Chapter 37

Zuko entered his contest of the seventeenth round against Yue with a completely different mindset. The talk with his uncle had really resonated with Zuko, and that heavy sensation in his chest, making him feel hopeless and weighed down under all the expectations, was gone. And Zuko knew that it wasn't just because his chances of winning the world title had all but dissipated. There was a very remote possibility of him winning the remaining four games and slipping ahead of the others to steal the title. So, the expectations should have still been there, weighing him down, but instead, Zuko had finally found the mindset he had always tried to reach, focusing on the immediate task at hand with nothing but positivity, while at the same time managing to stop his brain from engaging with the big picture.

Zuko expected Yue to come out and play aggressively against him. In the other contests of this round, Toph was facing Aang and she was bound to get a free win as Aang finished settling his old debts. It meant that Yue would need to win in order to keep pace with Toph. In another contest, Zhao was facing off against Piandao. Zhao was the favorite to win, but Zuko didn't see him as an overwhelming favorite. Piandao had recovered from his terrible start to the tournament, and he was unbeaten in the previous seven rounds, so Zuko was certain that Zhao was in for a hard slog. Toph stood a very good chance to claim sole leadership of the tournament after this round, which didn't sit well with Zuko.

As the matches of the seventeenth round began, Yue indeed tried to go on the attack, as Zuko had expected. Something felt a little off, though, and Zuko quickly became aware of unusual imperfections in Yue's selection of moves. Because Zuko had been focusing so hard on fixing his own terrible performance, he had not been following the trends in the play of his competitors. Still, when compared to their previous encounters, Zuko had a feeling that Yue was playing nervous and unsettled. Zuko figured that it was probably nerves from being this close to the title, a position that Yue had never been in before. She had played amazingly well the year when Katara had won the title, but she had never realistically been in a position to compete for the title herself. That had changed now, and perhaps Yue was wilting under the pressure. Her nervous performance in the game that was currently unfolding certainly seemed to suggest so.

Even if Zuko was not the best defensive player among the finalists, he experienced few difficulties in fending off Yue's attacks that lacked both proper preparation and precise execution. Since Yue's offense was proving to be a little toothless, Zuko didn't even wait until he had completely fended it off before launching his own counteroffensive. Zuko's invasion of Yue's left flank made her scramble, hastily transferring her attacking tiles to plug the suddenly appearing holes in her defensive structure. The hastily thrown together defensive lines held out for a little while, but soon gave in and Zuko's flower tiles overran Yue's position. It was on the thirty-eight move that Yue let out a heavy sigh and surrendered the contest.

"Sorry," Zuko smiled apologetically while shaking Yue's hand. It was not an empty apology. It was becoming increasingly clear that the tournament winner and the new world champion would come from one of the three current leaders, Yue, Toph or Zhao. And considering everything that had happened in the tournament thus far, Zuko's preference for the new world champion was leaning heavily towards Yue. Unfortunately, Zuko had just delivered a heavy blow to Yue's hopes, and as bad as he felt about that, Zuko was also pleased about his own near flawless performance. Besides, Zuko was done throwing games to his friends. There would be no more secret arrangements during his playing career, that much he had promised to himself.

"You don't have to apologize," Yue smiled serenely. "You played a wonderful game, while I was… not as focused as I needed to be, clearly."

"Yes, I could tell that you weren't playing relaxed," Zuko nodded in understanding. "Is the heavy burden of expectations getting to you?"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Yue laughed uneasily. "I think it was just a one off. I'm sure I'll be back to my best in the next round," Yue said, trying to project as much confidence as she could muster.

Considering everything that had happened since Yue's return to active competition, Zuko completely understood Yue wanting to put on a brave face and pretend that she was not suffering from nerves. But the very fact that Yue could not be honest with him now resonated with everything that he had discussed with Iroh two days ago. Here was a dear friend who couldn't be honest with him, but it was only because he, Aang and Toph had shut Yue out from the very start, and because of their attitude the Pai Sho rivalry between them was still affecting their friendship in a negative way. And Zuko had promised his uncle to focus on being the best person that he could be. Surely it meant that it was up to him to try and fix this.

"Listen, Yue," Zuko said suddenly, before Yue could turn to walk away. "I have something important to say to you. And to Azula and Katara as well. Would you care to hear me out?"

