{"id":3917,"date":"2026-06-09T00:31:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/global-examination-26\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T00:31:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:31:58","slug":"global-examination-26-2","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/bn\/chapter\/global-examination-26-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Examination 26"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 26

Ranking A

\u201cCan\u2019t you tell? It\u2019s twisting around like crazy, so obviously it wants to leave. I\u2019m walking it back,\u201d You Huo said.

\u201cAn initial value\u2026 000?\u201d You Huo asked casually.

\u201cNot exactly,\u201d Qin Jiu replied.

According to the extremely limited information available, the system back then wasn\u2019t like it was now. All proctors were selected through special screening\u2014few in number, but elite.

Among them was one proctor who was exceptionally young and exceptionally capable.

\u201cThat was years ago,\u201d Qin Jiu said. \u201cBack then the rankings used letters. That person was ranked A.\u201d

Perhaps it was because the tea in the pot was boiling, steam rising in waves.

When You Huo heard \u201cRanking A,\u201d his thoughts drifted for a moment.

Qin Jiu rubbed the rim of his cup and raised a brow. \u201cI\u2019ve noticed you seem very interested in my senior.\u201d

You Huo snapped back to attention.

He had long since tossed the bread aside. Resting his fingers against his chin, his expression returned to its usual lazy coldness. \u201cI\u2019m bored waiting for tea. Just asking casually. What happened to the proctor who managed to outrank you?\u201d

\u201cThat description isn\u2019t very accurate.\u201d Qin Jiu corrected him half-seriously. \u201cWhen he was a proctor, I was still an examinee. Later, after I became a proctor myself, we didn\u2019t actually work together for very long. Hard to say who outranked whom.\u201d

You Huo gave a quiet snort.

\u201cAs for where he is now\u2026\u201d Qin Jiu said, \u201cDead, maybe? I\u2019m not very sure. In any case, he\u2019s already been removed from the system.\u201d

You Huo noticed the subtle change in his tone and looked up. \u201cYou didn\u2019t like him.\u201d

Qin Jiu let out a short laugh, the corners of his mouth lazily dropping again.

Because of injuries caused by the system, Qin Jiu\u2019s memories were incomplete. He couldn\u2019t clearly remember the people and events from those years, naturally including Proctor A. To conduct system diagnostics, all files related to those years had been sealed away by the system. At present, no one could access them.

Everything he knew about Proctor A came entirely from other people\u2019s accounts.

Supposedly, even when he was an examinee, he was always picking fights with A.

Supposedly, after they became colleagues, their relationship remained terrible\u2014like fire and water.

Supposedly, during that system malfunction, only he and A were present as chief proctors in the affected zone. Even under those circumstances, the two never reconciled. The final losses were devastating. Qin Jiu barely escaped death, while Proctor A was erased from the system.

\u2026

How much of those rumors was true and how much false\u2014there was no way to know.

As for that system malfunction, Qin Jiu had forgotten nearly everything.

Only one scene remained vaguely in his memory.

It seemed to be a wasteland. Around him were twisted protective fences, scattered rusted vehicles and machinery, broken cables\u2026

He sat on a fallen metal pipe with one leg bent, elbow resting on his knee, the front of his shirt soaked in blood.

Coughing, he gave a low laugh.

And there was another person standing before him.

He couldn\u2019t remember that person\u2019s clothes, appearance, or face at all. Instead, what remained in his memory was the endless windbreak forest far behind them.

Judging from all those rumors, that person should have been Proctor A.

This was the only trace left in his mind from those years.

And every time he thought of that scene, his mood became terrible.

Terrible to what extent?

As though\u2026 he could never truly feel carefree again.

But if you asked whether he hated that person, it didn\u2019t quite seem to be that either.

\u2026

The scent of old tea gradually spread through the room. It wasn\u2019t especially fragrant, but it was refreshing enough.

You Huo stared at Qin Jiu for a while before standing up and rummaging through the cabinet for a cup that looked acceptable. Without the slightest politeness, he scooped himself a cup of tea from the pot.

After a few mouthfuls, the horrible feeling of dry bread clogging his chest finally eased.

Chatting casually with a proctor earlier had apparently scrambled his brain. Now that he felt better, he returned to normal.

He tossed down the cup and headed into the bedroom.

\u2026

The bedroom was fairly tidy.

Several quilts were stuffed inside the cabinet, specially prepared for guests arriving to meet their deaths together.

You Huo pulled one out, planning to bury himself under it and sleep.

But before closing the door, he glanced at the stiff, upright sofa in the living room and paused.

One minute later, the great boss dragged another cotton quilt over and shoved it toward the sofa. Because he wasn\u2019t remotely gentle about it, it nearly slammed directly into the proctor\u2019s face.

Qin Jiu leaned aside with his teacup to avoid the sneak attack, then looked at the quilt before glancing at You Huo in surprise.

Wearing an expression that practically screamed \u201cWhy isn\u2019t this proctor dead yet,\u201d You Huo sleepily returned to the bedroom and shut the door without the slightest courtesy.

Bang!

\u2026

During the first half of the night, the village remained calm.

