Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 51

They had been chosen.

Xie Nuange immediately stood. She had no time to waste on stupid questions.

Instead, she went straight to exchanging clues.

“The statue inside the hall is fake. The last time the doors opened, when I fell to my knee, I saw the legs of palace candidates attached to its body.”

Shock crossed Su Ye’s face. Xie Nuange continued, “I told Ye Wan about this clue, and she took it seriously.”

“The deity didn’t bring back the seed. One of the key phrases Ye Wan gave me was bird droppings.”

“The mural I saw on the first day showed a man dying. He wore a jade pendant… and owls were pecking out his eyes.”

Outside the window, the eunuch’s shrill voice rang out.

“The hour of the Rabbit has arrived. Those chosen by the deity, enter the hall—”

Su Ye nodded. As she and Xie Nuange headed outside, she shared her own clues.

“I’ve heard the great tree’s voice. It sounded exactly like the deity.”

Xie Nuange whirled toward her in shock. Su Ye seemed to know what she wanted to ask.

“It said it wasn’t the one who brought back the seed, but I didn’t believe it.”

“I asked if the murals were real, and it said part of them was.”

Xie Nuange was utterly speechless. Why wouldn’t the tree talk to her?

“But everything I learned afterward—no matter how I tried to verify it or how many clues I exchanged with other people—supported the murals in the side hall.”

All the clues Su Ye had found told the same story: how the deity brought the seed home and planted it with its own hands.

It was as though, from the moment they chose their factions, every clue they saw favored their own side.

Neither could convince the other.

Xie Nuange looked toward the main hall and the candidates standing in the courtyard watching them. She drew a deep breath.

“Can I ask you something?”

Su Ye pressed her lips together when she saw Xie Nuange’s serious expression.

“We have to enter the hall for the sacrifice either way, but I still want to know why you’re in such a hurry.”

Xie Nuange had not originally wanted to enter so soon.

But yesterday, she had discovered that using Datafication twice was enough to drain all the mental power from her body.

When she had first entered this Stage Two scenario, activating the skill had cost very little.

Yet as time passed and more people entered the hall, using it became increasingly strenuous.

If this truly was a faction-conflict scenario, did that mean the stronger the thing in the main hall became, the weaker the Banyan Tree grew?

And the weaker those who worshipped the Banyan Tree became in turn?

If they delayed any longer and the thing in the main hall collected more and more pieces of a body, she might eventually lose the ability to activate her skill at all.

But she could not tell Su Ye any of this. If she did, and their cooperation fell apart, Su Ye would have an even clearer advantage over her.

“Because I want to clear the stage sooner,” Xie Nuange said.

Su Ye glanced at her. She neither claimed to believe her nor accused her of lying.

The two left their room, crossed the covered walkway, and headed toward the main hall.

Everyone who had come out to bathe in the morning light was in the courtyard.

Zhao Ning stood under the walkway with her arms folded across her chest, watching Xie Nuange and Su Ye.

Several palace candidates stood beside her. All ranked near the top, and all had known her during Stage One.

As Xie Nuange passed them, Zhao Ning spoke.

“Xie Nuange.”

Xie Nuange stopped and turned toward her.

The corners of Zhao Ning’s lips curved slightly. “You’re so clever. Even without much combat strength, you still became the top-ranked player to clear Stage One.”

Her voice was pitched just loudly enough for Su Ye to hear.

“I’m sure you’ll find the clues you need to clear this stage too.”

Xie Nuange looked at Zhao Ning and nodded. “Of course I will.”

Zhao Ning shifted her gaze from Xie Nuange to Su Ye.

“Make sure you protect Xie Nuange properly.”

Concern colored her voice. “She’s smart, but she doesn’t have much combat strength.”

Su Ye glanced at Zhao Ning without answering.

The others chimed in as well, their voices making no attempt to hide how much they wanted to see a spectacle.

A faint smile touched Xie Nuange’s lips.

She caught Su Ye by the wrist and linked her arm through Su Ye’s.

Her voice turned soft and dependent.

“That’s right. I don’t have much combat strength.”

She looked at Su Ye and blinked. “You’ll have to protect me.”

Su Ye looked down at her, the corner of her mouth twitching, but she did not shake Xie Nuange off.

They turned and continued toward the main hall.

Xie Nuange knew those people were trying to drive a wedge between them before they entered.

They were also reminding Su Ye that Xie Nuange had little combat strength.

That she could…

Kill Xie Nuange to clear the stage.

But Xie Nuange did not care.

The doors of the main hall stood before them.

The vermilion doors were carved from wood, and a faint smell of blood seeped through the crack between them.

The eunuch stood atop the stairs. “The ladies selected by the deity for sacrifice, please enter the hall.”

Xie Nuange released Su Ye’s wrist and stopped before the doors.

They slowly opened.

The scene inside was revealed inch by inch.

Xie Nuange stepped into the hall first.

Su Ye raised a hand to her chest. When her fingers found the hard cross she wore there, she drew it out and gently pressed her lips to it.

A glimmer of light, almost too faint for the naked eye to see, flashed across it.

Only then did Su Ye enter the hall with her mind at ease.

What Xie Nuange saw was no longer the monster that had taken the candidates’ limbs the day before.

The statue had returned to its original appearance: towering, white, and filled with compassion for all beings.

Her gaze fell to its waist. A jade pendant hung there.

Its design matched the one on the reverse of the wooden tokens at her and Su Ye’s waists.

Feeling the loving, compassionate gaze above her, Xie Nuange forced herself to look away and turned toward Su Ye.

Su Ye stood beside her, her expression utterly different from Xie Nuange’s.

Su Ye was smiling.

Her eyes sparkled, and her lips were slightly parted. She looked as though something had stolen her soul.

“Su Ye,” Xie Nuange called softly.

Su Ye did not react.

“Su Ye!”

Su Ye blinked like someone waking from a dream, then turned to her. “What is it?”

“What do you see?”

“The statue.”

An indescribable emotion filled Su Ye’s voice. “It’s so beautiful. It’s looking at us. It’s smiling.”

Bang.

The doors slammed shut behind them.

The hall immediately darkened. Two kneeling cushions lay before the statue.

Beyond them stood the altar table.

The heads of a black ox and a black sheep rested at either end, with a bowl of clear water between them.

There was also an incense burner containing half a stick of incense.

Many candles and oil lamps lined both sides of the hall.

“Let’s find the rules first,” Xie Nuange whispered to Su Ye.

This appeared to be a perfectly normal scene—so normal it could hardly be more ordinary.

They soon found the rules near the kneeling cushions.

[Scenario—Divine Path. Clear Condition: The seed must enter the territory of the Great Qian Dynasty.]

[Main Hall Rules:]

[Rule One: Any offering promised to the deity must be presented before you leave. If you go back on your word, the deity will take it for itself.]

[Rule Two: While experiencing the Divine Path, the incense must not go out. You will bear the consequences if it does.]

[Rule Three: The Divine Path may only be experienced in turns. Two people may not enter together.]

[Rule Four: Do not trust anyone while on the Divine Path.]

[Rule Five: Judge carefully whether your teammate speaks sincerely or is deceiving you.]

[Rule Six: The deity will help you.]

Just as they finished reading the rules, an ethereal voice sounded.

“Hand me your Identity Card…”