Chapter 95

Chapter 95: A Ghost Story About a Ghost Story: A Heavenly Immortal Descends to Earth.

922 reshuffled the cards in his hand and fanned them out for Qin Jiu to see.

Just as he was about to speak, the system chimed in again:

[Receiving the Advancement Card means the examinee possesses both undeniable ability and enviable luck. A single Advancement Card can exempt a candidate from all remaining exams.]

The examinees who heard this comment were extremely envious, murmuring in discussion among themselves.

“What incredible luck! An automatic pass!”

“Isn’t this card just a legend? I’ve never seen it in the wild.”

“I’ve seen it!”

“Really? Are you serious?”

“Really, just in the first exam. It was a joint exam venue, with so many foreign examinees. A Russian woman drew one.”

“And then?”

“And then? Of course, she used it immediately and directly passed the exam to go home.”

“Going home… That’s really nice.”

Those murmurs faintly drifted over.

The crow lifted its head atop the sculpture, its small eyes shifting, sharp and unwavering.

Every event that had ever occurred was recorded within the system, including the drawing and use of the guaranteed admission card. It was meticulous about statistical data, and by analyzing the sample database of past events, it arrived at one conclusion—

Out of all the examinations held globally, a total of 116 individuals have drawn the exemption card, and each of them used it as quickly as possible after drawing it. On average, the time interval before use was 5 seconds.

These 5 seconds were a blessing for the lucky ones to scream, jump, and go crazy.

In other words, the immediate usage rate of this trump card reached 100%.

Who could refuse such temptation?

No one could!

The crow tilted its bird head, looking down from above and asked:

[Candidate You Huo, you can now use this extremely precious direct admission card.]

You Huo opened his mouth and uttered two words: “No need.”

The crow: “???”

“It’s up to me to decide whether I use it or not, right?” You Huo asked 154.

“Ah? Oh right, it’s up to you,” 154 said. “You can choose to use it at any time in a way that the rules allow.”

You Huo stuffed the card into his pocket.

154 covered his face and said to 922, “I feel like it’s about to die of anger.”

“Who?”

“System.”

922 glanced at Crow and inexplicably wanted to laugh, but he used all his willpower to hold it back. When he turned around, he saw Miss 021 secretly pinching her own hand, also struggling to contain herself.

922 said to Qin Jiu, “Boss, time to draw a card.”

Luck was truly a mysterious force, with good and bad fortunes often clustering together.

You Huo had just drawn a direct pass, while Qin Jiu immediately followed with an exemption card.

The additional information on the card was strikingly impactful:

Two People, Two Sessions

Candidates who draw an exemption card can skip the corresponding exams, and their total score will be recorded as the average of that session’s scores. You are a lucky one. Exemption cards are not unusual, but an exemption card for two people and two sessions is incredibly rare, almost as valuable as a direct pass card. Do you have a cherished partner? Do you have a traveling companion? You can share this luck with them.

The frozen crow on the statue came back to life.

Two people! Two exams!

For those just starting the exams, this card was a pass, allowing them to skip an exam. But for the candidates in this room, it held an entirely different meaning.

The people here had already gone through three rounds of exams. Based on the current examination system, there were two left.

Using this exemption card on them is no different from getting a direct pass.

And it secures spots for two people at once.

What does this mean?

It means certain individuals can finally get lost.

You Huo would be wiped clean once again.

Qin Jiu, having completed the examinee’s punishment, would return to the invigilator’s position.

The raven opened its beak—

But in the end, Qin Jiu did something even more shocking.

He shot You Huo a meaningful look, then turned and gave the card away.

In the entire deck, there was only one graduation-exemption card. After finally reuniting, that young couple certainly wouldn’t want to be separated again.

But this exam-exemption card was different.

Qin Jiu handed the card to Zhou Qi and Jiang Yuan, joking, “A wedding gift, from me and that one—”

He pointed his thumb backward, indicating: “—a joint gift, pretending it has nothing to do with him.”

Zhou Qi looked over in that direction, You Huo was standing at a not-too-far, not-too-close distance, waiting. When their eyes met, he paused for a moment, then gave a slight nod.

Neither particularly warm nor particularly close.

But she knew that was a truly good person.

Just like the one before her now.

“This card is definitely a valuable item in the exam,” Zhou Qi said, shaking his head. “You guys should use it yourselves, you’ve earned it. We can’t accept it. Anyway, there are only two more rounds left; Jiang Yuan and I will do our best to survive until the end.”

“We don’t need it, keeping it would just be a waste.”

Zhou Qi was puzzled: “Why?”

Because official matters were unfinished, and private matters were the same.

For both public and private reasons, he couldn’t possibly leave this place immediately.

“Haven’t gone crazy enough.” Qin Jiu said to Zhou Qi.

He slipped the card into Jiang Yuan’s shirt pocket, patted his shoulder, and said, “I’m heading out.”

* * *

The others all got into the carriage one after another.

It was only then that 922 grabbed Qin Jiu and said, “Boss, hold on a moment.”

He specifically picked a spot far from the carriage and stopped by a statue. “It’s like this… We just received a violation notice, and it’s pretty strange.”

Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow, his expression not at all surprised.

922’s heart said it was over — could it really be true?

“How strange? Tell me more.”

“The note was blank, with no information at all. It was only after 154 checked the specific details that we got some supplemental information.”

Qin Jiu nodded, signaling him to continue.

922: “Uh… the person in violation is listed as you, and the violation details are… a bit vague. At one point it says safety was threatened, and at another point it says—”

“Says what?”