Yue looked very surprised at his words, at first not knowing how to react. "I mean… sure," she eventually managed. "Do you want to find Azula and Katara now?"

"I think it's a conversation that we should have in private," Zuko replied.

"We'll be returning to Kori's estate in a bit. You can join us. And Sokka too, it would be weird to leave him behind, right?" Yue asked.

"It would save time on explanations, certainly," Zuko smiled.

"Very well, in that case, let's go," Yue said, looking over at where Zhao and Piandao were busy locking horns. Toph had cashed in her free win over Aang almost an hour ago and those two had long since departed. "That game is destined to end in a draw, which I guess isn't the worst outcome for me."

"You're not out of it, trust me," Zuko said as they made their way to the press zone.

It took them almost an hour to escape the attention of the press and then make the short drive over to the estate of Kori Morishita where Azula, Katara and Yue had made their base in Yu Dao. Once back at the estate, Zuko could tell that the three women were very keen to hear what he had to say. Katara looked mostly curious as she sat in the loveseat next to Yue. Yue also appeared rather curious, but also worried, almost as if she expected Zuko to play some mind games and try to mess with her head. The very idea that Yue expected him to do something like that felt painful and reminded Zuko why he had to set things right. Azula's reaction was the most interesting, though. Zuko's sister appeared so nervous that she couldn't sit down, pacing around the room, time and again pouring herself more and more whiskey, which she downed at an alarming rate. Zuko wasn't entirely sure why Azula was so nervous, and he couldn't remember when he had last seen his sister struggling to keep it together. She was fidgeting the entire time and her hands looked to be trembling slightly.

"Can you spit it out already, Zuzu?" Azula finally snapped just as Zuko was about to speak up. "You're driving me insane with anticipation."

"I'm sorry, I did not intend to cause any stress with this," Zuko apologized. "I know you ran into uncle earlier-"

"I crashed into him in the hallway and we literally exchanged a couple of sentences," Azula said hurriedly. "Is this somehow about Iroh?"

"No, more like because of him," Zuko said, shaking his head. "He opened my eyes to some truths that really helped to set me straight, especially in regard to Pai Sho rivalries and friendships. And it made me realize how wrong we were to react to your comeback the way we did, Yue. We already had our agreement in place, that much is true, but we should have done something about that. I don't know what, but we shouldn't have shut you out the way we did."

"It was a little hurtful, yes," Yue admitted. "If I didn't have Azula and Katara always by my side, I think it would have really hurt. But I'm glad you realized that the way you acted wasn't right."

"Yes, I wanted to apologize about that," Zuko sighed. "To all three of you, but especially to you, Yue. I will never put my Pai Sho rivalries above my friendships again. From now on, I will play everyone I'm facing the way I played you today. That's how you three always treated your games, and I should have taken cues from that."

"I'm so glad to hear you say that, Zuko," Yue sniffed before starting to cry for real. "Of course, I accept your apology," Yue managed as she got up to embrace Zuko, a far more generous and kind response to the apology than Zuko had expected.

"Me too, obviously," Katara said, getting up from the loveseat and making theirs a group hug. "Better late than never. I knew you'd figure it out, Zuko."

"My husband can be a bit daft at times, but we all know that his heart is in the right place," Sokka chuckled as he joined in on the group hug. "Why aren't you joining in, Azula?" he asked, looking up at Azula who was still pacing nervously. "Don't tell me you're going to stay mad at Zuko for taking the rivalry a bit too far?"

"I was never that mad at Zuko considering that I had to break my promise to coach him after Yue announced her comeback," Azula sighed. "Anyway, it's not about that. I also have something to say to Zuko," she continued. Zuko and the others separated from their group hug as he gave Azula a curious stare. Worryingly, she was reluctant to meet his eyes, instead preferring to look down at her feet. "It's… something pretty bad. You're going be mad at me. Really mad."

"Okay… you're making me very anxious right now," Zuko gulped. After all these years of peace and happy sibling relationship, the thought of Azula doing something horrible that would renew their feud felt very painful, so Zuko desperately hoped that Azula was exaggerating, something that she was occasionally prone to doing. "Why don't you just relax and tell me what it's all about?" he asked.

"Relax," Azula laughed nervously. "Yeah, okay, let's get it over with. So, here's the truth of what happened with Toph turning on you. She probably wouldn't have done it if I hadn't egged her on."

