Cheating Craft - Chapter 63

Quiz 63: Discussion at Night

The first test of the final examinations ended with that strange gong sound. It was now 5 pm. After handing in their papers, the students all dispersed from the site.　　

“Fortunately, Jin Nai Nai is fine.” Meng Ming let out a breath of relief. In the end, Kui Yuan’s C-types hadn’t done anything. Meng Ming and Zhou Lun Yu had both finished their test papers as well.　　

Even after the test had finished, Zhou Lun Yu still felt somewhat anxious. He remained sitting at his desk for a long time without standing up as he recalled that offensive water stream that had been completely impossible to block. 　

“Exactly why…?” Meng Ming didn’t understand.　　

“I also want to know.” Zhou Lun Yu closed his eyes and stood up.　　

“If he’d acted at that moment, all of the examinees’ answer sheets would’ve been contaminated with blots.”

The water on the floor had already dried up. They glanced towards the doors to look at the angrily leaving Guo Dian, as well as Kui Yuan’s other two C-types… 　　

“It seems that Guo Dian was blocked by someone else when he was about to make his move,” Zhou Lun Yu said.　　

“Hmm? By who?”　　

“I don’t know.”　　

After the students had dispersed, Jin Nai Nai also walked up to the two.　　

“Jin Nai Nai, you saw everything that happened, right?” Meng Ming asked. He knew that Jin Nai Nai definitely understood all of the details.　　

“Yea.” Jin Nai Nai nodded, her eyes round. “However, I also saw something even stranger. You guys must be really tired. We can talk about it later, after we go back.”　　

As the mail van drove off with all of the answer sheets that had been tightly sealed, Zhou Lun Yu was still thinking about the events of the first exam. Strange, during the exam…Sun Ming Qing had sat in the proctor’s tower the whole time, without moving at all. The students from both schools had also gone through strict inspections upon entering the site…moreover, these test papers were also flawlessly supervised. He followed behind Meng Ming and Jin Nai Nai as they left the site, but his train of thought didn’t stop. Exactly what profound mysteries exist behind this exam site?

After learning of the exam subjects, most of the students weren’t worried anymore, and they went back home to study with a specific direction now. However, there were still some people with even more questions… 　　

The exam site was tightly resealed, so the students could only focus on their studies either in their living quarters or in places nearby. The final examination still had two tests of unknown difficulty.

Night fell, and Lin Xian River flowed silently in the darkness. Although there were lights coming from the students’ living quarters, it was very quiet.　　

Zhou Lun Yu was currently probing around alone. The moonlight was extremely weak, but by relying on his red threads, he could easily move around the building even in the dark.　　

Strange, I haven’t discovered anything suspicious… He continued flipping through the decor and items in the proctor’s tower, but he couldn’t find anything suspicious at all. Table, jar…the chairs are also very normal…the electric lights are renovated, but there isn’t anything special…

Just as Zhou Lun Yu was meticulously searching around the exam site, a sound suddenly rang out from within the building, breaking the silence of the deep night—

“What are you looking for?”　　

A female’s voice?! Zhou Lun Yu was shocked at the noise. He hurriedly looked over in the direction it had come from, and saw two large, round eyes staring at his back like a monster.　　

“Ah! You’re…Jin Nai Nai?”　　

Jin Nai Nai didn’t understand what Zhou Lun Yu was doing so late at night… “Oh, you must be…” She thought for a moment. As if she’d suddenly understood something, she pointed at Zhou Lun Yu and said, “Your stomach is hungry so you must be looking for something to eat. Mm, this is obvious.”　　

“…” Zhou Lun Yu was bewildered, but he still let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the one that had discovered him secretly sneaking into the exam site was none other than Jin Nai Nai.　　

“I saw you leaving despite it being so late, so I followed behind,” Jin Nai Nai said.　　

“You, do you normally just watch everything when you have nothing to do?” Zhou Lun Yu found it really strange, how did this girl have these kind of interests? He thought that if this was really the case, then she might know something about the profound mysteries hidden in the exam site.

A sliver of red light flashed in the dark corridor.　　

“Who?!” Zhou Lun Yu asked.　　

“It’s me…” Meng Ming came walking out from the corrider with an extremely small match raised in his hand as he rubbed his tired eyes.　　

These two…my actions should’ve been very secretive, how did they know I left the dorm…![Zhou Lun Yu]　　

“I was the one that woke him up to come along,” Jin Nai Nai said.　　

　　“…………”

“Zhou Lun Yu, are you hiding anything from us?” Meng Ming asked, getting straight to the point.　　

There must’ve been a reason behind leaving and secretly running off into the well-sealed exam site.　　

“Hmph…” Zhou Lun Yu didn’t really want to say; he believed that this was own business.

