CHAPTER18

It should be stressful as you wait for the question to be played.

But with the systems warning that came out of nowhere, all that tension just disappeared in an instant.

All the examinees were stunned but no one dared to speak.

Yu Wen originally wanted to follow them in to take a look but he remained standing there with one foot in the air. He was neither inside nor outside.

Because the air around the two great masters in the room was a bit scary…..

You Huo glanced at Qin Jiu and then looked away expressionlessly.

With an expression that looked like he was at a funeral, he looked around the room before finally finding the source of the sound.

It was a crow specimen that stood rigidly on a copper frame. It had its wings spread and its beak wide open.

Ten seconds ago when they first entered through the door, the beak was still closed.

You Huo didn’t even bend and just looked at the crow with narrowed eyes: “Who’s operating this examination system? Who set up those idiotic words? Is there a place to file a complaint?”

Crow: “………”

You Huo turned to look at Qin Jiu.

A “beep” went off from Qin Jiu’s wrist and it was followed by a red glow.

He rubbed his wrist and winked at You Huo: “A friendly reminder not to ask things you’re not supposed to. The first time is to warn me not to leak any information out. If you ask again, you will be kicked out of this exam.”

You Huo patted the crow’s head.

Crow: “……….”

Qin Jiu’s eyes were dark. It stopped at You Huo for a moment before turning to look at the crow.

“Okay, let’s change rooms. Then I’ll stay with that mixed examinee.” He stared at the crow and said this.

This time the crow was silent for two seconds.

Just as everyone thought that the problem was settled, it suddenly spoke up and repeated the words from earlier:

【Examinees and invigilators are prohibited from developing improper relationships. Please reassign the rooms.】

In order to accommodate Mike, it even repeated that in English.

Mike: “………..”

“Then with this one here?” Qin Jiu casually pointed at Yu Wen.

【Examinees and invigilators are prohibited from developing improper relationships. Please reassign the rooms.】

“…………”

Everyone finally came to a realisation as the warning was announced once again. It probably wasn’t directed at just Qin Jiu and You Huo. It applied to everyone else as well.

Yu Wen quietly nudged his father: “Did this system get triggered by something? Why is it so sensitive………. If sharing the same room is being improper then does that mean you’ll have children by just sharing a bed?”

Old Yu: “Don’t speak so carelessly!”

Yu Wen: “???”

Qin Jiu also walked over to the crow. He said: “Then we can just forget about full-time onsite surveillance and let this examinee do as he pleases.”

Beep———-

A violation warning.

Mr. Invigilator 001 scoffed.

Can’t stay in the same room yet still needing full-time onsite surveillance.

Can you speak some sense?

Qin Jiu rubbed his wrist and looked at the crow.

At that moment, everyone could clearly feel the air in the room become tense.

He looked like he was about to do something but after a moment he just spoke slowly: “How about this? The examinee stays in the bedroom and I’ll bear with it for a while and just use the sofa.”

This time the crow didn’t say anything. It appeared to have silently accepted this compromise.

The onlookers let out a sigh of relief.

You Huo looked at Qin Jiu strangely.

Although he didn’t get along with this invigilator, he had to admit that Qin Jiu had a special temperament. It was as if those iron-clad rules could not tie him down.

Even if invigilator 001 stood there with a smile while negotiating with the examination system in a casual tone, it gave people a feeling that…….He would break the rules at any moment.

His concessions and compromises were like a lion lazily taking a break. It wasn’t without any hint of aggression.

It was like a sleepy lion asking for a kiss. Who would dare let it kiss?

The issue of accommodation was finally resolved.

After going around in a big circle, the eventual room allocation was no different from the allocation at the beginning.

The only addition was annoyance.

The houses were all decorated very similarly, and the same crow specimen stood on a stand in all the rooms.

It was the system’s speaker and was used to convey information. Except for You Huo and Qin Jiu who touched its head, no one else dared to touch it.