"What?" Zuko blinked, feeling stupefied. His fists clenched involuntarily as the meaning of Azula's words registered in his brain. Immediately, everything seemed to make sense. Of course, Azula would do this to him. She would spot a moment when he was vulnerable, and she would use the opportunity to stab him in the back. This was just something that Azula did, she lied and she betrayed. He was such an idiot to assume that they could ever have a normal-

No, stop. That's not right, and you know it. Zuko flinched as some kind of internal voice shouted at him, snapping him out of his poisonous thoughts and stopping him from sinking back in the mire of all the toxic mistrust that had once governed their relationship. His sister was no longer that person, they both had changed. The evidence was right in front of him, in the very fact that Azula was confessing to have done something shitty in front of the entire family. This wasn't about ruining his life and his dreams. This was Azula doing too much for someone she loved, and that wasn't exactly surprising considering that she had a tendency to take loyalty too far.

"I know it was wrong, but I just couldn't stand by and watch Yue lose out because of that stupid agreement between you, Aang and Toph. So, I set out to ruin it," Azula said. "I convinced Toph that after you've won the title, you and Aang would both walk away from the agreement and leave her high and dry. And in case that didn't convince her to turn on you, I also played losing the estate card."

"What losing the estate card?" Zuko blinked in confusion.

"I guess she never told you or Aang about that," Azula continued. "Toph's family are set to lose their ancestral estate. Only the prize money from winning the finals could stop it from happening. That's why Toph was so easy to convince to turn on you."

"Well, that certainly explains Toph's actions so much more," Sokka remarked.

"Yes, although I wish she would have just told me and Aang about the estate," Zuko sighed. "It might have changed things. Seriously, I might have agreed to let her go for the title this year. Not that I support that arrangement, not anymore. So, in a way, I'm actually glad you broke it. We should have done that ourselves a long time ago, but we simply lacked the guts to do so."

"Stop being so forgiving, damn it!" Azula snapped. "You're supposed to be angry with me! You're just validating my terrible behavior and enabling me to pull this shit again and again."

"Please, don't," Yue spoke sternly, Katara nodding along in agreement. "Maybe Zuko doesn't want to be mad at you, but I certainly strongly disapprove of what you did. Never do anything like that again, especially not on my behalf."

"Or mine," Katara added.

"Yes, and I was just saying that you were right to break the agreement. I wasn't talking about going behind my back," Zuko said. "That was a shitty thing to do, and I had hoped we were both past it. That you fell back into your old behavior is just… really disappointing."

Azula looked rather stricken at his words, like she wasn't far from tearing up. "Good, I'm glad you agree that I have been acting like a total bitch. I wouldn't want you to be forgiving of me doing something like this behind your back," Azula managed, clearly fighting the emotions rippling under the surface.

"I'm not happy, but I also understand why you did it and what drove you, so I'm… willing to forgive," Zuko said, watching a tiny hint of relief creep into Azula's expression. "I'm glad that you're already castigating yourself over this. I think that's a good sign. But most importantly, I really don't want to hold on to my anger at you, especially when I'm trying to turn the page on my own less than stellar recent behavior. So, why don't we both do the same, turn the page and bury the hatchet?"

"Gladly," Azula smiled, looking much happier. "And I think you'll be pleased about the decision I've made to rectify my bad behavior. I know you were looking forward to working with me during this cycle, but for obvious reasons, it wasn't a promise I could keep. But I want to make another promise that I will keep, which is why I'm making it here, in front of everyone. I'm going to help you out in the next cycle, Zuzu. We'll make a world champion out of you yet."

"That's… that would be really great," Zuko managed, feeling a little overwhelmed. Yue and Katara were looking at Azula and nodding approvingly at her pronouncement. "But wouldn't you rather wait until the end of the finals? What if Yue doesn't-"

"We're not even entertaining that possibility," Azula firmly cut him off. "We have already decided that Yue is winning the title this year. Aren't you, love?" she asked, looking at Yue.

"I was feeling a little down after my loss to Zuko and everything else that was going on, but this conversation… wow, this was so needed," Yue said, brimming with happiness and excitement. "We just fixed our friendship, didn't we?" she added, walking up to Zuko and hugging him again. "I wanted this so much. It's going to give me all the strength and positivity that I need for this final stretch. I still want to fix things with Toph, but I suppose that can wait until after the tournament."

