Chapter 20: Translation Software

Yu Wen said with a pale face, “Holy shit…”

Other people might not have any shame, but Qi Yang definitely did.

He replied calmly, “The tattooed piece was right in the middle of the bucket, on top. It should’ve been pretty obvious. You didn’t see it?”

Qin Jiu laughed out of sheer irritation. “You deliberately disgusted me and still expected me to admire it carefully?”

He fiddled with the doll’s leg, examining it for a moment before adding:

“Besides… if I seriously answer your question, would that count as extra assistance?”

Qi Yang took the doll back. “Forget it if you don’t remember.”

…

The others had never been to confinement, so they had no idea what the two of them were talking about, much less dared interrupt.

Old Yu, as a veteran alcoholic, suffered from shaky hands.

He held a thick needle and repeatedly tried to force yarn through the eye.

Poke poke poke.

After five entire minutes, he still hadn’t succeeded.

Yu Wen watched for a while before finally losing patience and snatching it away.

“Drink, drink, drink. You drank yourself into a pile of problems! First your hands shake, next your legs will shake too. Then you’ll really suffer.”

He muttered while helping his father thread the needle before tossing it back.

The others gradually threaded theirs as well and prepared to start sewing.

Only Yu Yao sat there holding her doll motionlessly for a long time before quietly saying:

“I feel like these dolls are really strange… I’m scared. Can I not sew them?”

Her voice was so low it barely escaped her throat.

The only person who heard was Old Yu sitting closest to her.

Old Yu froze with the needle in his hand, about to comfort her—

When Qi Yang suddenly said:

“Wait.”

He spoke so abruptly that everyone jumped in fright.

They immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at him blankly.

“What is it? Something wrong?” Chen Bin asked.

Qi Yang walked over to the bamboo basket and bent down to inspect it.

He rummaged through the arms, legs, and heads inside, picking up several crudely made doll limbs before tossing them back.

“Don’t sew them.” He brushed the dust off his hands.

“Why?” Even Liang Yuanhao, who rarely spoke, couldn’t hold back anymore.

Qi Yang pointed toward the basket.

“The fabric in here is mostly the same. All gray.”

“But the completed dolls on the shelf have limbs in noticeably different colors.”

Liang Yuanhao frowned. “So what?”

“So nothing. Just feels suspicious.”

Qi Yang straightened up.

Chen Bin could tell this group trusted Qi Yang’s judgment.

He tugged Liang Yuanhao slightly and gave Qi Yang an awkward smile.

“The color thing… yeah, it is a little strange. But Black Granny specifically told us to sew these. If we don’t, are you sure nothing bad will happen?”

Qi Yang replied, “Not sure.”

Chen Bin: “……”

Liang Yuanhao still wanted to argue, but Chen Bin grabbed him and shook his head.

“There’s no such thing as being one hundred percent sure in this place anyway,” Qi Yang said impatiently. “Believe me or don’t.”

He already had little patience to begin with, and Black Granny’s incomprehensible language had annoyed him enough.

After saying that, he dragged over a chair, sat by the fireplace, and silently warmed himself.

“Bro… you really aren’t sewing?” Yu Wen asked carefully while holding his doll.

Qi Yang rested his fingers against his chin and gave a short “Mm.”

“Okay then… I-I won’t sew either.”

After hesitating briefly, Yu Wen placed the doll back into the basket.

The others remembered the previous exam experience and gradually followed suit, putting their dolls down as well.

Honestly, this was a choice made with almost no certainty.

But in this kind of world, nothing ever came with certainty anyway.

Every decision was a gamble with their lives.

It was just that Qi Yang gambled with extraordinary calmness.

He was like a special kind of adventurer—cold-faced on the outside, but wild and reckless deep in his bones.

This sort of risky choice could persuade the others.

But it was much harder to convince Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao.

Especially Liang Yuanhao.

He had already survived three exams and still had miserably low scores. The pressure on him now was enormous, making him suspicious of everyone around him.

