Chapter 58: Arrows

Xu Lin put on simple hand guards, took a deep breath, rotated his breath a few times, his gaze cleared a bit, and he casually picked up a 30-pound bow.

He wasn't particularly strong, so if he exaggerated and couldn't even pull the bowstring properly, it would be embarrassing.

"Can we use the 30-metre target? If you feel unsure, we can switch to the 18-metre one."

Zhang Qingzhen glanced at him with a faint smile on his lips, calmly adjusting the bowstring, appearing very confident.

"Sure, but Mr. Zhang, please go easy on me."

"Of course, of course."

He nodded, watching Xu Lin's not-so-professional technique, instantly feeling more confident in himself.

Xu Lin took a deep breath, realising he hadn't used a traditional recurve bow many times—no stabiliser, no sight.

Looking at the target set up in the distance, a 122cm full target paper with a 10-ring diameter of only 12.2cm using a full target at this distance was already quite accommodating to him.

Although 12cm wasn't small and 30 metres wasn't particularly far, hitting the 10-ring wasn't easy, let alone with a traditional bow.

"Nervous, Xiao Xu?"

"Don't be nervous; just make sure you win for me."

At this moment, after finishing her competition with her sister, Chu Fengyi, with a smile on her face, obviously regaining her confidence, she walked over, jumped up, and patted his shoulder.

"Why do you think I can win? I hardly know how to shoot arrows."

"I think you can win because I dreamed of you shooting arrows yesterday."

"Dream of me?"

Xu Lin widened his eyes, and Chu Fengyi was also taken aback, realizing she had said too much. Immediately, she cleared her throat. "Don't make up things! Many people appear in dreams; that doesn't mean it's about you."

"It's just that the scene was you competing and winning. Now go, don't embarrass Master."

"Aren't dreams usually the opposite?"

"Anyway, I feel you can win. The master trusts you so much; work hard."

After Chu Fengyi finished, she turned and returned to her seat, picked up the water cup, and gulped down half of it, still feeling a bit confused.

How did she casually mention yesterday's dream just now?

But it's quite a coincidence. Yesterday in the dream, Xu Lin was wearing handsome ancient clothing, competing in archery with many people.

Then he shot the target from afar, and there were many familiar faces saying something.

But she had almost forgotten everything, only remembering Xu Lin shooting arrows—very cool!

So she passive-aggressively felt Xu Lin could shoot arrows. Chu Fengyi, is there something wrong with your head?

At this moment, Xu Lin also snapped out of Chu Fengyi's strange words just now, but looking at the bow in his hand, he suddenly felt a bit more confident.

"Xiao Xu, shall we score one point per ring? Let's keep it simple: ten arrows each, total points cumulative."

"Okay."

Chu Qingchan is now holding a bow and has returned to her seat. Seeing Xu Lin standing side by side with Zhang Qingzhen surprised her a bit.

"Does Xu Lin know how to shoot arrows?"

"I think he does; otherwise, would he embarrass himself by going up there?"

Chu Fengyi squinted her eyes, looking indifferent, but she kept looking at Xu Lin's back.

"My brother will definitely win. He can sing, tell stories, and write novels, so he must be good at archery too. Go, brother!"

"What does all that have to do with his archery skills?" Ye Fanleng walked over and started pinching her daughter's arm gently, which is a bit sore after playing badminton just now.

"Well, because my brother is good at everything."

"Alright."

"Mommy, who do you support?"

"Hmm...?" Ye Fanleng glanced forward and said, "I also support your brother, Xu Lin."

Mainly because she doesn't want Zhang Qingzhen to show off if he wins against someone who hasn't shot arrows much, which would make others uncomfortable.

"Brother, Mommy supports you too!" Xiao Shaoyao shouted again, and Xu Lin turned his head and waved his hand.

Meanwhile, Zhang Qingzhen's expression next to them doesn't look good. He took a deep breath and directly nocked an arrow on the string.

"Are you ready?"

He originally planned to miss the target twice first and then shoot normally to show his gentlemanly demeanour, but now he just wants to achieve a grand victory!

Xu Lin glanced at him and quickly nocked an arrow on his string as well, exerting force. 

