Chapter 3: Solitary Confinemen
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Judging from their positions, the man at the front was probably invigilator 001.
He acted like someone who came to find shelter from the snow. While he assessed the cabin, he took off his leather gloves and said with a smile: “Not bad, there’s even a fire. The snow outside is quite heavy so it was very cold coming here.”
No one smiled back.
Most of the people in the room had shrunken back.
He acted like he didn’t notice this reaction and leisurely walked over to the fire stove to warm up his hands. The smile from earlier still lingered at his lips and it brought along with it a sense of lazy teasing.
The snow on his shoulders and collar slowly disappeared, leaving behind a slightly damp stain. It then slowly dried up.
Everyone stared at him, but no one dared to speak.
The tin can that was thrown out was smashed into smithereens, but they went through the snow without a single scratch on their skins.
Yu Wen hid behind You Huo while trembling. It even caused You Huo to shake along with him.
He pathetically asked: “Are they still human?”
The 001 man appeared to have heard this and he turned to look at You Huo.
His eyes were an extremely dark black. With him standing against the light, the light from the fire would occasionally flicker in his eyes. The teasing in his eyes still had not yet scattered.
You Huo expressionlessly looked back at him. He grabbed onto the trembling boy behind him and asked calmly: “Can you shut up?”
Yu Wen didn’t dare to move.
·
It was only until Mr. 001 finished warming up his hands and wore his gloves again that the invigilator standing at the door spoke in an official tone: “We are the invigilators for this round. I am No. 154. We have just received news that two of you didn’t follow the examination rules.”
The pregnant lady Yu Yao turned pale. She was originally unable to stand up straight and this time she was about to faint.
She was like a water faucet. Tears gushed out from her eyes.
As for the bald man tied up on the sofa………he didn’t even dare breathe.
“But……….”
Someone suddenly spoke up.
Invigilator 154 stopped and looked at the speaker.
Yu Wen quickly poked his head out from behind You Huo.
Unexpectedly, the person who spoke up was his alcoholic old man, Old Yu.
“In……In the first place, we weren’t told how we should answer the question.” Old Yu fearfully stuttered.
“There are clues for all rules.” 154 said.
“Where are the clues?”
No. 154 looked at him expressionlessly: “I’m not an examinee.”
“Bu-but we didn’t know! We’re not guilty if we didn’t know……..” Old Yu’s voice got smaller and smaller and it eventually turned into the sound of a mosquito.
No. 154: “That has nothing to do with us.”
With a deadpanned face, No. 154 continued with his job: “We only punish the relevant personnel who violated the rules. The others can continue to take the exam.”
As he said that, he pulled out a white note. He read the scribbled information on it.
“According to our sources, the offender was a middle-aged man and a young girl——-”
He turned to look at Mr. 001. He then looked back at the note and stopped for a few seconds. With a firm expression, he repeated: “A middle-aged man and a lady. The two offenders, please come with us.”
As he said that, the other invigilator had already picked up the bald man from the sofa and dragged him over to the door like a dead dog.
The door was opened and cold air rushed in.
Snow particles covered their faces and everyone in the room screamed and shrank over to the fire stove. It was as if they would be smouldered into dust if the snow touched them.
Everyone watched as invigilator No. 922 stepped out with the bald man and disappeared into the snowstorm.
Left behind was the bald man’s fearful screams and a small water stain on the ground.
No. 154 continued with his deadpanned expression: “There’s also another girl, uh, woman……”
He looked up and scanned the room with furrowed brows.
Old Yu and two good-hearted old ladies took advantage of the chaos earlier to hide Yu Yao behind them but they trembled like a leaf.
No. 154’s eyes was just about to look over when Mr. 001 pointed his chin at You Huo, “The other is him. Take him away.”
“Who?”
No. 154 looked down at the note.
The sharply scribbled handwriting clearly read ——– Young girl.
No. 154 looked at You Huo with a blank look.
You Huo who was being looked at stared at Mr. 001 coldly.
No. 154 was certain that if this cold-faced handsome guy had a knife in his hand, he would’ve already cut off his boss’s head.
“This—–”
When he just wanted to speak, Mr. 001 who gave him his orders turned up his coat collar and walked out into the snowstorm.
……….
·
“Fuck! Brother!!”
“Dammit!! Why don’t any of you speak any sense!!” Old Yu exploded.
“It’s not him! It’s me! Not him——–” Yu Yao was stunned for a couple of seconds before quickly rushing out from behind everyone.
However, when they looked over, the door was open. Snow continued to pour into the room along with gusts of wind.
There was not a soul by the door.
The three invigilators, along with the bald man and the wrongly accused You Huo, had disappeared without a sound.
