56. Winners
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Back in the Arena, the day had gone dark, and most of the spectators had their mouths hanging open...
One minute, they had been laughing at the Zhang Luoyin-Xu Min pair, which still read, '00' and firmly remained at the bottom of the board, beneath a pair reading, '17'.
But in the next minute, the '00' suddenly changed to '02', and then began rising so quickly that the score number was a blur till it settled at the top of the board, reading, '500'!!
Below it was Zhang Cheng's pair, which read, '383'!
"Am I dreaming?!" Someone asked, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
This broke the silence, and the crowd erupted in chatter.
"Someone should slap me!" Another said, and...
*Slap!* His companion did not hesitate!
"Ow! You didn't have to go so far!"
"You said I should!"
"It hurts!"
"Then it's not a dream!"
"How is this possible?!"
"Did they cheat?!"
"500 points?!!"
"*Pigs can certainly fly from today!"
(*Anything can happen!)
Zhang Furen and Xu Linhua appeared to be in a competition for 'The most Sour Look', and Lord Zhang looked like he had swallowed an entire melon whole.
He was simply bitter that Luoyin wasn't making these achievements under the Zhang Mansion's roof!
Meanwhile, Lord Xu was smiling so hard that his eyes had almost vanished!
He knew in his heart that his mysterious Son-in-law was somehow responsible for this, and he shook his head.
'Xiaoyin, Xiaoyin!' He thought, not quite able to help his joy. 'Is there no end to your surprises?!'
Even the fact that the score was exactly '500', could be interpreted as two young men who could go further, but merely 'decided' to stop at that point!
... which was the case indeed.
Luoyin slayed one final beast. "There! 500 points should be fine... What do you think?"
Xu Min gasped. "Aiya! I think it's too much! We got carried away! Won't we be accused of cheating?!!"
The highest hunt score in Yueyan's tournament history was 190 points! Eyebrows would rise to the skies if their score was 500!
But Luoyin simply smirked, waving the words away. "Don't worry, don't worry! It should be fine!"
Then he suddenly turned to Xu Min.
"Ehehe, it's time for us to run!"
"Don't tell me..." Xu Min noticed a few distant beasts beginning to move faster.
"It's a timed technique!" Luoyin confirmed. "Run!"
And the two ran off, laughing through the trees.
Xu Min was a bit surprised to learn Luoyin could use Qinggong flawlessly well, and while they had been slaying the beasts, Luoyin had wielded a beautiful sea-blue sword, and had even shot sword aura at the beasts, slaying almost ten with one hit.
Xu Min wanted to ask.
He really wanted to ask a lot of questions!
But with Luoyin, he simply learned not to be too surprised...
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By Noon the next day, the disciples found themselves back on the Arena's platform in varying levels of dishevelment, some with dirty robes, some with parts of their robes torn or burnt.
There was even a disciple with parts of her hair singed, and it wasn't too difficult to guess she had challenged some powerful fire beast.
But a few came out looking pristine and proper, including Weiyan's pair, Zhang Cheng's pair, Xu Lian's pair, and Luoyin and Xu Min, with Luoyin even stretching and yawning from sleep.
Zhang Cheng had a smug and superior look on his face, but it fell the instant he heard,
"We have our winners! The Zhang Luoyin-Xu Min pair, with an outstanding score of 500! The highest in the tournament so far!" Elder Zhou announced and the crowd erupted in cheers and applause, though most of the elders, warriors and disciples present eyed Luoyin and Xu Min with skepticism.
"What?! Impossible!" Zhang Cheng's head turned to the board so fast that a weaker person would certainly be dizzy, and he staggered back a step to see the top score, beneath which was...
"We have, in second place, the Zhang Cheng-Li San pair, with 383!" Elder Zhou continued, "...and in third place, the Xu Weiyan-Du Wen pair, with 236! All three beat the record!" There was thunderous cheer from the crowd, as the disciples muttered amongst themselves.
