{"id":3258,"date":"2026-05-11T23:00:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T23:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/?p=3258"},"modified":"2026-05-10T07:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T07:05:11","slug":"global-examination-16","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ar\/chapter\/global-examination-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Examination 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 16: Black Granny

Here\u2019s a joke: looking at a boundary marker can supposedly tell you where you are.

The broadcast died immediately after announcing the exam information, leaving the bus completely silent.

Secret weapon? Stabilizing anchor?

In front of \u201cGypsy,\u201d all of that became a joke.

Everyone sat there in a daze for a moment before collapsing weakly into their seats.

The minibus instantly transformed into a hearse carrying several half-dead souls.

Being woken up while sleeping was already annoying enough.

Being woken up by this kind of terrible news made it even worse.

Qi Yang was just about to sit up when he caught sight of someone walking toward him through half-open eyes.

He immediately closed his eyes again and pretended to be deeply asleep.

The minibus drove as smoothly as though it were gliding through clouds.

Footsteps stopped beside him. The seatback supporting the back of his head sank slightly.

Then someone tugged lightly on his earphone wire a few times.

\u201c\u2026\u201d

Qi Yang kept his cold face and continued pretending to sleep.

The wire was tugged again, causing even his earlobe and earring to move slightly.

\u201c\u2026\u201d

Qi Yang continued playing dead.

\u201cThere\u2019s no signal at all, so what exactly are you listening to? Stop pretending.\u201d

That familiar, lazy, drawn-out voice sounded above him.

\u201c\u2026\u201d

Qi Yang truly couldn\u2019t continue pretending anymore.

He half-opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping sideways from the corner of his eye toward the hand gripping his earphone wire.

\u201cWhat?\u201d

Only after asking that did he raise his eyes toward the standing figure.

From expression to tone, every part of him perfectly conveyed the message:

If you\u2019ve got something to say, say it. Otherwise get lost.

Qin Jiu withdrew the hand tugging the earphone wire and rested it against the seat in front.

He gestured lazily toward the seat beside Qi Yang and said with a half-smile, \u201cYour backpack? Ask it to move over.\u201d

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t want to.\u201d

Qi Yang replied expressionlessly, shoved the earphones back in, and closed his eyes again.

Less than two seconds later, that irritating hand returned and directly removed his earphones.

The fingers brushing across his ear and earlobe made him itch slightly.

Qi Yang raised a hand to grip his earring and opened his eyes with a frown. \u201cWhat now?\u201d

\u201cIf it truly refuses to move, then I\u2019ll just have to do it myself.\u201d

Qin Jiu smiled as he lifted the black backpack, weighing it casually in his hand before placing it onto the luggage rack above Qi Yang\u2019s head.

Qi Yang stared at him. \u201cCan\u2019t you pick another empty seat?\u201d

Qin Jiu replied, \u201cAfraid not. There are only nine seats on the entire bus, and your group already occupies seven of them. If I don\u2019t sit here, I\u2019ll have to go tie myself to the driver.\u201d

\u201cYou might not care, but the others probably wouldn\u2019t appreciate that.\u201d

Qi Yang: \u201c\u2026\u201d

When he boarded earlier, he hadn\u2019t bothered counting the seats. Who would\u2019ve guessed this broken bus had such limited space?

Qin Jiu sat down beside him.

Wearing the overcoat, he looked tall and lean, but at close range it became obvious that his build was actually powerful and straight-backed. Even through the fabric, you could sense the firmness of his arms and the warmth of his body.

Fortunately, the bus had very few seats, leaving a large amount of legroom between rows.

Otherwise, neither of them would\u2019ve had anywhere to put their legs.

Even so, their knees inevitably brushed together.

Qi Yang wanted to stretch his legs straight out, but doing that would kick the seat ahead.

And in situations like this, whoever moved first somehow seemed to lose.

After thinking about it, Qi Yang simply gave up and firmly pressed his knee against Qin Jiu\u2019s instead.

He pulled his collar higher, preparing to go back to sleep, when he suddenly heard Qin Jiu mutter softly:

\u201cGypsy. Impressive.\u201d

Qi Yang\u2019s anger instantly returned. \u201cWasn\u2019t this your chosen subject?\u201d

Qin Jiu glanced sideways at him and lazily held two fingers close together. \u201cIf you put it that way, I\u2019m a little wronged.\u201d

Wronged my ass.

Qi Yang stared at him coldly.

\u201cTake a look at the person your group picked.\u201d Qin Jiu pointed toward where Mike sat. \u201cAs far as I know, that candidate\u2019s background is pretty colorful. American, French, Russian, Spanish blood all mixed together, and somehow he still turned out like this.\u201d

Qi Yang: \u201c\u2026\u201d

\u201cSorry. Accidentally sounded a bit insulting.\u201d Qin Jiu didn\u2019t look remotely apologetic.

