I’m a Max-Level Taoist Master, and You’re Throwing Me Into a Rules-Based Horror Game?! - Chapter 191

Chapter 191: Just See if I Deal With You or Not!

Rules of the Nameless Mountain Village:

[Rule 1: Not every villager is hospitable. If you offend those with bad tempers, they will drive you out.]

[Rule 2: If you hear cries coming from a room, do not enter casually, and do not act as if you heard anything. If the homeowner discovers you, they will be very angry.]

[Rule 3: There are no children in this village. If you hear the sound of a baby crying and are far away, ignore it. If you are close, shout at it loudly until it stops making noise.]

[Rule 4: The Village Chief is the only person you can trust, but he will not tell the truth.]

[Rule 5: Between 2 AM and 7 AM, do not open the door for anyone, no matter what they say.]

[Rule 6: Leave the village before 8 AM, or you will never be able to leave. Never.]

[Rule 7: Each house only accommodates one outsider. Follow this rule, and ‘they’ will not trouble you.]

[Rule 8: Choose the correct bedroom; only then can you survive.]

Seeing these rules, the Chosen Ones gulped.

Forget the eerie village itself; just reading these rules on this dark, stormy, snowy night was enough to send chills down one’s spine.

At this stage, the Chosen Ones all seemed to rely heavily on their so-called ‘teammates.’

Whether they were genuine teammates or eerie ones, these people had seemingly protected the Chosen Ones.

At the very least, along the journey, the teammates hadn’t shown any intention of harming the others.

But Rule 7 stated that each house only accommodates one outsider, meaning the Chosen Ones would need to separate from their teammates and stay in the strange villagers’ houses.

Moreover, the other rules all hinted that various dangers lurked within the houses.

Violating any rule could lead to an attack by the villagers.

Having grown accustomed to relying on the team, the sudden prospect of facing the unknown terrors alone made many Chosen Ones inwardly resistant.

But when in Rome, do as the Romans do; these were the rules of the Nameless Mountain Village.

Rahman was one of the smarter Chosen Ones.

He noticed that many rules weren’t explicitly clear.

For example, Rule 8 mentioned the ‘correct bedroom.’ If he failed to choose the right one, he might be attacked or directly trigger some supernatural event leading to death.

So, how could one tell which bedroom was the correct one?

If he asked the villagers here, they definitely wouldn’t tell him, or they might even lie.

They might even want the Chosen Ones to make mistakes so they could attack them.

To gather more information, the only option was to find the Village Chief.

But the rules said the Village Chief could be trusted, yet he wouldn’t tell the truth. What did that mean?

For a moment, most Chosen Ones couldn’t understand. Perhaps they could only grasp the meaning after finding the Village Chief.

Thinking this, Rahman tentatively asked the Square-Faced Man, “Excuse me, where is your Village Chief?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere became terrifying.

The expressions of all the villagers changed, their smiles vanishing.

They stared angrily at Rahman, as if he had uttered a forbidden word.

Even the animal-head caps on their heads seemed to emit low, whining sounds—whether it was Rahman’s auditory hallucination or reality was unclear.

If Rahman didn’t have a reasonable explanation, they might just attack.

The entire temple fell into a dead silence, a frightening stillness.

Only the sound of the wind and snow outside and the rattling of doors and windows could be heard.

The lights also seemed to flicker on and off.

Seeing this, Rahman broke out in a cold sweat. He knew he had said the wrong thing, but he didn’t know what to do now.

The Square-Faced Man took a step forward. Rahman was terrified, his heart pounding wildly.

In his physical body, he felt genuine fear.

He waved his hands, preparing to explain something, when the Goatee Captain stepped in front of the Square-Faced Man.

The Goatee Captain demonstrated his responsibility as the leader. The moment he stepped forward, Rahman felt considerably relieved.

The Goatee Captain smiled and said, “He’s an outsider and doesn’t know the rules here. Please forgive him…”

The Goatee Captain said quite a bit before the Square-Faced Man’s expression softened somewhat.

Perhaps it was also because the Captain’s presence was strong enough, shielding Rahman, that the others let it go.

As required, after Rahman worshipped the statue once more, the Square-Faced Man and the other villagers resumed their smiles.

