Huo Jin was on the chair and picked the fan from the small round table beside him. He opened it and started to fan himself. The sound of shooting arrows fell into his ears.
Yin Na put her hands down and turned to look at him. "Why are you not helping me today? Also, why is the sun shining so brightly today?" Yin Na complained.
"You told me not to help you earlier," Huo Jin reminded her.
Yin Na stomped her left foot on the ground and how much he was enjoying it. She should not have told him that today she would practice without his help. It was a ninety-ninth arrow in her hand. She missed all the ninety-eight aims.
"Huo Jin, don't you think you are going too strict with your only student?" Yin Na complained to him and turned to look again at the target. The sweat beads on the side of her neck, rolled down as she put on the arrow on the bow.
She closed her right eye as Huo Jin had told her. Her fingers were bruised because of today's intense practice, but Huo Jin did not show any mercy on her. 'Is he upset with me? He is not even showing any concern today,' she thought.
Immediately, she shook her head. "Yin Na, focus on the aim! What are you even thinking?" she asked herself.
"How long will you stare at the aim?" Huo Jin questioned her. "Suppose an enemy has captivated your lover, then will you keep staring at him?" He gave her an example.
"Don't divert my mind, Huo Jin," she stated.
"Why?" He chuckled. "You told me that you want to save your future husband the way the Crown Princess once saved the Crown Prince," he pronounced. "If you will be at the battlefield, by now, the enemy will definitely kill you," he said with a harsh tone.
"Huo Jin, keep your mouth shut!" Yin Na stated. Huo Jin tightly pressed his lips together and continued to fan himself.
Yin Na released the arrow. Alas! She again missed it. She sighed and picked the hundredth arrow from the table beside her. Putting it on the bow, she pulled the bowstring back such that a part of it touched her skin.
Huo Jin finally stood up from the chair. He put the fan back on the table and went to her. Standing behind her, he caught her right hand which was holding the nock.
"Relax your shoulders and take a deep breath. Close your right eye and just think about the aim. Your mind shall be empty at this moment. Analyze the airspeed and accordingly get ready to release the arrow," he told her.
Yin Na followed everything that Huo Jin told her. She was determined to shoot this last one. Huo Jin had slowly let go of his grip on her hand.
"Release, now," he whispered in his deep voice. Yin Na did so and smiled.
"Bull's eye!" She heard the soldier at the other end announcing it.
The arrow hit the center of the target. "I did it," she murmured. Huo Jin took the bow from her and put it on the table.
"I helped you. Your concentration has not improved," he stated.
"You only instructed me. I only followed the steps that you told me to!" Yin Na did not want to give credit for the last shot to Huo Jin.
"I positioned your arm," he said. "You should do meditation!" He advised her.
"Brother Wang never meditates," Yin Na said.
"He does not meditate now because he's skilled now. More than twenty years of practice he had. While you started only a few days ago. Sit in front of candle-light and meditate," Huo Jin suggested to her.
"That sounds easy," She said.
"You do not have to blink while doing so," Huo Jin affirmed.
"But then, my eyes will hurt," Yin Na complained again.
"That's how your focus will get stronger," Huo Jin stated. He took out the handkerchief from his pocket and started to wipe the sweat that had appeared on her forehead.
"Everything seems so tough," Yin Na murmured.
"It's tough, that's why it's the most desired skill," Huo Jin told her and moved down his hand towards her neck. "Your cheeks have turned red under these bright rays," Huo Jin said as he wiped her neck too.
"You also did intense practice to learn archery," she was curious to know.
"Hmm."
"How long? And at what age did you learn?" She queried. "Wait! You were a servant, who was not supposed to learn warfare. Then, how did you learn?"
"I practiced in the night," Huo Jin replied and grasped the right hand of Yin Na. The fingers had minor cuts on them. He took her towards the chair and made her sit on it.
"Bring the cotton bandage," he asked a servant.
"How could you practice at night? It's so dark," Yin Na said and found him getting on his knees. "Don't get on your knees," she urged him.
"It's fine. I need to do something with your fingers," Huo Jin said. The servant brought the bandage with the first-aid kit and placed it on the table.
"During the day, I had to do household chores. The night was the perfect time for me to practice without getting into anyone's notice," Huo Jin told him as he opened the first-aid box. He cut the bandage into thin ones using a sharp pointy tool.
Holding her fingers, he started to wrap around the bandage around them.
"Why did you learn warfare?" She asked him.
"I wanted to protect someone," Huo Jin stated.
"You wanted to protect Xinyue, right?" Yin Na asked him. Huo Jin hummed at her.
"But your master must have noticed your hands. Didn't he get suspicious?" Yin Na queried him.
"No one looks at a servant, Yin Na," Huo Jin proclaimed and asked her to extend her other hand.
"But she looked at you and cared for you," Yin Na pronounced.
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Sorry, for not able to give three more chapters. There was a server problem on my end and I wasn't able to update.
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