The room was a bit larger than expected, perhaps because it had been uninhabited for a long time, so the furnishings were simple.
A carved wooden bed hung with a green gauze canopy, a square table with two chairs, a slightly worn wardrobe, and by the window a dressing table with a bronze mirror on top.
The window was tightly shut, the paper yellowed, and only a sliver of light filtered in.
Xu Xi didn't rush to inspect the room. He first pulled the phone he had kept from the previous instance out of his pocket.
He only intended to see whether the phone's other functions would work inside this instance.
However, when he saw those icons still grayed out, the anxiety he'd been holding finally died down.
He sighed and opened the camera, taking a photo of the room.
Okay, nothing.
He was about to put the phone away when, in the next second, he spotted the lit call icon.
Huh?
Xu Xi tapped it and found it could indeed be used.
Without hesitation, he dialed that number again.
This time it was a disconnected number.
He wasn't surprised by that result.
After all, the instance's setting was clearly the Republican era, so it would be strange if calls connected.
He had only been itching to test it.
So besides the camera, calls could also work inside the instance.
Putting the phone away, Xu Xi began to search the room.
Dust had gathered under the bed, the wardrobe was empty, and the drawers held nothing.
Finally, his gaze landed on the blurred bronze mirror.
Xu Xi always felt a strange reverence toward mirrors.
Whether in horror movies or horror games, mirrors were often the creepiest things.
He stood before the dressing table but didn't immediately step up close. From a few paces away he observed the finely crafted bronze mirror.
The frame was brass, carved with intricate vine patterns. The mirror's surface wasn't very clear; the reflected room had a dim, yellowish haze.
After a moment's thought, Xu Xi walked up to the hazy bronze mirror.
He reached out and gently wiped the surface. It felt cold and slick, but his fingertips didn't pick up any obvious grime.
After waiting a while, there was no mirrored person acting differently, no sudden blood words or ghostly face appearing.
Xu Xi withdrew his hand in disappointment.
Everything in this room was normal.
He had just turned when, in the next second, he nearly swore out loud.
The footman who had shown him in was standing by the square table, holding a neatly folded set of clothes.
The man placed the garments lightly on the table, his movements rigidly respectful, yet he never looked up. His tone was flat and even: "Third Young Master, please change your clothes. The hour of the evening rites approaches. The Steward instructed that once you have changed, please proceed to the front hall. Afterwards we will go to the ancestral temple together."
When he finished speaking, he retreated back to the doorway and stood with his hands at his sides, motionless like an unanimated clay figure.
[What the—! That guy scared me to death by not saying a word]
[When did he come in? I didn't even notice]
[I can't take it, this manor feels so oppressive, it's eerie, even the servants feel creepy...]
[Maybe there's a chance he's actually a ghost()]
[Does Xu Xi master call the Anomaly Management Bureau every time he enters an instance?]
[Try it, it's free to test. If it connects, jackpot]
[Wait, are those mourning garments? Aren't mourning garments usually white?]
[Oh right, why is the footman's set purple?]
Xu Xi loosened his grip on the fruit knife in his pocket.
He wasn't frightened.
He simply felt like touching the knife handle for a moment.
He walked to the table and his eyes naturally fell on the so-called mourning garments.
He noticed the problem too.
Why were these clothes... purple?
"Third Young Master," the footman's flat voice suddenly sounded from the doorway shadow, as if adding a faint bit of urgency, "please change quickly. The timing cannot be delayed."
But Xu Xi was still considering the color of the clothes.
Who wears purple as mourning garments?
Was it a Shen family custom?
His fingers hovered above the garments, hesitant to touch.
A few seconds later he turned to the footman and asked, "Why are the mourning garments this color?"
The footman kept his head lowered, his expression unreadable: "In reply to Third Young Master, these were specially ordered by Seventh Concubine."
Seventh Concubine who ran the rear courtyard?
[Something's wrong, maybe those are burial clothes]
[I bet ten pulls there's definitely a problem, absolutely can't wear them]
Xu Xi rubbed his fingertips, then said lightly, "Go bring me mourning garments in the normal color."
This was an obvious test.
The footman at the door froze: "This..."
Xu Xi deliberately deepened his tone: "What, still not going? If the rite's timing is delayed, can you bear the responsibility?"
His words carried three parts impatience and seven parts rightful "young master" authority.
The footman's body stiffened further. After a moment of silence he answered, "Third Young Master, pardon me. I will fetch them for you immediately."
Watching the figure disappear beyond the doorway, Xu Xi raised an eyebrow.
Not bad, occasionally putting on an act actually felt pretty good.
He'd more or less figured something out.
In this manor full of rigid, austere customs, the identity of "young master" itself carried power.
After all, being a "young master" means you can boss around a few servants, question unreasonable arrangements, even make a fuss — all perfectly natural, right?
As for whether the mourning garments were problematic...
The footman hadn't denied that the manor did have normally colored mourning clothes, so that was a given.
[I checked the other players' live streams. Everyone noticed the issue with the mourning garments]
[Of course. We all felt something off, especially those experienced veteran players]
[Hey, guess what happened to that unlucky Hang Ze?]
[What? He's unlucky but he should be able to see the problem, right?]
[He did see it, but...]
[I can't believe it — the footman handed him the garments one second, the next second he was yelling about avenging his brother, pulled a kitchen knife from his coat and started chopping]
[? What]
[What the hell is "avenge my brother"?]
[Apparently the Fifth Young Master in the past beat his brother to death over something]
[...]
[Only him encountered a vengeful footman?]
[Yes, only him]
[Wow]
[No wonder his reputation exists for a reason]
Xu Xi didn't know about his teammates' dramatic encounters.
He waited for a while and finally the footman returned.
This time the garments were a normally colored, finely stitched plain white hemp set.
He didn't hesitate and briskly put the hemp set on.
Seeing that he had finished dressing, the footman said, "Third Young Master, since you have changed, please follow me to the front hall. The other young masters and misses should be arriving soon."
Xu Xi nodded, and after one last look at the purple mourning garments left on the table, he followed the footman out of the room.
