Chapter 18: Listening Comprehension

There’s seriously a move like this?!

The process of waiting for exam questions should have been tense.

But the system’s completely out-of-nowhere warning instantly destroyed all tension.

The candidates were stunned, yet nobody dared say anything reckless.

Yu Wen had originally wanted to follow them inside and take a look, but now he stood there awkwardly with one foot hanging in the air, unsure whether to enter or not.

Because the atmosphere between the two big shots inside the room was genuinely terrifying…

Qi Yang glanced at Qin Jiu once, then expressionlessly withdrew his gaze again.

Wearing his usual funeral-level expression, he followed the wall around the room until he finally found the source of the sound.

It was a stuffed crow standing stiffly on a brass perch, wings spread and beak wide open.

Ten seconds earlier, when they first entered, its beak had still been closed.

Without even bending down, Qi Yang lowered his eyes toward the crow and said:

“Who’s operating this exam system? Which idiot set up this nonsense dialogue? Is there anywhere to file complaints?”

Crow: “…”

Qi Yang turned to look at Qin Jiu.

A red light suddenly flashed on Qin Jiu’s wrist with a sharp beep.

He touched his wrist and winked at Qi Yang.

“Friendly advice. Try not to ask questions like that. The first time is just a warning telling me not to violate confidentiality rules. Ask again, and you’ll get expelled from the exam room.”

Qi Yang casually patted the crow’s head.

Crow: “…”

Qin Jiu’s dark eyes lingered on Qi Yang’s face briefly before shifting toward the crow instead.

“Fine. We’ll switch rooms. I’ll stay with the mixed-blood candidate instead.”

He stared directly into the crow’s glass eyes while speaking.

This time the crow went silent for two seconds.

Everyone thought the matter was settled.

Then the crow suddenly spoke again, repeating the exact same sentence:

【Candidates and proctors are prohibited from developing improper relationships. Please reassign the rooms.】

To accommodate Mike, it even repeated the warning in English.

Mike: “…”

“Then maybe with this one?” Qin Jiu casually pointed at Yu Wen.

【Candidates and proctors are prohibited from developing improper relationships. Please reassign the rooms.】

“…”

Hearing the message repeat like a broken recorder, everyone finally realized something.

This wasn’t targeting Qin Jiu and Qi Yang specifically.

The damn system was treating the entire group like horny dogs.

Yu Wen quietly elbowed his father and whispered:

“What kind of trauma did this system go through? Why’s it so sensitive? Sharing one room counts as fooling around—if two people share a bed, would that automatically produce an entire bloodline?”

Old Yu smacked him lightly. “Stop talking dirty!”

Yu Wen: “???”

…

Qin Jiu also walked over to the crow.

“How about this? Since I’m already supervising the entire process, maybe I should just let this candidate do whatever he wants.”

Beep—

Violation warning.

Proctor 001 was so annoyed he actually laughed.

They wouldn’t let him share a room.

But they still required full-time supervision.

Was this human language?

…

Qin Jiu rubbed his wrist while staring at the crow.

For a brief moment, everyone could clearly sense how tense the atmosphere had become.

It seemed like he was about to do something.

But after a pause, he merely said leisurely:

“How about this? The candidate can take the room. I’ll graciously suffer a little and make do on the sofa.”

This time, the crow finally remained silent.

Apparently, the system accepted this arrangement.

Everyone released long sighs of relief.

Qi Yang gave Qin Jiu a strange look.

Even though he fundamentally didn’t get along with this proctor, he still had to admit that Qin Jiu possessed a particularly unique aura.

It felt as though all those countless rules and restrictions simply couldn’t bind him.

Even when this Proctor 001 stood there smiling and lazily negotiating with the examination system, he gave people the impression that…

He could destroy the rules at any moment.

His compromise and retreat felt like a lion lazily taking a nap.

It didn’t reduce his danger in the slightest.

Like a sleepy lion casually announcing it wanted to bite someone.

Who the hell would dare let it bite them?

…

In the end, the accommodation issue was finally resolved.

After an enormous detour, the final room arrangement ended up almost identical to the original one anyway.

The only thing they gained was frustration.

All the rooms here were decorated nearly identically. Each one contained the exact same stuffed crow.

These crows were the system’s loudspeakers, responsible for transmitting information. Aside from Qi Yang and Qin Jiu each patting one once, nobody else even dared touch them.

