Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 21

Xie Nuange rubbed her aching forehead when she saw Meng Shi blocking the doorway.

“Let’s talk inside.”

She looked up at Meng Shi. “If I stay out here, I might run. Then all your effort would be wasted.”

Meng Shi studied her, then shifted slightly aside to let her enter.

Ye Wan and Cheng Luo both raised their heads to watch them.

They had more or less guessed what was happening.

Neither moved to interfere.

Xie Nuange said nothing. She sat on her bed, hoping to recover her mental power as quickly as possible.

“I’m out of time.”

Meng Shi walked over and stood before her, looking down from above.

Xie Nuange remained silent.

Ye Wan arched a brow, her expression hovering between amusement and interest.

Cheng Luo sat up straighter, her gaze darting between them.

“I didn’t want to kill you,” Meng Shi said, staring into Xie Nuange’s eyes. “But Jiang Fan kills the people who haven’t learned the rules well.”

Xie Nuange still said nothing. She simply waited for Meng Shi to attack.

Her eyes lowered.

If Meng Shi chose not to kill her tonight—if she did nothing—she would still have a chance to survive.

Meng Shi’s lips curved without warmth. “I’m not sure I can beat either of them.”

She leaned closer until her face loomed over Xie Nuange’s.

“But I know I can beat you.”

Silence held the room for two seconds.

Xie Nuange raised her eyes to Meng Shi and suddenly felt like laughing.

Did she really look that easy to crush?

Lowering her lashes, she asked softly, “And?”

Meng Shi wasted no more words. She activated her skill.

Xie Nuange forced herself to stand, only for Meng Shi’s ice to lock her in place.

“Meng Shi, are you certain Jiang Fan will come for you tonight?”

There was no fear in Xie Nuange’s voice. Her gaze passed over Cheng Luo and Ye Wan. “I’ve already found a clue to clearing the scenario.”

“You’re smart, Meng Shi. I’m the weakest person in this room, but what if your conclusion is wrong? What if Jiang Fan simply spares the top five?”

Meng Shi had no interest in considering that possibility.

She knew only that if she killed Xie Nuange, she would enter the top ten. As long as she protected herself until the next refresh, she would be safe.

She attacked without giving Xie Nuange any chance to evade.

Ice sealed both of Xie Nuange’s feet and climbed her legs, the cold rapidly spreading upward.

With her mental power already overdrawn, Xie Nuange had no choice but to use a ghost item.

[Thorn Entanglement: Command thorned vines as you wish. The ability consumes mental power while active. As long as your mental power is strong enough, you may sustain the vines indefinitely.]

[Uses remaining: 0/3.]

Tiny buds pushed out from several places along the wall behind Xie Nuange and Meng Shi.

More inconspicuous shoots swelled beneath Meng Shi’s feet.

They waited for a single command from their master. Then they would burst from the ground, wrap Xie Nuange in a shield of vines—and run Meng Shi clean through.

Agony stabbed through Xie Nuange’s head. Her vision went black.

Had Meng Shi’s ice not fixed her in place, she would have collapsed unconscious.

But this wasn’t enough.

“There are more than three hours until the rankings refresh. If you kill me now, you won’t become Rank Ten immediately.”

Xie Nuange looked past Meng Shi at Cheng Luo and Ye Wan.

“You’ll also lose a clue to clearing the scenario—and the pattern behind Jiang Fan’s killings.”

Meng Shi refused to listen. If she died tonight, no clue would matter!

She raised a hand. Frost-white mist gathered at her fingertips, rapidly condensing into an icicle that shot toward Xie Nuange.

Gritting her teeth, Xie Nuange forced her nearly depleted mental power into the vines.

Countless tendrils silently broke through the soil beneath the floor. Their thorns slithered underground like snakes.

At Xie Nuange’s command, they would erupt beneath Meng Shi and impale her where she stood.

Xie Nuange’s face turned deathly pale. Cold sweat rolled from her temples.

It felt as if an unseen hand had seized the nerves inside her skull and was wrenching them outward.

Her vision darkened. Her legs nearly gave way.

Just as Xie Nuange thought the vines would drain her dry and prepared to stake everything on a final attack, something inside her shattered with a sharp crack.

It felt like a tightly sealed door had been kicked open a fraction.

More mental power flooded in, an endless torrent that threatened to split her head apart.

The vines consumed her mental power every second.

Yet every second, they seemed to supply her with more.

The sensation was indescribably strange.

Painful, yet lucid.

Weak, yet filled with strength.

It was like being held underwater at the brink of drowning—her body still crushed by suffocation, only for her to discover that she could suddenly breathe beneath the surface.

She did not know what was happening.

She knew only that the vines were poised to strike. A single thought would nail Meng Shi to the floor and riddle her body with holes.

Then a figure suddenly rushed forward and placed herself between them.

Ye Wan.

She raised an arm. Meng Shi’s icicle struck her forearm and shattered into fragments.

It had not even broken through Ye Wan’s defense.

The room fell silent.

Meng Shi stared at Ye Wan, her voice as cold as a blade. “You’re helping her?”

Ye Wan casually shook the ice from her arm and gave a languid laugh.

“I don’t care about the order of your rankings. I only want the clue.”

Her wary gaze remained on Meng Shi, but her next words were directed at Xie Nuange.

“Little strategist, you said you found a clue to clearing the scenario. Let’s hear it.”

Meng Shi did not move, but neither did she attack again.

Cheng Luo remained seated on her bed, eyes shining as though she were watching an excellent show.

Xie Nuange still stood where Meng Shi had frozen her. That strange force continued surging through her mind, making her temples throb.

It still hurt, but her mental power felt abundant.

She looked at Meng Shi, then Ye Wan.

“I’m not stupid. If I tell you now and you stop protecting me, what am I supposed to do?”

She smiled.

She already had the power to defend herself and kill Meng Shi in return, but why reveal it? Playing harmless kept the others’ guard down.

“I just asked around. When Jiang Fan comes to kill someone at night, it isn’t an instant death.”

“It’s like the first night. We drove Jiang Fan off then, so naturally we can do it again tonight.”

Xie Nuange watched Meng Shi as she mixed truth with lies.

“Besides, the matron is conducting a bed check tonight. You may not be the person in greatest danger.”

“We can all help you resist Jiang Fan, just like we did on the first night.”

She turned to Ye Wan and Cheng Luo. “Could one of you lend Meng Shi a ghost item?”

“As long as I’m alive, I’ll tell you Jiang Fan’s killing rule tomorrow morning.”

Ye Wan said nothing as she weighed the offer. Meng Shi remained silent too.

Cheng Luo still wore her usual cheerful smile.

“You don’t have much time,” Xie Nuange reminded them. “Lights-out is almost here.”

“Fine. But I’ll only protect you for one night.”

Ye Wan was the first to agree. She slipped a ring from her finger and looked at Meng Shi.

“This is a defensive ghost item. Spare Xie Nuange tonight, and tomorrow I won’t interfere in whatever happens between you.”

“If Jiang Fan comes tonight, I’ll help you. What do you say?”