Rules of Burial: If You Can't Die, Just Scrape By
After the loud bang, his first instinct was to go and check on the Ancestral Hall.
But they forgot about the guy waiting for a midnight snack, lurking in the darkness.
And so, without a doubt, he died.
Unexpectedly, when I opened my eyes again, I was back at the hour of You (5-7 PM) when I was offering incense.
When he heard the housekeeper announce again that the woman in the cheongsam would be on night watch that night, he immediately cut off her spot.
Because he just wanted to know--
What could possibly cause such a commotion?
As the others left one by one, soon only Xu Xi and the steward remained in the Ancestral Hall.
"Third Young Master, since you insist on keeping watch for the Eldest Miss, then this old servant needs to remind you of a few things regarding the nighttime rules."
After listening carefully, Xu Xi realized that these seven rules were almost identical to those repeated by the man with the buzz cut.
He nodded.
"Before dawn, no matter what happens, please make sure the Third Young Master remains inside the Ancestral Hall."
The steward gave one last reminder before slowly leaving the Ancestral Hall.
After the heavy wooden door slowly closed, the Ancestral Hall fell into silence.
Xu Xi casually walked around the area.
The swirling smoke from cigarettes, paper effigies of children, black coffins, and layers upon layers of memorial tablets...
Seeing that everything was as usual, his gaze involuntarily fell on the coffin in the very center.
If we're talking about what's most likely to cause trouble, it's probably this coffin.
Could it be... that the coffin exploded?
This was the first time he Rollback ever rewound so many times that he ended up back in timelines even earlier than the point of death.
Xu Xi wasn't sure what this meant.
But he had a vague suspicion that the file at that point was probably dead.
The reason for that sudden change that started from the direction of the Ancestral Hall was...
The Rollback decision indicated that he wouldn't survive even if he returned to the point before leaving the house, so he had to move forward a little further.
With that thought in mind, Xu Xi stopped worrying.
Since the system determined that there was no hope at that point in time, there was no point in him dwelling on it anymore.
Instead, we should think about what different things we can do this time, since it's been brought forward so much.
After all, no matter how bizarre the Rollback points may be, there's always a way out for him.
Xu Xi originally planned to lift the coffin directly and see what was inside first.
However, when he tried to put it in his hand, he found that the coffin lid seemed to be nailed to it, and no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't budge.
After a moment of silence, he withdrew his hand.
Okay.
If they don't want me to watch, then they don't want me to watch.
He suppressed his restless heart, looked around, and finally sat down on the futon in front of the coffin, preparing to await the earth-shattering event that would force Rollback and even a complete wipeout.
He hadn't forgotten that the young man with the earring had been pulled into the coffin, and his fate remained unknown to this day.
It's unclear whether the change in events is related to the other party.
*
Time passed slowly, and the incense in the burner had long since burned out, leaving only a few charred stalks crookedly stuck in the grayish-white ash.
Xu Xi remained seated cross-legged on the futon, idly counting her heartbeats.
Before this, he even took several photos out of boredom.
Then he discovered that there was something wrong with the smoke from the incense, the Paper Figures, the coffin, the memorial tablets, and even the pastries on the altar.
Xu Xi: "..."
So, there's nothing normal in this room?
Oh wait, he himself is perfectly fine.
In the photo, a dark blue cigarette swirls and twists in mid-air, but is invisibly framed by the glow of the two ever-burning lamps in front of it, as if it is imprisoned within a specific area by some unseen force, unable to drift away.
The same was true of the other items; they all seemed to be suppressed by the candlelight inside the lanterns.
Seeing this, Xu Xi finally had a clear understanding of those rules.
When he could no longer sit still and was about to stand up and stretch his limbs, a sudden wave of hunger seized him.
It wasn't the usual, negligible feeling of slight hunger, but rather a sudden, intense hunger, as if I hadn't eaten for days, with my stomach tightening up.
Xu Xi stopped moving.
He looked down at his hands—his fingers were trembling slightly.
Something's not right.
Cold sweat trickled down her forehead. Xu Xi felt dizzy with hunger, as if something inside her was frantically screaming, "Eat, eat, eat!"
I'm so hungry... I really want to eat...
He raised his head, his gaze falling on the incense table beside him.
Several plates of pastries were placed on top.
"If you feel hungry, there are cakes and pastries on the altar over there."
The butler's words were now clearly playing out in his mind.
The pastries looked delicious, shaped like pink and white flower petals, and sprinkled with a few dried fruits of varying sizes.
He would have believed it if he hadn't taken the photos.
The hunger grew stronger and stronger; it felt like there was a hand scratching at his stomach, urging him to eat more.
Xu Xi took a slow breath, suppressing the strange urge to bite her own arm, and quickly walked to the incense table. With a blank expression, she picked up a few pieces of pastry and stuffed them into her mouth.
As the food was consumed, the feeling of hunger gradually subsided.
But another feeling welled up inside me.
A wave of nausea, indescribable and intense, quickly spread from his stomach, forcing him to gag twice.
If you feel nauseous or vomit while eating, please stop eating immediately.
Xu Xi recalled the second half of the rule and immediately threw the half-eaten pastry back onto the incense table.
The nausea in my stomach no longer intensified, but it didn't subside either; it just lingered there, like a thorn stuck in my stomach.
Xu Xi stood there, feeling her stomach churning slightly, and frowned slightly.
The next second, he pulled out his phone from his pocket, opened the camera, and pointed it at his abdomen—
Click.
In the photo, through the fabric, a blurry bluish shadow can be vaguely seen looming over the stomach area.
Contamination. This was the thought that popped into Xu Xi's mind subconsciously.
Whether this stuff is Contamination or not is irrelevant.
The Flower-Paper Wedding Candy Item he obtained in the second Dungeon can remove all negative status effects on himself. As long as he eats it, no matter what it is, it will be cleared away.
Even without the Flower-Paper Wedding Candy, he still has a reward Item for the Mixed-Team Competition —the Sealed Evil Storage Jar, which can store up to three types of all the negative statuses of the holder.
But Xu Xi simply sat back down on the prayer mat.
He could certainly use the Item, but there was no need.
Anyway, he's not going to die; anyway, he's still alive.
You can Rollback if you die.
After all, there's only one piece of Flower-Paper Wedding Candy, and the Misfortune-Sealing Piggy Bank isn't unlimited either.
I'm just experiencing a slight discomfort in my stomach right now, but I don't have any other symptoms for the time being, so it's not a big deal.
Xu Xi continued to sit cross-legged, her expression unchanged as she thought:
If you can't die, then just live on.
Having gone through all that, the drowsiness I felt had completely vanished, and I was now wide awake.
Just as the Hai Hour) was approaching, according to the rules, he also needed to go to the kitchen to change the offerings.
However, the next moment, a knock on the door sounded, neither too loud nor too soft.