Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 22

Xie Nuange still wasn’t certain of the exact condition behind Jiang Fan’s killings.

Was bullying another palace candidate enough?

Or did the bully have to gain something from it as well?

Since Meng Shi had attacked her, Xie Nuange could use her to test the rule.

That was only fair.

Xie Nuange lowered her eyes. She could not afford to leave anyone alive who posed a threat to her.

Meng Shi said nothing. She glanced at the water clock in the room. It was almost the Hour of the Boar.

“Mm. All right.”

Cheng Luo hopped down from her bed. “If Ye Wan is helping you tonight, I’ll help too.”

“But…”

She looked at Xie Nuange, a nasty little smile curling across her lips.

“If I find out tomorrow that you don’t actually have a clue to share…”

“Xie Nuange, I’m going to be very angry with you.”

Xie Nuange smiled back.

“How could that happen? I can’t beat you or Ye Wan. Even if I find a way to clear the scenario, I’ll still need your help.”

The Hour of the Boar soon arrived.

They extinguished the lamps and went to bed. Xie Nuange lay down, closed her eyes, and kept her breathing even.

The instant her eyes shut, a strange series of images flooded her mind.

They came from the thorn seeds she had left inside the walls and beneath the floor.

The seeds had become her eyes. Her surveillance network.

She had not consciously activated them, yet she could see everything around them through their senses.

Cheng Luo lay on the innermost bed. Her breathing was a little heavier than usual. She was still awake.

Ye Wan slept on her side with her back to the wall, her breaths deep and steady. She was genuinely asleep. That woman truly feared nothing.

Meng Shi lay rigid beneath her blanket.

The bed that had belonged to Fang Yule remained empty.

Xie Nuange’s attention lingered on the thorn seeds. A trace of regret passed through her.

She had only just discovered how useful they could be—how they could be used and manipulated.

Yet this was their final use. Once she withdrew them, they would be gone forever.

Could other ghost items be used in the same way?

For now, at least, she could maintain an equilibrium. As long as the balance between expenditure and replenishment remained intact, she could keep the thorns active indefinitely.

Through a seed near the window, she glanced at the sky outside.

The Hour of the Boar had arrived.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Footsteps sounded at the exact stroke of the hour.

Xie Nuange observed the others.

Aside from Ye Wan, every woman tensed the instant she heard the steps.

Creak…

The door opened.

A pair of flowerpot-soled shoes stood on the stone path outside Room C.

They remained there for several seconds, then crossed the threshold.

Xie Nuange’s heart tightened.

That was wrong. Palace servants and eunuchs could not enter without permission.

Even those who delivered food and water each day had to wait for the candidates’ consent before stepping inside.

Yet the flowerpot-soled shoes had already passed through the doorway.

One step.

Two.

Three.

Moonlight spilled through the window, casting a long, narrow shadow across the floor.

Creak.

The door closed again.

Through the thorn seeds, Xie Nuange watched the matron at the entrance divide into two figures, then three, then four…

Each new figure stepped out of her body and moved deeper into the room.

Xie Nuange kept her breathing steady as one matron took her place beside each bed.

Soon, Xie Nuange had no attention to spare for the others.

The matron beside her bed was stretching her neck upward, inch by inch, like a snake slowly rearing.

The neck grew longer and thinner.

Through the thorn seeds, Xie Nuange saw the woman’s face press close to her own.

Her breathing seemed to encounter some obstruction. Gradually, the face beside hers withdrew.

Before Xie Nuange could relax, the matron’s neck collapsed into something like a stream of cold, malignant air.

It slipped beneath the blanket at her feet.

An icy sensation crept upward along her body.

Then the neck emerged from beneath the blanket over her chest.

Xie Nuange did not dare move a single muscle.

The thought of sharing her bed with the matron’s neck sent disgust crawling over her skin.

One twitch—or one opened eye—and she would find a pale blue-gray face staring straight at her.

Wasn’t the blanket supposed to be a protective barrier?

Once Xie Nuange realized the matron only intended to watch her sleep, she stopped paying the woman any mind.

She used the thorn seeds to inspect each of her roommates in turn.

The matron assigned to Cheng Luo had not placed her face above Cheng Luo’s. Instead, she lay beside her on the same pillow.

Her eyes still stared unblinkingly at Cheng Luo.

Ye Wan’s matron had done the same. Because Ye Wan slept facing the wall, the matron lay face-to-face with her on the pillow.

Xie Nuange fell silent at the sight.

If every room looked like this tonight, then by morning, everyone would either be exhausted and aching from holding still…

Or a great many people would die.

After all, not everyone had thorn seeds that let them monitor the entire room.

As the thought crossed her mind, something shifted beneath the blanket on Meng Shi’s bed.

Xie Nuange immediately focused on her.

The matron beside Meng Shi stretched from the waist, her entire upper body sliding beneath the blanket.

The covers lifted, opening a narrow gap.

A hand reached out through it.

The skin was swollen and blue-gray. Water dripped from the bloated fingers.

The hand pressed down beside Meng Shi’s pillow.

Then a head slowly emerged from the blanket over Meng Shi’s chest.

First came a lock of dripping hair. Then a forehead. Then a pair of milky gray eyes…

It was Jiang Fan’s face.

Xie Nuange’s heart clenched.

She had been right.

Palace candidates who bullied their companions drew Jiang Fan’s attention.

She recalled the information she had inspected that afternoon.

[What she hates most are palace candidates who use their family background to bully others.]

Drip… Drip…

The sound of water striking the floor was painfully sharp in the silent room.

Meng Shi felt droplets splash onto her face. Her lashes twitched involuntarily.

Then a sweet, soft voice spoke.

“I knew you were awake.”

Jiang Fan looked down at Meng Shi, her lips curving into an unnatural smile.

“I saw you bullying her… Why are all of you so awful?”

Meng Shi’s heart seized. Instinctively, she activated the ghost item protecting her.

At the same time, her eyes flew open and met the face pressed against hers.

It was blue-white and swollen, its flesh rotted by water. Clouded eyes stared from above a smiling mouth.

The face protruded from beneath her blanket, nose to nose and eye to eye with her.

Meng Shi’s heart nearly burst from her chest.

Jiang Fan!

She activated her skill on instinct.

Light flashed, but the ghost item failed.

“Why did you bully someone…?” Jiang Fan’s voice remained sweet and soft.

“You’re the one who couldn’t learn the rules! Why did you have to bully someone else?”

Her voice sharpened into a shriek.

“You were the one who didn’t work hard enough! Why did you bully her? Why? Why?!”

Meng Shi could no longer hear anything else.

Through the thorn seeds, Xie Nuange watched what was happening on Meng Shi’s bed.

For some reason, Meng Shi abruptly opened her eyes.

Then she sat up, her gaze numb and an eerie smile on her lips.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Footsteps crossed the room. Meng Shi followed Jiang Fan out.

The door closed softly behind them.

A short while later, a heavy splash came from the center of the courtyard.

The room sank once more into deathly silence.