To Sew or Not to Sew | Invigilator: "The star student's little tricks don't work anymore?"

You Huo and the others had spent nearly the whole night in the woods, but despite searching everywhere, they hadn't found those crawling things.

The traces of churned earth had vanished in the blink of an eye. Dead branches and fallen leaves lay undisturbed on the ground, as if they had never been moved.

Only when the sky began to brighten did they emerge from the woods.

"Maybe it wasn't that scary after all?" Old Yu muttered. "Everyone says not to go into the woods, but we spent the whole night in there and nothing happened."

Yu Wen looked numb. "We got our fill of scares..."

"But we're still alive, and none of us got hurt."

"True."

But when they thought back to the noises from last night, they felt it couldn't be that simple.

Those deathly pale things had rustled past them, more as if they had found another target and spared them for the time being.

Day broke quickly.

Yet the villagers' houses remained dark. Their windows were shabby, and some doors were even covered in cobwebs.

At first glance, they looked like abandoned old houses.

You Huo abruptly stopped in front of one house.

The others paused, suddenly remembering that this was where the mad villager lived.

"Go on ahead." With that, You Huo went to knock on the madman's door.

"You're looking for that villager?" Yu Wen asked. "Do you believe what he said yesterday?"

He knew You Huo had lost his memories and thought he would be sensitive about the matter.

Someone had suddenly claimed to have seen him before. Though the man seemed unreliable, maybe his cousin was curious and wanted to ask him about it?

But You Huo said, "No."

He had paid close attention yesterday. The madman's gaze had been unfocused when he looked at You Huo, but it had lit up when he looked at Qin Jiu.

Especially when he had told Qin Jiu, "You know me," his expression had been serious.

If there had been any truth in the madman's words, it was more likely in the part he had said to Qin Jiu.

But Qin Jiu's view had been blocked for a moment then, so he hadn't seen it and hadn't reacted.

Besides, which NPC Mr. 001 knew and whether he paid them any attention... what the hell did that have to do with him?

Or so You Huo thought.

He had come to knock only because the madman spoke without restraint and was the easiest to get information out of.

They knocked for five minutes without getting a response.

"He's probably too scared to come out, right? Or maybe he's not up yet? Didn't the village chief say all the villagers are afraid of the things that come out at night, so they try to sleep more soundly and wake up later?"

"Let's wait until evening."

Remembering the village chief's words, they didn't stay there waiting for nothing.

The time to hand in their papers was drawing closer. They hurried across the frozen river and gathered outside Black Granny's door.

The listening questions displayed on the door the day before were still clearly visible, and the answer area was blank.

With their previous experience, they quickly found the pen for their answers-

This time it was a real pen, though it was made of an unusual material: it had been carved from white bone.

Yu Wen gripped it, his scalp tingling.

Question (1): What is Black Granny's name?

He pulled up the photo of the gravestone and copied a long string of incomprehensible symbols into the answer area, following it stroke for stroke and not missing even the punctuation.

He was about to copy the answer to the second question when You Huo stopped him.

"Don't copy it."

"Why?" Yu Wen said. "The names of Black Granny's family should be on the gravestone too. We've basically found the answers to two questions."

You Huo looked at him as if he wanted to carve the word "stupid" into his face. "Could you save one question for tomorrow morning?"

Yu Wen: "...I could."

The fully grown examinees gathered around the door, craning their necks as they waited for the results.

You Huo hadn't rested all night. Leaning against the wall in the morning light, he was starting to doze off.

He happened to catch sight of Qin Jiu out of the corner of his eye. Qin Jiu stood farther away, one hand in his pocket and the other playing with the help card.

From that angle and distance, You Huo couldn't make out Qin Jiu's expression.

But for some reason, You Huo felt that something was missing from Invigilator 001.

He couldn't say exactly what...

After all, he had only known Qin Jiu for the past few days.

After an unknown amount of time, Old Yu suddenly let out a sound of surprise and asked, "It's almost time to hand in the papers. Why aren't Chen Bin and that... Liang Yuanhao up yet?"

"I don't know. The crow already gave a reminder just now. They should be awake, right?"

Old Yu said, "You wait for the door to open. I'll go wake them."

As he spoke, he turned and went to knock on the door of Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao's house.

The knocking and the crow's caw sounded almost at the same time.

It was time for the first paper to be handed in.

On Black Granny's door, two words had been picked out and circled among the densely packed gravestone inscriptions.

Floure Jaroka

Five points added.

Everyone let out a long sigh of relief and grew excited.

Their golden thigh really was a golden thigh.

Immediately afterward, a new question appeared on the lower half of the door.

Reading comprehension: The annual Witchcraft and Gu Festival has arrived in Chasu Village, and Black Granny has prepared gifts for the villagers well in advance. You guessed it: carefully sewn dolls. She wrote a long prayer letter, in which she included a blessing for each villager. Read the prayer letter and, using the information it contains, help Black Granny deliver the dolls to the correct villagers. The God of Witchcraft and Gu is watching over you. The careless are always punished. As for the careful, the villagers will point them in the direction of home. Where there are no trees, there is a road home. Can you find it?

Chapter 24: To Sew or Not to Sew | Invigilator: "The star student's little tricks don't work anymore?"

Reading comprehension was even more despair-inducing than listening comprehension.

Everyone sucked in a breath, but before they could let it out, Old Yu's shout rang out.

"Holy crap, come quick!"

In the space of one night, Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao's house had been turned upside down.

There was blood everywhere in the bedroom: on the floor, the walls, the beds... Two long streaks extended all the way to the front door.

When everyone rushed over, Old Yu was pressed against the living room wall. "I was fucking stunned when I came in! There's nowhere to put your feet!"

"Fuck... what happened? Where are those two?"