Cheating Craft Chapter 22

 World of Transparency

The view from the roof of Meng Ming’s home was extremely vast, as expected from a high rise building. As one swept their gaze across, they’d be welcomed with the sight of dawn. The distant horizon could be clearly seen in all four directions. The weather wasn’t bad, and Meng Ming stood on that rooftop alone, surveying the surroundings. Because of his conversations with Duan He and Zhou Lun Yu that day, Meng Ming had been internally mulling over an issue for a long time. These past few days, he’d been constantly testing…his eyesight.

He looked at the city from various angles once more─

I can clearly see even from such a far distance…..　　

Meng Ming had once gone through strict training, so his eyesight’s vision strength was extremely good. In addition, his eyes could quickly capture small objects moving at high speeds, and he could also find an item hidden within a large amount of other objects.

But why hadn’t I been able to see Zhou Lun Yu’s red threads those times I’d encountered him?　　

Meng Ming knew that a person’s eyes originally couldn’t see extremely tiny objects, such as microorganisms. But if Zhou Lun Yu could use his hands to touch these threads that he used, then there must be a way to see them.　

The rooftop was extremely quiet. Huang Qiao Yi’s voice rang out clearly from the roof entrance, “Brother Meng Ming ran up to the roof again.” She had come to find Meng Ming.

She knew that Meng Ming had been practicing how to see transparent objects that normal people couldn’t perceive this whole time. However, he hadn’t made any progress yet.

“Brother Meng Ming, no matter how far you can see, there’s no meaning if you can’t see objects extremely close to you. All human eyes are the same; the things you can’t see just won’t ever be seen. No matter how much you practice, it won’t be of any use.”　　

But aside from researching and practicing, Meng Ming couldn’t figure out any other methods. He thought to himself: Zhou Lun Yu has the same eyes as me, so how come he can see them?

Meng Ming was certain that if he wanted to see these red threads, there had to exist some kind of trick or method to do so.　　

Huang Qiao Yi took two steps back, then yanked hard to pull out a strand of her hair. She waved it in front of Meng Ming and asked, “Brother Meng Ming, can you see this?”

“Of course I can. Little Qiao is wearing white clothes; since it contrasts with your dark hair, it becomes extremely clear to see. I’d be able to see any thread, no matter how thin it was, if it had color. The troublesome thing is that the red threads that guy uses are transparent!”　　

The only colorless, transparent thread used normally was fishing line. After going home to flip through some old fishing tackle from years ago, Huang Qiao Yi finally got her hands on some fishing line, which she dangled in front of Meng Ming.

“I can see it.” Meng Ming said after a single glance.　　

Thus, Huang Qiao Yi moved back a few meters.

“I can see it very clearly…”

This time, Huang Qiao Yi retreated all the way to the opposite wall.　　

“I can still see it.”

Huang Qiao Yi was bewildered, “Brother Meng Ming, if you can see this from so far away, how come you couldn’t see the threads last time when you were so close to them in the library?”

Meng Ming gave up. After all, these red threads were really, really thin. The fishing lines wasn’t anywhere near as thin. In addition, the fishing line wasn’t completely transparent either. If one looked closer, the fishing line was still slightly opaque.

Duan He had said before that the red thread Zhou Lun Yu used was a specially created material, and no ordinary thread could ever compare to it.

Red threads…

On another hand, Meng Ming hadn’t touched any playing cards for a long time now.

It was really difficult to find good quality playing cards in China. The deck Meng Ming had was from a shop that had taken forever to find. It was a regular set of playing cards of a fairly decent quality, and neither side of the printing had any holes.

Meng Ming sat at the table alone, and began to play around with this deck of cards,

Smooth shuffling techniques, quick finger techniques that switched cards, gorgeous dealing arts, making the cards go in a certain direction as if they were dancing the air──Meng Ming was already very skilled at these basic techniques.

Cheating techniques were always used the moment people weren’t paying attention to quickly flash over their eyes. One had to keep track of the other party’s fingers to follow all of their movements. Only then would one be able to counter.

Meng Ming lightly flipped and spun the cards around in his hand, displaying identical, beautiful suites.

He closed his eyes and began to think.

It wasn’t difficult to capture another party’s hands and follow the swift movements of their fingers and the cards——but Zhou Lun Yu’s red threads were silent and still. If they did move, it would be slight; just like how the cards currently on the table were all the same suites, n.o.body would ever notice them.

　　……

“So freaking annoying! Transparent, how am I supposed to see something transparent!!” Meng Ming lost his cool and furiously scratched his head.　　

