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

The Nian beast's voice was deep and hoarse, carrying a nauseating greed.

It seemed to both crave and fear the rich red aura in the courtyard, wanting to destroy it while also wanting to devour it.

Yunxi stood in the center of the courtyard, the light of the red lanterns casting a long shadow on him.

He didn't rush to light it, but first took out a cigarette from his pocket—one of his few cigarettes, which he usually couldn't bear to smoke.

"Smack."

The faint flame of the lighter flickered in the wind, but stubbornly refused to go out.

Yunxi took a deep drag of her cigarette, letting the pungent smoke swirl in her lungs before slowly exhaling.

"Want to eat the red one?"

Yunxi shouted at the monster outside the door.

"Sure! Grandpa has plenty of red ones here! I'm just worried you won't be able to eat them all and might break your teeth!"

The Nian beast outside the door seemed to understand the provocation and became even angrier.

"boom--!"

An even more violent impact!

The ghost father let out a muffled groan; his bronze-skinned, iron-boned back was dented from the impact, and black blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. But he still held on, his feet carving two deep furrows in the ground.

"Hold on, Dad!"

Yunxi shouted

"Ten seconds left! Ready to begin!"

He threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. Then he picked up a lighter and brought it close to the specially made fuse.

"Ten, nine, eight..."

Yunxi silently recited it in her heart.

At the same time, the world's attention was focused on this small courtyard.

"What's he going to do? Use that homemade firecracker to blast the Nian monster?"

"Will this work? The Nian Beast is an S-class boss! These firecrackers only look slightly bigger than ordinary ones, right?"

"The Japanese nation has been completely wiped out! Tanaka Taro was swallowed whole by the Nian beast! Now it's up to the Chinese nation!"

"Three, two, one!"

"ignition!"

"Sizzle—"

The fuse was instantly ignited, sparks flying everywhere.

Without saying a word, Yunxi swung her arm and threw the "10,000-shot firecracker" that was as thick as a water bucket out through the vent above the door!

"Get out of here!"

The firecracker traced a beautiful parabola in the air and landed precisely in the Nian beast's...big mouth!

That's right, right in the mouth!

The beast was opening its mouth wide, ready to roar, when suddenly it felt something in its throat. Before it could even react to what it was—

"Crackling and popping—booming—!!!"

This sound was definitely not the sound of an ordinary firecracker.

That was a chemical reaction produced by mixing gunpowder, corpse oil, and Yunxi's powerful "getting rid of the old and welcoming the new" mental energy!

In that instant, it was as if a small sun had risen over the entire Fengmen Village.

The blinding red light illuminated the night sky for miles around!

The enormous explosion shook the earth, and even Chosen Ones from other countries dozens of kilometers away felt the ground tremor.

"Awooo—!!!"

The Nian beast let out an extremely mournful scream.

But the screams were quickly drowned out by the more intense explosions.

"Crackling! Crackling!"

The string of firecrackers exploded wildly inside the Nian beast's mouth and belly.

Red flames shot out from its eyes, nose, and ears, like a leaky gas cylinder.

This is not over yet.

The corpse oil and red paper scraps mixed in with the firecrackers turned into a sky full of "red rain" during the explosion.

The red rain fell on the Nian beast's black fur, like sulfuric acid splashed on its skin, making a "sizzling" corrosive sound and emitting puffs of white smoke.

"Red...hot...so hot..."

The Nian beast writhed in agony, its massive body smashing half of the courtyard wall down.

But it didn't dare to take another step forward. Instead, it retreated as if it had seen something terrifying.

This is the power of red! This is the power of firecrackers!

In the underlying rules of this instance, the Nian beast is the "evil spirit of the year," while firecrackers are the "thunder of the year." When the thunder roars, the evil spirit will surely retreat!

Yunxi stood in the courtyard, covering her ears, watching the dazzling "fireworks show" outside the door, and smiled brightly.

"Hahaha! Awesome! This is what they call ushering out the old year with the sound of firecrackers!"

"How is it? Is the flavor strong enough? Is it spicy enough?"

Ghost Father was exhausted and collapsed on the ground, but when he looked at the S-class BOSS outside the door who was being beaten and running away with his head in his hands, his eyes were full of admiration.

This isn't just a son; this is practically a god of war descended to earth!

Grandpa Zombie King also jumped down from the windowsill. Looking at the firelight outside, he excitedly clapped his hands and let out a "hoohoo" laugh, like a child watching fireworks.

At that moment, the live stream chat exploded.

"Holy crap! That's powerful! Is that a firecracker? Or is that TNT?!"

"Nian Beast: I thought it was an appetizer, but it turned out to be C4!"

"That was so exciting! Absolutely so exciting! This is what Chinese New Year should be like!"

"Dragon Kingdom is awesome! Yunxi is awesome! This explosion has blown away all the bad luck of the year!"

With the final explosion, the Nian beast finally gave out.

Its entire body was charred black, its once majestic fur was now ripped into pieces, and one of its two red lantern-like eyes had been blown out.

It let out a mournful howl, tucked its tail between its legs, and transformed into a wisp of black smoke, fleeing without looking back into the darkness deep within the village.

The courtyard returned to calm, except for the strong smell of gunpowder in the air.

Yunxi took a deep breath of the pungent smell, but found it incredibly refreshing.

"That's right, what kind of Spring Festival is it without the smell of gunpowder?"

At this moment, a faint glimmer of dawn appeared in the east.

A clear rooster crowed in the distance: "Cluck-cluck-cluck—"

The rooster crows at dawn! Day breaks!

As the first rays of sunlight fell into the courtyard of the Li family's old house, the lividity on Ghost Father's body faded somewhat, Ghost Mother's neck straightened, and even the green light in the eyes of the Zombie King Grandpa softened considerably.

A system notification sounded in Yunxi's mind.

[Congratulations to Yunxi, the chosen one! You successfully defeated "Xi" and survived until the morning of Lunar New Year's Day!]

[Phase 1 Main Quest: Staying Up Late for the New Year - Completed!]

[Rating: SSS!]

[Reward: The Dragon Kingdom's national fortune is restored by 10%, and "auspicious snow" falls throughout the entire territory.]

[Warning! The instance is not yet complete!]

[Currently entering the second phase: Chinese New Year greetings.]

[New Task Issued: Please follow ancient customs and complete all folk rituals from the first to the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. Remember: There are many rules during the first month of the lunar calendar; one wrong step and everything is ruined!]

Yunxi raised an eyebrow

"I knew it wouldn't be that simple. What kind of New Year's celebration is it if it's just New Year's Eve? This is nothing."

He turned around, looked at his three family members who, although they had regained some of their senses, were still somewhat bewildered, and a wicked smile appeared on his lips.

"Dad, Mom, Grandpa, don't just stand there like idiots."

"Now that it's dawn, it must be the first day of the Lunar New Year."

"According to the traditions of our Li family, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, we have to set off firecrackers at the door and exchange New Year's greetings!"

Yunxi dusted off her hands and looked at her neighbors in the village, whose doors were still tightly shut and who exuded a sinister aura.

"Let's go! The whole family is on the move!"

"Go and wish all the men and women in the village a Happy New Year!"

The ghost father and ghost mother trembled all over.

pay a New Year call?

Going to pay New Year's visits in this sealed-door village full of evil spirits?

This isn't a New Year's greeting; it's clearly a challenge!

But seeing Yunxi's enthusiastic expression and touching the warm talisman paper stuck to their bodies, they inexplicably felt a little more confident.

It seems... following this son might not be a bad idea?