Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Taking Someone Down With Me

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As the whistle sounded, Ling Chengyan dashed forward, only to have a person beside her suddenly accelerate and crash towards her…

Damn it, was he trying to drag someone down with him at the last moment?!

Ling Chengyan wouldn’t let him succeed. She pushed hard with her foot, leaping nearly one and a half meters to narrowly dodge the man’s full-force bump. Without glancing back at the male militia who fell flat on his face, she continued running to the throwing area — throw!

The projectile landed accurately in the middle of the high-score zone, almost perfectly overlapping the previous crater mark!

The first round of throwing completed, the scorer ran up to mark and score, stunned again by the nearly overlapping projectile and crater!

Xu Dong and Wu Xiangyang had already reached the judging panel, strongly protesting the foul play that nearly affected their commune’s competitor.

The judging panel, faced with the two fiery individuals, resisted the urge to scoff. Their competitor wasn’t affected at all, whereas the one who played dirty ended up eating dirt, even dislocating his shoulder and heading to the hospital.

However, since Taiping Commune had a valid argument, regardless of whether the foul was intentional or a mistake, it indeed nearly affected Taiping Commune’s contestant.

With no other choice, the judging panel had to call upon the Xinmin Commune to make an apology to Taiping Commune.

Zhang Hanchao, seated in the leadership section watching the game, came over upon hearing the commotion and said, “You two, hang on. This matter will be addressed after the competition.”

Wu Xiangyang and Xu Dong exchanged glances, nodding in agreement, giving Zhang Hanchao some face.

Zhang Hanchao changed to a smile, “You’ve done well in your roles. You already have two advancing to the finals in the first event, right? And they’re both female militia, which is a great model for the entire county.”

Xu Dong glanced at Wu Xiangyang, smiling as he said, “There are actually three in the finals, including Zhang Wanxiang, from the same team as Ling Chengyan.”

Zhang Hanchao laughed heartily, “Three reaching the finals in the first event, that’s great! Keep up the good work!”

Not long after, the score tally was complete, with the finals results announced — unsurprisingly, Ling Chengyan took first place with two perfect scores.

Even though she ’sabotaged’ one round, Li Huaihua still couldn’t make it to the top three, regrettably finishing fourth. However, Zhang Wanxiang performed exceptionally, securing third place.

Ling Chengyan didn’t have time to celebrate before preparing for the next assassination contest.

There were a few more participants in the assassination contest than in throwing, following the same pattern of preliminary rounds before the finals.

Ling Chengyan unsurprisingly led all the way into the finals, securing first place again.

Winning two consecutive first places, and a third in throwing, excited everyone from Taiping Commune. At lunch, Director Jin and Zhang Hanchao specially came over to Taiping Commune’s side to give them a large bowl of braised pork as a reward for being Fucheng County’s first dual champion.

They also encouraged Ling Chengyan to keep striving for excellent results in the afternoon shooting match.

After a few enthusiastic words of encouragement, Director Jin left, and Zhang Hanchao called Xu Dong aside for a few words.

After lunch, everyone sat in the auditorium for a short rest, waiting for the afternoon competition.

Xu Dong quietly called Ling Chengyan to go outside: “Captain Zhang just mentioned doing a horseback shooting performance at the closing ceremony, suggesting you take some time at noon to familiarize yourself with a horse.”

Ling Chengyan nodded, following Xu Dong to a secluded courtyard. Unexpectedly, there was a stable in the county office’s courtyard, housing several horses.

“These are raised by the brigade. There are few cars in the county, and riding a bike to distant communes is inconvenient, so sometimes they ride horses. Moreover, cavalry tactics are still retained… You probably don’t know, but not far from us is the largest military horse breeding and training ground in North China, supplying horses to several North China military districts.”

Ling Chengyan nodded. Since arriving, she hadn’t seen anyone riding horses and thought horseback riding had become obsolete. It was surprising that the military still had cavalry.

The horses in the stable were all military-grade, professionally trained. Ling Chengyan looked them over, and although well-kept, the warhorses for combat were just average.

She picked a dark chestnut horse at random, and Xu Dong instantly brought over saddles and stirrups. Without needing his help, Ling Chengyan adeptly fitted the horse with gear, leading it around the small courtyard before mounting and practicing a trot.

After two laps, Ling Chengyan took a piece of fruit candy from her pocket to feed the horse. The horse sniffed and ate it, even nuzzling her affectionately with its head.

Ling Chengyan patted its forehead before returning it to the stable, “No problem, we’ll use this one for the afternoon.”

Xu Dong nodded in agreement, turning to instruct the accompanying junior staff, then led Ling Chengyan out to convene for the competition venue.

The shooting competition field had stringent clear protocols, and by their arrival, target positions were already set. Ling Chengyan and the participants went to their shooting positions to acclimate.

Ling Chengyan overheard someone saying, “The targets are to the west. If you’re queued later, wouldn’t the light affect your performance?”

Someone agreed, “It’s blinding, really might affect… better check which group we’re in…”

Ling Chengyan quietly withdrew, pondering if they hadn’t planned for finals round.

Getting the grouping list, she was in the first preliminary group. Preparing to enter the competition, she heard a shout from the sidelines, “Ling Chengyan, good luck!”

Ling Chengyan looked back to find Zhang Yuyan, wearing a wine-red, slightly worn coat, vigorously waving from the edge of the field.

She hurried over and embraced her, “How did you find time to come?”

“I said I’d come to cheer you on. It’s just that I was too far and couldn’t arrive at noon to support Sister Huaihua.” Zhang Yuyan had reverted to her usual self, lively and cheerful.

Li Huaihua was there too, smiling, “It’s great you came…”

Zhang Yuyan laughed, “Didn’t think I could come, right?”

Li Huaihua chuckled and nodded, as did Ling Chengyan.

The loudspeaker announced the competitors’ entry. Ling Chengyan waved goodbye to her two good friends and walked towards the competition field.

Zhang Yuyan squinted slightly at her back, with a hint of envy, “I knew she was good, but I didn’t know she was this good!”

Li Huaihua nodded, “Her throwing scores were good in training before. She said she wasn’t as sure about assassination, but she was just being humble, as it turned out.”

Ling Chengyan had already gotten her gun. Before using it, she checked it thoroughly to ensure everything was in order, only then starting to load bullets.

The starting whistle blew for the match, and the venue fell silent.

With a rapid “bang bang bang,” Ling Chengyan quickly and steadily fired five rounds, being the first to raise her hand indicating completion.

Soon after, other competitors raised their hands in succession.

The first shooting group finished, waiting for the scorer to tally targets.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep