Rules of the Strange: I Can See Through All the Weird

She slowly walked around the stone railing, her eyes scanning the densely packed characters.

Some are praying for the safety of their loved ones, some are trading their own lives for others', and some are making a deal with a sheep.

Each wish is different, but they all begin with the same phrase: "By the Mermaid God."

She stopped and walked back to the front. The incense ash in the incense burner was piled high, with three unburnt incense sticks stuck on top. The smoke swirled around the stone statue like a thin rope that was being tightened.

Suddenly, a muffled groan came from my mind.

"Six sons?"

no respond.

Two seconds later, another sound came.

This time it was even lighter, as if she was clenching her teeth and enduring it.

【pain.】

The sound of "666" finally rang out, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth.

[Host, there's something beneath the base of this statue. Such intense emotion, not scattered little by little, but all gathered here. Like a reservoir. The pain and hope of so many people. And something else.]

"What else?"

[It's alive. There's something alive under the base. It's something conscious. It just touched me.]

666's voice started to tremble.

[Host, it's sucking me dry.]

Qi Tong immediately moved away from the statue.

"How are you? Feeling better?"

After a few seconds, 666 weakly uttered an "Mmm".

"...Much better, host. Let's not go any closer."

Qi Tong frowned. What dares to absorb 666?

Qi Tong turned to look at the stone statue.

Her gaze was a few degrees colder than before, as if she were measuring the height and thickness of the statue, and the gap between the base and the ground.

She remembered what the village chief had just said.

The Mermaid dislikes being questioned. She dislikes noise. She dislikes being disturbed.

Every rule protects the Mermaid God, not the villagers.

If the Mermaid God truly needs protection, then what kind of god is it?

"What's wrong?" He Lu called out softly to Qi Tong. Seeing that Qi Tong still didn't respond, she gently touched Qi Tong with her hand.

Qi Tong came to her senses and realized that almost all the players had already gone to the house the village chief had pointed out earlier.

Qi Tong took He Lu's hand: "Let's go, let's go see where we live first."

He Lu blushed.

Quickly followed.

The players gathered at their lodgings.

One of the men had already started speaking.

"Hello, my name is Zhao Jiayou. I have cleared three dungeons, so I have some experience. I believe in peaceful coexistence. If you have any difficulties, you can come to me. I will definitely help if I can."

"Let's not be overly cautious, everyone. Let's exchange information."

After speaking, he flicked his left bangs, which were partially obscuring his vision.

The woman who had been standing next to him also began to introduce herself.

However, she wasn't as relaxed as Zhao Jiayou; her voice trembled slightly.

"Hello everyone... I'm Jiayou's sister, my name is Zhou Peipei."

After speaking, her eyes subconsciously glanced at each player before looking away and lowering her head.

The players also became more active.

Two or three people announced their names.

Qi Tong didn't have time to remember them all, but she remembered one of them was named Tan Yi, because he kept staring at her after he gave his name.

Another voice added, "My name is Li Jianren. My parents hope I will be healthy and righteous..."

"Alright, I know." Zhou Nan interrupted him from the side, "I know which Jian and which Ren it is even if you don't tell me."

Li Jianren scratched his head.

Tan Yi ignored this question and looked directly at Qi Tong: "Did you notice anything around the statue just now?"

Qi Tong, who had been silent until now, was drawn to everyone's attention by this sentence.

"Yes, you were the last to arrive. Did you find any clues?"

Other players followed suit.

Qi Tong clicked his tongue impatiently.

She doesn't mind sharing clues, but she can't just sit back and wait to get things done, can she?

Seeing her surveying around the statue, none of them followed her; instead, once they knew it was safe, they came to ask her for something.

Her voice was somewhat cold.

"We found it! What about you guys? Have you exchanged any clues?"

The next second, Li Jianren's somewhat anxious voice rang out.

"We can't do that! If we want to get out, we need to stick together. We should share any clues we have, and we'll definitely tell you if we have any!"

"Yes, sister, it's better to share happiness than to enjoy it alone."

Seeing Qi Tong being restrained, He Lu pouted, somewhat displeased.

"Didn't we ask you if you had any leads? We didn't mention sharing anything?"

"But we haven't found anything along the way."

Qi Tong looked in the direction of the soft voice and saw that it was Zhou Peipei, who had just introduced herself.

Qi Tong glanced at her.

That glance wasn't long, but He Lu felt Qi Tong's wrist tighten slightly.

"If you don't have it, wait until you do, then come back to exchange it."

Then he took He Lu's hand and waved it in front of everyone.

"Tonight, we'll share a room between two people. You can divide the rest among yourselves. There are seven of us, so if we share a room with two people, someone will be left alone."

"I'd like to offer a word of caution: being alone can be dangerous."

Leaving these words behind, Qi Tong led He Lu towards one of the rooms in the courtyard.

The room looked just as dilapidated as the outside, but that didn't stop people from living there.

It was an earthen house, with a lot of dirt still on the ground. The only furnishing in the room was a kang (a heated brick bed) covered with bedding.

There was a wooden table and four stools on the table.

Qi Tong walked in and touched the table with his hand.

Seeing that there was no dirt on his hands.

"It'll have to do. The table is clean, and the bedding should be too."

He Lu plopped down on the bedding, the once aloof young lady now completely enraged.

"This is outrageous! How can they resort to moral blackmail? They were the ones who were afraid of danger and didn't bother to look for it themselves, and now they have the nerve to ask others for it!"

He Lu became angrier and angrier as she spoke, gritting her teeth and speaking with a voice full of anger.

"It's all that scoundrel's fault! They made me end up here too!"

"In the real world, their identities are completely incompatible! They can't be together. I heard about some strange world where wishes can be granted, so I went in on my own, and I even dragged myself in with me!"

As she spoke, she patted the bedding beneath her: "Look! When have I ever slept in this stuff!"

She picked up the corner of the blanket, looked at the tangled threads, and put it down with disgust: "This is so tattered!"

Qi Tong's initial anger was immediately extinguished.

She laughed and sat down next to He Lu.

"Well, it's better to have some sleep than not to sleep at all."

"Let's go out and take a look around, see if we can find any clues."

He Lu suppressed her anger and nodded obediently.

The courtyard quieted down, and the door to Qi Tong's room closed.

The few people who hadn't left yet had various expressions on their faces.

The few remaining players were still indignant.

The instigator stood to the side, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, quietly watching the crowd, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips.

"What's so great about it! We'll go out and find clues ourselves after we're assigned rooms!"

After saying this, Li Jianren glanced around at the various players.

"Um... I've always needed someone to sleep with me since I was little, so let me make this clear first, I need to sleep with someone, male or female, it doesn't matter, the goal is to complete the game anyway..."

Zhou Nan chuckled.

"It doesn't matter if it's a girl or a girl. The two girls have already chosen their groups in one room, so there's only one girl left."

He looked at Zhou Peipei, raised his chin, and continued speaking.

"It's obvious that they're teaming up with Brother Zhao."

Lee Kin-yan was silenced, fearing he would fall behind.

"Zhou Nan, how about we sleep together tonight?"