The Hand of Confession – Chapter 418
by Little PandaEpilogue: The Final Instance
Get Out
Three Headless Corpses
There was no spare room at Police Officer Bai’s house, but her sofa could be pulled out. Once a quilt was spread over it, it became a double bed, with more than enough room for her to roll around.
Shen Maomao wore Police Officer Bai’s nightgown. The garment had shrunk several sizes from being over-dried, but it was still far too large for her. The hem hung down to her calves, and the top half hung loosely on her shoulders, but it was better than nothing.
In the dead of night, Police Officer Bai’s home was completely silent.
The living room lights were off, so she couldn’t see much. Shen Maomao summoned Puck and had him do a lap around the house, searching for any unusual smells. If he found anything, he was to come back and tell her.
Puck agreed at once and flew off, flapping his tiny wings.
Shen Maomao lay in the darkness with her eyes open. She wasn’t sleepy; she just hugged the quilt, her mind replaying the events of the past few days.
Facing the final instance, am I nervous? Am I not nervous?
She couldn’t say for sure herself.
Shen Maomao thought for a long time. By the time she realized it, Puck had been gone for nearly an hour.
Sensing something was wrong, she sat bolt upright with a jolt.
There were no windows in the living room, but she had more or less memorized the layout of the furniture. She knew where everything was, so she wouldn’t bump into things as she felt her way forward.
With that thought, she placed her bare feet on the floor, only to suddenly feel her ankle gripped by a small, ice-cold hand.
She stood frozen in place. After about half a minute, she said calmly, “Xiao Qi?”
The small hand retracted as if nothing had happened.
Shen Maomao wasn’t afraid anymore. She reached her hand under the coffee table to feel around. The first thing she touched was ice-cold, soft skin, like a marshmallow. It was boneless and abnormally squishy.
Maybe this is Xiao Qi’s cheek, or maybe it’s his butt.
She pulled her hand back.
She was afraid she might touch somewhere private and make things awkward for everyone.
Even though Xiao Qi wasn’t human, ghosts have ghost rights1 too.
Since Xiao Qi was here, Puck was most likely fine. Her concern had just led her to become flustered2.
Puck had lived for so many years; even if he wasn’t good at fighting, he was an expert at running away. If he couldn’t win, he could still run. Not only could he run, but he could also start howling and screaming. It was impossible for him to have made no sound at all.
And if there truly was a presence that could stop him from even crying for help, Shen Maomao figured it would be useless for her to go anyway.
She crouched down and tried again to communicate with the little ghost. “Xiao Qi? Why are you hiding under the coffee table?”
Two red points of light glowed in the darkness. Those must have been Xiao Qi’s eyes.
Shen Maomao took a step back, her calf bumping against the sofa. Her body tilted backward, and she fell with a soft thud onto her quilt.
The red lights began to move. Judging by their trajectory, Xiao Qi must have crawled out from under the coffee table. He was on all fours, and a low growl rumbled in his throat, like a small animal seeing an enemy. His scarlet eyes stared at her without blinking.
He looked fierce, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking her immediately.
Shen Maomao continued to communicate with him. “Xiao Qi? Is there something you want to do?”
A few muffled sounds came from Xiao Qi’s throat. Shen Maomao leaned closer to listen. He was saying, “Get out.”
Shen Maomao said, “I’m leaving tomorrow. It’s the dead of night right now, so I can’t get out. Your mother wouldn’t allow it, either.”
The growling in Xiao Qi’s throat grew louder.
An idea struck Shen Maomao, and she tentatively brought up Police Officer Bai again. “Your mother seems to like me quite a lot…”
With a roar, Xiao Qi lunged.
Shen Maomao dodged to the side, rolling from the sofa to the floor, then tumbling forward once more.
She understood now. Xiao Qi seemed to have a powerful sense of possessiveness over Police Officer Bai.
She scrambled up quickly and began circling the sofa with him, saying as she moved, “Calm down! I’ll leave tomorrow and never come back. You’ll still be the person your mother loves most.”
Xiao Qi stopped his attack, facing her from the other side of the sofa.
