DLMSWSHH Chapter 26

TL: Hua

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Chapter 26: Rules

Li Yizhi froze for a long moment. He didn’t say yes or no, but instead asked: “What makes you think that?”

Zhong Ming lowered his eyes. The cigarette in his hand was still slowly smoldering. He seemed to be organizing his thoughts, remaining silent for a moment.

“I… found it very strange at first. Why give the players three lives?” Zhong Ming said in a low voice. “If the goal of the players is to ‘clear the game’ and the goal of the haunted house boss is to ‘stop them,’ wouldn’t it be simpler and more direct to give them only one chance?”

“But here, every time a player dies, they receive a new life. And then they are killed over and over again.” Zhong Ming paused, his finger unconsciously pressing a small dent into the cigarette. “I wanted to know the meaning behind this. Also, that blonde mercenary’s reaction was incredibly terrified when he saw Albert, and the same goes for the player who hanged himself… he looked like he had been driven mad by something horrific and was forced into suicide.”

The servants here treated the players the same as a cat playing with a half-dead mouse. They always kept them hanging on by a thread, refusing to kill them outright until the mouse had completely lost its vitality and could no longer react. Only then would they snap its neck.

Zhong Ming paused and looked up at Li Yizhi.

“So I was thinking, is the reason they are given multiple lives because you want them to fall into despair repeatedly?”

Li Yizhi, eyes wide open, even forgot to smoke, only snapping back to reality when the flame was almost burning his hand. He stubbed out the cigarette on the cabinet and turned to look at Zhong Ming.

“…I really underestimated you.” His phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as he smiled at Zhong Ming. “This is the first time I’ve heard you speak so much. Are you thirsty?”

Zhong Ming: “…”

Can this guy not go five minutes without saying something ridiculous? Zhong Ming’s somber mood was instantly disrupted. He glared at Li Yizhi with a huff.

“Alright, don’t be mad.” After his teasing, Li Yizhi poured a glass of water for Zhong Ming. His smile faded as he said, “Most of what you said is correct.”

“The purpose of this game is indeed to drive the players mad.” Li Yizhi reached out and pointed upward. “For the one up there, human fear is his primary source of power.”

The one up there naturally referred to the Duke.

Upon hearing this, though he had suspected it, Zhong Ming’s heart still sank. Li Yizhi also seemed agitated, rubbing the back of his hair. “Forget it, talking about this makes me need another smoke.”

He pulled the last cigarette from a crumpled pack, lit it, and took a deep breath. After exhaling, he said: “There are two very important things.”

Li Yizhi held up one finger. “First, the players here have three lives. Within that limit, any injuries they sustain during the day will heal after midnight.”

“But—”

Li Yizhi’s narrow eyes shimmered in the darkness, the tip of his cigarette glowing a deep crimson. His expression was more serious than ever before.

“—the mental trauma the players suffer does not recover.”

Zhong Ming’s breath hitched.

Li Yizhi continued: “You can think of it like a health bar in a game.”

He held up two fingers, measuring a distance between them.

“The moment a player feels fear, their sanity bar drops, and it cannot be restored.”

“Once the bar hits zero—” Li Yizhi ran his thumb across his throat. “Snip.”

“No one even has to lift a finger; they’ll die on their own. So it doesn’t matter how many lives they have.”

Zhong Ming remained silent, his mind sharpening as he recalled the blond mercenary’s consistently grim expression ever since he met Albert. Zhong Ming remembered finding it odd at the time, wondering why the man still looked so awful the next day.

“The monsters in this mansion, including the Spider Duchess and Joan, feed on human fear. To them, it is as sweet as honey.” Li Yizhi took the cigarette from his lips and arched an eyebrow at Zhong Ming. “You’re Chinese, surely you’ve heard the saying ‘suspicion creates imaginary ghosts’?”

Li Yizhi smiled at him. “In this place, ‘ghosts’ are the actual monsters. Once your heart wavers, they can smell it and will come right for you.”

Zhong Ming was silent. After a long while, he asked, “What if a player isn’t afraid?”

“Then nothing will happen to them.”

Li Yizhi shrugged, tapping his ash onto the floor. “So in this game, maintaining a calm psychological state is more important than anything. That’s why outsiders like to bring in college students who know nothing from time to time. Youth are fearless, after all.”

Zhong Ming gasped and couldn’t help asking, “What do you mean? They don’t know about this before they come in?”

Li Yizhi took a puff and answered casually, “Of course they wouldn’t tell them. Human psychology isn’t something people can control easily; if they told them, wouldn’t the plan fall apart?”

“Those companies, before sending them in, probably just say something vague like ‘high risk’ and have them sign a mountain of liability waivers.” Li Yizhi’s eyes curved as he shrugged. “But the reality is they’d never let them know. That’s capitalists for you.”

