Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 39

Su Ye glanced at Xie Nuange, said she would search elsewhere, and left.

Xie Nuange was thinking when Liu Feng hurried over.

“Xie Nuange…”

Urgency filled Liu Feng’s eyes. She kept her voice low, but could not hide the strain within it.

“Did you find any clues? About the tree—or the leaf just now?”

Xie Nuange retreated a step. “No.”

“Please help me. I have to enter the hall tonight.”

Liu Feng knew Xie Nuange was clever. She stepped closer, her voice almost a plea.

Xie Nuange understood her desperation.

Two people had entered for the first ritual, and only one emerged alive.

Liu Feng was scheduled to enter that evening. No one knew what had happened inside.

“Xie Nuange, I don’t want to die.”

Liu Feng’s voice trembled. Her eyes reddened.

Xie Nuange looked at her and shook her head again.

“If you’re afraid to die, why did you enter a scenario?”

When Su Ye noticed Liu Feng pestering Xie Nuange, she immediately returned.

“What’s happening?”

She took her place beside Xie Nuange without fanfare, making her position clear.

When Liu Feng realized Xie Nuange had no intention of sharing, the pleading expression faded.

She turned a mocking gaze on Su Ye.

“How attentive of you.”

Her eyes traveled between them. “You really are fortunate, Xie Nuange. Cheng Luo protected you during the first stage. Now you have her.”

Liu Feng’s lips curled. “Such a pity Cheng Luo died in the end.”

“Who knows how she died?”

She laughed coldly and looked at Su Ye. “You should be careful too.”

With that, Liu Feng walked away.

Su Ye had remained silent throughout.

Xie Nuange offered no explanation. If a few words were enough to turn Su Ye against her, she would be better off clearing the stage alone.

“What did she want?” Su Ye asked, making no inquiry about Cheng Luo’s death.

“She has to enter the hall tonight and wanted a clue,” Xie Nuange said, sitting along the corridor and looking up at her. “I refused, so she got angry.”

Su Ye gave her a long look, then nodded and resumed her search.

Xie Nuange paid her no further attention. She took the leaf from her sleeve and read the writing.

[Rule One: You may speak with the eunuch inside the hall, but only about the deity’s past. If he suddenly tells you to offer incense in the side hall, end the conversation immediately, turn around, and leave. Do not look back.]

[Rule Two: Do not deliberately raise your Faith Points, and never display excessive devotion before the deity. Remember: the higher your Faith Points, the greater the danger. The more easily it will notice you. If your Faith Points become too high, find a way to lower them immediately.]

[Rule Three: Remember, the deity loves all people. The deity loves all people!]

Three rules.

Xie Nuange frowned at the second.

Higher Faith Points meant greater danger.

Everyone who had entered the hall or seen the deity today had risen to one hundred.

So seeing the deity increased Faith Points.

Yet the tree warned that high Faith Points were dangerous.

The deity demanded belief. The tree warned them not to believe too strongly.

But the leaf’s final rule also claimed that the deity loved all people.

And Yinghua Hall’s fourth rule required them to believe that deities existed in the world.

Believe that a deity existed—but do not worship it.

The deity and the tree stood opposed, like two separate factions.

Xie Nuange felt her thoughts knot together.

Two threads twisted more tightly around each other, leaving her unable to determine which clue was true and which was false.

Even the tree and its own leaf contradicted each other.

The rule said to believe there was a deity in the world.

It never said which being was the deity.

Xie Nuange took a deep breath and put the leaf back into her sleeve.

“I’m going to search for clues,” Su Ye said.

Xie Nuange looked up.

Su Ye had already turned toward the far end of the corridor and walked away without looking back.

Xie Nuange did not call after her.

She knew what Su Ye was thinking.

After that system announcement, every person shared the same thought.

If only one of us can live, why shouldn’t it be me?

Xie Nuange remained where she was and watched Su Ye disappear around the corner.

The courtyard had emptied.

But unlike before, palace candidates and palace maids now kept apart.

One person walked ahead while her partner followed three or five steps behind.

One searched the left side for clues, and her partner circled to the right, refusing to come close.

One rummaged through debris beside a wall while the other watched from three meters away, neither helping nor leaving.

Everyone was still “cooperating.”

Everyone was also prepared to betray.

Time passed quickly. The pairs began returning to their rooms to decide who would experience the moonlight.

They had many rules but very few clues.

“You go outside. I’ll stay in the room,” Xie Nuange told Su Ye. “You need to find a way to raise your Faith Points.”

“We don’t know whether the deity will choose people with high or low Faith Points tonight.”

She met Su Ye’s gaze. “We cannot be selected tomorrow. The clues are still too confused.”

Su Ye nodded. “I know. I’ll try to control it.”

“The end of the Hour of the Rooster has arrived.”

The eunuch’s voice came from outside. “Your Ladyship Liu, enter the hall!”

Su Ye headed for the door.

Through the window, Xie Nuange watched people emerge from the other rooms.

Most were the same people who had gone outside at noon. Only a handful of rooms switched partners.

“Su Ye.”

Xie Nuange stopped her at the door.

“If you can’t control your Faith Points, touch the tree.”

She added, “Don’t let them become too high. Touching it is safe enough. I did it too.”

Su Ye paused but said nothing before leaving.

The door creaked shut behind her.

Xie Nuange tried it and found it sealed tight.

Exactly as Su Ye had described.

She stood at the window and watched the main chamber open. Liu Feng disappeared inside.

The two vermilion doors slowly closed with a deep bang.

The rankings changed.

[Faith Points Rankings: 13 groups.]

[Group One: Liu Feng, 100. Li Si, 100. Combined Faith Points: 100.]

[Group Three: Xie Nuange, 95. Su Ye, 100. Combined Faith Points: 98.]

Su Ye’s Faith Points had risen.

But far too much.

Xie Nuange watched Su Ye stare toward the closed main chamber.

She tried calling to her, only to realize Su Ye could not hear.

Yet every sound from outside carried clearly into the room.

Strange.

Xie Nuange frowned, walked to the door, and pushed.

It did not move.

Just as Su Ye had said, once one person went outside, the other could not open the room.

But what purpose did trapping one person inside serve?

She stood by the door for several seconds, then turned back toward the window.

In that brief movement, something on the wall caught the corner of her eye.

Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a silver patch across the wall.

Something moved at its edge.