Wang Ba could not do that she alone could?
Wang Ba was startled at first, then said disapprovingly, “Go ahead and mention it!”
It would not be a big deal, just one more draw, he thought.
He Yan smiled slightly as she walked over to Cheng Lisu and suddenly reached out, pulling off Cheng lisu’s long hair band.
Cheng Lisu was dumbfounded, and when he reacted, his long hair was already down, and he said, “What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry, this brother,” He Yan smiled, “Since you were going to worship me, I guess you wouldn’t be stingy with a hairband, so I want to lend it once.”
“But it’s…” Cheng Lisu haphazardly gathered his hair with hands and whispered, “This is too sudden. Besides, why don’t you use your own hairband?” Obviously He Yan had her own set of goods.
“I think that this brother’s hairband is much more exquisite than mine. Maybe it’s tainted with good luck, and will lend me some of it.” He Yan said without changing her face.
Who didn’t like to hear nice words? Cheng Lisu immediately opened his eyes wide and smiled, saying, “Well said! You just use it!”
The crowd didn’t understand what he was going to do with Cheng Lisu’s hairband, only to see He Yan slowly wrapping it around his hands, and covering her eyes.
“He is… this” the crowd gradually understood what he was doing.
The yellow hair band blindfolded her eyes tightly, and she reached behind her head and tied a knot gently before saying, “Alright.”
Speaking of which, He Yan didn’t use her own headband and the next person’s hairband, as it was really a hot day. They were running and practicing their bows, and were already drenched in sweat. The people in the barracks were not refined, and their hairbands were somewhat stained. But Xiao Jue’s nephew was different.The clothes he wore were brand new with a fragrance, and his hairband was as clean as new, just like his uncle who was addicted to cleanliness. so she thought it was better to use the cleaner one.
Maybe it was cleaner than He Yan’s own clothes. At this moment, when she tied the hair band, she thought that it was unexpected that it carried a touch of rosin.
What a fastidious young master, He Yan sighed in her heart thinking that he was really his Uncle’s nephew.
“He Yan, what are you doing?” Wang Ba frowned and asked. He had a guess in his heart, but he didn’t dare admit it.
“Let’s compare blindfolded archery.” She said.
The arena gradually quieted down, and the summer day coincided with a wind blowing through, blowing the long end of the hair band at the back of her head, so it appeared that the barely clothed youth was elegant since birth. The corner of her lips also contained a smile. She held a longbow, towards Wang Ba’s direction and said, “This game, I will defeat you.”
The words were spoken by her in a cloudy and decisive manner, as if she had already predicted the end.
Wang Ba’s face turned green and white and changed a few times, not waiting for him to speak, someone spoke before him, his tone filled with suspicion, “Shooting arrows blindfolded. But shooting what? Straw targets?”
He Yan shook her head and raised her head slightly, she was blindfolded and supposedly couldn’t see the sky, but the way she looked up, it was as if she could spy the birds flying through the air. She said, “Same as just now, we’ll hunt the birds.”
The crowd was in an uproar.
She looked so conceited, but was she really conceited?
He Yan turned to face Wang Ba’s direction again, and asked with a smile, “Is it okay?”
Okay? The words, like the first time when she was asked by Instructor Liang, she quickly answered “Yes”. Now, the word “Yes” was on the tip of his tongue, but Wang Ba couldn’t say it.
Whether he was a bandit or a hunter, he always had a purpose. Blindfolded archery? He wasn’t blind, it was pointless for him to do this kind of thing, and he wasn’t even the son of a rich family, it was a novelty to play. Even if he was very confident in his crossbow skills, then this contest method proposed by He Yan was the one he was least confident in.
He simply couldn’t do it.
Wang Ba looked at He Yan, who didn’t urge him to hurry up and give him an answer. But the new recruits around him were also looking at him with all kinds of eyes, making it difficult for Wang Ba to ride the tiger himself[1]. Was he going to be here today, in the full view of the public, being swept off his face by a yellow-haired kid[2]? He was the head of a mountain bandit gang and he dared not even answer the words of a child.
“Fine!” He gritted his teeth. But in his heart, a slight fluke arose, maybe He Yan was deceiving him. this kid had always been cunning and evil, maybe he himself was not good enough and just deliberately made an appearance of being extremely confident, just to swindle him.
Tie, he won’t be fooled!
“This game, you first!” Wang Ba rushed at him.
The teenager smiled again, her posture light, nodded and said, “Okay.”
……
Next to the arena’s stage, there was a loft, which was next to the Liang Zhou guardhouse, and was high enough to get a good view of the arena.
There were two people standing in front of the railing of the loft, watching from afar the youngsters who were surrounded by new recruits in the center.
One wore a red-colored strong suit, and a black cloth belt around his waist. It was Shen Han. The youth beside him was cold like ice and snow, with an indifferent look, and he was none other than Xiao Jue.
“I didn’t expect such two good seedlings to come out of this batch of soldiers this time.” Shen Han exclaimed, “Needless to say, that Wang Ba is from a bandit background and is untamed, but his crossbow technique is indeed very clever and infinitely powerful. But the most surprising thing is that young man called He Yan, he is only fifteen or sixteen years old now, and he is already so outstanding, gentle and likeable. So when he grows up, after a few more years, he would definitely become the best of this group of new recruits.”
He thought of his previous conversation with Liang Ping, at that time Liang Ping was very optimistic about He Yan, but Shen Han didn’t take it to heart. It was because he saw He Yan’s qualifications as excessively ordinary and not worth paying attention to, yet he didn’t expect to almost miss a good seedling.
When he saw that Xiao Jue didn’t answer, he cautiously probed, “What does the General think?”
“Gentle temperament?” The youth repeated slowly, and only after a moment did he absently say, “I’m afraid you’ve missed the point. The one who is untamed is not Wang Ba, it is He Yan.”
He Yan? Shen Han was a little skeptical. He had seen that teenager a few times, always with a smile on his face. Wang Ba had provoked him several times, but he hadn’t seen He Yan a least bit annoyed. To be honest, children at this age were just righteous and violent, and they would fight when they didn’t agree, but He Yan was cultured and very gentle.
The General actually said that He Yan was untamed? For the first time, Shen Han had some doubts about this superior’s vision.
“Then…” Shen Han changed his words, “Does the General think that He Yan can win this game?”
The young man raised the corner of his lips, his voice faint.
“He can.”
[1] get into a position from which there is no retiring
[2]a naive or foolish child.