Yao had passed, but the others had yet to.
There was a variety show called "I Turn for You", where guests' turns would incite screams and wild cheers from the audience.
But now?
Look, Barbara has turned.
With a flick of her wand, everyone except Yao and Lan Bing was lifted into the air.
Damn, this is unbearable. No wonder Oakes looked so pained just now.
"Don't make such a miserable face. I'm about to ask you a question. Are you ready?"
Damn it, hurry up and ask already.
"Ready!"
"Ready... ready."
"Lady Barbara, I'm ready. Did I answer correctly?"
A sudden female voice startled everyone. In the next moment, Barbara pointed, and Yuqin was dropped down, rewarded with 50 points.
"Only one person answered correctly. You've all disappointed me! Now, I'll punish you! Put on my high heels!"
Yao and the others: "???"
Is this allowed?!
"We answered too! We're ready!"
"Why didn't you accept our answers as correct?"
Many people took the opportunity to protest.
Barbara snorted. "When you realize this is a question, then it becomes a problem. Don't try to outsmart me next time, or the consequences will be dire."
Swoosh! The high heels quickly snapped onto the others' feet.
Zhang Jun stared down at the heels, wishing for death, but he dared not show any disgust.
They thought they'd just wear them and pretend nothing happened.
Then they heard Barbara's devilish, flirtatious voice.
"Stand up, and dance!"
"La la la, la la la!"
What is going on?
Before they could react, the heels activated with terrifying force, making them spring to their feet. Then, their bodies started swaying with the rhythm.
"Twist left, twist right, thrust your hips, chest out, hands on hips, spin around, follow the rhythm."
"La la la, la la la..."
Truthfully, it might have been more embarrassing for the onlookers than for them.
Yao's head was buzzing, her eyes aching, but she didn't cover her eyes or look away. She stubbornly kept watching.
Fortunately, the round was finally over.
Barbara was delighted. "You all did very well. I'm quite pleased."
The group of strong middle schoolers, now in high heels, breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God, it was finally over.
Barbara: "Now, let's do it again!"
Holy crap!
Yao watched 47 spinning tops… The female students were fine, but the male students—this was truly... painful to watch.
When great responsibility falls upon someone, they must first endure mental torment, strain their muscles and bones, starve their body, embarrass their soul... embarrass their soul... embarrass their soul...
Perhaps this mantra worked on the parents watching the exam outside.
Watching their strong young boys twisting in girly steps, their hearts were shattered... But some parents quietly began filming.
Qin Yu turned to see Shen Yunyi holding up her phone...
"Senior?"
"Xiao Qi has never liked wearing skirts, let alone high heels. I want to see if she fails and has to wear them... then I'll have something to tease her with later."
Ah, the maternal love.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Barbara pointed again, and the group fell to the ground.
Yao and the others silently braced themselves, preparing for Barbara's next challenging question.
"Alright, let's continue. We'll all do it together now. After all, we're all one big family. Don't leave anyone behind."
"There are five rounds of games. The first is over, but there are still four more!"
Honestly, they'd rather be left behind.
The next game began.
The group was tense, but began carefully observing their surroundings, replaying everything in their minds. Barbara suddenly spoke. "The second question: Who among all of you will die first? You may choose, and once you make your choice and shout it out, the chain will tighten around that person, speeding up their death."
"You have thirty seconds to answer. Start!"
This round tested what? Humanity!
It wasn't just about their personal experiences, or making enemies for the future. There were so many watching, including family and friends. Who wanted to expose their moral flaws? How could they bear the social consequences and damage to their reputation?
When the question was asked, everyone fell silent.
Yao was a bit nervous, silently cursing: What kind of question is this?! She seemed to be in danger. Should she strike first?
Yao was about to call out Lan Bing's name first, using peer pressure to cast her aside, but hesitated. It wasn't out of pity or fear of damaging her moral character—her persona didn't care about that. It was because she realized something.
Who would dare to be the first to cast aside their conscience?
Even Lan Bing, who was glaring at Yao, didn't dare to speak first.
