Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 6

At Cheng Luo’s cry, a figure began to appear in front of her.

It emerged slowly, from nothing to a hazy outline, then solidified piece by piece.

A female ghost.

She wore a faded apron covered in filth and gripped a cooking spatula in her right hand. Her entire body was swollen and enormous.

It looked as though something had hacked her apart, crushed the pieces, and then sewn them back together with a thick needle and coarse thread. Crooked stitches covered her from head to toe.

Some of the sutures across her face were so crude that the loose ends dangled outside her skin, swaying whenever she moved.

She stood beside Cheng Luo like a guardian deity.

This was the first summoning skill Xie Nuange had ever seen.

Or rather, the first skill she had seen that could summon a ghost.

Cheng Luo raised her hand and pointed at Fang Yule.

“Mom! Kill her!”

At the command, Mom’s massive, swollen body charged.

Ye Wan and Meng Shi hurried out of the way. A freezing gust swept past them as Mom slammed Fang Yule’s headless body aside.

She raised the spatula high and swung it at the head darting through the air.

Thud.

Fang Yule’s shriek stopped.

Her head burst like a watermelon. Blood, bone, and mangled flesh sprayed in every direction.

The headless body swayed once, then crashed to the floor.

Deathly silence filled the room.

Xie Nuange looked at Cheng Luo, wariness in her eyes.

“Hee-hee. Mom, you’re the best!” Cheng Luo praised her as innocently as a carefree child.

Meng Shi had withdrawn her own skill the moment Cheng Luo summoned the ghost. Now she stood to one side, assessing Cheng Luo’s combat strength.

None of them had expected a single blow to end the fight.

Once Fang Yule was destroyed, the blood and flesh on the floor gradually faded. Only a wooden nameplate remained.

All four women looked at it, but no one dared move rashly.

Mom still stood where she was, spatula in hand. Her cloudy eyes turned slowly, passing over every person in the room.

Cheng Luo walked over and crouched to pick up the nameplate. She showed no intention of sharing the clue.

Xie Nuange lowered her eyes. After a long moment, she raised them again and focused on the wooden plaque.

Skill: Datafication.

Activate.

A dense ache spread from deep inside her skull. She extracted the nameplate’s data but did not review it immediately.

Her mental power was already overdrawn. She could not push any further.

“All right, Mom. You can rest now.”

Cheng Luo turned the nameplate over and over. Only after it crumbled in her hands like running sand did she dismiss the ghost.

Mom’s figure paled as if she were mist scattering in the wind. She became more transparent by the second, until she disappeared completely.

Cheng Luo dusted off her hands as though she had done nothing of consequence.

“All done.”

She turned to the others with an innocent smile. “We can go back to sleep now.”

No one moved. They were all waiting for her to explain the clue.

Ye Wan leaned against the wall with her arms folded, an amused curve to her lips.

“Little sister, weren’t you going to tell us what was on that nameplate?”

Cheng Luo blinked, her smile unchanged. “It was a clue.”

“Oh?” Ye Wan straightened. “I haven’t seen many summoning skills, but I imagine they cost quite a bit.”

She tipped her chin toward Meng Shi. “We have a control type here too. We’re roommates, after all. Everyone contributed to finding that clue, didn’t they?”

Ye Wan leaned forward, enunciating each word.

“Little. Sis-ter.”

Cheng Luo’s expression did not change. At last, she said, “You’re right, Big Sister.”

“There was nothing special about it. Just the nameplate of a palace candidate called Jiang Fan.”

“Jiang Fan?” Meng Shi asked coldly. “Do any of you know her?”

Xie Nuange and Ye Wan shook their heads.

“She was the one behind this.” Cheng Luo returned to her bed. “She probably thought a room with only four people would be easy prey. One of us dies, and she has one less rival. All it costs her is a ghost item. What a bargain.”

Whether Ye Wan and Meng Shi believed her was impossible to tell.

Xie Nuange said nothing. She lay back down and closed her eyes.

The dizziness and pain from exhausting her mental power left her deeply uncomfortable. She did not dare inspect the nameplate’s information tonight.

Tomorrow would bring another trial. She needed her mental power restored before then.

Silence settled over the room once more. Nothing else disturbed them that night.

At first light the next morning, a palace maid knocked on their door.

“Your Ladyships, it is time to rise.”

The moment Xie Nuange opened her eyes, a line of text appeared from thin air.

[The Palace Candidate Rankings are now available. All participants may check their current rank at any time.]

She paused. At a thought, a translucent panel unfolded across her retina.

[Current Palace Candidate Rankings (48 Total)]

[Rank 1: Zhao Ning]

[Rank 2: Li Huan]

[Rank 3: Ye Wan]

[Rank 9: Cheng Luo]

[Rank 10: Xie Nuange]

[Rank 15: Name grayed out]

[Rank 19: Meng Shi]

[Rank 48: Zhang Hang]

Xie Nuange’s gaze stopped on Rank 15.

A gray name meant the person was dead.

Forty-eight people had survived yesterday, and the rankings ended at forty-eight.

She looked farther down. A small line in the lower-right corner of the panel flashed continuously.

[Time Until Next Ranking Update: 2 shichen]

The rankings would change every four hours.

Xie Nuange studied the top ten on the points rankings. What purpose did those points serve?

Did a higher score guarantee selection?

Would those at the bottom attack the leaders to advance their own positions?

Each day would be more dangerous than the last.

She scanned the rankings again from the top. Not one palace candidate was named Jiang Fan.

Just as she was about to close the panel, another line of text appeared.

[New Rule: In formal settings and in the presence of those of noble rank, proper etiquette must be observed.]

Starting today, whenever they were in front of others, their strides could not exceed two chi.

Xie Nuange sat up and looked at her roommates, who were already out of bed.

Once they granted permission, palace maids entered with water for washing and helped arrange their hair.

“Did you see it? The rankings?”

Ye Wan sat before the mirror while a maid worked on her hair, her expression as composed as ever.

“There isn’t anyone named Jiang Fan on it.”

Cheng Luo yawned and rubbed her eyes. “Huh? Really? How could she not be there?”

When no one answered, regret crossed her face.

“Too bad the nameplate disappeared. Otherwise, I’d show it to you.”

“Little sister.” The corner of Ye Wan’s mouth lifted as she looked at Cheng Luo. “Could you have remembered the name wrong?”

“Impossible.”

Cheng Luo thought for a moment, then clapped her hands.

“Let’s ask Rank Fifteen’s roommates. Maybe Jiang Fan killed her too. If Fifteen is dead, her roommates should have some clues, right?”