"I have my own ideas on how to sort everything out with Toph, but you're right that it can wait until later," Azula agreed.

"I think considering the way Toph has been acting, it would be more fitting if we made up after you have finished ahead of her, love," Katara said, looking at Yue.

"Very true," Zuko smiled thinly. "I also want to fix things with Toph, but that doesn't mean I can't inflict a little payback on her first. I'm facing her next round. Yue, I know that you could really do with Toph losing some points. I feel quite confident of being able to help with that…"

Sitting down for her game of the eighteenth round against Piandao, Yue was brimming with confidence and overflowing with positive emotions. The emotional heart to heart between her, Azula, Katara and Zuko had done wonders in clearing most of the negativity that had been bringing her mood down and it allowed Yue to refocus fully on her Pai Sho. Even if their friendship with Toph was still damaged, now that Zuko had seen the light, Yue felt confident that Toph would eventually do the right thing, starting with an apology and expressing an earnest desire to fix things. Apologizing was not something that Toph was good at, but Yue felt certain that Toph wouldn't want to end up completely ostracized by their group of friends, and besides, Yue suspected that by now Toph was finally starting to admit to herself that she was in the wrong.

This surge of positivity was the main reason why Yue entered her contest against Piandao full of confidence. The thought that Piandao had not lost a single game for eight rounds in a row did not frighten Yue, not when she was on such an emotional high. The only danger for Yue was in allowing this emotional high to get her carried away, but being cognizant of this risk meant that Yue managed to rein her emotions in just enough as soon as the contest began.

Piandao was someone who never played well when he was cast in the role of the tournament favorite. As the defending champion, it was natural for everyone to designate him as the man to beat. As a result, Piandao had crumpled under this pressure and gotten off to an appalling start, badly damaging his hopes of retaining the title in the first few rounds of the tournament. Ever so slowly, Piandao had improved his performance, gaining on the tournament leaders, but crawling out of such a deep hole was proving difficult. Even with his impressive streak of avoiding losses, Piandao was still two points behind Toph, and with three rounds to play he needed a miracle to retain his title. In this round, that meant defeating Yue and hoping that the other results went his way, starting with Zuko defeating Toph and Aang getting something from Zhao.

Piandao certainly got off to a quick start, trying to gain immediate initiative and appearing ready to sacrifice tiles for it. Piandao was a very wise campaigner, and he was well advised by Jeong-Jeong in this tournament. Between the two wily veterans, they had surely noticed that Yue was playing nervous and scared in the past three rounds after Toph had managed to disrupt her mental preparations. What Piandao and Jeong-Jeong couldn't have known, however, that Yue had since regained her positive mindset and was in no mood to surrender initiative. She was brimming with positive energy and she wanted to find an outlet for her suddenly surging creativity and inspiration. In short, Yue wanted to be the one attacking and dictating the events on the Pai Sho board. Piandao's sacrifices ended up rebuffed, with Yue refusing to let him take the initiative, as she quickly began to put her own offensive plans into action.

Yue's positive and controlled aggression clearly took Piandao by surprise, and the defending champion soon found himself on the backfoot. It was clear that Piandao had entered the contest with offensive strategies in mind, and now that he had to readjust on the fly, the aging grandmaster was struggling, appearing to lack the flexibility necessary to course correct. Of course, Piandao still possessed an impressive amount of experience, so Yue didn't have it all her own way and she still had to be very careful in pressing her advantage home. Despite the temptation to end the match early and preserve more strength, Yue remained methodical and ruthless in her approach as she slowly dismantled her opponent's position.

Yue did not have a flashy coup de grace readied, no spectacular combination to dazzle the Pai Sho enthusiasts with. Instead, she gradually forced Piandao down onto his knees where on the fifty fourth move he finally announced his submission and admitted defeat. Yue could see that the old grandmaster was very disappointed by the outcome, as this result made it clear that he wouldn't be able to defend his title. Still, despite his disappointment, Piandao was as gallant and cultured as ever as he complimented Yue on her impressive return to form. Yue made sure to respond with a flattering comment of her own, thanking the three times world champion for his kind words.

