Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 28

Gravel exploded through the air. Mom’s spatula smashed a bowl-sized crater into the ground.

Xie Nuange heard a crack, and her right arm went limp.

Just a little longer.

She only needed to hold out a little longer.

The instant Medusa released her, Cheng Luo poured the last of her mental power into a ghost item and attacked Xie Nuange.

If Xie Nuange died, the vines would disappear. Cheng Luo could then heal her own wounds.

Now they were simply fighting to see who survived the other.

The vines grew increasingly pale, their bodies turning translucent.

Xie Nuange leaned against the palace wall, her clothes soaked with cold sweat and sticky blood.

She brought out the Divination Coins.

[Ghost item activated: Divination Coins.]

[Divination result: Three tails. What are you waiting for? Run! Uses remaining: 8/15.]

Blades of light closed in. With nowhere left to evade, Xie Nuange could only draw the vines around her vital points.

Pfft.

The blades shredded the thorns and buried themselves in her body.

Xie Nuange spat out a mouthful of blood.

Again!

[Ghost item activated: Divination Coins.]

[Divination result: Three tails. You are the most stubborn fool I have ever seen. Why aren’t you running? Uses remaining: 7/15.]

Again!

[Ghost item activated: Divination Coins.]

[Divination result: Three heads. Buff +200%. Lucky you! Uses remaining: 6/15.]

Finally.

Xie Nuange looked at Cheng Luo.

“Cheng Luo…” Her voice was hoarse and weak. “If you really meant to protect me, you wouldn’t have hidden the faction quests from me.”

Cheng Luo raised her head.

Their eyes met, and Xie Nuange activated Medusa again.

Cheng Luo’s body locked for an instant.

The vines seized the opening.

A rapid series of cracks filled the courtyard as they crushed every bone in her body.

Blood poured from Cheng Luo’s mouth, carrying fragments of her organs with it.

Even as she died, she could not understand.

Why had Xie Nuange possessed a skill yet never used it?

Why had she spent so long pretending to be harmless?

In a scenario like this, didn’t weakness only invite more danger?

And why wasn’t Xie Nuange afraid of violating Jiang Fan’s rule?

She no longer had time to ask.

Cheng Luo possessed plenty of ghost items, both offensive and defensive.

But with a 200% buff, the vines needed only two seconds to crush her.

Xie Nuange’s two skills were enough to take her life.

As Cheng Luo’s consciousness faded, Mom stopped attacking without another command.

She turned and returned to Cheng Luo’s side. Her cloudy eyes watched the light fade from Cheng Luo’s pupils.

Mom reached out. Her swollen white fingers tried to touch Cheng Luo’s face.

But her hand passed straight through Cheng Luo’s body.

“Mom…”

Cheng Luo looked at the figure. No sound could leave her throat. Bloody froth spilled from her lips and covered her chin.

Mom’s body was disappearing.

Starting at the fingertips, she broke into tiny motes of light like ash scattered by the wind.

The instant Cheng Luo drew her last breath, Mom vanished completely.

Cheng Luo’s eyes remained wide. Vines still bound her, their thorns buried in her flesh.

She simply stared in Xie Nuange’s direction.

Xie Nuange did not approach.

She remained against the wall, one hand pressed to her chest as darkness pulsed across her vision.

The vines were also on the verge of vanishing.

She forced herself to endure and waited for the scenario announcement.

At last…

[Palace Candidate Rankings: Rank Six has died.]

[Palace Candidate Rankings: Rank Six has died.]

[Palace Candidate Rankings: Rank Six has died.]

After the third announcement, Xie Nuange could hold on no longer. She dropped to her knees.

The vines shattered at the same instant and disappeared.

She watched Cheng Luo’s body slowly fade. Like Mom, she dissolved from the fingertips into tiny points of light.

[Player Cheng Luo has died. Extract skill?]

“Extract.”

[Extraction successful. Player has acquired the skill: Mom! No one loves you more than Mom.]

[Skill Description: A summoning skill that calls “Mom” to fight for you. Mom’s strength is proportional to the user’s mental power. The stronger the user’s mental power, the stronger Mom becomes. Mom will never betray you.]

[Skill extraction complete. Cheng Luo’s data has been destroyed.]

Using the wall for support, Xie Nuange forced herself upright and walked one slow step at a time to where Cheng Luo had disappeared.

Several ghost items lay scattered across the ground, along with the jade hairpin wrapped in gold foil.

She bent down, picked up the hairpin, and tucked the ghost items into her sleeve one by one.

“But Cheng Luo, I never trust anyone,” Xie Nuange murmured.

“I never believed you would protect me.”

“And I will never place my life in someone else’s hands.”

She looked down at the cut the gold foil had left on her finger.

Cheng Luo had harmed her and taken something from her.

How could killing her violate Jiang Fan’s rule?

The gold layer had peeled back, exposing the smooth jade beneath.

Xie Nuange put the hairpin away, then found the Glass Bead Cheng Luo had once given her.

Only after healing her injuries did she stand and begin the long walk back to the Palace of Gathered Elegance.

Wind poured through the narrow passage, cold enough to make her shiver.

The thorn seeds in her hand had shattered. The last of Thorn Entanglement had been exhausted in the battle.

If she had possessed even a trace more mental power, Xie Nuange would have summoned Mom immediately.

She wanted to know what her Mom would look like.

Would that Mom protect her the way Cheng Luo’s had?

Xie Nuange encountered no one on the way back.

Perhaps it was because night had fallen. With only two days remaining, no one wanted to take unnecessary risks.

At the entrance, she saw Ye Wan waiting.

Ye Wan stood before the palace gate and looked at her.

“How did Cheng Luo die?”

She approached one measured step at a time, taking in Xie Nuange’s torn clothes and bloodless face.

“Where did you go?”

Xie Nuange raised her head and gave a bitter smile.

“The Cold Palace… She didn’t make it out.”

Her eyes lowered.

Ye Wan was different from Cheng Luo. She was a warrior—a tank.

With almost no mental power left and only her remaining ghost items, Xie Nuange could not break through Ye Wan’s defense.

“We found a clue and recovered the quest item,” Xie Nuange said, looking up again. “Would you like to turn in the quest with me?”

Ye Wan studied her for a long moment, then shook her head.

Her usual careless smile returned.

“Rank Three is good enough for me. I won’t take advantage of you.”

She tipped her chin toward the entrance. “Go turn it in. Then we need to get back to the room. It’s almost time.”

Surprise flickered across Xie Nuange’s face before she murmured her agreement.

She walked to the matron and held out the hairpin.

“Matron, I found it.”

The matron looked at the pin in Xie Nuange’s hand, then reached out and accepted it.

The moment it touched her palm, the hairpin returned to its original appearance.

Xie Nuange watched as the matron placed it in her hair.

And then… nothing.

Where was the quest reward?

Was that really it?