When the examinees entered the centre, the ship crew saw them as uninvited guests and didn't have a good expression on their face.
Of course, it would be impossible for them to have a good expression after living on a remote island like this for eight whole months.
Now that the examinees were providing them with medicine, their attitudes changed significantly.
To express their appreciation, the ship crew decided to share their fire with the examines. With this, everyone huddled into the inner cave.
.
The cave was very small. As soon as the examinees entered, all the remaining space inside was filled.
The man with the buzzcut gestured for everyone to quieten down: "The captain stayed up all night. Try to keep quiet and avoid waking him up."
He pointed at a figure in the corner.
It was a middle-aged man. He huddled a little further away allowing the rest of the crew to sit closer to the fire.
Facing the fire, he slept with a frown on this face. The light from the fire alone wasn't enough to change his pale complexion. Instead, it made his sunken cheeks and protruding cheekbones even more prominent.
"Captain?" Di Li assessed that person curiously and whispered: "Is he called Barentsz?"
Several crew members looked at him strangely.
"What's wrong?" Di Li panicked. He quickly added: "I was just——"
Before he could finish, a young crew member exclaimed with surprise: "How did you know? Are you a wizard?"
Di Li was extremely pleased. He flashed his canine: "I'm a werewolf."
The man with the buzzcut spoke slowly: "Werewolf? Oh, I don't know if your lying or speaking the truth....In any case, no matter what you are, you should be careful. It's okay on this island but if you go out you will be caught and burned on a stake."
"...….."
Di Li's grin stiffened.
.
Wu Li gave the crew members a simple examination. A total of fourteen of them were wounded, including the man with the buzzcut and Captain Barentsz.
While this lady worked, she hated being watched by others.
But because the medications were supplied by You Huo and Qin Jiu, she made an exception for them.
And it was also because she needed someone to hold down these putrid smelling beings.
For example, the anti-inflammatory medications.
They came in injection vials. In a box of twelve vials, a single needle was supplied. With no option to change needles for each person, she could only rely on using the fire to disinfect the needle.
When Wu Li unscrewed the cap from the needle, the crew members slowly backed away while murmuring suspiciously. But before they could take more than a few steps, they were stopped by You Huo from behind. Immediately, there was a look of despair on their faces.
"What are you doing?" Wu Li asked with a stern expression.
The crew members felt that she didn't look like she was there to save them and was instead going to kill them.
The first officer with the buzzcut explained: "They're saying that your medical treatment is too strange. Normal doctors wouldn't use something like that to draw water."
Wu Li's action stopped: "...…Draw water?"
The man with the buzzcut could keenly sense her dissatisfaction. He quickly added: "It's just a description. Don't take it too seriously."
Wu Li remained stern: "What do their doctors normally do? Tell me."
One of the crew members gestured around and even made some sounds: "Pa——–pa———–"
The man with the buzzcut explained simply: "They would generally use a thin rod and use it to whip the patient."
Wu Li: "...…"
"What do they do?" Shu Xue didn't understand.
Qin Jiu explained it even more succinctly: "Sending them to their deaths faster."
Shu Xue: "...….."
You Huo mocked him: "You're really good at summarising."
Qin Jiu smiled and said: "Thank you."
The crew member gestured again.
The first officer with the buzzcut continued to explain: "Or they would do bloodletting. Many doctors would choose to do that."
"...…"
Dr. Wu couldn't no longer continue listening to all this foreign nonsense. She said to You Huo and Qin Jiu: "Help me hold them down. I don't think I can do it alone. Thanks."
Just as Shu Xue wanted to go over, it was as if Wu Li had a pair of eyes on the back of her head: "You go and sit back down."
"...….." The fake pregnant woman felt wronged to death.
When the crew members heard that they were going to forcefully treat them, they all tried to slip away.
The other examinees didn't remain idle and they all worked together to stop them.
While they tried to persuade them, they saw Qin Jiu pull out a rope and tie up a crew member in a blink of an eye.
He was extremely skilled. A knot was done within three seconds and soon he had tied up a group of them.
There were seven in total. This group of people were sent straight over to Dr. Wu.
Just as he was about to tie up the eighth one, a long and slender hand interrupted.
It was You Huo.
This great master used his hand as a knife. With quick and precise attacks, he knocked out all the other crew members with a karate chop behind their head leaving only the man with the buzzcut behind to act as translator.