Her brilliant victory over Piandao was not the end of the good news for Yue. Aang had finally shaped up and found enough motivation to do his friends a big favor by holding Zhao to a draw. And in the most eagerly anticipated contest of this round, Zuko was currently tearing down Toph's last remaining bastions of defense before putting her to the sword. Yue stayed behind long enough to witness Toph's failure to evade the inevitable. Toph stubbornly tried to cling on for as long as she could, but in the end, she simply ran out of tiles to throw at Zuko's relentless assault. As Zuko and Toph stiffly shook hands, Yue was already busy doing mental calculations on the tournament standings with two rounds left to go.

The tournament situation remained incredibly tense with Yue once again catching up to the leaders. Yue, Toph and Zhao were tied on the same number of points, with Zuko now just a single point behind and keeping his slim chances alive. As for Piandao, he had now joined Aang among those no longer running for the title. In the penultimate round two days later, Aang would fulfil his debt to Zuko by giving away another free win and it would bring Zuko even closer to the leaders. Toph was slated to face off against Piandao in a contest that was difficult to call. On one hand, Piandao's goose was cooked and he had nothing to play for. On the other hand, Toph's mental state was questionable as she was clearly struggling with the consequences of her actions, and having just suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Zuko.

But the main spectacle of the next round would be Yue's standoff against Zhao in a match between two of the leaders. Considering the stakes, Yue would have expected herself to feel nervous and nauseated when thinking about the upcoming contest, but she was so buoyed by her elated mood and great victory over Piandao, that she felt nothing but eager anticipation for the opportunity to deliver a decisive knockout to her loathed opponent. Indeed, the loser of this game between her and Zhao would be kissing their chances of becoming a world champion goodbye, but in her current state of mind, Yue was not even entertaining the possibility of failure. All she saw was the opportunity to place herself firmly in the driving seat for the title, while at the same time dealing a decisive blow to Zhao's aspirations.

"That was impressive," Zuko said, falling into step with her as they made their way off the stage. "I couldn't afford to become distracted, but from what little I caught of your game, it seemed like you didn't give Piandao even the slightest look in."

"Right back at you," Yue grinned at Zuko. "Seems like your game was much the same. Well done. I really needed the assist. At least now we're back to square one."

"It was my pleasure," Zuko smiled.

"Yeah, I bet it was," Toph interrupted them, walking a little behind and looking rather upset. "I hope you feel good about excluding me and treating me like some kind of a villain."

"Well, Toph, it didn't feel very nice to be excluded from your little group with Aang and Zuko," Yue replied. She earnestly didn't want to rub Toph's nose in it, but Toph was kind of asking for it, and Yue also felt that it was a fair point to make.

"Looking back, I can't believe we didn't realize how shitty that must have looked and felt," Zuko sighed. "And I can't believe that we treated you not giving us a timely heads up about your comeback as a justification to act shitty. I don't think I've ever properly apologized about that part, so… I'm really sorry, Yue."

"It's okay, Zuko. I'm not going to hold it against you," Yue smiled. Toph looked like she wanted to say something, but then she turned away at the last moment with a stubborn expression on her face.

"Why did you never tell us the truth about losing your family estate, Toph?" Zuko turned towards their stubborn friend.

"Because it's embarrassing, okay?" Toph scoffed. "You know I hate to admit that there's something I can't handle, right? Besides, would it have really changed anything? You were ahead of me at the halfway mark. I doubt you would have just stepped aside for me because my family was dealing with this crisis."

"Why do you think that's such an unlikely scenario?" Zuko asked. "Do you really think I would place my ambitions above the needs of my friends?"

"Maybe?" Toph shrugged. "I know I would have been tempted to do just that. Maybe it makes me a shittier person than the rest of you because I assumed that you would be tempted to do the same."

"We could have at least talked about it," Zuko said. "But instead, you just… turned on me. We really let that arrangement poison our friendships, didn't we?"

"You know what didn't help?" Toph sighed. "Seeing how badly Aang wanted out of the arrangement. I was just so afraid that he wouldn't be able to deal with two more years of helping me become the world champion. And if you also had the title, I figured… well, I know it's going to sound pretty awful, but I thought you two would just walk out on me."

"I wouldn't have turned my back on you, Toph. At least… I don't think I would have," Zuko said, speaking with confidence at first, but then becoming more thoughtful. "Although, I can understand why seeing Aang struggle with his motivation made you afraid that we might bail."

