Duosheng Danyuan

My understanding of the strange rules themselves is actually incomplete. Su Wanqing clearly knows more, but it can't be much better than mine, at least not as systematically, not to mention she can't communicate with us at all right now.

To survive in this hellish place, we need to first analyze the essence of the strange rules and supernatural phenomena.

With this in mind, I began searching for information about strange rules. Starting with the most popular and classic zoo rule strange rules, and then moving on to the logical essence of rule strange rules and related comments, I spent a full hour and a half browsing nearly twenty posts about rule strange rules.

These posts not only include the strange rules themselves, but also some analyses and questions about them. Although most of them are discussion posts created out of love by netizens, they have indeed given me some additional insights.

First, there may be false rules in rule-based superstitions, and those of us living in this world need to discern this for ourselves. In most cases, the existence of false rules should be mentioned by other rules, but there may also be a worst-case scenario—that is, there are false rules that are not explicitly stated in the rules themselves.

Secondly, the rules in the strange tales of rules include not only ordinary rules, but also hidden rules and rules written in red. The hidden rules are not a major concern; the Lianxintang's rule narrative uses the term "basic rules," which speaks volumes. The key issue is the red rules.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but pause for a moment, and then unconsciously rolled up my sleeve and touched the eight characters engraved on my right arm: "A person who fits in well will not be misled by his own thoughts."

Although the wound has become a flesh-colored scar due to scabbing, the blood-red color when I first saw these eight characters and their subsequent dark red color remind me that this rule may be the "red rule" mentioned online, a rule that I need to pay special attention to.

Third, in stories of rule-based supernatural tales, there are very few, if any, scenarios where one can escape simply by following the rules. In the extremely rare cases where escape is possible by following the rules, the protagonist will encounter situations where reality clashes with the rules, leading to conflict.

This is both bad news and good news. In the dozens of strange tales about rules, the obvious or subtle contradictions between the rules are precisely the key to the protagonist's ability to break the deadlock. In other words, if I can find the contradictions and connections between the rules in various locations within the Shengdan Academy, I might be able to find some clues to returning to the real world.

Fourth, and finally, in the world of the strange and supernatural, there are situations where companions sacrifice themselves and become adversaries. This aligns with my expectations. When we were initially divided into groups in front of the Quiet Abode, I vaguely sensed that the relationships between the nine of us were somewhat delicate.

Although no one in the Shengdan Academy has yet violated the rule of instant death, it's always good to be on the safe side. Just in case something truly life-threatening happens...

I shook my head, unwilling to think any further. Qian Zhe and Xie Qinghan were people I could use without batting an eye; Tang Anran, Zhang Muyun, Chen Yu, and Wang Hao were people I had never offended, in other words, completely unrelated; Zeng Yixi, Su Wanqing, Lin Xu... we weren't that close.

From a cost-benefit perspective, if it's about my own survival, I'm willing to sacrifice any of the other nine people in my group; it's just a matter of priority and order.

"Tsk."

Frustrated, in order to suppress my unconscious thoughts of prioritizing sacrifices, I turned my attention back to the computer.

I casually browsed through the campus QQ groups, WeChat groups, class dormitory groups, and hobby groups. The information turnover rate of these groups was terrifying; sixteen days was enough to generate tens of thousands of messages. However, even when I was just browsing through the message records from my hospital stay in the illusion, I didn't find anything abrupt.

No matter how you look at it, these chat logs are nothing more than ordinary boasting and bragging, nothing more.

Just as I was marveling at the wonder of the Jingxilu Illusionary Realm's simulation of reality, my roommate gradually woke up with a few soft murmurs.

"Ugh... Holy crap, you're up so early?"

The speaker was the secretary directly opposite the chairman's bunk. When I turned around to look at him, he was leaning on the railing of the upper bunk, looking at me in surprise.

"I'll look up some information," I replied casually.

Seemingly disturbed by the secretary's commotion, the leaders and the chairman also woke up one after another.

"Ah~" The chairman yawned, sat up, and noticed me at his computer. "Up so early to play games?"

"Look something up," I repeated.

"Oh..." The chairman was clearly still half asleep. After I brushed him off, he threw his head back onto the pillow and fell asleep again.

I pursed my lips, glanced back at the alarm clock beside me, and realized that it was already late. Before I knew it, it was just past eight o'clock.

Although there is still an hour left, I have already obtained a considerable amount of information in the past two hours. It will take a lot of time to digest all of this information. There is no need to rush to search for all the information randomly on this first time I go online. As the old saying goes, haste makes waste.

