Everyone stared at He Yan’s movements. The youth walked to the crossbow, which appeared completely unsuited for his small, thin frame. He picked up the crossbow, drew an arrow from the quiver, and placed his fingers on it.

Wang Ba looked at him with disdain and said, “Put some strength into it. Don’t be like yesterday when you made a big show only to say you couldn’t draw it.”

He Yan seemed not to hear his words. Hong Shan, however, felt nervous and silently worried for He Yan. These recruits in the army naturally respected strength, and since He Yan wasn’t a woman, they wouldn’t show any gentlemanly consideration. They would only see his weakness, and the weak weren’t worthy of sympathy. If he added empty boasting to that weakness, he would earn even more contempt. If He Yan couldn’t fulfill yesterday’s promise today, not only would the instructor secretly despise him, but his fellow soldiers in the barracks would also be ashamed to associate with him and would treat him poorly.

If he couldn’t even draw the bow yesterday, how could he possibly do it today?

The youth’s gaze was fixed on the target. From this angle, his hand was extremely steady, his lowered eyes resembling those of a hunting beast, quietly waiting for the moment to strike.

The bow began to move.

Bit by bit, not easily, but slowly and without any trembling, it was drawn. Unlike yesterday, one could see the bow gradually opening.

“It’s moving…” Xiao Mai excitedly tugged at Shi Tou’s clothes. “Brother, Brother He Yan is drawing the bow!”

He knew it! When He Yan said he could do something, he always followed through, and this had happened countless times!

Whispers arose from the crowd. Wang Ba hadn’t expected this situation. He was first stunned, then immediately felt the anger of being humiliated. He stood there grinding his teeth, wanting to see what kind of masterful archery He Yan could display. Meanwhile, Instructor Liang, who hadn’t held much hope, found his attention drawn to He Yan’s movements.

This kid was impressive. Yesterday he said he would be able to draw the bow today, and indeed he could. How had he managed this in just one day? Could it be that yesterday he was merely playing weak, actually knowing how but pretending not to, just to show off now?

As people discussed, the bow had been drawn almost halfway. He Yan stopped, not pulling any further.

This was her limit.

She released, and the arrow flew steadily and swiftly toward the target!

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the arrow’s fletching.

The arrow flew toward the target but didn’t reach it, falling powerlessly halfway. The crowd of onlookers let out a disappointed sigh as if the arrow should have undoubtedly struck the target’s center.

He Yan lowered her hands.

Xiao Mai was the first to jump forward. He ran to He Yan’s side, eyes shining, and said, “Brother He Yan, you drew the bow!”

“Amazing!” Hong Shan also came over and patted He Yan’s shoulder. “Well done!”

Though Shi Tou didn’t speak, he smiled, showing his pleasure. Instructor Liang also gave He Yan an approving look.

The surrounding recruits who had been watching began to discuss among themselves.

“He did draw it. Looks like it wasn’t just empty talk after all.”

“Maybe it was just luck, just happened to draw it this time.”

“Luck is also a kind of strength, and besides, he did what he said he would do. That’s not bad.”

Wang Ba felt confused.

He had come to watch He Yan make a fool of himself, but somehow it had turned into an opportunity for He Yan to shine. Looking at the arrow that had fallen halfway, He Yan hadn’t even hit the target, hadn’t even grazed its edge. If it had been anyone else, this would have been considered a poor performance, so why were they practically applauding and celebrating for him?

Had he missed something?

Wang Ba said defiantly, “So what if you drew the bow? Ask around this camp how many can draw a bow. Everyone except you can. What’s so impressive about that?”

“Me?” He Yan pointed at herself and smiled. “But I was the exception who couldn’t draw it. I couldn’t draw it a day ago, but I can draw it now – that’s what’s impressive.”

Her eyes curved as she smiled happily. This smile landed in Wang Ba’s eyes and made his heart churn with anger. He said, “I don’t accept this!”

“What don’t you accept?” He Yan asked.

Wang Ba was the type who bullied the weak and feared the strong, who worshipped strength, and despised weakness. Someone as “weak” as He Yan naturally didn’t meet his standards. Adding to their previous grievances, he wouldn’t be satisfied until he found some fault with He Yan.

“How can someone like you be a recruit, training alongside us?” Wang Ba turned to Instructor Liang. “Instructor Liang, I object!”

Instructor Liang watched them impassively, showing no intention of intervening. He was an instructor, not their superior. After training, these recruits might be stationed at Liangzhou Guard or might follow Xiao Jue elsewhere. They weren’t his men. His duty was only to teach them basic skills and pick out promising recruits. The final military arrangements were the generals’ business.

Should he lose Wang Ba, who showed great talent with the crossbow, for the sake of He Yan, who didn’t seem particularly outstanding?

“You don’t need to put Instructor Liang in a difficult position.” He Yan glanced at Liang Ping, understanding what he was thinking. The instructors here were quite cunning and would certainly be weighing their options at a time like this. She looked at Wang Ba. “Tell me what you want.”

Wang Ba sneered, “Go be a cook.”

“No,” He Yan refused without hesitation. “On what grounds?”

“On what grounds?” Wang Ba said, “Based on the fact that yesterday you couldn’t draw the bow, and today though you can draw it, you shoot so poorly, yet your friends still cheer for you. When we’re on the battlefield, if all Wei’s soldiers are like you, using weapons carelessly and unable to kill a single enemy, should we still have people cheering for them? What kind of soldier is that?”

Wow, He Yan couldn’t help but mentally applaud Wang Ba. For someone supposedly just a rough mountain bandit with no education, he was quite clever now. His words were so righteous – when she first joined the army, he hadn’t been such a smooth talker. No wonder he could be a leader in the mountains; how could you be a boss if you couldn’t intimidate people?

Fortunately, she had spent many years in the army and had seen this kind of situation before.

“You’re right,” the youth brushed aside a loose strand of hair from her forehead, paused, then spoke, “However, as you saw, yesterday I couldn’t draw the bow, today I can. Yesterday you hit the target, today you still hit the target.”

Everyone looked at her, not understanding her meaning.

“I get stronger day by day, while you remain the same day after day. At this rate, in ten days, I’ll also be able to hit that target. But you? You’ll still just be hitting that same target.”

“In ten days, I will defeat you,” she said, emphasizing each word.