Ex-Girlfriend – Chapter 98.2

BUG

Life and Death Examination Room 05

Examination God

“Why not worthy?”

            

“Not worthy is not worthy. Your rooms are here.”

The little girl seemed not to understand why they were asking this, stopping in front of the rooms.

Yuan Yuan wanted to ask something, but the little girl had already run away.

            

Two adjacent rooms, two men and two women, how to choose was naturally clear.

Wan Yan was secretly delighted, but she didn’t dare to show it too much on her face.

Xin Lan glanced at her and knew what she was thinking, but she didn’t feel awkward.

            

Anyway, it wasn’t the first time they had slept in the same bed. This person knew she had a bad temper when waking up, and she didn’t move around much while sleeping, making her a very good ‘bedmate.’

Opening the door, they were greeted by a strange smell.

Xin Lan unconsciously frowned and looked around the room.

            

It wasn’t very dirty; there was no dust on the tables, chairs, or benches, and there were no cobwebs on the beams, but there was just a strange smell.

It wasn’t the smell of a long-uninhabited place, nor was it damp and musty.

Wan Yan naturally smelled it too and began to inspect up and down.

            

She opened the wardrobe, and in the instant of light, some black things immediately scattered.

They were insects.

It was a little disgusting.

            

Wan Yan then lifted the bedding, and there were also some insects underneath, completely black.

Wan Yan rolled up the bedding and threw it on the ground. Fortunately, there was nothing on the bed board.

Suddenly, Yuan Yuan’s exclamation of “holy crap” came from next door, presumably he had also discovered the insects.

            

“Are we going to wait here?”

Wan Yan sat on a stool. This room was disgusting, but there was nowhere else to go.

The task said to protect the Gu Child to the sacrificial altar, but now the Gu Child wasn’t with them.

            

And what the old woman said, that the Gu Child was the lifeline of this place.

Since Xiao An was the lifeline of Gu Village, why was he outside, returning here?

And since he was the lifeline, why did the task say to protect the Gu Child to the sacrificial altar?

            

Who created the danger in between?

“Let’s go out and have a look.”

Coming to the exam certainly wasn’t to let them sit and wait for death. It was a pity that Ling Jiu’s monitoring function couldn’t be used, so they couldn’t keep an eye on Xiao An at all times.

            

Xin Lan and Wan Yan went out, just in time to meet Yuan Yuan and the white-shirt man, who also came out from next door.

“How did it get dark so quickly? It’s so creepy.”

Yuan Yuan was astonished. Although he didn’t know what time it was when they came in, the sun was shining brightly. It was also bright when they entered the house. How could it get dark so quickly?

            

“There are insects in this room. You two be careful.”

Yuan Yuan suddenly thought of the insects he had just seen, and thinking that this was Gu Village, he couldn’t help but rub his hands, reminding Xin Lan and Wan Yan.

The white-shirt man was calm, looking thoughtfully at Xin Lan and Wan Yan.

            

“Thank you, we also discovered them.”

“Are you planning to go out and have a look? Huo Xu​¹ and I are also planning to go, so why don’t we go together? There’s strength in numbers, and we’re taking the exam together anyway.”

Yuan Yuan patted Huo Xu’s shoulder, suggesting they go together.

            

So the white-shirt man was called Huo Xu.

The four of them went out together, and when they were in the main hall, they were stopped by the little girl.

The little girl was sitting on a chair, her legs dangling in the air.

            

“What are you going to do?”

“Go out for a stroll.”

Xin Lan answered briefly.

            

“It’s dark.”

The little girl lowered her head, fiddling with her fingernails while speaking.

“Outsiders had best not go out when it’s dark.”

            

The little girl raised her head, a smile on her face.

“What will happen if we go out?”

The little girl didn’t answer, but started singing a song.

            

It was a small tune that Xin Lan had never heard before, mournful and sad, like funeral music.

But the little girl was smiling as she hummed it. She seemed to be always smiling, from the time they entered until now.

Xin Lan walked out. She didn’t stop them anymore, but swung her legs, singing while watching Xin Lan and the others’ backs, smiling very eerily.

