Chapter 79 — Being Handsome, Does That Really Let You Do Whatever You Want?
Xia Qi cut through Chelsea's entire penalty area like a killing god descending from the heavens, single-handedly tearing the box apart.
The visual impact sent everyone's blood racing.
The two Emmas leapt out onto the balcony, wildly celebrating; the low-cut dresses and their bouncing caused the live cameras to linger on them for at least fifteen seconds.
In that moment Xia Qi felt a chill again. Many fans looked at him like knives. Wait — why did the female fans' gazes look like they wanted to eat him alive too?
On the balcony,
Roberts said to Watson: "He's really manly — not like those Hollywood pretty dolls. But why didn't he pay any attention to you?"
Emma Watson rolled her eyes, annoyed — sure knows how to press a sore spot.
"Sis, let me try, okay?"
"Get lost!"
Watson tossed a cushion at Roberts and mock-scolded her.
Roberts lunged and tickled Watson: "Let me try, anyway you can't get him."
Half seriously, half teasing, Watson shot back: "Who says I can't? He's shy, you know? Besides, even if I can't get him, why would you be able to?"
Then she tickled Roberts back.
The two girls horseplayed on the sofa —
Hollywood sisters' plastic friendships,
watch out for fire, thieves, and besties!
Same the world over.
…
Restarted play. The home side Chelsea, having equalized, still hadn't recovered from the "injury" to their pride.
Xia Qi's unapologetic domination inside the box was a heartbreaker.
Chelsea had started sluggish and were soon undone by Arsenal's counter.
If you didn't know better you'd think Arsenal were the home team.
But Xia Qi became a marked man: John Obi Mikel and John Terry shadowed him throughout.
With Xia Qi locked down, Arsenal's attacks looked like fireworks: dazzling to watch, yet painfully wasteful in front of goal.
There were still gains: first Mario Balotelli unleashed a ferocious shot near the penalty spot and Petr Čech produced another top-class save, tipping it onto the crossbar.
Arsenal won a left-side corner. Xia Qi, tightly marked by Mikel and Terry, had no chance to challenge. David Luiz headed the ball out of the box; Kieran Gibbs, outside the box, reached the second ball and swung it back into the area.
Inside the box, Xia Qi suddenly surged toward goal, disrupting Chelsea's defensive shape. Theo Walcott seized the chaos to poke at goal.
Branislav Ivanović, in an all-or-nothing moment, flew in and blocked the shot with his body, steering the ball over the line.
"Arsenal attack in waves, Chelsea defend like a sieve — Arsenal have won a right-side corner."
"Mourinho planted his defensive philosophy into Chelsea's blood. Even though he's gone, his bus-parking remains. Arsenal can dominate but not score."
After the ref's whistle and that scramble, Chelsea gradually returned to normal — no longer listless.
In Chelsea's box,
Mikel and Terry boxed Xia Qi in, one behind the other. Mikel had a hand on Xia Qi's waist while Terry stood slightly to his front, one hand pushing back, his eyes fixed on Wilshere preparing to take the corner.
The other Chelsea players weren't idle: Ivanović on Balotelli, David Luiz on Walcott…
Any Arsenal player with even a slight height advantage had a personal bodyguard.
The box was packed. Wilshere surveyed carefully and judged the far post to be the opportunity. He signalled to his teammates.
Seeing his gesture, the Arsenal players in the area "woke up" and surged, like commuters fighting for a bus — jostling, tugging, pulling.
Some were genuinely fighting for position, like Balotelli and Walcott; others were there to create distraction, like Xia Qi and Mikel.
Xia Qi was Arsenal's most lively presence — now darting to the near post, now dropping back a few steps, stirring the mass of bodies in the box…
The more Xia Qi moved, the more Terry felt something off; while defending Xia Qi he was secretly watching the rest.
Beep!
Wilshere swung the corner toward the far post. Seeing the flight, Terry knew it wasn't for Xia Qi.
But when Balotelli sprang up like a stalk out of the turf, he noticed Xia Qi suddenly sprinting out of the area.
An illogical move,
and the veteran Terry felt the alarm go off. He immediately chased after Xia Qi.
Balotelli leapt high too — he was also a key defensive focus for Chelsea and his near-post run was tightly marked.
