"...You need to think this through, Sister..." Zhang Junxue knitted her two dark brows. "This isn't just 'a martial competition.' It concerns both our counties, and everything rests on your shoulders. You mustn't let this... cause anything to go wrong."
"I know. Are you worried I'll throw the match? Never mind that I might not even be able to beat him-even if I can, I'll certainly give it everything I have. I've practiced martial arts for all these years, and this is what I've always pursued." Zhang Junyu glanced at her with a smile, then said seriously, "I know what matters more. Besides, he wouldn't agree to it either."
"What if he did?" Seeing how her sister defended him with every word, Zhang Junxue began to feel a little jealous.
"Then I'd look down on him."
"Hehe."
After that, Zhang Junyu came home later and later, her face flushed with smiles more and more often. Even after returning, she was always distracted when Zhang Junxue spoke to her, often needing to be called several times before she responded.
Until another evening, when Zhang Junyu came home late again, but this time she looked dazed, her eyes a little red.
"What happened?"
"...Today we talked about the Martial Competition. I told him I wouldn't hold back."
"He objected?"
"No. He said, of course that was how it should be."
"Isn't that good?"
"He said... winning Chief Champion wouldn't do him any good anyway."
"...Why?"
"Because he has an incurable illness," Zhang Junyu said softly. "He said he could fight in at most two more Martial Competitions for his sect before his body collapsed completely."
"...I haven't heard anything about the Seven Flood Dragons' direct disciple being unwell."
"How could something like that be allowed to spread?"
"..."
"I really never imagined