The sight of him bracing as though facing a formidable enemy left several companions beside him struggling not to laugh.
Before long, however, they could no longer laugh.
"Crack!"
Another short, explosive report rang out.
Wang Xun served with standard form again, but the instant the ball left his paddle, before he could even check his momentum, the little yellow ball had already flashed back like lightning, skimmed past his side, and bounced behind him.
Wang Xun was utterly stunned.
The crowd around him was speechless too.
Once could barely be brushed off as a "fluke." Twice in succession meant there was real skill involved.
"No, no! I'm off my game. Come on, you serve!"
Losing two points in a row, and to a child at that, was rather humiliating.
Although Wang Xun had realized his opponent's ability was far from ordinary, he still gritted his teeth and refused to concede.
Zhou Cheng showed little reaction.
After all, they were a bunch of teenagers. Few were willing to admit defeat in front of so many people, especially to a child from outside their group.
Wang Xun grabbed a ball from a companion and tossed it to Zhou Cheng.
Zhou Cheng adopted no professional serving stance. He simply balanced the ball on his paddle in one hand, casually tossed it up, and sent it over with a straightforward stroke.
The rules limited what he could do on a serve, and he had no intention of trying anything fancy.
Seeing the ball bounce slowly toward him, Wang Xun's eyes lit up. Instinctively, he wanted to imitate Zhou Cheng's lethal, one-stroke return.
Keeping both feet planted and one hand hanging naturally at his side, he swung his paddle with all his might.
He successfully returned the ball. Yet to everyone else, this return,