Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 287 Rules for Living in a Haunted House
Blood Lord agreed, saying, "Good idea. With Deathstroke around, your soul won't be affected. We'll take care of your body, so there's no need to worry."

Since Blood Lord had spoken, Lian Xuan naturally couldn't refuse.

"Okay, let me see."

He closed his eyes, and a more solidified phantom of his soul detached from his body and floated toward the wardrobe in front of him.

Seeing that Lian Xuan's soul had left his body and his physical body was about to collapse, Jiang Jin caught him.

"What's going on?" the Perrins asked in confusion. "Why has Mr. Lian fainted?"

Jiang Jin replied, "He is a medium from the ancient East, capable of leaving his body to help you carefully examine this house for any problems."

"Oh my goodness!" Caroline exclaimed. "China is truly a mysterious and ancient country!"

In his soul form, Lian Xuan penetrated the material barrier. In the vision of the Lost Layer, the wardrobe appeared to be filled with a heavy, cold aura, but no specific evil spirit was found.

"Not in the Mysterious Layer..." Lian Xuan murmured in his soul.

He decided to expand the search area.

"Deathstroke, help me."

The enhanced Ashhound growled, its body surrounded by billowing gray mist. Its enhanced perception and spatial orientation abilities, amplified by Valeria, were Lian Xuan's guarantee that he would not get lost in the deep pollution.

Lian Xuan's soul began to wander through the lost layers of the entire house.

The deeper he went—into the living room, kitchen, and hallway—the more distorted the surrounding space became. Creeping, lifelike shadows began to appear on the walls, and whispers of malice floated in the air, directly eroding his soul.

He felt as if he were diving into a thick, cold, dark ocean, and the pressure around him was increasing.

As he tried to approach the area between the Lost Layer and the Oblivion Layer (which felt roughly equivalent to the level of contamination a normal Reincarnator would face when their SAN value dropped to around 32%), the surrounding malice almost materialized!

Countless cold, invisible hands seemed to reach out from the void, trying to drag him into eternal darkness and madness. Even in his soul state, when he shouldn't need to breathe, he felt waves of suffocating pressure!
"Ugh..." Lian Xuan's soul groaned in pain, and moving became extremely difficult.

The surrounding scenery was bizarre and grotesque, with space constantly folding and twisting, like a huge, malevolent labyrinth.

Just then, the death knell let out a deep, steady growl.

The spatial coordinates were transmitted, like a lighthouse lit for Lian Xuan in a raging sea, barely indicating the direction of his return and his relative position in space.

"Thank you..." Lian Xuan felt a little calmer and forced himself to concentrate, continuing to search for clues amidst the overwhelming malice.

He climbed the twisted staircase and arrived on the first floor. Suddenly, he "saw" the door leading to the basement, which, in the lost level, was completely open!
Inside the door was a bottomless entrance filled with thick, swirling darkness, like a gaping maw ready to devour its prey. The malice emanating from it was more intense and ancient than anywhere else in the house!
Just as Lian Xuan's soul hesitated about whether to enter the obviously unusual basement door to find out what was going on...

Materialist floor, inside the living room.

Roger Perrin, the male head of the household, seemed to remember something. He walked to an old drawer, rummaged around for a while, and pulled out a yellowed parchment with slightly torn edges. He handed it to Jiang Jin, his face showing confusion and a hint of barely perceptible fear.

"Oh, right, I have to show you this. We found this in here after we moved in. What's written on it... is strange, but it matches the condition of the house. So, we've been following the instructions on it."

Jiang Jin took the parchment, and it felt unusually cold to the touch.

A series of terms were written on it in faded ink:

If you unfortunately end up staying in this house, please remember the following rules and strictly follow them:
1. All clocks in the house will stop at 3:07 AM every day. Please readjust them to Eastern Standard Time as soon as you discover this.

2. There is only one raven specimen in the house. If any new specimens are found in any area (especially black dogs or goats), cover their heads with a red velvet cloth and move them to the basement before sunset that same day.

3. Hide-and-seek is a children's game. If you hear clapping sounds coming from inside the house that aren't from a family member, guiding you to the source of the sound, you must participate. However, if the clapping continues after you count to ten, go straight to the basement and loudly say, "I give up," then close your eyes and wait five minutes. 4. The basement door lock has been broken for a long time and is often ajar. If you find it completely locked, do not try to open it. If you find it completely open, do not enter. Immediately gather a family photo and place it face down on the dining table until you hear a clear sound of the door closing.

5. The kitchen meat cabinet is for storing only refrigerated food. If you smell a sweet, rotten meat-like odor emanating from it, do not open it to check. Instead, open all the windows and play cheerful music until the smell dissipates. Warning: No accordion music is permitted.