Nobles cared about face.
But! Someone had to make the first move!
They were all middle school students, only in their teens. How many of them had truly been through enough cruelty to have the heart of a strong survivor?
Cruel, rational, decisive?
No, it could be hatred!
As long as the hatred was enough, it was enough to sacrifice face and be the cruelest one.
Lan Bing gave a look toward a particular person. That person understood immediately, narrowed his eyes, and gritted his teeth.
"Oakes! I choose Oakes!"
Zhang Jun shouted, not forgetting to point at Yao. Barbara turned to look, then silently pointed her wand at Yao.
In an instant, Yao felt the chain tighten around her neck, constricting her throat. She almost couldn't breathe.
Once Zhang Jun spoke, the others seemed to have found their opening. Who could tell who would die first? But if this person seemed on the verge of death, everyone could choose them. Wouldn't that make their answer correct?
That was the correct answer.
Mike and the others quickly followed, all choosing Yao.
In this situation, those who didn't choose her would never have the right answer. They would be punished. How could the others refuse?
Yuqin hesitated too. But just then, Yao felt her neck turning blue as the chain choked her, blood nearly bursting from her throat!
But at that moment, she saw Oakes raise his hand and make a gesture.
Seven.
The gesture meant seven!
What did that mean? The seventh person? But their numbers weren't single digits. If they weren't the participants, who else could it be?
Wait...
Yuqin's gaze landed somewhere else. She saw the secret and immediately signaled to the others.
The others caught on!
"You didn't say that only the participants are here. You've also treated these dolls as your cherished companions, and their bodies have numbers too. The high heels they wear have codes underneath. I choose doll number seven! Its blood has almost drained, and the color has turned black, meaning it's near death!" Yao struggled to speak.
"Seven. I choose seven," Yuqin immediately followed.
"I choose doll number seven too."
"We all choose doll number seven!"
Only five people voted. Suddenly, the necklace on the chosen doll's neck tightened, delivering a fatal blow. The doll's body convulsed and then went still.
Its body began to dissipate.
Doll number seven was dead.
At the same time, the chain around Yao's neck was completely loosened and fell to the ground, shattering into sharp metal shards.
Only then did the others realize that the high heels worn by the participants had numbers on the bottom.
Yao had noticed that the doll whose blood was draining fastest and nearing death had its heels under a participant's foot.
She had seen the number.
But why had she given Yuqin and the others a hint, and even warned them beforehand?
Barbara showed little reaction. She raised her hand...
"You six have all earned 50 points, but only this one's chain can be removed. The rest of you must continue wearing your high heels."
She smiled slightly.
"Failed answers. You'll wear beautiful skirts as punishment for twenty-five seconds!"
Before anyone realized, the dolls' pink skirts automatically appeared on them.
Lan Bing turned green but couldn't stop it...
"The skirts are nice, but the people inside are truly ugly. I advise you not to spoil them. Barbara's skirts are too precious to be sullied by you."
He even heard Oakes, cowering and gagging, still praising Barbara.
Damn Oakes!
Barbara was truly pleased, laughing delightedly, but didn't forget to punish them.
Snap, snap!
The chains around their necks tightened...
All 44, including Lan Bing, were caught.
Ugh... Some dolls foamed at the mouth, some were struggling to hang on, others coughed up blood...
Twenty-five seconds. Who could hold out?
The parents watching outside were on the verge of breaking down, their hearts aching for their children, even protesting to the examiners. But the exam proctors didn't even blink, calmly stating: "If you can't stand it, you may choose to quit. This exam is meant to weed out the weak."
The parents were momentarily speechless, reluctant to see their children fail the exam, but some yelled for their kids to quit.
But they didn't need to shout. Those who knew they couldn't endure or feared dying...
"Quit, quit!"
"I'm quitting! I don't want to die! Ugh~~"
Ten seconds later, five people quit!
Twenty seconds later, twelve people quit!
By the 25th second, no one quit.
Seventeen people were eliminated, leaving 33.
But those 33 were divided into two factions: Oakes, Yuqin, and their five followers, and the other 28, barely hanging on.