Tactically, if Balotelli couldn't get a chance, he would become the pivot for the set-piece — to lay it off to Xia Qi.
Xia Qi, following tactical instructions, ran toward the second ball.
AI controlled Xia Qi's body: back to the goal, he rose high and elected an overhead volley — a bicycle/overhead kick.
Terry, charging in behind, had no time to admire Arsenal's corner craft. He took long strides to crash into Xia Qi, feigning unstoppable inertia.
At that moment Xia Qi had already jumped; an unplanned rear force slammed into him.
He lost his balance and careened off at an angle.
That was a flaw of AI mode: it only computes variations permitted by the rules, not human dirty tricks outside its model.
Damn!
Despicable!
Red card!
Free kick on the edge of the box!
After a flurry of soul-searching thoughts, Xia Qi chose the free kick — though a free kick certainly wasn't AI's first choice.
"Ding dong, [Ultimate Strength] attribute activated."
Arsenal fans were once again moved by Xia Qi's effort.
Xia Qi clawed at balance in midair like a beast. Using his hip and abdominal strength he forcibly twisted his body into an awkward scissors-kick stance, a motion far from beautiful, and hooked his foot at the ball.
When his right instep struck the ball,
the crowd erupted.
They were moved.
The charm of competitive sports lies in not giving up, in turning the impossible into the possible through grit.
Everyone knew how difficult that scissors-style overhead shot was.
If Xia Qi could execute it, it deserved cheers and applause.
After his strike,
Xia Qi could no longer keep his balance and couldn't even see if the ball was flying toward goal or the stands; he crashed to the turf.
With a "boom" on impact, Xia Qi knew his after-match suffering was coming…
Terry stood stunned; he hadn't expected Xia Qi to score while off-balance, nor that the rushed strike would be so beautiful.
We and our mates were dumbstruck!
Čech made no save attempt. At first the ball seemed to head for the corner flag but then traced a strange curve and returned.
So he could only stand foolishly in goal and watch the ball nestle into the far corner.
He wasn't the only one stunned — the players too.
When Terry made that shove they'd all rolled up their sleeves, ready to "do battle"…
But Xia Qi refused to fight dirty; he fought on.
And it worked.
The ball first headed toward the corner flag, then bent in a physically impossible arc and found the true dead angle.
That shot —
too beautiful to be real!
In an instant, memories struck like thunder in every ear, goosebumps crawling over skin, a recollection surging into the mind…
1997, the Tournoi de France, Brazil vs France, Roberto Carlos' 40-yard free-kick.
Same power, same arc, same physical-defying curve, same goosebumps, same thunderclap…
No!
Xia Qi's was
even more spectacular!
Because he faced away from goal and lost balance in midair — perhaps losing balance is what made it so exquisite?
Players, fans, coaches, journalists… all gaped in disbelief…
The stadium fell into an eerie silence. Simultaneously, an absurd thought flashed through everyone's minds:
You thought hooking in that way was your limit — instead you scored a Puskás-esque goal.
Really,
Did you think
being handsome
lets you do whatever you want?
Jealousy distorted my face; only two seconds later did I cheer.
…
Penguin live chat:
"Balotelli's header… beautiful corner routine, Balotelli made the pass for Xia Qi."
"Foul!"
"Red card!"
"Ahhh! …This… this… it's in!"
"Peak purple palace, a celestial shot."
"Xia Qi's overhead is like a fairy from heaven, so graceful."
"Unconventional strike! Xia Qi, off-balance, lans an overhead and scores an unfathomable divine goal."
"Tonight's match is crazy: first Hazard's S-ball saluted Carlos, then Xia Qi brings an even more godlike strike."
Netizens went wild:
"Mom asked why I'm crying watching on my knees."
"Damn! I'm drunk! A worldy goal from open play — is there any physics left?"
"I peed. The daughter in my wife's belly said, 'shame, shame, shame.'"
"If you tell me to take it seriously I can't; if you tell me to play casually, ha, the ball goes in."
"Xia Qi: Thanks bro, without your assist I couldn't have scored this divine goal.
Terry: red-faced.jpg I assisted!"
"Fireworks.jpg, fireworks.jpg, fireworks.jpg. Zlatan: our 'godly alliance' adds a new member."
"Power brings miracles! Grit brings results!"
