Chapter 1: The Elegant Way of Dying

  In September 20xx, the central stadium of a provincial capital city was packed. The commentator's excited voice echoed "Ladies and gentlemen, TV viewers, the National University Games Fencing Championship, Saber Event Final is about to begin. The finalists are Zhou Yu from XX Sports Academy and Zhu Gejun from XX Chemical Engineering University."

  The commentator paused for a moment, allowing the audience to digest the information they had just received. He continued: "Zhou Yu is the defending champion of the provincial and municipal fencing competition and is about to be selected for the national fencing team. The fencing world has high hopes for his future and considers him a rising new star. Zhuge Jun, on the other hand, had never participated in a fencing competition before, but was selected from the grassroots selection tournament, and with an undefeated record, he made it into the final as a dark horse."

  Fencing is divided into three types: épée, foil and sabre. The sabre is a weapon that can both slash and thrust. In actual combat, slashing scores more often. Valid hits are scored on the upper body, helmet and arm. Valid hits are covered by metal clothing, so electronic instruments can distinguish between valid and invalid hits.

  In foil fencing, points are awarded primarily for valid hits. The fencer who scores a valid hit first gets the point. The opponent must then make a valid defence action before they can score a valid hit. If both fencers hit each other at the same time, no points are awarded. Foil fencing is often the fastest and most agile of the three weapons, with players frequently using feints and bluffs to control the tempo of the bout. If an electronic scoring machine indicates that one fencer has scored a point, the referee will stop the bout, have both fencers return to their en garde lines, and then restart the bout.

  The team with the higher score at the end of nine minutes wins. If the scores are tied, a one-minute overtime is played using sudden death rules. To prevent excessive defense by both teams, a coin toss before extra time decides who will be declared the winner if neither team scores during the extra minute.

  As the commentator introduced, the athlete took to the field. Zhou Yuhao was tall and majestic, at least 1.90 meters, with a square face and an imposing presence. His arms were longer than those of ordinary people, which gave him a natural advantage in fencing. Coupled with his already impressive height, his swordsmanship had a wide range, striking many opponents before they could even get close to him. As a result, many athletes felt intimidated by him, secretly referring to him as "the great ape".

  Zhu Ge Jun is 1.82 meters tall, with a handsome face and sharp facial features that attract the attention of many girls. He has a strong and straight physique, very proportionate. His movements are elegant and generous, his smile warm and gentle, revealing a refined temperament. Since he participated in the competition, a strange phenomenon has occurred in the fencing hall, where the number of female students far exceeds that of male students.

  At this moment, Zhuge Yun wore a white fencing suit, which made him look even more elegant. The girls let out a burst of screams. Compared to Zhou Yu's entrance with lukewarm applause, the difference was like heaven and earth.

  "You think you're so tough with your pale face, just wait and I'll beat you until you cry for your dad and mom." A ferocious smile spread across his face.

  The game has started, Zhou Yu took the lead in attacking, using his height and arm length advantage to launch a fierce attack. Zhuge Jun responded calmly, with extremely elegant movements, successfully dissolving his offensive. The scene was filled with cheers and applause.

  Zhou Yuyi suddenly felt a bit unaccustomed to this atmosphere, and his mind wandered for a moment before being stabbed by Zhuge Jun's sword. The shrill cry shocked many boys into covering their ears, who thought: "These girls are really fierce."

  Zhou Yu's rich experience in competitions soon calmed his nerves, and he scored a point. The scene was eerily quiet, even the boys were affected, and they retreated with the girls. A boy who wanted to cheer was glared at by his girlfriend, and he awkwardly put down his arm, smiling at her instead. The commentator couldn't bear it anymore and quickly helped Zhou Yu speak, but there were few responses.

  The score alternated and rose, eight minutes later, a tie on the field. The final battle is just ahead. Dead silence on the field.

  Zhou Yu exerted all his strength and was about to launch an attack. Suddenly, Zhuge Jin, who had been defending since the start of the battle, sprang into action. His figure darted forward like a white horse, his sword flashing with lightning speed. Zhou Yu was caught off guard by the successive attacks, and Zhuge Jin seized the opportunity to strike him on the right arm with one swift slash.

  The lights are on. The game is over. After a moment of silence, cheers and screams shook the air. The girls rushed to Zhuge Jun frantically.

  Zhuge Yun walked and greeted the enthusiastic fans, until he entered the rest room and temporarily calmed down. At this time, his girlfriend Gao Ruo Yi saw him coming in, hurried over to him, hastily hugged him, and congratulated him on a sentence. Then she said: "Brother Yun, your father called and said that your mother is seriously ill, asking you to hurry back."

