Chapter 13: The Rest Stop

You know? In some exam sites, you can still find traces left behind by previous candidates.

The road down the mountain was long, and everyone walked in unusual silence.

Half of it was because they were terrified by Baldy turning into Hunter A.

The other half was because they were freezing.

The group staggered along for half an hour, supporting and carrying one another, before the monotonous scenery finally changed. At the end of the pine forest, the view suddenly opened up into a mountain road. Beside it stood a slanted boundary stone.

One side read:

Foot of Jiming Mountain

The other side read:

100 Meters Ahead

The name “Jiming Mountain” naturally reminded everyone of the dead rooster hanging in the hunter’s cabin. It was obviously the mountain they had just descended from.

But “100 meters ahead” referred to the road directly in front of them…

And ahead was nothing but snowy fog.

“What’s a-a-a hundred meters ahead? Did the b-b-bottom half get buried in the snow?” Yu Wen’s lips trembled so hard from the cold that he sounded like he had a stutter.

He kept both hands stuffed in his pockets and used his shoe to scrape snow off the marker.

Everyone asked, “What does it say?”

Yu Wen shrank back and shuffled over, shivering violently. “The g-g-ground’s frozen solid. I c-can’t scrape it off.”

The boundary stone still showed only half the sentence: “100 meters ahead.” Aside from being slightly clearer, nothing had changed.

“Don’t tell me it’s another…” Zhou Jin’s face was pale as a ghost from the cold as he muttered quietly.

“N-no way,” Yu Wen stammered. “We j-just survived one exam. If another one starts i-immediately, isn’t that basically forcing people to d-die?”

Everyone fell silent, their footsteps slowing hesitantly.

“Not enough people dead already?” Qi Yang tossed out coldly as he walked ahead.

His voice was perfectly suited for wind and snow. One sentence from him could freeze people to the bone.

Everyone shivered and exchanged looks before hurriedly following after him.

…

With Qi Yang leading the way, nobody could really slow down.

Before long, outlines of buildings emerged through the snowy fog ahead.

The shadow of the hunter’s cabin still lingered in their minds, so seeing buildings didn’t bring much joy at first.

But they quickly realized there wasn’t just one building.

After climbing a gentle slope, they discovered several scattered houses standing ahead.

Calling it a town would’ve been a huge exaggeration. It looked more like a forgotten mountain tourist spot, with a few sparse households near the entrance trying to make money from travelers. The kind of place that probably received only a handful of visitors each year and seemed permanently on the verge of closing down.

The nearest building had a lit sign hanging outside.

Red words on a white background read:

Lodging • Heating • Food

The priorities were very clear.

And overwhelmingly attractive.

Everyone immediately stopped walking.

“How about we stay here for the night?” Old Yu asked cautiously.

He had assumed Qi Yang would reject the idea with a cold glare, since there was no way to tell whether this place was safe.

Instead, his nephew entered faster than anyone else.

…

Qi Yang had already been starving for a long time.

While trekking through the snow, his greatest regret had been submitting the exam too early.

If he had delayed by even a few more minutes, 922’s beef would have finished cooking.

It was all because that ridiculously eye-catching Proctor 001 had ruined his meal.

Thinking about Qin Jiu’s face…

Qi Yang touched his earring, his mood worsening immediately.

So when the inn receptionist looked up, what he saw was Qi Yang’s cold funeral-procession expression.

Receptionist: “…”

The receptionist was a skinny young man who looked like a monkey. After staring silently for two seconds, he suddenly turned around and shouted inside:

“Boss! We’ve got people!”

“Why are you yelling like someone died? If people came in, can’t you greet them yourself?” a woman’s voice snapped back. Even through the doorway, her tone sounded fierce and sharp.

“I was afraid they’d run away if I greeted them.” The receptionist glanced at Qi Yang awkwardly.

“In a hellhole like this, where exactly are they supposed to run?” The door at the end of the first-floor hallway opened, and a short-haired woman walked out carrying a cleaver.

The receptionist jumped in fright.

Even Qi Yang paused for a moment.

“Boss, what are you doing with that?”

“Oh, nothing.” The short-haired woman replied casually. “Didn’t feel like eating cafeteria food today, so I got some vegetables and meat from across the street to cook myself.”

She lowered the cleaver and smiled at Qi Yang.

“Well, hello there, handsome! Just finished an exam? Xiao Hu, register them.”

With the boss backing him up, the receptionist—Xiao Hu—finally turned to Qi Yang and said, “Could you tell me your names? I need to check how many days you’ll be staying.”

Old Yu and the others entered while rubbing their hands for warmth. The moment they heard those words, their expressions changed.

“Just finished an exam? How do you know we…”

The boss raised an eyebrow and smiled like some mountain spirit. “That’s a strange thing to ask. Why don’t you read the sign?”

She banged the wall loudly with the back of her cleaver.

Xiao Hu quickly stepped aside, revealing the entire wall behind him.

Written on it were four large characters:

Candidate Rest Stop

Candidate Rest Stop????

Everyone’s expressions worsened instantly.

Zhou Jin muttered, “I thought…”

The boss looked completely unsurprised. “You thought you were close to entering the city, right? Totally normal. First time entering a rest stop? Everyone reacts like this.”