Yuqin glanced at Yao, realizing why she had warned her.
She couldn't let her be isolated as the target of everyone. If a few others joined her, the situation would change dramatically.
And Yao, undoubtedly, was sharp, always catching details others missed.
Was this testing agility?
No, it was testing reflexes and attentiveness.
Yao clutched her throat, gasping for air, but noticed that Barbara was looking up at the wall, then announced the third question, "Third question: Who has the weakest constitution here?"
"Ten seconds to answer. Begin!"
Who could know that? You couldn't use Insight to check others' attributes.
Unless you were familiar with the contestants and had a general sense of their strengths and weaknesses.
"Chen Zhen!"
"It's Chen Zhen!"
"Chen Zhen from the Third Middle School!"
This answer was likely correct because it came from Lan Bing.
The nobility's influence was everywhere. It was possible that their family intelligence networks had already gathered detailed information on every participant. The examiners couldn't be bribed, but school teachers could be.
So, this answer had to be right.
Yuqin was about to follow the trend when suddenly!
"I choose number 4624, Zhang Jun. He has the weakest constitution, because he's about to die!"
Yao's finger moved, and something sharp flew from her hand.
Swoosh! The sharp tip landed directly in Zhang Jun's throat.
At that moment, Yuqin decisively followed Yao's answer. Others quickly followed, and several people shouted Zhang Jun's name.
Don't ask why. They trusted Oakes!
Zhang Jun opened his mouth, trembling, and blood leaked out... In the brief moment of suffocating, his body began to dissipate.
He chose to quit.
No choice. He had to quit before his breath stopped.
As his body faded, his eyes fixed on Yao, but not with hatred, only intense fear.
The others were terrified.
At that moment, Yao was still sitting in her original position, the broken shards of the chain around her neck still scattered on the ground.
When had she taken the sharpest object between her fingers?
The atmosphere in the prison was tense. The others fell silent, while outside, the audience didn't care anymore. Would they make it out alive?
Oakes was strong... terrifyingly strong.
Lan Bing, with Zhang Jun's blood still warm on his face, stared at Oakes and asked Barbara, "Lady Barbara, I take it this is the right answer? Can't there be two answers for a question?"
Yao: "When you quit, your attributes reset. You should have realized this in the second stage. Zhang Jun's death happened during the ten-second answering time, and it was right at the seventh second. So, do you think his constitution was higher than Chen Zhen's?"
"Chen Zhen, can your constitution even be lower than zero?"
Chen Zhen exploded internally. He knew his attributes were low, but he'd performed well in the first two stages! Who knew he'd be mocked for his weak constitution in the third round? Didn't he have any dignity?
"I have 4200 constitution points! Who says I'm worse than him! Let him come back and compare with me! I don't believe I'll lose!"
Chen Zhen, thick-skinned as ever, shouted, challenging Zhang Jun to return and compete with him. He even mocked those who had voted for him, telling Barbara, "Lady Barbara, if you say he won, doesn't that kill the spirit of the game? Isn't the fun of this game all about surprises? Those who know the answers in advance, isn't that just cheating?"
Barbara glanced at them, smiling slightly.
"All your answers are correct. You all get 50 points. But... I really prefer surprises."
"You're not surprising enough. Time to dance!"
She gave them points, but at the same time, pointed.
The others, including Lan Bing, freaked out.
Who would have guessed?
Snap!
Black lace stockings began to crawl up their legs.
"Ah!!"
"Nooo!"
"Ahh!"
The stockings crawled up, and their pants disappeared. The boys were left in their underwear, with puffy pink skirts, and the stockings crawled all the way up their legs...
Yao noticed that the girls still had their pants on, the stockings were simply placed over them, keeping their privacy intact.
She couldn't help but glance at Barbara.
Barbara was sensitive to gender differences.
She wasn't some perverted sadist.
Soon, Yao dismissed the thought. These contestants started dancing.
My god.
When Yao saw Lan Bing and the others, with their high heels and stockings, twirling and leaping in their puffed-up skirts...