  Before Zhuge Jun participated in the competition, his mother's body was not very good. He is extremely filial, heard this news, hastily to the coach made a gesture, regardless of the staff shouting, clothes did not change, pulling Gao Ruo Yi just ran out of the gymnasium.

  Two people jumped into a red convertible and sped away.

  Under the award stage, countless fans were looking forward to Zhuge Jun's champion demeanor when he came to receive the award. The result was a great disappointment, seeing the figure of his short and fat coach instead. With the commentator's explanation, the fans had a new liking for Zhuge Jun.

  Zhuge's home is in a beautiful mountain city over 300 kilometers away. His father was a well-known chemical entrepreneur, and his mother was a famous musician. When he was young, his father was often away on business, so his mother raised him alone, which made their bond extremely deep. Upon hearing the news of his mother's serious illness, he felt anxious and wished he could fly to her side immediately.

  The sports car sped quickly along the road, overtaking every vehicle in its way. Gao Ruoyi understood his mood, but seeing him like this, she still reminded him to slow down and pay attention to safety.

  The road to s city has a 140-kilometer mountain road, which passes through the famous "Eighteen Bends" of Pan Mountain Highway. From the foot of the mountain, it looks like a winding snake, spiraling up, and reaching high into the clouds, extremely steep and dangerous.

  The sports car sped along, and when it passed a bend, Gao Rouyi's hair was blown messy by the wind. She took off the handkerchief that tied her hair back, and for a moment, her beautiful hair fluttered about, with one strand blocking Zhuge Jun's line of sight. He hastily reached out to brush away her hair, just as a large truck suddenly darted out from around the bend. With Zhuge Jun's speed being too fast, they were about to collide, so he quickly stepped on the brakes and turned the steering wheel.

  The large truck was avoided, but the sports car, under the influence of inertia, rushed out of the highway.

  The sports car was rolling in mid-air, with the two of them strapped to their seats. Zhuge Jun thought to himself, "It's all over." and closed his eyes waiting for death.

  Suddenly, the sports car stopped. He opened his eyes to find that it had landed on a shrub in the middle of the cliff. Looking down, he felt dizzy: the cliff below was dozens of meters deep!

  He hastily told Gao Ruoyi, "Don't look down." At this time, the sports car shook violently, and the bushes also made a cracking sound. He quickly unfastened her seatbelt, pushed her out of the sports car, and sat her on a protruding rock. Only then did he unfasten his own seatbelt and climb out of the sports car.

  At this time, the shrub could no longer bear the weight of the sports car and fell down together with the sports car.

  Zhuge Jian looked at the downward racing car, just secretly relieved to come out in time, and let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, Gao Ruo Yi let out a sharp cry, and her whole body fell downwards.

  It turned out that the sports car would uproot the shrubs, a section of tree roots was lifted, and it just caught Gao Ruoyi's skirt. She had no place to cling to on the rock and was pulled down. Zhuge Jun was more than a meter away from her and couldn't catch her.

  As she fell down, Zhuge Jun didn't hesitate at all, and like a diver, he pushed off with both feet and plunged towards Gao Rouyi.

  Due to his downward momentum, he quickly caught up with her. He grabbed her and then hugged her into his arms with both hands.

  Two people drifted down like birds in flight.

  Zhugei exerted himself in mid-air and turned his body downwards. Gao Ruoyi had already come to her senses and understood his intention, saying: "Brother Zhugei, don't."

  He held her tightly, kissed her cherry lips, and felt the soft bulge in front of his chest. He thought to himself: "I'd rather die than not have taken advantage of this opportunity earlier."

  Gao Ruo Yi looked at him with tears in her eyes, but he had a bright smile on his face.

  The wind howls, like a mournful cry. The sun hides behind a thick cloud, unable to bear the sight again.

  Not long after, a message shocked everyone: "Zhu Gejun, who had just won the national university sports fencing championship, died unfortunately after using his own body to protect his girlfriend in a car accident." The subsequent report of the details moved countless girls to tears.

  Zhuge Yun woke up and felt a chill. He opened his eyes to find himself lying in the snow, wearing a strange set of clothes that looked like ancient attire from a TV drama.

  "What's going on? I was originally on the mountain in summer, how did I end up lying in the snowy ground in winter? And what's with the clothes on my body?"

  Zhuge Jian strove to think, when suddenly another person's memory clearly appeared in his mind. This was a childhood experience that was vivid and clear. He was stunned for a long time before he came back to himself. After confirming with great effort, he couldn't help but be greatly shocked - his own brother, unexpectedly was...