Xu Xi was awakened by a series of knocks on the door that were neither too heavy nor too light, maintaining a fixed rhythm.
"Third Young Master, the hour of Mao has passed, it's time to rise."
The flat, emotionless voice of the footman came from outside the door, sounding somewhat muffled through the wooden panel.
Xu Xi opened his eyes, greeted by the sight of a blue gauze canopy overhead.
He stretched, slowly sitting up.
The oil lamp on the table had burned out at some point, and a thin layer of grayish-white light filtered through the window paper.
His gaze swept towards the dressing table, which was empty.
Sure enough, his inexplicable, sudden sleep last night was probably the work of that bronze mirror.
[Master Xu Xi's sleep quality is still so good, huh? (sigh.jpg)]
[This footman is oddly dutiful, actually providing a wake-up service]
[Yu Hao and the others pulled an all-nighter, too scared to sleep at all]
[Speaking of which, how's that kid Hang Ze? Did anyone go lurk in his live stream last night?]
[Don't worry, that unlucky kid might have terrible luck, but he's tough as nails. He's alive.]
The knocking sounded again outside the door, this time with a slightly more urgent tone.
"Third Young Master?"
Xu Xi casually acknowledged with a sound, and the noise outside ceased.
He didn't mind, opening the door.
The footman was still standing outside, the same one who had guided him last night.
Seeing him emerge, the footman lowered his eyes and said meekly, "Third Young Master, please follow this servant to the front courtyard for breakfast."
The light in the corridor was a bit brighter than yesterday, but it was still shrouded in a dull, grayish tone. The white lanterns hanging under the eaves swayed slightly in the morning breeze.
He didn't know where he had thrown last night's bronze mirror; at least, it wasn't visible within his line of sight.
Xu Xi followed behind the footman, passing through the winding corridors towards the front courtyard.
When he arrived, he found that four players were already there.
Yu Hao was holding a bowl of plain congee, with faint dark circles under his eyes, clearly having slept little last night.
Seeing Xu Xi enter, his gaze quickly swept over Xu Xi's body. He didn't speak, only nodded.
Lin Zuo sat beside him, his small bun somewhat loose. The congee in front of him was almost untouched.
Tang Shutong kept her head down. Her left hand hung somewhat unnaturally at her side, mostly concealed by the wide sleeve of her mourning garment. Her right hand slowly scooped the congee, her movements somewhat stiff.
Shi Weiwei sat on the other side, eating her breakfast in small, normal bites with a composed expression.
However, Xu Xi could still see the weariness between her brows.
He casually chose an empty seat and sat down to enjoy the breakfast on the table.
Right then, Yu Hao spoke up, asking bluntly, "Brother, that mirror in your room... did it do anything last night?"
He asked straightforwardly.
Xu Xi didn't stop eating. "Don't know. Threw it away."
But internally, he thought, so he wasn't the only one who encountered a problem.
Then why was he the only one who died?
"...Threw it away?" Yu Hao was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting that answer.
He stared at the young man across from him who had just taken a bite of a steamed bun, confirmed he wasn't joking, twitched the corner of his mouth, and lowered his head to shovel congee.
What more was there to ask? The other party had obviously already identified the bronze mirror as problematic and resolved it at the root.
Hearing this, Lin Zuo looked up at Xu Xi, pinched his fingertips, lost in thought.
Shi Weiwei's chopsticks paused mid-air for a moment before she continued as if nothing had happened.
Tang Shutong still kept her head down, scooping her congee.
The light outside the door suddenly dimmed for an instant.
A tall figure stepped over the threshold, bringing with him a strong scent of incense sticks.
It was Xing Ge, returning from keeping vigil.
His condition seemed fairly okay. He quickly scanned everyone in the hall and silently walked to the empty seat next to Xu Xi to sit down.
He picked up the congee bowl, tilted his head back, and downed the entire bowl of plain congee in a few gulps.
The bottom of the bowl made a light, crisp sound as it touched the table.
"Tonight will probably be my turn to keep vigil," Shi Weiwei put down her chopsticks, her tone calm. "Is there anything I need to pay attention to?"
She asked very directly, without any pleasantries.
Xing Ge's action of tearing his steamed bun paused for a moment.
He replied just as directly, briefly recounting the several rules about keeping vigil that the Steward had mentioned.
"If there's sound from the coffin... don't listen. If the paper figures move, don't turn around. I didn't encounter anything else for now."
Shi Weiwei nodded.
The expressions of the others changed slightly.
They hadn't expected this instance to have so many rules.
Xu Xi's eyes flickered.
People wearing white flowers can be trusted?
He thought of the maidservant from last night.
Yu Hao then concisely summarized the abnormalities of the bronze mirrors in everyone's rooms.
After listening, Xing Ge similarly stated, "I'll be careful about that tonight."
The atmosphere became less heavy after this.
Lin Zuo suddenly asked Xu Xi, "That mirror of yours... where did you throw it?"
Xu Xi glanced at him. "Outside the door."
Yu Hao's tone was surprised. "Just... tossed it out casually?"
"Mhm."
"And then?"
"And then closed the door and slept."
Yu Hao choked for a moment, finally squeezing out a few words after a long pause. "...Could you sleep?"
The next second, he saw the young man looking at him with a puzzled expression, as if asking why he wouldn't be able to sleep.
Seeing this, everyone fell silent for a moment.
"..." Yu Hao coughed, changing the subject. "Speaking of which, what about that guy with the earring? Why isn't he here?"
Although the bronze mirror was eerie, it wasn't fatal.
Since the other party had survived until now, he shouldn't be stumped by a mere mirror.
No one answered.
Xu Xi drank his congee.
He thought that the earring-wearing young man was probably in dire straits.
But he didn't voice it out.
"He might have gone out last night," Tang Shutong guessed calmly.
After all, the other party had indeed expressed an intention to explore the Shen Residence at night.
As for whether any accident happened... it was obvious.
"I'll go check his room later," Yu Hao didn't probe further, asking another question instead. "What are everyone's plans for today?"
After last night's experiences and the mutual exchange of information, they had a preliminary understanding of this instance's complexity.
Acting alone carried high risks, but grouping up might not allow them to advance multiple clues simultaneously.
So division of labor was an inevitable choice.
Shi Weiwei spoke first. "Last night, we tried to visit the Seventh Concubine but were stopped by a maidservant."
At this point, she deliberately glanced at Xing Ge and emphasized, "That maidservant had a white flower in her hair."
Tang Shutong continued, "So we plan to go again later."
The fact that the Seventh Concubine was frequently mentioned in the rules meant she definitely held some important clues.
And the Rear Courtyard was the residence for the female family members. Among those present, indeed, no other players were more suited for this than them.
Xu Xi had personal experience with this.
Xing Ge clearly had his own plan. "I want to go back to the Ancestral Temple to take another look. The Clan Genealogy mentioned in the rules might be inside the temple."
"I'll go to the Rear Garden," Lin Zuo had just finished speaking when he was unexpectedly contradicted the next moment.
"I don't recommend you go."
He suddenly stopped, turning his head to look at the young man who had spoken.
The other four also turned their gazes over.
Yu Hao asked curiously, "Brother, have you been there already?"
Xu Xi gave an affirmative hum.
"That well... touch it and you die."
