CH 49: THE TENTH DAY

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Ten days passed overnight.

All of the Liang Zhou guards looked forward to the lively gambling game. Most people bet that Wang Ba will win, while a small number of people supported He Yan's side. Occasionally, when people pass by, they could hear the people who supported He Yan argue with the other side, "What's wrong with He Yan? To do something he knows he can't, he's truly a great man!"

Accidently, He Yan also heard it.

However, no matter what they say, the bets were the best way to see what people truly desired. The number of loaves of bread betted on He Yan's win were only three, one from each Mak, Shi, and Hongshan.

In addition, to He Yan's surprise, an unknown person actually betted on He Yan's win with ten pieces of beef jerky.

"Who is such a generous person?" Mak thought hard, "He has bet so many treasures on Brother He,so he must be very wealthy."

"Not only wealthy but also very discerning." Finally, a wise man in the barracks, He Yan thought.

Hong Shan glanced at He Yan, "It's a pity that his brain is broken."

"Brother Shan, you can't say that. This person must appreciate Brother He so he secretly supported him. If I had this much jerky, I would have also bet on Brother He."

"It's only a small bet, don't be so serious." He Yan poured the water in the jug and stood up, "I'll go to the practice field later, so get up and move around first."

Shi asked, "Are you really up to it?" His eyes were full of doubt.

"As I've said, I've had good luck every time." He Yan smiled.

When she arrived at the practice field, she found that it was already surrounded by a few people. Someone saw her coming and shouted, "He Yan is here!" Suddenly, a large crowd of people rushed over.

"Where is he? Where is he?"

"He really didn't run away, he really came!"

"Quickly, are you all ready with your dry loaves of bread?"

He Yan, "..."

This kind of starry-eyed treatment, really made one a little uncomfortable. Instructor Liang looked at him coldly. Originally, private gambling in the barracks was strictly forbidden, but because they used dry cakes– and it was such a unique situation– that even the chief Instructor did not intend to stop. So, Liang Ping did not add any more beaks1. Besides, he himself was enthusiastic and wanted to follow along to see what the result was.

After all, people are more or less good gamblers in their blood.

He Yan just walked over and saw a young man who wore licorice yellow clothes and stood next to Liang Ping. The young man had red lips and white teeth, and he looked very familiar. He Yan felt that she had probably seen him somewhere, so she looked over at him.

Seeing that she looked over him, the young man showed a big smile, walked over, and enthusiastically said, "So you are He Yan!"

 Has this person also come to see her specially? However, as she looked at the young man's clothes, he did not look like a recruit in the barracks, much less like an Instructor, and he was no different from the children of the noble family of the capital.

"I have heard about you a long ago, and I admire you very much! I'd like to worship you so we will be brothers from now on. How about it?"

He Yan was baffled. This person came up and worshipped her to become her brother. She still didn't know what his name or surname was.

Instructor Liang stepped forward and smiled at the yellow-clothed boy, "Master Cheng, the governor wants you to stay away from the crossbow."

Xiao Jue? He Yan suddenly remembered where she had seen this boy. She was in the academy yard with He Yun Sheng and secretly tried to teach Young Master Zhao a lesson, which made him angry and he turned his anger to his horse. He wanted to kill the horse in the streets, but was stopped by Xiao Jue. At that time, it was this guy who walked alongside Xiao Jue. The little master with a rare stature.

Huh? Did he follow Xiao Jue to Liang Zhou?

"Uncle is just too much, what does it matter? It's not like the arrows are going to hit me." The boy muttered a few words and obediently stepped back.

Uncle? He Yan was even more surprised. Is this boy Xiao Jue's nephew? But the Xiao family has only two sons and no other daughters, so what kind of relationship was it?

Before He Yan could think clearly, she heard a familiar voice, "You are here!"

It was Wang Ba.

Hehad also made full preparations for today. He had already taken off his red shirt. He only wore a red coat, shirtless, with a long red belt tied to his forehead, as if he was about to fight in the ring.

His voice was very loud, and she heard that the brothers in the tent last night gave him all the food so he could fight with his full energy today.

He walked over to the crossbow, stood with He Yan, and looked at her provocatively, "Ten days have passed, the time for you to fulfill the agreement has arrived."

"I remember, you don't have to say it so loudly." He Yan pulled on her ears, "You first."

Wang Ba snorted, approached He Yan, and said in a low voice, "You still have time to beg for mercy?"

"That is exactly what I want to say to you." He Yan replied unhurriedly.

"I think you are looking for death!" Wang Ba sneered and stepped forward., "He Yan doesn't dare to go first, so I'll go instead!"

Whispers filled the crowd. He Yan shrugged and stood aside. Hong Shan asked him in a low voice, "Ah He, are you nervous?"

"I'm not nervous." He Yan felt helpless, patted Hong Shan, who was nervous one. "There's no need for you to be scared anymore."

"I'm afraid he'll play too well..."

In fact, Wang Ba performed very well every day, but in her mind, there was no such thing as "too good". He took one step forward and set up the crossbow, fingers clasped with arrows. Because of this bet with He Yan, Wang Ba practiced bow more diligently every day, and He Yan could feel that his strength had improved compared to ten days ago, and his archery felt calmer than before.

The arrow aimed at the direction of the grass target. The sun was covered by clouds, and it gave a brief breeze. Wang Ba took a deep breath and suddenly released his fingers.

In everyone's sight, the arrow hit the bullseye firmly and brought the target down.

The result was very stable, and as fruitful as Wang Ba's daily archery training, it was not easy to maintain such archery skills.

A glimmer of satisfaction flashed in Liang Ping's eyes. No matter what the result today would be, Wang Ba was an excellent seedling. Such a person should be taken seriously even under other instructors.

Wang Ba clapped his hands, put the crossbow back, walked to He Yan's side, with a triumphant smile. "How about it, it's your turn now?"

He Yan smiled and turned around.

"Here it comes!" Cheng Li Su craned his neck excitedly and muttered to himself in a low voice, "Brother He Yan, I put ten pieces of jerky on you. Although it's not a big deal, it's a piece of the young master's heart. Don't let me down!"

He Yan didn't know that she still carried Cheng Li Su's ten pieces of jerky. From the moment she walked to the side of the crossbow, the chattering stopped, and all eyes fell on her.

This kid, did he just talk big? Or did he really have the skills?

However, there were too few things in the world that could be considered miracles. Except for a few people who expect miracles to happen, most people were just there to watch for jokes.

He Yan picked up the crossbow.

1He didn't want to stop it.

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