With one hand holding a glass of water and the other holding fever medicine, 154 stood frozen in place.
He didn't expect You Huo to suddenly come over and had almost forgotten what he was doing.
"Boss's hand is injured." 922 walked over. His voice was still low, "According to 1006, his wounds appeared after yours so he will probably wake up a little later."
154 only now returned to his senses. He soaked the medicine in the water and said, "As for how many there are, we don't know. We haven't checked."
Qin Jiu's hand rested beside him. His palms were a terrible sight, almost comparable to that of You Huo's.
It was clearly similar with a mixture of blood, flesh and bones peeking out from underneath but You Huo felt that Qin Jiu's wounds looked more horrific.
Perhaps it was because it was on someone else, so it looked worse.
"Why didn't you check?" He asked 154.
"When asleep, boss doesn't like others——–huh?" 154 was halfway through his explanation when You Huo reached out for Qin Jiu's collar.
Qin Jiu who was still suffering from his fever furrowed his brows when he felt this.
His mask had been removed and left to one side. Under the dim underground lighting, his lips and face were colourless.
Normally, he would be lazy and arrogant. Sturdy and reliable, it was as if he would never be tired or sick.
This sickly and fatigued appearance of his was rare, and it looked extremely serious.
You Huo's fingers paused. He lightened his movements.
Just as he was about to continue, his wrist was grabbed.
922 sucked in a breath.
Fortunately, You Huo wasn't using his injured hand. If Qin Jiu had grabbed onto that wound with that amount of force...….
Ugh——–
He couldn't help but shudder.
922 rubbed his arms.
154 sighed and finished his words, "He doesn't like others touching him. There's an 80-90% chance of being attacked."
Just as he finished saying that, Qin Jiu woke up.
With half-opened eyes, his eyes that were heavy with sleep fell onto You Huo's face.
His fever made it difficult to tell whether it was dream or reality.
Qin Jiu soon closed his eyes again. The tension in his handsome brows were not gone, but it was no longer furrowed as tightly as before.
He reduced his strength on You Huo's hand but didn't let go. As he closed his eyes, he gently used his thumb to rub You Huo's wrist a few times.
It was a very small and natural action that carried an almost intimate and reassuring meaning.
The others didn't notice it; only You Huo felt it.
He curled his fingers slightly.
He clearly could just move away but it was as if he was suddenly hit with a bout of laziness and he didn't retract his hand.
After being in daze for another two seconds, Qin Jiu again opened his eyes.
This time he was completely awake. His eyes once again fell onto You Huo's face before sweeping over to the others around him. He then sat up and retracted his hand.
After the temperature around his wrist was suddenly withdrawn, You Huo moved his hand back and flexed his joints.
"Numb?" Qin Jiu's voice was hoarse and rough, "I'm a little alert when sleeping. Did I hurt you?"
Those actions earlier were clearly something he had done unintentionally. He no longer remembered it.
You Huo shook his head, "Just grabbed it. Didn't use force."
"What's wrong with your hand?" Qin Jiu's eyes fell onto his other wrist. His eyebrows furrowed again.
You Huo: "...…You should look at your own hand first."
922 knocked his head onto 154's shoulder. He couldn't help but lament: "My god. I'm can't believe this...."
154 had an intolerable expression. He didn't know if it was because of the wounds, or because of the two people themselves.
You can already see the damn bones, yet your attention is on the other person. Is this because you lost sensation there or because you have a big heart?
Perhaps it's because amazing people like them are different from others.
Examinee Zhao Hong who was mingled in with the group of invigilators couldn't help but think: I probably won't be a great master like them in this lifetime no matter what I do.
After a brief explanation, Qin Jiu understood the current situation: "So the method of killing the Duke is wrong."
Gao Qi: "....We said all that because we wanted you to understand how serious that curse is. You two are in danger now. Life-threatening danger, do you understand? If you are not careful, the two of you will end up in that church calling those bloodied humans brothers! Who has the time to discuss the method of killing the Duke?!"
"I understand."
Gao Qi: "Understand my ass!"
Qin Jiu looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
Gao Qi looked back at him challengingly for a few seconds before suddenly rubbing his face. Fuck, what happened to me. I'm now treating 001 as a brother rather than an old adversary.
With his face covered, he muttered a few things about A being the one at fault and how he was probably affected by the ridiculous idea that a friend of a friend is a friend.
Gao Qi turned around and glared at You Huo.
You Huo and Qin Jiu sat on the same bench. Under the collective urging from 922 and 154, and 021's silent stare.....You Huo refused to take the medicine.
154 had his hand out. In it were several kinds of medications including fever medications, anti-inflammatory medications and medications for pain relief.
Miss 021 changed her attitude as quickly as one would turn over a page in a book; a moment ago she refused to give medicine but the moment she saw You Huo's waist also bleeding, she rushed upstairs to grab the first aid kit.
"One is enough." You Huo said and nudged Qin Jiu, "Deal with your people first."
Just that one phrase of his gave Gao Qi mixed feelings.
Several years ago, when You Huo was still wearing the invigilator's uniform, he would often throw out the line "deal with your people first" to Qin Jiu.
And Qin Jiu would always reply, "My people? Sure. When I discipline them next time, I'll invite Big Invigilator over to give me some feedback. How does that sound?"
The locations would always be at the meeting room, control centre, corridor, punishment building etc. The atmosphere between them was always filled with tension. A's expression was always cold and 001's tone would always be provocative.