Old Yu asked, “Also, what do you mean by checking how many days we’re staying? Don’t we decide that ourselves?”

The boss laughed even harder. “Dream on.”

Old Yu: “…”

“Alright, enough joking,” the boss said. “How many rest days you get after each exam is determined by regulations. You don’t stay however long you want. Stop blocking the entrance and report your names already.”

The tattooed man immediately got annoyed and revealed his street-thug nature.

“Fuck this. Who the hell would stay in some obvious death trap? You idiots can stay if you want. I’m leaving!”

Unexpectedly, the boss was even more aggressive than he was.

She slammed her cleaver into the front desk with a loud thunk, making Xiao Hu leap three feet into the air.

“Go ahead. If you don’t leave, you’re my grandson,” she snapped while pointing outside.

Tattooed Man: “…”

His eyes bulged furiously. He zipped his collar all the way up, bit the zipper tab between his teeth, and stormed out.

…

The lodging registration somehow turned into a scene straight out of the underworld.

Everyone else stared at the cleaver on the front desk, uncertain whether to stay or leave.

Only Qi Yang calmly reported his name without changing expression.

Xiao Hu typed rapidly on the keyboard.

“Found it. Your group gets seven days of rest this time. Starting now—”

He glanced at the wall clock.

“—from 3:12 PM today. Seven days later at exactly 3:12 PM, you’ll automatically check out. Here’s your room card.”

Qi Yang took the keycard.

The front displayed the room number.

Qi Yang was assigned Room 404.

The boss leaned over for a glance and added, “Oh right, we don’t avoid unlucky numbers here. So if you get assigned rooms like 404 or 414… well, that’s fate. Don’t overthink it. After all, avoiding rooms with the number four doesn’t mean you won’t die in the exams, right?”

That single sentence managed to comfort everyone into turning green.

Without looking up, Qi Yang flipped the card over.

The first line on the back read:

Candidate Rest Stop

Manager: Chu Yue

Below that was a table-form admission card:

Name: Qi Yang

Candidate Number: 860451-10062231-000A

Completed Subject: Physics

Total Score: 19

Chu Yue finally looked genuinely surprised.

“You got nineteen points in a single subject? Doesn’t look like it at all!”

Qi Yang raised his eyes coldly.

Chu Yue waved a hand. “Oh, no offense. I’m complimenting you! You’ve got a face made for causing disasters. Your name suits you perfectly!”

Qi Yang: “…”

Before he could respond, she burst out laughing and disappeared back into the room with her cleaver.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Hu obediently recited what sounded like a prepared script:

“There’s hot water and proper heating. For newcomers, don’t rush to warm your hands, shower, or crawl into bed right away. Later, I’ll bring over a bucket of snow and alcohol for you to rub onto your exposed arms and legs before going inside.”

“Breakfast is served at 7 AM, lunch at 11 AM, and dinner at 5 PM sharp. The dining hall is on the first floor, around that corner.”

“Each meal lasts two hours. That means food service stops exactly at 9 AM, 1 PM, and 7 PM. The cook has a worse temper than heaven itself, so watch the time carefully. Late arrivals won’t be served.”

After listening, Qi Yang nodded once and asked:

“Is there food now?”

Xiao Hu: “…Late arrivals won’t be served.”

Qi Yang looked at him.

He looked at Qi Yang.

Two seconds later, Xiao Hu turned around and shouted:

“Boss! The guest wants food!”

…

Boss Chu claimed she was a shallow person who judged by appearances.

Fortunately, this group of candidates had Qi Yang.

Not long afterward, everyone finally warmed up and sat together in the dining hall, eating dumplings handmade by Chu Yue herself.

Yu Wen loudly claimed he had no appetite while stuffing himself with an outrageous amount of food.

With hot food in their stomachs, everyone’s tightly wound nerves finally relaxed a little.

People became sleepy, leaning against one another in dazed silence.

Chu Yue suddenly said, “Your group is pretty interesting.”

Qi Yang looked at her.

Despite the snowstorm outside, Chu Yue held a glass of ice-cold beer. She took a sip before explaining:

“The group that checked in yesterday morning only had three people left, I think. See them?”

She pointed upward toward the ceiling.

“Other than meal times, they never leave their rooms. Sometimes they don’t even come out for meals. They only take a couple bites before they’re full. Then they either stare blankly or cry.”

“Three people? What exam did they take? How many entered originally?” Yu Wen asked.

“The same as you,” Chu Yue replied matter-of-factly. “Lately, every group staying here took the same exam.”

Yu Wen froze. “…The same one? Hunter A’s exam? And only three survived?”

Chu Yue said, “Three is a little low, but most groups only have five or six left anyway. That’s the normal survival rate.”

“How many groups have you hosted?” Yu Wen rubbed the goosebumps on his arms as he remembered Baldy turning into Hunter A. “Wouldn’t that mean there are tons of Hunter As?”

“Of course not,” Chu Yue replied. “When I say the same exam, I mean the same examination site. Your group can only enter after the previous group finishes and leaves.”

She lowered her voice mysteriously.

“You know? In some examination sites, you can still find traces left behind by previous candidates. Last time, I heard someone found a finger bone. Someone else found a ring.”

“You guys should try looking sometime.”