When they arrived at the basketball court, the guys from Orthopedics and Traumatology, Class Two, had been waiting for a long time. Their captain, Wang Zhen, taunted them, "I thought you'd chickened out and wouldn't show."
"Chicken out? In the dictionary of our Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Class Three, that word doesn't exist," Liu Zhu retorted.
Wang Zhen sneered. "Oh, listen to you. Big talk. Just don't come crying when you lose."
"That's exactly what I was going to say to you."
After the brief exchange of trash talk, the game began.
The players from Orthopedics and Traumatology, Class Two, were all muscular bruisers with excellent physical conditioning. While the students from Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Class Three, weren't as physically imposing, their strength lay in their solid skills and seamless teamwork. In the heated contest, not only did they hold their own, they actually took the lead, gradually pulling ahead on the scoreboard.
About twenty minutes into the game, Orthopedics and Traumatology, Class Two, was down by more than ten points. Wang Zhen's expression was grim. He called over their most built player, Xing Qiang, pointed at Guo Shun—their top scorer—and whispered, "Go. Cripple him."
"Got it," Xing Qiang nodded. A vicious gleam flashed in his eyes as he took the ball and charged straight at Guo Shun.
Unaware of his opponent's intentions, Guo Shun spread his arms and got into a defensive stance.
BAM!
The two collided hard.
Xing Qiang was already much bigger than Guo Shun, and he'd charged with intent against an unsuspecting defender. He sent Guo Shun flying and, pretending it was an accident, stomped on his ankle.
"AARGH—" Guo Shun shrieked in pain.
"Fuck! Are you playing ball or just trying to hurt people?!"
Liu Zhu and the other three players immediately rushed over, shoved Xing Qiang aside, and furiously demanded an answer.
"What's your problem? You looking for a fight?" Wang Zhen ran over with his own players to confront Liu Zhu and his group.
Xing Qiang held up his hands, feigning innocence. "Hey, it's not my fault. He committed a blocking foul and got himself hurt. How can you blame me for that?"
"What blocking foul? Guo had his position set way before you got there. It was a clear charge! And then you stomped on his ankle after the foul. You were trying to injure him on purpose!" Liu Zhu roared.
"Don't try to pin this on me. Your guy committed the foul, so how can you blame me? As for stepping on him, that was just momentum. I couldn't stop. In the end, he brought it on himself!" Xing Qiang adamantly denied that it was intentional.
Liu Zhu immediately started arguing with him.
Zhao Yuan and the others also rushed onto the court, gathering around Guo Shun.
After checking Guo Shun's ankle, Zhao Yuan called out to Liu Zhu, "Liu Zhu, stop arguing with them. Let's get Guo to the infirmary first. His ankle is already swelling up, and I can't tell if he broke a bone."
Liu Zhu let the argument with Xing Qiang drop for the moment and helped the others lift Guo Shun to leave.
Wang Zhen sauntered over. "So, are we finishing this game or what?"
"We're done," Liu Zhu snapped.
Wang Zhen immediately grinned at his teammates. "Integrated Medicine Class Three forfeits! Let's go, guys. Late-night snacks are on me!"
"Wait, what do you mean we forfeit?" Liu Zhu spun around and demanded.
Wang Zhen gave a smug laugh. "You don't dare play us anymore. If that's not a forfeit, what is?"
"We stopped playing because you're not playing ball, you're just trying to hurt people!" Liu Zhu argued, but his opponents were completely unreasonable. They insisted Xing Qiang hadn't done it on purpose and that Guo Shun had it coming. This made all the students from Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Class Three, so furious they looked ready to start a brawl.
"Liu Zhu, keep playing against them!" Guo Shun spoke up. "Show them what Integrated Medicine Class Three is made of! Beat them, and get revenge for me!"
"Alright!" Liu Zhu replied through gritted teeth.
After getting two people to carry Guo Shun to the infirmary, Liu Zhu began picking a player to substitute for him.
The players from Orthopedics and Traumatology, Class Two, sneered from the sidelines. Wang Zhen lowered his voice and said, "Xing Qiang, nice work. Next, everyone takes a turn. We'll cripple every last one of these idiots from Integrated Medicine. Let's see if they still dare to talk back to us after that."
