154 would have never thought that, as an invigilator, his life would be more thrilling than that of the examinees.
He was just performing his duties as an invigilator and ensuring that the examinees returned safely but was forced to take a dip in the water.
Was the arctic sea a place anyone could take a soak in?
Only those who sought death would do something so reckless.
And 922 was one of those. A pure idiot.
078 and 021 reacted very quickly. From the moment they noticed it and until they were pulled back up, it took less than twenty minutes.
But in this sea of ice, twenty minutes was enough for one to lose half their life.
Fortunately, although Miss 021 didnât like Qin Jiu, she wasnât someone who would just sit around and do nothing. She also regarded 154 and 922 as colleagues.
She strode over quickly in her high heels. With her hands, she popped open a bottle of alcohol and poured it all into a bucket.
After emptying out almost ten bottles, she instructed 078 and said: âThese are all that I could find. I left a bottle for them to drink later. Rub this into them first. Remember, they can only go warm up by the fire after you warm them up with this or those two unlucky ones would be roasted crisp.â
078 was also a high-ranking invigilator so he understood what she meant. It was just that his reaction was a little slower than Miss Decisive so he could only follow her instructions: âOkay, okay, okay. Understood.â
âIt must be done quickly otherwise their skin will be gone.â 021 said.
078 said: âBig sister, I only have two handsâŠâŠ.â
âYou want me to rub one of them?â 021 kicked the bucket over to him, âIf you really canât, give them the bucket. Let the two of them rub each other.â
078 imagined that scene. Pretty good.
He shouted out âgood ideaâ and ran off with the bucket.
Hearing the sound of his footsteps disappear upstairs, 021 turned around and rekindled the fire stove.
Along with small crackling sounds, the fire in the stove grew bigger.
021 squatted there watching the fire for a while before nestling into a nearby chair.
The living room was extremely warm, but her expression was sombre.
Following the end of the confinement, she had used that opportunity to say a few more things to You Huo.
In fact, it couldnât be called âsaying something to You Huoâ. She was only passing on a message. It was invigilator A asking her to pass a key message to his future self ââ-
ăGo to the rest stop. Find a thing and a person.ă
You Huo asked her: âWhich rest stop?â
She said: âI donât know.â
You Huo asked: âWhat does it mean by finding a thing?â
She said: âI donât know.â
You Huo asked: âWho to find?â
She said: âI alsoâŠâŠdonât know.â
You Huo: ââŠâŠâŠ.â
Unable to answer any of his questions, Miss Decisive covered her face in shame: âYou probably canât find a worse messenger than me.â
Please read this from kk translates
âIt has nothing to do with you.â You Huo casually comforted her: âThe problem lies with the person not speaking properly.â
For a moment 021 didnât know whether she should mock him.
âŠâŠâŠâŠ.
Until this moment, their conversation was quite normal.
She patted her chest and said that she will definitely help him find clues while the other party expressed his gratitude.
The atmosphere was very harmoniousâŠâŠ..
But soon afterwards, You Huo suddenly asked: âHow bad was my relationship with 001?â
And just asking wasnât enough, this former invigilator even tried to get her to give an example.
Give your grandma an example!
Do you even need an example for something like this?
But because time was limited, she couldnât elaborate. What was most frustrating was that she really didnât know much.
At this moment, 021 began to contemplate. Where could she go to find something that would let this invigilator see for himself?
There were suddenly footsteps coming from the stairs.
078 had returned with his two colleagues who had just taken a dip in the sea.
021 restored her expression and watched them sit down by the fire. Each wrapped in a blanket, 154 and 922 huddled on the sofa shivering intensely.
âBetter?â 021 asked.
078 nodded: âIn any case we just rubbed everywhere. The skin was even rubbed red. I only brought them down here once they started to warm up.â
154 was wrapped tightly by the blanket and only his flushed face was exposed. Those who werenât aware would have thought that he was embarrassed but, in fact, he even had the urge to kill 922.
âY-y-y-y-you tell m-meâŠ.â His teeth chattered as he asked 922. âWhy were you o-o-o-out of it? What were you t-thinking for you to f-f-fall into the sea? I r-r-remember you trying to s-s-say somethingâŠ.â
922 was huddled next to him. Because of his height, the blanket wrapped around him made him look like a large silkworm.
