Chapter 289 - 289: Brutality Of The Final Exam (1/2)

Lillie's group did not make their presence known immediately. Experts in the arts of stealth and qinggong [1], not even a single crunch of the moist soil under their soles created a sound.

Each pair silently maneuvered behind separate tree trunks while the fifth wheel—Death—was on solo. Cautiously, they peered their eyes towards the cause of the faint cry.

Ahead, was a girl lying vulnerably supine on a tree's roots. Her face was sickly pale as if blood was sucked out of her.

She was sweating profusely, yet her body was quivering from chills.

Her eyes and teeth were clenched shut, letting out pained m.o.a.ns ever so often, thinking that it would help palliate the antagonizing pain she was suffering from.

Lillie, no longer worried she'd be seen, poked her head out completely to take a closer look.

On the girl's right foot were two punctured holes seeping out blood and a strange, yellow substance.

Grotesque black veins surfaced from the skin surrounding the wound, half of her legs up until her knee was already swelling.

”Snake bite.” She quietly clarified to the others. ”A poisonous one at that.”

”Can we help her?” Han Taiyi asked in concern as she eyed the poor girl.

”This is their final exam.” Death recognized the girl as one of the enrollees from before.

The girl who was simply curious enough to question their identity and had accidentally incited her co-enrollees' chagrin.

”We can't just leave her like that. Who knows what kind of suffering she's experiencing right now, or how long she still have left to live.”

About to charge out to aid the poor girl, Han Taiyi skid a halt when a hand grabbed her shoulder.

”You might not be aware, but during the final exam, teachers are spread out in the forest to supervise everyone secretly. If someone is at near-death situation, then that'll be the time they show up.” All humor and mirth left Death's face, his hand firmly holding Han Taiyi in place.

Lillie draw back from peering, her expression mirroring her Senior Brother's. ”But as the rule stated, if they don't arrive by the Academy's gates after 24 hours, then they'll fail.”

Meaning to say, when a supervisor appeared and deemed your situation to be in peril, then that's the white flag for you.

However, Lillie had heard of stories about brave students who were close of crossing the bridge of the afterlife but still manage to have their hands touch the Academy's gate before their time runs out.

She had actually acquainted one of the few who survived near-death situations and passed the final exam.