Cheating Craft - Chapter 36.2

Quiz 36: Fierce Battle Between Fire And Wind (2/2)

In that instant, the Vacuum Whip suddenly leapt up into the air!　　

It was time!

Meng Ming had looked for this exact opportunity. New Zhuge Style Cheating Technique—Small Flaming Arrow!

While the Vacuum Whip was soaring in the air, Meng Ming shot out eight Flaming Arrows in succession towards the spots that the eight red threads were wrapped around! Seeing this, Zhou Lun Yu immediately recalled the method he’d prepared to defend against the Flaming Arrows—he simultaneously loosened the tips of all eight threads, letting them slip underneath the Small Flaming Arrows’ targets. That way, the flames wouldn’t be able to burn them! —You want to take advantage of when I’m on the offensive to ambush me? Did you really think that would be of any use?!

Meng Ming had also sensed Zhou Lun Yu’s movements. He wants to wrap the red threads around again after the Flaming Arrows fall? I had long since anticipated that you would do this!Meng Ming still had a weapon hidden in his hands. Now that the strings are loosened, let’s see how you evade this! New Zhuge Style Cheating Technique—Small Blazewind Disk!

Eight burning flying disks also flew out in every direction before the Flaming Arrows had even reached their targets. The eight red threads that had just been loosened were also unable to evade, resulting in them all being burned apart by the flames that were on the Small Blazewind Disks.

Success!

The eight red threads were all severed by the flames, and were no longer able to transmit any information! Zhou Lun Yu’s attack had been too abrupt, and was completely unable to defend against Meng Ming’s counter.

Awesome! Now I just need to block that whip of his… Meng Ming shifted his concentration towards the Vacuum Whip, but to his surprise, it had stopped attacking. It was as if it had completely disappeared.

Mn? What’s going on…?　　

Zhou Lun Yu had actually withdrawn midway?　　

Was it because Zhou Lun Yu had realized he was being too impulsive, and so he wanted to quickly calm himself down? Or maybe…　　

It was very strange.　　

Zhou Lun Yu lowered his head, and didn’t make any more movements. It was to the point where he didn’t even bother glancing at Meng Ming anymore.　　

Just like that, 20 minutes had already passed.

What is Zhou Lun Yu doing, did he give up? Meng Ming felt that there was no way Zhou Lun Yu would give up so easily…or was he preparing to pull some kind of secret plot?

Within these 20 minutes, Meng Ming had already copied nearly 30 answers. With the addition of the hearing portion, he’d finished a total of half the test paper. On the other hand, Zhou Lun Yu sat there with his head lowered. He had not written a single word, nor had he cast out any new threads!　　

That’s right, without knowing the order of the questions, Zhou Lun Yu has already lost his chance. Meng Ming was certain about this. With Zhou Lun Yu’s head lowered the whole time, it was impossible to detect his expression. Meng Ming kept feeling like Zhou Lun Yu must be secretly planning something.　　

Time continued to slowly trickle by. The examinees’ pencils also gradually began to sprint towards the end of the exam. Meng Ming’s pencil was the same, but he never lowered his guard in the slightest against Zhou Lun Yu.　

After the eight threads had been destroyed, Zhou Lun Yu hadn’t made any other writing movements. No other conflict occurred between the two! This felt like the calm before the storm.

The closer I get to the ending, the more alert I have to be. Meng Ming kept his consciousness taut, and maintained it there for over an hour. This was all for the sake of a complete victory in this exam!　　

Provided that this exam ended without incident, Zhou Lun Yu would fall behind Meng Ming by many points. Even if he placed his hopes on the final test, Zhou Lun Yu wouldn’t be able to get anywhere despite how much he tried if Meng Ming prepared defensive measures for everything.

The exam was ending soon, and the Blazing Wall slowly grew weaker.　　

There are still…15 minutes! Meng Ming had already finished writing all of the answers; all of the other students were waiting to hand in their tests as well. However, Meng Ming knew that he couldn’t, under any circumstances, get careless. He firmly gripped his scantron, and glanced at Zhou Lun Yu from time to time.　　

Zhou Lun Yu still hadn’t made any movements at all, and had yet to even look at Meng Ming!　　

Time was almost up. The students all began to organize their scantrons, preparing to hand in their tests. It looked like aside from the hearing portion, this English exam hadn’t been difficult. The proctoring old man was also influenced by the atmosphere, and he checked the clock before completely falling back into his chair.

There were still 5 minutes left; the Blazing Wall on Meng Ming’s desk had just burnt out.　　

Isn’t it a bit early…?! Meng Ming became more alert.　　

As expected, Zhou Lun Yu slowly lifted his head under Meng Ming’s constant watch.

Meng Ming tightly gripped his scantron with both hands, watching Zhou Lun Yu’s every single action. He knew that he needed to defend.　　

Zhou Lun Yu’s movements were neither slow nor fast. His hands were already wrapped with many red threads that he had prepared ahead of time, and he wanted to execute his one final attack at this moment! Zhou Lun Yu ascertained: Hmph, no matter how you defend this attack, it’ll be useless! —This was Zhou Lun Yu’s last war challenge for this exam. As expected, he had been preparing this whole time to make his final move at the most appropriate instant!

He was currently holding almost all of the red threads that he had brought with him! They were all tightly gripped in his right hand. I originally didn’t need so many threads, but this final move has to be successful no matter what!

In an instant, Zhou Lun Yu cast out a huge wave of strings! —Alternate Dimension, Chains!