            

“People from afar, I won’t ask where you come from, stay in our soil. I look at the white star insects and ask Ah Ya when will you bloom…”

The singing was inexplicably creepy. She sang it mournfully and melodiously, yet she giggled.

Xin Lan pushed open the door, and Huo Xu, who was last, closed the wooden door.

            

There was no one on the road; it was very quiet.

The population of Gu Village wasn’t very large, and it didn’t occupy a large area. The four of them walked from one end of the village to the other and didn’t find anything special.

The doors of every household were tightly closed, and it seemed that even the lights were not lit, a patch of darkness.

            

Illuminating the way were lanterns by the roadside, white paper lanterns, illuminating a small patch of road in front of the doors.

A row of lanterns, looking from afar, resembled floating ghost fires, making the night even darker.

Xin Lan and the others decided to wait at the door of the village elder’s house. Anyway, they didn’t know where to go. They had already walked through this area with lights, and they didn’t go to the places without lights.

            

When Xin Lan arrived, there were already people waiting there.

Six, no more, no less, all of them were there.

“Did you find anything?”

            

The middle-aged man, seeing them coming from another direction, asked.

Yuan Yuan shook his head.

The remaining three were cool guys and cool girls, not giving any reaction at all.

            

“What about you, did you find anything?”

“Just saw a bunch of insects.”

The woman wearing a white down jacket had a disgusted look on her face. Just thinking about those insects made her want to vomit.

            

“What the hell is going on with this task? I’d rather go back to guessing the murderer.”

Someone muttered.

This place was indeed very creepy and unsettling, feeling as if they had broken into a nest of insects.

            

A scream came from inside the village elder’s house. The middle-aged man immediately smashed open the door and rushed in.

The Gu Child was still inside. Their task was to protect the Gu Child to the sacrificial altar. If the Gu Child died before they got there, they would all be finished.

A group of people entered the main hall, only to find no one there.

            

There were two cups of water on the table. Xin Lan touched them with her fingertips; they were still hot.

“Where is everyone?”

Everyone scattered to search, but found that there was no one in the village elder’s house.

            

Then where did that scream come from?

Someone cursed, and everyone looked at each other.

Xin Lan’s clothes were tugged by Wan Yan. Following where Wan Yan pointed, she saw some small black dots.

            

They were insects, very small insects.

“You guys move back a bit.”

Xin Lan spoke. A group of people were crowded in here, and many people had black dots under their feet, but they hadn’t noticed.

            

Everyone didn’t understand what she meant, but seeing that Xin Lan was good-looking and looked very tough, they silently stepped back a bit.

Those black dots gradually gathered into a line.

Xin Lan quickly followed the line, walking to the side of the well in the courtyard.

            

Wan Yan picked up a stone and threw it in. They quickly heard an echo, indicating that the well wasn’t very deep.

“Go in?”

Wan Yan looked at Xin Lan, and Xin Lan nodded.

            

Wan Yan jumped down first, her movements neat and clean.

Xin Lan followed closely behind, landing lightly.

“Just…just go down like that?”

            

Yuan Yuan was stunned.

Huo Xu didn’t say anything, stepped forward, and also jumped down.

Yuan Yuan, seeing that the three companions who lived with him had jumped, gritted his teeth and also jumped down.

            

There was also a passage in the well, about two people wide and about two meters long.

There were no lights in the passage, but it was very bright.

Above the walls were things formed by the convergence of points of light, looking quite beautiful, like stars, with a color more beautiful than fireflies, a pure bright white.

            

But a closer look revealed that those were densely packed insects. The light was emitted by those insects.

Wan Yan and Xin Lan were walking in the passage. After walking for some time, the view in front of them suddenly opened up.

In front of them was a huge stone cave. There were things carved on the dome and walls, but Xin Lan didn’t have time to look.

            

She had already seen the two things holding the Gu Child and the village elder in front, running very fast, like paper figures.

“Chase.”

Wan Yan and Xin Lan simultaneously burst forward, chasing after the paper figures in front.

            

Xin Lan’s physical fitness was unquestionable, and Wan Yan, with her true form involved, was naturally not inferior.

The paper figures were quickly caught up by them and forced to stop.

