The Hand of Confession, Slightly Trembling

The Hand of Confession – Chapter 103

by Little Panda

Volume 4: Days of Making Mischief at School

Explosion

The Impostor

Golden Retriever hadn’t realized that his dear and respectable Sister Rabbit was about to make her move against him, and he naturally said: “Sister Rabbit, I also want to experience what it’s like to be a boss. Please help make my dream come true!”

His golden hair turned a creamy gold color under the moonlight, becoming like jumping waves as he shook his head, making Shen Maomao’s heart melt completely.

How could she not understand Golden Retriever’s meaning? He didn’t want her to take risks alone…

Shen Maomao rubbed the golden hair on his head, asking him warmly: “Aren’t you afraid of death?”

Golden Retriever didn’t answer her obvious question, but caught her hand that was messing with his hair, and said seriously: “Sister Rabbit, girls shouldn’t casually touch boys’ heads.”

Shen Maomao withdrew her hand and said: “It’s fine, I see you as my son.”

Golden Retriever made a confused face [literally: black person question mark face]: “??”

Though it seemed like they had been talking for a long time, only a few minutes had passed. After deciding to face the ghosts together, they didn’t waste any more time and walked out of the classroom, following the path that Ren Yue had run down.

There was still fresh blood flowing from Ren Yue’s arm on the ground, making it easy for them to find where she had fled to.

However, there was something very troubling – the blood on the ground not only served as their guide but also attracted many strange creatures…

The two were initially nervous, but upon closer inspection, they noticed these things weren’t paying attention to them but instead rushing straight towards where Ren Yue was.

Shen Maomao’s heart tightened, and she couldn’t help but worry about Ren Yue.

She quickened her pace, and after descending just one flight of stairs, she discovered a mass of black mist appearing right in front of them.

The black mist rolled into a vague human shape, with Ren Yue suspended in its center, her eyes tightly closed and her face contorted in pain, as if she had been swallowed by something.

Ghosts passed by Shen Maomao and Golden Retriever without a glance, heading straight for Ren Yue, and were assimilated into the same misty form the moment they approached the black fog.

The black mist continued to grow stronger, and soon Ren Yue was completely enveloped, becoming completely invisible.

Shen Maomao felt very uneasy – if this thing was allowed to grow bit by bit, what kind of existence would it ultimately become?

She looked to Golden Retriever beside her: “Where are the props?”

Golden Retriever grabbed a handful of props to show her: “They’re all here.”

Shen Maomao took a quick look and asked: “What do they all do?”

Golden Retriever nervously shook his leg: “I-I-I-I… I can’t remember clearly! But they should all be offensive types.”

Shen Maomao nodded: “Alright, let’s use them.”

Golden Retriever hesitated: “Just use them directly? What if we accidentally kill your friend?”

Shen Maomao fell into deep thought: “…”

How the hell were they going to handle this?

At this critical moment, Golden Retriever wracked his brains and remembered that some of these props only worked on supernatural beings. He picked out these specific props, held them in his palm, and nervously asked: “These should definitely be safe. Sister Rabbit, do you trust me?!”

There seemed to be no choice but to trust him, as the black mist was growing larger, spreading from the small landing between floors to their feet. To avoid being swallowed by the black mist, the two could only keep backing away.

Golden Retriever threw all the props in his hand into the black mist at once.

The props seemed to trigger some kind of special reaction with each other, causing an earth-shattering explosion.

The already dilapidated school building shook several times before finally collapsing with a thunderous crash, unable to bear the strain.

Golden Retriever only managed to create a protective barrier before they were buried under the collapsed building.

The small barrier emitted a golden light, covering not only Golden Retriever and Shen Maomao but also Ren Yue, who had been spat out by the monster.

The golden light kept all the rubble outside, but couldn’t block the dust. The three of them lay side by side on the ground, with pitiful little space to move around.

Golden Retriever covered his mouth and nose, coughing twice, his eyes watering from the dust: “Cough cough… Sister Rabbit, what should we do?”

With Lou Jingmo absent, Shen Maomao became the decision-maker. She covered her own mouth with one hand and Ren Yue’s nose and mouth with the other, preventing the person they had just rescued from dying of suffocation.

Then she asked in a muffled voice: “How long can your props last?”

Golden Retriever answered truthfully: “This protective barrier runs on burning props. Regular props last three minutes, rare props last ten minutes, and cards last one hour.”

“Holy shit?” Shen Maomao was stunned, “Such expensive items can’t even block dust?”

Golden Retriever explained helplessly: “It can only block one type of thing at a time. The difference between rubble and dust might be too great, so it recognizes them as two separate things…”

After saying this, he returned to the main point: “Anyway, with my current number of props, we can probably last about two hours…”

Shen Maomao: “…”

Money really could do anything, and she, being broke, had nothing to say.

