Reading comprehension ┃ For some reason, You Huo felt that Invigilator 001 was missing something.

The woman backed away several steps with the bucket in hand, urging everyone, "You should hurry back inside too. It's dark!"

"What happens when it gets dark? The village chief said so earlier too. You don't come out after dark?"

The woman was trembling.

She pulled her scarf tighter and glanced around before saying softly, "There are ghosts after dark, everywhere. They'll knock on your door, open your windows, stand by your bed or crawl under it. You need to be careful..."

With that, she pressed her index finger to her lips and went, "Shh."

"..."

Her "shh" sent chills down everyone's spines.

After saying that, the woman hurried away with her metal bucket.

Under the night sky, she walked especially fast. In the blink of an eye, she was already in front of a house in the distance.

She opened the door, looked to either side, then carefully slipped inside and shut the doors and windows tight.

For a moment, everything fell silent.

A few scattered lights glowed in the houses, but they were so dim, and occasionally swayed so gently, that they only made everyone more uneasy.

Chen Bin and the others rubbed their arms. "What do we do? We don't have a clue about the listening question. Should we... go back and study the recording some more?"

They sounded utterly desperate.

They had no translator, the villagers didn't understand Romani, and ghosts supposedly knocked on doors at night... How were they supposed to get the listening question?

"I'm going into the woods."

You Huo spoke suddenly.

"You're going where???" Old Yu was startled by his nephew, but before he could finish asking, the rustle of You Huo's footsteps was already receding into the distance.

"Fuck." Old Yu didn't dare swear at his nephew, so he spat at the ground and shouted, "Wait! At least take a light!"

Without even looking back, You Huo gave a perfunctory wave.

Everyone: "..."

Old Yu hurriedly asked, "Someone! Anyone! Got a flashlight? A phone will do too! Mine ran out of battery this afternoon. Fuck... I can't just watch him go into a graveyard alone!"

Everyone exchanged looks and shook their heads.

Playing the recording over and over that afternoon had drained everyone's phone batteries.

They didn't dare use what little charge remained for light, or their phones would shut down completely in just a few minutes.

"What about the veterans? You two? Did either of you bring a flashlight?" Old Yu turned to Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao.

Liang Yuanhao: "No."

Chen Bin waved a hand awkwardly. "They sell them at the rest stop, but... our scores were so pitiful we didn't dare buy one."

"Um..." Yu Wen suddenly spoke up, holding out a long, slender object. "I took the liberty... of spending 0.5 points on a glow stick. Will it do?"

Old Yu immediately gave him a smack. "If you were going to buy something, why a glow stick? A box of matches would've been better!"

Yu Wen cried, "I've read too many novels... Some places don't allow open flames."

Holding the glow stick, he pulled Old Yu along to catch up with You Huo.

Yu Yao said in a small, soft voice, "I... I'll go too."

A string of people ran after You Huo, leaving only Liang Yuanhao and Chen Bin standing there in a daze.

"Are they... always this reckless during exams???" Chen Bin muttered. "So are we going or not?"

Liang Yuanhao's face darkened. "They already said it's full of graves. Go if you want. I'm going back inside."

The woods were exceptionally quiet, without so much as a bird.

You Huo snapped a few branches underfoot and casually kicked them behind him.

Qin Jiu gave a lukewarm chuckle and drawled, "Could you be a little more considerate? There's someone behind you."

Without a word, You Huo kicked a few more broken branches back.

Qin Jiu clicked his tongue.

With his hands in his pockets, You Huo strolled through the graveyard as though he were in a park, as if the darkness posed no obstacle to him.

"Are you sure you don't need a light? I could lend you one," Qin Jiu said.

You Huo: "My night vision is excellent. No need to trouble yourself. Could you shut up and be quiet for a while?"

Qin Jiu: "Not really."

You Huo ignored him.

After walking through the woods for a while, Qin Jiu stopped and said, "Who's calling for a lost soul?"

You Huo listened for a moment and heard Yu Wen's trembling voice. "Bro-where are you, bro-"

He could just make out a short, green-glowing object illuminating several faces.

You Huo broke a few branches off nearby, pulled out a lighter and set them alight.

"Over there, over there! I see it!" Yu Wen spotted the firelight and came charging over, yelling at the top of his lungs.

Old Yu braced himself against a tree, panting. "Hey... you... my dear ancestor, what are you looking for?"

"Just looking around," You Huo said.

Everyone's faces turned green for a moment.

"...So, did you see anything? If not, how about we go back first?" Old Yu ventured.

You Huo swept the burning branches toward the ground at his feet. "Look, a row of graves."

Everyone jumped and looked where the firelight fell.

You Huo's toe was pressed against a patch of ground, where a row of tombstones stood side by side.

Strange characters were carved on the stones, resembling both letters and curly, coiled earthworms. They looked a lot like the writing on the stone tablet at the village entrance; it was clear that Black Granny had carved them all.

Yu Wen looked utterly baffled. "How did you find a place like this?"

"Black Granny came into these woods this afternoon." You Huo crouched down and suddenly beckoned to Yu Wen. "Does your phone still have some battery left?"

"A little."

"Take a picture, then copy it onto Black Granny's door."

Everyone froze. "Why?"

To piss Black Granny to death??

"What's on a tombstone?" You Huo asked.

Old Yu said, "The dead person's name, photo, and dates of birth and death."

You Huo's face was expressionless.

Old Yu's survival instinct kicked in, and he added, "And the deceased's relatives, and whoever carved it."

Everyone: "..."

That's right! Black Granny carved the stones!

Black Granny's name had to be in the inscription!