“Stop shouting! They’re already gone. If you want, you can go chase after them!” The tattooed man gnashed his teeth and strode over to slam the door shut. He even added two locks.
The room went quiet. Old Yu’s eyes were red. He slapped his thigh angrily and sat onto the floor.
Yu Yao fell back onto the chair. She cried even more miserably.
Ever since she entered this cabin, she had not stopped crying. She was about to finish crying out her entire lifetime of tears.
Yu Wen stood stiffly facing the door with a pale face. He then turned around to pick his father up. With a frown, he said: “My brother left me a message.”
“What?” Old Yu was shocked.
That invigilator took him away so quickly yet You Huo was able to have time to leave a message?
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“He asked me to find a knife.” Yu Wen said.
“What knife?”
Yu Wen slowly shook his head. He didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to look at the answer wall.
Old Yu also looked over.
His eyes slowly swept over the wall. Finally, it settled in one place.
It was those thin knife marks.
“Who did that?” Old Yu was stunned for a moment.
Yu Wen: “It was there before. I saw it before the question was given.”
He thought back for a moment and finally understood his brother’s previous actions.
“I understand now.”
Old Yu was very confused: “What do you know now?”
“Brother earlier was constantly saying that he was looking for a pen, but he was holding an axe in his hand.” Yu Wen looked at the knife marks on the wall and said, “Earlier didn’t that invigilator also say that there are clues for all rules? These knife marks are the clues.”
The ink couldn’t leave traces on the wall but a knife can.
So it is the so-called pen.
Old Yu’s eyes brightened. He let out a sigh: “Sure enough, he’s still very good.”
Yu Wen: “Huh?”
“Then let’s find a knife! At least we can be of help.”
Old Yu wanted to turn around to let the others know of this news, but his mouth was covered by Yu Wen.
“No, no, no, don’t!”
Yu Wen pretended to be comforting Old Yu. He patted Old Yu’s back and said: “Don’t worry, don’t worry. My brother will be fine!”
Old Yu was about to vomit out blood from his smacks.
He again said in an extremely small voice: “Brother said that the knife was hidden away.”
·
The snow got stronger.
Wind would randomly blow from all directions. Everywhere outside was misty, and you couldn’t see the outlines of the mountains and trees. In the distance, you could see faint lights.
You Huo walked through the snow with a cold expression.
When he was pushed out the door, the cabin behind him disappeared. Even if he wanted to go back, he couldn’t.
But there was one thing that was confirmed —– With the accompaniment of the invigilators, they wouldn’t be turned into smithereens in the snow.
But compared to the snow, the invigilators were more worrisome.
The bald man was still in grief. He looked like he was at a funeral. Fortunately, they didn’t go too far. Before they freezed to death, he finally saw a house.
It was a very small western styled building which sat alone in the middle of the woods.
In general, ghosts tend to like to inhabit these kinds of houses.
“We’re here.” No. 154 pushed You Huo in.
Under the light, You Huo’s handsome face was stiff from the cold. His thin lips were pursed tight and his skin was cold and pale.
This small building went through some sort of strange refurbishment and it was completely covered in murals and sculptures. Big and small, they covered every corner of the house. When they looked around, he found himself facing a pale, stiff face.
The moment the bald man entered, he collapsed to the ground.
Seeing that he was about to leave another pool of water, No. 922 didn’t hesitate to drag him down the corridor.
The bald man’s cries came from that direction: “What are you doing? I was wrong. I was wrong ——– I won’t so anything bad anymore! What are you going to do?!”
“Afraid?”
A deep voice suddenly rang by his ear.
Mr. 001 who was standing next to You Huo while taking off his gloves, asked this casually.
You Huo glanced at him and walked straight past him.
No. 154 glanced at You Huo and then looked over at 001.
“Why are you looking at me?” Invigilator 001 pointed at the corridor with his chin. He said lazily: “Hurry and go. Someone can’t wait any longer.”
·
The little western building didn’t look very big, but that corridor was very long.
So long that people would begin to wonder if it there was something supernatural at play and you would never be able to get out.
Fortunately, it wasn’t an endless corridor.
A few minutes later, 922 stopped his steps and opened a door. He pushed the bald man in and then locked it.
You Huo finally opened his mouth and asked: “What punishment?”
No. 154 was stunned for a moment. He said: “Solitary confinement.”
You Huo: “…………..”
He felt that these group of people may be addicted to playing house.
He looked at No. 154.
154: “I’m not lying. It really is solitary confinement.”
For some reason, despite being an invigilator, when he said this his voice changed slightly and it was a little tense.
“You’re scared.” You Huo said. “You were confined before?”
