At first glance, it just seemed like an ordinary kitchen.
Two large woks, a few spatulas hanging on the wall, some firewood piled in a corner, and unburned firewood still smoldering with dark red embers in the stove hearth.
His gaze swept across the entire kitchen, finally landing on the small door behind the stove.
Was this the small door mentioned by that young man with the little bun on the back of his head, the one that could lead to the secluded corner of the rear courtyard?
Xu Xi walked over and pushed it, finding the door unlocked and opening easily.
He paused, turned back to the stove, and decided to check it out after throwing the offerings into the hearth.
After dumping the offerings into the hearth, the lingering flames instantly surged up. The fruits sizzled faintly in the fire, and the air filled with a burnt-sweet fragrance.
He watched until those things slowly curled and blackened in the firewood, finally turning into dregs mixed with the ashes, their original forms no longer discernible.
After finishing this, he patted the dust off his hands and headed towards the small door.
Pushing open the small door, outside was a narrow pathway. At the end of the path, a moon gate was faintly visible.
Xu Xi lightened his footsteps and walked along the narrow path inward.
When he reached the moon gate, he sidled against the wall and peeked inside.
It was originally just a subconscious act of vigilance, but he didn't expect to witness a scene.
In the courtyard not far away, an oil lamp sat on a stone table, its dim yellow light illuminating two slender figures, one sitting and one standing.
The seated woman wore a plain white cheongsam, her hair loosely tied up, a somewhat wilted white flower pinned at her temple.
She was sideways to this direction, head bowed, holding needle and thread, mending a small piece of clothing.
The standing woman wore plain clothes, also with a white flower pinned at her temple.
She stood with hands at her sides beside the seated woman, speaking softly in a low voice.
Xu Xi recognized at a glance that the standing woman was precisely the second white-flower maidservant he had spoken with in the "illusion" earlier!
Then the seated one... in all likelihood, was the Seventh Concubine.
Although he had only glimpsed her back once in passing, the figure was strikingly similar.
"Woof, woof woof—!"
A burst of urgent barking suddenly came from a corner of the courtyard, interrupting Xu Xi's thoughts.
He followed the sound and saw the familiar little yellow dog, ears perked up, squatting beside a shrub, barking straight at his hiding spot.
Over at the stone table, both women turned their heads, looking directly towards the moon gate.
But they saw nothing.
"Xue Ke!" the maidservant scolded in a low voice.
The Seventh Concubine shook her head. "Let it be."
Hearing this, the maidservant fell silent.
Xu Xi held his breath, motionless against the wall.
He only heard Xue Ke bark a few more times before the sounds gradually faded away.
The courtyard returned to quiet.
Leaning against the wall, Xu Xi slowly let out a breath.
He turned and quickly retraced his steps along the narrow path back to the kitchen.
This confirmed that the narrow path outside the small door could indeed bypass the white-flower maidservant guarding the main moon gate entrance and lead directly to the rear courtyard.
He delayed no further and headed straight back to the Ancestral Temple.
Before leaving, he deliberately checked the stove hearth again; the firewood inside still burned with a dark red glow.
Would it never go out?
A flicker of doubt passed through his mind. Xu Xi withdrew his gaze, casually replaced the offerings with new ones, picked up the tray, and pushed the door open to leave.
On the way back, the shadow didn't follow him again, and the footsteps didn't reappear either. He returned safely to the Ancestral Temple without incident.
Everything inside the Ancestral Temple was as before.
Xu Xi placed the new offerings one by one on the altar table, glanced at the already cold soup on the small side table, and continued sitting cross-legged back on the cushion.
From now on, he would just wait for that loud noise to appear.
*
Time trickled by with the flickering of the candle flame.
Xu Xi, however, grew more and more alert.
After some thought, he simply got up and stood by the main door of the Ancestral Temple.
If the coffin really did explode, what if he got hurt by accident?
Better to keep his distance.
Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, he waited for about another half hour. The Ancestral Temple was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"..." Xu Xi began to doubt if his judgment was wrong.
Had intercepting the vigil spot early changed something?
Or was it... Huh??
Xu Xi braced himself against the wall, but before he could steady himself, the ground shook again.
He stumbled a few steps, quickly using his other hand to also support himself against the wall.
Just as he regained his balance and was about to look up to see what was happening, a tremendous explosion erupted with a deafening boom from not far away.
"BOOM—!!"
Xu Xi instinctively closed his eyes, turned his head, and used his arm to shield against the flying wood splinters and incense ash.
After the shockwave passed, when he opened his eyes again, the scene before him made him freeze in stunned disbelief.
... So it wasn't the coffin that exploded. It was the rows upon rows of ancestral tablets behind the coffin.
Suddenly, a hand stretched out from the pile of shattered tablets, its splayed fingers gripping the ground tightly.
Then another.
Slowly, under Xu Xi's watchful gaze, a person crawled out from the messy, debris-filled pit.
That person wore tattered, ragged mourning garments, covered in dust and grime. They patted the dust off themselves as they stood up, spitting out debris with "ptui, ptui" sounds.
Then, looking up, they met a completely bewildered stare.
Xu Xi: "..."
???
