Chapter 19: Ragged Doll

“Brother, you.............” Yu Wen looked at the rag stuffed inside the black widow’s mouth and whispered: “Where did that thing come from?”

You Huo answered: “I grabbed it from the room.”

He thought for a moment and added: “Not dirty.”

Yu Wen: “..............”

My dear brother, do you think the issue here is whether or not it’s dirty?!

But the rag was indeed very clean. The pattern was complex, and it was even scented. It smelt a little like the incense coming from the black widow’s house.

Everyone reassured themselves: At least it wasn’t a smell the black widow hated, right?

But..........

Was it really okay doing something like this?

Wouldn’t it anger the black widow???

Before the village chief left, he even emphasised strongly to avoid angering the black widow at all costs.......... It has only been a few minutes since then?

“It looks like you can’t last a single day without breaking the rules.” Qin Jiu who was forced to become a personal invigilator spoke.

You Huo: “Did the examination requirements earlier specify that we couldn’t stop the audio from playing?”

Qin Jiu: “It indeed didn’t.”

You Huo: “Did it say that I couldn’t block the subject’s mouth?”

Qin Jiu: “It also didn’t.”

You Huo: “Then how did I break the rules?”

Qin Jiu seemed to find it quite amusing. He made a ‘go ahead’ gesture and indicated for You Huo to continue. He probably wanted to see what else he was going to do.

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He then saw You Huo take out his phone from his jeans pocket. He opened the recording function and then removed the rag from the black widow’s mouth: “Continue.”

Everyone: “..............”

Black widow: “................”

“Oh yeah! We can use our phones!”

Everyone soon understood. They were not forced to turn off their phones for this exam. A few minutes ago, they had even used their phone to check the time, but no one realised that they could use it to record.

You Huo’s actions reminded everyone that they could do this.

In an instant, everyone pulled out their phones. Seven examinees with their seven phones, they were all pointed at the black widow.

Two seconds later, Mr. invigilator 001 also pulled out his phone.

The newly joined Chen Bin finally reacted: “Is it really okay like this? Won’t she get angry?”

You Huo: “It’s too late now.”

“.............”

The two newcomers suddenly felt like they had just boarded a pirate ship.

The kind you can no longer get off from.

Chen Bin tremblingly held his phone for a long time, but he saw that the black widow was only staring at You Huo.

It was as if no one else mattered and that the first person to provoke her was the key culprit.

The pupils of the black widow’s eyes were very large making it look even more dark and deep. It was okay when it was moving around but, once fixed, it looked like the eyes of the dead.

Whoever those eyes stared at, they would experience terrible fear.

But You Huo didn’t care.

The black widow looked at him, but he only looked down and fiddled with his phone. He saved the recording from earlier.

He was so calm, everyone else felt a little too embarrassed to panic.

·

You Huo saved the recording and changed the name to “bunch of nonsense” before asking the black widow: “Is there anything else?”

The black widow stared expressionlessly at You Huo for a long time before cackling again. It was as if the gagging and the recording just now wasn’t important or perhaps..........she had decided to settle the debt later.

The black widow’s thin claws......fingers grabbed You Huo’s wrist and she pulled him in through the door.

She then tilted her head and looked at the others.

The other examinees were not so courageous. When looked at, they immediately entered the house without needing any further prompts.

historical

The black widow nodded with satisfaction.

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Liang Yuanhao was at the end of the group. Just as he stepped over, the door behind him creaked shut and the lock clicked. It was as if there was something following closely behind him.

Every looked at the closed door and suddenly recalled the last question: How many people are there in the black widow’s house........

Their faces all turned pale and they quickly huddled together. No one dared to separate from the group.

·

The black widow’s house was more spacious than expected.

It was said that no matter were Gypsies lived, they would keep the customs of their ancestors. Every room was arranged so that it looked like a tent canopy and numerous felt and carpet was scattered around.

The scent in the room was even stronger causing people to feel a little dizzy.

Sitting on the windowsills and the stovetop were worn-out teacups, teaspoons and trays. There was a jar of something dark sitting on the wooden table.