After mulling it over for a long time, Meng Ming still couldn’t come up with a solution. Although he knew Zhou Lun Yu used threads, wanting to achieve victory at the examination site was mere empty talk if he couldn’t even see them.　

Thin, transparent threads that the average person couldn’t see…the claim that they were from a “different dimension” was indeed not baseless!

Forget it! Meng Ming threw away the things in his hands and stood up to jog outside.　

……

Lin Jing Xuan tossed his pen to the side after putting all his effort into actually finishing all of his school a.s.signments that day. He had arranged to go swimming with a few cla.s.smates that afternoon. And, most of those cla.s.smates were girls.

“Little Xuan! Don’t tell me you already finished changing your clothes and plan on peeking into the females changing room again?” One of the girls said. 　　

“He definitely wouldn’t dare this time…instead, he’ll change it to purposely b.u.mping into us, then pretending to choke on water as he randomly touches us everywhere…” Another girl said.　　

Lin Jing Xuan jumped to explain, “No way, no way, I’m actually very sensible! The previous times were all accidents, just accidents…”　

The group of people laughed and talked as they walked towards the district’s pool. By coincidence, they b.u.mped into the jogging Zhuge Meng Ming. Meng Ming’s head was lowered, and the strange expression on his face made all of them notice him.

“Hey! Meng Ming!” Lin Jing Xuan shouted towards him.　　

Hearing the shout, Meng Ming raised his head to glance towards them.　

Lin Jing Xuan hurriedly lifted his swimming gear and walked over to pat Meng Ming on the shoulder, “Why do you seem unhappy? Come and swim with us!”　　

Meng Ming was still deep in thought over the “extremely thin and transparent threads” issue, and the few girls that Lin Jing Xuan had brought along all flocked around Meng Ming before he could react.

They stared at Meng Ming and said, “Wow! Little Xuan, you have a friend that’s so delicate and pretty looking? Why haven’t you ever introduced us to him before?!”

“Come and swim with us?” They warmly invited as they approached Meng Ming.　　

“No, I…” Meng Ming’s thoughts were still in a disarray, and he was at loss on what to do.　　

Another girl even purposely pushed Lin Jing Xuan aside to grasp Meng Ming’s arm, “Can you swim? If not, I can teach you!”　　

Lin Jing Xuan loudly declared, “Everyone, calm down. You girls don’t recognize him? He’s a student from Lin Xian Central High as well!”　

“Ah? A schoolmate?”

These girls were also students from Lin Xian Central High.　　

Lin Jing Xuan put his arm around Meng Ming and introduced, “This is my cla.s.smate, Zhuge Meng Ming.”　　

The girls felt another sensation run through their bodies─

“Ah, it’s, it’s him!”

“Zhuge Meng Ming…I’ve heard about him. He’s the Cla.s.s A student that has amazing grades!”

“I hadn’t thought that I’d get to meet you! So you’re actually so good-looking! Can you study together with me some day? Why don’t you leave me your number?”　　

Having been asked so many questions in succession, Meng Ming had absolutely no clue how to explain his situation. As expected, Meng Ming was eventually pulled by the girls to the swimming pool in his state of confusion. 　　

“Lin Jing Xuan…why did you drag me here before even knowing my situation? I don’t even have a swimsuit…” Meng Ming helplessly said. At the moment, he was already standing before the changing room doors.　　

“Just buy a pair of swim trunks, and you’ll be fine! This place sells them,” Lin Jing Xuan replied without giving it any thought.　　

It looked like Meng Ming wouldn’t be able to avoid the situation anymore. He had already come all the way anyways, so he thought he might as well go down and soak in the water. Perhaps it’d clear his mind. Thus, he began to change….

I keep feeling a bad premonition about this pool….

Meng Ming sensed as he changed his clothes.　　

The outdoor swimming pool had water so clear that one could see the bottom. It looked like it had gone through high speed purification. The surface area of the pool was quite large, and quite a few visitors were already freely swimming under the sunlight.　

“Meng Ming! Hurry up and follow me!” Lin Jing Xuan shouted as he rushed out of the male changing room with his torso bare and ran straight into pool.　

Oi, aren’t you going to get a cramp that way…? Meng Ming was just about to stop him.

“Wa!! I got a cramp!”

Lin Jing Xuan held onto a random girl into the water, endlessly tossing and struggling about.　　

This guy…..

Meng Ming couldn’t be bothered to pay Lin Jing Xuan any mind, and just decided to jump in himself and float on his back a bit.

There were no clouds, but the building blocked some of the sunlight, so it wasn’t intense. The water gently lapped against Meng Ming’s skin, making him feel the desire to take a nap. Meng Ming finally felt his own exhaustion. He heard the sound of laughing, the lapping of water, and the sounds of people arguing coming from next to him…

The sounds of arguing?　　