Shen Maomao added, “Maybe you can beat me, but you definitely can’t destroy the corpse and erase all traces3. We can make a deal—right now, we each go back to sleep and pretend nothing happened. Otherwise, I’ll tell your mom about you.”
Xiao Qi continued to growl.
Shen Maomao pressed on, “You think your mom won’t believe me? I have ways to make her believe me. So before you attack me, you’d better think carefully about whether you really want to do this, and whether you’re sure you won’t end up being loathed by your mother.”
Xiao Qi’s growling stopped. He only stared at her with those scarlet eyes.
Shen Maomao met his gaze, not wavering in the slightest.
About three minutes later, Xiao Qi took two steps back, then turned and left.
Shen Maomao let out a sigh of relief and climbed back onto the sofa.
She didn’t have a clear grasp of the situation yet, nor did she know the difference in their combat strength. The words she’d just said to Xiao Qi were basically all a bluff4. Fortunately, Xiao Qi probably didn’t know that either.
But from Xiao Qi’s behavior, she had learned a few things that could perhaps be used to crack this instance.
The confrontation hadn’t woken Police Officer Bai or Father Xiao Qi. Shen Maomao took a moment to calm her pounding heart, then stood up from the sofa again, ready to look for Puck.
She remembered where the two adults’ and Xiao Qi’s rooms were, so she avoided those and went to the kitchen first.
The moment she opened the kitchen door, she noticed the refrigerator was ajar. A sliver of light shone out, casting a diagonal beam across the doorway. And from inside the fridge, there seemed to be a sound.
Shen Maomao tiptoed over and gently pulled the refrigerator door open.
A small spirit was lying in one of the compartments on the refrigerator door, sleeping soundly and occasionally muttering a few words in its sleep. “Chocolate… coin… delicious…”
Shen Maomao: “…” The feeling of hating iron for not becoming steel5 was overwhelming.
Beside him was an opened piece of chocolate, and she could faintly smell the scent of alcohol.
She had told Puck to find any strange smells, and he had followed the scent to the kitchen and stolen someone’s liqueur chocolate.
Shen Maomao snatched up the ice-cold Puck, destroyed the chocolate wrapper to erase all traces, then gently closed the refrigerator door and returned to the living room sofa.
She finally had a rough idea of what this instance was trying to convey.
…
The next morning, Shen Maomao woke up early. She got dressed, folded her quilt, pushed the sofa back together, and then sat on it obediently, waiting for Police Officer Bai and her husband to wake up.
Around six-thirty, Police Officer Bai pushed her door open and was startled to see her. “Ya? Maomao, you’re up so early?”
Shen Maomao said, “Good morning, Bai-jiejie.”
Police Officer Bai smiled. “You should call me Auntie. If you call me Jiejie, what will Xiao Qi have to call you?”
Shen Maomao readily followed her good advice. “Auntie Bai.”
Police Officer Bai walked over. “You even pushed the sofa back yourself? That’s impressive. Sit here for a bit; I’m going to wake Xiao Qi up.”
Shen Maomao nodded.
Police Officer Bai went into Xiao Qi’s room. A short while later, Xiao Qi came out with her, clutching a doll and looking down. He peeked at her through the gaps in his hair, his gaze sinister and a little frightening.
Shen Maomao paid him no mind and continued to sit on the sofa, acting like a good baby6.
Father Xiao Qi went downstairs to buy breakfast. The three of them sat at the dining table to eat, naturally leaving a spot for Xiao Qi.
Shen Maomao took a few token bites. Father Xiao Qi had to leave early for something, so Police Officer Bai was responsible for taking Shen Maomao to school and then dropping Xiao Qi off at kindergarten.
In the car, Shen Maomao asked about her family’s situation. “Auntie Bai, please tell me, what exactly happened to my family? I’m not a child anymore. You can tell me. I can handle it.”
Police Officer Bai glanced at Xiao Qi in the rearview mirror, looking hesitant.
Shen Maomao understood her concern and said, “Why don’t we drop Xiao Qi off at kindergarten first? Then you can tell me, okay?”
