The room was a bit larger than expected, perhaps because it had been uninhabited for a long ti, so the furnishings were simple.
A carved wooden bed hung with a green gauze canopy, a square table with two chairs, a slightly worn wardrobe, and by the window a dressing table with a bronze mirror on top.
The window was tightly shut, the paper yellowed, and only a sliver of light filtered in.
Xu Xi didn't rush to inspect the room. He first pulled the phone he had kept from the previous instance out of his pocket.
He only intended to see whether the phone's other functions would work inside this instance.
However, when he saw those icons still grayed out, the anxiety he'd been holding finally died down.
He sighed and opened the cara, taking a photo of the room.
Okay, nothing.
He was about to put the phone away when, in the next second, he spotted the lit call icon.
Huh?
Xu Xi tapped it and found it could indeed be used.
Without hesitation, he dialed that number again.
This ti it was a disconnected number.
He wasn't surprised by that result.
After all, the instance's setting was clearly the Republican era, so it would be strange if calls connected.
He had only been itching to test it.
So besides the cara, calls could also work inside the instance.
Putting the phone away, Xu Xi began to search the room.
Dust had gathered under the bed, the wardrobe was empty, and the drawers held nothing.
Finally, his gaze landed on the blurred bronze mirror.
Xu Xi always felt a strange reverence toward mirrors.
Whether in horror movies or horror gas, mirrors were often the creepiest things.
He stood before the dressing table but didn't imdiately step up close. From a few paces away he observed the finely crafted bronze mirror.
The fra was brass, carved with intricate vine patterns. The mirror's surface wasn't very clear; the reflected room had a dim, yellowish haze.
After a mont's thought, Xu Xi walked up to the hazy bronze mirror.
He reached out and gently wiped the surface. It felt cold and slick, but his fingertips didn't pick up any obvious gri.
After waiting a while, there was no mirrored person acting differently, no sudden blood words or ghostly face appearing.
Xu Xi withdrew his hand in disappointnt.
Everything in this room was normal.
He had just turned when, in the next second, he nearly swore out loud.
The footman who had shown him in was standing by the square table, holding a neatly folded set of clothes.
The man placed the garnts lightly on the table, his movents rigidly respectful, yet he never looked up. His tone was flat and even: "Third Young Master, please change your clothes. The hour of the evening rites approaches. The Steward instructed that once you have changed, please proceed to the front hall. Afterwards we will go to the ancestral temple together."
When he finished speaking, he retreated back to the doorway and stood with his hands at his sides, motionless like an unanimated clay figure.
[What the—! That guy scared to death by not saying a word]
[When did he co in? I didn't even notice]
[I can't take it, this manor feels so oppressive, it's eerie, even the servants feel creepy...]
[Maybe there's a chance he's actually a ghost()]
[Does Xu Xi master call the Anomaly Managent Bureau every ti he enters an instance?]
[Try it, it's free to test. If it connects, jackpot]
[Wait, are those mourning garnts? Aren't mourning garnts usually white?]
[Oh right, why is the footman's set purple?]
Xu Xi loosened his grip on the fruit knife in his pocket.
He wasn't frightened.
He simply felt like touching the knife handle for a mont.
He walked to the table and his eyes naturally fell on the so-called mourning garnts.
He noticed the problem too.
Why were these clothes... purple?
"Third Young Master," the footman's flat voice suddenly sounded from the doorway shadow, as if adding a faint bit of urgency, "please change quickly. The timing cannot be delayed."
But Xu Xi was still considering the color of the clothes.
Who wears purple as mourning garnts?
Was it a Shen family custom?
His fingers hovered above the garnts, hesitant to touch.
A few seconds later he turned to the footman and asked, "Why are the mourning garnts this color?"
The footman kept his head lowered, his expression unreadable: "In reply to Third Young Master, these were specially ordered by Seventh Concubine."
Seventh Concubine who ran the rear courtyard?
[Sothing's wrong, maybe those are burial clothes]
[I bet ten pulls there's definitely a problem, absolutely can't wear them]
Xu Xi rubbed his fingertips, then said lightly, "Go bring mourning garnts in the normal color."
This was an obvious test.
The footman at the door froze: "This..."
Xu Xi deliberately deepened his tone: "What, still not going? If the rite's timing is delayed, can you bear the responsibility?"
His words carried three parts impatience and seven parts rightful "young master" authority.
The footman's body stiffened further. After a mont of silence he answered, "Third Young Master, pardon . I will fetch them for you imdiately."
Watching the figure disappear beyond the doorway, Xu Xi raised an eyebrow.
Not bad, occasionally putting on an act actually felt pretty good.
He'd more or less figured sothing out.
In this manor full of rigid, austere customs, the identity of "young master" itself carried power.
After all, being a "young master" ans you can boss around a few servants, question unreasonable arrangents, even make a fuss — all perfectly natural, right?
As for whether the mourning garnts were problematic...
The footman hadn't denied that the manor did have normally colored mourning clothes, so that was a given.
[I checked the other players' live streams. Everyone noticed the issue with the mourning garnts]
[Of course. We all felt sothing off, especially those experienced veteran players]
[Hey, guess what happened to that unlucky Hang Ze?]
[What? He's unlucky but he should be able to see the problem, right?]
[He did see it, but...]
[I can't believe it — the footman handed him the garnts one second, the next second he was yelling about avenging his brother, pulled a kitchen knife from his coat and started chopping]
[? What]
[What the hell is "avenge my brother"?]
[Apparently the Fifth Young Master in the past beat his brother to death over sothing]
[...]
[Only him encountered a vengeful footman?]
[Yes, only him]
[Wow]
[No wonder his reputation exists for a reason]
Xu Xi didn't know about his teammates' dramatic encounters.
He waited for a while and finally the footman returned.
This ti the garnts were a normally colored, finely stitched plain white hemp set.
He didn't hesitate and briskly put the hemp set on.
Seeing that he had finished dressing, the footman said, "Third Young Master, since you have changed, please follow to the front hall. The other young masters and misses should be arriving soon."
Xu Xi nodded, and after one last look at the purple mourning garnts left on the table, he followed the footman out of the room.
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