Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 33

[Scenario: Divine Worship.]

[Rules of Yinghua Hall:]

[Rule One: You must worship in the main hall every morning, noon, and evening. Do not miss a single ritual!]

[Rule Two: The incense in the main hall must never go out, or the deity will become angry.]

[Rule Three: Each day, the deity will choose the person who will take part in the following day’s worship ritual. Do not treat the selection lightly.]

[Rule Four: You must believe that deities exist in this world.]

Only four simple rules. Everyone memorized them quickly.

Xie Nuange focused on the third and fourth.

Especially the fourth: they had to believe that deities existed.

Did that mean there was a real deity inside Yinghua Hall?

Then again, ghosts and anomalies existed. Why should a deity be surprising?

What startled her most was that one stage of the scenario had been nested inside another.

[Congratulations, Chosen Players, on passing the first-stage selection.]

[Clear every stage to exchange for the ultimate reward!]

[Whatever you desire… can be achieved.]

[Now… Chosen Players, please claim your rewards!]

Xie Nuange’s hand clenched.

What was the ultimate reward?

Whatever she desired could be achieved?

What if she wanted to become president and rule the entire world?

What if she wanted to eradicate the rules-horror phenomenon altogether?

The possibilities flashed through her mind, but the first-stage settlement screen quickly captured her attention.

[Skill: Datafication, Level 5. You can now obtain more extensive and detailed information about your target.]

[Skill: Mom!, Level 3. Mom has leveled up. She isn’t a Mom who only knows how to hit people anymore!]

[Chosen Player: Xie Nuange.

Mental Power increased by 90.

Stamina increased by 75.

Speed increased by 20.]

Xie Nuange’s breath caught.

Only the first stage had ended, yet both skills had gained two levels.

Mental power was her mana pool. So far, every Datafication extraction or skill inspection had consumed ten points.

Once her mana ran out, the skill consumed her life instead.

With her mental power increased, she could sustain her skills longer and use them more often.

Ignoring the elimination rate, this scenario offered astonishing rewards.

They had cleared only one stage, yet even their physical attributes had risen by so much.

It was a shame that Xie Nuange had obtained only the hairpin instead of searching for more ghost items.

No wonder everyone had fought desperately for the chance to enter this scenario.

Anyone who survived and cleared it—even by hiding and scraping through—would gain immense power. Even if they couldn’t overpower the elites from the authorities or the leaders of major organizations, they would still tower over everyone else.

Xie Nuange looked around. Joy blazed in every survivor’s eyes.

Then the scenario announcement sounded again.

[Faith Points Rankings: 14 groups.]

[Group One: Ye Wan, 65. Zhang San, 64. Combined Faith Points: 64.]

[…]

[Group Ten: Xie Nuange, 100. Su Ye, 0. Combined Faith Points: 50.]

When everyone saw Xie Nuange’s group rank, several people snickered.

So what if she had chosen first?

So what if she had lucked into first place?

Even Xie Nuange gave Su Ye a resentful look.

Really? She wasn’t even going to pretend? Not a single point of belief?

Su Ye frowned. How had Xie Nuange ever taken first place?

Did she believe anything anyone told her?

Among all twenty-eight people, Xie Nuange alone had reached one hundred Faith Points.

“Your Ladyships must worship twice more today. Please draw lots in order.”

The leading eunuch looked at the fourteen groups and turned one hand over. A small tray appeared from nowhere.

Seven bamboo slips lay neatly arranged upon it.

“Whoever draws Number One will worship at noon today. Whoever draws Number Two will worship at the Hour of the Rooster.”

His gaze swept across the crowd. “Whoever draws a blank will have no ritual today. Beginning tonight, the deity will choose the next day’s worshippers each night.”

“Only those who earn the deity’s recognition may become imperial consorts. The more the deity approves of you, the higher the rank you will receive after the worship.”

Xie Nuange stared at the tray and quietly asked Su Ye, “Which one do you think we should draw?”

“A blank,” Su Ye replied softly. “There are only two hours left before noon.”

Quiet discussions broke out around them.

The palace candidate and palace maid in each pair had been forced together, but they were also natural allies.

One bad draw could cost both their lives.

“Her Majesty the Empress is the deity’s most faithful believer,” the eunuch added pointedly. “And the deity protects faithful believers. Your Ladyships, please draw.”

The groups immediately began arguing over who should draw for them.

No one wanted to place their life in someone else’s hands.

“What about us?”

Xie Nuange blinked at Su Ye. Her voice turned soft and sweet, almost coy. “Who should draw the lot?”

Su Ye glanced at her. “Drop the voice. If we were competing, I could sound sweeter than you.”

Only then did she look toward the tray. “You draw. You’re lucky.”

“How do you know I’m lucky?”

Xie Nuange was puzzled, but Su Ye clearly had no intention of explaining.

Fine.

While the other groups were still debating who should go first, Xie Nuange stepped forward.

She fixed her eyes on the seven bamboo slips and reached out, closing her hand firmly around one.

The eunuch accepted it, checked the mark, and displayed it to the crowd.

“A blank. Your Ladyship Xie has no worship assignment today.”

Xie Nuange returned to Su Ye and arched a brow. “Well?”

When the others saw that she had drawn a blank, they rushed forward. Surely every blank taken meant one fewer remained.

Then the eunuch placed Xie Nuange’s slip back on the tray.

“I’ll go!”

A young woman had watched Xie Nuange’s slip the entire time and noted exactly where the eunuch returned it.

Her hand shot straight toward that position.

The others refused to yield. Several hands collided above the tray as they fought one another.

The eunuch maintained the same pleasant smile.

“Those who finish drawing may take their waist tokens and choose a room.”

Xie Nuange and Su Ye looked down. At some point, waist tokens had appeared on both of them.

A massive banyan tree stood in the open space before Yinghua Hall, broad enough that three or four people would be needed to encircle its trunk.

A ring of stone steps surrounded the tree, providing shaded seats.

The main hall was where the worship rituals would take place. Covered corridors ran along both sides, with seven rooms on each wing.

Mindful of the eunuch behind her, Xie Nuange carefully maintained the exact step length required by palace etiquette.

Su Ye did the same, following at her side with a deferential posture.

They had taken only a few steps when a muffled curse came from behind.

Xie Nuange turned and saw Liu Feng excitedly hand a bamboo slip to the eunuch.

The other candidates stopped fighting and glared at her.

“You know her?” Su Ye asked when she noticed Xie Nuange’s expression.

“Mm. A young woman who once praised me for being kind.”

Her actual words had been: *Xie Nuange, you’re so kind. Would you please die?*

Su Ye gave her a strange look.

The eunuch accepted Liu Feng’s slip and smiled.

“Congratulations, Your Ladyship Liu. You drew Number Two. You will worship at the Hour of the Rooster.”

“How is that possible?” Liu Feng’s eyes widened. “But… But they were clearly the same…”

Xie Nuange looked away.

Why would the scenario allow such an obvious loophole?

The others might have fought to keep anyone from taking that slip, but not one of them had tried to draw it themselves.