The Hand of Confession – Chapter 176

Volume 6: Days of Being Zapped in the Lab

Kiss

A kiss born from impulse

“Get to the corner!” Lou Jingmo ordered quickly, then grabbed Shen Maomao, who was still out of it, and pulled her into a corner of the wall.

            

290 also hid in another corner. The three held their breath, waiting motionlessly for the danger to arrive.

Heavy footsteps drew closer and closer. A pitch-black tentacle reached in through the doorway, immediately followed by a head that looked like it had bloomed open.

Shen Maomao was so nervous her heart was pounding wildly; she closed her eyes, not wanting to look at it.

            

Lou Jingmo gently squeezed her ice-cold hand and whispered, “Don’t be afraid.”

Shen Maomao blinked her eyes at her, indicating she was okay.

Just as the two finished their exchange, the monster squeezed its entire body inside.

            

Facing it directly like this was far more shocking than seeing a picture. This thing had a human body, but where its head should have been, a large mass of black tentacles grew instead. Below the tentacles was a single, neat stalk connected to the neck, which then branched out into several tentacles of equal thickness. Right now, the tentacles were still waving forward, baring fangs and brandishing claws.

Shen Maomao wondered—the direction the tentacles were facing, that should be its front, right?

The Octopus Monster stood in place and spun 360 degrees, finally locking onto Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo’s direction.

            

Shen Maomao quickly held her breath, not daring to breathe too loudly.

The monster seemed a bit puzzled. Its tentacles shot forward violently, likely wanting to test for itself if anyone was really there.

Lou Jingmo prepared to block, and Shen Maomao’s eyes widened, ready to dodge at any moment.

            

Thump— The tentacle struck the wall right beside Shen Maomao, the immense force leaving a slight dent.

Shen Maomao used all her strength to suppress the urge to flee immediately. Only when the tentacle withdrew from in front of her did she let out a sigh of relief, her legs inevitably feeling a bit weak. The breath she had been holding was becoming difficult to keep in.

Lou Jingmo saw her predicament. While the monster went to test 290’s location, she slowly lowered her head towards Shen Maomao.

            

Shen Maomao’s eyes went wide. She suddenly realized she was almost entirely enveloped in Lou Jingmo’s embrace, able to feel her body heat with ease.

Lou-jie… was she going to kiss her?

She’d read many similar novels and watched TV dramas—where the male and female leads fall into the sea and, to survive, pass air back and forth between their mouths, one breath exchanged over and over, both beautiful and ambiguous.

            

She gripped her pant legs tightly, her face flushed red. Holding her breath made her tremble slightly, her brain dizzy from lack of oxygen.

She tilted her chin up slightly and slowly closed her eyes, as if in avoidance, yet also somewhat expectant.

Lou Jingmo’s eyes darkened slightly. Watching Shen Maomao’s constantly trembling eyelashes, she felt as if Shen Maomao was tempting her to kiss her.

            

After hesitating like this for a moment, the next second, Shen Maomao heard Lou Jingmo’s voice whisper in her ear: “F%cking idiot, breathe.”

Shen Maomao: “…???” Lou Jingmo, are you even human??

She completely lost her composure, letting out a long breath with a distinct exhale.

            

Swish— The Octopus Monster instantly turned its tentacles and headed towards the two of them.

Shen Maomao wanted to raise her hand to cover her mouth, but Lou Jingmo was a step faster, pinching her chin and kissing her.

The whole world seemed to fall silent.

            

Shen Maomao forgot the time, place, and situation. All she knew was facing Lou Jingmo’s crimson eyes, her mind chaotically thinking: Lou-jie is so cool… She’s the ultimate Mary Sue​¹, isn’t she?!

Lou Jingmo pried open her mouth and, just like in the TV dramas, passed a breath of air to her.

Shen Maomao felt like she was about to explode.

            

The monster lost its target and swayed unsteadily back out the doorway the way it came. Shen Maomao was completely oblivious to her surroundings now, her heart pounding like a DJ spinning discs​², making her wonder if she’d developed heart disease from some virus.

Lou Jingmo didn’t deepen the kiss excessively, only pressing their lips together for a while. Once the monster’s figure had completely vanished, she released her.

Shen Maomao gasped heavily, clamping a hand over her mouth, and asked muffledly, “Why did you suddenly kiss me?!”

            

Lou Jingmo placed her index finger to her lips and shushed, “Quieter, it hasn’t gone far.”

Then she added an explanation for the kiss: “You were breathing so loudly, you would have drawn it back. And fighting would attract more unnecessary trouble. In the heat of the moment, I had no choice but to resort to this measure.” Very high-sounding!

After speaking, she pretended to wipe her lips in distaste, “Otherwise, what did you think?” A very clumsy attempt to conceal the truth!

            

The ball was kicked back into Shen Maomao’s court. She started to doubt herself—could it be that she was the one with ulterior motives​³??

Why did she keep feeling like Lou Jingmo was just fooling her​⁴?

Lou Jingmo added, “It’s perfectly normal for women to kiss each other; it’s a symbol of being good girlfriends​⁵. Besides, the situation was urgent, don’t worry too much about it.”

            

Shen Maomao: “?” Do you take me for an idiot??

“Ahem—” 290 cleared his throat from behind them. “Ladies, perhaps we shouldn’t focus on such unimportant matters right now? Time is limited, shall we continue investigating?”

Lou Jingmo walked over to another computer and sat down, studying the data earnestly, wearing an expression of complete absorption. Shen Maomao could only swallow the words welling up inside her and continue researching the weaknesses of these things.

