A Return Gift ┃ This is a return gift from that chamber pot. Do you like it?

As he spoke, he seemed to get a little hungry. He stopped on his own and reached into the glass basin for a piece of raw meat.

Everyone watched as his mouth opened like a black hole and swallowed the whole piece. He chewed it up, bones and all. Just as he had described earlier, it made a crunching sound.

The two old women dropped to the floor.

The panic in the room grew worse.

When Hunter A finished eating, he licked his lips and said softly, "Ah, excuse me."

He pointed at You Huo and reproached him. "It's all because of this reckless guest. He made me a little angry. I have a problem: whenever I get angry, I get hungry."

His eyes rolled around again. He counted the pieces of meat in the basin and said, "What should I do? I accidentally ate one portion. There are only eleven left."

Everyone froze, staring at him.

Hunter A picked up the last goblet and said with a smile, "Then I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you... to have one more person die?"

The color drained from everyone's faces.

In the dead silence, a cool voice suddenly rang out. "Isn't that against the rules?"

The speaker was none other than You Huo.

Hunter A froze and tried to turn his head to look at him, but his body was so uncoordinated that he twisted himself into another bizarre posture.

"You again!"

Hunter A frowned, about to lose his temper.

You Huo suddenly raised a long leg and kicked him.

In an instant, the world spun.

Then came a smack as his big white face hit the floor. The goblet in his hand fell with him.

"..."

Hunter A stared blankly at the shards of the goblet for two seconds. Then his eyes flew wide, full of terror.

No one in the room dared move.

Everyone remained frozen in place, dumbfounded.

Then came that heart-stopping midnight rooster crow again!

Another sentence appeared on the answer wall, which had been quiet for over four hours.

Violation warning: Exam requirements violated. The proctors have been notified.

Proctors: 001, 154, 922.

Everyone: "..."

Yu Wen stared at the answer wall in a daze for a long moment. Suddenly, he felt a little sorry for the proctors.

In the little house deep in the woods, 922 rushed into the office with a notice in hand.

"Boss..."

Qin Jiu frowned. His first reaction was to look at the clock.

"Don't bother. We only sent him back an hour ago." 154's face was blank.

Qin Jiu gave a short laugh, his mood unreadable. "What is it this time? Rushing to answer the question?"

154 shook his head. "No, it's a little more serious than that. He killed the question."

Qin Jiu: "Killed what?"

154 said expressionlessly, "You heard me right. The question itself is dead."

Qin Jiu: "..."

922, who had followed him in, looked utterly bewildered. "The fucking question can die? How did that happen?"

Chapter 8: A Return Gift ┃ This is a return gift from that chamber pot. Do you like it?

The rooster hanging on the door twisted its neck once again and crowed at the window.

The three proctors arrived dusted with snow, bringing a blast of cold air through the door.

A familiar scene, familiar people.

The old, weak, sick, and disabled people in the room had gone completely blank-faced.

154's face was even more blank. "We received another violation notice."

He pulled out a slip of paper and said, "According to the notice, a certain examinee-"

"A certain well-behaved-looking examinee who refuses to mend his ways despite repeated warnings," Qin Jiu added teasingly as he removed his gloves.

154 looked at him in disbelief.

"Is there a problem?" Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow.

154: "...No."

He just wondered how blind someone had to be to see anything "well-behaved" about You Huo.

But the one making things up was the boss, so he could only let him spout bullshit.

You Huo stood against the wall with his arms folded and shot Qin Jiu a cold glance.

Qin Jiu, however, smiled and nodded in return across the orange-yellow firelight and lamplight.

The gesture was genuinely gentlemanly, and the air about him was genuinely mocking.

Afraid that a certain proctor and a certain examinee might come to blows and draw blood on the spot, 154 hurriedly said with a stern face, "-A certain examinee violated the rules while answering the question, causing the main component of the question-"

922: "That means Hunter A."

154: "...To die on the spot. This kind of situation is currently rather rare-"

922: "Unheard of."

154: "...We need to conduct an inquiry, and we hope you can explain what happened."

922: "That's mainly directed at a particular examinee."

154 closed his eyes for a moment.

The boss went around antagonizing people all day, and his colleague had something wrong with his brain.

He took a moment, then put the slip away expressionlessly. He asked everyone, "Where is Hunter A?"

The examinees in the room moved aside, revealing the long dining table and a large heap of rags lying beside one of its legs.

The proctors walked over and took a closer look. Only then did they realize it wasn't a heap of rags but a long black padded coat, wrapped in a worn, moldy cloak trimmed with black bear fur. It gave off a stale, unpleasant sour smell.

The thoroughly ill-fated Hunter A lay face down, stiff as a board inside the heap of clothing.

In the interest of a proctor's professional ethics, 922 turned Hunter A over.

Hunter A's skin had been deathly pale while he was alive, and after death it had taken on a bluish-gray tinge. His face was turned to one side, his eyes wide, still wearing an expression of disbelieving fright. His mouth was like a gaping hole, his lips and tongue bright red.

922 solemnly took a step back and, when no one was looking, wiped his fingers on the back of 154's coat.

154: "..."

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and bent down to examine the body.

A section of the goblet's stem was still clutched in Hunter A's thick fingers. The rest of it had shattered into fragments on the floor.

According to the violation notice they had received, Hunter A had said, "Everyone in this room, whoever breaks the tableware will be severely punished."

That was entirely consistent with the exam requirements and had been meant for the examinees.