…

Time quickly reached 7:30.

While everyone nervously waited, a creaking sound came from the main house.

The door opened.

Black Granny had finally woken up.

The crow cried out:

【The listening test will now officially begin. Candidates, please proceed immediately. Each recording will only be played twice.】

The moment Black Granny woke up, the village chief reacted like a mouse spotting a cat and immediately prepared to flee.

Before running off, he told everyone:

“Black Granny has a rule whenever meeting guests. Before entering, each person must draw a card.”

Another card draw?

Qi Yang’s face instantly darkened.

“What kind of cards? Playing cards? Tarot cards girls play with?” Yu Wen, who had apparently suffered a great deal during his school years, surprisingly knew a bit about them. “Do we get our fortunes told afterward?”

“If she tells your fortune, would you even understand it?” Old Yu snapped irritably.

“Fair point. Then what’s the point of drawing?”

The village chief looked hesitant, then finally said:

“It represents whether or not you’ll sleep peacefully tonight.”

He probably anticipated everyone’s next question, so he hurriedly added:

“Don’t think about avoiding it. You absolutely must draw. Otherwise the consequences will be even worse.”

The village chief seemed to recall some terrible memory and shuddered violently.

“Just remember this—absolutely, absolutely do not make her angry!”

After throwing out that warning, he fled in a hurry.

Wrapped tightly in his military coat, he crossed the frozen river and disappeared into an ordinary-looking house on the opposite side, slamming the doors and windows shut.

For a while, the entire village became silent again.

The river seemed to divide two entirely separate worlds.

…

With experience from the previous exam, nobody dared waste time carelessly.

Very soon, everyone gathered before Black Granny’s house.

A tiny old woman resembling a vulture waited by the entrance.

Her face looked like ancient tree bark, full of deep wrinkles and grooves, yet her eyes remained strikingly black-and-white and clear like a child’s.

That contrast made her even more unsettling.

She wore a richly patterned headscarf, and both hands jingled with hanging ornaments.

The ornaments looked so heavy that even lifting her arms seemed difficult.

Black Granny stared motionlessly at the group for several seconds before suddenly smiling.

Her teeth were small and sharp, making everyone’s skin crawl.

She muttered something incomprehensible, spread out a stack of cards before them, and jerked her chin toward Old Yu at the front.

“M-me?” Old Yu looked terrified.

Black Granny shoved the cards closer to him.

Old Yu glanced uncertainly at everyone before hesitantly drawing one card.

The moment Black Granny flipped it over, everyone who saw the image inhaled sharply.

Although nobody could understand the words written on the card, the figure standing atop a stone pillar holding an enormous scythe was familiar to many people.

Yu Wen whispered:

“Holy shit… that’s Death, right? I don’t remember what kind of card set this is, but I swear there’s a Death card…”

Cold sweat instantly spread down everyone’s backs.

Black Granny giggled again, her voice unexpectedly sweet like a young girl’s.

And at that exact moment, scratching sounds suddenly echoed from the door she leaned against.

The sound of fingernails scraping…

Anyone who had survived one exam already knew that sound all too well.

Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, examination questions appeared on the door.

Listening Comprehension: Please answer the following questions based on the recording.

(1) What is Black Granny’s name?

(2) Where is Black Granny’s family? Please find them.

(3) How many people are inside Black Granny’s house?

Requirements: Answer sheets will be collected every morning at 7:30. If key scoring points are missed, one candidate will be randomly selected to enter the coffin.

Enter the coffin…

Enter what coffin???

The moment the questions appeared, Black Granny opened her mouth, revealing those thin sharp teeth…

And began speaking a long stream of incomprehensible gibberish.

“…………………………”

Eight utterly bewildered faces stared blankly.

Scratching sounds appeared on the door again.

A new line was added beneath the question:

The listening material has finished playing once. The second playback will now begin. Candidates, please listen carefully.

Black Granny opened her mouth to speak again—

When suddenly a hand shot out from nowhere holding a wad of cloth and stuffed it directly into her mouth.

Black Granny’s mouth was instantly plugged shut.

Qi Yang’s voice sounded calmly:

“Sorry. Wait a moment before talking again.”

Everyone: “???”

The newly joined Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao were completely dumbfounded…

There was actually a move like this?!