Spirals upon spirals of red threads fiercely shot towards Meng Ming’s chest. For the sake of properly protecting his scantron, both of Meng Ming’s hands were tightly holding it! With so many red threads, even the test paper wouldn’t be enough to block them all. Meng Ming’s hands flashed to dodge, but the desk’s surrounding area had limited space for movement. He couldn’t make any large-scale actions, especially turning around! The scantron evaded the attack, but the large mass of red threads instantly wrapped around Meng Ming’s right hand as some more attacked his left. Meng Ming wanted to grab his blade, but he was a step too slow! Although the ropes were thick, they were also extremely nimble. They quickly knocked the blade aside, wrapping around Meng Ming’s outstretched left hand. Zhou Lun Yu yanked the fingers gripping the strings, and all of them instantly pulled backwards, firmly locking Meng Ming’s hands in place!

Zhou Lun Yu, he can’t be about to… Meng Ming’s hands were tightly pressed together, holding the scantron like it was his own life as he tried to throw the strings off.

You think you have the time to struggle free? Although the scantron was between Meng Ming’s fingers, Zhou Lun Yu was going to seize it!

One string, just one very thin red thread, stretched out from Zhou Lun Yu’s left hand.

So it was…! Meng Ming hurriedly tried to escape the strings. His hands hadn’t yet freed themselves to the point where he could properly protect his scantron. No wonder he didn’t destroy my scantron, it turns out that…

He was going to steal it!

In the final moment, Zhou Lun Yu’s offensive strength was as explosive as a volcano. If the scantron was stolen away, the situation would be completely reversed!

No…that definitely can’t happen! Meng Ming couldn’t let Zhou Lu Yu prevail. However, his hands were currently unable to make any major movements.

Meng Ming still hadn’t thought of any way to deal with the red thread that had already reached him!

…At the very least, I have to secure my scantron! Meng Ming hurriedly made his decision in that critical moment. This was his final concession!

He acted again—Water Splitting Blade Draw.

The scantron was split into two halves! One half was flung to Meng Ming’s left, the other to his right.

This made it impossible for Zhou Lun Yu to obtain both at the same time!　　

Zhou Lun Yu’s hands moved in the shape of a hook, and the red threads swept the front half of the scantron away. Because the trajectory wasn’t ideal, the back half could only be let go.

Meng Ming finally disentangled himself from the threads, and firmly stepped on those annoying threads. He hurriedly picked up the reverse side of the scantron—it was completely blank. Good thing the back still has the grooves of the answers from the front.　　

Zhou Lun Yu had used up all of his red threads, but he still happily accepted the gift from Meng Ming. He had originally planned on whisking away the entire scantron; he hadn’t expected Meng Ming to spontaneously split the scantron into two.　　

This time, both of them had complete answers.　

In the last 5 minutes, Zhou Lun Yu only changed the student number and name on the scantron. Meng Ming diligently refilled all 100 answers, as well as his student number, on the reverse side according to the indents left behind previously.　　

In the end, both of them each handed in half a scantron.

　　……

The answers were identical, so this time, both of them had gotten the same score?!　　

“Scary…”

The exam had ended. As Meng Ming tidied up the fragments of the destroyed test paper, he looked at the dispersing students and gave a long sigh. “Such a tenacious move…it was completely impossible to defend against it. Exactly how great is Zhou Lun Yu’s strength…”

Huang Qiao Yi put on her backpack and walked over, saying in a soft voice, “Brother Meng Ming, the new question type this time…”　　

“Oh! Little Qiao, listen to this!” Meng Ming suddenly remembered that he’d actually been able to do that kind of question, and found it extremely unfathomable, “I could do all those listening questions! This time…”　　

Meng Ming’s thoughts suddenly shifted as he felt that something wasn’t quite right. Even if he was able to do them himself, Zhou Lun Yu had still stolen his answers in the end. Meng Ming hadn’t gained anything at all.　　

“Meng Ming could do them?” Bai Jiu’s voice came from behind.　　

Ah…she hasn’t left yet? [Meng Ming]　　

“So amazing…” Bai Jiu sighed in praise. “Actually, I’ve done these kinds of questions before, yet there were still many I wasn’t able to do.”　　

“Aiya.” Meng Ming hurriedly explained, “Not really, it was just a coincidence…”　　

Huang Qiao Yi quickly interjected, “As if it was a coincidence. If you can do it, you can do it…I wanted to tell this to you guys earlier, but I actually saw some news a few days ago that the English portion on the college entrance exam will go back to using these listening-type tests.”　　

“AHHHH?!”

Despite her soft voice, all of the examinees that hadn’t yet left had heard it!　　

“What? The college entrance exam has this new question-type?!”

“Not good, I need to hurry up and find some resources…”

“I definitely failed this time…I have to properly study this question-type!”

　　……　　

“So it was like this, no wonder the school gave this kind of question. In that case, I should go and properly practice listening as well. Um…” Bai Jiu didn’t say much more, and just lifted her bag and stood up to leave. “Tomorrow’s exam is physics, right? That’s a pretty hard subject for me, so I’m going to go and prepare for it now.”　　

After watching her leave, Meng Ming opened his mouth to ask Huang Qiao Yi, “How do you think you did this time?”　　

Huang Qiao Yi started, wordlessly staring at Meng Ming.　　

“Hm? What’s wrong?” Meng Ming looked at her, unsure of why she looked so shocked.

“Ah…it’s nothing much. Just…” Huang Qiao Yi said in a baffled tone, “Brother Meng Ming has never asked me how I did before. This is the first time, so…”

Oh right! Meng Ming had just realized what he’d unconsciously blurted out just now.　　

“It looks like Brother Meng Ming is assimilating more and more into the student circle!” Huang Qiao Yi laughed.