You Huo leaned down and smelt it. It was tea but it also carried a faint tobacco scent.

It wasn’t a good smell, but it was better than the suffocating aroma in the room.

The only invigilator present was also very impolite. After entering, he picked out a single seated sofa and sat down.

In the house, there were two bamboo baskets sitting by the hearth. It contained balls of wool and both long and short needles.

The black widow reached in. The bracelets on her arms clanged together causing her hand to sink further down from the weight.

She pulled out a few woollen dolls out from the bamboo basket.

Those dolls were not very good-looking. Its face, hands and feet were all made with old, greying fabric and the limbs were bulging awkwardly from the cotton stuffing. It was then stitched together with thick wool.

One of it was already completed. The black widow placed it in her apron. The others were semi-complete products. Some were missing limbs while others were missing heads.

Looking at it, you couldn’t help but feel that they were dolls used for divination or cursing.

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The black widow pointed at the wooden frame in the corner of the room and muttered another bunch of garbled code.

This time everyone was experienced. They had not turned off the recording since entering the house so it was naturally recorded down.

·

You Huo looked at the wooden frame and saw several completed dolls sitting side by side.

The black widow placed the one in her apron there as well. She then shoved wool and needles into everyone’s hands.

She pointed at the bamboo basket and said: “# ￥ * & ... (&%”

Even if it was spoken in Gypsy language, everyone could understand what she was saying —— She wanted them to finish the rest of the dolls.

The black widow took out an hourglass and turned it around before placing it onto the wooden table. She then got up and left.

As soon as she went out, there was a rattling sound coming from outside.

Chen Bin responded quickly. He rushed over to the window and pulled at it a few times before saying: “They’re all locked.........She locked us in. What should we do?”

Yu Wen pointed at the bamboo basket with his lips: “The meaning is obvious. The hourglass was also set. We will either be released once the sand runs out or we need to finish making these dolls before the sand runs out.”

Everyone looked at each other. They then hesitantly sat cross-legged on the floor. Each picked up an unfinished doll and was in daze.

Old Yu sighed and said: “What else can we do? Let’s sew. Since the black widow is the subject this time, we should do as she says. If there’s anything, we can just wait until the sand in the hourglass runs out first, right?”

They now subconsciously regarded You Huo has the leader. After saying something, they would always check with You Huo.

But when he turned around, he saw that his nephew wasn’t sitting down and was standing by the bed, looking out the window.

“What’s wrong?” Everyone was nervous.

“Nothing.” You Huo answered.

He just wanted to see where the black widow was going.

·

Outside the window you could see the black widow’s hunched figure.

With the blink of an eye, she had already gone very far. Soon, she disappeared into the dark woods.

You Huo lowered the curtain.

He had originally wanted to sit next to the hearth, but he stopped his steps.

At the very bottom of the wooden frame was a doll sitting in the corner. It had gathered a layer of dust and was very inconspicuous, but its leg drew You Huo’s attention.

He walked over and bent down to pick the doll up.

Looking at the material and the amount of dust gathered, this doll was probably made a long time ago. Its workmanship was sloppy and the limbs that were connected to the body were all skewed. The arms and legs were also not the same colour.

This made the doll look strange and pitiful.

But this wasn’t the reason why You Huos’ attention was drawn.

He noticed it because there was a pattern on one of its legs.

The doll was crudely made but the pattern looked very realistic. It looked like the tattoo on the ankle of a living person. The tattoo just happened to be a small bellflower.

You Huo stared at the tattoo for a few seconds. He then reached out to pat the person sitting on the sofa.

Qin Jiu had been supporting his head watching him. When he was patted, he lazily spoke up: “Speak.”

You Huo passed the doll’s leg over to him: “Look familiar? I have facial blindness. Not sure if I remembered correctly.”

Qin Jiu looked at the pattern: “Should it be familiar?”

You Huo snorted impatiently: “That thing I cleaned out from the confinement room last time........The one I left in the bucket in front of your door. It seemed to have this too.”

Qin Jiu: “...........”

You still have the nerve to mention that???