w.a.n.g Tao was stunned, excited and confused. He couldn"t comprehend Tang Yan"s sudden change.It wasn"t only him; everyone at the judges" table stared at the boy who was the source of this commotion.
He was loading his fourth arrow for this round.
Tang Yan took a deep breath. Although he had lived more than a dozen years longer than these students, after hitting three 10 pointers in a row, even his emotions were fluctuating.
After all, for him, this wasn"t just an archery compet.i.tion but the first step in turning his life around.
"Come on, calm down, you"ve got this."
He whispered to himself as he nocked his fourth arrow.
There were still two minutes left in this round. He was the first person to reach his fourth arrow.
Qian Feng beside him had just shot his third arrow. He got 8 points, making his score 27, which wasn"t a bad score, but compared with Tang Yan"s 30 points, the difference was obvious.
Seeing this, Qian Feng couldn"t accept it. How was he losing to trash that hadn"t even managed to hit the target once in the first round?
Just as he was preparing to nock his fourth arrow, Tang Yan shot his.
Tw.a.n.g.
Boom!
10 points!
The judges were dumbfounded.
The students on the side of the field couldn"t help but cheer, only to be quickly silenced by the staff members.
Four arrows, 40 points!
Now that was something to be proud of.
Boom!
Perhaps disturbed by the cheering, or perhaps because of Tang Yan successfully shooting another 10 pointer, Qian Feng"s fourth arrow was slightly inaccurate, only being a 7 pointer.
"Did I miss something, or did this kid just turn into an expert after missing all his shots earlier?" asked Li Lao while nodding his head at Tang Yan"s performance.
"Maybe he was just nervous earlier and now his emotions have stabilized," said w.a.n.g Tao.
Li Lao just nodded and said nothing.
As the second round went on, Tang Yan continued to leave everyone stunned.
At the end of the second round, he had a perfect score of 60 points.
Tang Yan put his recurve bow down on the ground and began resting for the third round.
Li Guang"s ability to shoot precisely and with great strength was only 50% unlocked, but it seemed it was more than enough to cope with a distance of 30 meters.
With this awareness, his confidence greatly improved. As long as he continued to perform this way, entering the city team wouldn"t be a problem.
Whilst Tang Yan"s confidence increased, so did Qian Feng"s jealousy.
Tang Yan had scored 60 points in the second round while he had only scored 48 points, far below his usual average.
"The third round will begin now. Athletes, get ready."
Tang Yan took up his recurve bow and walked quickly to the white line. After taking up an arrow from the arrow pot, he performed his shot sequence and "boom!"
There was no suspense; it was another perfect shot, 10 points!
"w.a.n.g Tao, keep an eye on this boy. If you can train him well, he will become the star of this city, no doubt about it," said Li Lao, watching Tang Yan"s series of smooth and coherent moves.
"Yes, of course, I will " said w.a.n.g Tao, nodding hard. For someone to receive Li Lao"s praise was a rare thing.
Tang Yan"s speed began to increase after the first shot. Hardly adjusting, he took out his second arrow, nocked it onto the bowstring, aimed and fired.
"Cough..."
Just as he was letting go, suddenly, there was a cough.
Tw.a.n.g.
Archery was a sport that required extreme concentration and focus. Any noise could distract the archer and put him off his shot, causing his accuracy to fall.
Boom!
The arrow had deviated from its course.
"Tang Yan, 9 points."
"Haha finally, it"s not a 10 pointer."
Seeing this, the other archers couldn"t help but heave out a sigh of relief.
However, Tang Yan frowned and looked over at Qian Feng.
The coughing sound had come from his direction.
It was obvious that it was intentional.
Qian Feng pretended not to feel his gaze and shot his arrow.
9 points, the same as Tang Yan"s.
Tang Yan, seeing Qian Feng pretending to be oblivious, turned away from him and took out an arrow from the arrow pot. He nocked the arrow, drew the bowstring back and aimed. Just as he was about to fire...
"Cough..."
Just as he had suspected, the cough had come from his right, where Qian Feng stood.
He stopped his hand immediately, easing the bowstring back to a rest. Holding the recurve bow in his left hand, he raised his right hand.
Soon, a referee came up to him and asked him what he wanted.
"He"s interfering with my shot." Wasting no time, Tang Yan pointed over at Qian Feng.
Hearing those words, Qian Feng and the referee were stunned.
So direct...
"I..he"s lying, I...!" Qian Feng finally reacted and vehemently denied doing so.
The referee signaled Qian Feng to be quiet then turned to Tang Yan and asked: "How did he interfere with your shot?"
"He deliberately coughed when I was about to shoot," Tang Yan said straightforwardly.
"No, I didn"t!" Qian Feng immediately retorted.
The referee glanced at the two of them and began frowning.
The city trials were only a low-level compet.i.tion. There were no cameras or anything to see who was telling the truth.
Sighing, the referee began to speak. "In all honesty, since I didn"t see him do so and there"s no proof, I"m going to have to resume the round, but I will be watching this area very closely from now on, so be warned, the both of....."
Just as he was about to finish, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw w.a.n.g Tao.
Pulling the referee to the side, w.a.n.g Tao had a quick chat with him before coming up to the two of them.
w.a.n.g Tao, glaring at Qian Feng, said with displeasure: "Get ready to resume. I"ll be supervising this section from now on."
Seeing his unkind gaze, Qian Feng became tense.
Tang Yan, with a relaxed att.i.tude, turned back and prepared for his third shot.
He nocked the arrow, drew the bowstring back, aimed and shot.
Tw.a.n.g.
Boom!
10 points! It was another 10 pointer!
w.a.n.g Tao"s eyes flashed with a glimmer of light.