The Steward had now arrived at the Moon Gate.
He bowed respectfully. "Young Masters and Young Misses, the time for offering incense has arrived. Please follow this old servant to the Ancestral Temple."
After speaking, his gaze slowly swept over everyone present, paused for a moment, and then he slowly began to speak again:
"Today's incense, this old servant will offer on behalf of the Fifth Young Master."
Hearing this, the expressions of the several players shifted in various ways.
Yu Hao tentatively asked, "Oh? Then where is he?"
"This old servant does not know either. Perhaps the Fifth Young Master... is delayed by some matter."
This light, dismissive answer made the group fall silent for a while.
The Steward seemed completely unaware of this silence. He looked at everyone, his speech even slower than before, each word seeming to carry a hidden meaning:
"If any other Young Master or Young Miss is similarly absent due to matters, this old servant will also—"
"Offer incense on their behalf."
The air seemed to congeal for a moment as his words fell.
No one responded.
Yet, the Steward had already turned sideways and walked directly into the Covered Walkway.
Now, no matter what thoughts everyone harbored in their hearts, they had no choice but to follow.
The same route, the same procedure.
Even though they were one person short this time, the incense-offering process was still unaffected.
After the six of them had safely offered incense in order, the Steward's gaze finally settled on Shi Weiwei.
"Tonight, it will be the Eldest Young Miss who keeps vigil."
"The rules of the vigil, this old servant needs to instruct you separately."
Shi Weiwei had long been mentally prepared, so she didn't show any unusual expression, nodding calmly instead.
Xu Xi followed the others out of the Ancestral Temple and returned to the side of the Moon Gate.
"What do you think? Does he really not know, or is he pretending not to know?"
Yu Hao leaned against the wall, his folding fan tapping rhythmically against his palm.
"That's not important," Lin Zuo gently shook his head. "The main issue is, he mentioned that the incense offerings must not be interrupted."
Does the current situation of that earring-wearing player count as an interruption of the incense offerings?
And if it is interrupted... what then?
The remaining people were lost in their own thoughts.
Xu Xi was also thinking.
These few didn't know the fate of the earring-wearing young man, but he did.
He had personally witnessed that person being pulled into the coffin.
But even the reload ability prevented him from going out at midnight, so the other person... most likely wouldn't survive, right?
So, would the rule still take effect?
The wind under the corridor grew stronger again. The six of them stood apart, the atmosphere quiet.
After a while, Xing Ge suddenly spoke up and asked, "Tonight, what are your plans?"
The question was vague, but everyone else understood the meaning behind his words.
"I plan to play it safe for another night," Yu Hao said with a snap as he opened his folding fan, then snapped it shut again. "There might be some unexpected changes."
These changes referred both to Shi Weiwei, who would be keeping vigil alone tonight, and to Hang Ze, who had been missing and whose fate remained unknown.
Tang Shutong and the others didn't object, clearly all believing caution was the best approach.
At least for tonight, wait and see if any mutations occur.
After briefly discussing a few more points, the group dispersed.
For them, tomorrow might be the moment they truly needed to face.
Whether Shi Weiwei, as the second player to keep vigil, could get through the night like Xing Ge did, with only a scare.
And the whereabouts of that missing earring-wearing young man might also have an answer—
Whether he was dead, or perhaps, had gone to some place they hadn't yet reached.
When Xu Xi returned to his room, his attention was immediately drawn to the Bronze Mirror placed on the dressing table.
His movements halted. Standing at the doorway, his gaze fell on that mirror, holding for a full three seconds.
...He remembered throwing that mirror away last night, didn't he?
Yet, the Bronze Mirror he had thrown out last night was now placed there again.
Perfectly upright, its surface blurred, its edges carved with intricate patterns—identical to the one he threw away last night.
"…"
The live stream comments became lively upon seeing this scene.
[Mirror: Haha, I'm back! Didn't expect that, did you? .jpg]
[This expression on Master Xu Xi... it's the first time I've seen speechlessness so vividly personified, haha.]
[248: (Throws) Bronze Mirror: It's fine, I'll stubbornly come back on my own.]
[So, does this count as a failure of physical exorcism? (dog head)]
But in the very next second, the young man used his actions to tell them, whatever this or that, if it came back, he'd just throw it again.
The young man walked expressionlessly to the dressing table, grabbed the Bronze Mirror, turned, opened the door, and flung his arm—
The series of movements was fluid and exceptionally practiced.
