Cheating Craft Chapter 46

Quiz 46: Forest Square

The second day finally came. As planned, the four from Lin Xian arrived once more at Qing Xin Central High at the arranged time. The weather was amazing and there was plenty of sunlight; however, they hadn’t expected that the school gates would open and a tide of people would surge out.　　

“Strange…today should be the second year cla.s.ses. Why are there so many people?” Huang Qiao Yi found it odd to see wave after wave of students enter the school. When listening to the voices, it seemed like they were all discussing the same thing—

“Third-year Sean is going to partic.i.p.ate in another compet.i.tion today! It seems to be with someone from another school.”

“Yeah! I also heard about that. It’s rare to see a duel with another school, so I decided yesterday that I just had to come watch!”

“What, you go and watch every duel that happens…”

“Isn’t Sean the strongest at chemistry in our school? If he loses, he’ll lose so much face.”

“Hey! Don’t talk nonsense. How could Sean lose! He’s someone that’s defeated me before!”　　

The whole school knew! Every student from each grade that was interested in this subject had come to watch the battle.　　

“So…so many students came to watch…?” Huang Qiao Yi began to feel nervous for their Lin Xian group. In this kind of academic atmosphere, everyone would immediately learn of even a single breeze moving a blade of gra.s.s.

“Hmph, isn’t that great? We can publicly announce the matter to everyone,” Zhou Lun Yu said.　　

They pa.s.sed through the crowd to walk towards the arranged location. It was behind Qing Xin Central High—the forest square. Its size wasn’t small, and there were quite a few spectating students leaning against the three walls and one side of the forest. There were also students sticking their heads out from cla.s.sroom windows. There was a lone large, old tree in the center. Here, two large lab tables had been set up facing each other about 5 or 6 meters apart. The tables didn’t have anything on them, and there was a tall chair next to each one. The female chemistry teacher from yesterday was already sitting at a simple and crude referee seat that had been set up last minute. There was a large utensil cabinet next to her.

Sean had come particularly early today, and was already sitting down on the chair in his white lab coat. When he saw them come over, he waved in greeting. The surrounding students saw Sean’s movement, and immediately looked over in their direction, giving rise to a clamor.

Is this…welcoming the entering contestants… The four of them were at loss.

It’s a shame, but our contestant didn’t come. We didn’t come here for a compet.i.tion.　　

They walked up to Sean, who asked them, “Hm? Which one is the person you talked about?”　　

After the entire place had quieted down, Meng Ming replied, “He didn’t come.”　　

“Didn’t come? But you guys said that this person was stronger than me, and would definitely come, no? Everyone heard this, and specially designed this venue to wait for this person,” Sean asked.　　

“Speaking of venue, you guys can indeed set up gathering places very well.” Meng Ming felt that this was the perfect chance. His expression suddenly changed and he loudly declared to all the students, “It’s you who sealed off the opposite bank of Scarlet Dragon Pool! You made it impossible for Qiao Shun Zhi to retrieve medicine for curing his illness!”　　

　　……！

The effect of this sentence was exactly as intended!　　

The loud square immediately turned silent after everyone heard this sentence. This made Sean freeze. He hadn’t imagined that these people had actually come due to Qiao Shun Zhi’s matter!　　

The spectating students didn’t really understand the meaning behind these words.　　

“Hey, did you hear what he said just now?”

“Something about sealing off Scarlet Dragon Pool…?”　　

Sean laughed, “Haha! What are you saying, I sealed off Scarlet Dragon Pool? You must be joking.”　　

“I’m not joking,” Meng Ming said. “You made the two fake dragon eyes there, deceiving all the residents. This made everyone believe the legend to be true, thus not daring to retrieve medicinal plants there. After all this time, Qiao Shun Zhi’s illness still hasn’t been cured!”　　

“What exactly are you saying? It looks like you didn’t just eavesdrop, but are also trying to slander me!” Sean said. “Do you have any evidence for these things you claim I’ve done?!”　　

Meng Ming tossed out a ripped piece of cloth.　　

“Hm?” Sean looked at it. “Haha, are you trying to say that this towel is mine?”　　

“No,” Meng Ming pointed at one of the spectators behind Sean. “It’s his.”　

Sean looked back. He hadn’t imagined that the person Meng Ming was pointing to was his own younger brother standing amidst the crowd, Thomas.　　

“Your brother appeared at Scarlet Dragon Pool two nights ago! If you don’t want to confirm or deny it…then ask your brother to take out all of his uniforms!” Meng Ming pointed at the torn cloth.　　

