Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 3

Xie Nuange turned her gaze forward again.

The headless body remained upright for one stiff instant. Then it convulsed and pitched forward.

One flowerpot-soled shoe stayed on its foot. The other flew off and landed nearby.

The corpse had fallen directly across the path Xie Nuange would have to walk.

The difficulty had just gone up again.

“Continue.”

Blood dripped from the matron’s ruler onto the flagstones. She showed no sign that knocking a person’s head off with a single blow was anything out of the ordinary.

The blood was still flowing.

Hot and scarlet, it spilled from the stump of Fang Yule’s neck and crept along the seams between the stones.

Now it was Xie Nuange’s turn.

She stepped out with the nine other women in her row.

They lined up at the starting point. The headless corpse lay crosswise in their path.

“Begin.”

Xie Nuange steadied herself and began calculating in silence.

She had to keep every stride within the required length and still get past the body.

She could not look down. She could not hesitate. She could not fall.

She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. When she opened them again, they held only determination.

She could not die here.

Xie Chaoyang…

Keeping her gaze fixed ahead, she took the first step.

She raised her foot and estimated how far it needed to travel.

There was no way to step over the entire corpse. Could she place her foot somewhere stable instead?

She had no way to know.

All she could do was gamble.

She lifted her right foot and brought it down gently.

She could not tell how long the stride had been. She had to trust the feel of it.

The matron said nothing.

Xie Nuange committed the sensation to memory.

Second step.

Third.

The corpse drew closer.

Two more steps. She could see the discarded embroidered shoe, sole facing upward and streaked with blood.

Do not lower your head.

Do not look.

Fourth step.

The platform beneath her shoe met something soft and faintly springy—Fang Yule’s hand.

It was the only way across. Stepping on the body would be too unstable. The hand presented the least risk.

Her body swayed despite her best efforts. For one flashing instant, she lost her balance.

In a place where the rules marked the line between life and death, the smallest mistake could be fatal.

At the edge of her vision, Xie Nuange could almost see the matron’s gray-white eyes turning toward her with agonizing slowness.

The stare was cold, like a venomous snake locking onto its prey.

Do not panic.

She tightened her core and followed the movement she had already rehearsed in her mind. Before her right foot had fully settled, she drove her left foot forward.

Fast. Light. Precise.

It did not matter if she wobbled. As long as she did not fall, as long as her stride was legal, as long as she kept her eyes ahead—

Her left foot came down in the sticky pool of blood.

“Stride too long. Failure!”

Xie Nuange’s heart dropped.

She heard the matron coming toward her.

One step.

Then another.

Xie Nuange stood perfectly still, making no unnecessary movement.

Something whistled through the air.

Not even her eyelashes trembled. She waited for the result. From the others’ mistakes, she had learned that a first offense was not fatal.

She only had to endure it.

Crack!

Silk tore to her right.

Xie Nuange’s eyes flickered.

“Continue!”

The matron’s voice rang out again.

No ruler struck her. No sentence of death followed.

She had made it across.

Relief swept through Xie Nuange, but she did not pause. She ignored the stare boring into her back and raised her right foot, using her previous landing point to judge the distance. She brought it down with precision just ahead of her left.

Step after step.

She forced her attention away from the sticky sensation beneath her shoes and kept her gaze pinned three zhang ahead.

Five steps. Ten…

At last, she cleared the stretch occupied by the corpse. Smooth flagstones lay beneath her feet again.

She had made it.

“Next row. Begin.”

Eventually, the matron’s icy voice sounded behind the last group, bringing the day’s walking lesson to an end.

She had passed.

Xie Nuange turned and joined the group of successful candidates. Only then did the tension wound through every nerve begin to loosen.

Scenarios were all the same in one respect.

They never gave you a truly impossible path. Find the rules and obey them, and you could survive.

“Forty-eight candidates passed today’s walking lesson. Those who failed have been punished.”

The matron surveyed the survivors.

“At the beginning of the Hour of the Rooster, palace attendants will bring dinner to Your Ladyships. Tomorrow, near the end of the Hour of the Rabbit, this servant will escort you to the dining hall and instruct you in proper dining etiquette.”

“That concludes today’s lesson. Lock your doors and windows tonight. Do not go outside.”

She paused. Her cloudy eyes swept across the women who remained.

“Remember: in the palace, the rules are your life.”

The crowd dispersed. Xie Nuange stayed where she was and watched the others leave.

Cheng Luo, the round-faced girl, walked ahead of her with a light step, as though nothing had happened.

Then there was Ye Wan, the relaxed woman who had moved through the exercise as casually as if she were taking a stroll. She brought up the rear without hurry, even stopping to admire the flowers beside the path.

Xie Nuange looked away and headed toward Room C.

At the door, she raised her eyes to the nameplates.

Nothing had changed. All five names hung neatly in place.

Room C: Xie Nuange, Ye Wan, Fang Yule, Meng Shi, Cheng Luo.

She went inside, sat on her bed, leaned against the wall, and closed her eyes to rest.

Cheng Luo still wore the same beaming smile. When she saw Xie Nuange, her eyes curved into crescents.

“You were amazing. You didn’t make a single mistake.”

Xie Nuange opened her eyes and managed a thin smile. “You were amazing too.”

Cheng Luo’s cute face brightened at the compliment.

The next to return was the icy Meng Shi—the woman who had been standing to Xie Nuange’s right when the ruler came down.

“Oh, you’re back.”

Unaffected by the cold air around Meng Shi, Cheng Luo bounded over with crescent-shaped eyes.

“You don’t have a scratch on you. Was that a defensive ghost item?”

Xie Nuange looked over. Meng Shi’s back was perfectly intact, without so much as a spot of blood on her clothes.

“Lucky you. I’ve cleared several scenarios, but I’ve never managed to get my hands on a single defensive ghost item.”

Cheng Luo’s voice turned playfully aggrieved. With her round face and petite frame, she looked adorable.

Meng Shi, unfortunately, seemed immune to her charms. Without a word, she walked to her own bed.

Cheng Luo was not offended. She kept right on smiling.

Xie Nuange drew her attention away from them and looked toward the door. Ye Wan was still outside, strolling along as though she truly were a lady of the imperial harem.

Cheng Luo followed her gaze. Then she came over, crouched beside the bed, and lowered her voice.

“Xie Nuange, do you want to switch spots?”

Xie Nuange turned to her.

“Fang Yule’s spot.” Cheng Luo tipped her chin toward the inner cubicle. “The bed’s empty now, and it doesn’t have a name on it. At least it’s farther from the door. If anything happens tonight, you’ll have a few more seconds to react.”

“What do you think? Want to move over there?”