Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 48

Xie Nuange watched the noon sunlight spill across the wall.

Once again, sunlight and shadow slowly merged, piecing themselves into a picture.

This time, there was no man, no seed, and no tree.

There was only an owl that seemed to be flying through the sky, with mountains below it…

“What is this supposed to be?”

Xie Nuange groaned helplessly. “Couldn’t you give me a few more clues?”

Had she known the clue would be this simple, she would have gone outside.

She stared at the bird for ages without spotting anything unusual.

No new information.

No new rules.

Nothing at all.

The moment she was allowed out, Xie Nuange found Su Ye and dragged her over to the eunuch.

She had a theory she needed to verify.

“Sir, I’d like to know what connection this design has to the deity and to this tree.”

Xie Nuange joined her wooden plaque with Su Ye’s and showed the complete pattern to the eunuch.

He studied it for a while before slowly answering, “This…”

“This is the crest of the deity’s family.”

Xie Nuange’s eyes lit up. She and Su Ye exchanged a glance.

Just as she had thought. The man in the picture wore a jade pendant at his waist, and this same design was carved into it. He was—

“However…”

The eunuch changed course, his gaze drifting toward the Banyan Tree in the courtyard. “In view of the deity’s contributions to the Great Qian Dynasty…”

“Once the tree had grown, Great Qian replaced its national emblem with the deity’s family crest.”

“Oh…”

Disappointment pricked Xie Nuange. “I see.”

Then it proved nothing about whether the person who died in the mural was the deity.

Even if the man in the mural had worn that jade pendant, it still meant nothing.

Once the family crest became the national emblem, anyone could use it.

“Then this tree… Was it planted as soon as the deity returned with the seed?” Xie Nuange continued.

“This tree grew after the deity returned…”

The eunuch did not get to finish.

Creak.

The main hall’s doors opened again.

Xie Nuange’s heart clenched. She immediately lowered her voice and told Su Ye, “Don’t look inside. If you notice anything wrong with me, remember to save me.”

Then she hurried to the entrance of the main hall, determined to see what was inside.

The doors slowly opened. A person drenched in blood stumbled out.

The eunuch repeated the same line about the deity protecting its believers.

Xie Nuange paid him no attention. Her gaze passed over the person and landed on the statue inside the hall.

The statue had changed.

It had once been white and gentle, its expression filled with compassion for all beings—the statue Xie Nuange had mistaken for the deity.

Now its legs had become… the legs of palace candidates.

They clearly had not even come from the same person. One was slender and pale, while the other was slightly thicker. Even the torn ends were different skin tones.

Xie Nuange’s eyes flew wide. How could this be?

The hall no longer smelled of sandalwood. An overpowering stench of blood surged out instead.

As she stared at the bloody scene within, a cold pressure poured from the hall, solid as an invisible hand pressing down upon her.

Thud.

It was as though a mountain had suddenly crashed onto her shoulders. Xie Nuange could no longer stay upright. She dropped to one knee, striking the flagstones with a dull knock.

“Xie Nuange!”

Su Ye rushed over. At the sight of Xie Nuange’s pale face and the sweat streaming down her forehead, she immediately pulled her up.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Xie Nuange’s face had gone white. Layer after layer of cold sweat broke across her brow.

She raised her head and watched the doors slowly swing shut, something flickering in her eyes.

Was it truly a deity?

Was the thing inside the hall the voice that had called her a deserter of the deity, deceived by a false god? If so, then she would slay the god.

“Su Ye.”

Xie Nuange’s voice was slightly hoarse. “I want the information from the mural you saw this morning.”

“In exchange, I’ll tell you what I saw at noon.”

Su Ye paused. “Didn’t I already tell you…”

She had not expected Xie Nuange to be so urgent.

“I’m not afraid your information will disrupt my thinking. I want the clue.”

Xie Nuange shook her head, her gaze fixed intently on Su Ye. “If we exchange clues, it counts as neither cooperation nor betrayal. Neither of us will be breaking a rule.”

Su Ye hesitated. She thought for a moment before raising her head.

“The scene I saw showed this tree…”

She pointed at the Banyan Tree before the hall. “The deity planted it with its own hands.”

Xie Nuange followed her finger.

The lush Banyan Tree stood at the center of the courtyard, its canopy spread like a vast umbrella beneath the noon sun.

“What did your scene show?” Su Ye asked, turning back to her.

Xie Nuange withdrew her gaze. “I saw an owl.”

Su Ye lifted her eyelids and waited for two seconds.

“…That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Su Ye stared at her in disbelief. “One bird? There wasn’t anything else?”

Xie Nuange lowered her head and gently tapped her chin with her index finger, considering.

“There might have been a blue sky too. But the picture was pieced together from light and shadow, so some of it wasn’t very clear.”

Su Ye almost keeled over from sheer aggravation. “Xie Nuange! You even swindled me!”

When she saw that some color had returned to Xie Nuange’s face, however, she flung out a hand and stalked away to trade clues with someone else.

She had to recoup the loss Xie Nuange had just inflicted on her.

Xie Nuange raised her head and watched Su Ye’s retreating figure. Only after seeing her approach Ye Wan did she turn back toward the Banyan Tree.

If the deity had planted this tree with its own hands, why were they now divided into two opposing camps?

Was it because one deity and one tree shared the same palace and were fighting over the worshippers’ incense?

As she pondered this, the Banyan Tree rustled once more.

A leaf broke from the canopy and spiraled down.

The people under the tree saw it and fled in a panic.

One palace candidate’s expression changed when she saw the falling leaf. It pursued her for some distance.

At last, it landed forlornly on the ground. No one picked it up.

Xie Nuange walked over, crouched down, and reached for the leaf.

But it soon disappeared from her hand.

She turned toward the terrified palace candidate. That woman had no idea what kind of information she had just missed.

Skill activated—Datafication.

[Target: The first tree of the Great Qian Dynasty: Banyan Tree [crossed out].]

[Target: Regenerating Ch#&%＊%??]

[Nature: Harmless. Ghost.]

[Origin: A seed found by the deity… xx brought it back… sprouted…]

[All other data failed to load. No key clues.]

Still not enough?

Xie Nuange sighed and opened the rankings. Ten groups remained.

[Faith Rankings (Ten Groups Total)]

[Group Six: Xie Nuange (70), Su Ye (100). Combined Faith Points: 85.]

At this rate, if it was not their turn tonight, their group would come up soon enough.

Yet she truly had no idea what to do, let alone what happened inside the main hall.

She took two steps forward, then suddenly stopped.

Something was wrong.

Why had half the mental power in her body vanished?

How could activating her skill only once have drained so much?

“How did this happen?”

She looked up at the Banyan Tree.

Its canopy stood motionless. Sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell across her face.

“Xie Nuange.”

Ye Wan’s voice came from behind her.

Xie Nuange turned.

Ye Wan stood three steps away, her eyes fixed on the now-closed doors of the main hall. Her expression was more serious than Xie Nuange had ever seen it.

“Let’s exchange clues. All of them.”

Xie Nuange looked at her in surprise. “Did you find a key clue?”

“No…”

Ye Wan shook her head and drew a deep breath.

“I’m the one being sacrificed tonight.”

“What?” Xie Nuange stared at her in shock. “How do you know?”

Ye Wan opened her palm. A small wooden token lay inside.