Uma Musume: From Being Knocked Ten Meters Away

Chapter 345 The Promise of the Japan Cup
Upon hearing the commentator shout out the name, the audience paused for a moment before erupting into a unified shout. Beifang Xuanju remained stunned for a long time before finally taking a deep breath.

The slightly salty sea breeze, carrying the salty taste of sweat, rushed into her nostrils, causing her to choke and cough a few times.

After catching her breath, she tried to stand up, but found that her legs were still trembling slightly uncontrollably. She could only kneel on the ground, panting, and look at the big screen.

The screen shows a frozen image of the finish line crossing, which, judging from the angle, was captured by a camera directly opposite the finish line.

She was on the inside, with long, light brown hair on the outside, and she would decide later.

This European racehorse, in the footage of her crossing the finish line, completely lacked the elegance and composure she had shown at the beginning.

Her curly hair was stuck together in strands by sweat, clinging to her forehead, temples, and cheeks.

His cheeks were completely flushed, his eyebrows were furrowed into a deep frown, his eyes were bloodshot and covered with a layer of scarlet, his jaw was clenched tightly, and the veins that were bulging could be seen faintly from his cheeks to his neck.

The veins on his temples are more prominent; even in a static photo, you can feel the throbbing of the blood vessels.

"Really...it looks awful, that expression..." Looking at Rong Houzhen's face, which seemed to be making a decision again, Beibu Xuanju thought to himself without thinking.

When she glanced at herself on the inside, she was suddenly filled with embarrassment.

She did cross the finish line first, but by a small margin; judging from the photos, she was only half a face ahead.

On that half-familiar face, the expression looked no better than before, even though they would decide later.

His cheeks were flushed, his eyebrows were furrowed, and his eyes, which were already bloodshot, looked as if he was about to devour someone.

The cheeks, neck, and temples also showed faintly visible blue veins resembling a spider web.

What made his face even uglier were his gleaming white teeth and wide-open mouth.

I've seen photos of people crossing the finish line before, but I don't recall ever seeing anyone, whether it was myself or my opponents, looking this bad, or with such a ferocious expression.

Moreover, upon closer inspection of the photo, some parts of my lips appear unusually bright red, not due to congestion, but rather like an injury or bite wound.

She paused for a moment, then tried to stand up again.

This time, she found that her strength had recovered somewhat. She stood up unsteadily, raised her hand and saw that her palm was full of mud and grass stems. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

"Well...it hurts..."

She gasped softly at the stinging pain in her lips. Looking at the back of her hand, she saw several red marks, indicating that her lips were indeed injured, or rather, that she had bitten them.

She unconsciously licked her lips, and then wanted to wipe them with the back of her hand, when she suddenly saw a hand reaching out from the side, holding a clean white handkerchief with a green clover printed on one corner.

She looked in surprise along the handkerchief and hand, and saw that it was the same person in the finish line photo, standing outside her, ready to decide later.

The opponent looked just like in the photo; his carefully styled curly hair was almost completely messed up before the match, with strands of hair damp with sweat sticking to his forehead and temples.

Her eyes churned with amazement and resentment, but even more so with admiration, a smile, and respect.

She was panting, just like herself, and with each breath, the silver ornaments on her ears and hair made a crisp, tinkling sound.

"Just wipe it."

Seeing the Northern Black Horse looking over, and noticing the surprise in her eyes, Ronghou, panting, curled the corners of his lips into a smile:
"I noticed something before he crossed the finish line; his lip was indeed bleeding?"

"Let's decide later" was spoken in English, which Beibu Xuanju didn't understand, but she easily understood what the other person meant from their posture.

"Ah, thank you... no, thank you, thank you."

Taking the handkerchief, he thanked her repeatedly in broken English. Beifang Xuanju wiped his lips, opened his mouth, and was about to say something when he was interrupted by a hoarse and surprised voice.

"Xiao Bei!"

Supporting each other, Ming Shenglei walked over. Bu Nao Zhengang looked exhausted, but her eyes shone with amazement. She exclaimed, her voice hoarse, "You're really something, Xiao Bei! In that state... you could still go for another push!"

"Huh? This..."

He subconsciously responded, clutching his handkerchief. Beibu Xuanju paused for a moment, then looked a little embarrassed.

She wasn't really sure what happened in the moments or seconds before crossing the finish line.

All she remembers is that she was completely exhausted at that time, moving her legs and swinging her arms mechanically, relying entirely on instinct.

From the moment they exited the gate, the aura that had been following them behind suddenly changed, becoming extremely sharp and even more oppressive.

However, to be more accurate, it was a different person.

After all, she remembered very clearly that California Shining was following behind her at the beginning, but she crossed the finish line with Rong Hou Zai Jue, which meant that the person crossing the finish line at the end must have been changed.

In short, under the sharp and unprecedented pressure, she crossed the finish line without even knowing what was happening, and won the race.

Before she could figure out how to explain it, thunderous applause also spoke up.

Her voice, though booming like thunder, was equally hoarse, and her earlobes trembled incessantly as she spoke:

"You were amazing, especially your final cross of the finish line... no, throughout the entire race, Xiao Bei, your performance was truly impressive."

"As expected of you, Xiao Bei."

"Haha, this..."

Upon hearing that it was the final sprint again, Northern Black Horse paused again, habitually scratching his head and grinning foolishly, "I don't really understand either..."

Before she could finish speaking, a golden figure suddenly entered her field of vision and swiftly embraced her.

"That was amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

Panting heavily, California Shining's voice was barely audible: "Indeed, choosing to run this race with you was the right decision!"

"I never expected that the race against Nippon Yama Musume would be so interesting, so..."

Just as suddenly as she arrived, she cheerfully released the Northern Black Steed, took a step back, and a look of seriousness and fighting spirit appeared in her eyes. Her tone also turned serious as she said:

"You guys should have a Japan Cup match, right?"
"I remember that match was open to international participants, so I could go too."

"It's decided! Shimo and I will go back and discuss it with the trainer. We... want to participate in this year's Japan Cup!"

Upon hearing this, Northern Black Horse did not understand, only vaguely remembering the "Kapu" mentioned by California Shining.

Unyielding Steel and Thunderous Roar heard it clearly. They were both stunned, looked at each other, and saw the surprise in each other's eyes.

Just then, Shuangjiang's voice, both amused and exasperated, came from behind:
"Hey, how come you're making decisions on my own again? Forget about this tournament, the Japan Cup... that's an international grass court G1, are you sure?"

"Aren't you interested?"

California Shining looked at Frostfall and asked instead of answering, "Or are you going to just let it go after losing to Blake?"

Shuangjiang paused for a moment, then smiled without saying a word. Her eyes, which were gradually filled with fighting spirit, slowly turned to the Northern Black Steed.

"That sounds...very interesting."

She hadn't spoken until now, but gradually regaining her elegant demeanor, she slowly smoothed out the wrinkles on her clothes, a meaningful smile curving her lips:

"The Japan Cup? It just so happens to be the G1 tournament on grass..."

(End of this chapter)