Being Shameless Seems to be the Trend Nowadays
“I reckon Xu Ziye or Bie Wenxuan will take the slots if not Xiao Hua.”
“Not Mu Yu?”
“He handed in his papers in less than fifteen minutes. I bet he just scribbled gibberish. Bie Wenxuan and Xu Ziye spent two hours. If he could legitimately finish in fifteen minutes, you can kick my head around.”
“You said the same thing when we betted on Mu Yu finishing the pill.”
“That one was a fluke, so it’s not counted.”
“Pfft.”
A group of disciples around Xu Ziye showered him with praise. Of course, he relished it. He had no doubt he won.
“Senior Brother, I heard Mu Yu is competing for one of the slots. What do you think?”
Xu Ziye glanced at his fellow martial brother out of the corner of his eyes and sneered, “He might win… in his dreams.”
“He finished the incomplete pill, though. I heard you had a bet with him. Should you not uphold your end of the deal?” someone in the crowd asked.
Xu Ziye grouchily looked left and right.
“Senior Brother Xu? Can you give us an answer? Where is Shi Minghui? Time to make good on your word. Don’t be a coward. You have no balls?” taunted Mu Yu, revealing himself conspicuously.
“Shi Minghui already qualified to travel. He’s training in seclusion. Why would he waste his time on someone who handed in a blank paper?”
“Coincidental much? Or is that just his excuse to hide?” jibed Cai Lie.
“You expect us to believe you completed the pill just because you claim so? We never saw it. Elder Ku Mu might’ve been the one who finished it for all we know, right, loser?”
“Wow, you have shameless, and then you have Xu Ziye.”
“You’ll have to complete it in front of everyone, or you have to acknowledge you lost.”
“Patriarch and all faction masters can testify I completed it. How about we ask them?”
“Patriarch? Committing fraud and trying to drag Patriarch’s name through the mud will have you grounded for an entire year. What do you all say?”
Mu Yu peered into the distance. Finally, he spotted Elder Leng knocking off in a chair. He went over and, to everyone’s shock, yanked Elder Shou’s frizzy beard. “Oi! Wake up, and testify!”
Everyone with their gaping mouths waited for a slap that’d send Mu Yu out of sight.
“What was that for?”
“Who completed the half-complete pill?”
“You did. What does that have to do with you tugging my beard?!”
“Okay, you can go back to sleep now.”
Mu Yu returned to ashen-faced Xu Ziye, chortling. Xu Ziye composed himself and skirted around the topic. “So what? You think you can go after handing in a blank sheet?”
“Do you seriously think I handed in a blank sheet?”
“If you make the top ten, I’ll fulfil my end of the deal right here. How about it?”
“You all heard him.”
“The examiner is done!” someone shouted.
The examiner exited the large hall with a sheet of paper in hand. “I shall now announce the top ten examinees. You ten can go straight into the second test.”
The examiner cleared his throat then hurled the sheet of paper into the sky. The red sheet spread out in the wind.
Bie Wenxuan identified eighty-five formulas.
Xu Ziye identified eighty-two formulas.
Xiaohua identified eighty-one formulas.
Zhang Yuyu identified seventy-eight formulas.
Liu Yu identified seventy-seven formulas.
Wang Sheng identified seventy-seven formulas.
“Why aren’t you on the list? There must be a mistake,” inquired Cai Lie.
Tian Ran: “Oh, no.”
“Hahaha, what did I tell you?” dug Xu Ziye. “Anything else to say, delusional joke?”
Mu Yu fused his fingers into steely clamps, while the others congratulated Xu Ziye. Mu Yu trained his interrogative glare on Elder Leng, suspecting the elder pulled some strinks.
“Quiet!” demanded the examiner. “Elder Leng has something to say.”
Elder Leng, voice clear, announced, “Besides those ten, we have decided one more examinee will receive a free pass straight to the third round. Mu Yu identified ninety-eight formulas, which is every single one, thereby ranking him in first place.”
“Bie Wenxuan only identified eighty-five. Ninety-eight?”
“In fifteen minutes? He must’ve cheated.”
“Are you questioning Patriarch and our elders?” scolded the examiner, ending the gossping.
“Where’s Xu Ziye?” asked Cai Lie.
Tian Ran: “Don’t tell me he ran off.”
Xu Ziye’s loyal fanboys cried, “He just had a stomach ache and had to leave. Don’t let it get to your head!”
Perhaps being shameless was a trendy thing at the time.
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