The mirror drew an arc through the air, disappearing once more into the twilight outside the door.
[Bronze Mirror: I give up.]
[Hahahaha Master Xu Xi never plays by the tropes.]
[Mirror: Goodbye, Mom~ Tonight I set sail again~]
[Went to check on Yu Hao and the others. Sure enough, everyone heads straight for the dressing table to throw the Bronze Mirror as soon as they enter their rooms.]
[Bronze Mirror says, go ahead and throw me. If I don't come back tomorrow, I lose.]
[No, no, Tang Shutong didn't throw it.]
[Confirmed, she really has a problem. She's actually talking to the mirror!]
[Huh???]
[Really, just speaking softly to the mirror. Can't hear what she's saying, but her expression... hard to describe.]
[What kind of expression?]
[It's like... she recognizes the human figure in the mirror.]
[By the way, don't you guys feel this instance is a bit too calm?]
[Isn't it normal for longer-timed instances to be calm for the first day or two?]
[But the problem is, this instance has Hang Ze in it!]
[...Oh damn.]
[Don't say it, I suddenly have a bad feeling.]
[+1]
Xu Xi wasn't aware that his "physical exorcism" operation had been copied and pasted by the other players.
He was struggling with whether he should go out to look around again tonight.
The Shen Residence at night was a completely different face.
This, he had already verified last night.
Although the reload ability determined that going out meant certain death, but... what if tonight was different?
After all, the daytime investigation yielded little.
And he died too hastily last night; perhaps tonight there would be different discoveries?
...He couldn't just sleep soundly every single night, could he?
Having made his decision, Xu Xi sat down at the table, preparing to wait for the arrival of the Zi Hour.
The viewers in the live stream, seeing the young man just sitting quietly after throwing the Bronze Mirror, were all guessing whether the young man planned to go out tonight.
*
The oil lamp burned bit by bit, the wick growing shorter and shorter, the flame becoming weaker and weaker, casting flickering, dimming shadows on the tabletop.
Time seemed to stretch, every second feeling exceptionally long.
Xu Xi waited and waited but never heard the phrase "How could the master have passed away?" He found it quite strange.
Would it not come tonight?
Hesitantly waiting a while longer, the silence outside the door remained absolute. He couldn't sit still any longer and actively went to pull the door open.
What met his eyes was a viscous, almost tangible darkness.
The white lanterns under the corridor were still there, but their sickly pale halos couldn't illuminate beyond three feet, as if cut off by something.
The air was thick with a strong, damp, musty smell, mixed with an indescribable, unclear odor of decay.
Clearly, the scene was completely different from last night.
Xu Xi didn't hesitate much and stepped directly over the threshold.
New changes had appeared? Changes were exactly what he lacked right now!
However, Xu Xi soon sensed something was wrong.
As he continued forward, murmuring whispers gradually began to sound in his ears.
At first very soft, like the rustling of wind through dry leaves. The further he walked, the denser and clearer those sounds became, as if countless mouths were opening and closing simultaneously right by his ears.
Each syllable was blurry, overlapping together, forming a strange and oppressive cacophony.
Xu Xi couldn't help but cover his ears.
But even so, those fragmented sounds from all directions still forced their way into his ears.
Xu Xi endured the headache and continued forward. Yet, the next moment, he suddenly halted his steps and looked down at the bluestone slab beneath his feet—
It was wet.
Not rainwater, but a thin layer of viscous, sticky liquid, shimmering with a gloomy luster under the lantern's halo.
Like... well water?
Or something else?
Xu Xi felt his headache intensify.
He raised his head and froze once more.
Deep within the corridor ahead, there, something was moving.
Not a person.
It was a blurred, distorted outline, small, short, as if seen through a layer of water ripples.
It made no sound, just slowly, inch by inch, moved in this direction.
And behind it, it dragged a wet, long trail.
——
His vision gradually cleared. The candle flame before him flickered, continuously emitting heat.
Xu Xi took a deep breath.
He didn't remember how he died, only the intense, drowning sensation of suffocation at the end.
Perhaps this was the real reason why going out during the Zi Hour wasn't allowed?
Then what about last night's situation?
Unable to figure it out for now, he decided not to torment himself over it.
Putting other things aside, did he really have no choice but to continue sleeping soundly tonight?