Sean was silent for a while.　　

“Okay…” He said. “Then let’s just a.s.sume this is his clothing. What does that prove? That dragon isn’t some kind of legend, everyone’s seen it. It isn’t fake…”　　

“It’s fake.”　　

Meng Ming’s answers were so fluent and fast that Sean felt as if he was being choked. Compared to yesterday, the two sides’ positions had suddenly changed!　　

“You…what do you want to say…” Sean coldly shouted. “You’re saying that it’s a fake dragon? You all look like strangers, have you even come here before? Scarlet Dragon Pool is a terrifying lake, how could it be fake!”　　

Meng Ming slowly moved his face to speak to Sean, “You guys used tools, things that are just as interesting.”　　

“Tools? What tools are amazing enough to turn into a dragon and fly back and forth?”　　

“There’s no such dragon at all, just those two blurry red glows in the mist. The tools may be able to deceive others, but it definitely cannot trick me!” Meng Ming shouted, anger showing in his voice. “That tool is something that belongs to the Zhuge Style Cheating Technique!”　

“Cheating? What?”　　

Meng Ming said, “The two red eyes floating around were actually invented by Zhuge Kong Ming. It’s the life-saving talisman he made when he’d been trapped in Pingyang—Kong Ming Light!”

“Oi…what exactly are they talking about?”

“There’s still 2 minutes left until 10. Exactly what is the compet.i.tion topic?!”

The surrounding people began to talk loudly, while the main subjects were still confronting each other. Sean had been pushed down by Meng Ming’s imposing manner, and his body had begun to tremble.　

“It’s best if you guys just hurry up and confess,” Meng Ming said. “This is clearly a type of criminal activity, harming a person by making him ill for a long time and unable to go outside.”　　

“…” The white-clad Sean scanned the crowds of people currently watching them. Although the crucial point had been struck, he would never willingly concede to anything. Sean thought, he clearly still had incriminating evidence against these people in front of him, so there was absolutely no need to have any mercy!

“You guys!” He loudly announced. “Don’t forget, we said before that someone would come and duel with me! If this doesn’t happen, I’m sure you guys know well what the results will be!”　　

“Everything you guys have done will be completely made public, what will the aftermath to that be?” Meng Ming continued to pressure Sean.　　

Just then, 10am arrived. The surrounding students began to shout—

“Sean, good luck! I support you!”

“Don’t lose to a person from another school!”

“Stop the small talk, hurry up and start. Let us witness your brilliant experiments!”　　

“Eh….?”

Hearing this, Sean, who’d originally been anxious, began to calm down. He discovered that the situation wasn’t really as Meng Ming had described.　　

“Hah…haha, you guys can publicize it as much as you’d like. Look at these students,” Sean finally came back to his senses and realized that he was actually standing on the lab floor. As long as he was there, he’d always have someone supporting him! “Grades are paramount in school! Only those with good grades have the qualification to speak! So what if you publicize something, there’s no way these students would believe you!”

Sean realized that he actually had a huge advantage. He hadn’t been confused by Meng Ming!　　

“Ah…” Meng Ming looked around to see that he was surrounded by Sean’s supporters cheering him on. Even the teacher sitting at the referee seat felt disdain beyond contempt towards Meng Ming’s group.

I hadn’t thought that these people would actually help him! Meng Ming felt that the turn of events was far from encouraging.

What do we do! Sean isn’t willing to admit it. At this rate…

“If you don’t confess soon…you’ll end up suffering more,” Meng Ming threatened.　　

“What?” With so much support, Sean was somewhat unbridled. He knew that these people in front of him couldn’t actually do anything to him. He said, “You want me to suffer? Where’s the person you guys talked about, didn’t he not come?!”　　

Qiao Shun Zhi was clearly still on his sick bed!　　

“Then I’ll go now and tell the teacher that the person you’d mentioned didn’t come.” Sean clearly knew that the person they had talked about was Qiao Shun Zhi. “Oh, no, he’s sick. The duel probably cannot be conducted, huh.” After he finished speaking, he turned around, preparing to walk towards the referee seat.　

What, what does he plan on doing? Meng Ming thought: If both schools learn of our actions yesterday…

This won’t do, we need to quickly find Qiao Shun Zhi. Otherwise…! The others thought….

No. It doesn’t matter who it is. As long as they beat Sean, it’s fine!　　

“Wait a minute!” Meng Ming stopped him.　　

Sean turned around.

