Chapter 16

Xu Fei occasionally glanced at Yu Qing, who was writing something quickly, trying to guess what he was writing. He figured it must be related to the riddles, as there was nothing else it could be. However, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw that Yu Qing was writing blind, not even looking at the words he was writing, and only occasionally dipping his brush in the ink without a proper glance.

The key was that Yu Qing was still looking around, almost non-stop, and writing at the same time. Could someone be so busy while solving riddles?

Yu Qing's heart was racing with a mix of surprise and confusion. He had intended to focus, not just relying on Yu Qing, and to try his best to solve some of the riddles. But Yu Qing's actions were so distracting that he couldn't concentrate at all.

At this point, Yu Qing had nothing to lose. The more dangerous part was already over, and it was unlikely that anyone could catch him now. Looking around wouldn't reveal what others were writing, so who could accuse him of cheating? What difference did blind writing make?

Most importantly, he wasn't competing for the top score. Even if someone noticed his unusual behavior, it wouldn't matter without evidence or results.

Fortunately, the invigilation wasn't strict, and there was no need for it to be. The organizers believed that no one would easily let others copy, given the stakes.

Yu Qing's unusual behavior didn't last long. Once he realized that the content was repetitive, he stopped and began to organize the blind-written content.

Suddenly, Lu, Di, and Yu, who were sitting in the front, stood up and left the room one after another. The candidates barely glanced at them before refocusing on solving the riddles.

Xu Fei also noticed that Yu Qing's unusual behavior had stopped, but his surprise and confusion remained.

Yu Qing occasionally looked up at the thirty riddles hanging on the wall, comparing them with his draft, and rearranged them on another sheet of paper.

From left to right, he wrote down the answers to the thirty riddles in order.

After arranging them, Yu Qing noticed a problem: one of the riddles was missing an answer. He searched the first draft but couldn't find the relevant answer.

In the middle of the three sets of riddles, there was one that read "illusion," and the answer was a single character. However, the draft didn't have the answer.

Yu Qing cursed under his breath. When he used the Word Observation Technique earlier, he saw so many repetitions, but this one was missing.

"Illusion" for a single character? Yu Qing tried to solve it himself but had no clue. In the end, he could only curse the person who set the riddle and give up.

He had no choice but to observe the others again, watching for any writing. As soon as he saw the first character on the draft, he knew if it was the right one. If not, he quickly switched to observing someone else. Despite his efforts, he couldn't find the answer to "illusion."

He wasn't sure if he had missed it, given the number of people and the possibility of oversight.

He wanted to pass the twenty-nine answers he had found to Xu Fei but was afraid of missing the last one if he got distracted.

Glancing at the incense, he saw that it had burned less than a third. He calmed himself down, telling himself to stay calm and patient.

Since so many people had been working on the riddles for so long without finding the answer to "illusion," it must be a difficult one.

The riddles that appeared early and frequently were the easier ones.

As time passed, the candidates' writing slowed down, indicating that the easier riddles were mostly solved, and they were now focusing on the harder ones. This meant that the answer to "illusion" was more likely to appear.

With a calm mind, Yu Qing began to observe and analyze more carefully.

Xu Fei couldn't understand Yu Qing at all and was frustrated that he hadn't received any answers. He glanced at the three sets of riddles hanging on the wall, more out of boredom than anything else. After wasting so much time, his mindset was a bit chaotic, and he had given up.

Yu Qing, however, remained focused, his forehead slightly sweating from the mental strain of the Word Observation Technique.

When the incense had burned a third, Yu Qing's eyes caught a movement. He saw someone in the front row slap their forehead, as if they had a sudden realization.

Recognizing the back of the person, he identified it as Jie Yuanlang Zhan Muchun.

It was this guy, Yu Qing thought, feeling a glimmer of hope. He quickly observed the person's writing, and the characters "幻, 覷" (huàn, qù) formed in his mind.

Yu Qing immediately scanned the thirty riddles hanging on the wall. The only one that started with "幻" (huàn) was "illusion."

So, "幻" (huàn) was the shorthand for "illusion," and "覷" (qù) was the answer.

