<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chapter 7: Three infractions and he killed the question.
The big boss You’s one sentence had an extraordinary effect.
The room instantly fell silent; everyone felt a creeping chill.
The kitchen’s soundproofing wasn’t great, and faint rustling noises came from inside.
Not long after, they heard another heavy thud from inside. It sounded like… some large, cold, hard object being set down on the table.
Not long after, the sound of chopping bones began.
One strike after another.
…
The clock on the cupboard ticked neither fast nor slow; each second felt like an ordeal.
After what seemed like a hundred years, the kitchen door finally opened.
The scent that drifted out grew even stranger.
As if, on top of what was already there, a trace of frozen blood had been added, faintly metallic and fishy.
Hunter A fished out a blackened cloth to wipe his hands.
He poked his head out and reassured everyone, “It’ll be ready soon. You know? Frozen meat has a marvelous texture, with a bit of ice grit\u2014when you chew it, it goes crunch, crunch\u2026”
The big pale-faced guy was savoring the sound he described, lost in self-indulgence for a moment, then said, “You’ll like it.”
Yu Wen hunched down in the crowd, counting on his brother still being awake, and hissed through clenched teeth, “Fuck\u2026 what a pervert.”
He had barely finished speaking when he heard his brother’s stomach growl.
Yu Wen: “\u2026\u2026”
Hunter A suddenly laughed and said, “Aha! I heard it! I’m glad someone else is looking forward to a feast as much as I am. Come on, there’s a lot of food; I need a kind guest to help me out.”
Those overly large eyes rolled slowly around once.
Almost everyone stepped back, only You Huo didn’t move.
Not only did he not retreat, he seemed to want to stand up.
Yu Wen pressed him down with a face of terror.
“No no no, I know you’re all shy, no need to volunteer,” Hunter A said. “I’ll do it myself. Food doesn’t come easily; I want to pick someone careful and steady, otherwise if the plate gets broken, what a pity.”
He shifted his broad frame and walked into the living room; because his proportions were off, his gait was a little clumsy.
\u2026\u2026
Everyone held their breath, their gazes sweeping quickly toward a certain spot.
In the corner by the wall, the crazed bald man had curled up into a shadow. He seemed completely unaware that there was another person in the room, still muttering something to himself, swaying slightly back and forth.
The only fortunate thing was that Hunter A’s attention was on the main force and didn’t seem to have noticed the person who had become separated.
The moment Hunter A reached the bald man, someone in the crowd gave a startled gasp.
“Hm?”
Hunter A suddenly stopped and tilted his head.
“Holy shit,” Yu Wen whispered.
The hunter A’s head was tilted in a terrifying way; the angle his neck was twisted to wasn’t something a normal person could manage. Like an owl, his face was turned sideways on his shoulder.
He stayed like that, staring down at the bald man cowering at his feet.
“Ah… there’s another guest here, how did I miss that, let me take a look,” said Hunter A.
His legs were too thick; squatting was very difficult for him.
The bald man’s eyes were murky; he didn’t notice at all that a pale face had appeared before him.
Hunter A, annoyed at being ignored, pinched the bald man’s chin and tapped his face. “Wake up? Dear guest?”
He woke up twice, but didn’t fully come to.
Hunter A gave him a smack.
Everyone: “\u2026”
The bald man jolted, his eyes finally coming into focus.
He widened his pale yellow eyes and exchanged a silent look with Hunter A.
Two seconds later, Hunter A’s shoe was dampened by urine.
A: “\u2026\u2026”
Zhang Pale-face twitched, then split into a grin. “I think this guest suits my needs perfectly. Come on, help me hold the basin, will you?”
The bald man crumpled on the ground, completely motionless.
“Get up!” Hunter A stood and grabbed the bald man, hauling him to his feet.
The bald man trembled violently.
“Stand up straight!”
The bald man was frightened rigid, trembling as he stood there.
Hunter A laughed again: “See, now that’s a good guest. Come with me.”