154 furrowed his brows: “What am I afraid of? You should be more scared.”
When he finished saying this, he felt something strange under his foot. The sensation below the sole of his feet felt different. It seemed to feel a bit………sticky.
He then heard the faint sound of water.
He looked down and saw a thick later of water seep out from under the door.
Inside the door was the bald man.
After being stunned for two seconds, he reacted. It was blood.
“Don’t worry, you won’t die.” 154 said. He opened another door on the opposite side and took advantage of the moment when You Huo is in thought to push him in: “Make the most of your time.”
When he was done, he slammed the door shut. From outside, there was the clattering of a lock being put in place.
You Huo heard his voice vaguely through the cracks between the doors: “They shouldn’t be so harsh for just using the wrong stationery. Solitary confinement will only let you experience the most fearful things in your life. I’ll pick you up after three hours.
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·
On the second floor of the little western bulding, invigilator 001 sat on the arm chair with one hand supporting his chin.
On the table was a metal bird stand and a pitch-black bird sat on it.
His eyes fell onto the snow coated woods outside. While his finger rubbed the bird’s head, there was no expression on his face. He was clearly extremely bored.
Invigilator 922 was madly complaining: “Fucking hell, he pissed himself four times on the way there. I say one thing, he pisses himself. I say another thing and he pisses himself again!”
No. 154 walked in shaking the paper in his hand: “Young girl! You wrote young girl yourself!”
He could no longer maintain his deadpanned expression. If you lent him 100x courage, he would even be brave enough to shove the note into 001’s face.
Unfortunately, he didn’t dare.
However, after the two of them complained for a while they noticed that the person in the armchair wasn’t responding. He continued to look out the window.
“Boss? Boss?” 922 tried calling out a few times. Finally, he could only increase his volume: “Qin Jiu!”
Mr. 001 finally returned to his senses.
922 pulled 154 over to be scolded and quickly slipped back.
154: “………….”
Fuck you.
Qin Jiu’s eyes swept back and forth between the two of them: “I wasn’t paying attention earlier so I didn’t hear. Complain again?”
154 shook his head: “Forget it.”
922 timidly walked up: “Boss…….What’s wrong?”
Qin Jiu raised his eyebrow: “What is that senseless talk?”
“No……..I just felt that you don’t seem to be in a good mood.” 922 said.
“I don’t?”
“Yes…….a little.” 922 said: “Because you were dragged over to be an invigilator?”
“No.”
“Then why……” 154 muttered.
“Speak louder. I didn’t hear the second half.” Qin Jiu glanced at him.
When he used his pitch-black eyes to stare at others, the others would always feel uncomfortable. Even if 154 and 922 had followed him for almost 3 years, they still couldn’t get used to it.
154 once again shrank back. He cleared his throat and said: “I said……You are in a good mood so why did you drag someone who didn’t violate the rules over? Isn’t this a bit of a violation of the rules?”
Qin Jiu said: “I’m following the rules. He had ‘ink’ on his hands. Didn’t you see it?”
154 was stunned for a moment: “Oh, I didn’t see it…….”
Qin Jiu rubbed the black bird’s head and said: “Also…………”
922 and 154 perked up their ears.
However, their boss continued petting the bird for another 10 minutes and didn’t say the next sentence.
After a long pause, he said: “Forget it. It’s nothing.”
“………..”
The two subordinates almost died from suffocation. They didn’t dare rebel and quickly slipped away.
·
On the third floor of the small western building was a small attic. Inside there was a wall of screens which corresponded to each of the confinement rooms.
The experiences of the people in the confinement rooms would be projected here. To some certain extent, you could see a lot of their secrets.
But at this moment, there was a heavy lock on the door. No one came and peeked.
Two screens were lit up. One was the room with the bald man, and the other was You Huo’s room.
The screen displaying the bald man’s room was blurred with blood. Through the red film, you could faintly see a silhouette of a hanging figure and a deathly pale face.
As for You Huo’s side, the screen was completely normal.
The screen displayed the original appearance of the room; three mirrors, a wall clock, a wooden table and chair, and that was it.
·
Three hours later, No. 154 came over to the confinement room with the keys.
He prepared himself to be hit by flying arms and legs but when he opened the door, he was stunned.
There was nothing in the confinement room and the cold-faced handsome guy who was confined in the room was asleep on the table.
With his arms covering his face, he looked like he was a high school student taking a nap in class.
The sound of 154 entering appeared to have woken him up.
He frowned as he opened his eyes and he looked at 154 before closing it again. With a look of annoyance, he lazed around a little more before straightening up and leaning back on the chair. He asked: “Done?”
154: “…………………………………….”
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