{"id":3264,"date":"2026-05-16T02:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T02:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/?p=3264"},"modified":"2026-05-16T02:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T02:55:11","slug":"global-examination-19","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/chapter\/global-examination-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Examination 19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 19: The Old Doll

Qin Jiu: \u201c…\u201d

You actually still have the nerve to bring that up???

\u201cBro, you\u2026\u201d Yu Wen stared at the cloth stuffed into Black Granny\u2019s mouth and asked quietly, \u201cWhere did you even get that thing?\u201d

Qi Yang replied, \u201cGrabbed it from the room next door.\u201d

After thinking for a moment, he added, \u201cIt\u2019s not dirty.\u201d

Yu Wen: \u201c\u2026\u201d

Dear brother, is that really the important issue here?!

Still, the cloth really was spotless. The patterns on it were bright and intricate, and it carried a faint fragrance similar to the incense filling Black Granny\u2019s house.

Everyone silently comforted themselves:

At least it\u2019s not a smell Black Granny hates, right?

But\u2026

Was doing this really okay?

Wouldn\u2019t it make Black Granny angry???

Before leaving, the village chief had repeatedly emphasized that they absolutely must not anger this old woman\u2026

And it had only been a few minutes since then.

\u201cI swear you physically itch if you go one day without breaking rules,\u201d said Qin Jiu, who had been forced into becoming Qi Yang\u2019s personal proctor.

Qi Yang replied, \u201cDid the exam instructions say we weren\u2019t allowed to pause the listening section?\u201d

Qin Jiu said, \u201cNo, they didn\u2019t.\u201d

Qi Yang asked, \u201cDid they forbid us from stuffing the speaker\u2019s mouth?\u201d

Qin Jiu: \u201cAlso no.\u201d

Qi Yang spread his hands slightly. \u201cThen where\u2019s the violation?\u201d

Qin Jiu actually seemed amused.

He gestured politely toward the room and said, \u201cPlease continue.\u201d

Apparently he wanted to see what else Qi Yang might do.

Then everyone watched as Qi Yang pulled out his phone from his jeans pocket, opened the recording app, removed the cloth from Black Granny\u2019s mouth, and said:

\u201cContinue.\u201d

Everyone: \u201c\u2026\u2026\u201d

Black Granny: \u201c\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u201d

\u201cRight! Phones work!\u201d

Only now did everyone suddenly realize that this exam hadn\u2019t forcibly shut down their phones.

A few minutes earlier, they\u2019d even checked the time with them, yet nobody had thought of using the recording function.

Qi Yang\u2019s actions instantly reminded everyone else.

In the next moment, everybody hurriedly dug phones out of their pockets.

Seven candidates.

Seven phones.

All aimed directly at Black Granny.

Two seconds later, Proctor 001 also took out his phone.

The newly joined Chen Bin finally lost his nerve at this point.

\u201cIs this really okay?\u201d he whispered nervously. \u201cWon\u2019t she get angry?\u201d

Qi Yang replied calmly, \u201cA little late to worry about that now.\u201d

\u201c\u2026\u2026\u201d

The two newcomers suddenly felt like they\u2019d boarded a pirate ship.

The kind you could never get off.

Chen Bin held his phone trembling for a long time before realizing something:

Black Granny\u2019s eyes never left Qi Yang.

It was as if nobody else mattered. The only important person was the first one who dared provoke her.

Black Granny\u2019s pupils were enormous, making the black parts of her eyes seem especially deep and dark.

When her eyes moved, it wasn\u2019t so bad.

But once they became fixed\u2026

They looked like a dead person\u2019s eyes.

Anyone stared at by those eyes would feel fear and unease.

But Qi Yang simply didn\u2019t care.

While Black Granny stared directly at him, he calmly lowered his thin eyelids and fiddled with his phone, saving the earlier recording file.

He was so absurdly calm that everyone else felt embarrassed to panic.

\u2026

After saving the recording, Qi Yang renamed the file \u201cA Segment of Ghost Nonsense\u201d before finally asking Black Granny:

\u201cAnything else?\u201d

Black Granny stared expressionlessly at him for a long while before suddenly breaking into another eerie giggle.

It was as though the mouth-stuffing and recording incident had merely been an insignificant interruption.

Or perhaps\u2026

She had simply added it to a mental debt list to settle later.

Her thin claw-like\u2026 fingers grabbed Qi Yang\u2019s wrist and dragged him through the doorway.

Then she tilted her head toward everyone else.

The other candidates definitely weren\u2019t as fearless. The moment she looked at them, they obediently filed into the room.

Black Granny nodded in satisfaction.

Liang Yuanhao entered last. The moment he stepped over the stone threshold, the door behind him creaked shut with a loud bang.

Then came the sharp click of a lock.

As though something had followed directly behind him.

Everyone stared at the closed door and suddenly remembered the last question on the exam:

How many people are inside Black Granny\u2019s house\u2026?

Everyone\u2019s faces instantly turned pale.

They all instinctively crowded together, unwilling to stand alone.

\u2026

Black Granny\u2019s house was somewhat larger than expected.

Apparently Gypsies retained ancestral customs no matter where they lived, decorating every room to resemble wagon tents, covering everything with blankets and felt rugs.

