Qin Jiu’s Confinement Room

As soon as the violation notice was given, You Huo threw down the wooden board in his hand. He said to Di Li who flew out from the cave: "Take this pile in first."

After that, he walked away again with his dagger.

Directly opposite the cave, a system ship sat there pitifully. Judging from the gaps and openings on the side of the ship, it was probably the ship that was pathetically pulled apart.

And You Huo was walking towards it.

Di Li was dumbfounded for a moment. He quickly shouted out: "Wait a minute. What are you doing now?"

You Huo didn't hear him.

"What did he mean?" Di Li asked his companion, "The invigilators are coming so shouldn't they be waiting here? Write something to reflect on their wrongdoings or figure out a way to settle the problem? Apologise to the ship?"

"I don't know. I can't keep up with the thoughts of these two young ones." His companion was a lot older than him. He said: "Let's see if we can ask for pardon when the invigilators arrive."

Di Li said: "Yeah. Uncle Li, were you in the legal field before? You're really good at speaking."

His companion spoke with frustration: "I'm just over 35. Who's your uncle?"

Di Li: "Habit, habit. I didn't mean to call you old. I've just been so used to calling those older than me uncle and aunty and haven't adapted to the change after entering university....."

His companion could neither laugh or cry: "What adapt——- What's that noise?"

The sound of wooden planks being broken off interrupted them.

Everyone was stunned for a few seconds. They looked over at the source of the noise.

On the system ship not far away, You Huo was standing on the side of the ship throwing down a few more broken boards.

Behind him, the tall mast suddenly tilted. Together with the sails, it collapsed down onto the ship with a bang, startling everyone into closing their eyes.

When they opened their eyes again, they saw Qin Jiu stand up near the point where the mast broke. He took the dagger from You Huo and cleanly cut off the rope before lifting his foot and kicking the mast aside.

It tumbled down the ship.

You Huo bent down and disappeared for a moment. When he reappeared by the side of the ship again, he again began to throw things out.

Chairs...

Table....

Wooden box....

And even a fucking cabinet.

Thirty plus examines stood there in daze like emperor penguins.

What repent and admitting to your mistakes? Since it was already a violation, they had just decided to dismantle everything!

As long as it can be burned, nothing would be left behind.

The small white ship occupied by the invigilators slowly appeared. Four invigilators stood at the bow.

Under the looks of everyone, Qin Jiu waved at the invigilators before turning around and throwing a ship rudder out.

Examinees: "........"

Di Li turned to look at his companion: "Brother Li...…"

Brother Li: "....Just call me uncle. Looks like words won't save them from this mess."

.

On the small white ship, 922 stared ahead. His mouth twitched: "I'm seasick."

154: "...….."

922: "Extremely dizzy and sick. I can no longer stand. Can I go back to the cabin and rest?"

154: "Shut up. I'm also feeling sick."

The newcomer 078: "?"

922: "Don't look at us like that. It's not true sickness. You don't understand yet. You'll find out soon."

078 stretched his neck. Readjusting his sunglasses, he said calmly: "What kind of examinees haven't I seen?"

922 stared at him.

078: "Let's not talk about 001, that is an exception. I'm referring those other than him."

922 scoffed.

The other new invigilator was a tall woman. She had shoulder length hair and one side was tucked behind her ear. Large earrings hanging from her ears swayed with the wind.

She wore a pair of sunglasses even larger than 078's and said: "Who was the one whose legs shook for ten minutes back in the cabin when they heard that we're capturing 001?"

078: "......"

.

The bow of the small white ship came into contact with You Huo and Qin Jiu's ship.

You Huo threw out one last thing before patting off the dust from his hands and squinted over at the small white ship.

A ladder was taken out. Four invigilators walked over.

You Huo: "What material is the invigilators ship made from?"

Qin Jiu chuckled: "Why? You dare to tear it down?"

"If you want to demolish the invigilators ship then I won't accompany you." Qin Jiu stepped around the damaged parts of the deck: "Afterall, my subordinates are there."

As soon as he said that, he said to the four invigilators standing not far away: "Here to give us more wood?"

"...….."

The faces of three of the four invigilators instantly turned green.

021's sunglasses were too big for them to tell if it was green or not.

"The four are all your people?" You Huo's light-coloured eyes glanced over.

Qin Jiu shook his head: "That's not the case. The two with sunglasses are under 009."

"There are so many chief invigilators?"

Qin Jiu said: "You can't say that there are a lot. From 001 to 010, there are a total of ten. Each would lead a team of 10 and the invigilators under the chief invigilators are randomly assigned. It's mainly myself and 009 here in China though. The others are responsible for other locations."

"Is there a problem with your reputation?" You Huo suddenly asked.

Qin Jiu raised an eyebrow: "Says who?"

You Huo's eyes fell onto the only female invigilator and said: "That person seems to have something against you."

There was no need to mention 154 and 922. 078 had taken off his sunglasses after boarding the ship and had given Qin Jiu a small nod. While maintaining the sternness invigilators were expected to possess, he showed a some politeness.

The only exception was 021.

All this time, she didn't move to take off her sunglasses let alone show any signs of being polite.

Qin Jiu looked over at 021: "She has something against me? Why can't I see it?"

You Huo internally commented: It's probably because you're blind.

"But even if she does, it's not necessarily because of my reputation. It is said that according to the original allocations, she was supposed to become A's subordinate but before she was able to officially join the team, A was gone. She later almost joined my team, but I was recuperating for a while so she went to 009. Perhaps she had heard some rumours and subconsciously is biased against me?"