They once again warmly welcomed the mountaineering team to the village and invited them to their homes for meals and rest.

Their attitudes changed in an instant, as if the earlier incident had never happened.

If nothing else, this certainly served as a warning to Rahman: in this village, not every question could be asked.

This time, he was fortunate to have the Goatee Captain cover for him. If he were facing the villagers alone and said something wrong, no one would be there to shield him.

Rahman was very grateful to the Goatee Captain.

However, this mountain village didn’t just scare Rahman; many Chosen Ones were terrified by the horror here.

Even after some time, the fear in their hearts refused to settle.

The surrounding houses weren’t just buildings; they were like gaping maws!

The Chosen Ones could almost see the houses beckoning to them.

The thought of having to stay in such an environment made every Chosen One shudder.

As the rules stated, if they didn’t leave by 8 AM, they might never get out.

But one thing all the Chosen Ones were sure of was that before going to bed, they absolutely had to find the Village Chief!

Watching the live streams of the other Chosen Ones, Hu Liuqi could sense how brutal the night would be.

Then he opened the recording of Zhang Tianshi (Celestial Master Zhang) to see how he had handled this stage.

After all, Zhang Tianshi was the first to arrive here, and Hu Liuqi had missed this part when he woke up.

On the live stream from the Dragon Kingdom, Zhang Yangqing also went through the process, arriving at the temple and discovering the rules.

After reading the rules, he naturally asked, “Where is your Village Chief?”

After Zhang Yangqing asked this, the expressions of everyone in the temple changed, all staring intently at him.

Especially the Square-Faced Man, whose eyes were terrifying, like those of a powerful beast.

Just as the Goatee Captain was about to step forward to smooth things over, Zhang Yangqing took a step forward, his fierce glare causing the Square-Faced Man to retreat a step.

His powerful aura spread, surprising everyone in the temple.

He scanned the room, and all the villagers seemed to avoid his terrifying gaze.

Then Zhang Yangqing’s eyes fixed on the Square-Faced Man.

The Square-Faced Man instantly felt as if dozens of hands from hell were grabbing his body.

The terrifying pressure made his heart race.

Here, he was the one who intimidated the other Chosen Ones, the one who gave them a warning.

But before he could even get angry, he was startled by the mountaineer before him.

While he was still stunned, the other party spoke words colder than the snow outside.

“I asked you a question!”

This wasn’t a request; it was a demand.

Zhang Yangqing was making it clear: Go ahead, refuse to answer. Just see if I deal with you or not!

Hesitance and submissiveness? That was for others.

No one had the right to put on airs in front of Zhang Yangqing.

Perhaps the Village Chief was a forbidden word for you, but do you know what the death rules on me are?

To be honest, Zhang Yangqing didn’t need to be too polite here.

I’m asking you nicely; don’t push your luck.

Push me too far, and I’ll kill you all.

No rule says I can’t kill you.

Don’t doubt whether I dare. If I really decide to do it, no one can stop me.

This was the source of Zhang Yangqing’s arrogance.

Having entered such a eerie place, did he still need to reason with them?

Anyway, from the hints in the rules, Zhang Yangqing could tell this place was dangerous.

The locals here just didn’t seem to realize yet who the truly dangerous one was.

Now, they seemed to have figured it out.

Seeing Zhang Yangqing so assertive, his mountaineering teammates found it somewhat expected, yet still surprising.

After all, this guy had been doing things his own way from the start, never caring about others’ feelings.

Such a person was either a fool or an absolute powerhouse.

When he slaughtered the wolf pack, the mountaineering teammates had already concluded he was the latter.

And after determining that Zhang Yangqing was an absolute powerhouse, these four teammates weren’t overly fearful.

From this, one could guess that these four must have their own skills and trump cards.

They weren’t afraid of Zhang Yangqing—at least not at this stage.

In the temple, under Zhang Yangqing’s role-reversing question, the Square-Faced Man immediately answered, “The Village Chief is out and hasn’t returned yet.”

Anyway, he could say whatever he wanted; Zhang Yangqing had no way to verify the truth of his words.

But ever since Zhang Yangqing revealed his aura, the people around seemed much more accommodating.

Their deadpan expressions turned into ingratiating smiles.

