Chapter 58: Lucid Sinking

A gasp of amazement swept through the audience. Even Ye Chaoying couldn't help thinking, Damn it, that was insanely cool!

Xia Chiyi turned his head and bounced twice on the spot like a joyful rabbit, pointing both hands at Zhou Zhexiao, who had passed him the ball.

Praise me! Hurry up and praise me! You must praise me right now!

"I want to bite you to death," Zhou Zhexiao said with a faint smile.

Good grief, this damned man normally never smiles, but when he does, it is insanely sexy.

It was as if he was suppressing his excitement, trying to low-key flex his most prized possession.

Xia Chiyi felt as though his heart had genuinely been given a fierce pinch at that exact moment. He was suddenly filled with regret—why hadn't he jumped into Zhou Zhexiao's arms during the last quarter? Only little kids high-fived; real adults went for a wild embrace!

Xia Chiyi's scoring play exploded the entire arena right from the tip-off.

Zhang Xiulin in the stands almost screamed out loud. That idiot Xia Chiyi... was simply too cool!

He had practically dribbled past the entire Qincheng University team all by himself.

Not a single player on the soccer team could boast such a record!

Ke Yan gritted his teeth, glaring at Meng Ting and He Zhan. "Who practiced double-team break-throughs with him?!"

Meng Ting also gritted his teeth, casting a suspicious glance at Yang Huaiyu. "Who the hell practiced contested layups with him?!"

Yang Huaiyu took the blame without hesitation. "I taught him, but I honestly didn't expect him to dare challenge Meng Ting directly!"

"Never mind, it's our turn."

Ke Yan wore an icy expression as he made a razor-sharp cut, carving an arc like a curved saber. At the apex of that arc was Yang Huaiyu.

The moment Yang Huaiyu received the ball, he leaped into the air with astonishing speed, intercepted by Shuai Bei and Chen Chuan.

More importantly, Zhou Zhexiao leaped into the air right behind him. A three-man aerial interception left the spectators breathless.

Even the referees, Gao Jinshu and Ji Bo, had not expected a college basketball game... to reach such a caliber of play!

There was an icy glint in Yang Huaiyu's eyes. Once he made his move, whether he switched hands or executed a mid-air layup, the probability of being blocked by Zhou Zhexiao from behind was simply too high. Decisively, before landing, he passed the ball to Li Shunchuan, who had rushed in to support.

The moment Li Shunchuan caught the ball, he was met with Xia Chiyi's defense. Li Shunchuan was undoubtedly the one who wanted to pounce and bite Xia Chiyi the most.

This brat had not only tricked him into running all over the court, but by the fourth quarter, he still possessed this kind of stamina and speed—he truly lived up to Yang Huaiyu's description of a "little monster"!

Li Shunchuan's shooting motion was disrupted, but Xia Chiyi caught the cunning gleam in Li Shunchuan's eyes and noticed the extra force behind his movement compared to a standard shot.

"Watch out—" Xia Chuan shouted to warn his teammates. Li Shunchuan's true objective was a pass.

Yang Huaiyu caught the ball mid-air and directly slammed it through the hoop.

Fast and vicious.

He turned around, scooped Li Shunchuan up, and spun him around twice. "Great pass!"

When Li Shunchuan's feet touched the ground, he was still a bit dizzy. It seemed that compared to embraces, high-fives suited him much better.

The pace of the game grew faster and faster. With both teams displaying astonishing coordination, the score remained tightly locked.

Zhou Zhexiao's offensive speed accelerated continuously, reminiscent of Liu Shuchen, who had turned Qincheng University upside down the previous year.

He even pulled off a scoring sequence more flamboyant than Liu Shuchen's. Having just crossed the free-throw line, he audaciously leaped right in front of Yang Huaiyu, executing a 360-degree mid-air spin that faked out the tallest player, Meng Ting, before hitting a floater right over He Zhan.

Such body control sent the entire arena into a frenzy.

Yet, it also ignited Qincheng University's burning fighting spirit.

"Payback," Yang Huaiyu said, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

Brilliant.

This was a transcendence and veteran poise entirely different from Liu Shuchen's.