She closed her eyes, but forced herself to keep them open. She watched the entire dance because she didn't want to miss any details.
She noticed the dance seemed a bit longer than the previous one.
Three minutes later, the dance ended.
No one spoke.
Exhausted. Mentally drained.
Probably cursing the education department in their hearts.
Perverts!
Three questions were done. Only two left.
Barbara spun around and suddenly asked, "Do you know when a butterfly emerges from its cocoon?"
What kind of question was this?
Many instinctively began thinking about the biology of butterflies, but different butterflies had different habits...
When they thought it was a nonsense question, suddenly!
The keen ones realized something was wrong.
The chains moved, but no one could dodge. Most were tangled, one loop after another, slowly tightening, forming cocoons.
Who could break free from the cocoon?
This wasn't about answering questions. It was a survival test!
But Yao reacted faster. As the chains began to bind her, she immediately grabbed the doll in front of her and pulled it into her arms.
Yuqin did the same.
Because once the chains wrapped around them, like a python squeezing them into cocoons, the lack of air would be fatal!
So, hugging the doll to create some space...
Though she didn't like Oakes, even Lan Bing and the others were quick to adapt, grabbing dolls at the last moment...
Snap!
Before the chains completely enclosed them, Yuqin quickly used the doll's arm to wedge into the gap. The chains rotated counterclockwise, rigidly wrapping around but leaving the arm untouched. When the doll fell, despite the shattered pieces, its joints were still intact—proving its superior quality.
It held.
The air was preserved, but the squeezing power was unbearable...
Pain. Too much pain. It felt like her flesh was about to burst!
Actually, Yao was managing fine. Her attributes were much higher than the others. She pretended to struggle, testing whether the chains could be broken. They were a bit too thick, but with full strength, she could break them. Still, the final question was coming, and she didn't want to draw Barbara's attention just yet.
Most importantly, she couldn't use magic or potions right now. It was all about physical strength now. If she exhausted herself, she wouldn't be ready for the final question.
It was better to rely on wit.
Yao's fingers twitched, and she touched the doll's high heels.
The heels were 10 cm tall, thin and sharp.
The material was exceptional.
Yao grabbed it, using the sharp heel to quickly grind at the chain's weakest joint...
Once one joint broke, the entire chain would unravel.
As she ground away, others who hadn't grabbed a doll were struggling. Those who couldn't find a way to wedge their bodies into the dolls' gaps wouldn't last more than ten seconds.
At least their wills couldn't endure.
"I quit! I quit!"
"I'm out!"
"I give up! Let me out!"
One by one, they left.
Yao didn't pay them any attention, but she felt Barbara's breath had disappeared from the prison.
Had she left?
Impossible, wasn't there the fifth question left? Was she rushing to another prison?
Yao, suspicious, rushed to the prison gate, listening for the sounds outside. Sure enough, she heard other prisoners' screams from nearby.
The test had begun.
Was this it?
Suddenly... Yao heard something different from the screams.
A dull thud.
Footsteps.
Her expression froze. She turned swiftly and grabbed the high heel, raising it high to strike.
Outside was easier to handle. Inside, the space was too confined to make a strong cut.
Clang!
Yuqin escaped.
"Quick! Save the others! The more we get out, the better. The fifth question is a boss fight. No magic, only strength. Hurry!"
"Find the strongest!"
"It's coming!"
Her voice wasn't loud, but everyone heard it.
Yuqin scrambled up and grabbed the high heels to break the chains... rescuing one person after another.
Sure enough, she picked the strong ones.
Yao freed Lan Bing and Mike.
Their expressions were complex, but Yao's gaze was cold.
"If you want to continue, stop causing trouble."
"Losing over and over again doesn't make you seem resilient."
"Obey."
Lan Bing and Mike were ridiculed, but they had to admit that the person in front of them was truly cunning and ruthless.
Power was the ultimate argument.
Meanwhile, a large, terrifying shadow approached the prison door.
Everyone held their breath.
It was coming.
The Coffin Bearer.