"Yes, and then Azula told me the same thing, that you might abandon me," Toph said. "This isn't me trying to throw Azula under the bus, by the way," she added, turning towards Yue. "She just played on the fears that I was already struggling to handle. Anyway, I don't know how much this is going to change, but," she continued, turning back to face Zuko. "I'm sorry about the whole thing. You know, stabbing you in the back and all that. I shouldn't have done that."

"This is the first time I hear you apologizing for anything, Toph, so… yes, it does mean something," Zuko managed a small smile. "We're not completely fine just yet, but it's a start."

"Maybe you want to say something to me as well, Toph?" Yue asked.

"Oh great, you give an apology and now everybody wants one," Toph snorted, shaking her head.

"So, you don't think I deserve an apology for treating me like a rival and not at all like a friend?" Yue sighed, feeling a little exasperated at Toph's stubbornness.

"Sorry, but I just don't want to make you feel even better about yourself," Toph shrugged. "Remember, we're playing in the final round and our contest will probably decide the title. Niceties can wait until the title has been decided, and if I'll decide that I have something to apologize for, I'll do it then. Anyway, I'll see you two later," Toph added as she strode past Yue and Zuko, whistling an annoyingly cheerful tune.

"She is so frustrating," Yue groaned after Toph had rounded the corner. "But I can't be too mad at her. Even if I perhaps should be."

"She apologized to me. My mind is still reeling from the shock," Zuko admitted, looking impressed. "I mean, that's big for Toph. Really big."

"Don't you sometimes feel like we have placed the bar for Toph right on the ocean floor? I know that comments have been made about us doing that with Azula in the past, but I feel like we're even worse at that with Toph," Yue remarked. She still felt conflicted about Toph's behavior, but then again, that was exactly what Toph wanted, wasn't it? Being angry at Toph ahead of their game would be playing into Toph's hands, and Yue didn't want to fall into that trap.

"You know you're never going to get the kind of apology from Toph like you would get from Aang or Katara," Zuko shrugged. "Ultimately, it's up to each of us to decide whether that's enough and whether we think that Toph has learned anything from this incident. I feel like she has, so I'm in favor of moving on from this. With the caveat that I can remind her about acting like a total jerk until our memories start failing us at an old age."

"I suppose that's a good attitude about moving on," Yue agreed, already knowing that she most likely wouldn't be able to stay angry with Toph for too long, especially when winning the world championship would feel like the sweetest balm for all the bruises their relationship had suffered.

Zhao Sakamoto was for once feeling conflicted and indecisive as he pondered upon his options after the eighteenth round of play. With the way his competitors had undermined one another before tripping over their own feet, Zhao had expected himself to be further ahead in the tournament lead, perhaps even having secured the title. Instead, he found himself tied on points with Yue Taqqiq and Toph Beifong with two games to play. And they would not be easy contests to navigate, first against Yue, and lastly against Zuko Nakamura in the final round. Zhao was starting to feel as if some outside interference might be necessary after all, in case he wanted to make it absolutely sure that the title fell into his lap.

Perhaps it was time to call upon the services of Mongke, the thug he had summoned to Yu Dao for this very possibility. Arranging an accident for his rival would not come cheap, not with the rates Mongke demanded, but it would be so worth it in the end. And with Zhao starting to feel a little insecure about being able to win the tournament without some extra assistance, it felt like it was time to put Mongke and his men to work.

The only thing left for Zhao was to decide which one of his rivals to target. The choice had to be made because Zhao didn't want to risk arranging attacks on both of his main rivals. It would look far too suspicious and would be impossible to write off as just a random mugging. He had to decide whether to place a hit on Toph or Yue.

Zhao thought that Toph had been the more consistent player throughout the tournament, and as such posed the greater threat. However, Zhao had already played all of his games against Toph, whereas he still had to face Yue one more time. Yue having a nasty accident just prior to their contest would hand Zhao an easy win, so it would be very beneficial. Also, it was likely that an attack on Yue would also disrupt Toph Beifong, just like it had done when Joo Dee had shot Azula back in the Fire Fountain City. Furthermore, Zhao was not a fan of Azula. He wanted her to suffer, and hurting Yue would inflict plenty of pain on Azula. In the end, all of these factors made the choice an easy one for Zhao.

"You're still there, good," Zhao spoke on the phone, having dialed the number provided by Mongke. "It's time for you to make a move on Yue Taqqiq."