What he was thinking of before falling in â He remembered it very clearly.
He had heard that the phone was something another examinee left behind so that video should be something taken many years ago. Within that video was Qin Jiu who was still an examinee and invigilator A who still existed.
And that invigilator A was You HuoâŠâŠ.
He recalled the rumours over the past few years. It all said that invigilator A was likely dead; that he was eliminated by the system.
But now, it seems that he not only didnât die, he had returned back to the system. This time, however, he had changed his identity and had become an examinee.
Based on their previous interactionsâŠâŠâŠ. He probably no longer remembered the past.
So, what was his purpose of returning this time?
âŠâŠâŠâŠ
Something like this was shocking but he was able to calm back down after taking a dip in the sea.
What really surprised 922 was Qin Jiuâs reaction.
He had previously heard from 154âs end matters involving his bossâs injury and memory loss, and a name that would be mentioned every time was invigilator A.
It was a well-known fact that these two were arch enemies.
Shouldnât arch enemies take advantage of the situation and bring more trouble to the other party to address their inner grievances?
But why was Qin Jiuâs first reaction after watching the video to say ânobodyâ? Was he subconsciously trying to hide it?
It would be understandable if he was trying to hide it from You Huo but why was he also hiding it from his closest subordinate?
If it wasnât for the fact that he knew that the relationship between the two was bad and that Qin Jiu didnât have a good attitude towards invigilator AâŠâŠ.
922 wouldâve even suspectedâŠâŠâŠ.that this form of concealment was a disguised attempt to protect.
But that definitely couldnât be it.
922 thought: Perhaps he had something else in mind?
He shrank inside his blanket. Even after mulling over it for a long time, he couldnât figure out what Qin Jiu wanted to do.
But this didnât stop him from siding unconditionally with his boss.
â922?â
âFool?â
âStuââââ
âHuh?â 922 abruptly returned to his senses as 154 continuously worsened his name calling.
154 pursed his lips for a few seconds before saying: âIâm asking you a question. What did you want to say earlier?â
922 shivered while internally giving his apologies. With his mouth, he said: âIâŠâŠ.ah, itâs too fucking cold. What did I want to say? Iâve f-f-forgotten.â
154âs expression turned dark. Internally he cursed: Damn you and your grandmother. If I donât beat you to death, I will take your surname.
.
This round of confinement lasted for three hours. By the time they were released, it was midnight.
Snoring could be heard coming from the cave. The main source of it were the crew members who had eaten their fill and didnât have anything else to worry about. The examinees on the other hand were sitting there with their eyes wide open, looking like a group of perched owls.
Amongst them, Di Li and his teammate were still holding onto a wooden stick. On the wooden stick hung the dead rabbit.
It was as if they were holding out an offering waiting respectfully for someoneâs arrival.
Please read this from kk translates
âHungry again?â You Huo whose eyes were blinded by the sight of the roasted rabbit the moment he entered the cave asked.
Di Li: ââŠâŠâŠEven if I starve to death, I wouldnât eat this.â
âThen why are you holding it?â
âWe were planning on getting rid of itâŠâŠ.â Di Li wanted to say that it was because the others didnât dare touch it.
Shu Xue and Wu Li dared to, but the two of them are thin and fragile so he felt bad asking them to dispose of the rabbit. He could only do it himself.
âThen why havenât you disposed of it?â
âSince you guys roasted it, I was afraid that you guys really did want to eat it.â
ââŠâŠ..â
âSo, are you guys still eating?â Di Li asked cautiously.
âNot interested.â You Huo wanted to tell him to dispose of it but he remembered that he was also referring to Qin Jiu when he said âyou guysâ. What if Qin Jiu wanted to?
âWhat about you? Eating?â He looked back and asked.
The moment he looked back, he saw Qin Jiu who stood a step behind him look at him with a very, very complicated expression.
You Huo: ââŠâŠâŠâŠ.â
Itâs just eating a rabbit. Do you need to be so conflicted?
He stopped his steps and asked: âWhatâs wrong?â
Qin Jiu who was lost in thought suddenly returned to his senses.
ââŠâŠâŠNothing.â He quickly furrowed his brows and pinched his nose bridge a few times.