Neither the expected monster nor the bone-chopping knife appeared.

You Huo forced himself awake for two hours before finally giving up. Pulling the blanket over himself, he rolled over and fell into a deep sleep.

Until sometime past midnight, when the wall clock clicked through its final few marks and struck exactly three o\u2019clock.

The familiar knocking sound returned again\u2026

Knock knock knock.

At first the sound came from outside the wall, but very quickly it moved inside.

Knock knock knock.

Within minutes, it had reached beneath the bed, tapping directly against the underside of the bedframe near You Huo\u2019s back.

You Huo remained completely unaware. Once asleep, he was notoriously difficult to wake.

Knock knock knock.

Still, You Huo didn\u2019t move at all.

Half his face was buried against the pillow. One arm stretched outside the blanket to cover his eyes. He slept peacefully and soundly.

The haunting continued for nearly five minutes, yet nobody paid it any attention.

\u201c\u2026\u201d

The knocking finally stopped.

It seemed extremely confused\u2026 and slightly irritated.

The bedroom remained quiet for a long while before a rustling sound suddenly emerged, identical to the noises from the forest the previous night, like something crawling across the wooden floor.

The thing crawled from the bedroom into the living room and found the house\u2019s other living occupant.

Knock knock knock.

The tapping finally resumed\u2026

The very moment the first series ended, the proctor sleeping on the sofa in his clothes stirred slightly.

Without opening his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Then, from atop the coffee table, a ghostly female voice asked softly, \u201cI\u2019ve come for the disobedient guest. Did you sew your doll today?\u201d

Proctor: \u201c\u2026\u201d

Had the exam question gone insane?

It was so desperate it had come to chop up a proctor?

Without even opening his eyes, Qin Jiu answered lazily, \u201cDidn\u2019t sew one. So what now?\u201d

\u201cOh\u2026 how unfortunate. I suppose I\u2019ll have to take your head instead.\u201d

The female voice sighed softly, sounding genuinely regretful.

The next second, a deathly pale arm suddenly swung upward, raising a cleaver to chop downward.

But just as it fell, another hand caught it firmly.

It couldn\u2019t advance even an inch.

Qin Jiu grabbed the monster\u2019s arm and sat upright. With his free hand, he even casually switched on the standing lamp.

The instant the light came on, the creature\u2019s appearance became clear.

It couldn\u2019t really be called a monster at all.

It was simply an arm.

No head, no face, no torso, no anything else. Just a single arm.

Judging from the wound, it had been chopped off. Not recently, either\u2014probably a very long time ago.

Thinking of what had happened to Liang Yuanhao last night\u2026 this haunted arm very likely belonged to some unfortunate examinee from the past.

Without a body restricting it, the ghost arm was extraordinarily agile.

Wielding the bone cleaver, it twisted and writhed nonstop beneath Qin Jiu\u2019s grip, trying repeatedly to chop off his head.

Qin Jiu quickly lost patience.

With a cold laugh, he pulled a leather strap from beneath the coffee table, tied both the knife and arm together securely, then carried this \u201cgift\u201d over to knock on a certain sleeping god\u2019s door.

\u2026

You Huo was awakened by feathers tickling his face.

Turning his head, he sneezed, grabbed his hair irritably, and sat up\u2014only then noticing someone sitting beside the bed.

\u201cHow did you get in here?\u201d You Huo asked unhappily.

Qin Jiu jingled a set of keys between his fingers. \u201cUsing the spare key.\u201d

You Huo frowned. \u201cCouldn\u2019t you knock first?\u201d

Qin Jiu: \u201c\u2026\u201d

The nerve of this guy.

\u201cAnd what\u2019s that in your hand?\u201d You Huo\u2019s gaze landed on Qin Jiu\u2019s other hand.

There, some pale object was writhing frantically.

Qin Jiu lifted the arm in front of him and said flatly, \u201cSurprise. A goodnight gift for you. Like it?\u201d

You Huo: \u201c???\u201d

\u201cThis thing came to chop your head off. You ignored it, so it came after me instead,\u201d Qin Jiu said. \u201cCould you please show at least a little awareness as an examinee and deal with it?\u201d

For a full five minutes, You Huo was thoroughly disgusted by this \u201cwarm-hearted\u201d midnight delivery.

Then he held out his hand toward Qin Jiu.

\u201cGive it to me.\u201d

Qin Jiu assumed he planned to destroy or bury it. Instead, this endlessly creative examinee loosened the leather strap slightly, holding one end in his hand while placing the ghost arm, still attached to the other end, onto the floor.

\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d

\u201cCan\u2019t you tell? It\u2019s twisting around like crazy, so obviously it wants to leave. I\u2019m walking it back,\u201d You Huo said.

Qin Jiu: \u201c???\u201d

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Twenty minutes later, the frozen group waiting in the forest saw, from afar, a certain great boss walking what looked like a dog\u2026 no, an arm\u2026 directly toward them!<\/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-3917","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/bn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/bn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/bn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/bn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/bn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3918,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/bn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3917\/revisions\/3918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/bn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"novel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/bn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/novel?post=3917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}