The man with the buzzcut was dumbfounded.
Wu Li looked at the pile of unconscious people laying on the ground. She almost couldn't maintain her stiff expression.
She sighed and began to treat them one by one.
.
You Huo noticed that the wounds on the crew members were strange.
Some were flesh wounds while others had bruises on their backs or arms. Because it had been left there for a long time without recovering, it began to turn black and blue. It was quite a shocking sight.
It wasn't something caused by a beast's claws, let alone a bite.
But in this place covered in snow and ice, could it be caused by something like polar bears or arctic wolves?
What kind of beast would leave behind injuries like these?
While the man with the buzzcut was still conscious, You Huo asked him.
He sighed and said: "I also don't know. None of us do."
"What do you mean?"
"In fact, this only started happening recently….." The man with the buzzcut said.
By recently, he meant that it started about ten days ago.
That day, they happened to find a group of fish under some ice and managed to fish up a heap and eat their fill.
It was one of those rare lucky days for them on the secluded island. After eating, they warmed themselves around the fire and chatted about things they were looking forward to once they returned.
Eventually, they ended up falling asleep.
When they were startled awake again, the fire they sat around had somehow gone out and the cave they were in was completely dark.
They heard a scream. It came from right beside the man with the buzzcut.
"Fortunately, my hand moved fasted than my thoughts. My first reaction was to reach over and grab him." The man with the buzzcut said: "And perhaps it was because I was lucky, I managed to grab onto his ankle. At that time, he was being dragged out the cave by something. It was very strong. I called for everyone else to help but it was useless. All of us were almost dragged out together.
This persisted until the fire was set up again.
The force dragging them out suddenly weakened causing them to collapse into a pile.
"The next day, the places we were dragged at became like this." The man with buzzcut sighed, "After that, we didn't dare extinguish the fire. As long as someone was around, there had to be fire, so we took turns to keep it alight. It was just that we sometimes couldn't maintain it."
"We later realised that the larger the fire, the safer we were and so the amount of fuel and firewood used doubled."
"When the fuel ran out, we had to dismantle a part of the deck to burn. It was enough to last us until the snow melted. We planned to stop it today.
"No." Wu Li interrupted: "You can't stop the fire."
Everyone looked at her.
She said: "Just taking medication is not enough, the body temperature must be maintained. Once the fire is extinguished, the temperature inside the cave would plummet within a few minutes and all that medication you took would be for nothing. You not only need fire; it needs to be stronger. It's best to light one both on the inside and outside cave to ensure that the optimal temperature is maintained."
"I understand the theory behind that but it's a bit difficult to put into action." One examinee said: "I looked around when I came. This island is almost completely empty."
"If worse comes to worse, you can use the merchant ship." Di Li's memory of the exam question was so good, he even remembered that the merchant ship was made from wood.
The man with the buzzcut was anxious: "No! You can't touch the cargo! If you touched it, we won't have any dignity when we return. The captain said that he would throw himself into the sea if anything happened to the cargo and I have the same thoughts as him."
Everyone: "......….."
Di Li quickly said: "We won't touch the cargo. We know that your cargo is more important than your life. I studied about this topic for a whole year. I meant dismantling the deck!"
"The deck can no longer be dismantled." The man with the buzzcut said: "If you dismantled more of it, the ship can no longer be used. All the cargo inside would be damaged by the wind and rain so the final outcome would still be us throwing ourselves into the sea."
Di Li: "......"
Why do you have so many reasons to die?
"Not even one?" Everyone tried to bargain.
The man with the buzzcut: "No, and it won't be enough anyway."
.
Inside the cave, a fire about the size of a fist flickered. It was smaller than before.
"Oh no, it's about to go out." Although Di Li was young, he was at the top of the scoreboard, so he felt that it was his destiny to act as the examinees' representative.
He patted off the dirt from his butt and stood up: "How about this? A group of use will try and see if we can find branches on the island while the other group will follow this unc—–"
Man with the buzzcut: "...….."
"——-big brother to the merchant ship to take a look. Perhaps they may have been some that were overlooked? Even if it's just one piece of wood, it's better than nothing."
Everyone else was older than him. They all gave him some leeway.
What's more, this kid's words also made a lot of sense. Everyone formed groups and did as he said.
Wu Li stayed behind to take care of the wounded.
Wanting to also go out, Shu Xue internally prepared several excuses.