Meng Ming hurriedly stood up in the water, abruptly turning to see the few female cla.s.smates that Lin Jing Xuan had invited currently standing opposite to some males by the side of the pool.　　

At that moment, Lin Jing Xuan suddenly popped up from behind Meng Ming with his goggles on and said, “No good, those girls have pretty stubborn personalities. If they get into an argument, something bad will definitely happen. We have to hurry up and stop them!” He said as he quickly dragged Meng Ming to swim to the poolside.　　

“As if we want you to teach us! We know how to swim!” The girl evaded the hara.s.sment with an extremely strong and imposing manner.　　

“Come on, don’t be like that. How about this, if you girls can swim, do you want to race against us?” The hara.s.sing male said.　　

“No, we’ll play by ourselves. You guys should just scram to another side!”　　

The males began to get angry, especially the leader of the group, “Don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! Let me tell you, we are formidable C-type students!”　

Just as Meng Ming reached the poolside, he heard this sentence…　

Why did this voice sound so familiar?! When he looked closer…　

　　……

Three Missing One Quartet? Why is that group here! Meng Ming’s jaw dropped.　

“Boss Ma Que, let’s show those girls something interesting!”

“Huang Que, you go and swim against them!”

　　……

The girls saw Meng Ming and Lin Jing Xuan walk over, and shouted, “Little Xuan, Meng Ming, hurry up and help us drive away these annoying guys!”　　

Ah? There are males? Three Missing One Quartet all turned their heads around to look over.　　

Meng Ming immediately turned around to flee.

“Ah? Master?!” The members of Three Missing One Quartet saw Meng Ming at the same time.

“Oh, oh!! It’s Master! Ah─why is he running away?”

“Master! Come teach us how to play mahjong!”

The four people hurriedly chased after Meng Ming, “Master! Why did you run away last time? This time, we definitely request for you to take us in as your disciples!”

Meng Ming felt extremely helpless. As he ran, he shouted at Lin Jing Xuan, “Lin Jing Xuan! Lend me your goggles!”　　

Lin Jing Xuan hurriedly removed his goggles, “Meng Ming, I just knew that you’d need this! Go and enjoy the beautiful sights of all those swimsuits as much you desire!” He then tossed the goggles over at the running Meng Ming as hard as he could.　

As if the situation is as you say!

Meng Ming caught the goggles and dived deep, deep into the water.　

How am I so unfortunate to have b.u.mped into that stupid quartet… Meng Ming weaved around at the bottom of the water like a fish, gloomily searching for a place to hide. Oh, having dived all the way here, I probably won’t be discovered… After hiding for a short period of time, he felt that he had hidden quite well already. Just as he was about to swim around in the water for fun, he suddenly discovered…

Oh…? These people’s clothes… With his goggles on, he could see a few females wearing swimsuits from underneath the water. They were currently standing in the water and playing around, their heads all above the surface. Meng Ming thought: Aren’t those girls the students that Lin Jing Xuan brought along? It looks like the quartet stopped hara.s.sing them…

But Meng Ming’s face began to heat up slightly from seeing this scene. However, when he recalled Lin Jing Xuan’s words about enjoying “the swimsuit view” or whatever, Meng Ming’s eyes subconsciously began to look more closely.　　

Ugh, I’ll be in trouble if I’m discovered. It’s best to just leave! Meng Ming was just about to turn around and leave. …Hm?　　

An idea suddenly flashed in his mind.

This water was obviously clear, and very transparent. Yet despite him being so close to the girls underwater, why hadn’t they sensed him at all?!

Strange.　

In addition─

I keep feeling like…parts of the surface are strange somehow. Also, Lin Jing Xuan’s goggles are transparent as well…! Meng Ming became more immersed into thought, and he turned around to examine the girls again. Could it be….　　

　　……

A girl swam in front of him…　

“I, I get it now!!!”

Meng Ming suddenly jumped up from underneath the water! ─He had suddenly realized exactly how to see those red threads now!　

Meng Ming’s sudden outburst frightened the surrounding swimmers, and also attracted the gazes of the girls.

“Meng Ming? What did you get?”

“Why….why are you here?”

“Oh! Meng Ming, were you peeping?”　

“No, I….” Meng Ming hurriedly tried to explain.　

Suddenly, voices could be heard from somewhere behind him─

“Master! I see him, Master is over there!”

“Hurry up and capture him so that we can formally become his apprentices!”　

I, I, what kind of troubles did I attract….!

Meng Ming frantically dived into the water once more.　

But this time, his mood was much more carefree.