Soon, it was 7:30.

Everyone heard creaking sounds coming from inside the main house.

The door opened. The black widow was finally awake.

The crow spoke:

【The listening exam officially starts now. All examinees please hurry to the test centre. Each passage will only be played twice.】

As soon as the black widow woke up, the village chief hurried away like a mouse running away from a cat.

Before he slipped away, he said to them: “The black widow has a custom. Before you enter, you must draw a card.”

Card drawing again?

You Huo‘s expression immediately darkened.

“What card? Playing cards or the tarot cards girls play with?” Yu Wen surprisingly didn’t completely waste his time away at school and actually knew a little about it, “Will she give us a divination after drawing the card?”

“If she did, would you understand?” Old Yu interjected with annoyance.

“That’s true. Then what’s the point of drawing a card?”

The village chief opened his mouth but stopped himself. He eventually said: “It represents whether you would be able to sleep peacefully tonight.”

He probably could guess what they were about to say so he quickly added: “Don’t think about escaping. You will have to draw a card, or the consequences will be even more terrible.”

The village chief appeared to have recalled something and he started to tremble again.

“In any case, just remember not to anger her!”

He left behind this sentence and quickly ran away.

Wrapped in his military coat, he hurried across the frozen river and hid inside one of the houses on the other side.

In an instant, the entire village was silent again. The other side of the river and the side they stood on looked like two different worlds.

With experience from the previous exam, everyone didn’t dare delay things any longer. They quickly came over to the black widow’s house.

A small and thin, vulture like old lady waited at the door. Her face looked like the bark of an old tree and it was covered in deep furrows but her eyes where bright, like those of a child.

This contrast gave people a strange sense of unease.

Her head was wrapped in a complicatedly patterned headscarf while both her arms were covered in clanging bracelets.

Those bracelets appeared to be quite heavy and it was difficult for her to even raise her hand.

The black widow’s eyes stared at the crowd for a few seconds. She then suddenly laughed, revealing her sharp and pointed teeth. Those who saw it couldn’t help but shudder.

She muttered something and then proceeded to spread out a stack of cards on front of the crowd. She gestured with her mouth at Old Yu who stood at the front.

“I, I pick?” Old Yu couldn’t help but panic.

The black widow again pushed the cards closer to him.

Old Yu glanced at the crowd and hesitantly picked one out.

The black widow turned it around. When the others saw the card, they all gasped.

Although the words on the card were incomprehensible, the figure standing on a stone pillar while holding a scythe was something that they were all familiar with.

Yu Wen said softly: “Fuck…….Is that the grim reaper? I don’t remember what kind of cards there were but I think there was a grim reaper……..”

Cold sweat covered the backs of everyone present.

The black widow again laughed. Her laughter was dainty, like those of a young woman.

At this moment, the door she held started to let out scratching sounds.

It sounded like a nail scratching across it……..

Everyone who had gone through an exam couldn’t be more familiar with this sound.

Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, an examination question appeared on the door.

Listening question: Please listen to the following audio segment and answer the following questions.

(1) What is the black widow’s name?

(2) Where is the black widow’s family? Please find them.

(3) How many people are in the black widow’s house?

Exam requirements: The answers will be collected every morning at 7:30 in the morning. If you don’t earn any points, an examinee would be randomly selected and sent into a coffin.

Coffin…….

What coffin???

The moment the question appeared, the black widow opened her mouth, revealing her sharp teeth……….

She then said a long garbled code.

“…………….”

Eight faces of confusion.

Scratching once again came from the door.

Another line appeared below the question: The audio has been played once. It will now be played again. Please listen carefully.

The black widow opened her mouth again. Suddenly a hand stretched over, and it stuffed a rag into her mouth.

In an instant the black widow’s mouth was blocked.

You Huo’s voice sounded: “Sorry about that. Please wait a bit.”

Everyone: “???”