On the pitch,
Xia Qi hauled himself up, saw the ball in the net, looked at the referee's signal, then slid on his knees toward the Arsenal fans' stand.
Three long skid marks trailed behind him. Seeing that thick middle streak and his star-like handsome face, the girls' faces turned redder and redder like ripe apples…
On the sideline Di Matteo held his head in both hands, eyes full of exclamation marks. He felt Xia Qi's goal was heaven's way of telling him he might get sacked.
His assistant wore a look of total disbelief.
"W-what… what do we do? Adjust tactics??"
Di Matteo tugged at his stubbled chin, bewildered. In principle they should adjust — you can't let Xia Qi keep being inhuman — but how? He was lost.
Chelsea's morale was low. That Xia Qi was not being human!
First he ran rampant in the box, then after being cheated, he still scored a divine goal.
Especially Terry, the assister — he didn't even dare meet Čech's eyes. Hindsight made him wish he'd let Xia Qi shoot directly.
If Xia Qi had shot directly, Čech might have saved it.
Play continued.
Although Arsenal led 1–2, Chelsea didn't scramble for an immediate response.
They methodically played out possession in their half.
Arsenal, with a one-goal lead, didn't immediately press forward either.
Di Matteo and Arsène Wenger watched for a while, then each returned to their benches.
Just as they sat, Chelsea launched a swift counterattack.
Ashley Cole dribbled down the flank but was intercepted by Mikel Arteta near the center circle, who passed to Eden Hazard.
Hazard's shuffle stepped through; Santi Cazorla called Arteta back to defend and moved forward to mark Hazard.
Hazard pushed the ball with the outside of his right foot, a series of quick shuffles inching toward Cazorla.
When they were only a step apart, Hazard feinted with an upper-body shimmy and a left-foot flick that seemingly telegraphed a left breakthrough!
Cazorla moved right.
He'd been fooled.
In a flash Hazard shifted the ball to his right foot.
Forward a step, across the pitch with acceleration,
he reached the edge of the Arsenal box.
Facing Samuel Umtiti, Hazard suddenly nudged the ball to the right to create space and struck.
Umtiti immediately planted both hands behind his back to block the shot.
Fans and both managers held their breath, eyes wide, not wanting to miss a frame.
But it was a fake shot and a real pass!
Hazard threaded the ball into the center of the box.
Almost forgotten Fernando Torres darted like a rabbit, arrowing for the ball.
Per Mertesacker, thinking Hazard would shoot, diverted his attention for a moment.
Torres slipped out of his marking zone.
He shouted: "Watch out!"
Someone chased after Torres from behind.
Watch out!
Martínez knew to be careful, but Torres' poke from the penalty spot was too quick.
The ball brushed the inside of the post and slid into the net.
In the 42nd minute, the ailing-looking Chelsea suddenly produced a decisive counterattack.
They equalized.
2–2!
"Torres shot!"
"Goal!"
"Tonight's match just got interesting. Both teams have bounced back from deficits: Arsenal fell behind, Xia Qi tore through Chelsea's box to equalize, then Balotelli scored a historic goal to take the lead, but Chelsea countered — two top strikers in sync — Torres levels it 2–2!"
Torres sank and slid on his knees after scoring, arms raised — a signature celebration.
Emma Roberts in the VIP box scoffed: "Not as commanding as Xia Qi's three-stripe move!"
"Darling, how did Xia Qi carve three stripes? He didn't really use anything, did he?"
Emma Watson: "I regret bringing you to the match."
"Don't. We're friends…"
"…"
Di Matteo clenched his fists and stormed out of the coaching area, grabbing plenty of camera time.
Stamford Bridge reclaimed its true masters; Chelsea fans reoccupied the stadium with cheers and songs.
A small hardcore group chanted: "Arsenal! For fourth you're strong, for the title you drop the ball!"
Honestly, it hurt!
The Arsenal players' faces changed drastically.
Arsenal hadn't won a trophy in eight years. This season they'd been winter champions and were the closest to the title in years.
Chelsea fans had pressed Arsenal's sore spot!
Even the ever-patient Arsène Wenger grew serious.
After Chelsea's players returned from celebrating,
the two teams continued to play fast and fierce, and by halftime the score remained unchanged.
The first half ended 2–2. They went into the second half.
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Bankai10