He hadn’t experienced the previous exam with this group. He didn’t know their scores, nor had he witnessed Qi Yang’s earlier performance.

From Liang Yuanhao’s perspective, Qi Yang had been constantly dancing on the edge of rule-breaking ever since entering the exam.

Every action challenged the system’s bottom line.

Every move provoked these things—whatever they were, human or ghost.

He truly couldn’t understand it.

Wouldn’t it be better to behave obediently?

Why insist on fighting terrifying things like these?

Wouldn’t staying alive a little longer be nice?

“Do whatever you want,” he muttered angrily.

The constant deaths had already made him paranoid and jumpy. He no longer knew what to do anymore.

But compared to trusting Qi Yang, he’d rather obediently follow Black Granny’s instructions.

As he spoke, he picked up one doll leg and began sewing it.

The thick yarn scraped through the fabric with a soft rustling sound.

Chen Bin looked at him, then at Qi Yang, torn between both sides.

…

The hourglass emptied quickly.

Not long later, all the sand had run out.

Liang Yuanhao was clumsy. Even rushing desperately, he had only managed to sew on two legs.

In the end, Chen Bin also chose to obey Black Granny.

But because he hesitated too long, he only managed to sew one arm halfway on.

Click.

The lock on the cabin door opened.

Black Granny entered the room with her hunched shoulders bent forward.

She tilted her head and swept her gaze around the room before shuffling toward Liang Yuanhao and Chen Bin.

“Mmm…”

Black Granny picked up the dolls from their hands and frowned deeply, clearly dissatisfied.

Liang Yuanhao’s face turned pale as he muttered bitterly:

“We wasted time on meaningless nonsense. Otherwise I definitely could’ve finished sewing…”

Black Granny then turned toward the others.

Seeing that everyone else’s hands were empty, her expression immediately darkened.

Everyone stared at her nervously, terrified she might suddenly explode in rage.

Unexpectedly, after glaring for a while, she merely licked her lips and smiled again.

She placed the dolls back into the bamboo basket, gathered everything together, muttered another incomprehensible sentence, then drove them out of the cabin.

…

The moment the door shut behind them, the crow’s voice rang out:

【The listening examination has concluded. You now have sufficient time to think about the content you heard.】

【Tomorrow morning at 7:30, the reading examination will begin on time. Do not be late.】

【We wish you excellent results.】

…

The moment Qi Yang and Qin Jiu entered their room, everyone else followed after them like chicks chasing after a mother hen, completely filling the living room.

“So what was the point of sewing the dolls earlier?” Yu Wen scratched his head. “I couldn’t tell at all. It looked like sewing them was fine, but not sewing them was also fine.”

Old Yu smacked him lightly. “Stop dreaming. How could something that good happen? Maybe the consequences just haven’t shown up yet. Wait and see.”

Qi Yang ignored that discussion entirely.

Instead, he pulled up the recording on his phone.

“Who has translation software?”

Yu Wen immediately raised his hand. “I do! I do!”

“But there’s no signal on our phones right now,” Chen Bin pointed out.

Yu Wen replied proudly, “Mine doesn’t need internet. The language database is downloaded already, and it has voice recognition too!”

Everyone instantly became excited.

Qi Yang nodded, pressed play on the recording, and tossed the phone beside Yu Wen.

Yu Wen held his own phone like a sacred treasure and listened devoutly.

Everyone stared at him without blinking, full of expectation.

Before long, Black Granny’s incomprehensible gibberish finished playing.

Nobody dared speak.

Everyone held their breath.

After about two minutes, Yu Wen said with a pale face:

“Holy shit…”

“What happened?”

“The translation software… doesn’t include Gypsy.”

“What kind of garbage translation software is that?!”

Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao refused to believe it and immediately opened their own translation apps.

After searching for ages, they discovered…

There really wasn’t any Gypsy language option.

Everyone: “……”

Fuck.

They were seriously going to die in Foreign Language class.