Seeing this, Hu Liuqi breathed a sigh of relief and murmured, “As expected, Zhang Tianshi seems to have already noticed something.”

An expert team member nearby seemed to hear Hu Liuqi and chimed in, “Old Hu, why doesn’t Zhang Tianshi just kill everyone in the village? Wouldn’t that be safer?”

In this expert team member’s view, if there were no living people in the village, the danger would cease to exist.

Hu Liuqi shook his head and explained, “That’s a matter of clearing the stage versus achieving the highest rating. If Zhang Tianshi only wanted to clear the stage, he could indeed kill anyone he encountered this round. But to get a perfect score, he needs to gather intelligence. Something special will definitely happen in the village tonight. By encountering these special events, he can obtain a lot of intelligence, which forms the basis for survival in later stages and is key to ultimately accessing the hidden treasure.”

As he spoke, Hu Liuqi opened the live streams of other superhumans. Indeed, none of the other superhumans acted recklessly.

In the strange world, killing the supernatural wasn’t the goal; the goal was to clear the stage and obtain rewards.

Then, Hu Liuqi continued explaining, “Zhang Tianshi’s brilliance lies in the fact that he only acts after obtaining confirmed intelligence, not by killing indiscriminately when he knows nothing. This is the difference between a top-tier clearer and other clearers. Don’t think that a SSSSS rating can be achieved through killing alone.”

The strange world wasn’t that simple. The time taken to complete tasks, locations explored, intelligence obtained, approval ratings from key NPCs, unlocking important locations, obtaining special treasures, completing hidden tasks, etc.—all these were criteria for achieving a high rating.

According to Hu Liuqi’s judgment, if one only considered speed and killing, the maximum rating would be SS.

And that required a flawless performance with no mistakes.

In the last strange world, the Holy Knight Sidney from the Ramen Kingdom was the epitome of speed and minimizing errors.

These were all things the expert team had to record and evaluate daily.

Hu Liuqi was a die-hard fan of Zhang Yangqing. In Hu Liuqi’s words: The more you understand Zhang Tianshi, the more you realize how powerful he is.

Here, Hu Liuqi wasn’t just boasting; you could even see traces of Zhang Yangqing in other Chosen Ones—that is, Zhang Yangqing’s past strategies.

By mastering some of Zhang Yangqing’s methods, these Chosen Ones could increase their survival rate in the strange world.

In the strange world, the villagers seemed eager to invite the mountaineering team into their homes.

The Goatee Captain played a crucial role this round. He found various excuses to ask the other villagers to leave first, allowing the team to discuss.

The Square-Faced Man didn’t pressure them, only said they should decide quickly, as the temperature here was very cold at night.

He also told them some rules:
[In the village, disrespecting the statue is a capital offense. Do not touch the statue.]
[Each family only has one guest room. If you don’t mind, you can squeeze in.]
[Some villagers are not hospitable. Mountaineers must not provoke them.]
[The village is very safe; the outside is dangerous. Do not go out before dawn.]
[If you need help, everyone can come to him.]

One thing the Square-Faced Man didn’t mention was that the Village Chief was a forbidden word here and must not be mentioned.

Even though he didn’t say it, the Chosen Ones seemed to have already understood.

After the villagers left, the mountaineering teammates glanced at each other.

Then they got busy.

They checked if the walls had ears and then closed the main door.

The Purple-Eyed Woman, the magician, even placed something in the corners of the temple.

Were they magic props?

But since she didn’t say, the others didn’t ask.

Most Chosen Ones were the ones with nothing to do, as their specialties couldn’t be utilized here.

Instead, they became the ones in the team who needed the most care, which made them somewhat embarrassed.

But the other teammates didn’t seem to mind.

After everything was ready, the Goatee Captain took out paper and pen and wrote a message.
[I think this place is very strange. If we can find the Village Chief, we might understand what’s happening here.]

Without firewood, staying in the temple wasn’t safe. To avoid freezing, they had no choice but to go to the villagers’ homes.

To increase their survival rate, they had to obtain more information.

This was also part of the Goatee Captain’s experience operating in this area.

The others also picked up paper and pens to write down their thoughts.
[I think we can all squeeze into one place; it would be safer.]

This was the Gold-Rimmed Glasses man’s idea, as he didn’t know the rules.