　　……

“It’s me, I came to compete against you!” Meng Ming loudly declared.　　

He wanted to compete in Qiao Shun Zhi’s place?!　　

“Meng Ming? You…”　　

“Brother Meng Ming…are you speaking the truth?!”　　

Since they hadn’t prepared for this, the two girls were extremely shocked at Meng Ming’s proposal. Meng Ming lowered his head and whispered to them, “Isn’t it just a compet.i.tion? It’s fine as long as I beat him. I just need to prove that he isn’t the strongest…”

Despite facing the crowds all around him, Meng Ming wasn’t anxious at all. He’d long since grown accustomed to such environments.　　

Sean said, “You? You’re spouting nonsense again. Didn’t the person you’d talked about before not come?”

Meng Ming didn’t pay any mind to this, and simply said, “Didn’t you say that only those with good grades had the qualifications to speak? As long as I defeat you, the students will all believe my words, right?”

“Stop trying to act brave,” Sean sneered. He knew that this group was actually comprised of laymen. “I’m sure you’re very clear about what will happen if I win. Despite this, you still want to go against me? Spare yourself from the effort…”

“You think I’m just acting brave?” Meng Ming strode up to the other lab table and picked up the prepared white lab coat. He confidently smiled at Sean and said, “No matter what, I can win. Or do you mean to say that you don’t dare to go against me anymore?”

Meng Ming obviously wasn’t just putting on a brave front. In the first place, the Zhuge Style Cheating Technique’s secrets lay in not being alarmed by any external changes. No matter if his opponent was a powerful L-type or C-type, Meng Ming was confident that he could win.　　

The students were all anxiously waiting to watch the compet.i.tion, so Sean couldn’t possibly reject the challenge.　　

“Hmph, very good.” Zhou Lun Yu was surprisingly very calm, and had remained silent the whole time. “There won’t be any objections this way.”

They had already decided to begin the contest. Zhou Lun Yu suddenly began to walk away—

“Where are you going?” Duan He hurriedly asked.　　

Zhou Lun Yu asked, “The original plan was to resolve this matter, and then go to Mt. Qing Xiu. Now, the plan has suddenly changed: Zhuge Meng Ming is competing. There’s no time to wait for them to finish the experiment, I must immediately go up to that pool!” After dropping this sentence, Zhou Lun Yu ran out the back gates and left the school.　

This was their last day in Qing Xin, so picking the medicinal plant was indeed a pressing matter. Zhou Lun Yu could only go now!　　

“Then let’s begin!” Sean turned around to face the spectators and shouted, “Thomas!”

Hearing this, Thomas walked up. Sean declared to everyone, “I choose my younger brother as my a.s.sistant, he’s a student of this school.” He then said to Meng Ming, “What about you? Among those two female students, who do you choose?”　　

Meng Ming slowly turned around and grumbled, “Why did Zhou Lun Yu leave so quickly…”

“Even if he was here, he wouldn’t be Brother Meng Ming’s a.s.sistant…” Huang Qiao Yi sighed, but her eyes were filled with antic.i.p.ation. She wanted to go up and help Meng Ming, but was quite afraid of the opponent. After all, the one they were facing was the person strongest at chemistry in Qing Xin!　　

“Zhou Lun Yu was willing to give up here and leave because he has confidence in you,” Duan He told Meng Ming. After seeing Huang Qiao Yi’s eager appearance, she said, “I’ve already been quite exhausted these past two days, so Little Qiao should come help you. I’ll go and help Zhou Lun Yu for a bit,” Duan He said as she walked towards the back gates. Without even glancing back at them, she followed in Zhou Lun Yu’s tracks and left.

Only Meng Ming and Huang Qiao Yi were left.　　

Huang Qiao Yi swallowed hard to strengthen her nerves. She gathered her courage and stood next to Meng Ming. Seeing that the two had finished preparing, Sean said, “Her? Alright. In short, you two are here in place of Qiao Shun Zhi, right? If I defeat you two, it means that I’m also better than Qiao Shun Zhi!”

The spectating students finally began to antic.i.p.ate the start of this contest. This feeling was like a boiling excitement that had formed from the frenzy. The female teacher sitting at the referee seat saw that they had finally finished negotiations, and each pair was standing properly at their lab table. The teacher immediately stood up, indicating that the compet.i.tion was just about to start.

The female teacher picked up a small megaphone next to the referee chair and announced to everyone present, “Although it was a bit delayed, it is now time to prepare for the compet.i.tion! Next, I will declare the subject of the match!”