Conquest

The road from the stadium back to the dorms was peaceful and quiet. It was late at night, and the daytime heat had faded away, leaving the air especially crisp.

Jiangcheng City's pollution index was at a mild level today. Looking up from the ground, the sky seemed veiled in a layer of haze, behind which hung a dim crescent moon and a few faint, sesame-seed-like stars.

"Who's there?" Jiang Shan suddenly stopped, calling out warily.

Wang Chao and Li Shaoqin stopped at the same time and looked toward the flickering red light not far ahead.

A burly figure stepped out from the roadside, a cigarette pinched between his fingers. The flickering red glow had come from its burning tip.

"It's me." His voice was somewhat hoarse. "Tian Zhengguang."

The three of them all took a step back.

Tian Zhengguang was famous throughout the base.

Not because of how well he played table tennis, but because of how well he fought.

Legend had it that during his first year on the team, he got into seven fights in a single month. The last one had been a brawl—a whole group of people fighting him alone.

Tian Zhengguang won all seven fights, leaving three teammates with broken bones. Head coach Luo Zhihong had been so furious that he wanted to send him home immediately. In the end, Tian Qi had pleaded desperately for him and, it was said, even pulled some strings behind the scenes and paid a hefty price to save him.

After that, Tian Zhengguang never fought again, but his legend continued to circulate endlessly throughout the base.

When someone like that appeared on a secluded path in the dead of night, it was hard not to imagine something unpleasant.

Especially since he and Wang Chao had an old grudge. Wang Chao had forcibly taken his promotion spot from him.

"Don't be afraid. I don't mean any harm," Tian Zhengguang added. After several more seconds of silence, he finally forced out his purpose. "Wang Chao, I... want to treat you to a meal."

Wang Chao was utterly baffled.

"I know it's late, but there should still be somewhere outside the base to eat..." Tian Zhengguang grew less confident as he spoke, then changed his mind. "How about barbecue?"

By the dim moonlight at the edge of the sky, Wang Chao saw that Tian Zhengguang's face, hidden in the darkness, looked awkward and somewhat uneasy. There was not a trace of ferocity on it.

That gave him a faint idea of what was going on.

"There's no need to eat."

Wang Chao kept his voice as gentle as possible. "If you have something to say, just say it."

Everything suddenly fell quiet.

Jiang Shan signaled to Wang Chao with his eyes, telling him he could turn around and run the other way. Once they reached the stadium, they would be safe.

But Wang Chao gave a slight shake of his head, signaling for him not to panic.

After a long while, Tian Zhengguang finally said, "Wang Chao, I'm leaving the team tomorrow."

Behind him, Jiang Shan quietly grabbed Wang Chao's shirt. The meaning was obvious: he was leaving tomorrow, so the coaches could no longer control him. Obviously, he wanted to beat Wang Chao up before he left!

Tian Zhengguang slowly walked over until he stood before Wang Chao. He pulled out a cigarette pack and offered it to Wang Chao, then took out a lighter with his other hand.

Wang Chao shook his head. At the same time, he lightly patted Jiang Shan's back behind him. He could feel that the little brat's whole body was tense.

"I used to hate you. My cousin... Coach Tian Qi, told me to apologize to you. He said you had a bright future and told me not to make an enemy of you. But I thought you were bound for the national team someday, while I could at best play in the Table Tennis First Division. How much would our paths ever cross? It's not like you'd travel across several provinces to hunt me down, right?"

After saying all that, Tian Zhengguang relaxed completely. Before today, he would never have shown even the slightest weakness in front of Wang Chao, but tonight, he seemed unusually sentimental.

"This afternoon, your main team was playing a round robin, while we got half the day off because several coaches wanted to watch your match against Jiang Shan."

Tian Zhengguang did not care that the ground was dirty. He sat down directly beside Wang Chao, stretched his legs out, and said, "Long Tao took me out for a meal as a farewell dinner."

His words carried a trace of desolation. He had been with the team for many years, yet when it was time to leave, only Long Tao had come to see him off.

"Wang Chao, you know, we talked about you... Long Tao said that at Mingyue Stadium that day, I was the one in the wrong from the start. He said you played better than me, that there was no reason for me to hate you, and that it was wrong for us to bully ordinary people."