Without nerves of steel, no one could pull off a shot like that.

Zhou Zhexiao also looked at Xia Chiyi and lifted his chin.

Caught up in the high-intensity flow of the game, Xia Chiyi blurted out, "You are so hot!"

Ke Yan's lips twitched. "Alright then, let's cool you down!"

He spearheaded another offensive surge, passing the ball to Li Shunchuan at the three-point line. Li Shunchuan was immediately double-teamed by Xia Chiyi and Ye Chaoying. Ye Chaoying suddenly stole the ball, dribbled away, only to have it stripped by Yang Huaiyu the moment he turned around!

Ye Chaoying was stunned by the look in Yang Huaiyu's eyes—a sharpness that suggested he would slay gods if they stood in his way, and buddhas if they blocked his path.

Yang Huaiyu dribbled toward the rim, shook off Shuai Bei, and faced the recovering defense of Zhou Zhexiao with a sudden jump-stop and pull-up jumper that found nothing but net!

Looking coldly at Zhou Zhexiao, Yang Huaiyu said, "I have no weak points."

The implication was that he was equally proficient at both driving to the basket and shooting jumpers.

"What a coincidence, neither do I," Zhou Zhexiao replied indifferently, tugging at his collar to wipe away the sweat dripping down his chin.

The two teams traded blows endlessly, and the score remained deadlocked.

The game ticked down from the final minute to the last forty seconds... thirty seconds.

The spectators held their breath. One of the observing professors gripped his collar tightly, while the other dropped his insulated thermos to the floor without even sparing it a glance. Even Zhang Xiulin, the basketball team's resident contrarian, wore an intensely focused expression, his hands clenched into fists as if waiting for a lottery draw!

—As long as the basketball team won this match, he, Zhang Xiulin, was willing to become a vegetarian for a whole month!

Shuai Bei received a pass and missed the jump shot, gritting his teeth in frustration and roaring inwardly that his shooting still wasn't polished enough.

He Zhan and Meng Ting combined to grab the rebound and passed the ball to Yang Huaiyu.

The moment Yang Huaiyu crossed the three-point line, he locked into fierce physical confrontation with Zhou Zhexiao. His driving lane was nearly forced out of bounds, but he couldn't give up! He couldn't give up!

When Zhou Zhexiao had analyzed the gap between him and Liu Shuchen previously, the core issue was that he gave up on physical contests far too early!

As he finally neared the sideline, Yang Huaiyu prepared to pass to Ke Yan, who was coming over to support, but his sixth sense warned him that Ye Chaoying was already moving in for a steal.

His mind suddenly became exceptionally clear. Time seemed to fracture into countless individual slices, and he envisioned the sprawling branches of countless possible outcomes. With a no-look bounce pass, he whipped the ball toward Li Shunchuan stationed at the baseline.

Li Shunchuan caught the ball, executed a cross-step sidestep just as Xia Chiyi lunged forward, maintained his balance without stumbling thanks to his double pivot feet, and rose up for a shot. The ball sailed over the top of Xia Chiyi's head and, under the gaze of countless pairs of eyes, dropped cleanly through the net.

112 to 110. Qincheng University narrowly defeated Ningchang University by a sliver of a margin.

Xia Chiyi stared at Li Shunchuan. The latter wore an arrogant expression, pointing at himself. "I am the premier sharpshooter of the Southeast Division."

Li Shunchuan had expected Xia Chiyi to look displeased, but instead, the kid simply looked at him as if examining a statue in a temple.

Then Xia Chiyi remarked, "Right, you probably still are!"

Before Li Shunchuan's triumphant brow could fully arch, Xia Chiyi added, "You'll be knocked off that pedestal by next March!"

"Ah! This brat is so annoying! Someone come drag him away!"

Yang Huaiyu was still regulating his breathing.

In this match, he had given it his absolute all.

It had been a very long time since he had lost himself in such a frenzy.

Zhou Zhexiao walked up to him, maintaining his usual aloof demeanor. "Your teammates this year seem stronger than last year."