“Just tell us. Aren’t we your schoolmates?” Meng Ming said as he gathered his vigor and walked up to them. Jin Nai Nai also widened her cute eyes, wanting to hear the reason.

Schoolmates…? Zhou Lun Yu didn’t understand why Meng Ming had suddenly mentioned schoolmates, and remained silent.　　

“Alright, even if you don’t say it, we know the general idea.” Meng Ming pulled over a chair and sat down. “You want to figure out why all of Kui Yuan’s examinees…had the exact same answers, moreover, why they’re all correct.”　　

What…! Zhou Lun Yu thought when he heard Meng Ming. This was precisely Sun Qing Ming’s cheating methods! How does Zhuge Meng Ming know that other people’s answers are…?　

“Oh, I’m the one that told him.” Jin Nai Nai stretched her hand out and made a V sign with her fingers.　　

“…” Zhou Lun Yu narrowed his eyes. Why is it you again… 　　

Since Meng Ming and Jin Nai Nai already knew everything, Zhou Lun Yu decided after a moment of consideration not to hide his thoughts any longer. After they all properly sat down in the proctored building, Zhou Lun Yu told them everything about the Sun Qing Ming matter that he’d been thinking about. 　　

“In other words, you suspect that that teacher did it?”　　

“Not suspect, I’m sure,” Zhou Lun Yu said. “Any time Sun Qing Ming proctors, there’s always a portion of the students that have identical, and furthermore, completely correct answers.”

This was the legendary collective cheating?!　　

Meng Ming hadn’t ever imagined that for the sake of winning and their school reputation, Kui Yuan Central High would actually do this kind of thing behind their backs! If Kui Yuan succeeded in their cheating for all three tests, then their overall points in the joint examinations would definitely be much higher than Lin Xian Central High’s!　　

“Moreover, the mail van transporting the test papers was normal, and the supervising was extremely strict. Sun Qing Ming definitely couldn’t have known the test questions ahead of time, and the examinees couldn’t have possibly memorized all the answers. Their cheating method…must involve using some kind of skill at the exam site that allows all the students to know the answers.”

Meng Ming also understood. “Simply speaking, that Sun Qing Ming accepted money from Kui Yuan Central High.”　　

“Right. As long as we capture him, then Kui Yuan’s total joint final examinations points won’t count,” Zhou Lun Yu said.　　

Alright. So we have to keep close watch on that teacher? The enemies had suddenly increased, and Meng Ming felt even more tired than before. “No wonder Guo Dian’s group had no need to copy test papers at all. It turns out that…they all had some way of knowing the answers.”　　

“Hmph, thoroughly and completely. The first tests, the papers that Kui Yuan cheated on, have all been collected away as regular answer sheets.”

Kui Yuan’s examinees had all gotten completely correct answers! This meant that in this first final exam test, Lin Xian had already fallen behind by a great amount in terms of points!　　

“Jin Nai Nai, did you find anything suspicious about that teacher?” Zhou Lun Yu asked.　　

Jin Nai Nai pondered for a long while, and said no. She hadn’t really paid much attention to the proctor teacher, and only remembered that Sun Ming Qing seemed to have sat in the proctor’s building the whole time without moving, occasionally speaking with other proctors.　　

“Then what about the other proctors? And all those admin maintaining order outside the exam site.”　　

“They were all diligently proctoring, and also didn’t move from their original spots.”　　

Zhou Lun Yu believed that Sun Ming Qing’s cheating was extremely well hidden. Even if he had partners, there couldn’t be that many people. Moreover, Zhou Lun Yu had searched around this building  for a long while now, yet hadn’t been able to find any clues.　　

“In short, as long as Sun Ming Qing is there, our points will definitely be unable to surpass theirs.” It was a bit obvious now.　　

“If we want to win, then not only must we go against Kui Yuan’s C-types in the next two tests, we must also clarify Sun Ming Qing’s cheating method.”　　

“Let’s first organize our thoughts a bit.”　　

The current situation—

Firstly, the entire imperial examination site had three levels, and students from the same school could exchange seats;

Secondly, the test papers were combined tests with multiple subjects mixed. Moreover, the students’ seats were interweaved and used the AB test style;

Thirdly, Sun Ming Qing had never personally moved;

Fourthly, Kui Yuan’s C-types didn’t need to worry about exam points, and only had to pour all their focus into disturbing Lin Xian.　　

“AB test style seems to be a way to prevent cheating on the outside. But in fact, this kind of design…actually makes it much easier for them to perform collective cheating!” Meng Ming analyzed.　　

“That’s precisely it. Don’t forget, Guo Dian’s strength is outside our expectations. He’s able to act freely without constraint even in such a large exam site. I don’t know why today…”　　

They once again thought back to the unknown reason that had caused Guo Dian to stop midway during today’s test.　　