It had become a routine at the invigilator's place.
Unexpectedly, after so many years, the same words were spoken by the same person but in a completely different context.
Qin Jiu took in You Huo's bloody hand and continued to furrow his brows. He then said to 154: "One is definitely not enough."
You Huo on the other hand pointed over and said to 154: "Give it to him."
Qin Jiu: "....."
Before 154 was able to speak, 021 couldn't hold herself back.
The young lady rolled her eyes and poured out two piles of medicine, "Here, here, here. Is this okay now? You're both acting like we're forcefully feeding you poison. This examinee earlier allowed me to appreciate the beauty of the NPCs at the church and they were almost completely rotten. For the sake of not becoming like those NPCs, can you throw away that male self-esteem of yours and admit that it you're sick and in pain?"
She tossed the two piles of medicine into two glasses and forced it into their hands: "Drink!"
****
You Huo and Qin Jiu couldn't argue against this young lady. Maintaining their gentlemanly attitude, they reluctantly took the medicine and wrapped their wounds up.
The effectiveness wasn't obvious, but it was better than nothing.
Under the effect of the medicine, the two slept again.
Three hours passed very quickly. When the door to the confinement rooms finally opened, the first batch of examinees ran out crying and howling with faces covered in snot and tears.
Fortunately, they were only rendered miserable, and no one was hurt.
The remaining four were easier to accommodate.
Taking into consideration You Huo and Qin Jiu's condition, 922 wanted to put the two together so that they could help each other out.
During those three hours, who knows whether the wounds would continue to spread.
But the system once again spoke out with bad intentions.
Its goal this time was clear. Without too much nonsense, it directly assigned them to the following confinement rooms:
Qin Jiu in room one.
Gao Qi in room two.
Examinee Zhao Hong in room 3.
That was it.
Two could clearly be confined together but the system didn't allow it.
You Huo was once again excluded and was forced to be in the third batch.
After Qin Jiu entered the confinement room, 922 and 154 left the basement.
Like the other confinement rooms, there was also a room in the cabin with three screens connected to the three confinement rooms that is referred to as the monitoring room.
Under the influence of their boss, there was no such thing as monitoring the examinees in 922 and 154's dictionaries.
This was their first time using the monitoring room. It was mainly because they were worried about Qin Jiu who confined in there alone.
The screen very quickly turned on. The two of them pulled up a chair and sat down before the screen with a serious expression…..
They had no interest in examinees private matters so watching them through the monitoring screens was a long and boring task. As for monitoring Qin Jiu....
Other rule violators' would at least be a little stimulating. His was just an unchanging ruin site.
922 watched on for a while and couldn't help but start chatting with 154.
"Where is this ruin site?" 922 asked curiously, "I don't seem to have seen it before."
154: "It's not a place one would go to normally so it's normal for you not to have seen it."
"Not a place one would normally go to? What do you mean?"
"Under normal circumstances, it's a place even invigilators cannot enter."
"Oh."
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922 nodded as if in understanding.
On the screen, the other two confinement rooms were very lively. In contrast, Qin Jiu's screen was very quiet and it had.....a small sense of loneliness.
922 supported his chin in daze for a moment and suddenly realised something: "Hey———-That's not right. If it's a place invigilators normally can't enter, why would you know about it 154?"
***
The group of people who had completed their punishment were sent back to the examination centre by 021.
At the foot of Carlton mountain, 021 stopped and pointed at a metal fence surrounded by overgrown weeds, "Go forward for ten metres and there's a gap in the fence. From there, you will see the castle."
With the shock from the confinement room punishment yet to fade, the examinees slowly trudged back.
Each and every one of them had a look of exhaustion. No one spoke.
They quietly went through the fence and walked into the castle's dark shadow like they were entering a beast's mouth.
"Let's hurry. There are still a few ladies in the castle." Someone finally returned to their senses and hastened their steps.
With this reminder, everyone else similarly returned to their senses.
"Fuck, I almost forgot! How many were there? Four? Five?"
"Regardless, that Duke is no better than a beast. Who knows what he would do!"
If it was before, they would be too afraid to return to the examination centre.
But now it was different.
Every one of them had killed the Duke.
Although the other party could come back to life, it didn't matter. They had overcome the fear in their hearts.
They raced back to the castle and was attacked by the thick stench of blood the moment they entered through the door.
"What happened.....?"
The smell of blood was most intense on the second floor. Zhao Jiatong was standing in a room wielding a knife.
The large dress that constantly got in her way had been removed and she had changed into her own clothes. Her expression was dark and sombre.
The battle earlier had been too chaotic, and she had overlooked a few people.
It was to the point that.....When the Duke wandered through the castle, she was only able to protect the ones she had accounted for.
This room was one of ones she had missed.
In here lived a very shy girl with dimples in the corner of her mouth. When she smiled, her smiles were very sweet.
Zhao Jiatong had not spoken to her before, but she remembered her smile.
At this moment, that face had been left on the bed by the Duke. Pale and bloody, she could no longer smile....
As the Duke moved away from the bed, he shook his head and licked off the blood from his fingers. He sighed, "It failed again....Pitiful lady, sleep and have a good dream."
Zhao Jiatong raised her knife and rushed in for the kill.
She single-handedly killed the Duke a total of five times.
And in a place unbeknownst to her, Qin Jiu who was sitting in the ruins raised his thin and slender hand up against the sun. It was white and bony.
As he flexed his fingers, his bones softly cracked.