Chapter 84

(Upgraded Cards; Yellow Springs Inn; The Chime of Bells)

At dawn.

When Gu Liang woke up, he was immediately greeted with an enlarged and extremely masculine face.

Although it had been a month since they started waking up together like this, Gu Liang was still unaccustomed to it.

Thus, he had stiffened for three seconds before he eventually came to his senses.

Gu Liang tried to move but his four limbs were being entangled with Yang Ye, which made it virtually impossible.

In that instant, he understood why he had woken up so early.

Typically, Gu Liang was perfectly capable of sleeping in. But he had experienced a nightmare today, where he was ensnared by a strange and seemingly carnivorous rattan as he walking through a forest, which made it difficult for him to breathe.

He was starting to realise that it was not a rattan that was ensnaring him, but Yang Ye.

Gu Liang stopped moving, lest he woke up Yang Ye.

However, insomuch as he wanted to close his eyes and sleep, it proved to be a difficult task— and it was solely because Yang Ye was holding him way too tight.

In the midst of his hesitation, Gu Liang saw Yang Ye open his eyes.

And almost simultaneously, Gu Liang felt something so he started to push Yang Ye away.

Yang Ye flipped over his body, pressing Gu Liang down as he started to kiss him.

“Don’t panic, Liang Liang. It’s just a normal reaction after waking up in the morning. Aren’t you a man too?”

“Go and shave your beard, you’re grazing me.”

“Sure. I’ll go in a bit.”

Yang Ye nuzzled Gu Liang’s lower jaw with his face, “Even Liang Liang’s beard is so soft.”

“… Let go of me, I want to get out of bed.”

Gu Liang’s complexion was slightly sour; after his beard was called soft, he kept feeling like his dignity as a man had been challenged.

Yang Ye hugged him, as though he did not have the intention to let go of him at all. “You like sleeping in the most, don’t you?”

Gu Liang: “I’ll join you in your run? Don’t you go for a run every day?”

Yang Ye: “Sure, we can go later. We finally managed to fill up the punishment card, let me kiss you for a while more.”

Gu Liang: “Yang Ye, you…… Mmpf—”

After making out for some time, Yang Ye cupped Gu Liang’s face and said in a hoa.r.s.e voice: “Who told a certain someone to fall back into their old habit?”

Gu Liang did not make a single noise.

In this month, there were certainly instances where he was not fully accustomed to the relations.h.i.+p and feelings between the both of them.

In addition to his own self-inferiority, the distrust he had for people would occasionally mix in, which made Gu Liang wonder how someone could possibly like him, and he felt that perhaps Yang Ye might be mistaken about something.

Hence, when he abruptly had those feelings again before they went to sleep last night, he went to look for Yang Ye to have a chat.

In the present moment, Yang Ye continued to kiss him as he said: “Since Liang Liang had such thoughts last night, it indicates that I haven’t done enough. I’ll kiss you a few more times to see if you can feel my genuine affection for you.”

Truly, this person was way too shameless.

However, in an unexpected feat, Gu Liang could not find any words to refute him in the moment. When they got to the bottom of the matter, it did seem like he was the problem.

After being kissed for twenty minutes straight, Gu Liang finally pushed him away successfully. He got off the bed and walked towards the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower.”

Yang Ye: “I want to shower too. Together?”

“I’m showering by myself.”

Gu Liang tried to stop him, but Yang Ye’s arm had already stretched in before he could close the door.

Following closely, Yang Ye’s tall and large figure covered him, arm wrapping around Gu Liang’s waist as he turned and pressed him against the bathroom door before he started kissing him again.

“Yang Ye, don’t— Mmpf—!”

After being kissed for another twenty minutes, Gu Liang felt a little oxygen deficient and his strength was all gone.

In the instant where Yang Ye released him, his back slid down the door slightly, albeit involuntarily.

With due haste, Yang Ye held him before he brought him towards the bathroom sink in one fluid motion. “Shall we shower together?”

Gu Liang: “I’m showering alone!”

Yang Ye: “Liang Liang, look at you, do you even have the strength to do so?”

Unable to tolerate it any longer, Gu Liang kicked him away, red-faced. “Get out!”

Thus, the pair showered one after another, went to grab some breakfast before taking a short stroll in the garden.

When afternoon arrived, Gu Liang ate his lunch, and took an afternoon nap like he usually would.

Since Yang Ye did not manage to run in the morning, he decided to run alone in the garden while Gu Liang was taking his afternoon nap.

