Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 63

They soon reached Qiwu Residence.

The courtyard was small but neatly maintained.

Three rooms bordered a little garden paved in blue brick. A cluster of bamboo grew in one corner, rustling whenever the wind passed.

The courtyard gate opened. Xie Nuange entered with Su Ye.

The expected system notification did not sound.

Nor did any rules appear.

Xie Nuange was genuinely surprised. What kind of scenario was the Xie Residence supposed to be?

Madam Xie ordered the maids following them to heat water.

Only after they withdrew did she lead Xie Nuange to the bed and sit beside her.

She never released Xie Nuange’s hand.

“Nuange.”

Madam Xie spoke her name even more softly than before, so softly that only they could hear.

“Mother knows something has always weighed on your heart. You have never been able to let go of what happened to your maternal family.”

Xie Nuange stopped breathing for an instant.

Her maternal family. New information.

“You want to clear their name. You want to find proof that they never colluded with the enemy.”

Madam Xie’s eyes reddened again. “But you are Mother’s only daughter. Once you enter the palace, Mother’s hands will no longer be able to reach you.”

“If anything happens to you inside, Mother won’t even be able to help.”

Her voice trembled. “I don’t ask you to overturn the verdict against your maternal family. I only ask you to protect yourself first.”

“As long as you’re alive, Mother still has a daughter. Your maternal grandparents and their family are watching from heaven. They won’t blame you.”

Xie Nuange looked at her. Madam Xie’s hand was warm and held hers tightly.

Her eyes were threaded with red. Tears had soaked the fine lines at their corners, making them look deeper.

“Your older and younger cousins…”

Madam Xie wiped her eyes with the handkerchief. “Mother will plan their marriages for them. Once families outside learn their cousin is a Noble Lady in the palace, they’ll think more highly of the girls and show them some respect.”

She forced a smile. “So you needn’t worry about this family. If you prosper, the family will prosper with you.”

Xie Nuange opened her mouth and met Madam Xie’s eyes.

In the end, all she could do was murmur assent.

She knew nothing about the accusation that her maternal family had rebelled.

She did not dare speak carelessly.

Madam Xie seemed to take that sound as a promise. She released a long breath and patted the back of Xie Nuange’s hand.

“The water should be ready. Bathe and change first. Mother will wait here, then accompany you to Shouchun Hall.”

The maids filled a wooden tub with hot water.

Dried flower petals floated on the surface. Warmed by the steam, they released a sweet fragrance.

Everything felt unreal to Xie Nuange. Could there actually be a rest period after a scenario?

Another maid led Su Ye to the side room to wash.

Xie Nuange leaned over the rim of the tub while one maid scrubbed her back and another washed her hair.

Steam filled the room. She rested her chin on her folded arms and half-closed her eyes, but her thoughts had nothing to do with bathing.

She opened the system panel.

She had not checked it since entering the Xie Residence.

The panel unfolded before her. Its layout had changed again.

[Identity Card]

[Name: Xie Nuange]

[Identity: Legitimate daughter of Vice Minister Xie.]

[Rank: Noble Lady]

[Personal Maid: Su Ye. Loyalty: 90.]

[Optional Side Quest: Find evidence proving that the maternal Zhou family was falsely accused of treason. Quest Progress: 0%.]

[Assimilation Level: 0.]

Xie Nuange’s gaze paused on the side quest, then moved to the Assimilation Level.

So this way station existed only to give every participant a reasonable identity and background?

The bathwater gradually cooled.

The maids helped her from the tub, wrapped her in a large cloth, and dried her body.

When Xie Nuange finished dressing and emerged, Madam Xie was still waiting in the outer room.

She rose and looked Xie Nuange up and down, then nodded. “This is better. Your grandmother dislikes girls dressing too ostentatiously. Something simple is more to her taste.”

With Su Ye accompanying them, they left Qiwu Residence for Shouchun Hall.

On the way, Su Ye lightly pinched Xie Nuange.

Xie Nuange turned. Their eyes met, then quickly separated.

Most of the daylight had faded. Lanterns glowed beneath the covered walkways, pools of orange light falling across the blue-brick paving.

Madam Xie walked beside Xie Nuange at an even, unhurried pace.

The Xie Residence looked exactly as an official household should at dusk.

Shouchun Hall stood at the northernmost edge of the residence. It occupied a separate courtyard more than twice the size of Qiwu Residence.

Madam Xie led Xie Nuange to the main room. A maid in a lotus-pink sleeveless jacket hurriedly raised the curtain and called inside, “Madam and the Noble Lady have arrived.”

The curtain lifted. Xie Nuange followed Madam Xie over the threshold.

Her steps halted the instant she entered.

Su Ye followed behind her and stiffened at the same moment.

The main room was much larger than Xie Nuange had expected.

A twelve-panel rosewood screen stood inside the entrance, carved with pines and cranes symbolizing longevity.

Beyond it, a luohan couch occupied the center of the room, covered with an autumn-yellow mattress.

Old Madam Xie sat upon it.

At the same instant, the tension in Xie Nuange’s and Su Ye’s hearts eased.

At last, they had found the first truly abnormal person in this scenario.

The moment Xie Nuange saw the old woman, she nearly failed to maintain her smile.

Beside her, Su Ye sucked in a sharp breath.

Old Madam Xie wore a casual dark-purple jacket and a forehead band set with jade. A string of agarwood prayer beads moved through her fingers.

From the front, at first glance, she looked like a perfectly ordinary matriarch.

But the necks and heads emerging from her back made it impossible to look only at the front.

The necks extended from her back and shoulders. A head hung at the end of each—men and women, young and old.

The smallest belonged to a little boy no more than three or four.

The oldest was a white-haired old man.

A young woman’s head hung above the old woman’s left shoulder.

A rough count came to nearly ten heads.

“Oh, so this is the legitimate daughter who was selected?”

“Mm. Not bad. The Xie family finally has someone who can enter the palace and become an imperial consort.”

The old man’s head continued staring at Xie Nuange. Its mouth slowly curved, revealing bare gums.

Madam Xie offered her respects first. Xie Nuange stepped forward to follow suit.

Old Madam Xie rolled the prayer beads through her fingers and raised her eyelids.

“Come here. You’re already a Noble Lady. It would be inappropriate for you to bow.”

At the old woman’s summons, Xie Nuange took one step forward.

Every head leaned toward her.

“Well done. You’ve brought honor to the family.”

Old Madam Xie patted the space beside her, approval filling her face.

“Come sit beside Grandmother.”

Xie Nuange glanced at the luohan couch, which was already packed with human heads.

The old woman sat in the center, surrounded by intertwined necks and heads.

There was truly nowhere for Xie Nuange to sit.