Chapter 2100 — A Smile of Goodwill

The projectiles were fired at random by dedicated projectile-evasion training machines, with no pattern whatsoever. The launch positions of the iron balls were generated randomly by computer. Anyone worried about cheating could, after the computer generated a firing trajectory, choose to regenerate it or adjust it manually, eliminating any possibility of foul play!

Every family head and sect leader present had the right to request that the computer regenerate the trajectory! And to prevent anyone from suspecting tampering with the training machines—just as in this afternoon's car race, where some had questioned whether Qibing's car had been altered—this time we will not deliberately fix each family's machine in place. Everyone will choose at random, and may even propose swapping positions with one another!

"This afternoon was an accident. There is nothing wrong with Qibing's driving skill. Had he not rolled over, he would certainly have taken first place. Since some of you have doubts, then pick your positions however you like!"

Old Master Zhao's words were aimed squarely at Han Tianba. This projectile-evasion contest had never been intended to exploit any loophole to begin with—the disciples of the Hidden Tang Family had studied projectile firing and evasion since childhood, and their technique was first-rate; they could win without cheating, so there was simply no need for it!

"An explanation is a cover-up—the more you protest, the guiltier you look," Han Tianba snorted. "Since we may choose, then we choose first. Mr. Lin, after you!"

Since Old Master Zhao had put it that way, Wei Zhao naturally understood that the Hidden Zhao Family had no intention of playing tricks in this contest, so he did not bother choosing much. He casually stepped into the firing range of one projectile-training machine and planted himself there.

The disciples of the other families likewise went out one after another and each found a position of their own.

Next came the generation of the trajectories and paths for the projectiles. At Old Master Zhao's command, the training machines began to operate...

To be honest, Wei Zhao had received fairly rigorous assassin training as a child and had come into contact with this kind of projectile-evasion drill before, but after all, he had not specialized in it. With so many iron balls, he was confident of dodging most of them—but of dodging every last one, he certainly was not!

Wei Zhao frowned. Was he to concede this round? He turned and looked toward the representative of the Hidden Tang Family not far away, and that representative, seeing Wei Zhao at that moment, smiled and nodded at him!

"?" Wei Zhao was utterly baffled by the smile of this Tang Family contestant! He could tell that it was not a mocking sneer, nor a provocative cold smirk, but a smile of genuine goodwill!

But—a disciple of the Hidden Tang Family smiling at him with goodwill? Was that even possible? Wei Zhao found it hard to believe.

Frowning slightly, Wei Zhao suddenly realized that this Hidden Tang Family disciple looked rather familiar, giving him a sense of having seen him before. Could it have been somewhere in the past? At the trial in the Ice Palace? No, that did not seem right either...

Wei Zhao remembered that when they had registered their names and stakes earlier, this Tang Family disciple had been called Tang Yuyi. But what Tang Yuyi's intentions were, Wei Zhao truly had no idea.

Yet as the warning tone sounded to signal that the projectile-training machines were about to start, Wei Zhao focused his attention and watched the evasion machine without blinking. Suddenly, the jade pendant at his chest emitted a warning signal—faint, but enough to make Wei Zhao start!

Of course! The jade pendant could give warnings—how could he have forgotten? Wei Zhao instinctively darted to the side, and the pendant's warning signal vanished. With this discovery, he was instantly overjoyed. Wonderful, truly wonderful!

When he stood where a projectile was about to be fired, the pendant gave a warning; but when he stood where there was temporarily no danger, the pendant gave none!

Even as he was thinking this, the firing machine had already begun rapidly launching iron balls one after another, and Wei Zhao's feet began to move! When it came to evasion, Wei Zhao's footwork was still swift, and with the pendant's warnings in particular, he simply stopped even glancing at the direction the iron balls were coming from—he shut his eyes completely and began wandering blindly across the ground!

So long as the pendant gave no warning, Wei Zhao would stop; the moment it warned again, he would dart away. Over and over, and Wei Zhao successfully evaded every last iron ball!

By this time, many of the participating family disciples had already been struck by iron balls. It did not hurt much, but the numbers on the electronic screens kept climbing—each hit added one to the count!

At present, the only ones who had not been struck and whose count still read "0" were Wei Zhao and the Tang Family's Tang Yuyi.

"Come on, Leader!" Han Xiaopo clenched his fists and said silently in his heart, excitement shining in his eyes. He had never imagined that Wei Zhao would be so formidable at evading projectiles as well—and most astonishing of all, though Tang Yuyi was also dodging, he had several close calls and had nearly been hit by iron balls more than once, and a sheen of cold sweat had already broken out on his forehead!

Then look at Wei Zhao: eyes closed, calm and composed, as though he did not care in the least. He seemed to be wandering randomly about the field, yet on close inspection, there was a pattern to it!

Wei Zhao seemed able to foresee the future—before the iron balls were even fired, he would already be standing somewhere safe, always strangling the danger before it could occur!

In truth, Wei Zhao had been rather flustered at first, succeeding by sheer blind luck, but as time went on he grew practiced, and he found the pattern in the direction of his dodging!

The pendant's warning signals varied in strength. A slight shift to the left or right would change the signal; if it was stronger on the left and weaker on the right, that meant the farther right he went, the less danger there was—so naturally Wei Zhao need only dodge to the right!

Once he had grasped this pattern, Wei Zhao grew even more relaxed, as though out for a stroll. Every step he took landed precisely in the gaps between the projectiles; not a single iron ball could touch him—not even so much as graze him!

Old Master Tang, watching from outside the field, had been full of confidence at first, but at the sight of Wei Zhao his expression turned gloomy at once! Even Tang Yuyi could never dodge them all on this projectile-training machine. In today's contest, Tang Yuyi was already performing beyond his usual level—not a single iron ball had struck him yet, whereas on an ordinary day he would have taken one or two hits by now!

But a score of one or two was still far better than the other participating disciples!

Look at the other disciples' electronic displays—the lowest had already reached double digits, and the highest had climbed into the triple digits!

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