Once he came back from his run, Gu Liang was already awake so Yang Ye embraced and kissed him for a period of time. Afterwards, the pair started to play poker.

They switched to chess after they were done with poker, and then they received the notice to draw their next script from the system.

“May all the players gather at the main lobby of the hotel to draw the card for their next scenario.

“The players who are currently residing in this resting area, are all players who are capable of entering the advanced scripts. Due to each player’s outstanding performance, from the next advanced scripted segment onwards, parts of the game’s rules and regulations will be amended.

“The following is the announcement of the new rules and regulations of the game, may all the players listen carefully.

“One: formerly, prior to the start of the scenario, each player had to draw their scripts through the roulette, before drawing their corresponding character card, and the players had to return their cards to the NPCs in the end to allow said NPCs to collect the cards.

“Starting from the next script, it will not be the same. In a short moment, the cards that everyone will be drawing are upgraded advanced-level cards, which possess numerous functions and everything that is required is available. This card will be bound to the players, and will accompany everyone until the true ending of the game.

“After entering the advanced scenarios, the system will be using electronic card drawing. Correspondingly, through the upgraded and advanced-level card interface, everyone can draw their randomised script and character directly.”

When Gu Liang listened to this point, he thought in his heart, Like h.e.l.l it’s “randomised”.

Previously, the men in black in black had pretended to take out a roulette and numerous character cards, probably for the sake of confusing the players. He was afraid that the player’s script and roles had already been determined a long time ago.

This time around, it was even better; they were giving the players the equivalent of a touchscreen “mobile phone”, and it was estimated that something akin to an electronic roulette would appear on the surface to allow the players to draw their scripts like they were playing a phone game.

Regardless of whether it was the script or character drawing, it would always appear randomised on the surface, but the truth was that the system had already determined their designations a long time ago.

“Two: the only reason why the system disallowed the mutual search of bodies between players prior to this, was because it did not wish for disobedient players to take the chance to steal the cards and check the contents of another player’s card. Starting from the next script onwards, the players can mutually search each other during the investigation and exploration segment.

“The card that you will be receiving in a short moment, will have a dual verification function of iris and fingerprint recognition to unlock the card once the binding has been completed. Hence, players can set their hearts at ease; only you can check the contents of your own card.

“In summary, the player’s script and character drawing, segment side tasks, plot, timelines, help function, map and navigation, etcetera, will be bound to this singular card. You are reminded again to safeguard your cards properly.

“Three: after entering the advanced scenarios, the system will have stricter requirements with regards to everyone’s performance during the script enactment segment. Please honour the character’s setting, background, motivations, and behaviour rigorously, OOC behaviour is not allowed.

“For example: Character A likes Character B, which means A is willing to help B conceal some matters that are unfavourable to B. The aforementioned matter might not appear in the side task, but the player enacting A has to strictly abide by the character’s behavioural logic.

“During the script enactment segment, A is not allowed to inform the other players of these matters on their own accord. Otherwise, their actions will be judged as OOC, and Player A will be met with a punishment that is doubly terrifying.”

Gu Liang mused, In fact, that rule was only established to make everything appear more realistic during the script enactment segment.

After all, the system did not have that rule during the investigation and centralised discussion segments.

If the players persisted in the concealment during the centralised discussion, it was highly likely that they were pursuing their side task rewards.

“Alright, may all the players go to the main lobby and draw their cards!

“For the rest, please check your informational reminders on your card at your leisure.

“Hope everyone will enjoy the game!”

Gu Liang and Yang Ye exchanged a glance before they made their way towards the main lobby.

This time around, it was Yang Ye who used the [Team Card] which allowed him to choose a teammate for the next scenario.

Naturally, Yang Ye chose Gu Liang.

On their way there, the pair b.u.mped into Li Xiao Yu.

Li Xiao Yu expressed that she wanted to continue hugging their big thighs, and after asking for their opinions, she chose to form a team with Gu Liang.

However, when Li Xiao Yu tried to use the card, the interface informed her that Gu Liang had already formed a team with someone else. Hence, Li Xiao Yu could only choose Yang Ye.

Upon walking into the main lobby, the men in black issued a blank white card to every player before they taught the players how to initialise the card and input their iris and fingerprint, thereby completing their binding with the card.

After opening the card interface and following the men in black’s instruction, Gu Liang found the place to draw his script.

Conforming to Gu Liang’s expectation, a roulette appeared on the interface for the sake of false appearances.

