Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 31

Xie Nuange’s eyes flew open.

Dawn had arrived.

She lay in bed and calmed herself.

Had that truly been Jiang Fan’s past?

As Xie Nuange started to rise, she realized something was clenched in her hand.

She lifted it.

A jade hairpin lay in her palm.

[Ghost Item: Jiang Fan’s Jade Hairpin. She is grateful that you tried so hard for her within the dream, so she will try once for you in return.]

[Ghost Item Description: When you are in danger, Jiang Fan will appear and help you once.]

An unexpected reward.

If she had remained a detached observer throughout the dream…

If she had not struggled to help when Jiang Fan fell into the well…

Would she still have received it?

Xie Nuange put away the hairpin and opened the rankings.

[Current palace candidate rankings: 16 candidates remaining.]

[Rank One: Xie Nuange.

Rank Two: Zhao Ning.

Rank Four: Ye Wan…]

Rank One…

She did not know whether helping Jiang Fan in the dream had raised her rank or whether it was the reward for completing the quest.

Either way, the result was good.

Even if she did nothing today, she would not fall out of the top ten.

This was the sixth day. The final palace selection would be tomorrow.

Xie Nuange decided to keep her head down and stay inside all day.

She could also wait for Ye Wan to leave and test her new skill.

“Don’t go outside today.”

Once they had finished preparing for the day, Ye Wan looked at Xie Nuange.

She showed no surprise whatsoever at Xie Nuange’s rise to first place. Instead, she offered advice.

“They will definitely come looking for you. There’s nothing else you need to do, so wait here until tomorrow.”

Xie Nuange was slightly surprised by the warning. She nodded and accepted the kindness.

“All right.”

Ye Wan gave her one last look before leaving.

Xie Nuange sat inside and watched people linger outside her door, unable to cross the threshold.

Some palace candidates tried to lure her out. Others taunted her, hoping to provoke her into leaving.

Zhao Ning came as well, but she took one look at Xie Nuange and walked away.

Only after closing the door did Xie Nuange secretly activate Mom!

“Mom!”

She kept her voice low.

Within a mass of dense black fog, a pair of eyes trembled. Just as they were about to open, the darkness began churning and boiling.

The fog seemed to contain every form of malice in the world.

Greed. Jealousy. Hatred. Slaughter. Betrayal. Deceit…

As though sensing the change, those eyes slowly closed again.

Xie Nuange frowned.

What had happened?

Had the skill failed, or was she using it incorrectly?

Nothing reacted for a long time.

She recalled how Cheng Luo had used the skill. Every time, she had shouted at the top of her lungs with complete confidence.

When Cheng Luo called for Mom, she had not been activating a skill.

She had been calling a person.

Someone she genuinely believed would come and help her.

Xie Nuange had never called for her mother with such certainty.

Perhaps she could have done it with her brother.

She took a deep breath and pushed the distracting thoughts aside.

Standing in the center of the room, Xie Nuange imitated Cheng Luo and shouted again.

“Mom!”

This time, the skill responded.

A small patch of space before her began to warp. A translucent outline slowly formed within it.

Xie Nuange watched without blinking as the figure solidified.

The woman wore a white laboratory coat. Her brown curls were pinned at the back of her head, and she stood with her back to Xie Nuange.

“Mom…?”

At Xie Nuange’s whisper, the figure slowly turned.

The sight of her face left Xie Nuange stunned.

The woman wore a surgical mask. She looked nothing like the terrifying Mom Cheng Luo had summoned.

Xie Nuange’s Mom had vivid blue eyes. When she looked at Xie Nuange, gentle warmth shone within them.

She seemed genuinely alive.

Mom simply stood there, watching her.

Xie Nuange stared into those blue eyes and searched desperately for them in some forgotten corner of her memory.

She found nothing.

She could not describe the feeling.

She had never known her mother. From her earliest memories, her brother had been the only person beside her.

The year the rules-horror phenomenon descended, Xie Chaoyang told her that their residential complex had become a rules scenario.

The shock had erased everything she remembered from before.

She had never known what her mother looked like. Yet now, standing before this masked face, she suddenly wanted to ask her brother whether this was her.

Excitement even stirred inside Xie Nuange.

Once she found Xie Chaoyang, whenever they missed their mother, she could summon her.

“Are you Mom?”

The woman did not speak. She remained there, waiting.

After thinking for a moment, Xie Nuange gave a quiet command.

“Mom, come here.”

The woman moved. She stepped forward and held out one hand, palm upward, as though waiting to receive something.

Her skin was very fair. Her fingers were long, and her nails neatly trimmed.

Xie Nuange did not take the offered hand.

She lowered her lashes, retreated half a step, and dismissed the skill.

The woman’s form began to fade. Yet she never stopped watching Xie Nuange.

Even behind the mask, Xie Nuange knew she was smiling.

Silence returned to the room.

Xie Nuange went back to her bed, leaned against the wall, and closed her eyes.

More footsteps and hushed voices came from outside. She ignored them.

She did not leave the room all afternoon.

Almost no points changed on the rankings.

Only the occasional name turned gray.

On the final day, nearly everyone abandoned the so-called faction quests.

They began killing instead, forming groups to force their way upward.

No one cared about rules anymore. No one searched for clues.

Only one thought remained in their minds: kill the people ahead of them and climb the rankings.

Ye Wan returned much earlier than usual.

When darkness fell, the final rankings were set.

Xie Nuange opened the list.

[Current palace candidate rankings: 14 candidates remaining.]

[Rank One: Xie Nuange.

Rank Two: Zhao Ning.

Rank Three: Ye Wan…]

The seventh day.

The final palace selection.

A knock sounded at the door as soon as the Hour of the Rabbit arrived.

“Your Ladyship, it is time to rise.”

A palace maid spoke from outside.

Xie Nuange sat up and checked the rankings. Fourteen candidates remained.

Once she and Ye Wan had finished preparing, they went outside.

The matron was waiting in her usual place. She did not speak until everyone had assembled.

“Your Ladyships, form two lines and follow this servant to the final palace selection.”

She turned and took the lead, her flowerpot-soled shoes tapping across the stone path.

Xie Nuange and the others arranged themselves into two lines and followed her out of the Palace of Gathered Elegance.

Every woman instinctively obeyed the walking rules they had learned, afraid that one mistake at the final moment would destroy everything they had earned.

They followed the matron through so many twists and turns that Xie Nuange lost all sense of where they were.

At last, a palace hall appeared ahead.

The matron stepped aside. “Your Ladyships, please enter.”

They looked up at the hall.

Yinghua Hall.

Xie Nuange exchanged glances with Ye Wan and the others. The two lines moved forward. The doors opened, and Xie Nuange crossed the threshold with the crowd.

Mist filled the space beyond the half-open doors.