They hadn't known the scores as they were within the hunting plain but most had expected Xu Weiyan or Zhang Cheng to win, and they certainly did not expect Zhang Luoyin to make any waves.
So none were too surprised when Zhang Cheng swiveled to face his younger brother.
"Zhang Luoyin! You cheated!"
A sudden hush descended on the crowd, and a Xu Elder rose up as well.
"Zhang Luoyin, can you explain to us how you and Xiaomin raised five hundred points?!"
Luoyin had the audacity to shrug. "That's easy... We killed exactly Seventy level six beasts, and sixteen level fives!"
Adding up the gains, it was indeed five hundred points exactly, and Xu Min sent Luoyin a surprised glance.
Asides from aiming for the powerful beasts, Xu Min had barely paid attention to what level they had slain, so he was a bit shocked to hear it in such clear detail!
'No wonder he knew it was 500!'
"Zhang Luoyin, explain yourself." 1st elder Xu, the eldest, was speaking. "I know Xiaomin's level, and we all know yours." Several people snickered at this. "How then can you surpass Xiaocheng in scores?!"
"I wondered the same thing..." Zhang Furen spoke sadly. "I wasn't going to say anything, because our A-Yin has been through a lot. But I don't think we should encourage him cheating!"
Down on the platform, Weiyan's eyes narrowed at Zhang Furen, and Xu Min's scowl was no worse.
But Zhang Furen was unaware of their scalding looks and she hid a smile when the crowd began to mutter...
However, she nearly choked when a Sect Elder suddenly shot to his feet and turned to her.
"Hao! *'The Crow indeed mocks a Pig for being black'!" The Sect Elder was a graying old man around eighty, and a disapproving scowl rested on his face. "Didn't you give your son a talisman to cheat?!"
(*He's calling her a hypocrite)
A wave of gasps filled the air as numerous heads swivelled between the two.
"Zhang Furen, surely what I heard is the furthest from the truth?" Sect Leader Xu asked, his brows nearly unifying in a furrow.
Zhang Furen was opening and closing her mouth in shock, but she was no easy target, and she suddenly placed a hand to her chest. "A-Yin! Did you go as far as getting someone to slander me?!" Her gaze was directed down at Luoyin, which in turn drove a multitude of eyes to him.
She continued with real tears. "A-Yin, I know you don't like me, but harming me like this would only affect the entire family!"
Luoyin opened his mouth, but someone else was faster.
"'Framing others for one's own faults'. The first thing you thought of was to shift blame onto a junior... Your own stepson. This says a lot." It was Xu Weiyan, and her beautiful features were arranged in a cold glare.
Luoyin glanced at her in mild surprise, not quite able to understand the speed with which she had leapt to his defense, faster even than Xu Min, who now stepped before Luoyin.
"Exactly!" Xu Min was saying. "From this, we can tell how much you've 'cared for him' through the years!"
But Xu Linhua shot to her feet as well. "Sister, of course you'll be on this 'thing's' side! You're married to him! And 2nd Disciple Xu is his partner right now! Won't he defend him to escape the fire?!"
Lord Zhang glared at Luoyin. "A-Yin! How can you do such a thing?! "*Throwing dirty water on your parents' faces!"
(*He's wrongly accusing them)
Xu Min was about to protest, but Luoyin placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Just watch!" He whispered, and at that moment,
"Don't tug an innocent person into this!" Yet another Sect Elder jumped in. "Zhang Furen, we are well aware of what you've done!"
Another, "Yes! We would have held our silence to give the Zhang Family face, but how can the thief cry 'Thief!' first?!"
Yet another, "Yes! Young Master Zhang used a talisman to summon Sect Warriors to hunt! One of them can duplicate the tokens and they helped the pair hunt for points!"
By now, mutters had erupted, and almost everyone was sending Zhang Furen disbelieving looks.
Sect Leader Xu sighed. "Zhang Furen, do you owe us an explanation?"
But Zhang Furen herself was severely shocked.
'How-?! How did they know?!!'
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