Rule 11: Trust No One

25-Year-old Shui Ning never expected that an ordinary field survey would send her to an isolated ancient village. On the stone tablet at the entrance of the village, ten blood-red rules are engraved—— You are not allowed to go out after the You hour, you are not allowed to respond when your name is called, you are not allowed to enter the cemetery in the back mountain, and you are not allowed to discuss dark marriages... Lin Po, the keeper of the temple, told her with a smile: "Girl, remember, if you violate any of the rules, our ancestors will come to collect you." Shui Ning does not believe in ghosts and gods. She believes in academics, logic, and evidence. Until that night, a villager was found dead in the back mountain cemetery because of "violations." The method of death is exactly as stated in the rules. A secret wedding is being planned in the village. The bride is a village girl who drowned ten years ago, and the groom is a foreign tourist who recently died. Shuining was told that if a "suitable" female corpse could not be found within seven days, she would become a living bride. She started investigating and found out: Every rule is a knife. The handle of the knife is in the hands of the ancestors, but the blade is held by the villagers. Lin Po, the keeper of the temple, would throw paper money out of her window every night. The village chief, Chen Shoutian, appears to be open-minded, but in fact he uses rules to eradicate dissidents. And the teacher Zhou Jingru, who never shows up, seems to be the real "inheriter" of the rules. What's even weirder is that Shui Ning saw a line of small words in the notes left by his mentor before he disappeared: "The Ten Rules are fake. The real Rule Zero can kill everyone." On the seventh day, the night of the full moon, the Yin Wedding Ceremony. Shui Ning was put on a red hijab and carried into the ancestral hall. But this time, she wasn't going to run away. She wants to use the most ancient method to break this century-old curse—— Let the rules eat the people who make the rules.