Qin Meng gaped through the slit of his eyes and rolled to the side, dodging the attack. He eyed the shadow in the darkness. From its shape and size, it was evident that the shadow belonged to a man. "Who asked you to do this?" Qin Meng questioned.
The figure stayed silent a moment, and then he sucked in a deep breath. "How did you find out?" he queried and revealed his face. Tan Liang. However, at this moment, his expression was nowhere close to the innocent, frail, and delicate boy that Qin Meng had come to know. He clasped a glittering dagger in his hand, ready to shove it into his target's chest.
"You aren't Tan Qi's brother, right?" asked Qin Meng.
Tan Laing narrowed his eyes and then shook his head. "No, I'm not." He raised his head and peered at Qin Meng. "How did you figure it out?"
"At first, I really thought you were genuine," Qin Meng said. "But as I spent time with you, I started to see clues. You tried hard to act like a lost brother who wanted to find his sister, but you lost your character in between. Your overacting sold you out."
He paused before continuing, "You tried to show yourself desperate, weak, and almost naïve, but you forgot that someone as whiny--or as naïve--as you, could never clear the Illusion Trial of the academy. It needs a strong heart, or cunning mind, or powerful cultivation. You showed a strong heart when facing Fang people, but after tagging along with me, you acted out of character. That's how I started suspecting you."
"I see," sighed Tan Liang.
"Who sent you?" asked Qin Meng. "Was your battle with House Fang fake?"
"No," he shook his head. "It wasn't fake. I tried to deceive them, but they found out about it in time."
"Who sent you?"
There was a brief silence. Tan Liang eyed Qin Meng and destroyed the bracelet in his hand. Qin Meng narrowed his eyes and then widened them in surprise—Tan Liang had vanished out of thin air in front of him.
"Bastard!" he cursed.
***
The orange and red and violet sun rays scattered through the tiny pores of the canopy of trees. Qin Meng chewed the meat from the previous night; his mood still sour. He didn't even know that the bracelet could send them out of the competition. Neither Vice Principal had explained about it. How could she be so irresponsible?!
He sighed and looked at the bracelet on his wrist, and trudged in the direction the arrow was pointing. On the way, he confronted various ferocious beasts, but none of them could threaten him. They could only grovel under his feet.
The sun had reached its apex point when he heard the sound of a battle. He rushed through the thickets and brushes toward the noise and peeked in the distance from behind the trees. He had no intention of attracting their ire before knowing their identity.
Anyway, Qin Meng's interest peaked when he recognized the two battling groups. House Zeng, one of the Great Houses in Yorel, the insignia on their chests revealed their identity, and when Qin Meng looked at the other group, he curled his lips. Who could it be other than He Chen and his people?
But then his expression abruptly changed. "Fuck!" he cursed. "What the hell are they doing there?"
Amidst the ongoing battle, Yan Yunjie, Wu Hui, and Zeng Hong were dodging and jumping here, almost like a noob who had joined a battle first time in his life.
The good thing was that none of them attacked anyone. They knew that no matter who won, it wouldn't be any better for them. One group used them like slaves, while the other might knock them out of the competition in a few seconds.
As the people fought around them in a frenzy, the trio exchanged glances and grinned before slipping away swiftly. No one even noticed their group as none of them contributed the battle from beginning to end.
Qin Meng was amused, looking their grinning faces, as they escaped. He smiled and went to meet his companions.
"At last, we are free." A smile appeared on Wu Hui's depressed face. His bald head was covered in dirt, his clothes in smudges, and his body in wounds. All in all, he looked miserable.
The other two weren't any better.
Yan Yunjie said, "That bastard used us like a bull. I'm going to make him pay a hundredfold sometime in the future." His eyes flashed with cold light, hatred discernible inside his pupils.
Zeng Hong remained silent briefly. Then he looked in a particular direction and shouted with a grim face, "Show yourself!"
"You are pretty good, Zeng Hong." A figure walked out of the thickets, smiling towards them. He eyed skinny Zeng Hong with a sparkle in his eyes. "Who would have thought that you were such a talented individual?"
Zeng Hong jumped in a pleasant surprise, but after hearing Qin Meng, he flushed red. "It has something to do with my Martial Spirit—"
Qin Meng waved at him. "No need to explain. Everyone has his own trump cards and secrets. Anyway, what were you doing amidst the battle?"
Their faces reddened in embarrassment, and they refused to speak. Qin Meng eyed them suspiciously. "What?"
No one replied.
Qin Meng turned towards Yan Yunjie. "You explain," he said.
"Ah." The pudgy guy scratched his head as he felt a pair of eyes glaring at him. Nonetheless, he still clarified everything that had transpired with them: Not long after they appeared in the forest, He Chen had captured them. At first, he just wanted to seize their points before kicking them out of the competition; however, Li Hong proposed to use Yan Yunjie and others as bait to lure the wild beasts.
He Chen used them as baits and hunted many monsters, winning Li Hong many praises from the group members. The trio clenched their teeth in hatred as they remembered the struggle and humiliation they had gone through.
"If I was strong enough, I would have broken each and every limb in that bastard He Chen's body," growled Wu Hui.
Qin Meng nodded. He did not laugh and shamed them for falling into their enemy's hands. They had already been disgraced, it was enough to teach them a lesson. He didn't want to rub salt in their wounds.
He eyed them and said, "Want to take revenge?"