Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 15

During their morning wash, neither Cheng Luo nor Ye Wan showed their usual ease.

Xie Nuange had the most reason to be anxious.

They still had not discovered the rule behind Jiang Fan’s killings. What had the victims violated?

If she killed by rank alone, why had she skipped Twelve and gone directly to Eleven last night?

Even Cheng Luo had lost her playful smile.

Xie Nuange was next. Cheng Luo would follow after her.

It was the fourth day. The matron announced that everyone was free to move about, then returned to her usual place outside the gate of the Palace of Gathered Elegance.

Xie Nuange was soon surrounded.

Yesterday, the candidates ranked behind her had treated her as an enemy, hoping to kill her and move up.

Today, she was a hot potato no one wanted anything to do with. No one wanted to climb into Rank Ten.

Ranks Ten and Twelve now meant death.

Xie Nuange pushed through the crowd and looked across the courtyard.

Rank Twelve had already broken down. She crouched on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Her body had folded in on itself as if someone had pulled out her bones. Tears and mucus covered her face. Whatever she kept mumbling was impossible to understand.

People walked past without stopping.

No one paid her any attention. There was only silence.

Everyone else crowded around Eleven’s roommates, trying to learn what had happened during the night and whether Eleven had left any clue before dying.

Xie Nuange did not join them.

She went to Twelve.

More than Eleven’s death or clues, she wanted to know why Jiang Fan had passed over Twelve to kill Eleven.

“Stop crying.”

Twelve lifted her tear-blurred face. When she recognized Rank Ten, she cried even harder.

“Y-you… stay away from me… I don’t want your bad luck rubbing off on me…”

The corner of Xie Nuange’s mouth twitched.

The girl knew how to hurt someone’s feelings.

Xie Nuange crouched beside her, voice gentle and soothing.

“The rankings will update soon.”

Twelve’s sobs faltered. She looked at Xie Nuange through her tears.

“After the update, you’ll become Eleven.”

Xie Nuange wiped the tears from her face. “Eleven has already died, so you won’t die again.”

Twelve froze. The tears remained, but her expression slowly changed.

“I… I won’t die?”

She spoke as though she could not believe it. “I really won’t die?”

“Not according to the ghost’s sequence.”

Xie Nuange paused, her gaze dimming. “I only came to ask whether you did anything unusual yesterday.”

“Jiang Fan skipped you and killed Eleven. Why do you think that happened?”

Twelve stared at her blankly, then shook her head.

“Last night, Eleven stole all my ghost items. I thought I was certain to die, but I didn’t. I never imagined she could have that many ghost items and still die.”

Relief trembled in Twelve’s voice.

“I know you. I saw you trying to save the first Rank Fourteen.”

She shook her head at Xie Nuange. “But I truly don’t know how I survived. Eleven stole ghost items from a lot of people yesterday, and she still died.”

“I never saw the ghost. I thought I was the one who would die, but Eleven did instead.”

“Serves her right for stealing my things…” Her words dissolved into sobs again.

She was still shaking with the aftershock of survival, her speech disjointed.

Xie Nuange fell silent.

Could Jiang Fan have targeted the richer candidate because her own family had been poor?

Did she prioritize the person with more ghost items?

Could that really be it?

It sounded absurd.

On the first night, Jiang Fan had begun at Fifteen and worked upward.

On the second, she had continued in the same direction.

Fifteen. Fourteen. Thirteen… Twelve should have been next.

Instead, on the third night, she skipped Twelve and killed Eleven.

“All right. Thank you.”

Xie Nuange stood and walked away.

After the rankings updated, Twelve would become Eleven.

Eleven had already died. Twelve had not.

Meng Shi would become Twelve. How could Meng Shi possibly leave the new Eleven alone?

Xie Nuange reviewed every clue since entering the palace.

The scenario rules. The rules of the Palace of Gathered Elegance. Everything the training matron had said.

A scenario never handed out useless rules without reason.

Nor did it create an inescapable death sentence.

Even if Jiang Fan’s pursuit followed the rankings upward, eventually there would be nowhere left to go.

What could Rank One do? There was no one above her to kill and take her place.

So this could not be a dead end.

Xie Nuange pressed her lips together and strode away.

Neither Meng Shi nor Cheng Luo wanted to die at another candidate’s hands.

“I’m staying with you today.”

Cheng Luo approached with a grave expression. “If I can protect you, I will. If I can’t…”

She looked directly at Xie Nuange. “Then I still need to see why you die. I have to witness Jiang Fan’s rule and method for myself.”

“Cheng Luo, lend me a ghost item.”

Xie Nuange looked down at her. “I’m going to trade it to the training matron for information.”

Cheng Luo frowned, clearly unwilling.

“Even if Jiang Fan kills me, you’ll be next. Can you guarantee you can defeat her?”

“Cooperation gives both of us a better chance.”

When Cheng Luo began to waver, Xie Nuange continued.

“If I die, you may be next unless you can kill someone in the top eight and move up.”

She guided Cheng Luo patiently. “I already have the beginning of an answer. I need to confirm it.”

“If the clue leads nowhere, we can work together and kill someone in the top ten.”

“But you don’t have a useful skill.”

“I can see an opponent’s weakness,” Xie Nuange said vaguely. “We can exploit it, but I can only do that once a day.”

Cheng Luo hesitated. “But she’s only the training matron. Why question her? Everyone else went after different palace attendants.”

“She stands there every day when she isn’t teaching us. She can’t be there for no reason,” Xie Nuange replied quickly. “Everyone who appears has a purpose. She must know something.”

Cheng Luo watched her for two seconds.

“Wait here.”

She ran off and soon returned with another person.

Rank Six.

The woman was plain and taciturn, but no one who held a place in the top ten was harmless.

“You want to trade for a clue?” Six studied Xie Nuange.

Xie Nuange nodded.

“I have the beginnings of one, but we don’t have any ghost items left.”

Six hesitated.

“The rankings haven’t updated yet. The next target is either me or Twelve,” Xie Nuange continued.

“If Jiang Fan hasn’t acted before the update, Twelve will come for me—or for Eleven, or someone even higher.”

“But there is still half an hour before the rankings change. If a gap appears and the lower-ranked candidates turn gray, Jiang Fan’s next target may be one of you.”

“Most importantly, the three of us can form a temporary alliance.”