The bald man glanced back at the crowd; before anyone could respond, Hunter A added, “I want the other guests to stay where they are. If anyone moves, I won’t be happy, and then this guest will be in real danger.”
Those who had meant to motion to him quietly withdrew their hands. The bald man was too scared to look back again, and he followed Hunter A, shivering.
\u2026\u2026
Hunter A was brutal in preparing the food; bits of meat splattered all over the kitchen.
Thirteen empty china plates were laid out on the counter, and the chopped meat was piled into a glass bowl, heaped to the brim.
The meat was frozen hard, making its origin impossible to tell at a glance. Everything else had been thrown back into a burlap sack, the mouth of the sack tightly tied.
The bald man trembled like a sieve, his jaundiced eyes fixed on the cleaver on the table.
“What are you looking at, dear guest?” Hunter A suddenly asked softly.
The bald man’s legs went weak and he quickly tore his gaze away.
“Ah, that’s better.” Hunter A took two plates and handed them to him. “The plates might be a bit heavy, and with your legs shaking like that you need to be careful\u2014walk steadily. If you accidentally drop one… we might just have enough food.”
The bald man was stunned.
As he stepped out of the kitchen, Hunter A repeated the warning to everyone once more: “Remember? Be careful when you’re helping me. In this house, whoever carelessly breaks the tableware will be punished. Hmm… you don’t want to be left hungry and become someone else’s meal, do you?”
When they heard that, everyone simultaneously looked toward the answer wall.
On it, right after the question requirements, there was a line that read\u2014Do not damage the tableware.
They originally thought the death toll from this question would be one; they never expected there to be a trap afterwards.
\u2026\u2026
The Bald Guy and Hunter A carried out thirteen trays of food, placed them in a circle along the long table, and then put the glass bowl filled with meat in the center of the table.
When he set down the last tray, the Bald Guy let out a long sigh of relief, slid down along the edge of the table, and collapsed into a chair in two shaky, exhausted heaps.
“No!”
Someone cried out.
The bald man froze for a moment and looked toward the crowd.
He saw Lao Yu making a face and waggling his eyebrows as he pointed at the answer wall.
The bald man hurriedly looked over.
\u2026\u2026
When the question had been updated before, the bald man had just come back from the detention room and had been collapsed in the corner, acting crazy from start to finish, completely unaware of the change.
He saw the line “Only 12 people may be invited to the banquet; one person is destined to die,” and his face went ashen.
Who knew whether the seat he sat in was the one that was going to die?
The bald man struggled to get up, but a pair of huge hands pressed heavily on his shoulders.
Hunter A leaned close to his ear and said, “You’ve already picked your seat; you can’t change it anymore. Getting up won’t do any good. Just give it up.”
That “just give it up” made the bald man faint on the spot.
He sank into the chair and didn’t move again.
\u2026\u2026
Hunter A felt a bit regretful: “Ah… why did he just pass out? We only just brought the meat out, there’s still wine.”
He collapsed before even getting to eat.
The hunter A’s creepy eyes flicked toward the others again.
“I still need one person to help me hold a wineglass.” He clumsily moved toward the crowd, muttering to himself, “Who? I like children, pick a child\u2026”
As he spoke, his pupils rolled around once and his gaze landed on Yu Wen.
Yu Wen instantly went pale.
Hunter A smiled and raised his hand.
“Let’s make it you\u2014”
Before the words had even finished, Youhuo wordlessly stepped forward and cut in front of Yu Wen.
“\u2014child”
Hunter A’s outstretched finger was pointing straight at him, neither off to the side nor missing.
The pale-faced man went rigid in an instant.
Youhuo looked at him coolly. “Me? That’s fine.”
Hunter A: “\u2026\u2026”
No way.
He looked a little bit angry.
Youhuo asked again, “Changed your mind?”
Hunter A withdrew his finger, gave a half-smile that wasn’t really a smile, and said, “No, never. As the master, of course I keep my word.”