At this point, the Chosen Ones began to use the paper and pen to vaguely write down parts of the rules.

They claimed these were details they had discovered themselves, letting everyone discuss countermeasures together.

After all, everyone felt the Square-Faced Man’s words were a mix of truth and falsehood, seemingly intended to make them break the rules.

The key point of this stage was how to wake up, because if anyone overslept and couldn’t assemble, they might not make it out.

For the Chosen Ones, getting through this stage required relying on the Purple-Eyed Woman.

She was a magician and had many magic props.

Everyone seemed curious about where she pulled them out from, but she indeed, like Doraemon, inexplicably produced props from various parts of her body.

It made people suspect that she might be using ‘magician’ as a cover for performing magic.

But here, the issue of trust arose.

The Purple-Eyed Woman handed out some cards to everyone, explaining their uses.

Words could be written on the white cards, functioning like a chat group where others could see what each person wrote.

This served as a tool for mutual communication.

After all, this place was snowing heavily and had no signal; having such a tool was already quite good.

The pink cards were vibration alarm clock cards to be used after 7 AM. Whoever woke up would crumple their card into a ball, and the cards on others would vibrate.

Of course, this card needed to be placed close to the body.

The purple cards were alarm cards. If in danger, tearing this card would alert the others, who would try to rescue.

Then, they had to familiarize themselves with everyone’s card codes and usage methods here.

The Chosen Ones were all grateful that the Purple-Eyed Woman was here this round; otherwise, they would likely be in grave danger.

The team’s cohesion seemed to reach a new level.

Then the Chosen Ones began continuously visiting the villagers here.

Everyone chose different houses to stay in.

There were twenty-three households in total, each house three stories high and quite large.

Aside from eleven households unwilling to open their doors, the others were all happy to host the mountaineers.

Most Chosen Ones chose kind-looking homeowners who were very enthusiastic.

The Chosen One from the Pyramid Kingdom chose a house that looked like a haunted house, with a homeowner who appeared fierce and had a bad temper. This homeowner seemed somewhat aloof but didn’t refuse.

His approach of doing the opposite of others was considered quite outrageous.

As for choosing a house to stay in, if you’re wondering if there was an even more outrageous choice, of course there was.

Zhang Yangqing’s choice was something no one expected.

During the stage where the villagers left and the mountaineering team prepared to discuss,

Zhang Yangqing couldn’t be bothered to talk to them and strode away.

It radiated a feeling of ‘I’m invincible, do as you please.’

What was there to discuss?
Did you really think this place was dangerous?
Seeing Zhang Yangqing leave, the other four felt somewhat resentful.

If this guy weren’t so strong, and if they didn’t want to reveal their strength, they would definitely have taunted Zhang Yangqing.

As for what they wanted to discuss, Zhang Yangqing didn’t care and couldn’t be bothered.

When the Square-Faced Man, smiling, entered his house and was about to close the door, he found a smiling person at his doorstep.

His smile instantly vanished, and he asked, puzzled, “What do you want?”

He didn’t dare speak too loudly, as Zhang Yangqing had already demonstrated unusual strength.

“I think your house is quite nice.”

Zhang Yangqing was implicitly saying, I’m staying here tonight.

Others didn’t dare choose it, but I did, and I’m quite happy to play it this way.

“Uh…”

The Square-Faced Man was momentarily speechless.

When other Chosen Ones chose a house to stay in, they were the ones being scared.

When Zhang Yangqing chose a house to stay in, he was the one scaring the homeowner.

“What? You’re not willing to host me?”

Zhang Yangqing said this still wearing a smile.

His words carried a tone of seeking consent, but the undertone was clearly saying, Just try refusing.
See if I deal with you or not.

But the Square-Faced Man broke out in a cold sweat.

He thought, How is this any different from threatening me?
“Welcome, welcome! Having you stay truly brings honor to my humble abode!”

Faced with this jinx, he could only smile and let Zhang Yangqing into the house.

But Zhang Yangqing’s next words made him want to vomit blood.
“Of course.”

Good grief, you’re not planning on being polite at all?
If Zhang Yangqing knew what he was thinking, he would definitely say: You’re planning to kill me, why should I be polite with you?