Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 100
by Little PandaBUG
Life and Death Examination Room 07
Examination God
That was the voice of a young girl, instantly reminding Xin Lan and Wan Yan and the others of the little girl from the household where they had just temporarily stayed.
Although they still couldn’t understand what she was singing, an unsettling feeling clung like gangrene clinging to the bone1, making one feel ill at ease all over.
“Who’s singing?”
Someone cowered, murmuring aloud.
Xiao An seemed not to have heard, remaining asleep.
The others looked back and forth at each other. Yuan Yuan and Huo Xu had clearly thought of the little girl, but they also said nothing.
They didn’t know the little girl’s status either; according to what the girl herself had said, she seemed quite noble?
At least, much more noble than her deceased Second Uncle.
Xin Lan glanced towards the doorway, frowning slightly.
“Did you hear anything?”
She asked Wan Yan.
Wan Yan also tilted her head to listen carefully, then nodded.
The others looked utterly baffled2; the singing was so obvious, it would be strange not to have heard it. Was there really a need to listen like that?
Xin Lan concentrated, listening to determine where the sound was coming from.
It was a subtle sound, fundamentally inaudible unless one listened very carefully, especially with the ongoing interference from the singing outside.
A rustling sound, like insects crawling, or perhaps like insects vibrating their wings.
Not good!
“Let’s retreat out of here first.”
Xin Lan opened the door, shouted once, grabbed Xiao An off the bed, and went out.
Wan Yan followed close behind. The others froze for a second, but Huo Xu reacted the quickest, pulling Yuan Yuan along as he exited.
Seeing this, the others hurriedly squeezed their way out.
Someone suddenly screamed, making people unable to resist looking back. What they saw was rather alarming.
Sometime unknown, countless insects had appeared in the room, densely packed, a sight that made one feel nauseated.
Even more terrifyingly, someone had moved too slowly; the insects latched onto her feet and, in no time, crawled all over her body.
She let out bloodcurdling screams and cries for help, but the others didn’t dare try to save her—they simply didn’t know how.
No one knew what kind of things those insects were, filling the entire room.
Xin Lan went downstairs, heading toward the source of the singing.
The others hurried to follow, terrified that if they were even a step too slow, they too would be swallowed by the insects.
The insects didn’t follow them down. Xiao An, for some reason, didn’t open his eyes or wake up, even as Xin Lan ran holding him by the back of his collar.
Ten people had come; only eight made it downstairs.
Two people had been left behind in the sea of insects. Someone covered their mouth, silently shedding tears.
As people who had lived their lives in peaceful times, suddenly facing such brutal life-and-death stakes was enough to shock any ordinary person.
“Xiao An?”
Xin Lan gave the NPC in her arms a little shake. Xiao An didn’t open his eyes, his head hanging low.
Wan Yan supported his head, checked his breathing, and nodded at Xin Lan.
Still alive, that’s what matters.
The singing suddenly stopped again, making it impossible to locate the source.
“What do we do now? Should we go find the village chief?”
Yuan Yuan looked toward Xin Lan and Wan Yan; hearing the question, the others also turned their gazes to the pair.
“Something’s not right. It feels like we were deliberately lured down here.”
Xin Lan surveyed the surroundings. This must be the work3 of that so-called betrayed Gu Servant.
“I’ll go scout ahead first. Wait for me.”
Wan Yan signaled to Xin Lan and walked towards the doorway.
Xin Lan placed Xiao An on a chair, pondering their next move.
This was only the second exam; they hadn’t been given any weapons to deal with insects. It couldn’t be that they were meant to be completely wiped out4 here. There had to be a solution.
“Xiao An?”
Xin Lan gently patted Xiao An’s face; he remained lethargic.
Outside, the sky remained dark, with no telling when it would brighten.
Wan Yan looked out from the main entrance, seeing only pitch darkness—nothing at all.
Suddenly, within that void, a single point of lamplight flickered on, exceptionally conspicuous in the night.
Wan Yan walked over and saw a young girl carrying a lantern—it was indeed the same little girl they had seen before.
The smile she wore before was gone; her small face was expressionless, possessing an unnatural stiffness under the faint lamplight.
She didn’t speak. Upon seeing Wan Yan, she turned and walked away.
Wan Yan watched her retreating figure but did not chase after her.
Seeing that Wan Yan wasn’t following, the little girl looked back, silently urging her onward.
Wan Yan did not oblige her, instead starting to walk back to find Xin Lan.
