Rules of the Strange: Starting with the Lunar New Year's Eve Dungeon

With a wave of his hand, he displayed the demeanor of a head of household.

However, at that moment, the fifth rule, which had never appeared before, suddenly surfaced in everyone's minds like a ghost.

When eating, chopsticks should not be stuck upright in the center of the rice bowl.

This may seem like a simple rule of etiquette, but in the strange tales of rules, deadly dangers are often hidden.

The ghost parents looked at the steaming dumplings, and although they were extremely hungry, neither of them dared to touch them first.

They instinctively looked at Yunxi, awaiting his next instructions.

Yunxi acted as if nothing was wrong, sitting down by herself, picking up her chopsticks, but instead of eating, she picked up a dumpling and put it into the Zombie King's bowl.

"Grandpa, you eat first. There is an order of seniority, that's the rule."

The Zombie King stared blankly at the dumplings in the bowl.

This...this is for me?

He shakily reached out his hands, which had just had their nails trimmed, and picked up the chopsticks.

However, because of stiff fingers, I couldn't hold the chopsticks steadily.

"Clatter".

The chopsticks fell to the ground.

The atmosphere froze instantly.

In this instance, dropping chopsticks is a very bad omen!

The surrounding yin energy instantly began to gather, and the wind outside the window became fierce, as if something was about to rush in.

The ghost parents were so frightened their faces turned green.

The viewers in the live stream were also on tenterhooks.

"Oh no! I dropped my chopsticks! This is going to trigger the instant death rule!"

However, Yunxi simply bent down, picked up the chopsticks, wiped them on her clothes, and then put them back into the Zombie King's hand.

"It's alright, may the flowers bloom where they land, bringing wealth and prosperity. May you have peace and safety year after year."

He said this auspicious phrase that all Chinese people understand with a smile.

As soon as those words were spoken, the gathered yin energy dissipated once again!

Words become law!

This is the power of folk customs!

On this special holiday, as long as you say auspicious words, even bad things can turn into good things!

The Zombie King gripped the chopsticks that had been shoved back into his hand, and his withered heart trembled once more.

He looked at Yunxi, and on that usually fierce face, he managed to squeeze out a smile that was even uglier than crying.

"Eat...grandson...eat..."

The comforting aroma of dumplings made the two billion viewers in the live stream hungry.

Who would have thought that in a global S-level horror instance, the chosen one of the Dragon Kingdom was having New Year's Eve dinner with a family of vengeful ghosts?

Moreover, judging from the way the zombie king grandpa ate dumplings, he actually managed to eat them with an air of elegance.

Yunxi took a bite of the dumpling, and the aroma of pork and scallions burst in her mouth.

"Hmm, just the right amount of salt. Mom, it seems you were quite a good cook when you were alive."

Yunxi casually made a compliment.

The ghost mother, who was bent over picking at her dumplings, froze for a moment, and a strange blush appeared on her crooked face.

She mumbled indistinctly.

"It's delicious... Eat more if you like it..."

The family was enjoying a happy time together.

In the live broadcast room, Xiao Li from the Dragon Kingdom Command Center was typing rapidly on his keyboard, trying to organize the logic behind Yunxi's series of actions and find a way out for all mankind.

"Mr. Qin, I understand! I finally understand!" Little Li excitedly pushed up his glasses.

Why do these vengeful ghosts listen to Yunxi?

Qin Shan asked while staring at the screen.

"Why? Isn't it because Yunxi has some special talent?"

"No! It's not just talent!" Xiao Li pointed to the analysis chart on the screen.

"It's the rules! Or rather, it's the underlying world-building logic of this instance!"

"We always thought the rules were just what was written on that notice, but that's wrong!"

"Many of the rules on that notice, such as prohibiting red, are actually fake rules spread by the dungeon boss [Nian] to weaken humanity's resistance!"

"The true rules are the ironclad laws of identity etched into the very foundation of this world! In this [New Year's Eve] instance, the greatest rule is not killing, but ethics and patriarchal law!"

Xiao Li became more and more excited as he spoke.

"Look, although the Zombie King is a vengeful ghost, he is also a grandfather. In this folk custom, as long as Yunxi plays the role of the eldest grandson well and doesn't commit the taboo of filial impiety..."

"Grandpa is bound by rules; he can't kill his grandson without cause! He even has to protect him!"

"Yunxi took advantage of this, using filial piety and New Year's rituals to manipulate the supernatural!"

"He wouldn't let the ghost dad move the ladder, so the ghost dad didn't dare move it; he made the ghost mom make dumplings, so the ghost mom had to make them! That's the highest level of play—using the rules to defeat the rules!"

Qin Shan was stunned, and it took him a long time to stammer out a sentence.

"This kid...turned a horror game into a family drama?"

Just as the command center was analyzing the situation enthusiastically, the atmosphere at the dinner table in the instance suddenly changed.

Yunxi's chopsticks, which were picking up dumplings, suddenly stopped in mid-air.

His gaze fell on the corner of the eight-immortal table.

There, at some point, an extra set of bowls and chopsticks had been placed.

Yunxi remembered clearly that when the dishes were served, he only took four sets of bowls and chopsticks.

Grandpa, Dad, Mom, and himself. This fifth set of bowls and chopsticks seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, sitting there quietly.

Moreover, the bowl was already full of dumplings.

But the dumplings were raw. The pale white dough exuded a chilling aura.

In that instant, the temperature at the dinner table, which had been lively and even somewhat cozy, plummeted to freezing.

The ghost parents obviously saw the bowl and chopsticks too, and their previous enthusiastic eating froze instantly.

His chopsticks were trembling, his eyes were filled with fear, and he stared intently at the empty seat, as if something indescribable was sitting there.

Even the usually calm Zombie King let out an uneasy growl, his green eyes filled with vigilance.

The viewers in the live stream also noticed the anomaly, and the chat exploded instantly.

"Holy crap! Whose bowl is that? It wasn't there just now!"

"A fifth person? Could this be the legendary extra person?"

"Look! That chair in the empty seat... it looks like it's sunken in a little! It's like someone you can't see sat down there!"

"Live dumplings? This is food meant for the dead! Oh no, this is really bad!"

Yunxi narrowed her eyes, recalling the rules she had seen before.

Although most of the rules were obscured by blood, he vaguely remembered seeing this sentence somewhere in a corner.

[The number of people at the table during meals is fixed. If there is an extra person, do not speak to them or invite them to sit at the table.]

This is a rule for "beggars".

According to folklore, New Year's Eve is the time of transition between Yin and Yang. Many wandering ghosts, having no one to worship them, will take the opportunity to sneak into other people's homes to freeload.

If you put them on the table, it's like inviting a god but having a hard time getting rid of him; the whole family might get drained dry.

At that moment, a cold wind blew through the air, and the space in that empty spot began to distort, vaguely revealing a figure that was soaking wet and swollen all over.

This is a water ghost, or rather, a begging ghost.