The Hand of Confession – Chapter 124

Volume 5: Days of Applying Makeup to Corpses

Feelings

To Lou Jingmo, she must be special too, right?

None of these people seemed normal, all sorts of demons and monsters among them.

Shen Maomao rested her chin on her hand as she listened for a while, feeling drowsy. She had thought she might hear something useful, but instead sat here listening to this San Huang talking nonsense for ages, his head full of sentences like “I had dinner with XX, XXX thinks highly of me.”

Shortly after, that poet who had gone upstairs also came down to eat.

San Huang, still positioning himself as the leader, directed him to sit beside Lou Jingmo, then stood up with his supporters, saying: “Tonight should be peaceful barring any accidents. Let’s meet here tomorrow morning and share what happened during the night. I believe everyone wants to leave the game as soon as possible, so we’re all willing to work toward that goal, right?”

The others looked at each other, and whatever they thought inside, their faces showed no objection.

San Huang was satisfied with his state of leadership, patted his behind and left with his group hurriedly [呼啦啦 | hū lā lā | describing a group of people leaving together noisily]. Guan Qiwen gave Lou Jingmo a meaningful look, then followed them out.

The cafeteria quickly emptied. The great poet brought over a pile of food, picked up some vegetables with his chopsticks, and suddenly exclaimed with feeling: “Thank the Creator for providing us with such delicious food. You are so generous, so great, bestowing food upon Your most devout followers. I wish to sing Your mighty deeds to the world…” After finishing this string of grateful words, he put the food in his mouth and ate with great relish.

Shen Maomao inexplicably felt uncomfortable and didn’t want to stay here longer. She looked at Lou Jingmo and suggested: “Shall we go?”

Lou Jingmo nodded.

Beside them, Xiaoqiao pulled Gong Lian up as well, saying to the two: “Let’s go together.”

Lou Jingmo neither agreed nor refused.

The four women walked out of the cafeteria together. Before stepping through the doorway, Shen Maomao looked back – the great poet was still chewing his food with large bites, as if savoring some earthly delicacy.

She withdrew her gaze, following Lou Jingmo’s steps without taking her eyes off her.

By now it was completely dark. A warm yellow light had been lit in the room to the left of the funeral home’s lobby, its interior clearly visible from outside. A bored figure sat behind the window – the young man who had chosen to take the first night watch.

Autumn cicadas called tirelessly, crows fluttered their wings flying low, and the sky was covered by a black curtain dotted with tiny spots of white paint. If they weren’t at a funeral home, Shen Maomao might have had the leisure to appreciate the night view.

The four women walked in silence, an awkward atmosphere permeating the air.

Gong Lian held back for a while, finally unable to resist asking while clutching her skirt: “Excuse me… do you have any other clothes?”

She was still wearing that big red dress, looking exceptionally beautiful. Red indeed suited her, but not this occasion.

Shen Maomao was helpless [愛莫能助 | ài mò néng zhù | wanting to help but unable to]: “We came in empty-handed too, we have nothing.”

Gong Lian was nearly crying: “What should I do… I’ll never wear a red dress again…”

Xiaoqiao patted her shoulder: “It’s fine, didn’t I tell you? Don’t be afraid. In a place like this, a red dress might actually have the effect of intimidating ghosts and monsters. Besides, I’ll protect you, what are you afraid of?”

Gong Lian lowered her head, wiping tears. Xiaoqiao stroked her back, her voice so soft it could be wrung for water, but her gaze at Lou Jingmo and Shen Maomao was unusually cold, as if warning them not to meddle.

Lou Jingmo gave her a forced smile, then took Shen Maomao’s hand and went upstairs, entering her and Guan Qiwen’s room.

Guan Qiwen was sitting on the bed, reading a book he had found somewhere. Hearing the two enter, he asked without raising his head: “Back?”

The staff dormitory was very basic, with only two beds, two cabinets, and a table. The table was placed between the two beds, not even equipped with a chair.

Lou Jingmo and Shen Maomao sat down on her bed, and she asked: “Found anything?”

Guan Qiwen made a helpless gesture: “It’s only been this long, how could I have found anything? What about you?”

Lou Jingmo: “I haven’t either.”

Shen Maomao pretended to be a stone, stiffly straightening her back, hoping not to be caught in the crossfire when these immortals fought.

However, Guan Qiwen specifically had to cue her: “What about Xiaoshen, have you found anything?”

Shen Maomao blinked, looking left at the big boss and right at Lou Jingmo, but still expressed her thoughts: “I feel very uncomfortable about this batch of players. Especially that man who came last – I’ve met him before with Lou jie, but he didn’t give me this feeling then…” At this point, she paused, remembering the great poet had stayed upstairs alone for a while, and suddenly felt her back crawl.

“Do you think… he might have been switched with someone else?”

Guan Qiwen very rationally said: “Relying on ‘feelings’ to judge things has great uncertainty, perhaps you’re overthinking it.” Shen Maomao responded expressionlessly: “Oh.” Dead men [死男人 | sǐ nán rén | derogatory term for annoying men] were such trouble – insisting she speak, then refuting her opinion when she did.