She had wanted to follow You Huo and Qin Jiu to see if she could be of any help. Afterall, those two knew that she wasn't really pregnant so she wouldn't be a burden on them.
Unexpectedly, these two great masters were sauntering slowly at the end of the group. Before they left the cave, they stopped Shu Xue.
You Huo: "I'm going to look around alone."
Qin Jiu glanced at him: "What a coincidence. So am I."
You Huo oh'ed and then indicated at the cave entrance with his chin: "Different ways. You can go."
Qin Jiu poked his cheek with his tongue. After thinking for a few seconds, he narrowed his eyes and said: "Alright then."
After Qin Jiu left, You Huo turned around.
Shu Xue asked with concern: "Are you sure you don't need any help? It'll be difficult finding firewood in this place. I don't want to sit around while everyone is working hard but if it's not convenient for you, I can stay back with Wu Li."
You Huo said: "It's not bothersome. At most, it'll just be a little more work."
Shu Xue: "...…."
He waved his hand and turned around to leave. When he reached the exit, he turned back and said: "You should just stay here. Keep an eye on that person's suitcase."
After that, he added: "Eats a lot."
Shu Xue: "...…Oh."
.
Under the twilight, the ships used to drop the examinees off were neatly anchored around the island. A short distance away from those ships were the three merchant ships mentioned in the question.
According to the examination rules that were announced, these ships would sail off again once the exam is successfully completed to take the examinees away from the examination centre.
And so, there shouldn't be anyone around.
But at this moment, a tall figure suddenly appeared on the deck of one of those ships.
He had just climbed up the rope ladder and was searching around near the steering wheel looking for tools.
It was You Huo who said earlier that he wanted to look around alone.
He was looking for the long hook he used earlier on the ship.
He recalled leaving it there, but he somehow couldn't find it.
You Huo looked around and eventually lost his patience. He found a small dagger slightly longer than his hand and decided to use that instead.
He used his finger to feel for a gap between the wood on the deck and inserted the knife between the planks. Just as he was about to pry it apart, a cracking sound was heard from within the cabin.
There's someone else around?
You Huo was stunned for a moment. He then frowned and walked over to the stairs. Using his feet, he kicked open the trap door.
He had thought that he would see that old captain inside but instead he saw Qin Jiu...
The other party was holding the missing metal hook in one hand and with the other hand he was breaking off a wooden board.
With a thud, the wooden board fell to the side. There was already a small pile of wood there.
Qin Jiu heard movements above. Twirling the metal hook around and resting it on his shoulder, he looked up: "What a coincidence top student. You're also here to explore the ship?"
You Huo: "...….."
He looked on through his half-lidded eyes for a moment. He then squatted down next to the trap door with the dagger.
"Do you still remember that you're an invigilator?" He looked down at Qin Jiu from above and asked.
Qin Jiu laughed: "Really? I seem to recall something like that. But right now, I'm moreso your comrade, don't you think?"
You Huo looked down at him for a moment. He eventually snorted: "Alright."
.
Half an hour later.
Di Li and the others gradually returned to the cave in groups. They brought back their hard-earned loot: Two bundles of soaked branches and three pieces of wood from the deck that was exchanged for with their lives.
That was it.
It was clearly not enough.
While everyone was clearly not happy, one examinee sitting closest to the entrance of the cave suddenly stood up.
"What's wrong?" Everyone became nervous.
"I heard something.....Wait, I'll go and see!" The examinee said this and rushed out.
Less than a minute later, he returned.
"Fuck...…."
The first thing he said when he returned was a curse. He then took two deep breaths.
"What's wrong? Don't gasp and tell us!"
"Those two ranked second last!"
"Huh?"
"They brought a huge pile of wood back. It's outside!"
"A huge pile? How is that possible? Where did it come from?" Di Li had already rushed out before he could finish speaking.
The moment he rushed outside, he heard the examinee say: "They got it from the ship! They dismantled the systems ship!"
Di Li: "...….."
What???
More than thirty examinees rushed out the cave and were immediately shocked by the large pile of wood before them.
Before they could close their mouths, the dead rabbit outside the cave came back to life:
[Examinee You Huo and Qin Jiu violated the rules by dismantling the system's ship. The invigilators of this exam have been notified. Invigilators 154, 922, 078 and 021 are making their way here. ]
KK has something to say:
These two just blatantly destroys things in an exam ️