Yu Qing, who had some basic knowledge of character recognition, quickly verified the answer, almost excitedly slapping his thigh but restraining himself.

He realized that he had found the missing answer and inwardly praised Zhan Muchun, acknowledging that the Jie Yuanlang was indeed talented.

Without hesitation, Yu Qing wrote down the missing answer and then quickly folded the right side of his draft paper, creating a two-inch-wide strip. He wrote down ten characters: 口, 脂, 王, 秦, 回, 赦, 呸, 早, 侈, 饜.

These were the ten answers to the leftmost set of riddles.

Yu Qing put down his brush and rested his chin on his hand, pretending to think while secretly observing the surroundings.

Xu Fei, who was passing time, noticed that Yu Qing had put down his brush and his heart raced. This was the signal they had agreed upon: when Yu Qing put down his brush, it meant he was ready to pass the answers.

Xu Fei quickly arranged his draft paper, dipped his brush in ink with his right hand, and spread his left hand flat on the left side of the paper.

This was the signal they had agreed upon: spreading his left hand flat meant he was ready to receive the answers.

Yu Qing received the signal, observed the surroundings, and when no one was paying attention, he gently lifted the folded edge of the paper, revealing the vertical strip of characters.

Xu Fei also observed the surroundings and, when no one was paying attention, quickly glanced at the strip, memorizing the first five characters: 口, 脂, 王, 秦, 回. He then quickly wrote them down. Next, he memorized the next five characters: 赦, 呸, 早, 侈, 饜, and wrote them down as well.

Once he was sure, Xu Fei made a fist with his left hand, which was the signal they had agreed upon, meaning "all done."

The signals were set by Yu Qing, and Xu Fei had initially been a bit skeptical, thinking that Yu Qing seemed quite skilled at this, setting everything up without any hesitation, appearing quite experienced.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

At this moment, Yu Qing wasn't thinking much. Upon receiving the signal, he pressed the folded edge down and folded another strip, then dipped his brush in ink and wrote down the next ten answers, which were the answers to the middle set of riddles.

They repeated the process, with Yu Qing acting calmly and Xu Fei copying quickly.

In this way, they efficiently transferred the answers to the last set of riddles.

After finishing, Yu Qing dipped his brush in ink and immediately blacked out the answers on the folded strip, destroying the evidence. He then pulled out a blank sheet of paper to cover the previous drafts, pretending to copy the riddles carefully to avoid looking too idle.

Xu Fei wasn't stupid. Even if he had passed the preliminary exam by luck, he could still match the answers to the riddles, especially since Yu Qing had listed them in order.

After a quick comparison, he realized that the answers corresponded to the riddles, from left to right, in perfect order.

Wow, all thirty answers? Xu Fei glanced at the incense, which had burned less than half, feeling quite amazed.

He immediately stopped hesitating and pulled out a blank sheet of paper to carefully copy the riddles.

While doing this, he felt a bit regretful. If he had known that Yu Qing could solve all the riddles, he should have copied them first, which would have allowed him to fill in the answers directly and finish the exam faster.

However, this was just a thought after knowing the result. As a candidate, he knew that it was common practice to draft the answers first, in case of mistakes, which would require rewriting. So, drafting first was the basic common sense.

Yu Qing also noticed this and cursed inwardly. How could this big, clumsy guy not have copied the riddles earlier?

He felt a mix of frustration and anger, even considering killing Xu Fei if he lost the top prize because of this.

After copying the riddles, Xu Fei began to fill in the answers one by one.

After checking for any mistakes, he wrote a line of text at the end: Hengqiu County, Xu Fei.

He put down his brush and took a deep breath, preparing to submit his paper. However, he felt a bit nervous and hesitant, with a mix of emotions.

It felt strange. How could he have started cheating with this "Shiheng" brother so soon after meeting him?

He had never imagined that he would be cheating under the nose of the top figure in Lieshou, how much courage did it take? He couldn't even think about it!

He wouldn't dare to cheat during the important preliminary exam, but he did it here. If he was caught, his future would be ruined.

Thinking about it made him a bit scared and confused. How could he have followed along without hesitation?