He looked displeased for a moment, then waved his hand: “Come on, kind guest.”
He said “come on.”
It sounded like “why don’t you go die.”
Hunter A turned and walked toward the kitchen.
Youhuo didn’t even look up; he was about to follow.
Yu Wen was startled, hurriedly grabbed him, and hissed in a low voice, “Brother! What are you doing!”
Youhuo glanced at him: “Carry the wine.”
“You didn’t hear him! If you accidentally drop a cup, it’s a death sentence!” Yu Wen urged.
Youhuo: “…Do I have hemiplegia or paralysis? I can’t even carry a cup without smashing it?”
Yu Wen: “…”
What was said wasn’t wrong, but…
He couldn’t shake the feeling that his brother was capable of anything.
“First tell me, why did you take the cup without being asked?” Yu Wen persisted.
Youhuo lifted his chin toward the answer wall, tugged his sleeve out of Yu Wen’s hand, and said, “Did you see the requirements for answering?”
“Of course, I’m not blind.”
Youhuo said coolly, “Then I’ll teach you something.”
“What?”
“The more you emphasize it, the more suspicious it is.”
After saying that, Youhuo left.
Yu Wen stood frozen in place for a long moment, then suddenly looked at his dad: “What does my brother mean by that??? Why am I so flustered?!”
Old Yu grew even more flustered.
\u2026\u2026
Youhuo went into the kitchen.
Hunter A was fumbling for his keys at his waist.
There were seven keys attached to the brass ring. He picked three and used them in turn to open the right-side doors of the redwood cabinet, then took out thirteen goblets one by one and lined them up on the countertop.
Youhuo casually grabbed one and flipped it over.
At first glance it was an ordinary goblet, nothing special.
Hunter A frowned and snapped, “Put it down! Did I tell you to touch that? How rude\u2014your guest has no manners at all!”
Youhuo snorted and set the cup back on the counter.
He stepped across the doorway, glanced at the clock in the parlor, and urged coldly, “At your pace, is one day enough for two meals?”
Hunter A: “\u2026\u2026”
He glared at Youhuo, muttered a few curses under his breath, then forced out a smile, “It’s fine, it’s fine. A magnanimous host can always tolerate a guest’s rudeness. I know you must be starving.”
Youhuo snorted coldly.
Hunter A: “\u2026”
It was probably the first time he’d met such a stubborn customer; he suddenly didn’t want to say anything more and turned to fetch his fine wine.
While the hunter fiddled with the cup, Youhuo braced the wooden cabinet door and swept through the contents of the cupboard.
Besides the already set porcelain plates and the goblets being prepared, only a silver sauce cup, a bundle of knives and forks, and a bunch of silver spoons remained in the cabinet.
“All right!” Hunter A suddenly said, “Peeking is rude behavior.”
Youhuo ignored him.
Hunter A added, “Help me take out the knives, forks, and silver spoons together, thanks.”
Youhuo glanced at his expression and handed him the things from the cabinet.
\u2026\u2026
Hunter A carefully hooked the keys back on his belt, then took out a round tray and set the goblets on it one by one.
Youhuo said, “I discovered something.”
Hunter A froze, and the pale-faced waiter eyed him warily. “What?”
Youhuo: “You’re unusually careful with the wine glass.”
Hunter A: “\u2026”
He was silent for a moment, then protested, “You’re mistaken. Dining is a sacred act; I treat every piece of tableware with reverence.”
Youhuo made a short “hmm.”
Hunter A still watched him warily.
Youhuo: “I was just making that up earlier.”
Hunter A: “…”
\u2026\u2026
In the living room, Yu Wen was fretting over his brother, worried that Youhuo\u2014who fears nothing\u2014would recklessly destroy all the kitchenware.
But then Hunter A barked angrily, “Get out!”
Youhuo came out expressionless, his hands empty.
“What’s going on?”
Everyone was taken aback.