The [Spin b.u.t.ton] in the centre of the roulette was greyed out. When Gu Liang tapped on it, he could not light it up.

Just as his finger tapped on the b.u.t.ton, a prompt popped out on the card interface: “Player Yang Ye has used the [Team Card] to form a team with Gu Liang to enter the next scenario, hence Yang Ye will be drawing the script first.”

Gu Liang thought that it made sense; when he used the card previously, the system allowed him to draw the script first and he had drawn Undying Town.

That also explained why Li Xiao Yu could not form a team with him once Yang Ye had chosen him.

Or else, according to the rule that the person who used the [Team Card] would draw the script first, who was Gu Liang supposed to follow if Yang Ye and Li Xiao Yu drew different scripts?

Although Gu Liang believed that the system had already arranged where each person would go, the system still had to commit to these actions on the surface, since it wanted to deceive players into thinking that the drawing was completely “randomised”.

But getting back to the main topic, in this instance, Yang Ye chose to form a team with Gu Liang, and Li Xiao Yu chose to form a team with Yang Ye… Since that was the case, Yang Ye’s card drawing interface should be asking him to wait for Player Li Xiao Yu to draw the card.

Gu Liang glanced at Yang Ye. Sure enough, he saw him shaking his head.

Hence, together with Yang Ye, Gu Liang set his sights on Li Xiao Yu’s person.

After a short moment’s work, Gu Liang’s card vibrated and another row of words appeared on the screen: “Player Gu Liang will be partic.i.p.ating in《 Rhinoceros Shown 》for his next script. Please draw your character role next.”

Gu Liang entered the character drawing interface and casually tapped on a card.

That card exhibited a movement effect as if it had been flipped open by Gu Liang.

Once the card was flipped to its front face, Gu Liang’s character for the next scenario appeared.

The broadcast rang out at that moment.

“Players are asked to line up and board the sedan, the men in black will be bringing you towards your new scenario premise.”

Before he got into the sedan, Gu Liang turned his head back habitually to look at Yang Ye.

Yang Ye nodded his head, and Gu Liang proceeded to step into the sedan and sit down.

* * *

It had to be said that the card had gone through a huge innovation and it was becoming increasingly similar to a mobile phone with different functions and b.u.t.tons.

After sitting on the sedan, Gu Liang tapped open his character introduction page and saw that his character was called [School Senior Hua] in this instance.

“You are called [School Senior Hua], 22 years old this year, a fourth year student from ‘I Am Super Intelligent’ University, Computer Science faculty.

“Previously, you had a girlfriend for more than three years called [Aileen], she is gentle, kind and naively cute, which is your ideal partner. You chased after her in your first year, and both of you stayed together until your fourth year.

“Half a year ago, perhaps due to the pressure of having to find work after graduating, or the worry that both of you could not find work in the same city, in addition to the fact that you had just started your interns.h.i.+p, you had very little time to spend with her… Her temper grew and gradually worsened. Sometimes you were busy at your interns.h.i.+p and you could not answer her call in time, so she would throw her temper at you.

“Three months ago, your constant arguments have exhausted your feelings for her, and you finally broke up with her.

“Fortune is as unexpected as the weather; a month later, you learnt the news that she had pa.s.sed away due to her illness, and all sorts of feelings welled up in your heart immediately. When all was said and done, this is the girlfriend you deeply loved once. You might have argued and fought, but you are still extremely upset by her death.

“At her funeral, you unintentionally heard her friend say that she went to a place called [ Yellow Springs Inn ] more than half a year ago. Under the propulsion of your intuition, you went online to search for this inn. You discovered that this inn actually has a myth— this inn can allow you to see the deceased.

“After learning of this matter, you could not resist going to the Yellow Springs Inn to have a look.

“You felt that the likely reason for the decline of your relations.h.i.+p was because you did not spend much time with her during that period of time. You feel regretful and remorseful. If it was possible, you naturally wish to see her again, and tell her that you are sorry.

“However, as a university student, you subscribe to the philosophical doctrine that physical matter is the whole of reality, and the truth is that you did not believe this legend. But this is the last place that she travelled to, and you decided to revisit the old places she had been to.

“After boarding the airplane, you unexpectedly encountered [ Zhao Meili ]. She is a schoolmate from the same year, the school flower of the English Faculty, and she used to be dorm mates with your previous girlfriend Aileen. There has been hearsay that she has a secret crush on you, but you never paid any attention to her…”

After the character introduction, there were also detailed descriptions that were akin to a chronicle: it roughly spoke about the specific instances where School Senior Hua and Aileen were together, the first time he argued with Aileen after his fourth year interns.h.i.+p began, so on and so forth, and it was to the extent where their first kiss was included. All in all, it was incredibly detailed.

