Wanwan slowly opened the door to her room and immediately peaked outside. When she saw no one in the hallway she hurriedly went out and shut the door behind her and went straight to the dining hall. Her pace is as quick as possible.
Wanwan wouldn't have want to leave her room if she's not starving. She's worried that she might see Ling. Not sure why but Wanwan felt like she's not yet ready to interact with Ling after last night's incident. Though she's dying to ask what's bothering him.
The bold fact that Ling fiercely entered her room last night acting so out of character is making Wanwan feel worried and uneasy. She wants to know so badly what's going on but also feel frustrated at the same time because she doesn't know how to approach him and make him talk.
Wanwan quickly finished up her meal. After having done with breakfast she went outside and saw Baxia and Zilong cutting firewoods. She decided to help since she has nothing to do anyway.
"Good morning, gentlemen!"
Wanwan cheerfully greeted.
"Are you feeling alright, Zi? You drank heavily last night, geez!"
Wanwan casually said while picking up the chopped woods and stack it in the nearby storage.
"Yeah, a little better."
Zilong replied while handing the axe to Baxia. He then step aside to catch his breath. "I swear I am not gonna drink again. Ever!"
"Yeah, you said that last time."
Baxia quickly remarked while chopping the woods in half expertly.
"I know right but that is really going to be the last this time." Zilong said with finality. As if he's so sure of himself however Wanwan and Baxia doesn't seem convinced at all. They just shrug it off.
After few minutes of silence, out of the blue Zilong suddenly blurted, "Whose that dude from last night again?"
"You mean Claude?" Wanwan quickly replied.
"Yeah. He looked familiar. I think I saw him before but I just can't remember." Zilong said.
"He said he's one of the Blazing Bounties member, their marksman to be exact. They might have joined tournaments before. That's probably where you noticed him." Baxia replied.
"Could be." Zilong just shrugged it off. "Yow, Ling!"
Wanwan is quick to look around and saw Ling leaning on the walls while observing them. She instantly regret the moment their eyes met. Wanwan can feel her cheeks getting all warm. She can imagine she's probably blushing right now.
"I hope he's not seeing this. I am too far from him, right?" Wanwan asked herself. She withdraw her gaze and focused on picking up the chopped woods.
*********
Zilong noticed how Wanwan ignored Ling.
She just went on without greeting him which made him wonder. Within the past few months, Wanwan always has this heightened energy. She's always the one who happily greets everyone which he appreciate because it sets and brightens their mood. Guess he just got used to a cheerful and optimistic Wanwan and forgot that people sometimes could feel exhausted.
Though he felt a strong urge to ask if everything's okay he just chose to ignore it.
"Anì, my bunny ran out of carrots already." Zilong turned around and saw his adorable sister Chang'e holding and gently carressing her bunny. Zilong let out a warm smile and said, "No worries, I will head downtown today and buy your bunny lots of carrots."
"Yey!" Chang'e happily bursted and went on to play with her bunny.
They quickly finished up organizing the chopped woods. Once done, Zilong head out to the downtown with Baxia.
************
Wanwan is at the training field currently practicing her aim skills. The tournament is fast approaching and this is her first official battle with the Oriental Fighters. She's determined to have her squad win the championship title so she's definitely not going to miss a single opportunity to practice her dart skills at this point in time.
She put her focus and concentrated on the huge target board few meters away from her. To ensure victory in every battle she needs to find the enemy weakness and use it to take them down. She conditioned herself while staring intently on the huge black spot in the middle of the board. She positions her arms before her chest and bent forward, getting ready to execute her routine.
After taking a deep breath Wanwan run swiftly and jumped in the air. She expertly aimed her bow at the huge black dot. While still floating in the air, Wanwan quickly released her darts with all her might precisely hitting the target. Not a single arrow went outside the dot. Wanwan landed gracefully from floating in the air and began shooting while jumping, board after board.
After more than an hour of practicing, Wanwan felt extreme satisfaction while looking at her darts precisely hitting the black dots. She decided she's had enough of practicing and head back.
************
Meanwhile, Ling had just finished his daily routine. To avoid any disturbances, he decided to leap on one of the highest trees and took a sit to one of its large branches to rest. After few minutes, he saw Wanwan walking on the center field. He could have chosen to ignore her but for some reason Ling felt a strong urge to watch her perform her routine.
Unbeknown to Wanwan, Ling is watching her every move. He saw her float in mid air, run swiftly while shooting at the same time.
Ling can't help but silently admire her aim skills. He can still remember the first day they had their team training, Wanwan is hitting the board but can hardly hit the center blackdot. He saw her frustration every time but she refuse to settle for less. She kept practicing day after day until she had finally perfected her aim. Apparently, she had improved a lot. It may not be evident but Ling is proud of her improvements.
Good thing that she did not felt his presence, he was able to watch her freely. Few minutes more and Ling decided to head back as well. He was about to go down when he heard a noise below.
He look down and saw that boy with his monkey.
Ling felt a sudden outrage, he wanted to go down to confront that punk but he held himself. Ling is giving them a dark sharp stare as he remained silent and watched as the two creatures depart.
