The young man's tone was faint, yet it carried certainty.
Xu Xi thought for a moment, and for the sake of rigor, deliberately added another sentence. "At least, it is for now."
"......" Lin Zuo fell silent for a moment, his gaze lingering on Xu Xi's face for two seconds, as if trying to confirm how much unspoken probing and prediction lay behind these two reminders.
In the end, he nodded. "Then I'll go to the kitchen."
The Steward had mentioned that the person keeping vigil needed to replace the offerings during the hour of Hai, and the replaced fruits must be thrown into the stove hearth to be burned.
The reason wasn't clear yet, but the kitchen was indeed a place that needed investigation.
The others didn't ask Xu Xi where his judgment regarding the Ancient Well came from either.
As experienced veteran players, having some special methods wasn't a strange thing.
"Since that's the case, I'll go take a look around the study then." Yu Hao pondered the remaining locations that still held some value and finally chose the study.
The others nodded slightly, accepting this allocation.
The division of labor was roughly settled. Everyone got up one after another, the faint clinking of bowls and chopsticks sounding sporadically.
Only Xu Xi remained seated.
Seeing this, Yu Hao couldn't help but ask, "Brother, what about you? What's your plan next?"
Then, the five of them saw the young man unhurriedly finish his last mouthful of porridge and set down the bowl.
The bottom of the bowl made a light, crisp sound as it touched the tabletop.
He lifted his eyes, his expression placid.
"I'm going to find the person wearing a white flower."
Xu Xi thought and thought, but really couldn't figure out where else to go.
The Rear Courtyard, the Ancestral Temple, the kitchen, the study... Teammates were going to all these places. Him following along wouldn't be of much significance.
He'd touched the Ancient Well. Danger level max.
The Steward was a tight-lipped gourd, impossible to pry open.
After much deliberation, it seemed only this rule was worth mentioning.
But what was a barely acceptable choice for him took on a different meaning in the eyes of the other players and the live stream comments.
The others were taken aback.
"One can trust the person wearing a white flower." This was indeed a rule for keeping vigil that Xing Ge had mentioned. However, among those present, the only one who specifically singled out this rule as an actionable clue was this young man before them.
"That works. There might be more than one person wearing a white flower," Yu Hao immediately affirmed.
Moreover, the word "trust" was also very interesting. What exactly could they trust those white-flower-wearing people with?
[Sorry, I thought Master Xu Xi was going back to catch up on sleep ()]
[248: ? My reputation suddenly takes a hit]
[So that's why a master is always a master. We think there's nowhere to go, but he thinks clues are everywhere.]
"Then let's meet by that Moon Gate before the incense offering."
Having discussed their respective next steps and finally agreed on a meeting time, they no longer delayed and began walking towards the hall's exit one after another.
Xu Xi remained seated in his original spot. Casually, he pulled out his phone and aimed it at the backs of those about to disappear through the doorway—
*Click.*
A faint electronic sound rang out.
Lin Zuo, walking at the rear, paused his steps and instinctively glanced back.
But Xu Xi had already put his phone away.
[What's the master doing? Taking a memento?]
[No, there must be something wrong!]
[That phone can capture anomalies, right? Maybe Master Xu Xi just took a casual shot?]
[248 isn't that idle, is he? Maybe one of these players has developed an anomaly?]
[The master put it away too fast, couldn't see what he captured at all.]
Xu Xi also didn't see what he had captured.
Almost caught in the act of sneakily taking a photo, he maintained a poker face on the surface, but in reality, he used all his strength to restrain himself from frantically hiding the phone or pretending to suddenly become interested in the wooden carvings on the pillar.
After all, when people feel guilty, they always tend to make themselves look exceptionally busy.
However, very quickly, a thought snapped back in his mind.
Wait, why should he feel guilty?
This phone wasn't stolen, and taking photos wasn't some violation of the rules.
What's the big deal if a teammate takes a photo? He wasn't taking pictures of anything shameful... Well, although it *was* a sneak shot.
But!
In an instance, can this even be called a sneak shot? This is called recording clues!
He was perfectly aboveboard!
... At most, he just didn't give a heads-up beforehand.
Alright, only he himself knew that half-second of guilt was purely instinct.
After all, sneakily taking photos isn't exactly honorable in real life.
But this is an instance.
In an instance, his sneak shots are legal.
However, ever since this phone became a prop, not only was the gallery function unusable, but photos taken wouldn't be automatically saved either.
If you couldn't see what was captured in the frame the moment you pressed the shutter, then it was truly gone forever, with no chance to look back and review.
The live stream comments naturally weren't aware of Xu Xi's fleeting moment of guilt.
In their eyes, this young man had zero-frame initiated against the Steward, his every move steady as an old dog.
But for Xu Xi, the Steward and the players were two entirely different matters.
One side was a supernatural entity, capable of any deceit or trickery without scruples. If things went south, he could just reload and start over.
The other side was human, even teammates he'd have to spend days and nights with in the coming days. Mutual wariness and harboring separate thoughts was one thing, but being considered a person of low character was another matter entirely.
In short, getting killed is fine, but social death is not!
The main hall finally fell quiet.
Xu Xi remained seated, listening as the footsteps gradually faded away. He waited a moment longer, confirming no one would turn back, before pulling out that phone from his chest again.
The screen lit up. Sure enough, the camera page was empty, and even the preview mode was grayed out.
*
In the live stream.
The cold white light from the screen illuminated the young man's face. His eyes were lowered, revealing no particular emotion. He just stared quietly at the screen, seemingly lost in thought.
[What is Master Xu Xi thinking about?]
[Who saw clearly the photo he just took? It flashed by too fast.]
[Couldn't see clearly, just the backs of a few people flashing by...]
[Holy shit, awesome! As expected of you, Brother San Shui!]
The live stream comments suddenly became restless. They saw Ji Yang squinting, zooming in on a screenshot.
Although somewhat blurry, the general outline was discernible.
In the frame, Yu Hao was stepping over the threshold, Shi Weiwei followed behind him, Xing Ge's figure was mostly blocked by a pillar, and further back were Tang Shutong and Lin Zuo at the very rear.
Everyone else looked normal. Only a section of Tang Shutong's left hand, hanging at her side, showed a bluish-gray hue.
[There really was a problem! I thought Master Xu Xi just took a casual shot.]
[Come on, when has any of Master Xu Xi's actions ever been superfluous?]
[True. Start full of question marks, end with a sudden realization.]
[If 248 could be seen through by us, he wouldn't need to carry that reputation anymore. He could wash his hands and make way for us ()]
[So what exactly happened to Tang Shutong? Apart from the mirror incident, she didn't encounter anything else, right?]
[But Shi Weiwei, who was also attacked, shows no anomaly.]
Ji Yang stared at the extremely blurry partial screenshot after repeated zooming, his brows slowly knitting together.
He suddenly spoke. "It should be the mirror's problem."
A wave of question marks instantly floated across the live stream comments.
"Perhaps the mirror, or rather, reflective surfaces, also have related taboos or rules."
"Tang Shutong might have violated one of them. For example, she fought back during the attack, while Shi Weiwei did not."
[I carefully recalled, that seems to be the case indeed.]
[(Struggling to think) (Suddenly enlightened) (So that's how it is)]
[So how did Master Xu Xi know the mirror was problematic?]
[I remember 248 took a photo as soon as he entered the room. The photo seemed fine.]
[The nature might be different. Maybe the phone can't capture anomalies related to rules?]
[Then how did Master Xu Xi figure it out?]
[... How can anyone still be asking this kind of question at this point? If we could figure it out, would his first instance have become an unsolved mystery?! (Very loudly)]
