"Rules of Burial"... So It Wasn't the Coffin That Exploded

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary kitchen.

Two large pots, several spatulas hanging on the wall, some firewood piled in the corner, and unburnt embers glowing dark red in the Stove Hearth.

My gaze swept across the entire kitchen, finally settling on the small door behind the stove.

Is this the small door that the young man with the ponytail mentioned, the one that leads to a corner of the backyard?

Xu Xi walked over and pushed the door, finding it unlocked and easily opened.

He paused, then turned back to the stove, deciding to throw the offerings into the Stove Hearth before going to check on them.

After the offerings were poured into the Stove Hearth, the remaining flames surged up instantly, the fruits sizzled softly in the fire, and a sweet, caramelized aroma filled the air.

Until I watched with my own eyes those things slowly curl up and turn black in the firewood, finally turning into ashes and mixing into the ash, until they were no longer recognizable.

After doing all this, he dusted off his hands and walked towards the small door.

Pushing open the small door, you'll find yourself on a narrow path, with a moon gate faintly visible at the end.

Xu Xi tiptoed along the narrow path.

When he reached the moon gate, he leaned against the wall and peered inside.

What started as a subconscious act of vigilance turned into a scene I witnessed.

In the courtyard not far away, an oil lamp sat on a stone table, its dim light illuminating two slender figures, one sitting and one standing.

The seated woman wore a plain white cheongsam, her hair loosely tied up, with a slightly wilted white flower tucked into her hair.

The other person was facing away from us, head down, holding a needle and thread, mending a small garment.

The woman standing there was dressed in plain clothes, with a white flower tucked into her hair.

She stood beside the seated woman, her hands at her sides, and whispered something.

Xu Xi recognized the woman standing there immediately; she was the second white-flowered maid he had spoken with in the "illusion"!

The one sitting there... is most likely Seventh Concubine.

Although he had only caught a fleeting glimpse of the other person's back, the figure was remarkably similar.

"Woof, woof--"

A sudden burst of urgent barking came from the corner of the yard, interrupting Xu Xi's thoughts.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a familiar yellow puppy with its ears perked up, squatting beside a clump of bushes, barking in the direction where he was hiding.

On the other side, the two people at the stone table turned their heads and looked straight towards the moon gate.

But I saw nothing.

"Xueke!" the maidservant hissed.

Seventh Concubine shook her head. "Let it be."

Upon hearing this, the maidservant fell silent.

Xu Xi held her breath and pressed herself against the wall without moving.

Xueke called out a few more times, then his voice gradually faded away.

The courtyard returned to quiet.

Xu Xi leaned against the wall and slowly exhaled.

He quickly walked back to the kitchen along the path he had come from.

This confirms that the narrow path outside the small gate can indeed bypass the white-clad maid guarding the moon gate entrance and lead directly to the backyard.

Without further delay, he went straight back to the Ancestral Hall.

Before leaving, he took one last look at the Stove Hearth; the firewood inside was still burning with a dark red flame.

Won't it go out?

A fleeting question crossed Xu Xi's mind. She withdrew her gaze, casually replaced the offerings with new ones, and carried the tray out the door.

On the way back, the shadow did not follow, and the footsteps did not reappear. They returned to the ancestral Ancestral Hall safely.

Everything inside the Ancestral Hall remains as it was.

Xu Xi placed the new offerings on the altar one by one, glanced at the soup that had gone cold on the small table beside her, and then sat back down cross-legged on the prayer mat.

From that moment on, he waited for the loud bang to occur.

*

Time slipped away, bit by bit, as the candlelight flickered.

Xu Xi, on the contrary, became more and more energetic.

After thinking for a moment, he simply got up and stood by the gate of the Ancestral Hall.

What if the coffin explodes and accidentally injures him?

It's better to stay away.

I stood there with my arms crossed, leaning against the wall, waiting for about half an hour. The Ancestral Hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"..." Xu Xi began to doubt whether she had made a mistake in her judgment.

Did he reserve the night watch spot in advance, thus changing something?

Or is it... um??

Xu Xi leaned against the wall, but before she could regain her balance, the ground shook again.

He staggered a few steps, then quickly grabbed the wall with his other hand.

Just as he regained his footing and was about to look up to see what was going on, a loud explosion erupted from not far away.

"Bang--!"

Xu Xi instinctively closed her eyes, turned her head, and used her arm to block the flying wood chips and incense ash.

When the impact subsided and he opened his eyes again, the scene before him left him stunned.

... It turned out that what exploded wasn't the coffin, but the rows of memorial tablets behind it.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the pile of shattered memorial tablets, its outstretched fingers gripping the ground tightly.

Then came the other one.

Slowly, under Xu Xi's gaze, a person crawled out of the messy pit.

The man, dressed in tattered Mourning Clothes and covered in dust, stood up while patting the dust off his clothes, muttering "Pui, pui, pui" under his breath.

When he looked up, he met a bewildered gaze.

Xu Xi: "..."

??