Zhong Ming furrowed his brows, his face pale. Seeing his distress, Li Yizhi took the cigarette out of his mouth. “But don’t pity them. No one who can participate in this game is a good person.”

Zhong Ming remained quiet. He looked down at his feet. On the diamond-shaped white tiles of the kitchen, a few flecks of ash had fallen, mixing with the water splashed from the sink to form a grayish-black sludge.

“One more question.”

Zhong Ming looked up at Li Yizhi.

“How do you know so much?”

Li Yizhi had just finished the entire cigarette. At that question, his right hand froze almost imperceptibly.

Then, he crushed the cigarette butt, looked up, and flashed a smile as warm as a spring breeze. “I told you, I haven’t been a servant all these years for nothing.”

He walked forward, slung an arm around Zhong Ming’s shoulder, and pushed him toward the exit. “Let’s go, let’s go. If we don’t get back out there, Madam Mary will get impatient.”

His movements and expression were entirely natural. Zhong Ming flicked his eyes toward him but didn’t resist, following Li Yizhi out of the kitchen. As they passed through the corridor, the shrill screams of the players in the hall became noisy again.

Stepping into the hall, Zhong Ming saw the bound player lying in a pool of blood, appearing dead. He looked away toward the door and noticed that the mist surrounding the mansion had grown even thicker, taking on a dense, milky-white hue.

Is there something there?

A blurry black dot appeared in the fog. The shadow grew larger, gradually taking the shape of a running person.

A moment later, a mercenary burst out of the fog and crashed heavily onto the floor.

“Ah… ah—”

He panted heavily, his face ghastly pale and his pupils constricted; he looked to be on the verge of a total breakdown. Zhong Ming looked closer and realized he was missing an arm.

Madam Mary saw him too. She took the whip back from Zhong Ming, stepped forward, and lashed the player with a backhand strike.

“Guest, did I not mention it already?” She looked down coldly at the player sprawled on the ground. “The fog is heavy today. You are not permitted to go outside.”

Amidst the mercenary’s suppressed screams, Madam Mary’s tone was cold and haughty: “Why must you violate the rules?”

With that, she brought the whip down again.

Blood sprayed from the wound on the mercenary’s back, splashing onto the floor. Standing behind Madam Mary, Zhong Ming took note of the wound on the man’s right shoulder. It was mangled, the edges irregular… it looked as though he had been bitten by something.

Zhong Ming looked out at the fog beyond the door. What on earth was out there?

The white mist surged gently with the air currents like layered, heaped clouds, gradually spilling toward the doorway. It looked as though it might squeeze through the frame at any moment, ready to swallow the very interior of the mansion whole.

Zhong Ming watched the mist, his eyes narrowing slowly as he caught sight of a shadow looming within. This shadow was far larger than the dark dot of the previous player; its shape was entirely irregular, like a surging, unspeakable mass of black matter.

However, as the shadow drew closer, the irregular mass retracted sharply, gradually taking the form of a human.

Albert stepped out from the thick fog and into the hall.

He kept his eyes downcast as he walked in, the wisps of mist clinging to him finally dispersing. He was wearing the small brown vest and the petite bowtie, the very one Zhong Ming had pinned on him that morning. He looked as exquisite and beautiful as a little prince.

Yet, as Zhong Ming looked at him, a sudden, bone-chilling cold swept through his body.

“The other two are dead.” Albert walked into the lobby, head bowed, and spoke softly. Then he looked up and suddenly saw Zhong Ming. Seemingly completely surprised to see Zhong Ming there, he froze on the spot.

“Tch.” Joan stood to the side with her arms crossed, sounding dissatisfied. “Didn’t I tell you not to kill them?”

Albert didn’t even spare her a glance. He kept his eyes fixed on Zhong Ming, his lips pressed tight as he stiffly turned his head away.

“Why is he here?”

Madam Mary was busy amid the splattering flesh and blood and had no time to acknowledge him. Joan arched an eyebrow, sounding baffled. “He has his own two legs. Why shouldn’t he be here?”

That said, she noted Albert’s rigid expression and narrowed her eyes with realization.

“What? Are you that concerned about your image?”

At this, Albert’s lips twitched. He looked toward Zhong Ming with a trace of unease.

Zhong Ming stood his ground, remaining silent.

Seeing his silence, Albert’s face grew taut. He stood by the door looking almost at a loss, neither retreating nor daring to approach.

A silence stretched between the two of them.

Finally, it was Zhong Ming who spoke first. He looked up at Albert and said softly, “Young Master Albert.”

Albert’s thick eyelashes fluttered, a hint of anxiety surfacing in his expression. Seeing him like this, Zhong Ming sighed inwardly and looked down at the boy.