It was as if he suddenly felt sleepy and was struggling to stay awake.
When you looked back again, he had already returned to normal.
âWhat? Did you specially leave this thing here for our supper?â He asked Di Li.
Di Li froze for a moment. He spoke with surprise: âYouâre really eating?â
âJust joking around.â Qin Jiu reached his hand out: âGive it here. Iâll bury it at the entrance. It might still be able to talk once itâs frozen again.â
As soon as those words were said, the expressions of many examinees changed.
âDonât go outâŠ..â Di Li said.
The others hurriedly nodded.
âYes, donât go out.â
âWait until the sun rises.â
âWhat time is it now? Is it 3, 4 oâclock yet? Anyone have a watch? Or we can secretly borrow the crew members watch to check?â
â3:30am. It wonât be long till dawn. Letâs wait until then before doing anything.â
All these murmurs didnât help You Huo with figuring out the situation.
Shu Xue waved the two over: âSometime happened earlier. You two went to the invigilatorâs quarter so you donât know.â
âWhat happened?â You Huo walked over.
âThereâs something approaching outside.â Shu Xue said.
âApproaching? What do you mean?â
âItâs like thisâŠâŠâŠ..After you two were taken away to the invigilatorâs quarter, everyone here wanted to change shifts so that one half is resting and the other half waits for your return. I was part of the latter groupâŠâŠâŠâ
At that time, the resting group fell asleep very quickly. The cave was soon filled with soft breathing sounds.
Shu Xue was leaning against the wall poking at the fire when she suddenly heard a very strange speaking voice.
It sounded like several people whispering at the same time. Mixed to some light humming, she couldnât decipher the contents.
There were four men guarding at the entrance of the cave, so Shu Xue thought they were chatting quietly to relieve their boredom. As such, she didnât pay it much heed.
But soon, that whispering sound was heard again. This time, she looked specifically at the four men only to see that they were lost in thoughts. No one was speakingâŠâŠ.
She then waited a little more. When the whispering sounds appeared again, she leaned forward and looked around.
She then finally found the source of the soundâŠâŠâŠâŠ
That sound didnât come from inside the cave. Instead, it came from somewhere outside. It travelled into the cave through the thick stone walls.
Shu Xue didnât want to take any changes. She immediately told the other night watchmen about her discovery.
Everyone immediately leaned against the wall to listen to the strange sound.
âWe heard it six times in total.â Shu Xue said: âWhat was scary was that every time the sound was heard, it sounded like it was a little closer than before.â
Di Li interjected: âThatâs right. Not long before you returned, a few of us took a fire torch and pointed it at the cave entrance but found nothing.â
âPointed it at the entrance?â You Huo glanced at the cave entrance: âHow did you do it?â
Di Li cleared his throat. He then walked over to the cave entrance, did a lunge and swept the fire torch around: âJustâŠâŠ.like this.â
You Huo gave up.
He went over to a fire and bent down to pick up a fire torch.
Di Li asked: âYouâŠâŠ..what are you doing?â
âGoing out to take a look.â As You Huo said this, he reached out to pick up a second one.
But before he grabbed the next one, he stopped.
Ever since the beginning of this exam, he and Qin Jiu had always been together whenever something significant happened.
In fact, it wasnât that often but strangely enough, it had now become a habit for him.
He would habitually think that âgoing out to take a lookâ referred to the two of them.
You Huoâs fingers stopped several centimetres away from the fire. His expression was cold and indifferent, but inside he felt awkward.
But this awkwardness didnât last long.
His finger moved. He eventually seemingly nonchalantly picked up a second fire torch.
For reasons even ghosts wouldnât know, he didnât want Qin Jiu to know that he is invigilator A for the time being.
According to what he had heard, as someone who was always going against Qin Jiu, invigilator A should be someone who would rather be beaten to death than invite his enemy out to work together.
He was now doing the opposite. Even if Qin Jiu had ten brains, he wouldnât associate him with invigilator.
Perfect.
He held up the fire torch and glanced at Qin Jiu. For the first time in 800 years, he took the initiative and asked: âComing?â
Qin Jiu: ââŠâŠâŠâ
Perhaps it was too surprising. Invigilator 001 was so happy; his expression was completely stiff.
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