Police Officer Bai agreed. “Alright. If you want to know, you have the right.”
The car stopped in front of the kindergarten. Police Officer Bai got out and opened the back door, but Xiao Qi didn’t get out. She closed the door again and waved goodbye toward the kindergarten entrance.
After a moment, she returned to the driver’s seat, started the car, and said, “Your family’s matter is a bit complicated. Do you remember your parents?”
Shen Maomao watched Xiao Qi in the rearview mirror and replied, “I don’t remember them. They haven’t come back to see me in a long time.”
“Sometime ago, we discovered three headless corpses in a nearby lake. After investigation, we found that…” Police Officer Bai glanced at her. “They were your grandmother and your parents. The killer is still under investigation.”
Shen Maomao didn’t know what kind of expression a teenage girl would make after hearing such a thing. She put herself in that position and showed a look of disbelief, murmuring, “How could this be…?“
How could there be three headless corpses? Where was her grandmother’s head?
Police Officer Bai continued, “I know this is difficult for you to accept right now, but you need to make a decision soon. You have no other relatives now, so you might be sent to an orphanage.”
Shen Maomao looked at her.
Police Officer Bai said, “I quite like you. I could pull some strings to adopt you, but it also depends on what you want.”
The moment her voice fell, Xiao Qi’s eyes in the back seat turned red.
However, Shen Maomao didn’t refuse so quickly. Instead, she put on a thoughtful expression.
Police Officer Bai didn’t rush her, driving her directly to the entrance of Eighteenth Middle School.
Before getting out of the car, Shen Maomao said, “Let’s forget it. Thank you, Police Officer Bai, but I don’t want to take away the love you have for Xiao Qi.”
Police Officer Bai was taken aback for a moment.
Shen Maomao continued, “Could you leave me a phone number? If I get the chance, I’ll call you.”
Police Officer Bai was a little surprised by her maturity, but considering her family situation, it wasn’t strange. She immediately tore off a sticky note, wrote down a string of numbers, and said, “Do you have a place to stay? How will you call me?”
Shen Maomao replied, “I’m staying at a friend’s house. There’s a public phone at the supermarket. If there are any developments in my family’s case… could I trouble you to come find me at school?”
Police Officer Bai readily agreed and at the same time took out several hundred-yuan bills. “This is compensation for mental distress from the car accident. Take it and use it. If it’s not enough, you can ask me for more.”
Shen Maomao understood that this money was her own, but she really did need it, so she didn’t refuse. “Thank you, Auntie Bai.”
Police Officer Bai patted her head and sighed. “You’re a good child… Sigh…”
The author has something to say:
I’m sorry, I have sinned, I repent, I wasn’t able to get out a double update, but I’ll try my best to make up the three thousand words I owe you all in the next few days. I’ll update once I’ve caught up. Sorry everyone 5555
I’ve been a bit busy recently, and I have some writer’s block. Same old rule for the first fifty commenters, I’ll bribe you with red envelopes QAQ
Footnotes
- Hanzi: 鬼权 | Pinyin: guǐquán | Context / Meaning: A humorous, literal term for the rights of a ghost, playing on the concept of human rights.
- Hanzi: 关心则乱 | Pinyin: guānxīn zé luàn | Context / Meaning: An idiom meaning that deep concern for someone can lead to confusion, irrationality, a poor judgment.
- Hanzi: 毁尸灭迹 | Pinyin: huǐshīmièjì | Context / Meaning: An idiom that means to get rid of all evidence of a crime.
- Hanzi: 忽悠 | Pinyin: hūyou | Context / Meaning: A colloquial term meaning to trick, deceive, or bluff someone, often through fast-talking or exaggeration.
- Hanzi: 恨铁不成钢 | Pinyin: hèn tiě bù chéng gāng | Context / Meaning: A common idiom expressing frustration and disappointment over someone’s failure to live up to their potential, similar to tough love.
- Hanzi: 乖宝宝 | Pinyin: guāi bǎobǎo | Context / Meaning: A term for a well-behaved child. It can also be used sarcastically or to describe someone acting obedient.
0 Comments