However, the specific timeline was absent. Gu Liang knew that he had to wait for the system to issue the plot at any given time.

After stepping off the sedan, Gu Liang walked down the small road in the middle of a forest.

He was pulling his luggage when another person walked up from behind him.

Gu Liang turned his head back. It was Li Xiao Yu.

“You’re Zhao Meili?” Gu Liang asked her.

“Yeah. My character this time around seems to be a little green tea. You’re School Senior Hua?”

Having thought of something, Li Xiao Yu laughed. “You have to protect me later. I have an emotional connection to you in the scenario, if Yang Ye knows about it, he’s going to beat me up.”

“He won’t.” Gu Liang said seriously.

Li Xiao Yu: “Hey, I’m aware that he would never bully girls. He’s not that type of person. I was just casually saying it and you’re already defending him. The feelings between the both of you are getting better and better.”

Gu Liang wore a poker face, “Pay attention to your character design, don’t diverge.”

Li Xiao Yu pretended to be innocent by nodding her head. “Okay, Big Brother. I’ll stop making jokes about you.”

A thought occurred to Gu Liang. He asked her: “Right, what are you here for?”

“Chasing my male G.o.d, what else? My male G.o.d is you.”

Since Li Xiao Yu was very familiar with Gu Liang, she did not feel awkward in the least, especially when everyone was acting in compliance with the script. “The good friend who rests on the bunk above yours has already been bribed by me, and he told me that you were coming here. Whether it was your flight itinerary, the hotel you booked, or matters big and small, he told me everything, so I followed you.”

Gu Liang shot her a look, “For the same reason, did you kill my girlfriend?”

“How is that even possible? Didn’t Aileen die from an illness?”

Li Xiao Yu said, “Moreover, when both of you were still together, I didn’t even kill her. Why would I kill her when both of you had already broken up? Honestly speaking, I followed you because I was genuinely afraid that you were too heartbroken because of her death, and I was scared that something would happen to you as you were travelling alone.”

Although Gu Liang had tossed out the question casually, it was true that he had some doubts.

However, Li Xiao Yu’s explanation made sense as well.

It was unknown what they would encounter in [Yellow Springs Inn], and Gu Liang still had to wait for the plot to develop to its next step before saying anything else.

Once he stepped off the sedan, Gu Liang could sense the dense moisture in this location.

He had no choice but to sigh with admiration; the details of this scenario was constructed with extreme realism and even the atmosphere was quite similar to the Guizhou region.

Owing to the fact that there was frequent rain, the road was wet. The humidity in the air was comparatively heavier, which made people feel stuffy.

And to the naked eye, a lot of bugs and ants could be discerned.

Moreover, Gu Liang had barely taken a few steps out and he was already bitten in the back of his neck several times.

When they reached the end of the forest trail, Gu Liang saw an inn which was surrounded by the greenery.

At a glance, that inn was rather scenic. It was built on the mountainside, hiding in the midst of mountains and precipitous edges; half of it was hidden by the mountain body and trees while the other half was exposed as if it was a young lady concealing her face with the pipa she was hugging in her arms. It gave rise to an intense and mysterious flavour which made people want to go closer to pry into the secrets that it was hiding inside.

The inn was built on stilts because of the heavy moisture on the ground, and the bottom layer of this kind of constructed building would usually be used to store sundries while the upper floors were used for habitation, because the upper floors were drier and well-ventilated by comparison.

The road south of the inn led into the mountain, and the northern direction went towards the lake.

When they reached the entrance of the inn, Gu Liang veered off the small road by a few steps and he saw that lake.

It was currently evening. The afterglow of dusk was concentrated, sheeting half of the water surface with red, while the other half was dark.

The inn was built on the midpoint of the mountain, and a portion of it was stained red as well. With the vestiges of the evening sun illuminating the scenery, it was absolutely magnificent.

The only thing that contrasted this magnificent scenery was the two words “Yellow Springs” on the horizontal and wooden tablet hanging above the inn’s entrance.

The two words seemed to increase the weirdness of this place, as if the lake that was surging with great momentum at the side was no longer an ordinary lake, but the lake of oblivion.

“Guests have arrived. From your appearances… and the integrated booking information, you must be School Senior Hua and Zhao Meili?”

That voice was a female voice with immense charm.