They were not the pure white kind of paper figures, but like those used for burial, with eyebrows and eyes drawn on, but they were extremely stiff, unable to distinguish between male and female, with a bloody mouth, thick eyebrows, and slanted eyes, looking extremely fierce.

            

The two paper figures wanted to run, but they were completely blocked by Wan Yan and Xin Lan.

Xin Lan grabbed one of Xiao An’s hands. The paper figure holding Xiao An reached out to grab Xin Lan, its ten fingers pointed and sharp, looking extremely sharp.

Xin Lan dodged sideways, a strand of her hair being cut off.

            

Xin Lan grabbed the paper figure’s hand. The paper figure was very thin and could be easily pinched.

She grabbed Xiao An’s collar with her other hand, flinging away [or shaking off] the paper figure, and at the same time pulled Xiao An out.

Xiao An fell to the ground. The paper figure still wanted to grab him, but Xin Lan used both hands to tear a gap in the paper figure’s hand.

            

Paper figures have no life and cannot feel pain; they are only afraid of water, fire, and being cut.

On the other side, Wan Yan directly stepped onto the stone wall, stepping on the paper figure, forcing the paper figure to let go and release the village elder.

The two paper figures still wanted to grab them, but some more people came from behind.

            

Someone screamed when they saw the appearance of the paper figures. Seeing that there were many people, the paper figures wanted to escape.

The village elder didn’t bother to brush the dust off his body and went to help Xiao An up.

“Gu Child, are you alright?”

            

Xiao An shook his head and stood up from the ground.

“Thank you two distinguished guests for your help.”

The village elder thanked them, but there was solemnity in his eyes.

            

“Who made those paper figures, and why did they want to take the Gu Child and you?”

Xin Lan asked.

“It’s a Gu servant who betrayed the village. He learned how to make paper figures from somewhere to deal with us. Now he must have heard that the Gu Child has returned, so he came to attack.”

            

The village elder sighed, his expression complicated.

“Fortunately, the sacrifice will begin tomorrow night. After the sacrifice is over, the Gu Child will lead us to eliminate the traitor.”

The village elder’s expression was devout, his voice echoing in the cave.

            

Xiao An had no expression on his face, raising his head, his eyes somewhat empty.

“I also ask the distinguished guests to help protect the safety of the Gu Child.”

“That’s natural, but you have to tell us first what exactly is going on, why the Gu Child returned from outside, and what’s the deal with that betrayed Gu servant.”

            

Xin Lan stared into the village elder’s eyes, waiting for an answer.

She wanted to see if this NPC would speak or not.

This time, the village elder didn’t just stare blankly, but answered.

            

“Some time ago, two servants serving the Gu King rebelled, took the Gu King, and intended to escape from Gu Village. One of them was stopped by us, and the other one ran away. The one we stopped is the one who just sent out the paper figures to try to kidnap us.”

“These paper figures are not afraid of insect bites or insect poison, and they cannot be parasitized or controlled by Gu. We are helpless, and we don’t know where that traitor is hiding now.”

“The one who ran away took the Gu King. This Gu King is a companion Gu. The other one was already in the Gu Child’s body. The sacrifice is to plant the one that was being raised back in through the ritual. Now that the Gu King has been stolen, only the Gu Child can sense it, so he went out to bring the other one back. Fortunately, he brought it back. Gu God bless us, the sacrifice can proceed smoothly.”

            

The village elder told the whole story, making a gesture of gratitude.

This NPC told the truth, so is this program set to answer according to pre-set permissions?

The village elder said that the Gu Child was frightened and took Xiao An back to his room first.

            

Xin Lan and Wan Yan didn’t follow, but instead looked at the murals in this stone cave.

The two of them didn’t leave, so the others didn’t leave either, and followed them to look at the murals.

After a while, the woman wearing the white down jacket asked, her face pale.

            

“Are we really going to deal with some paper figures and some insects? But we don’t have anything, how do we deal with them?”

They were just ordinary people after all; how could they deal with such creepy things?

“How can we not deal with them? Weren’t these two chicks able to do it just now? I think those paper figures are nothing special.”

            

The middle-aged man scoffed.

The next moment, he was kicked in the knee and fell to the ground.

“Say that again?”

            

Xin Lan raised an eyebrow.

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LP: Re-translated on March 24, 2025

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