Fu Miaoxue and Du Lai went to the front reception hall — the room where the old scholar had received them.

Presumably because it was daytime, the paper-figure constructs that had been sitting in the hall were nowhere to be seen.

Even without the paper figures, just the sight of those two high-backed chairs was enough to make Fu Miaoxue’s skin crawl. She didn’t dare linger — she pulled Du Lai straight through to the back of the hall:

The old scholar’s sleeping quarters.

The furnishings inside were far more lavish than out front. A pure gold washbasin. Fine porcelain vases painted with flowers. Jade pillows smooth and white as snow. A dressing table intricately carved in layers of decoration…

Fu Miaoxue walked up to a magnificently ornate canopy bed and patted the gold-thread-embroidered bedding.

“Look — the sheets and quilt covers are embroidered with gold thread throughout. What kind of person would sleep in a bed like this? Even someone of the highest rank — even an emperor — probably wouldn’t sleep in it, would they?”

She said this, then curved her lips in a small smile and surveyed the room.

“There is only one kind of person who could sleep in this bed — and that is a dead person. This room was prepared entirely for the dead. Every single object in it is a burial offering.”

Du Lai walked to the dressing table and pulled open the small drawers one by one. Inside were combs, hairpins, and other accessories women used — all of them exquisitely crafted.

He and Fu Miaoxue had seen this room before while exploring the estate, but hadn’t thought much of it at the time.

For one, the old scholar had said he had “served as an official for decades” — someone who had held office might naturally have lavish furnishings at home.

For another, the dressing table might have belonged to the old scholar’s wife — not having seen her didn’t mean she didn’t exist. There was no particular reason to connect a woman’s dressing table to the Bone-Hauling Woman.

But looking at this room now, he finally noticed it — the layout and furnishings looked more and more like…

A lady’s private chamber.

And that bed…

Gold-thread-embroidered bedding. Wouldn’t it be unbearably scratchy to sleep under?

If Fu Miaoxue’s theory held, then this room was a burial chamber, and the entire estate was a tomb.

They had been living inside a tomb the whole time.

The thought made Du Lai’s brow furrow involuntarily.

“Did you find the token?” Fu Miaoxue was searching through the room. “I think it should be somewhere in here.”

Du Lai took a few wooden combs and hairpins from the small drawers in the dressing table — but wasn’t entirely sure.

“These things could all serve as tokens, but I feel like… it should be something more special.”

“Let’s take them along anyway?” Fu Miaoxue picked up a jade pendant, then cradled the jade pillow from the bed in her arms. “Maybe any of them could come in useful.”

Du Lai frowned slightly. “But if we bury the Bone-Hauling Woman here, what’s the deal with the old scholar? And what are those two paper figures about? We still don’t have answers to any of this…”

“As long as we can get out, it doesn’t matter what the answers are~” Fu Miaoxue looked left and right, then let out a sigh. “But you’re right — to draw the Bone-Hauling Woman over, we’ll need to find something more distinctive… These bracelets, hairpins, sachets, and pouches are all too ordinary.”

They could only gather everything they suspected might be relevant and carry it with them.

Not daring to delay further — worried Bai Youwei and Shen Mo might notice, and worried the old scholar might suddenly appear — they prepared to leave.

As they departed, Fu Miaoxue couldn’t help looking back once more.

That one glance made her stop in her tracks.

“That looks like…”

She hesitated, eyes fixed on the long offering table at the center of the reception hall, where the old scholar’s memorial tablets for his parents were displayed.

“What is it?” Du Lai asked.

“Just… wait for me a moment.” Fu Miaoxue set down everything she was holding, then walked forward step by step toward the pair of memorial tablets.

Truth be told, she had already paid some notice to them last night — but she had been too frightened of the paper figures to look carefully.

And now…

Fu Miaoxue reached out and gently shifted the pair of memorial tablets aside.

Behind them was a smaller tablet.

Fu Miaoxue picked it up, incredulous at first, then overcome with delight. “Found it… The Bone-Hauling Woman’s spirit tablet!”

She turned around and held the tablet up for Du Lai to see, beaming with excitement.

“This is the token! Du Lai — we can clear the game!”