Yu Wen

Biodata

Background

Yu Wen finished the college entrance examination in June and spent more than three months partying afterward. His high-school years included underage romance, getting beaten up in a group, climbing walls to go online, and public disciplinary criticism beneath the national flag. He stopped studying physics during his final two years of high school 2 3 24.

He had only gotten to know You Huo well over the two years before the examination incident. According to Old Yu, You Huo had been recuperating abroad and occasionally stayed with their family when visiting China. Yu Wen learned that his cousin had lost several years of memories, but could not discover why some older relatives feared him 3.

Yu Wen entered the snowbound examination setting alongside his father and You Huo after a strange accident. He and Old Yu tried to find a way out, only to discover that every route through the woods returned them to the cabin 1.

Appearance

Yu Wen resembles his mother and is described as attractive enough to be considered a school heartthrob, though less handsome than You Huo 19.

• Excellent eyesight: He can distinguish distant villagers whom the others struggle to identify 47.
• No glasses: Despite frequently using his phone and playing games, he does not need corrective lenses 47.

Personality

Yu Wen is outspoken, sarcastic, and quick to swear. He talks back to his father and resents being treated like a child. When the cabin’s occupants expect him to solve their predicament because he recently took the college entrance examination, he initially argues that an “exam” in a haunting must mean something other than ordinary schoolwork 2 3.

His bravado gives way easily to fear. He clings to You Huo’s sleeve when the dead rooster moves and trembles behind him when the invigilators arrive. Nevertheless, he can act under pressure: he restrains the tattooed man to recover the hidden knife and later tries to organize the others’ answers while You Huo is confined upstairs 5 8 19.

He admires You Huo and relies heavily on his judgment, but also worries about his safety. His concern extends beyond his cousin: he scolds Old Yu over his drinking while helping him thread a needle, and offers to help a distressed villager whom the others are dragging away 16 39 42.

Abilities & Skills

Observation and Deduction

Yu Wen can recognize useful clues, particularly when building on You Huo’s discoveries.

• Connects the pre-existing knife marks on the answer wall with the examination’s designated writing instrument 6.
• Realizes that only the goblets count as the relevant “tableware” and redirects the group’s search 22.
• Spots something concealed inside a broken goblet base by examining it from different angles 23.
• Recognizes individual villagers across the frozen river and notices fast-moving creatures in the woods 47 50.

Examination Knowledge

His recent schooling makes him the group’s most obvious source of academic knowledge, but his recall is unreliable.

• Uses familiar examination tactics: rereading questions, copying key information, and writing any potentially relevant formulas for partial credit 3 12.
• Remembers optics terms and simple mirror-image diagrams, although he also writes unrelated physics formulas 12.
• Correctly connects the awarded answers with refraction, but cannot remember the procedure needed to reveal the names inside the goblets 21 24.
• Earns one point for his written contribution, then loses two for presentation—a net loss of one point 21.

Phones and Practical Assistance

• Offers an offline translation app with downloaded dictionaries and speech recognition; it cannot translate Black Granny’s Romani 40.
• Uses a gravestone photograph to reproduce unfamiliar writing stroke for stroke, including punctuation 43 45.
• Threads Old Yu’s needle when his father’s shaking hands prevent him from doing it himself 39.

Equipment / Items

• Mobile phone — Used for the attempted offline translation and as a reference when copying the gravestone inscription 40 45.
• Lighting supplies — Stocks up on glow sticks, flashlights, and batteries at the rest-stop store 29.
• Glow stick — Spends 0.5 points on one for the nighttime trip into the woods, explaining that some fictional settings prohibit open flames 43.
• Designated examination implements — Uses the cabin’s knife to write answers and a white bone pen to submit Black Granny’s name 19 45.

Relationships

• You Huo — Older cousin, addressed familiarly as “Bro” or “Ge.” Yu Wen admires his composure, follows him into the foreign-language examination, and trusts his warning not to sew the dolls. You Huo intervenes when Hunter A selects Yu Wen to help carry the meal 16 30 39.
• Old Yu — Father. They frequently bicker, particularly over Old Yu’s drinking, but Yu Wen is relieved that they are not separated when the examinees are reassigned 2 31 39.
• Yu Yao — Fellow examinee whom he calls “Sis.” He encourages her to contribute a refraction diagram and promises to defend her from anyone who laughs at its simplicity 19.
• Qin Jiu / Invigilator 001 — An intimidating authority figure. Yu Wen adopts a respectful form of address around him and fears the consequences of You Huo provoking him 5 31.
• Tattooed man — An antagonistic fellow examinee who pressures Yu Wen for answers and suspects him of withholding information. Yu Wen later pins him down while recovering the hidden knife 2 3 8.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Hunter A’s Cabin

• Recovering the writing instrument: After You Huo is taken away for punishment, Yu Wen interprets his message about the hidden knife. He prevents Old Yu from announcing their discovery and eventually recovers the knife from the tattooed man 6 8.
• Keeping the answers going: Inspired by You Huo earning points with the word “Solution,” he fills the answer wall with question text, formulas, and diagrams. During You Huo’s supervision in the attic, he asks the other examinees for anything else they remember 9 12 19.
• Uncovering the goblet clue: He locates the concealed material in the broken goblet base and catches it when You Huo separates the stem from the base. The inscription identifies Simon the Zealot, helping the group connect the cabin’s supper with The Last Supper 23.

Rest Stop and Subject Selection

• Learning the survival rate: Yu Wen questions Chu Yue about earlier groups and learns that only three examinees survived one recent session of the same cabin examination; groups of five or six are more typical 28.
• Following You Huo: Although he calls foreign language a weak subject—and then admits every subject is a weakness—he chooses to accompany his cousin rather than take another route 30.

Chasu Village

• Refusing to sew: He puts down his doll after You Huo warns that the finished dolls’ limbs differ in color from the unused fabric. Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao instead continue sewing 39.
• Submitting Black Granny’s name: Following the graveyard investigation, he copies the photographed inscription onto her door. The answer is accepted as Floure Jaroka, earning the group five points. You Huo stops him from immediately submitting another answer so they can save it for the following morning 43 45.
• Watching from the woods: When You Huo stays behind to test the nighttime danger, Yu Wen and the others wait near the woods’ edge, where they can still see his house 47 48.
• Examining the ghost-hand threat: After You Huo returns with the captured arm, Yu Wen helps restrain it. He suggests that remaining asleep might prevent an attack, though Old Yu points out the difficulty of ensuring they will not wake up 50.

Notable Quotes

“Who the fuck would test you on math, physics, and chemistry here? Did the Ministry of Education build this house?” 2

“There's one more crucial thing.”
“Learn to give up.” 4

“Cousin, wherever you go, I'll go! I'll work like an ox or a horse for you, whatever it takes. Bless me so I pass every subject and live to be a hundred.” 30