It was as though from that voice alone, she could create ten thousand kinds of amorous feelings.

Following the voice, Gu Liang and Li Xiao Yu looked in the direction of the inn entrance, and saw a lady dressed up like a proprietress.

She was wearing clothes similar to the Mao ethnicity, with a short upper garment with a blue base and white floral patterns printed on top. Her waist portion was exposed, all fair and slim, and there was even a small bell on her navel.

Going downwards, below her short skirt was a pair of slender and long legs and she was also wearing bells on her ankles, which meant that every step she took was accompanied by the rings of the swaying bells. The sonorous chimes, her pace, and the sashay of her hips, were basically as charming as her voice.

In the instant where Gu Liang saw her, a certain familiar feeling arose in his heart.

It goes without saying that he did not know her in reality, and this feeling belonged to the character.

The best comparison was the scene inside the piano room in the Folding Ancient Castle script, where as the actor of Actor Ming, he had treated Earl William like he was the Duke when he was looking at him; and presently, as School Senior Hua looked at the Proprietress, he felt that she was familiar in an inexplicably way.

As the scripts became more and more advanced, the realism in the script was proportionally increasing, just like he had antic.i.p.ated.

However, Gu Liang genuinely could not comprehend how the system was accomplis.h.i.+ng this, wherein the feelings and consciousness of the players were made to become a closer fit to the characters themselves.

Li Xiao Yu waved her hand at her. “It’s me! I’m Zhao Meili, the person beside me is School Senior Hua. Are you the proprietress here?”

“I am the proprietress of this inn, my name is [Proprietress Ling].”

Proprietress Ling walked up to both of them, raising the keys in her hand. “We don’t have enough manpower in this guest house, and we’ll be troubling you to bring up your luggage on your own. Let me bring you to your rooms. Everything here is very traditional; instead of entering the room with a card swipe, every room has its own key. The spare keys are hidden in my bedroom and they are hidden very well. The others won’t be able to find it, so please set your mind at ease, your items will not go missing.”

After following Proprietress Ling through the lobby of the inn, and up the traditional wooden staircase to reach the third floor, Gu Liang arrived at his own room. He was staying in Room 302 while Li Xiao Yu was staying beside him in Room 301.

Proprietress Ling helped them open their doors for the first time with the keys in her hands before she stated: “You can put your luggage in order, rest up, and then have your meal in a short while. Our dining hall is located on the second floor of that side building.

“Our inn’s only chef is called [Chef Huang]. With regards to dinner, he cooks from 6 to 8 o’ clock at night. We don’t have a menu here, it depends on the chef’s mood. He cooks up a few dishes in accordance with the guest situation. However, you can rest a.s.sured, the food he makes is delicious and you will definitely get to eat your fill, since you can always ask for more if it isn’t enough. But please do it before 8 o’ clock, since he will be resting after 8.”

Gu Liang glanced at the clock hanging inside the room. The time displayed was 6:30.

Gu Liang opened the luggage that the system had prepared to check if there was anything he could not let the others know about first.

After opening his luggage, he discovered that there were numerous photographs featuring his previous girlfriend Aileen, and some of the presents that Aileen had given School Senior Hua, like the love letters she had written. Apart from those items, there was nothing of particular interest beyond some packed clothes and basic necessities.

Once he was done checking his luggage, Gu Liang went out of his room and knocked on Li Xiao Yu’s door. After he asked her if she was ready, he brought her along to the dining hall at the side building.

Gu Liang was looking for Yang Ye.

He did not know the role that Yang Ye was portraying, and he could only guess that he was an inn visitor like him.

Since that was the case, Yang Ye had to eat eventually.

And when Gu Liang reached the dining hall, he saw Yang Ye at a glance.

A lady came over to give her self-introduction first. “I am [Waitress Jing], a service staff here.”

Gu Liang pointed at Yang Ye. “We can share a table with him.”

“Sure. I will inform the additional persons to Chef Huang, and ask him to increase the portion. Please hold on.” Attendant Jing said before she walked away.

Gu Liang sidled up to Yang Ye and sat down, whereas Li Xiao Yu sat opposite of them.

Once Gu Liang sat down, he saw Yang Ye grinning at him.

“What are you smiling about?”

“I came here to wait for you after I put down my luggage. It looks like we really have a tacit understanding.”

Underneath the table, Gu Liang nudged his leg with his toes, conveying that he should stop spouting nonsense because Li Xiao Yu was here.