“Say…”

922 scratched his head and suddenly jabbed 154 in the side.

154 leaped forward as if electrified, bumping into Qin Jiu’s presence.

922 said, “Let 154 give you a detailed explanation!”

154: “…”

Fuck.

Meanwhile, both 922 and Miss 021 took a step back, giving him the center stage.

With a deadpan expression, 154 said mechanically, “They said you were developing a… relationship with the examinee.”

“What kind of relationship?” Qin Jiu didn’t seem angry either. “I can’t hear clearly with all that mumbling.”

154 rolled his eyes, gritted his teeth and said, “Inappropriate relationship.”

After speaking, he immediately added, “But this item only showed for a moment before disappearing. I just checked, and the violations column is empty again. Probably some issue with the system’s definition. After all, it… still has deviations in its way of thinking.”

As he spoke, he glanced at 922 and 021, then said to Qin Jiu, “We all think it must be a misunderstanding.”

Qin Jiu let out an “oh.”

154 was about to speak again when Qin Jiu suddenly said, “It’s not exactly a misunderstanding either.”

154: “?”

He took two seconds to process the meaning of those words, then shut his mouth again.

The grass fell silent.

922 might have gone crazy, and 021’s beautiful eyes widened.

“So, what were you about to say just now?” Qin Jiu showed no consideration for the hearts of the three people present and urged 154, “Continue.”

Continue, my foot.

154 thought to himself.

His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally managed to force out a sentence: “I wanted to say… Boss, you can’t go to the resting area for now and have to come back with us to the invigilation zone to go through a violation clearance procedure to delete the system’s misreported violation records, but…”

“If it’s not a misunderstanding, then it’s not about clearing the procedure,” 021 finished his sentence for him. “The punishment will have to be carried out according to the rules.”

When the system made this regulation, it still had to abide by the principle of privacy. It only punished the invigilators, and did so relatively secretly—aside from 154, 922, and 021, no other invigilators would know.

As for the examinees, the system defaulted to not exposing or holding them accountable, unless they actively sought punishment.

So 021 didn’t ask further, but her curiosity was already exploding.

She glanced at Qin Jiu, noticing that he had no intention of revealing who the examinee was. He simply nodded and said, “Alright, let’s discuss it back in the invigilation area.”

As a girl with a somewhat sensitive mind, she sensed respect and protection in this evasive attitude.

This came as a real surprise to her.

She had always thought Qin Jiu was the type to show his sharp edges openly. Such people tend to be unrestrained when they go wild, often unaware of boundaries.

She never expected that wasn’t the case.

021 is uncharacteristically starting to feel a bit of empathy for that examinee.

Setting aside preconceptions, that kind of person—both arrogant and rational—really is… incredibly compelling.

021 gives her own forehead a tap, silently puts on her sunglasses.

922 scratches his head and ears, hesitates to speak, resembling a big monkey.

He held it in for a long time, but in the end, he couldn’t hold back.

“This isn’t fair!” 922 said.

“What’s not fair?” Qin Jiu glanced at him.

“Boss, it’s not like you don’t know, in situations like these, the ones who suffer are always the invigilators.” Worried that Qin Jiu might suffer a loss, 922 muttered, “There are plenty of people in the invigilation zone. Why would you deliberately set your sights on an examinee?”

“Besides, it’s only been a few days. Could that examinee really be a celestial being descending to earth, with such great allure…”

922 didn’t dare say such things in front of Qin Jiu, so he took advantage of the other moving ahead a few steps to quietly complain to 154 and 021, who were lagging behind.

Just as the three of them were about to catch up to Qin Jiu, the sound of rustling footsteps suddenly echoed from behind them.

Someone tapped 021 on the shoulder.

She turned her head and saw it was You Huo.

“Didn’t you get on the carriage?”

Qin Jiu, who was ahead, heard the voices and looked back.

You Huo gestured toward him with a nod: “After boarding, I realized someone was missing, so I came down.”

922 was a bit worried about their boss’s reputation: “When did you get here? Did you hear what we were saying?”

You Huo withdrew his gaze and glanced at him: “Halfway.”

“No matter how much you hear, don’t tell anyone else—” 922 explained halfway through, then remembered You Huo couldn’t even be bothered to speak, let alone gossip. He relaxed again. “Well… anyway, the boss is going back to the invigilation area with us first. If nothing goes wrong, he’ll head to the rest area soon. You can get on the carriage and go ahead.”

His shirt was still soaked with a large patch of bloodstains. The sight made 021 uncomfortable, so she adjusted her sunglasses and reminded him, “The examinees’ carriages are about to leave. Hurry and go.”

Unexpectedly, You Huo showed no intention of leaving.

In the distance, a dark crowd of examinees’ carriages began to move, one after another, driving out of the examination zone.

You Huo glanced in that direction, then looked away.

“I’m going this way,” he said as he took a step forward.

Tall and long-legged, he was already nearly out of sight in the blink of an eye.

The three invigilators stared at his back, stunned for a couple of seconds before quickly hurrying to catch up.

021 said, “Wait, why are you coming with us? We’re heading to the invigilation area.”

You Huo stopped walking, half-turning with a cold voice: “They penalize only one of you for an improper relationship?”

“Yeah! Isn’t it unfair?”

922 answered without thinking.

The next second, this little idiot slammed on the brakes: “Holy shit.”

The three invigilators suddenly understood the meaning of these words.

922 and 154 felt as if they had been struck by lightning eighteen times, and Miss 021’s sunglasses fell to the ground, ready to ascend to heaven on the spot.

Telling a ghost story:

The celestial beauty has descended to the mortal world.