“Where’s the cup?” Yu Wen gestured. “Wasn’t I supposed to have you bring the cup? How did he end up kicked out?”
Youhuo didn’t go back into the crowd; he stood by the dining table with his hands in his pockets. “He changed his mind. He decided to carry it himself.”
Everyone was uncertain and suspicious, all feeling that angering Hunter A was not a good idea.
It’s a prompt\/question!
Who knew what he might do? What if he could slay someone with a single word?
Just as everyone exchanged uneasy looks, Hunter A himself came out carrying a large tray.
The table was covered with goblets and knives and forks.
Hunter A pushed Youhuo aside a bit and set them out one set at a time.
For some reason, Youhuo just stood there watching, as if arranging tableware were some terribly fascinating spectacle.
…
Yu Wen was almost driven crazy; he mouthed exaggeratedly to Youhuo, “Ge! Ge, you come over first! What are you standing there for?”
Youhuo, however, acted as if he didn’t see him, keeping his eyes lowered and lazily watching Hunter A.
“Get lost!” Hunter A snapped at Youhuo without any courtesy.
After scolding him, he turned to the others and gave a smile, “Why are you all just standing there like idiots? Come sit down, we’re about to eat.”
He said that, sounding a little hungry, then stopped on his own, reached into the glass bowl and grabbed a piece of raw meat.
Everyone watched with wide eyes as his mouth opened like a black hole and he swallowed the whole chunk, chewing bones and gristle together. Just as he’d described before, it made a crunching sound.
The two old women sat down hard on the floor.
The feeling of panic in the room grew heavier.
……
Hunter A finished eating, licked his lips, and then said softly, “Ah, excuse me.”
He pointed at Youhuo and scolded, “It’s all this rash guest\u2014he made me a bit angry. I have this flaw: whenever I get angry, my stomach gets hungry.”
His eyes darted around again as he counted the chunks of meat in the pot and said, “What to do, I accidentally ate one portion, only eleven portions left.”
Everyone froze, staring at him.
Hunter A lifted the last goblet and laughed, “Then I guess you’ll have to suffer\u2026 one more to die?”
All their faces instantly drained of color.
In the sudden silence, a cool-toned voice suddenly spoke up: “Isn’t this against the rules?”
It wasn’t anyone else speaking, but Youhuo.
Hunter A froze, trying to turn his head to look at him, but his body was out of sync and twisted into a strange posture.
“Not you again!”
Hunter A frowned, about to fly into a rage.
Youhuo suddenly lifted his long leg and kicked him.
In an instant, the world spun.
Then there was a “smack” as his big pale face hit the ground, and the goblet in his hand came crashing down with him.
“…”
Hunter A stared blankly at the shards of the cup for two seconds, then his eyes suddenly widened, full of terror.
\u2026\u2026
No one in the room dared to move.
Everyone froze in whatever position they were in, mouths agape.
Then, the heart-stopping middle-of-the-night alarm went off again!
On the answer wall that had been silent for over four hours, another line appeared.
Violation Warning: Exam rules breached; proctor has been notified.
Proctors: 001, 154, 922.
Everyone: “…”
Yu Wen stared at the answer wall, stunned for a long while, then suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the proctor.
…
In the little villa deep in the woods, 922 ran into the office clutching a notice.
“Boss\u2026”
Qin Jiu frowned, his first instinct was to check the clock.
“Don’t look, I just delivered it an hour ago,” 154 said blankly.
Qin Jiu gave a short laugh, his expression unreadable: “What’s it this time? Rushing to answer again?”
154 shook his head: “No, it’s worse than that. He killed the prompt.”
Qin Jiu: “Killed what?”
154 said expressionlessly: “You heard right\u2014the prompt itself is dead.”
Qin Jiu: “…”
922, who had followed up, looked completely bewildered: “The problem can fucking die now? What the hell is going on?”<\/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-3049","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3049"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3062,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3049\/revisions\/3062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"novel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/novel?post=3049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}