He did not know if Li Xiao Yu had the ability to see through objects but she immediately said: “Both of you don’t need to feel embarra.s.sed in front of me! Display your love and affection! I enjoy watching, it’s fine!”

Gu Liang coughed lightly before he asked Yang Ye: “Who are you this time around?”

Yang Ye said: “I’m called [President Gao], the Mr. Perfect type. My wife died and I came here to see my wife.”

— Therefore, Yang Ye’s character also came here because he heard of the inn’s legend?

As more time pa.s.sed, rather than getting their dishes or seeing the other guests, Gu Liang was greeted with the arrival of the owner Proprietress Ling.

Proprietress Ling came over to make a few inquiries, like if their room was clean, and if it was comfortable.

After they gave their replies, Proprietress Ling promptly left.

Notably, Gu Liang was constantly pervaded with a strange feeling whenever he looked at Proprietress Ling.

Unable to shake off the feeling that something was wrong, Gu Liang kept staring at Proprietress Ling’s back figure until she entered the building next door.

Around this time, Li Xiao Yu had left for the bathroom.

Hence, Gu Liang’s chin was held by someone.

When he turned his head, Gu Liang saw Yang Ye, who was well within reach.

“What are you doing?” Gu Liang swatted his hand away.

Yang Ye asked him with a deep voice: “Are you looking at that gorgeous lady or something?”

Gu Liang: “What is with your thoughts?”

Yang Ye: “You were staring at her the entire time just now, for a minute at least! Do I look attractive or does she look attractive?”

Gu Liang was amused by Yang Ye’s expression. “Is there even a basis for comparison between the two of you?”

Yang Ye: “Let’s change the phrasing then, do you like looking at gorgeous women, or do you like looking at your handsome, das.h.i.+ng, and self-possessed boyfriend?”

“That’s enough, what kind of flying vinegar are you blindly eating?”

Supporting his forehead, Gu Liang chuckled as he said: “Sometimes, I really don’t know what you gays are arbitrarily thinking.”

“Tch—”

Yang Ye corrected his words righteously, “Liang Liang, this problem is a little severe. Are you saying that you’re not gay now?”

“I’m not.”

Gu Liang thought about it before he said decisively, “I don’t think I am.”

Yang Ye: “Liang Liang, how…”

Gu Liang stared at Yang Ye for a long moment. After some time, like he had gained a definitive answer after demonstrating his point through a certain formula, he used a calm and matter-of-factly tone to state: “I only like you alone.”

Yang Ye: !!!!!

A firework exploded in Yang Ye’s heart. If it were not for the fact they were in a scenario and they had to respect the character settings, to say nothing of how their current location was slightly inconvenient, he would have pressed himself against Gu Liang and kissed him hard.

Before Yang Ye had the time to reply, Waitress Jing came over with two plates and placed it down.

Following closely, a scream travelled over, from what seemed like the inn lobby in the building next door. It was Proprietress Ling’s voice.

The author has something to say:

Yang · tricking Liang Liang into confessing · Ye.

~*~*~

Translator’s Note:

The t.i.tle of this arc Rhinoceros Shown (犀照; xi zhao), is not a completely accurate translation because the second part in this context technically means ‘to illuminate’ or ‘s.h.i.+ne upon’ but it does not sound right (or nice), nor does it fully express what this arc is about because its usual meaning was twisted in this arc… you will get what I mean as this arc goes on.

Either way, in Chinese myth, Rhinoceros horns are believed to help avoid evil.

From Chinese Wikipedia: from the book of History of Jin Dynasty, it gives an account of a famous official by the name of Wu Qiao, who was in Wuchang District of Wuhan City, Hubei, socialising, when he noted that the water depth of Niuzhu jetty was unfathomable. Numerous generations have said there were a lot of monsters lurking in the water, so Wen Qiao ignited a rhinoceros to illuminate it; soon after, the fire that irradiated the water showed a few creatures in the water faintly. Their watery shapes were strange, and he could even see a person wearing crimson robes and riding in a horse carriage appear. That night, Wen Qiao dreamed of someone talking to him with extreme disgust: “This gentleman and I are human and ghost on different roads, why do you illuminate me?” It is unknown if it truly was the haunting of the spiritual world, but when Wen Qiao plucked out a tooth because of a toothache later, he suffered a paralysing stroke and he died shortly after.

Therefore, according to the legend, igniting a rhinoceros horn can allow someone to witness spiritual visions. And the phrase ‘rhinoceros shown’ was later used as a metaphor that a faint candlelight in a cave can elucidate a certain sense of understanding.