Then, with a swish, an arrow pierced through the air, followed by a dull thud!

"9 rings! Boss is awesome!" The staff on site exclaimed hastily. 

Zhang Qingzhen raised an eyebrow, glanced at Xu Lin, and continued shooting arrows. 

Xu Lin also pulled the bowstring taut, a line appearing as a point in his field of vision. With a breath, he released the arrow, piercing the air. 

But the next moment, there was no sound of hitting the target. A red flag extended from the electronic flagpole nearby, indicating a miss! 

"Brother, don't be nervous; stay steady. Your posture is good, but keep your body stable and don't let your hand deform." 

Zhang Qingzhen immediately put on a gentle teacher-like expression, said a word, and then shot the second arrow, hitting the target again. 

"8 rings!" 

Then another arrow, again 8 rings. Then the 3rd, 4th, and 5th arrows all hit 8 rings, showing that he still had a certain level of skill. 

"Why aren't you shooting anymore?" 

"Waiting for you to finish first." 

Xu Lin felt a kind of powerlessness for the first time. No, even if he had some basic skills before, it's not a traditional bow, and he hasn't practiced for a long time. 

"Sorry, brother, I might have let you down." 

Xu Lin said this to Shaoyao, but Shaoyao pouted. 

"Brother, come on. In the stories you told me, even if you lose, you can't give up, right?" 

"Okay!" Xu Lin heard the child encouraging him like that, so he raised the bow again, took a deep breath, and continued! 

His second arrow finally hit the target, a target with a diametre of over 1 meter. He couldn't afford to miss again. 

"6 rings!" 

"Not bad; hit the target."

But Zhang Qingzhen has already finished 10 arrows, totaling 78 points, which means, on average, nearly 8 points per arrow. He has only scored six points with two arrows on his side. The remaining 8 arrows must all score 9 points to tie. 

The system better come in handy, huh?! Even if he manages to pull it off, it'll have to wait until tomorrow; today is Sunday! With the store refreshing on Monday, he'll have to tough it out and score whatever he can. 

"Xu Lin, don't embarrass me; you can't lose!"

But at this moment, Chu Fengyi unexpectedly shouted at him again; she herself didn't know why. 

Xu Lin looked at Chu Fengyi's serious expression and instinctively nodded. 

Picking up the bow and arrow, drawing the bow, and aiming, suddenly a voice rang in his ears: 'Don't embarrass me, you can't lose... You can't lose; I'm here waiting for you.' 

It seemed like Chu Fengyi's voice, yet it didn't; his head suddenly ached, and the system flashed a line of red garbled code, then disappeared! 

In his mind, a memory appeared: he stood on a vast grassland, surrounded by thousands of people, but he couldn't see their faces. The only thing clear was the figure on the distant platform, a masked beauty, holding a bow and arrow, the distant target, and the pounding heartbeat—the determination to win! 

The people around looked at Xu Lin, who suddenly closed his eyes, all feeling a bit puzzled. 

Chu Qingchan and Ye Fanleng also intended to go over and see if he was feeling unwell. 

Zhang Qingzhen frowned too. What is this kid doing? What's with the act? Does he really think he's in a novel, trying to pull off some unexpected reversals? If he's pretending to be weak to catch me off guard and manages to beat me, I'll hand over the entire club to him! 

'I won't lose!' Xu Lin suddenly opened his eyes and muttered to himself. Zhang Qingzhen felt like Xu Lin had changed his momentum. He couldn't quite describe it. 

The next second, a sharp and low hum of the bowstring resonated in the ears of those around, then, with a bang, shattered the "hum!"

The staff glanced at the target and saw not a single arrow. 

"Off target!" 

"Then where did the sound come from?" 

"Over there, at the 50-metre target!" 

Someone shouted, and the staff enlarged the camera, only to see a pitch-black arrow standing straight at the centre of the 50-metre target! 

But before everyone could react to their shock, the second arrow shot out instantly, followed by the third without any delay or hesitation! 

Xu Lin's eyes were like an eagle's eyes, staring straight ahead, swiftly drawing and shooting arrows! In a few seconds, bang! Bang! Bang! 

While everyone else stood stunned and silent, the heavy thud of arrows reverberated through the room!