"Hm?"
Yang Jing suddenly stood up, drawing everyone's attention.
Sun Yong set down his teacup and asked in puzzlement, "Yang Jing, what happened?"
Liu Maolin and the others followed Yang Jing's gaze out the window, but saw nothing unusual.
Yang Jing rubbed his eyes. Had he just seen his cousin Yang An?
But shouldn't Yang An have been at the courtyard in Tongyi Ward right now?
Had Yang An come over to watch him compete in the parade ground trial?
Or had his eyes played tricks on him?
Yang Jing had only glimpsed a figure from behind that looked very much like his cousin Yang An. When he looked again, that figure was already gone.
"Nothing, Master. I might have been mistaken," Yang Jing said, shaking his head.
"Mm." Sun Yong nodded slightly. "Sit down and eat. Rest afterward and get yourselves into condition."
"Perhaps Junior Brother Yang is feeling a little pressured, since this is his first parade ground trial." Sun Ningxiang picked up the teapot before her and passed it to Yang Jing. "Have some tea first."
"Thank you, Senior Sister." Yang Jing accepted the teapot, poured himself some tea, and sipped it slowly, though he was still wondering whether the figure he had seen was his cousin Yang An.
"An attention-seeking stunt!" Watching Sun Ningxiang show concern for Yang Jing, Lin Yue secretly gritted his teeth in resentment, his gaze toward Yang Jing growing colder.
Before long, dishes arrived in a steady stream.
The braised fierce beast meat gleamed with oil and gave off an enticing aroma. It came from an iron back bear in the mountains; the meat was firm and contained a faint power of blood and qi.
The steamed perch was tender and snowy white, garnished with emerald-green slivers of scallion.
There was also