"Thanks." Yang Huaiyu rested his hands on his hips, carefully scrutinizing Zhou Zhexiao's expression. "If the fourth quarter was your tempo two, I'd like to know if you still have a tempo three."

"Depends on the situation," Zhou Zhexiao replied blandly.

"Depends on what situation?"

Zhou Zhexiao glanced at Xia Chiyi, who was currently pestering Li Shunchuan to discuss cross-step sidesteps. "Depends on whether he still has his own tempo three."

The students stood up, erupting into enthusiastic applause.

Although they had lost by two points and had utilized two more substitutions than their opponents, everyone present felt it for the very first time—their basketball team was genuinely formidable.

The three soccer players in the front row pressed back against their seatbacks, exhaling in unison.

At that moment, the class monitor's head popped out from the back row. "I've been waiting for over ten seconds. Why haven't you guys started mocking and ridiculing them yet?"

Zhang Xiulin was startled out of his wits. "Class monitor! Stop popping out like that out of nowhere, you'll scare someone into a heart attack!"

"I didn't pop out of nowhere, I've been patting your shoulder for ages!" the class monitor said with a grin.

Zhang Xiulin's other two teammates looked at him hesitantly, their minds already searching for sarcastic remarks.

"Let's go," Zhang Xiulin said as he stood up.

"That's it?" the class monitor asked with a smile.

"Class monitor, what else do you want me to say? Should I point out that even with two substitutions, they still lost to Qincheng University by 2 points?" Zhang Xiulin took a deep breath.

"But our guys Xia Chiyi, Zhou Zhexiao, and Ye Chaoying are all freshmen," Zhang Xiulin's teammate instinctively pointed out.

"Yeah, they're all freshmen, and they've already gone toe-to-toe with the third-best team in the country. We're freshmen too, and we're still warming the bench."

With that, Zhang Xiulin shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away with his two teammates.

As it was time to clear the venue, Ling Huanzhen wanted to invite the two professors to leave first. To his surprise, one professor leaned back in his chair and announced he needed a moment to recover, while the other suddenly remembered to search for his missing thermos. Ling Huanzhen, towering as he was, got down on all fours on the floor to help the professor look for the cup.

Yang Huaiyu wiped himself down with a towel. Throughout the entire match, the excitement had masked the fatigue, but now his calves were trembling.

Ke Yan was right beside him, head bowed. "My... my heart is still pounding... This scrimmage felt just like a national final..."

"Ah Yan..."

"What?" Ke Yan was holding a bottle of sports drink, struggling to twist the cap open for ages before shoving it into Yang Huaiyu's hands in frustration. "Open this... for me..."

"Ah Yan, it's so good to have you..." Yang Huaiyu turned sideways and leaned against Ke Yan.

He no longer cared much about the lost match, because he finally had teammates who matched his caliber.

Ke Yan couldn't support his weight at all and tipped sideways, crashing right into Li Shunchuan.

Li Shunchuan was already thoroughly drained and collapsed instantly, triggering a domino effect.

In the end, He Zhan was left bearing the weight of the entire team.

"Are you guys even human—"

The entire team fell completely silent for over thirty seconds, still unable to detach themselves from the lingeringaftermath of the match.

With his remaining strength, Yang Huaiyu finally unscrewed the bottle cap and handed the drink to Ke Yan.

"I can't even imagine what the outcome would have been if Zhou Zhexiao had played me at his own tempo from the very first quarter."

Just as Ke Yan was about to take a sip, this remark completely ruined his mood. "Big boss, do you really have to terrify me like that? In the fourth quarter... he already shattered my understanding of the game. You managed to go toe-to-toe with him... and now you're telling me he could maintain that exact level of intensity from the first quarter to the fourth?"

Yang Huaiyu said in a low voice, "Trust me, he can."

Just as Ke Yan sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, Li Shunchuan beside them suddenly began kicking his legs on the floor like a petulant child who hadn't gotten his favorite toy.

"Aahhhhh... Xia Chiyi... he played me for a fool for an entire quarter..."

"Did it really take you this long to realize? Didn't I already warn you?" Yang Huaiyu asked with a helpless sigh.