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

It was dripping with black, foul-smelling liquid, its pale hands were trying to grab raw dumplings from a bowl, and it was making a sickening grinding sound.

"I'm so hungry... I need something to eat..."

The ghost father was so terrified he almost hid under the table, trembling like a leaf. In this instance, these outsider ghosts are not bound by family rules; they really do eat ghosts!

Yunxi merely gave a cold laugh.

He didn't panic. Instead, he put down his chopsticks and pounded the table heavily with the back of his hand.

"Thump! Thump!"

A crisp sound broke the silence.

"Now that you're here, don't hide anything."

Yunxi spoke calmly to the empty seat, her tone devoid of fear, only showing dissatisfaction.

"I understand wanting to ask for food during the Lunar New Year. But showing up uninvited and wanting to sit at the head table, isn't that a bit too impolite?"

The water ghost clearly hadn't expected this living person to dare speak to it, and paused for a moment.

Then he suddenly raised his head, revealing a terrifying face that was soaked in water like a steamed bun, and opened his mouth to roar and taunt Yunxi.

"roar--!"

A foul, fishy smell wafted over.

"Snapped!"

Yunxi slapped its outstretched hand with a chopstick.

Although this chopstick strike didn't have much physical lethality, it carried the authority of a "head of the household." More importantly, Yunxi had just eaten dumplings with vinegar, so there was vinegar on the chopsticks!

In folklore, vinegar is considered to be extremely yang in nature, and it is believed to ward off evil spirits!

"Sizzle—"

A plume of black smoke rose from the water ghost's hand, causing it to scream in pain and withdraw its hand.

"What are you yelling for? Trying to show off your loud voice?"

Yunxi stood up, looking disgusted.

"Look at all that water on you, dripping all over the floor! You've made the floor I just swept dirty again! Don't you have any sense of public decency?"

The viewers in the live stream were stunned.

"What is he doing? Is he lecturing a vengeful ghost about hygiene?"

Yunxi: You can kill me, but you can't dirty the floor I just swept!

"This guy is really brave! That was a vengeful ghost!"

Yunxi didn't give the water ghost a chance to lash out. She picked up the bowl of raw dumplings and strode to the front door.

He placed the bowl on the ground outside the threshold, then picked up the chopsticks and stuck them straight into the center of the bowl—this was the standard way to "offer rice to the dead," a ritual specifically used to worship the deceased.

"Alright, stop making a fool of yourself."

Yunxi waved to the still bewildered water ghost.

"Our table is too small to accommodate outsiders. If you want to eat, take your bowl and squat by the door to eat."

"After we've eaten this meal, dust to dust, ashes to ashes. We're even."

Although Yunxi's tone was impolite, her words carried a certain "refined" quality.

"If that's not enough, remember to come early and line up next year for Qingming Festival. If you dare to come into the house and scare my parents again, I'll dry you into a fish jerky!"

The water ghost looked at the bowl of rice by the door, then at the young man inside who exuded an aura of "not to be trifled with," and at the zombie king in the main seat who was staring at it menacingly. It hesitated for a moment.

In the end, hunger triumphed over anger.

It transformed into a black shadow, rushed to the door, picked up the bowl of raw dumplings, and began to wolf them down.

After finishing its meal, it even kowtowed to Yunxi before turning into a pool of black water and disappearing into the night.

The crisis is over.

Yunxi closed the door, clapped her hands, and returned to her seat.

"Alright, stop looking."

He tapped on his father, who was still in a daze.

"Eat quickly, the dumplings are getting cold. Next time you encounter beggars like this, just give them something to eat and send them on their way. Don't act like you've never seen anything like this before, it's embarrassing."

The ghost father and ghost mother exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

This son... seems even more terrifying than the vengeful ghosts outside.

After the beggar was seen off, the atmosphere at the dinner table finally eased up.

Yunxi continued eating his dumplings.

As he ate, he mentally planned his next move.

"Although we've temporarily stabilized the situation at home, this is still an S-rank instance, and the real crisis is yet to come. That Nian Beast isn't something you can just deal with with a bowl of rice."

"It's a pity I don't have that kind of system shop, so I can't directly exchange for Gatling guns or rocket launchers. I have to find everything myself."

Yunxi remembered the pile of red paper and firecrackers she had found in the yard earlier. There was only one string of firecrackers with a hundred shots, which might not be enough for a boss like the Nian Beast.

"We need to find a way to increase our firepower..."

Just as she was thinking, Yunxi suddenly bit into something hard.

With a "crack," I almost broke my tooth.

Yunxi covered her cheek, her brows furrowing.

He spat it out and saw that it was a dark, ancient coin with a strong rusty smell.

It is engraved with the four characters "Kangxi Tongbao", but the characters are blood red, as if they have been soaked in blood.

Did I... find a coin?

Yunxi's heart skipped a beat.

He remembered that hidden rule.

There's a coin hidden inside the dumpling. Whoever finds the coin is lucky, but please don't swallow it or spit it out.

This is a classic paradoxical dead end rule!

If you don't swallow it, how can you say you've eaten it?

If you spit it out, it means you're spitting out your "good fortune," which is considered "loss of good fortune" according to the rules and will bring great misfortune.

Yunxi held the cold copper coin in her hand, feeling a chill creep up her fingertips and into her bones, making half of her arm numb.

This is no blessing, it's a curse! It's money to buy your life!

The ghost father and ghost mother also stopped eating and stared intently at the copper coin in Yunxi's hand.

A hint of greed flickered in their eyes, as if that thing were a great tonic for the ghost.

The chat in the live stream started getting tense again.

"It's over! The 'certain death' rule has been triggered!"

"Yunxi spat it out! She's doomed now!"

"Swallow it back! It's disgusting, but it's better than dying!"

"Don't give me that nonsense, upstairs! That copper coin looks poisonous; swallowing it will definitely cause your intestines to rot!"

Yunxi's eyes darted around, and she had an idea.

Since swallowing it or spitting it out isn't an option... let's try something different! Transfer it!

He held the copper coin in his hand, and suddenly a look of ecstatic joy appeared on his face, as if he had won five million in the lottery.

"Oh my! What a blessing! What a blessing!"

Yunxi slapped her thigh and shouted loudly.

"I never expected to be the first lucky one of the year! This means our Li family is going to make a fortune this year! It's a blessing from our ancestors!"

As he spoke, he used his sleeve to quickly pick up a new dumpling with his chopsticks.

He poked a hole in the belly of the dumpling with the tip of his chopsticks, and then quietly stuffed the copper coin into the dumpling filling.

This set of movements was so smooth and fluid, it was even more professional than the magicians on the Spring Festival Gala.

Then, with a big smile on his face, he put the "extra" dumpling into his father's bowl.

"Father, you are the pillar of this family and the head of the household. This first great blessing should rightfully be enjoyed by you!"