Qi Yang asked, \u201cYou have access to candidate information?\u201d

\u201cYou guess.\u201d Qin Jiu\u2019s voice was deep. Even with that lazy drawl, it still sounded pleasant.

Qi Yang gave a cold snort.

Since this system could drag people into this hellhole, it probably possessed complete information about everyone.

But how much did the proctors know?

Thinking back on their previous behavior, Qi Yang felt the answer was: probably not much.

The proctors were also restricted by rules.

Perhaps\u2026 if they wanted detailed information about candidates, they needed to go through some sort of authorization process?

And that process was likely complicated.

Otherwise, 001, 154, and 922 would\u2019ve investigated him immediately.

Qin Jiu rested his chin on one hand and watched him quietly for a while with dark eyes.

\u201cRelax. Generally speaking, I\u2019m not very interested in candidate information.\u201d

Qi Yang gave a perfunctory \u201cOh.\u201d

\u201cIn any case, with such a treasure on your team, getting assigned somewhere bizarre like this isn\u2019t surprising.\u201d Qin Jiu said.

Qi Yang didn\u2019t know what exactly existed behind this so-called examination system, but it clearly had an extremely twisted personality.

In order to avoid every possible \u201cnative language\u201d in their group, the system had gone through ridiculous lengths to produce \u201cGypsy\u201d instead.

Honestly, that seemed perfectly believable.

Now that he understood the reason, he stopped blaming Qin Jiu for it.

And maybe it was just his imagination, but ever since boarding the bus, Qin Jiu had seemed slightly unhappy.

Qi Yang looked at the proctor sitting there silently lost in thought\u2026

Perhaps the snow outside reflected too much light.

His eyes began aching again, making him uncomfortable.

He rubbed them carelessly twice, shoved his earphones back in, and resumed sleeping silently.

\u2026

\u2026

Ten minutes later, the bus suddenly jolted violently at the roadside.

The depressed candidates were shaken back to awareness and finally realized the scenery outside had changed completely.

The endless snow and fog had vanished.

Ahead stretched a winding mountain road.

The condition of the road was terrible. Once the bus climbed onto it, the entire vehicle rattled nonstop over hardened mud and sharp rocks.

The road itself was also extremely narrow. If two vehicles passed each other, both would probably need to crawl forward in first gear inch by inch.

Dense vegetation covered the mountainside below. One glance downward revealed terrifying depth.

If the bus rolled off the edge, there probably wouldn\u2019t even be bodies left.

Even so, this broken minibus drove recklessly fast.

Midway through the journey, the driver released one hand from the steering wheel to adjust the radio.

The broadcast crackled briefly before switching frequencies.

An old song began playing.

Occasionally, traffic reports interrupted the music, warning that certain sections of mountain road had become impassable due to landslides.

And sure enough, not long later, a warning sign appeared ahead.

Beyond it sat a massive fallen boulder and several collapsed trees blocking the road entirely.

No normal vehicle could possibly pass through.

Yet the driver completely ignored the warning sign.

The battered bus lurched violently twice.

Everyone screamed in alarm.

By the time they slammed heavily back into their seats, the bus had already passed through the landslide zone and continued deeper into the mountains.

\u2026

The deeper they traveled, the darker the sky became.

Even though the bus heater still worked, everyone instinctively shivered.

When the road finally curved out from the mountainside, an old road sign appeared nearby displaying a route number.

Old Yu wrapped his coat tightly around himself and muttered while staring at the sign:

\u201cThis road seems close to the border\u2026\u201d

\u201cWe\u2019re seriously leaving the country?\u201d Yu Wen\u2019s eyes widened.

Old Yu said, \u201cNo idea.\u201d

Yu Wen shrank into his coat and nervously stared outside. \u201cCan you even casually cross borders like this?!\u201d

While he spoke, the minibus suddenly made a sharp turn and plunged into roadside woods.

Everyone became completely confused by the bizarre route. They wanted to ask questions, but the driver was supposedly mute.

Another ten minutes passed.

The bus finally burst out of the forest and screeched to a halt beside a muddy road.

\u2026

\u201cBro, wake up. We\u2019re here.\u201d Yu Wen knelt on one leg atop his seat and leaned over the backrest to shake Qi Yang awake.

He genuinely admired his brother\u2019s nerves. Qi Yang had actually slept that deeply.

Qi Yang brushed his hair back and half-opened his eyes, glancing beside him.

The seat next to him was already empty.

With the lower half of his face still buried inside his collar, he muttered, \u201cWhere\u2019s everyone?\u201d

\u201cHuh?\u201d Yu Wen didn\u2019t hear him clearly.

Qi Yang shook his head and fully woke up.