Qin Jiu thought for a moment and then laughed and said: "We're not close so it doesn't matter."

Almost became a part of his team yet he never asked about it?

You Huo felt that Qin Jiu was very strange.

As the chief invigilator 001, he should be an inseparable part of that stupid system but judging from his words, he could sense that he didn't like the system and didn't want to be too deeply involved with it.

It wasn't just the system itself, it was also with the other invigilators.

.

154 and 922 stood opposite Qin Jiu and You Huo. Both had uncomfortable expressions.

Who would've expected this...….

For thirty years, people east of the river prosper, then for another thirty years those on the west prosper. (KKnotes: Proverb basically saying that the world changes so fast, it is always beyond our expectations and therefore can't precisely predict the future.)

Their former boss was now being send to be imprisoned.....

Yet the one being imprisoned was still smiling.

154 internally expressed that he must have committed atrocious crimes in his past life for him to be punished into working as an invigilator in this life.

Silence lasted for several seconds.

078 stood there for a while and finally could no longer keep still.

He looked to the left. The mouths of his two colleagues 154 and 922 appeared to have been sewed shut.

He then looked to the right. Forget it, he shouldn't mess with 021.

He cleared his throat. With a stern expression, he said: "Ten minutes ago, we received a notice from the system saying that the two of you have dismantled a system ship used for transporting examinees. Damages were made to the deck...….furniture, mast, rudder, stairs...….."

His lips twitched for a moment. He then continued when it stopped: "Can the two of you please board this invigilator ship?"

You Huo oh'ed, "What's the punishment this time?"

078: "???"

He turned to look at his colleague. 922 mouthed: "Old customer."

078: "......"

He thought for a moment and said: "As it is the first violation for this exam, according to the rules it will be 3 hours of solitary confinement. It's probably not the first time for you? Since you know how it works, you should mentally prepare yourself."

When 078 was done speaking, he ushered them up the ladder. He was to watch on from behind.

But before he could take more than a few steps, he saw that old customer preparing himself. He asked 922: "Do you have anything to eat?"

078 almost lost his footing and fell into the sea.

"No, no food. I didn't bring any beef! Am I a cafeteria? Why are you ordering food from me?" 922 was afraid of this god of misfortune. In two or three steps, he climbed up the ladder.

He threw out a sentence "I'm seasick. I feel really sick." before sprinting off.

154 finally couldn't watch on anymore. He said: "Boss, to tell you the truth an hour ago 922 and I were saying that since you are here he.....that examinee wouldn't violate the rules. Boss, look at me. My face was slapped so hard, it would be swollen soon."

Qin Jiu said: "Those who are close to ink also get stained. The examinee was a bad influence."

A particular examinee: "......"

Can you be more shameless?

154 glanced at his boss before similarly running away.

.

With two of the four invigilators slipping away, the numbers withered.

078 could only follow 021 and take the rule violators into the ship cabins.

The invigilator ship adhered to tradition. Apart from the fact that the exterior was painted white to allow for easy differentiation, the interior was similar to the other ships of this examination centre.

There were three floors.

The first floor was like those of the system ships. It was composed of compartments sitting opposite each other with a bed, chair and table. They were rooms for the invigilators to use and rest in. Afterall, like the examinees they were required to remain at sea for the entire duration of the exam.

The two doors marked 154 and 922 were currently locked. It clearly expressed their intention to stay away from the god of misfortune.

The next floor consisted of the dining room and kitchen.

Fire was burning in the fireplace, keeping the entire cabin rather warm or even a little hot.

Qin Jiu took off the scarf around his neck and held it in his hands.

"Do you need me to help you put that away?" 078 began to talk awkwardly.

Qin Jiu said: "No need."

The awkward conversation ended.

078: ".........."

He glanced at 012. 012 was still standing there proudly with their sunglasses sitting on her face. She didn't show any intention to speak up.

078 internally sighed. He took You Huo and Qin Jiu down.

The lowermost floor of was very confronting. There were only a few rooms that were tightly shut lined down the narrow walkway.

078 opened the first door and said to You Huo: "Go in. 021 will come and open the door for you when time is up."

The layout of the confinement room was no different from before. As usual, there was a table and a chair, nothing else. On the wall was a line of mirrors making the room appear more spacious.

You Huo calmly walked in and even closed the door himself after entering.

078 stared at the door. He then silently opened the second door and said to Qin Jiu: "Uh..."

Without him needing to say anything, Qin Jiu went in.

078 awkwardly coughed and said: "After three hours, I will open the door."

After that, the door creaked shut.

The light from outside was cut off and the room fell into darkness.

This darkness only persisted for a moment. It was then quickly replaced by sunlight.

Qin Jiu narrowed his eyes and adapted to this change. When he opened it again, he found himself standing in a ruin site.

The ruin site was large; much larger than the confinement room itself. It was surrounded by wire mesh protective fencing which circled around. Contained within these fences were rusted cars, scattered machines and broken cables…..

Ah, there was also long metal pipes and steels bars on the side.

If he bent his leg, sat on those pipes, took off his coat and poured some blood onto the front of his shirt, it would look exactly like that scene in his memory....

Qin Jiu stood before those metal pipes. His fingers unconsciously twitched a few times and he once again wrapped the scarf around his neck.

He tucked the ends of the scarf inside his coat like a gentleman, covering the front of his shirt.

For a moment, a thought flashed through his mind.

It seemed that...…this was correct.

In this distant, blurry memory, he should be wearing a scarf. It was either black or grey and it just happened to cover the blood on his chest.

That person stood before him while he sat on the metal pipes. Except for some signs of exhaustion, he looked like he was unscathed.