“Exactly who could block Guo Dian?!” [Meng Ming]　　

“Regardless, we won’t be that lucky next time. We must think of a way to suppress his water.” [Zhou Lun Yu]　　

It didn’t matter what the grades for this exam were. Judging by Guo Dian’s expression when he’d left the exam site today, he’d clearly been extremely moody. He would definitely want to get his revenge next test.　　

If Guo Dian’s water was left alone for him to slowly use, they’d be inviting him to use various attack methods one after another. Lin Xian students’ test papers would be hard to protect. If they wanted to destroy his water, the result would end up the same as today’s, and things would get out of hand!

Sun Ming Qing had already used unknown methods to make Lin Xian fall way behind in points, and Guo Dian hadn’t yet displayed his true skills. The future tests would be bitter battles for Lin Xian.

As mentioned above, the first test had at least made the entire battle situation clear. The crucial point in Lin Xian’s victory over Kui Yuan in the final examination perhaps fell in the C-types’ hands.　　

The final conclusion—

“The opponent is water. Although it’s slow, it naturally has an extremely great advantage. In addition, there’s that Lu Xiao. If they firmly join together, we’ll certainly lose like today. We must use skill and wit to win.”

The second exam was held in the morning. It seemed as if none of the examinees had slept well, including Lin Xian’s C-types—they’d studied battle skills for a very long time last night.　　

“Ah—sleepy.” Meng Ming walked in with a yawn.　　

“Will this kind of state affect your performance?” Jin Nai Nai asked. Jin Nai Nai was actually the one with the most sleep among the examinees.　　

“I’m used to it…” Meng Ming said.　　

Zhou Lun Yu also didn’t sleep much, and there was clearly exhaustion in his tone. “His performance or whatever isn’t really a problem. The main thing is…Zhuge Meng Ming, will the method you said at the end last night really work?”

“Of course it will. We already talked for an entire night; whatever the case, you should at least believe me,” Meng Ming intoned back.　　

Jin Nai Nai had returned very early last night, so she didn’t really know what they were discussing, and directly asked, “Meng Ming, what did you guys talk about last night?”　　

Meng Ming chuckled, “Hehe, methods to restrain Guo Dian. I created three new moves!”　　

Jin Nai Nai widened her large eyes, wanting to hear.　　

“New Zhuge Style Cheating Technique Three Moves—River Dike, Toilet, Sewer!” Meng Ming said brimming with passion. “I guarantee that they’ll completely catch him off guard….”

“Focus a bit, they’re coming.” Zhou Lun Yu stopped him from continuing his nonsense, and reminded him that Kui Yuan’s C-types had also entered with their backpacks.

“Oh? Look, I’ll go over now,” Meng Ming said, and also picked up his backpack to walk towards Guo Dian’s group.　　

Guo Dian was also one of the examinees that hadn’t slept well. He’d been moody the whole time, feeling extremely unhappy with how his attack yesterday had been suddenly stopped before being launched. When he entered the exam site, he didn’t look around at all, and only walked directly up to his seat on the upper floor with his backpack.　　

“Guo Dian!” Meng Ming shouted out at him in greeting.　　

Guo Dian didn’t hear.　　

“Hey, Guo Dian!” Meng Ming still didn’t give up.　　

This time, Guo Dian reacted.

“Ha, Guo Dian, why are you mad? Are you feeling upset about yesterday? Don’t worry, nothing like that will possibly happen today!”　　

“…” Guo Dian didn’t understand. He kept feeling like Meng Ming walking over at the moment wasn’t just to say arrogant words.　　

“Hahaha, you guys should be prepared to lose completely and turn into a total mess.” Meng Ming then left, and began to walk back towards Zhou Lun Yu. Meng Ming lifted his backpack and patted it, while smugly thinking: Hehe, Secret Exchange. As long as I steal away his water before the exam, he won’t have any chance. This backpack’s weight seems to be just about right, but the state of the objects inside… 　　

“Zhuge Meng Ming, that rascal, succeeded?” [Zhou Lun Yu]　　

“No.” [Jin Nai Nai]　　

At that moment, Qi Tian Ao walked up to Guo Dian and passed his own backpack over to say, “Here, I’ve finished helping you look after your backpack.”　　

Guo Dian also passed his backpack over to Qi Tian Ao, “This is your bag, but I don’t approve of your work out methods.” After the two had swapped bags, Guo Dian continued, “Even if you’re trying to work out your body, there’s no need to stuff bricks inside your bag.”　

Qi Tian Ao felt around his backpack. “Hm? What happened to my bricks?”　　

　　……

“I already told you ages ago. Stealing someone’s tools before the exam, trying to know of the test answers beforehand, or wanting the opponent to forget about attending the exam entirely are all unsophisticated methods from last century. They’re useless.” Zhou Lun Yu said as he looked at the bag of bricks, then he and Jin Nai Nai each turned around to go sit in their respective seats.