"Right!" the Orthopedics players all agreed.
They spoke quietly, but Zhao Yuan overheard them. Seeing how despicable Wang Zhen and his cronies were, he seethed with anger. He stood up immediately and volunteered, "Boss, put me in!"
"You?" Liu Zhu was taken aback. In his memory, Zhao Yuan's basketball skills were nothing to write home about.
"That's right, me." Zhao Yuan winked at Liu Zhu. 'I'm not going in to score,' he thought. 'I'm going in to be a wall when they try to pull their dirty tricks.' He had confidence in his own body. He wasn't as brawny as the Orthopedics guys, but in a collision like the last one, he was sure he wouldn't be the one to fall.
'Are you kidding me? He had already opened one of his meridians. Even if it was just one, he was on a completely different level than Wang Zhen and the others!'
"Alright, you're in." Liu Zhu didn't know what Zhao Yuan was planning, but he knew his roommate wasn't one to act rashly. If he was volunteering, he must have a reason.
Soon, the game resumed.
Guo Shun's injury had enraged the Integrated Medicine players, but it had also instilled a trace of fear in them. Faced with the Orthopedics team's wolf-like, ferocious defense, they became hesitant, afraid of getting injured, and their formation fell into disarray. In the few minutes after the game resumed, the Orthopedics team went on a scoring run, closing much of the gap.
"See? Integrated Medicine is nothing special! The moment we get serious, they have to kneel!" Wang Zhen shouted with a laugh, his voice dripping with mockery. Liu Zhu was furious and decided to teach them a lesson himself, but after just a few dribbles, he was sandwiched by two Orthopedics players and knocked to the ground. Though the opponents were called for a foul, he had taken a nasty hit, and his ribs were throbbing with pain.
Zhao Yuan checked on him. After confirming he wasn't seriously injured, Zhao Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Next time, get the ball to me."
In the time he'd been on the court, Zhao Yuan hadn't touched the ball once.
"What are you planning to do?" Liu Zhu asked, wincing in pain.
"Teach them a lesson," Zhao Yuan replied.
"Can you really?" Liu Zhu asked doubtfully.
"Of course," Zhao Yuan said, full of confidence.
Liu Zhu nodded. After the game resumed, he did as he was told and got the ball to Zhao Yuan.
At first, the Orthopedics players were a little tense. They had heard Zhao Yuan's bold claim and subconsciously assumed he was a skilled player. But when they saw his clumsy dribbling, they immediately relaxed.
"Listen to this kid's arrogant mouth, I thought he was a pro. Turns out he's just a total noob!"
"He can't even dribble properly and he has the nerve to brag about teaching us a lesson? Talk about not knowing your place!"
"How dare he run his mouth with skills like that? He's not afraid of embarrassing himself!"
Wang Zhen lunged at Zhao Yuan with a vicious grin. "You want to teach us a lesson? I'll teach you one first!" He swiped the ball away, strode to the basket, and went up for a textbook jump shot.
"Holy shit!"
A wave of gasps and screams erupted from the crowd.
Wang Zhen assumed the cheers were for him and grinned with satisfaction.
Just then, he heard his own teammates shout in alarm.
"Boss, watch out!"
"That kid's so fast!"
"Huh? What's going on?" Wang Zhen froze for a second. Then he saw a figure dash toward him, leap high into the air, and appear before him like a solid wall.
"Zhao Yuan? No way!" Wang Zhen's eyes went wide, unable to believe what he was seeing.
SMACK!
Zhao Yuan blocked the shot cleanly, smacking the ball right out of Wang Zhen's hands. The moment he landed, he shot off like an arrow from a bow to recover the ball. This time, while his dribbling was still awkward, it was much better than before.
Others didn't understand what was happening, but Zhao Yuan knew perfectly well. 'After starting my Cultivation of the Four Saints Technique, my control over my own strength has become much more precise,' he thought. 'It's only natural that I'd pick up basketball at lightning speed!'