Suddenly, the hand of a paper figure5 grabbed her foot. Wan Yan steadied herself—
—it was the same male and female pair that had appeared in the cave earlier. They each seized one of Wan Yan’s feet, attempting to drag her forward.
Wan Yan forcefully ripped off one paper figure’s arm. The torn edge became sharp and slashed toward Wan Yan’s body, but she remained completely unharmed6 and proceeded to tear both paper figures to shreds.
“You tore up his paper figures. He won’t be happy.”
The little girl stated.
“His paper figures grabbed my feet. I’m not happy either.”
Wan Yan glanced at the paper shreds on the ground and sneered.
“If he has something to say, let him say it openly.”
“I don’t know what he wants to say to you. I was guiding you; aren’t you going?”
The little girl asked, sounding somewhat puzzled.
Wan Yan headed back the way she came, letting her actions speak for themselves.
Since the other party had already resorted to such discourtesy with the paper figures, what reason was there for her to follow?
Besides, she hadn’t even informed Xin Lan yet.
Her steps were quick, and in no time, she reached the doorway.
The light was on inside the door. Xin Lan, who had been sitting on the chair, stood up when she saw Wan Yan return.
“Did you discover anything?”
“It was that little girl. She’s connected to the person controlling the paper figures. They tried to grab me, but I tore them to pieces.”
Wan Yan recounted it nonchalantly7, but there was a subtle pride in her words.
As a System, her physical constitution was naturally formidable; how could mere paper figures possibly hinder her?
She mentioned it specifically, of course, wanting Xin Lan to know that she was also very strong—possessing sufficient ability to stand by her side.
“She said that person wanted to speak with us. I paid it no mind. If they genuinely have something to say, they should use a more polite approach.”
“What if that was an important part of the exam?”
Someone couldn’t resist asking.
Xin Lan shot that person a look, and they couldn’t help but take a small step back.
“If you think so, then why don’t you go out and take a look?”
The person fell silent, however, remaining quietly where they stood.
Xin Lan was naturally protective of her own8. Wan Yan’s actions were perfectly normal; how could she let others criticize? Even if the person was just asking a seemingly normal question, the underlying implication was simply to let the capable person take the risks while the others coasted to victory9.
Beside her, Wan Yan was inwardly ecstatic10. She loved it when Little Tiger was protectively domineering like this; it made her heart pound relentlessly.
Gazing at Xin Lan’s stunning side profile, she longed for a little kiss, but suspected she might get hammered11 for it—hammered all the way down to the Earth’s core.
LP: Re-translated on March 28, 2025
Footnotes
- 附骨之疽 | fù gǔ zhī jū | Lit. “maggots/ulcer attached to the bone”; Meaning: Something deeply entrenched, persistent, and harmful, like a chronic illness or a deeply rooted problem that is hard to get rid of.
- 莫名其妙 | mòmíngqímiào | Lit. ‘unable to name its wonder/mystery’; Meaning: baffling, inexplicable, puzzling.
- 动的手脚 | dòng de shǒu jiǎo | Lit. ‘moved hands and feet’; Meaning: to tamper with something, pull strings, play tricks, or interfere behind the scenes.
- 全军覆没 | quán jūn fù mò | Lit. ‘whole army wiped out’; Meaning: utterly defeated, annihilated.
- 纸人 | zhǐ rén | Lit. ‘paper person’; Figures made of paper, often used in traditional Chinese funeral rites as offerings to be burned for the deceased. In fiction and folklore, they can also be animated through magic or spiritual means.
- 毫发无伤 | háo fà wú shāng | Lit. ‘not even a hair harmed’; Completely unscathed, without the slightest injury.
- 轻描淡写 | qīng miáo dàn xiě | Lit. ‘lightly sketch and faintly write’; Meaning: to understate, gloss over, mention casually.
- 护犊子 | hù dúzi | Lit. ‘protect the calf’; Describes being fiercely protective of one’s own people, like a cow protecting its calf, sometimes implying bias or overlooking faults.
- 躺赢 | tǎng yíng | Lit. ‘lie down and win’; Modern slang originating from gaming, meaning to win effortlessly or achieve success due to the competence of teammates or favorable circumstances, without contributing much oneself.
- 美得不行 | měi de bù xíng | Lit. ‘beautiful to the point of not working’; Colloquial expression meaning extremely happy, delighted, pleased.
- 挨锤 | ái chuí | Lit. ‘suffer hammering’; To get beaten up or severely reprimanded.
WY: my tiger wifey ʕ ꈍᴥꈍʔ
XL: 🐅
WY: my tiger wifey ʕ ꈍᴥꈍʔ
XL: 🐅