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

The old woman's stiff body trembled slightly, and the eerie smile on her lips vanished completely, replaced by an unconscious obedience.

She actually nodded, turned and moved towards the kitchen, muttering, "Eat...eat dumplings...my grandson wants dumplings..."

Watching the old lady obediently leave, Yunxi dusted off her hands and shrugged at the camera.

"See? This is what proper upbringing looks like."

In the live stream, the jaws of the two billion viewers nearly dropped to the floor.

What was supposed to be a bloody and terrifying chase between humans and ghosts was turned into a family drama by Yunxi.

Watching that terrifying old woman, who just moments ago had a fierce look and seemed ready to tear people to pieces, now taking stiff, shuffling steps like a wronged wife as she shuffled towards the kitchen, everyone felt like their brains were about to explode.

"This...this is solved?"

"No, can someone explain this to me? Why did that vengeful ghost actually obey? Was it a masochist in its previous life?"

"Is it possible—and I mean just possible—that Yunxi has awakened some kind of domineering CEO talent? Something specifically designed to subdue old men?"

"What kind of domineering CEO is this? The guy upstairs should read less romance novels. I think it's just good luck that he happened to trigger some kind of obsession of this old lady. If he encounters any other ghost later, he'll definitely die a horrible death."

At the Dragon Kingdom's strategic command center, Qin Shan dropped the cigarette he had just lit.

He stared blankly at the screen, then turned to ask Xiao Li, who was equally dazed, a question.

"Xiao Li, you're an educated person, can you analyze this for me? Does this conform to behavioral logic?"

Xiao Li pushed up his glasses, which had slipped down to the tip of his nose, and gave a wry smile.

"Old Qin, this has gone beyond the scope of science. However, based on micro-expression analysis, Yunxi's arrogance just now... wasn't acting. He genuinely disliked that this house was too dirty, too messy, and lacked any festive atmosphere for the New Year."

Qin Shan's mouth twitched

"Complaining about the lack of festive atmosphere in a haunted house during a horror game? Is this kid even a carbon-based being?"

In the scene, Yunxi did not sit idle after driving away the old lady.

He stood in the center of the courtyard, looked around at the dilapidated farmhouse, and frowned even more deeply.

"It's too shabby, it's absolutely too shabby."

Yunxi shook her head and complained to the air.

"It's only because I have a good temper. If it were our ancestors, seeing the house in this state on New Year's Eve, they would have jumped out of their coffins and given each of you a good beating."

He walked to the window and reached out to touch the paper covering the window frame.

It was a deathly white paper, icy cold to the touch, and you could vaguely feel something breathing behind it, causing the paper to rise and fall.

This is a sacred paper used to seal away unclean things; in the understanding of this world, it is a protective layer that must never be destroyed.

However, Yunxi didn't even glance at it before tearing it open.

"Sizzle—"

The crisp sound of tearing paper was particularly jarring in the quiet courtyard.

The live stream chat exploded instantly.

"Stop! That's window sealing paper! That's a protective barrier!"

"He's insane! He's really insane! The rules may not explicitly state it, but common sense from horror movies tells us that as long as the paper isn't torn, ghosts can't get in. He's opening a door for something outside!"

"It's over! That Japanese player just accidentally poked a hole, no bigger than a fingernail, and a hairy finger instantly pierced his eye socket! Yunxi has a death wish!"

Yunxi couldn't hear the wails outside at all. He moved quickly and tore all the white paper off the window in no time.

"Pasting white paper during the Lunar New Year, did someone in the family die? That's bad luck!"

Yunxi tore at the document while cursing.

"This is only possible in a game; if it were back home, wouldn't the neighbors gossip about him like that?"

After tearing up the white paper, Yunxi clapped her hands and began rummaging through drawers and cabinets in the room again.

He was looking for red paper.

According to the rules of this world, red is taboo and something that will absolutely be destroyed. Therefore, these things must be hidden in the most secret corner.

"Where is it...where is it..."

Yunxi rummaged through the dusty cabinets, making a clattering noise, completely unconcerned about whether she might disturb some sleeping monster.

Finally, under a locked, black lacquered wooden box, he found a thick stack of things.

Yunxi was delighted when she took it out and looked at it.

There was a stack of faded red paper, a few unburnt red candles, and even half of an old red couplet that had been sitting for who knows how many years.

"I knew it. No matter how much it's been tampered with, this is still a New Year's Eve instance. The system has to leave us a way out."

Yunxi held the pile of bright red things as if she were holding a bunch of gold ingots, her face beaming with happiness.

But to the audience, that smile was nothing short of a death smile.

"My God! He actually found it! So much red!"

"Throw it away! My goodness! Rule number three clearly states that red will anger them! Are you trying to create a mocking aura by carrying such a huge pile of red things and attract all the ghosts in the village?"

"I can't bear to watch anymore. I'm sure it'll be a scene of a bunch of vengeful ghosts rushing in and tearing him to pieces."

Just then, the courtyard gate was pushed open again.

"Squeak—"

This time, it wasn't an old lady who came in, but a middle-aged man and a woman.

They were wearing old, dusty cotton-padded coats, and their bodies reeked of a strong earthy and rotten smell.

The man's face was bluish-purple, as if he had frozen to death in an ice cellar; the woman had a deep purple mark on her neck, and her head was tilted to one side, as if her cervical spine had been broken long ago.

These are Yunxi's cheap parents in this instance.

As soon as the two entered the room, those lifeless, pupil-less eyes instantly locked onto the red paper in Yunxi's arms.

"roar……"

The cheap old man let out a beast-like growl from his throat, and his body began to tremble violently, as if he was suppressing extreme fear and anger.

That's instinct.

In this polluted world, strange creatures have a natural aversion to and aggression towards the color red.

The live stream chat instantly filled with the same message: "Run!"

"They're here! The vengeful ghost parents are back! They've seen the red berserk!"

"You're finished now. Serves you right for being so reckless. Now you're in a doubles situation, and nobody can save you!"

"Over in Japan, that contestant named Tanaka Jiro just found a red ribbon in a drawer and didn't have time to throw it away. As a result, his ghost father chopped off his hand when he came back! Yunxi is holding a bunch of them; she's probably going to be chopped into mincemeat!"

Facing the approaching, ferocious-looking ghost parents, Yunxi remained even calmer than before.

He slammed the red paper in his arms onto the table, making a loud bang.

"Snapped!"