With this in mind, I shut down the chairman's computer, then stood up, took the alarm clock, and walked straight to the door.

"Hello!"

The moment I opened the door, the leader, who had been silent until now, suddenly shouted at me in a loud voice.

"What?" I glanced sideways, looked back at the far corner of the dormitory bed, and frowned.

"Please bring me some breakfast."

Speechless, I wanted to leave immediately.

Did you hear me?

"Oh." I replied dismissively and walked straight out the door. "Huh?"

The expected sudden awakening did not occur as anticipated. I strode out of the room and landed face-first on the stuffy, damp corridor of the boys' dormitory, where a familiar scent filled my nostrils.

Suddenly realizing what was happening, I immediately went back to my room, and unconsciously, I closed the door a little too loudly.

"Hmm...what's wrong? Not going?" The boss asked, puzzled, noticing that I had just left but immediately ran back.

"Stop coming in and out, okay?" the chairman said, somewhat annoyed, clearly still a bit grumpy from being woken up.

"..." This time, I didn't respond to anyone. I just turned around and glanced at my roommates' beds to make sure that the three of them were still in bed and hadn't moved.

"Does this mean I can't leave the house if my alarm clock doesn't go off?"

Staring at the alarm clock in my hand, I fell into deep thought for a moment.

Indeed, in the descriptions, Su Wanqing, Lin Xu, and Chen Yu all left the room after the alarm clock rang, just like me. The only difference was that, although they all didn't hear the alarm, I chose to leave directly and actually left; Chen Yu was skeptical about the illusionary world, so after opening the door, he actually arrived at the virtual world outside the door that Jingxi Lodge had simulated for him.

Based on these examples, as long as I firmly believe that what lies outside the door is the Tranquil Abode and not the real world, I should be able to wake up from the virtual reality created by the Tranquil Abode. However, just now, things did not develop as I expected.

Why?

Puzzled, my gaze involuntarily drifted back to the alarm clock in my hand. Could it really be as I subconsciously imagined, that I could only leave after the alarm rang?

This was an unexpected discovery.

"Sigh... Am I really going to have to stay here for another half hour?" I muttered to myself, shaking my head and sighing self-deprecatingly.

"Are you going out or not? If you are, could you please bring me breakfast?" The boss's voice came from the bed again.

"Ah... um!" Subconsciously, I wanted to reply to my boss.

But just as I opened my mouth to reply, a flash of inspiration swept through my cerebral cortex, giving me goosebumps all over my body.

A more bizarre yet more plausible conjecture gradually surfaced in my mind—whether what lies outside the door is the Shengdan Academy or a virtual reality, could it be whether I respond to the request of the person in my dream before leaving?

This conjecture is from a very unconventional angle, and even somewhat far-fetched, but it surprisingly matches in a few instances!

The first time Su Wanqing went out, she responded to her younger brother, so instead of returning to Shengdan Academy, she went to the illusory door prepared for her by Jingxi Lodge. The second time she went out, Su Wanqing also heard her family calling before leaving the door, but this time, she ignored the family members fabricated by Jingxi Lodge and went out directly.

Su Wanqing's mindset was completely different during these two openings of the door, to the point that Lin Xu and I both made incorrect judgments about the mechanism of the door in the Jingxilu illusion. Because of this comparison, coupled with Chen Yu's experience, we became even more convinced that what lies behind the door in the Jingxilu illusion depends solely on our perception, rather than on some more objective laws.

Looking back now, our judgment yesterday was so crude it was almost vulgar.

The illusion of the Tranquil Abode ultimately originated from the Tranquil Abode itself; it is, in itself, part of the strange tales of rules. Since it is part of the strange tales of rules, it must have its own unique set of rules and operating logic.

However, as mentioned in online forums, these rules are not explicitly written in the ghost stories, but are left for the unfortunate characters in the stories to discover themselves.

In other words, I may have just discovered a hidden rule about the Quiet Abode!

Thinking about this, I couldn't help but feel excited. The reason is simple: this discovery is invaluable, both from the perspective of our survival and from the perspective of our bargaining power in negotiations with others.

However, I still need to verify it.

So I replied to my supervisor, "Okay."

Then, I opened the door again.

To my surprise, I found that the corridor outside the door was indeed the men's dormitory corridor again.

So I closed the door again.

"Are you going or not?" the leader asked impatiently.

"..." To test the authenticity of my newly discovered hidden rule, I remained silent, preparing to open the door for the third time.