“Have you figured out what to do, Sister Rabbit?” Golden Retriever urged, “Think quickly! If we can’t get out after two hours, we’ll be buried underground forever!”

Moreover, the air circulation was poor in this space, with limited oxygen, and there were three people breathing… They probably wouldn’t even last two hours before it was all over.

Shen Maomao had no idea how deep they were buried, so she didn’t dare to dig carelessly, fearing that one wrong move might cause another cave-in…

The three of them would certainly be fine, but Sister Lou might be somewhere below, and what if she didn’t have any props to protect herself in this situation?

Thinking this through, she immediately abandoned this idea.

So this was how difficult it was to be a leader! When she was alone, she could do whatever she wanted, and if bad luck struck, it would only affect her. But as a team leader, each of her decisions represented the fate of the entire group, so she moved forward cautiously, not daring to make any rash attempts.

At this moment, she really missed Sister Lou so much!!!

While she was struggling with these thoughts, Golden Retriever suddenly tapped her shoulder lightly. He asked in a low voice: “Sister Rabbit, listen. Isn’t that someone calling you?”

Shen Maomao listened carefully and discovered the voice belonged to Mother Shen!

It wasn’t the harsh, unpleasant voice from when they were playing hide-and-seek, but rather her normal gentle and sweet tone.

Mother Shen had recovered!

Shen Maomao was almost moved to tears as she shouted from underground: “Mama!! I’m here!! Help!!”

A series of hurried footsteps transmitted through the ground to their ears, and Mother Shen uncertainly knocked on the rubble above, asking: “Maomao, are you down there?”

Just as Shen Maomao was about to answer, a voice identical to hers suddenly came from another pit!

That person said: “Mama, I’m over here!”

This voice mimicked her speaking tone so perfectly that even her own mother probably couldn’t tell which voice belonged to the real her just by sound alone.

Shen Maomao was stunned for a moment, then quickly shouted: “Who are you? Why are you impersonating me?!”

The impostor began crying with whimpers: “Mama… I’m in so much pain, please save me quickly, wuu wuu wuu…”

Golden Retriever said anxiously: “Sister Rabbit, you cry too!”

Shen Maomao started wailing immediately, letting out a loud cry without actual tears: “Waaah— you big meanie! How dare you impersonate me and try to steal my mama! Wuu wuu wuu I’m going to become a motherless child!”

Silently covering her ears, even the unconscious Ren Yue furrowed her brows, as if about to be awakened by this ear-piercing demonic sounds…

Mother Shen immediately recognized which one was her daughter and stumbled over, choking up as she said: “Maomao, don’t cry! Mama won’t abandon you!”

Shen Maomao stopped instantly, and Golden Retriever silently gave her a thumbs up.

Sister Rabbit was truly awesome!

Mother Shen started digging with her hands, moving the scattered rubble aside with her bare hands, desperately trying to rescue her daughter.

A faint sound reached her ears, and she listened carefully, only hearing the “hua la hua la” [onomatopoeia for flowing debris] of moving rocks, but couldn’t tell what props she was using.

Shen Maomao tentatively asked: “Mama? Are you digging with your hands?”

Mother Shen said: “No, I have an iron shovel, I’ll get you out quickly, don’t be afraid…”

Shen Maomao bit her lower lip and looked at Golden Retriever beside her.

Golden Retriever said: “Sister Rabbit, don’t worry about me when deciding what to do, just pretend I don’t exist.”

So Shen Maomao shouted: “Mama! We’re safe down here, don’t worry! Find some proper props before you dig us out! That will be much faster!”

Mother Shen took this advice and immediately said: “Alright, then Maomao, wait for mama…”

The impostor used her voice to say: “Mama, are you abandoning me?”

Shen Maomao had never known her voice could sound so pitiful. The person wasn’t crying while speaking, but their voice trembled slightly, just like an abandoned young beast, alone in the cold wind licking its wounds.

Before Mother Shen could speak, Shen Maomao started cursing: “You’re talking nonsense!”

That person began to choke up, in a completely different style from Shen Maomao’s dramatic wailing.

Shen Maomao: “Just wait until we get out, I’ll beat you up!”

“Maomao!” Mother Shen called her name sternly, “A young lady shouldn’t speak such words!”

Shen Maomao: “…”

Footsteps gradually faded away, seemingly indicating that Mother Shen was walking toward the impostor, as they heard the fake’s excited voice: “Mama… you’re coming to save me—”

The fragile girl’s voice cut off abruptly, transforming into a boy’s piercing scream.

Shen Maomao’s eyes widened, her body becoming rigid for a moment.

Golden Retriever glanced at her, trembling as he whispered: “Sister Rabbit… your mom…”

Shen Maomao swallowed hard, moistening her dry throat: “We… we dare not ask…”

LP: Best NPC so far