            

No one knew what Lou Jingmo was really thinking—except herself.

Beneath her calm, rippleless surface, there was actually a measure of regret.

Matters of emotion were always hard to predict. The more she tried to restrain herself, the less she could. Danger was most likely to make people impulsive, and the Suspension Bridge Effect​⁶ could also prompt her to do things she absolutely wouldn’t normally do.

            

She had been too impulsive just now; she hadn’t expected that kiss herself. In short, her head had gotten hot in the moment, and by the time she came back to her senses, she had already kissed her. Of course, she rarely experienced such rushes of blood to the head.

But that kiss also forced her to admit certain things—she liked Shen Maomao. Not just slight fondness, nor unforgettable love, but she liked her. This was a fact, an emotion she couldn’t control no matter how much she tried to avoid it.

Lou Jingmo stared at the computer screen, her thoughts having long since drifted elsewhere.

            

She actually liked that stupid thing, Shen Maomao.

Timid and troublesome, soft-hearted​⁷, utterly useless​⁸ Shen Maomao.

Forget it, actually, she had quite a few good points: kind, cute, innocent, lively, optimistic, cheerful, had normal values​⁹, relatively sensible, perceptive​¹⁰, knew how to talk… and so on…

            

Lou Jingmo inwardly cursed herself.

Shen Maomao was only in her early twenties, still very young, with a wide future ahead. Although her sexual orientation was a mystery, Lou Jingmo had heard her say countless times that she was a straight girl—so let’s just assume she was straight for now.

Turning a straight girl gay invites heavenly retribution​¹¹. She knew she couldn’t do something like that, nor did she want to be some kind of “I’m happy as long as you’re happy” simp​¹², protecting her all the way only to watch her end up with another man or something…

            

Bang! Lou Jingmo threw the mouse.

The two people huddled around the computers jumped in fright. Shen Maomao looked back at her and asked, puzzled, “Lou-jie, what are you doing??” Her expression couldn’t have been more innocent.

An inexplicable wicked fire​¹³ ignited in Lou Jingmo’s heart. She said coldly, “Nothing!”

            

If circumstances allowed, Lou Jingmo probably would have already uttered that classic line from romance novels’ domineering CEOs​¹⁴—Shen Maomao, what am I supposed to do with you?

Helpless, Shen Maomao was bewildered: “??”.

Women are truly terrifying, Shen Maomao thought. One moment kissing you, the next moment snapping at you—practically the definition of moody.

            

And the moody Lou Jingmo, meanwhile, sank back into thought. Considering her relationship with Shen Maomao, the current situation, and the future…

Shen Maomao was an independent individual, not her property. She had her own thoughts and feelings; she wasn’t someone Lou Jingmo could just make do whatever she wanted.

Besides, based on her understanding of this half-straight, half-bent Shen Maomao, if Shen Maomao found out Lou Jingmo liked her, she probably wouldn’t be scared, disgusted, or afraid. Instead, she’d likely immediately climb all over her head and act tyrannically​¹⁵, then rely on Lou Jingmo’s affection to do whatever she pleased, her tail practically raised to the sky​¹⁶.

            

No.

Lou Jingmo made a decision.

She couldn’t let Shen Maomao know about any of this—at least, not yet.

            

As for everything else—she’d take it one step at a time.

Having thought everything through, Lou Jingmo turned her attention back to the computer. This time, she could actually make out the words on the screen.

Meanwhile, Shen Maomao still didn’t know what decision Lou Jingmo had made. She and 290 firmly committed the information about the monsters to memory, then searched through the unused computers some more, but couldn’t find any serum or vaccine to suppress IM…

            

Finally, Lou Jingmo glanced at a time-telling prop and said, “There’s not much time left. Let’s head straight to the kitchen.”

At the very least, they needed to carry some water on them. That way, if they encountered that “smiley face” shaped monster, they’d still have a fighting chance.

The corridor outside was empty. The three cautiously made their way forward. They didn’t encounter any strange creatures along the way and safely reached the entrance to the canteen.

            

The canteen’s main doors were shut tight. 290, being the man, consciously stepped forward, reached out, and pushed the door, but it didn’t budge.

The door was locked from the inside…

He glanced back at the two women. Lou Jingmo patted Shen Maomao, “Go, go watch the corner.”

            

“Oh, okay.” Shen Maomao obediently walked a couple of steps forward, secretly poked her head around the corner, took a look, then immediately retracted her gaze and gave the two behind her an “OK” sign.

290 started knocking on the door, saying as he knocked, “Hello, is anyone inside? We’re also test subjects. We’re planning to head to the elevator soon to escape. Do you want to run with us?”

No one answered from inside.

            

290 continued, “Hiding in here is useless. The monsters can easily break through the lab doors, let alone the canteen doors which offer no protection at all. Waiting here to die is worse than taking a gamble with us​¹⁷. Maybe we can even find an exit and save ourselves…”

A weak male voice came from inside: “Are you players?”

290 replied, “We are. Open the door. We want to come in and find some water; there’s a type of monster that’s afraid of water.”

            

This specific piece of information seemed to relax the man inside considerably. The sound of a table scraping against the floor was heard, the door was pulled open from within, and a delicate, handsome face appeared before them.

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The author has something to say:

Went to see Frozen II!

            

Also, a little about the second appearance situation for Chen Meihan and Little Ancestor—Little Ancestor involves saving Little Ancestor, helping him regain consciousness. Chen Meihan is about the former boss being reduced to a garlic-peeling girl​¹⁸.

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