“It is so late. Have you not slept yet?”

Hearing this note of concern, Albert visibly relaxed. He looked up at Zhong Ming.

Zhong Ming’s pupils were slightly larger than average, and his lashes were quite long, giving him a very gentle look when he lowered his eyes to look at someone. Albert’s expression softened, and he stepped forward to take Zhong Ming’s hand.

“I was just helping keep an eye on the things outside,” Albert explained, pausing for a moment. “I didn’t do anything.”

Zhong Ming was somewhat surprised to hear this. Simultaneously, Joan let out a cold snort from behind them.

Seeing that Zhong Ming didn’t answer, Albert narrowed his eyes slightly. “Do you not believe me?”

Zhong Ming paused, then could only say, “I believe you.”

Only then did Albert’s expression fully ease. He naturally reached out both arms toward Zhong Ming. “Carry me.”

Though Zhong Ming still felt a sense of eeriness in his heart, the action had become a habit. His body reacted first, leaning down to lift Albert into his arms.

Upon taking him, he felt that Albert was a bit heavier. Zhong Ming paused and looked at the top of Albert’s head, realizing the boy seemed a bit taller as well.

However, before he could look closer, Albert frowned and suddenly said, “You have a scent on you.”

Then, like a puppy, the boy leaned down to sniff at the crook of Zhong Ming’s neck. He looked up, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

“Did you smoke?”

Zhong Ming: …What is this intense pressure?

He suddenly felt like a parent caught with a bad habit by their child, being treated like a poor role model.

Zhong Ming: “I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Only then did Albert smooth his brow. “Fine.”

He felt the bitter smell of tobacco didn’t suit Zhong Ming at all; the person should always carry that gentle, sweet scent as refreshing as spring flowers.

Meanwhile, Joan tapped her right hand on the stair railing. As if unable to bear the sight, she turned her head away to look into a certain patch of shadow.

Then, she slowly straightened her back and stepped out from the shadows with an elegant stride. The shadows behind her surged slowly, as if something were about to break through a shell. However, halfway across, she seemed to remember something and looked back at Zhong Ming.

“Xiao Zhong, go back and rest.”

A smile played on her exquisite, beautiful face. The content that followed was not something convenient for the little beauty to see. She glanced at Albert, who was being held in Zhong Ming’s arms.

“Oh, and take that thing with you.”

That thing? Albert’s face instantly darkened. Hearing the command, Zhong Ming bowed slightly in acknowledgment, turned around, and carried Albert away.

Just as he turned, a muffled groan came from behind.

Zhong Ming’s footsteps faltered slightly. He recognized the voice as the blonde mercenary.

He hesitated for only a second, then continued walking forward.

Behind him, the bloody and mad night continued. The thick white fog filled the entire valley. If one listened closely, they could hear a low wailing like the roar of monsters drifting from the black forest surrounding the mansion. The brightly lit mansion stood silently in the valley, like a lonely island floating in the mist.

Within, the bloody slaughter continued until the first ray of dawn pierced through the clouds. As the mist gradually dispersed, the commotion inside finally faded into silence.

The chaotic night had passed.

Dawn arrived once more.

In the early morning, all the menservants were dispatched to clean up the mess left from the previous day.

After a night, the blood had congealed into a reddish-brown color, sticking firmly to the carpets and making it difficult to remove. In areas covered by carpets, the menservants could simply take the rugs out to be discarded, but the areas without carpeting had to be scrubbed clean by hand.

Zhong Ming was assigned to the second floor. He knelt on the floor, pressing a wet rag down and scrubbing with force.

The Spider Duchess liked to swing her prey around while eating, so blood and flesh had splattered everywhere, making it particularly hard to clean.

After battling a stubborn stain for ten minutes, Zhong Ming stopped his movements and let out a long sigh, trying to loosen his stiff shoulders.

This really isn’t a job for humans. He wiped the thin sweat from his forehead and decided he would have a serious talk with the Spider Duchess the next time he saw her.

Just then, a door beside him suddenly swung open.

“Ah—”

A young man in a white hoodie nearly tripped over the kneeling Zhong Ming. He quickly pulled his foot back, steadied himself, and said rather apologetically, “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t notice you there.”

Zhong Ming looked at him, his pupils shrinking instantly.

He stared at the male college student, who looked perfectly normal, had a healthy complexion, and even had the presence of mind to lean down and ask: “Are you okay? Did I hit you?” Zhong Ming’s mind immediately pulled up the memories from the previous day.

Yesterday, Li Yizhi had sprinkled scented powder to attract the Spider Duchess on the carpet in front of this very room.

But now, this player was standing before him, perfectly fine.

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