Not quite willing to give up, Xu Xi fell silent for a moment, then got up again, pulled open the door, and walked out.
The same viscous night, the same murmuring whispers pouring in from all directions.
Only this time, he chose a different direction, and then—
He encountered the same watery shadow.
The feeling of suffocation drowned everything once more.
Second time, dead.
Reload, get up, open the door, step out, continue changing direction.
Third time, dead.
Fourth time, fifth time...
At first, Xu Xi still tried to figure out the pattern.
Like how long it took for those voices to appear, whether a specific action or behavior of his triggered something, and if the appearance of the watery shadow followed any discernible trace.
But after repeating death who knows how many times, he gave up.
He was numb to death, couldn't die anymore.
He had figured it out, that thing was a damn mechanic monster.
And the kind that kills you instantly upon triggering.
Xu Xi, having reloaded once more, sank into deep contemplation.
It seemed, tonight he really could only continue sleeping soundly after all.
Standing up, he was just about to obediently go to sleep.
Suddenly, a burst of dog barking from outside shattered the indoor silence.
"Woof, woof woof."
Very short, not very loud.
It seemed somewhat distant from here.
But... dog barking?
Xu Xi instinctively froze in place.
They had been inside the Shen Residence for so long, yet they had never seen any dogs within the manor.
Moreover, the entire manor was deathly silent, not even the chirping of insects could be heard, so where did this dog barking come from?
Thinking of this, he didn't hesitate at all. His footsteps, which were originally heading toward the carved wooden bed, changed direction in a turn.
Sleep? Sleep what!
A new anomaly! A new clue!
Whether it was a dog or something else barking, even if it was luring him out to become a midnight snack for that watery shadow, he'd accept it.
It wasn't like he couldn't just die again.
Xu Xi pulled open the door, his movements more decisive than any previous time.
[Master Xu Xi is really going out?]
[Why is there suddenly dog barking? Where did the dog come from?]
The live stream comments saw that the young man had originally planned to go to sleep, but after the dog barking sounded, he changed direction without hesitation.
That movement, that speed, no matter how you looked at it, it seemed like he had been expecting it.
[So Master Xu Xi was specifically waiting for this dog barking earlier?]
[Very likely! He was probably waiting for this dog barking last night too!]
[Right, last night Master Xu Xi clearly seemed to be waiting for something too. I thought he was just waiting to see what would happen after Zi Hour passed.]
[No wonder when that strange conversation appeared outside the door last night, Master Xu Xi didn't seem interested at all. So what he was waiting for was different from what we thought!]
Under their gaze, the young man had already stepped over the threshold.
*
While looking around, a flicker of surprise flashed in Xu Xi's eyes.
This time, the scene outside the door was completely different from before.
There was no ink-like, viscous darkness, nor any noisy whispers.
The sky was tinged with a layer of grayish brightness, the kind of light just before dawn when it's neither fully dark nor fully bright.
The white lanterns under the corridor were extinguished. The bluestone slabs underfoot were dry and clean. The doors and windows of the wing rooms on both sides of the corridor were still tightly shut, but the paper windows were no longer pitch black behind them; they vaguely revealed the outlines belonging to daytime.
Most importantly, the air was filled with a faint scent of morning dew, mixed with the smell of earth and plants and grass—that normal, belonging-to-morning scent.
Apart from the occasional slight whimper when the wind blew past the corridor pillars, there were even intermittent chirps of insects.
It was different from the deathly silence of daytime, and also different from the deliberate liveliness of last night.
At this moment, this manor finally seemed to truly have life.
After quietly feeling this difference for a moment, a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed Xu Xi's mind, as if something had been lightly touched. He subconsciously remembered the rule the Steward had mentioned—
After Zi Hour, one must not leave their room, no matter what sounds they hear.
What if this rule was indeed correct, but it was incomplete?
For example.
Unless you hear dog barking?
"Woof woof, woof."
The dog barking sounded again, this time closer.
Xu Xi wasn't sure if his idea was correct. He lifted his foot and walked towards the direction the sound came from.
Along the way, the corridors, rockeries, flowers, plants, and trees... everything was exactly the same.
But also not quite the same.
If forced to describe it, it was like a black-and-white painting suddenly being infused with color.
It had a sense of reality, no longer deathly still.
"Xue Ke, come here! Stop running, my little ancestor!"
Xu Xi followed this call through a Moon Gate, and then he saw a maidservant dressed in plain white clothes chasing after a little yellow dog.
The little dog ran while occasionally barking "woof woof."
The sound was short and urgent.
The maidservant would chase a few steps, and it would stop to look back. When the person almost caught up, it would start running again on its little legs.
The morning light spilled from the grayish sky, shining on the white flower pinned by her temple.
White flower!
Xu Xi immediately stopped in his tracks.
He had actually encountered a second person wearing a white flower.
That maidservant also noticed Xu Xi's presence and gradually halted her steps.
The next second, she gave a slight bow.
"Third Young Master."
The maidservant performed the greeting. The little yellow dog ran back to her feet, rubbing against her leg. Seeing that the person wasn't reacting, it bit the hem of her pants, trying to drag her forward.
Xu Xi's gaze swept over the white flower by her temple, then landed on the yellow dog.
"Xue Ke, stop messing around." Seeing the rather cold expression on the young man before her, as if he disliked this commotion, the maidservant hurriedly scolded in a low voice.
Then she heard the other suddenly ask, "What's going on?"
The maidservant was stunned for a moment. After recovering, she carefully replied, "Third Young Master, are you asking about this dog? Its name is Xue Ke. It was raised by the Sixth Young Master two years ago."
"Ever since the Sixth Young Master accidentally fell into the well a few days ago... after he passed, it goes to squat by the well every day. It goes even in wind and rain, and no calling can make it come back."
Hearing this, a flicker passed through Xu Xi's eyes.
Sixth Young Master?
Could that be the son of the Seventh Concubine, Shen Jiayang?
The yellow dog named Xue Ke twitched its ears, let out a low whimper in its throat, and began dragging the maidservant's pants leg even more forcefully.
"Just like now." The maidservant sighed softly. "It insists on dragging someone along to go there."
Xu Xi looked down.
It was indeed pulling hard, its small body tense.
As if urging the maidservant to follow it.
The maidservant was clearly used to it. She bent down, reached out to pat the yellow dog's head, and coaxed, "Alright, alright, we're going, we're going, don't be impatient..."
After comforting the yellow dog, she looked at Xu Xi with slight hesitation. "Third Young Master, you see—"
"I'll go with you."
The maidservant clearly didn't expect this Third Young Master to proactively make such a request. She opened her mouth, seeming to want to say something, but ultimately nodded hesitantly.
Xu Xi's reason for choosing to follow was simple.
Because he had discovered a problem.
