Rules of Horror: Survival Begins in the Haunted Harem - Chapter 89

—————————————-

Xie Nuange stared at the two people before her, her mind in chaos.

One was the Empress Dowager they had only just seen in the imperial harem.

After a long while, she slowly spoke, looking back and forth between them. “You’re saying that you summoned us?”

The Empress Dowager—Red Dragon—nodded.

“That’s right. My skill is Summoning. It allows me to summon five companions I trust from the future to help me clear a scenario.”

Red Dragon looked at the five women before her. “Every one of you is a companion I will meet in the future.”

The room fell silent.

Xie Nuange, Ye Wan, Zhao Ning, and the others exchanged looks.

Disbelief entered Attendant Li’s voice. “So we’re here because you activated your skill more than ten years ago…”

“And pulled us back to your present?”

Red Dragon nodded.

White Dragon finally spoke. His voice sounded far younger than his opera-painted face.

“We’ve been inside this scenario for six months, but we still can’t find a way to complete it.”

Helplessness filled his tone. “Red Dragon’s objective is to attend the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet until midnight.”

“Mine is to perform an opera for the Empress Dowager, then leave the palace safely.”

He paused. “The problem is that there is no Empress Dowager in this palace.”

Goose bumps rose across Xie Nuange’s and the others’ skin.

In their own time, they had followed the Four Consorts and the Empress into the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet.

Then they had all received missions to find the supposed Youth-Preserving Pill.

Instead, they were dragged into a scenario by the Empress Dowager from more than ten years earlier, where they now had to complete a mission involving the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet.

A dreadful suspicion formed in Xie Nuange’s mind.

Did that mean Red Dragon and White Dragon’s mission ultimately failed?

There was no Empress Dowager inside this scenario, yet White Dragon had to perform an opera for one.

Red Dragon had to attend an Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet. Their objectives could never be completed.

But more than ten years later, the Empress Dowager looked exactly like Red Dragon.

If Red Dragon became the Empress Dowager, she should have completed her objective.

After all, she attended her own birthday banquet every year. There was no reason that would not count.

Assimilation Level?

Xie Nuange raised her head and studied them.

“What are your identities?”

“I’m an imperial consort. I was made a Noble Lady when I entered the palace. I’ve lived here for several years and risen to the rank of Consort. Fortunately, the Emperor is already old, so I don’t need to attend him in bed.”

Red Dragon’s voice carried the relief of someone who had escaped disaster.

“I’m an opera performer. I entered the palace this time because the old Emperor is celebrating his birthday, and the troupe was summoned to perform.”

White Dragon paused. “I’ll be leaving the palace soon.”

Zhao Ning looked at them. “What are your Assimilation Levels?”

Red Dragon and White Dragon exchanged a look, neither understanding the question. After a while, White Dragon asked, “Do you mean… Corruption Points?”

Attendant Zhang nodded. “Yes, Corruption Points.”

“You needn’t worry about that.”

Red Dragon smiled. “We have an item. There’s no need to worry.”

She did not explain further.

White Dragon left.

The opera troupe would depart the next day. As an opera performer, he had no reason to remain in the palace overnight.

They stood beneath the covered walkway and watched him follow the palace path toward the opera stage.

“My name is Qin Su,” Red Dragon introduced herself. “I’ll tell you about the situation in the palace.”

Qin Su sat first, crossing her legs on the low couch. The pose finally made her stop resembling the Empress Dowager in Xie Nuange’s memories.

Instead, she looked like a young woman around Xie Nuange’s own age.

“What is the current situation?”

Xie Nuange sat in the chair closest to Qin Su and spoke first.

White Dragon had already described the general predicament, but she still felt that Qin Su had omitted something important.

“The old Emperor’s sons…”

Qin Su paused, as though choosing her words.

“The old Emperor has many sons, but none are raised by their birth mothers.”

“Every prince is taken away at birth and raised in the Princes’ Quarters under the collective care of palace matrons and eunuchs.”

“As for the birth mothers, they rise in rank after giving birth. Then, before long, they…”

She lightly drew a finger across her throat. “Of course, the official account never says they were killed. They died of illness—chills, palpitations, postpartum disorders. There are all sorts of explanations.”

“Can I ask how you’ve kept your Corruption Points under control inside the scenario?”

Ye Wan’s tone was casual, but her question was what everyone most wanted answered.

“You’ve been here for six months. How did you deal with your Corruption Points?”

Zhao Ning, Attendant Li, Attendant Zhang, and Xie Nuange all looked at the young woman on the low couch.

Qin Su froze, then smiled.

“Because White Dragon and I are bound together.”

She paused, seemingly debating how much to reveal.

“It isn’t an item from this scenario. We obtained it in an earlier one. It’s called Love God’s Curse.”

“Once two people are bound, as long as one retains a clear consciousness, the other will not lose their sanity.”

Qin Su looked at them. “As long as one of us remains alive, the other can never be assimilated by a scenario. No matter what happens inside, we will always be each other’s anchor.”

Xie Nuange lowered her gaze, fiercely tempted.

She thought of her brother.

If she possessed that item, then even if her brother was trapped inside a scenario and already being assimilated, could she still pull him out with her when she left?

Could she guarantee that he would not die?

As long as she herself was not assimilated?

“In other words…”

Attendant Li looked at them. “White Dragon performs for the Empress Dowager and leaves the palace, while you remain at the banquet past midnight. Then both of you can exit?”

“In theory.”

“And in practice?”

“You’ve already seen the problem.” Qin Su drew a deep breath and slowly surveyed the five women. “In practice… the item requires us to leave the scenario together. That is its drawback.”

Her gaze settled on their clothes, and bitterness curved her lips. “We must clear it together for either of us to count as having cleared it.”

“So if you’re companions from my future whom I summoned, yet all of you are wearing banner gowns…”

Qin Su’s voice softened. “Does that mean… we ultimately failed to clear this scenario?”

Xie Nuange and the others said nothing.

“Could you give us some time to discuss?”

Xie Nuange looked up at Qin Su. “We need to decide how to help you clear it.”

Qin Su nodded.

The women rose. Xie Nuange suddenly stopped and turned back.

“I want to ask something. You suddenly summoned the five of us here…”

She looked toward the doorway. “Won’t five people appearing from nowhere cause trouble in the palace?”

“No…”

Qin Su shook her head. “Inside the scenario, all of you have identities of your own. To everyone here, your presence is perfectly reasonable.”

“I’ll have clothes delivered to you shortly. Once you change into consort attire, they will simply take you for imperial consorts of the old Emperor.”