There was no one inside.

  Yet the mp was burning as if it had lit itself.

  A brand-new brass mp gleamed like gold.

  It sat on a pristine pearwood table, which rested on an immacute Persian rug.

  Beside the mp, fresh flowers bloomed.

  Everything was there.

  Anything you could expect to find in a well-furnished home was present in this room—down to the very st detail.

  It was as if a miracle had occurred.

  The only thing that remained unchanged was Wang Dong's rge bed.

  But even the bed was now covered with fresh, clean bedding, and a few flowers had been carefully pced on top.

  Guo Dalu stood at the doorway, eyes wide in disbelief, mumbling, "Did we come to the wrong pce?"

  Yan Qi chuckled. "No mistake. No other pce has a bed this big."

  Guo Dalu sighed. "It really looks like some deity has come down to take care of this pce. I wonder which celestial being it was?"

  Yan Qi said, "Looks like Lao Wang is just like Dong Yong—his filial piety has moved a heavenly fairy to help him."

  Guo Dalu grinned. "Maybe the fairy came for me! I'm filial too!"

  Yan Qi scoffed, "You're just an idiot."

  Despite their joking, they all understood—someone had been here; someone had left all these things for them.

  And that someone was likely the same person who had paid their bill at Kuiyuan restaurant.

  They were only making light of it to cover up their unease and confusion.

  Because they had no idea who this person was and even less idea why they would do all this.

  Wang Dong slowly walked to the bed, took off his shoes, and without a word, y down.

  No matter what he did, he always moved at a slow and steady pace, never in a hurry—except when he y down to sleep. That, he did astonishingly fast.

  Guo Dalu frowned. “You're just going to sleep like this?”

  Wang Dong yawned, letting the yawn serve as his answer.

  Guo Dalu asked, “Do you even know who sent all these things?”

  Wang Dong replied, “No. I only know that when I'm tired, I sleep.”

  Whether these things were gifts from fairies or curses from vengeful spirits, he didn't care. Even if every fairy and ghost in the world gathered around him, it wouldn't stop him from sleeping.

  As soon as he closed his eyes, he seemed to drift off instantly.

  Guo Dalu sighed. “I have to admit, I admire him for that.”

  Yan Qi bit his lip and said, “I'll check the courtyard out back—maybe someone's there.”

  The back courtyard still had the same row of rooms they had stayed in the night they drank sour plum soup.

  The front section of the house, apart from the main hall and the flower hall, had seven or eight more rooms. Besides the one Wang Dong had cimed for himself, another room was also furnished with a very comfortable bed.

  Guo Dalu murmured, “Whoever did this even knew there were four of us staying here. They really thought of everything.”

  Suddenly, Yan Qi's voice rang out from the back courtyard, shouting, “Come quick! Therea… Therea…”

  There was something—something he couldn't quite put into words.

  Guo Dalu was the first to rush outside, with Lin Taiping following closely behind.

  The courtyard had been meticulously cleaned. Someone had even transpnted a few bamboo stalks and chrysanthemums, making the pce look unexpectedly refined.

  Yan Qi stood motionless among the chrysanthemums, staring bnkly at something.

  What he was looking at was a coffin.

  A brand-new coffin.

  The name engraved on the head of the coffin, upon closer inspection, read: "Nangong Chou."

  Lin Taiping's entire body turned cold. The color drained from his lips completely.

  Guo Dalu felt a chill creep up his spine as well. Unable to hold back, he asked, "Where exactly did you kill him?"

  Lin Taiping stammered, "J-just… outside."

  Guo Dalu pressed, "Outside where?"

  Lin Taiping swallowed hard. "Outside his house."

  Guo Dalu asked, "After you killed him, did you bury his body?"

  Lin Taiping bit his lip and shook his head.

  Guo Dalu sighed. "So you're the kind who kills but doesn't bury, huh?"

  Lin Taiping looked like he was about to cry.

  Yan Qi said, "No matter who it is, the first time they kill someone, they're bound to be flustered and panicked. After the killing, they probably wouldn't even dare to take another look, let alone worry about anything else."

  Guo Dalu said, "That almost sounds like you're speaking from experience."

  Yan Qi replied, "Don't forget, while I may have never killed anyone, I've at least been killed before."

  Guo Dalu let out a sigh and asked, "When you killed him, was there no one else around?"

  Lin Taiping shook his head again.

  Guo Dalu continued, "If there was no one else, then who put his body into the coffin? And who sent the coffin here?"

  Suddenly, he chuckled and added, "It couldn't have been him climbing into the coffin himself and then having it delivered, right?"

  Guo Dalu had a habit—no matter the situation, he couldn't help but crack a joke.

  He knew this joke wasn't particurly appropriate.

  Lin Taiping's face grew even paler. He bit his lip and stammered, "I... I wasn't..."

  Before he could finish his sentence, a sudden "creak" came from inside the coffin.

  Then another "creak."

  Even Yan Qi and Guo Dalu's expressions changed.

  "Could it be that the dead man inside has come back to life?"

  Guo Dalu patted Lin Taiping on the shoulder and forced a smile. "No need to be scared. We weren't afraid of him when he was alive, so why be afraid of him now that he's dead?"

  Yan Qi said, "Since we're not afraid, we might as well open the coffin and let him out."

  He looked as if he was really about to do it.

  Guo Dalu couldn't help but say, "Wait."

  Yan Qi asked, "Weren't you the one who said you weren't afraid?"

  Guo Dalu replied, "Of course I'm not afraid; it's just… it's just..."

  "Ctter! Ctter!"