What exquisite control that was—he had complete command over the force and direction of his swing. The small stone shot out like lightning, “crack! crack!” shattering two clumps of dry mud in midair.

“You’ve been practicing for almost two hours now, and you hit the mark every time. Isn’t that enough?” Little Michael Bolton was truly exhausted, plopping down on the ground, unable to move.

Adam Thompson didn’t answer. He stood there like a stone statue, quietly savoring the marvelous sensation at the moment of release. The results of ten years of hard training by his predecessor had finally merged with him, and now he had mastered that control.

A sparrow landed on a big tree, then suddenly flapped its wings and flew up, sweeping over Adam Thompson’s head. Adam Thompson weighed the stone pellet in his hand, then suddenly hurled it into the sky. The sparrow, flying past, let out a mournful cry and plummeted down.

That’s right! This was the very sense of aim and control over force—whether playing polo, using a slingshot, or throwing stones by hand, he could always find this feeling.

Little Michael Bolton, however, jumped up in shock. “Wow! You actually have the skill to hit things with flying stones? When did you learn that?”

Adam Thompson was taken aback. “Didn’t I hit things before?”

“Of course not! You bragged about playing polo, and when we asked you to show off, you couldn’t hit anything, let alone birds.”

Little Michael Bolton’s words suddenly made Adam Thompson realize that it was very likely his predecessor had never truly mastered this precise control, relying only on instinct.

If that was the case, then his predecessor’s firecracker shots must have been hit-or-miss as well.

In other words, he had not only merged with the ten years of hard training from his predecessor, but had also surpassed him.

Over the next few days, Adam Thompson continued to consolidate this exquisite control, mastering it completely and using it at will.

……

Running a clinic in the slums brought in meager income. The poor could only afford to pay ten or twenty coins per visit, but medicinal herbs in Chang’an were expensive. If she had to buy herbs to make ointments, Sarah Parker’s clinic would have closed long ago.

To make ends meet, Sarah Parker had to go outside the city to gather herbs herself, saving on the cost of ingredients. She used to take her son with her, but to help him recover better, this time she decided to go alone.

She would be gone for two days—Adam Thompson’s opportunity had finally arrived.

At dusk, Adam Thompson brought along his three little followers, Little Michael Bolton, Little Henry, and William Black, to the polo field. Little Michael Bolton even wanted to bring an iron rod, but Adam Thompson stopped him. The other side dared to use iron rods only because they had signed an agreement to accept the outcome of the bet.

Without that agreement, if someone got hit with an iron rod, there would be no escaping a lawsuit.

Besides, Adam Thompson had no intention of fighting them. He wanted to reclaim his place, but that didn’t necessarily mean resorting to violence.

The polo field was slightly smaller than a modern soccer field. At each end stood a wooden board with a hole the size of a volleyball. While riding at full gallop, polo players would try to hit the ball through the opponent’s goal to score a point.

A polo team consisted of five players. On the field, five young men from wealthy families were riding and practicing polo, with several of their servants nearby.

Leading them was a tall, thin young man, about sixteen or seventeen years old, named James Mason. His family lived in the opposite Daixian Ward. In fact, all five of them were sons of wealthy families from Daixian Ward.

Sons of wealthy families weren’t necessarily nobles—they could be the children of big merchants, landowners, shopkeepers, or major stewards attached to the powerful.

At that moment, James Mason suddenly reined in his horse, staring in surprise at the group of rivals walking onto the field.

“That bastard’s actually fine? Didn’t they say he was paralyzed?”

Chapter 4: Convinced in Heart and Word

Several of the young men spurred their horses forward. James Mason shouted loudly, “Adam Thompson, you already accepted the bet and lost. What more do you want?”

Adam Thompson lightly tapped the stick in his hand and said coldly, “I accepted the bet, but I haven’t conceded defeat. If each of you lets me hit you a few times with an iron rod, we’ll call it even.”

The young men were all afraid of being beaten by Adam Thompson, which was why they had resorted to underhanded tricks against him. Today, they hadn’t brought any martial artists with them. If the other side was here for revenge, they’d be at a huge disadvantage in a fight.

“Let’s go!”

James Mason turned his horse to leave, and the others quickly followed. Adam Thompson said unhurriedly, “Or we can settle this another way. Want to bet?”

James Mason reined in his horse and asked, “How do you want to bet?”

“We’ll bet on polo!”

Little Michael Bolton suddenly covered his mouth. How stupid he’d been! He hadn’t realized that the boss had been practicing his swing all this time to compete in polo.

James Mason looked at the four of them arrogantly and said, “You don’t have horses. You can’t possibly compete with us on donkeys, can you?”

The others burst out laughing. The skinniest of the young men said, “And you’re one person short.”

Adam Thompson replied calmly, “Let’s have a skills match. Do you dare?”

There were two types of polo matches. One was a martial contest, with two teams facing off on the field. The other was a skills match, which focused on technique—passing, juggling, shooting, and so on—not necessarily on horseback.

Since the other side wanted to play polo, James Mason wasn’t afraid. He said proudly, “Fine, let’s set the rules!”

Adam Thompson pointed to the goal in the distance and said, “Shoot for the goal from thirty paces away. Fewer strokes wins. Each side sends one person. We don’t have horses, so we’ll shoot on foot!”

“What if you win? And what if you lose?”