Looking at it this way, Lou jie was better – when she talked about “feelings,” Lou jie believed her directly, without a hint of doubt.

Guan Qiwen was left speechless by her dry response, unable to continue. He could only pick up his book again and read with full concentration.

Shen Maomao didn’t ask what book he was reading, just sat on Lou Jingmo’s bed passing time.

After who knows how long, a cheerful bell rang out. Lou Jingmo grabbed Shen Maomao, practically dragging her up and stuffing her into room 218.

Shen Maomao was still in a dazed state when Lou Jingmo spoke close to her ear: “Don’t be afraid, no matter what you hear at night, don’t come out.”

“Okay!” Shen Maomao was infected by her attitude, nodding seriously, feeling nervous about what was to come.

Lou Jingmo ruffled her head, a trace of smile appearing in her eyes: “It’s fine, don’t be afraid.”

Shen Maomao blinked, somehow feeling embarrassed – she couldn’t even bring herself to look into Lou Jingmo’s eyes.

Damn, this old dog Lou Jingmo could really fool people when being gentle. If she were a tall, rich, and handsome guy with eight-pack abs and 18 centimeters [a guy’s bit], Shen Maomao would definitely have tried to pursue her.

Lou Jingmo left her room, specifically reminding her before leaving: “Remember to lock the door.”

“Huh?” Shen Maomao quickly came to her senses, “Oh oh oh, alright, Lou jie, don’t worry about me. If anything happens, you’ll find me by your side in the middle of the night.”

Lou Jingmo: “……” Really had no ambition at all.

She wanted to remind Shen Maomao not to rely too much on the contract, but there wasn’t time anymore, so she could only suppress this thought and leave her room.

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After Lou Jingmo left, Shen Maomao bolted the door and began searching through the cabinets.

There were some clothes in the wardrobe that looked new, though she wasn’t sure if they were provided by the game.

Shen Maomao didn’t dare try them on randomly, afraid they might be clothes worn by dead people – the kind where whoever wears them dies.

After searching around, she didn’t find anything useful. It was getting late, so she went to the window, trying not to look outside while quickly pulling the curtains closed.

After closing the curtains, she felt much more secure. She turned off the lights and lay on one of the beds fully clothed. To prevent her mind from wandering, she tried to empty her thoughts, but somehow ended up thinking about Lou Jingmo.

Without realizing it, she had known Lou Jingmo for so long now. They had traversed four worlds together, and if nothing went wrong, they would continue like this in the future.

She couldn’t deny Lou Jingmo’s importance to her, not just because their lives were bound together, but also because of some feelings she couldn’t quite explain or understand.

She just didn’t know what kind of feelings Lou Jingmo had for her…

Her mind suddenly flashed to Lou Jingmo’s eyes when covering her ears during Zhao Chunhua’s jump in the last instance, and the corner of her mouth turning up when patting her head just now. A smile appeared on her face without her even noticing.

To Lou Jingmo, she must be special too, right?

With these thoughts, her mind gradually drifted away, falling into deep sleep.

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When she regained consciousness, it was already daylight.

Sunlight penetrated the curtains, shining on her face. Shen Maomao didn’t open her eyes, turned over and wrapped herself tightly in her small blanket, feeling a bit cold.

It seemed like there was a cold breeze blowing on her face, making her head ache.

Wait a minute…

It wasn’t just seeming, there really was wind blowing on her face!!

She suddenly opened her eyes, sat up in bed, and looked at the window. Just one glance was enough to completely dispel her sleepiness.

She saw that her room’s window had somehow opened a crack, cold wind was pouring in, making the curtains dance wildly.

Shen Maomao’s heart pounded wildly as she dazedly closed the window and sat back on the bed.

Her room’s door was still locked, so the window could only have been opened by someone inside the room.

Either she had sleepwalked without knowing it, or there was a ghost in the room.

Given that according to materialist views there are no ghosts in the world, and she happened to believe in Marxist materialism [馬克思唯物主義 | mǎ kè sī wéi wù zhǔ yì | philosophical worldview based on material reality], so she must have sleepwalked, hahaha.

Shen Maomao felt like crying and didn’t want to stay alone in the room anymore, so while chanting slogans of prosperity, democracy, civilization, and harmony [富強民主文明和諧 | fù qiáng mín zhǔ wén míng hé xié | core socialist values], she walked to the door, pulled open the bolt, and poked her head out.

Perhaps it was still early, as there was no one in the corridor and no doors were open.

Shen Maomao tiptoed to Lou Jingmo’s door and raised her hand to knock.

Within seconds, Lou Jingmo, wearing blue work clothes, appeared before her, pulled her inside, and closed the door.

The two beds in the room were very neat. Guan Qiwen sat on the bed, also wearing work clothes, still reading yesterday’s book as if he hadn’t slept all night.

Lou Jingmo asked her: “Were you scared last night?”

Shen Maomao: “……? What?”

Lou Jingmo: “……”

Guan Qiwen: “…Don’t tell me you slept through the whole night?”

Shen Maomao nodded, feeling no shame whatsoever about having good sleep quality.

Lou Jingmo: “…Never mind, it’s good you weren’t scared.” She was used to it by now.

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