Joseph looked like he'd just seen a ghost, his eyes were wide open.
Gao Yang noticed Joseph's stare, he had already guessed Joseph's reaction, but Joseph's response was a bit too intense, his straight gaze made Gao Yang feel a bit uneasy.
Someone was supposed to say something to ease the situation, but no one really knew what to say, which made the atmosphere quite awkward.
Finally, Salim cleared his throat and said loudly, "Well... um, this competition was really... not bad, not bad."
Salim genuinely didn't know how to find words to smooth things over; all six men were knocked down with one move. Even if he wanted to save some face for Lavagani, he didn't know where to start. So, after saying "not bad" twice, Salim simply started nodding.
"Mm, mm."
"Yes, yes."
Salim nodded repeatedly, so Abdullah and the others started nodding as well. As for what the nodding was for, and what the uh-huhs meant, who knows; any reaction was better than none.