Wang Chao vaguely understood why Tian Zhengguang had waited for him here tonight. He sat down as well, shoulder to shoulder with Tian Zhengguang, and turned to him. "But if you were the kind of person who could be persuaded so easily, you wouldn't have ended up where you are now, would you?"

In the darkness, Tian Zhengguang's face could barely be made out, along with the faint gleam in his eyes.

"Of course not. I'm not afraid of you. Even if you're right and I'm wrong, why should I admit it? At most, I'd just avoid you from now on."

Tian Zhengguang gave a quiet snort. "I just couldn't accept it. Everyone said you were better than me. Everyone said I was wrong. Even my cousin wouldn't take my side. So... after lunch this afternoon, I couldn't hold back. I secretly went to watch you play."

He paused. "I watched your match against Wu Li."

At that moment, Jiang Shan let out a long "Oh." Then he suddenly realized that he was facing a terrifying man capable of taking on a whole group by himself. He immediately shut up and shrank back, leaving Wang Chao to face Tian Zhengguang alone.

Before Wang Chao came to this base, there had been two Great Demon Kings.

Tian Zhengguang, unbeatable in a fight.

Wu Li, unbeatable at table tennis.

But only Tian Zhengguang knew that he was no Great Demon King at all.

He had once secretly gone to spar with Wu Li. Wu Li had not looked down on him for being a substitute player and had seriously played three games with him.

In those three games, Tian Zhengguang had scored only one point in total. After that, he never sought out Wu Li again.

He admitted that the match had left him with a psychological shadow. He was afraid of Wu Li. Even if he had gotten the spot and entered the main team, he would not have had the courage to play Wu Li again.

After his spot had been taken away, he had acted exceptionally furious. Yet deep inside, that weak soul of his had quietly let out a breath of relief, feeling an unexpected sense of ease.

Today, he had watched Wang Chao play with everything he had. By the end, Wang Chao had looked like he was about to die.

He had watched Wang Chao desperately chase the score, stumbling as he ran, refusing to give up until the very last moment. In the fourth game, he had even nearly overturned Wu Li.

Finally, he watched Wang Chao collapse onto the floor. Someone tried to pull him up, but Wang Chao slipped through that person's grasp like a dead fish.

He really had been...

Playing with his life on the line...

At that moment, Tian Zhengguang's entire body trembled. There was a searing pain in his chest, as if someone had driven a steel needle viciously into his weak soul.

He truly was not afraid of Wang Chao taking revenge.

Nor was he the kind of person who admitted fault simply because he was wrong.

He had played Wang Chao twice and lost both times, but he had still refused to concede verbally.

Only in that moment could he no longer lie to himself. He felt that Wang Chao had truly crushed him.

Not technically.

But spiritually.

After leaving the stadium, he had wandered about in a daze. He sat on a stone by the roadside for a very long time, until the sky had gone completely dark.

He felt that the very reason he had persevered in practicing table tennis might have been fundamentally wrong.

He liked playing against people weaker than himself, because winning truly made him happy.

He had thought that losing was bound to be miserable.

But when he saw Wang Chao challenge an impossible opponent with his life on the line, only to be defeated in the end, he did not think Wang Chao looked pitiful. Instead, he saw Wang Chao smiling—a brilliant smile.

He felt that Wang Chao's whole body was glowing!

"So... was I really wrong from the very beginning?"

Naturally, someone as rough as Tian Zhengguang could not put such complicated feelings into words.

After saying that, he fell silent and began smoking one cigarette after another.

Wang Chao said nothing either. He sat quietly beside him and silently watched him smoke three cigarettes.

Tian Zhengguang reached for his cigarette pack and found it empty. He stood, viciously ground the last cigarette butt beneath his shoe, then casually tossed the crumpled empty pack into the grass by the roadside.

He turned around, stood still, looked at Wang Chao, and said, "Then goodbye."

"Mm."

Wang Chao nodded. "Have a safe trip."

Tian Zhengguang backed away. After taking three steps, he turned and left. But after just one step, he suddenly turned back and said with complete sincerity, "Wang Chao, I'm sorry."

After saying that, it was as if he had used up all his courage. He ran off like the wind, his figure swallowed by the darkness, looking somewhat disheveled.