At this moment, the livestream feed indeed returned to the examination room.
The room was filled with a nauseating stench of blood.
The female teacher tapped the desk. “The exam is over. Everyone put down your pens and prepare to submit your papers.”
For a moment, the dim classroom lights flickered a few times before returning to normal brightness.
Under the light, all the bloodstains in the classroom vanished without a trace.
Even the terrifying-looking female teacher had returned to her normal human appearance, though her complexion was slightly paler than before.
The student who had been sitting in front of Jiang Liyue with such a sneaky demeanor was named Huang Linye. In the final second, four or five Guiyi had already surrounded him, each gazing at him greedily.
But as the exam ended, the Guiyi all disappeared. He collapsed limply in his seat, gasping for air.
Looking more carefully, the number of players still alive in the classroom wasn’t small—besides Jiang Liyue, who had submitted early, there were twenty-three remaining.
Over a dozen players had died at the very start of the Fuben—that was the difficulty of an A-grade Fuben.
After all the papers were submitted, the female teacher expressionlessly told them to report to the Jiaowuchu at eleven o’clock, and only then did the players begin filing out of the classroom one after another.
Some players already knew each other and gathered together directly. Huang Linye also had two teammates.
Or rather, two bodyguards.
In the Guiyi Game, as long as you had the right items, you could form a team to enter a Fuben.
Huang Linye came from a wealthy family. This was his first time entering an A-grade Fuben, so he had spent two items on the Guiyi Game forum to hire two players who had cleared A-grade Fubens before to protect him.
The two bodyguards were a pair of siblings named Lin Dong and Lin Xi. The three of them gathered together now, and Huang Linye was recounting his recent ordeal to them with lingering fear.
But when he got to the part about being startled upon first entering the Fuben, he suddenly remembered: “Oh right, what about that female player who came out early?”
He had already figured out that Jiang Liyue wasn’t a Guiyi but a player just like them.
Lin Dong and Lin Xi also remembered Jiang Liyue, who had submitted her paper early. But when they left the classroom, she hadn’t been waiting outside.
“Maybe she already left ahead of us,” Lin Dong said, recalling the girl’s beautiful appearance. “Very smart, but also a bit reckless.”
His younger sister Lin Xi, however, admired Jiang Liyue. “But if she’s a newcomer, without any items and not submitting early, could she really pass the entire exam?”
After all, in the last five minutes, they had all used almost every item they carried.
“She’s definitely fine.” Lin Xi believed this.
Huang Linye remembered how Jiang Liyue had praised the female teacher without batting an eye, and muttered quietly, “Who knows, maybe she’s already got all the Guiyi in the Fuben wrapped around her finger.”
Lin Dong and Lin Xi fell silent for a moment, then inexplicably felt that it was quite possible.
Jiang Liyue had no idea that other players were still thinking about her.
She was, in fact, currently getting the Guiyi wrapped around her finger.
And she had already started eating under Pei Ji’s clingy gaze.
At this moment, the empty cafeteria held only Jiang Liyue and Pei Ji.
The overly enthusiastic cafeteria auntie had piled Jiang Liyue’s tray full to the brim.
“Eat more, dear. You’re so cute but so skinny—eat more.” The cafeteria auntie stood behind the window, her face obscured by the shadows.
Through the faint light coming through the glass window, Jiang Liyue could only vaguely make out a pair of withered, wrinkled hands.
There seemed to be red bloodstains in the nail crevices.
…She was suddenly a bit concerned about the cafeteria’s hygiene.
Fortunately, the food the auntie handed out looked clean.
She was someone who had known hunger, and she always held a reverent respect for food, so she ate very seriously.
Pei Ji sat right next to her, focused on playing with her free hand like a child who had just gotten a beloved toy, poking here and touching there.
Whenever it tickled, Jiang Liyue would pull her hand back, and he would persistently take it again.
After two or three rounds of this, Jiang Liyue had no choice but to let him do as he pleased.
After all, she was the one who said friends could hold hands!
Besides, this friend she’d picked up in the Fuben kept trying to give her his heart at every opportunity.
What if he suddenly decided to return the favor and asked her to give him her heart?
Compared to that, letting him play with her hand wasn’t so unacceptable after all.
Mindful of the trip to the Jiaowuchu, Jiang Liyue quickly finished the food on her tray.
On the way to the Jiaowuchu, Jiang Liyue thought about the class placement again. “Aji, will we really be placed in the same class?”
If they weren’t in the same class, wouldn’t the powerful ally she’d latched onto by selling her conscience go to waste?
“We will.” Pei Ji gave her a definite answer.
“That’s good. After all, if we weren’t in the same class, I wouldn’t be able to tutor you.” Jiang Liyue hadn’t forgotten her image as a top student, making up nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
Anyway, out in the world, if she said she was a top student, then she was a top student.
As they neared the Jiaowuchu, Jiang Liyue finally heard the sound of people talking. She guessed it was probably the other players and quickly pulled her hand out of Pei Ji’s.
When Pei Ji tried to take her hand again, she advised him earnestly, “When other classmates are around, it’s best if we don’t hold hands. Even though we’re good friends, if someone reports us to the teacher, they might misunderstand our friendship.”
Pei Ji looked at his suddenly empty palm, feeling a bit wronged as he nodded. “I understand.”
It wasn’t Yueyue’s fault—those people were too annoying!
If only Xingfu Yizhong had just the two of them, a flash of murderous intent crossed Pei Ji’s eyes.
Because Jiang Liyue had gone to the cafeteria for a meal, even though she had submitted her paper early, she was actually the last to arrive at Jiaowuchu.
At this moment, more than twenty players were gathered at the entrance of Jiaowuchu, all somewhat surprised to see Jiang Liyue arrive completely unharmed.
When they had arrived at Jiaowuchu and found she wasn’t there, they had already suspected she might have met with an accident.
Now that she suddenly appeared, some people initially wanted to approach and talk to her—those who could discover the rules were all top players, and maybe they could latch onto her coattails.
But when they tried to get closer, they felt a terrifying gaze emanating from the boy beside Jiang Liyue.
That look seemed like it wanted to tear them all apart.
Players who had passed the entrance exam all had some intuition, and when the alarm bells rang loudly in their minds, they realized they couldn’t approach Jiang Liyue.
They didn’t even dare cast another glance in her direction.
Jiang Liyue naturally noticed this too, but between completely unfamiliar players and the golden ticket to victory she had worked so hard to “trick” into being her companion.
She naturally chose the latter.
In a corner no one could see, Jiang Liyue secretly reached out and used her index finger to tickle Pei Ji’s palm.
Then Pei Ji immediately grabbed her index finger.
“What are you doing?” Jiang Liyue mouthed silently, making no sound.
Pei Ji proudly wagged her finger, his eyes sparkling brightly.
He really did look like an obedient little dog by the roadside, waiting to be petted. Jiang Liyue admitted she was a bit hooked.
So she indulged his little antics.
[Ah, Yueyue wife finally appears on screen again, I don’t know that dog of a man beside her]
[Wife, wife, watching these humans scheme against each other here is not as good as watching my wife trick that dog of a man]
[Look at how worthless your Guiyi boss looks]
[I’ve said it before…]
[No need to say it, rhythm bro, we understand, it’s all rhythm, the boss is definitely letting himself be tricked on purpose]
[It’s all because our Yueyue is too good at fishing, I want to be Yueyue’s dog too]