The scent of incense inside was even stronger, enough to make people dizzy.

Old teacups, spoons, and trays sat on the windowsills and stove. A jar of dark black material rested atop the wooden table.

Qi Yang lowered his head and sniffed it.

He smelled old tea leaves.

And beneath that, tobacco.

The scent wasn\u2019t exactly pleasant, but at least it rescued his nose slightly from drowning in incense.

The lone proctor was equally unceremonious.

After entering, Qin Jiu immediately selected a single sofa and sat down comfortably.

Beside the fireplace sat two bamboo baskets filled with yarn balls and knitting needles of varying lengths.

Black Granny reached inside. The ornaments hanging from her wrists clinked noisily together, their weight dragging her arm downward.

She pulled several yarn dolls out from the basket.

The dolls were hideous.

Their faces and limbs were made from faded gray cloth stuffed with cotton into swollen balls and strips, then crudely stitched together with thick yarn.

One doll had already been completed and was tucked into her apron.

The rest remained unfinished.

Some lacked legs.

Some lacked heads.

Judging by their appearance, they looked exactly like cursed voodoo dolls used for divination or witchcraft.

Black Granny pointed toward a wooden shelf in the corner and muttered another stream of gibberish.

This time, everyone had enough experience to know better.

The recording apps had remained running ever since they entered the room, naturally capturing everything.

\u2026

Qi Yang looked toward the wooden shelf.

Several finished dolls sat lined up side by side.

Black Granny added the completed doll from her apron to the row, then handed yarn and needles to everyone one by one.

Pointing toward the bamboo basket, she said:

\u201c#\uffe5*&\u2026\uff08&%\u201d

Even without understanding Gypsy, everyone grasped the meaning this time\u2014

She wanted them to finish making the remaining dolls.

Black Granny took out an hourglass and flipped it upside down onto the wooden table.

Then, hunching her back, she slowly left the room.

The moment she stepped outside, a series of clicks sounded throughout the room.

Chen Bin reacted quickly, rushing toward the windows and tugging hard.

\u201cThey\u2019re all locked\u2026\u201d he said. \u201cShe locked us in here. What do we do?\u201d

Yu Wen gestured toward the basket. \u201cThe meaning\u2019s pretty obvious. She even left an hourglass. Either she lets us out after the sand runs out, or we have to finish the dolls before time\u2019s up.\u201d

Everyone exchanged uncertain glances before hesitantly sitting cross-legged on the carpets, each person picking up an unfinished voodoo doll and staring blankly at it.

Old Yu let out a long sigh.

\u201cWhat else can we do? Sew them.\u201d

\u201cSince Black Granny herself is the exam question, we\u2019ve got to follow her instructions.\u201d

\u201cWe\u2019ll deal with everything else after the hourglass finishes, right?\u201d

At this point, everyone subconsciously treated Qi Yang as the leader.

Whenever someone spoke, they instinctively looked toward him for confirmation.

But when Old Yu turned around, he realized his nephew hadn\u2019t come over to sit down at all.

Instead, Qi Yang stood beside the bed, lifting the curtains to look outside.

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d everyone asked nervously.

\u201cNothing,\u201d Qi Yang said.

He just wanted to see where Black Granny had gone.

\u2026

Outside the window, Black Granny\u2019s hunched figure moved away slowly.

In the blink of an eye, she had already walked surprisingly far.

Moments later, she disappeared into the dark forest.

Qi Yang lowered the curtain.

He had intended to return toward the fireplace, but his footsteps suddenly paused.

On the lowest shelf of the wooden rack sat a crooked doll leaning dangerously near the edge.

A layer of dust covered it, making it easy to overlook.

But one oddly stretched-out leg caught Qi Yang\u2019s attention.

He walked over and bent down to pick up the doll.

Judging from the fabric and dust, the doll had been made a long time ago.

The craftsmanship was rushed and crude. The stitches connecting the limbs to the body were crooked, and the arms and long thin legs weren\u2019t even made from the same material.

The doll looked strange and pitiful.

But that wasn\u2019t what drew Qi Yang\u2019s attention.

The real reason he noticed it was because one leg had a pattern on it.

The doll itself was crudely made, yet the pattern was vividly detailed.

It looked exactly like a tattoo inked onto a living person\u2019s ankle.

The tattoo depicted a cluster of bellflowers.

Qi Yang stared at the tattoo for several seconds before reaching out to pat the person lounging on the sofa.

Qin Jiu had been resting his chin on one hand while watching him the entire time.

After being tapped twice, he lazily opened his mouth.

\u201cWhat?\u201d

Qi Yang grabbed the doll by its leg and held it toward him.

\u201cLook familiar? I\u2019m face-blind, so I might remember wrong.\u201d

Qin Jiu looked toward the pattern. \u201cWhy would it look familiar to me?\u201d

Qi Yang clicked his tongue impatiently.

\u201cThe stuff I cleaned out of the confinement room last time\u2026 the bucket I left outside your door.\u201d

\u201cI think something inside had this pattern.\u201d

Qin Jiu: \u201c\u2026\u2026\u201d

You actually still have the nerve to mention that???<\/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-3264","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3265,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3264\/revisions\/3265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"novel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/novel?post=3264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}