6. The music box in your home should only be enjoyed on Sundays. If it plays on its own at other times, please go to it and listen attentively. When the music stops, the dancer inside should be facing south. If it is facing north, immediately place it in a silver bowl to soak overnight.

7. Before going to bed, check the bottom of your mattress for long, dark hair that does not belong to any family member. If found, wrap it around the bed legs. Do not burn the hair.

8. Sometimes you may feel an inexplicable chill in your home, and you may even develop bruises; these are all normal phenomena. However, if one side of your body feels icy cold while the other side remains at a normal temperature, please remain still in your current position and repeatedly say the full date of today to yourself until the temperature returns to normal. Do not mention any historical years at this time.

9. If you see a figure behind you that is not a family member in the mirror, do not turn around. You should approach the mirror, pretend to wipe a stain, and clearly say to the "it" in the mirror, "You do not belong here." Then slowly leave the room.

10. Do not attempt any way to escape this house, or you will suffer an even worse curse. No matter where you go, you will never truly escape.

Jiang Jin and Blood Lord quickly read through the ten rules. Clearly, this was the rule contamination that the [Summoning Souls] instance had suffered.

This is by no means an ordinary "survival guide" that follows a specific logic and attempts to coexist with the evil spirits in the house at the level of rules! Behind each rule, there seems to be a corresponding supernatural phenomenon and a specific way of confronting/appeasing it.

……

Inside the Lost Layer, Lian Xuan stood at the entrance to the completely open basement door, which exuded an ominous aura, his soul trembling violently.

He felt the malice surging from that darkness like a tangible tide, constantly impacting and polluting the structure of his soul.

Simply standing at the doorway can cause your SAN value to drop.

He glanced at Deathstroke beside him, who was also growling warily, and then sensed the state of his own soul, knowing that he could not go any further.

With his current strength, if he were to force his way through this door, his soul would likely be instantly corrupted, assimilated, or even torn apart.

"I must... go back!" Lian Xuan made a decisive decision. Following the coordinates provided by the Death Knell, his soul began to struggle against the torrent of malice, returning towards the materialist body.

Although the investigation failed to reach the core basement, the information obtained was already shocking enough—the source of pollution in this house was far more terrifying than imagined!
After his soul returned to its place, Lian Xuan immediately went to Blood Lord's side and said in a very solemn tone, "Leader Blood, the situation is worse than we thought. This house is not just haunted... it has become an 'anchor point' for a powerful being in the Lost Layer to seek its way to the Material Layer! The evil spirit entrenched here is probably already in the gap between the Lost Layer and the Annihilation Layer! The oppressive feeling... is far beyond what ordinary evil spirits in the Lost Layer can provide!"

Upon hearing this, Blood Lord's expression turned extremely grim. He had previously gathered information about the [Summoning] instance, and according to the known information, while the evil spirits here were powerful, they were definitely not this terrifying!

He suddenly recalled Manhattan Island in the Pacific Ocean. It seemed that the spread of the Manhattan meme had inversely eroded and strengthened these Western-style horror replicas? Or perhaps... an old nuclear organization was behind this, artificially exacerbating the pollution here?

Either way, it means that the difficulty and danger of this instance have far exceeded their expectations. At this moment, they feel as if they are standing on the crater of a volcano about to erupt.

Jiang Jin was somewhat uneasy: "Could the original plot undergo a major change?"

The Blood Lord's expression was cold as he said, "It seems that the Perrin family has only lost one dog so far because they have followed the rules. But the evil spirit... will not give up easily."

"I remember the evil spirit in this instance is... a witch who worships Satan?" Jiang Jin had seen the movie review video, so he remembered that.

“Yes.” The Blood Lord on the other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds before answering in a solemn tone: “According to the movie setting, it all originated from a witch named Bathesheba, who was a descendant of Mary Tom Esther.”

Upon hearing this name, Jiang Jin's eyes narrowed!
“Mary Tom Esther? That name! I saw that name on my car window on my way to Salem!”

Blood Lord wasn't surprised. He replied, "Mary was a key figure in the Salem witch trials. In real history, a woman named Mary Towne Eastey was indeed executed in the Salem witch trials of 1692. She was accused by her own sister's daughter and was ultimately hanged on September 22, 1692. Her presence... means you may have triggered one of the most fundamental curses of Salem."

Blood Lord paused, then solemnly advised, "Jiang Jin, listen to me, Salem Town is too dangerous. Back then, the Lost Layer was actively devouring you, and even the resentment of famous historical victims manifested to warn you. No matter how good that item is, you still need to be alive to get it. Let's think things through and give it up for now."

“No…” Jiang Jin shook his head, “I have to enter the [Midnight Bell] instance within a month. I must improve my combat power at all costs. Fortune favors the bold. The more dangerous it is to obtain that item, the greater its help to me once I get it!”

(End of this chapter)