He stood up and stomped his numb feet before looking outside through the window.

\u201cWhere are we?\u201d

This time Yu Wen heard him clearly. \u201cNo clue. The driver parked here and ran off.\u201d

\u201cWhat do you mean he ran off?\u201d

Yu Wen pointed outside. \u201cThere\u2019s only this muddy road. He just ran down it.\u201d

They seemed to have stopped at the entrance of some village. Through tangled branches, rooftops of varying heights were barely visible.

Other than the narrow road leading toward the village, there were no other paths.

They were completely surrounded by endless forest.

Yu Wen followed Qi Yang off the bus.

The candidates stood outside the bus doors, staring at one another helplessly.

Meanwhile, Qin Jiu stood farther away among the trees, one hand resting against a trunk as he looked upward at something unknown.

\u201cOld Yu said earlier that road was near the border. Could we actually be somewhere in the real world?\u201d Yu Wen asked Qi Yang.

The newly joined Chen Bin interrupted, \u201cBased on my experience, probably not. But you do see reflections of reality here. Sometimes you even recognize certain things from the real world.\u201d

Yu Wen asked, \u201cIf this place isn\u2019t real, then does dying here count as actual death?\u201d

Chen Bin smiled bitterly. \u201cNo idea. You\u2019d only know by testing it yourself. But who\u2019d dare test something like that?\u201d

Yu Wen drooped miserably. \u201cTrue\u2026\u201d

Qi Yang didn\u2019t bother dwelling on such topics.

After getting off the bus, he wandered around the muddy roadside for a while.

Not long later, he nudged something with his foot.

\u201cThere\u2019s a boundary marker here.\u201d

\u201cI was looking for one too. So it\u2019s over there.\u201d Chen Bin, being experienced, had also been searching for useful information after leaving the bus.

He walked over and crouched beside the marker, pushing aside the weeds covering it.

\u201cThere should be a place name on it. Might not be very useful, but at least knowing where we are is comforting\u2026\u201d

Everyone gathered around after hearing that.

Only to discover several bizarre symbols carved onto the crumbling stone marker.

\u201cWhat\u2019s this supposed to be?\u201d

\u201cLetters maybe\u2026\u201d

Chen Bin pulled tissues from his bag and wiped away the mud while everyone struggled to decipher the text.

Yu Wen squinted. \u201cK\u2026 is this an A?\u201d

Chen Bin said, \u201cLo\u2026 what the hell is this thing?\u201d

\u201cProbably a P.\u201d Yu Yao tilted her head while supporting her belly. \u201cThat one looks like H\u2026 U\u2026 V.\u201d

Ignoring all the random markings that may or may not have mattered, the place name on the marker looked like this:

kalo phuv

Everyone: \u201c\u2026\u201d

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

So much for the joke about boundary markers telling you where you are.

\u2026

Just as everyone was mentally collapsing, the driver who had disappeared without a word suddenly returned.

His shoes were covered in black mud, and beside him walked a middle-aged man wearing a military coat and fur hat.

Judging by his face, he seemed Chinese.

The driver said, \u201cThere. That\u2019s all of them.\u201d

Old Yu froze. \u201cYou can talk?!\u201d

The driver glanced at him and said hoarsely, \u201cHe\u2019ll take you to that house. Remember this\u2014don\u2019t enter the forest.\u201d

After saying that, he waved toward the fur-hat man, turned around, climbed back into the minibus, and drove away.

The vehicle twisted crookedly through the forest before disappearing behind overlapping branches.

Even the sounds of the engine and tires vanished completely.

The forest became eerily silent.

Everyone\u2019s hair stood on end.

\u2026

\u201cWhat are we here to do?\u201d Qi Yang asked the man in the fur hat.

The man blinked blankly. \u201cHuh? Didn\u2019t they say you came to find Black Granny? What, you don\u2019t even know yourselves?\u201d

\u201cBlack Granny? Who\u2019s that?\u201d Chen Bin walked over and asked.

For some reason, the fur-hat man visibly shrank back.

He tightened the collar around his hat and lowered his eyes while speaking in a muffled voice.

\u201cAn old woman. Back during the war, she came here with the Russians. Supposedly she was some kind of Gypsy or something, anyway\u2026\u201d

He wrapped his coat tighter around himself and whispered:

\u201cI\u2019ll take you there. Just be careful. Ever since she arrived, our entire village has been wrong somehow.\u201d

\u201cI seriously don\u2019t understand what you people were thinking\u2026 coming here to stay for ten days?\u201d

Everyone wanted to cry.

As if they actually wanted to stay here.<\/p>","protected":false},"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"novel":[],"class_list":["post-3258","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3258"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3259,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3258\/revisions\/3259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"novel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/novel?post=3258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}