The moment the inspector finished speaking, Fu Miaoxue darted forward and pressed her hand against a painting on the wall, declaring, “I want this one!”

She then seemed to sense the item’s effect. Her face broke into a delighted smile, and she cheerfully lifted the painting from the wall and held it out for Du Lai to see.

It was an ink-wash painting depicting a small cottage nestled among mountains, an ancient pine tree standing lush and green beside it, the whole scene swathed in drifting clouds and mist — full of artistic charm.

Bai Youwei watched from a short distance away. She had no way of judging the painting’s effect, but judging by Fu Miaoxue’s expression, it seemed to be quite good.

Fu Miaoxue noticed Bai Youwei’s appraising gaze and immediately grew wary. She stepped in front of Du Lai and let out a cold snort. “Hmph! Mine!”

Bai Youwei rolled her eyes. “Childish.”

Shen Mo looked around at the furnishings in the room, and his gaze finally came to rest on the coffin. “Can the coffin be opened?” he asked.

Ghost-fire answered, “It can.”

Shen Mo lifted the heavy coffin lid. Inside lay a female corpse, dressed in silks and brocades, covered with a gold-threaded quilt, with countless pearls, gems, and jade ornaments piled around her.

None of it interested Shen Mo in the slightest. If he absolutely had to pick one thing, he chose the longevity lock hanging at the corpse’s neck.

It was silver — small and delicate — with a goldfish and lotus blossom carved on one side and the phrase “long life and prosperity” engraved on the other. Exquisitely made.

Bai Youwei leaned over and asked, “How’s the luck?”

Shen Mo smiled and placed the silver lock in her palm. “Not bad.”

【Miss Liu’s Longevity Lock: The wearer can offset a portion of incoming damage. First use offsets 75% of damage, second use offsets 50%, third use offsets 25%. After three uses, this item expires.】

In other words — say someone were stabbed, with a wound ten centimeters deep. After the longevity lock’s damage reduction activated, the wound would become only 2.5 centimeters deep.

The drawback was that only the first use provided truly meaningful protection. The second only halved the damage, and the third was practically negligible.

Still, on the whole, the item was fairly practical.

Du Lai wandered a full circuit of the tomb chamber and eventually picked up a hairpin.

He frowned slightly. The reward item he had selected seemed rather underwhelming, and not a trace of pleasure showed on his face.

That left only Bai Youwei without a selection.

Choosing an item without knowing its effect was genuinely a test of luck.

She deliberated for a long time, then pointed at an incense burner on the table and asked the inspector, “If I choose this, can I have the incense inside it as well?”

Ghost-fire flickered and said in a low, drawn-out tone, “The incense must be selected separately.”

Bai Youwei’s eyes went wide. “You should have said that sooner! I’m the only one left who hasn’t chosen yet — it’s too late for my companions to pick anything on my behalf now!”

Ghost-fire burned quietly, offering no reply, cutting off any possible verbal loophole.

Bai Youwei furrowed her brow and pressed on. “That’s strange — I feel like you’re deliberately targeting me. By your logic, when she chose that painting just now, you should have made her take the scroll separately from the mounting — they’re two different objects!”

Fu Miaoxue was startled. She said hastily, “Bai Youwei! Your own item doesn’t fit the rules — don’t drag me into this!”

Bai Youwei shot her a displeased look. “Hey, have you forgotten the oath you swore? Watch your attitude.”

“…” Fu Miaoxue silently retreated behind Du Lai.

Bai Youwei turned back to the inspector, irritation plain in her voice. “An incense burner without incense — what kind of incense burner is that? Are you playing games with me?!”

“The game treats all players equally…” Ghost-fire hesitated, then explained again, “The incense burner and the incense have identical effects on their own, but when used together they produce an amplified effect. Players may choose either one.”

Bai Youwei’s expression remained stony, and she looked very displeased.

Shen Mo said to her quietly, “The difficulty of this game isn’t particularly high, and the item benefits are correspondingly limited. You might as well choose something else.”

—