Don't sit in the empty chair at a funeral.
Lan's hometown had a very strange custom.
At funerals, the family always placed an extra chair beside the coffin.
No one was allowed to sit in it.
No one knew what the chair was for.
Lan's Grandma had only ever warned her:
“If you see that chair empty, leave it empty.”
Lan had never asked why.
Until her grandfather's funeral.
On the first night, the relatives took turns keeping watch beside the coffin.
Around two in the morning, Lan stepped outside to get some water.
When she came back, she saw an elderly woman sitting in the empty chair.
Lan stopped dead.
The woman had her back to her.
Long silver hair covered almost all of her back.
Thinking she was a relative, Lan walked over.
“Who are you?”
The woman didn't answer.
Lan looked around.
No one was paying attention to her.
Lan was about to go find her mother when the woman suddenly spoke:
“Lan.”
Lan jumped.
“Yes?”
The woman slowly turned her head.
But her face...
was exactly the same as Lan's grandfather's.
Lan stepped backward.
The glass in her hand fell to the floor.
The woman smiled.
“Grandpa's been waiting a long time to sit down.”
Lan screamed.
Everyone came running.
The chair was empty.
There was no one there.
Lan's mother hugged her tightly and asked what had happened.
Lan told them everything.
No one said a word.
Only Grandma stood behind them, staring at the chair for a long time.
Then she whispered:
“He doesn't want to leave yet.”
That night, no one dared leave the coffin's side.
Near dawn, Lan dozed off in a chair.
When she woke up, there was an old handkerchief on the empty chair.
It was the one her grandfather always used.
Lan picked it up.
Inside the handkerchief was a scrap of paper.
It contained only four words:
“Sit with Grandpa.”
Lan immediately threw the handkerchief onto the floor.
Just then...
the chair pulled itself out.
Leaving just enough room for one person to sit down.
Lan's mother rushed over and pulled her away.
Grandma looked at the chair and said:
“Don't let anyone sit in it.”
“Why?”
She didn't answer.
She only looked at the clock.
4:44 a.m.
At that exact moment, a soft knock came from inside the coffin.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The entire house fell deathly silent.
Then Grandpa's voice came from inside:
“Let me sit with you.”
No one dared say anything.
The knocking came again.
This time, it was louder.
“Let me sit with you.”
Grandma burst into tears.
“Oh, Grandpa...”
“You're gone.”
The room fell silent.
A while later, the knocking stopped.
The next morning, everything returned to normal.
Lan told an older relative what had happened the night before.
He looked at her and asked:
“Do you know why our family always leaves one chair empty?”
Lan shook her head.
He replied:
“It's the chair for the last person who doesn't know they're dead.”
Lan felt a chill run through her.
“But Grandpa...”
“Yeah.”
He looked toward the altar.
“Your grandpa knows.”
“The person sitting in the chair last night...”
“...wasn't your grandpa.”
Lan fell silent.
“Then who was it?”
The man didn't answer.
He only pointed to the family photograph beside the altar.
Lan followed his finger.
In the photograph, taken of the whole family ten years ago...
there was an empty chair.
And beside that chair...
was a woman Lan had never seen before.
But she recognized the shirt immediately.
It was the same woman who had sat beside the coffin the night before.
A note from the 99 Forbidden Rules ledger
At a funeral, if there's a chair left empty...
leave it empty.
Because sometimes people don't leave a chair for the dead.
They leave it for the thing that's been sitting beside the dead for a very long time.