The Hand of Confession – Chapter 134

Volume 5: Days of Applying Makeup to Corpses

The Death of Wang Liang

Guan Qiwen is not equal to Golden Retriever

Guan Qiwen’s face changed color, his mouth opened and closed, rendered speechless. He then stepped aside, clearing the doorway position, silently lowering his head.

“Hypocrite,” Dao Ba sneered, carrying the unconscious Wang Liang out of the cafeteria.

San Huang called to the others: “Shall we all follow and take a look?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Guan Qiwen stood motionless, eyes downcast as he watched wave after wave of people pass by him, walking towards the courtyard of the funeral home.

Shen Maomao walked to his side, patting his shoulder: “It’s not your fault. Every man for himself, or heaven and earth will destroy you.”

Lou Jingmo glanced at them, smiling with an indecipherable expression.

Night had deepened, the temperature had dropped, and the air seemed to have turned a dark blue-black. After everyone had left, Guan Qiwen finally meandered out of the cafeteria, trailing far behind the crowd.

Shen Maomao sighed, inwardly cursing the game creators with vehemence.

Lou Jingmo suddenly embraced her shoulders, pulling her head to her chest, and whispered in her ear: “Fool.”

Shen Maomao: “??” Why are you insulting people randomly?

Lou Jingmo: “Don’t get too close to him.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m afraid you won’t even know how you died when the time comes.”

Shen Maomao: “??”

Lou Jingmo closed her mouth and said no more, quickening her pace to walk ahead of Shen Maomao.

Is speaking in half-sentences a common disease among important people? Would it kill them to explain things clearly?!!

The main entrance of the funeral home was deserted. A massive conical lampshade was tied to the eaves of the security room by the entrance, countless moths recklessly crashed into the glass cover, creating crisp sounds one after another. The shadows of the railings cast upon the ground outside the gate, with shadowy figures flickering in and out of the mist, causing an unsettling feeling in one’s heart.

Dao Ba, walking at the front, extended his free hand and gently pushed the gate.

With a “clang”, the gate swung open. Everything felt like a premeditated conspiracy, waiting for them to step in.

Inside and outside the gate, under a thin, semi-transparent trace, became two completely different worlds. Dao Ba stood at the entrance, hesitating. When it came to the actual moment of decision, he found himself reluctant to act.

Of course, this reluctance wasn’t due to compassion, but rather his concern about how this might affect his own safety.

At this moment, Guan Qiwen pushed through from the back of the crowd to the front, reaching out his hand: “This isn’t right. Put him down, let’s think of another way. It doesn’t have to be a dead end.”

Upon hearing these words, Dao Ba’s resolve immediately strengthened.

“Get lost!” [滾犢子 | gǔn dú zi | Northern Chinese dialect expression meaning “get lost”] He spat at Guan Qiwen, then dragged Wang Liang and threw him outside the gate.

The Yaksha roared in the black mist, a dark shadow rapidly approaching the funeral home’s entrance from deep within the fog. Shen Maomao’s eyes suddenly widened, her right foot unconsciously stepped forward half a step, but she quickly restrained herself.

The next second, Lou Jingmo covered her eyes with her hand.

Immediately after, a teeth-grinding “ripping” sound arose, accompanied by screams and gasps from others around them, as the smell of blood began to spread.

Shen Maomao’s nose twitched twice, catching that nauseating odor, mixed with the surrounding chaotic sounds, making her temples throb and her head feel like it was about to explode.

Her slightly stiff eyelashes kept scratching against her palm. Lou Jingmo noticed Shen Maomao’s discomfort, so she pulled her into her embrace, holding her tightly, as if embracing the last pure land [淨土 | jìng tǔ | Buddhist term for paradise] in the game.

Shen Maomao muttered in her embrace: “Lou-jie, I need to get used to it too.”

Lou Jingmo was silent for a second, then said: “The Yaksha split him in half with one axe blow, blood sprayed three chi [三尺 | sān chǐ | approximately 1 meter] high, and now his intestines and internal organs are all spilled on the ground. Do you really want to see that?”

Shen Maomao: “No, I don’t.”

The scene was too horrifying; just thinking about it could make her lose her appetite for three or four days, let alone witnessing it firsthand.

The scene was chaotic for a while until San Huang stepped forward to establish order: “Everyone quiet down! Since we have the corpse now, you two bring him in.”

Dao Ba reluctantly said: “It’s too dangerous outside…”

San Huang repeated his usual line: “Do it or don’t, either way, it’s not our task.”

Dao Ba glared at him fiercely, but Guan Qiwen had already pulled out a stretcher that had been placed behind the crowd at some point.

He grabbed one corner of the stretcher, walked past everyone’s line of sight to the front, and tentatively stepped out through the gate.

Everyone held their breath, but the Yaksha didn’t attack again.

Dao Ba hurriedly ran out too, firmly lifting the other end of the stretcher, sneering: “You talk about not wanting to harm innocent people, but your actions are quite swift, huh? Stretcher and body bag all ready?”

Guan Qiwen said coldly: “I just don’t want his corpse left exposed in the wilderness.”

Shen Maomao, curled up in Lou Jingmo’s embrace listening to their conversation, vaguely understood why Lou Jingmo told her to stay away from Guan Qiwen.

Guan Qiwen knew Wang Liang would definitely die, otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten the stretcher from the vehicle before Dao Ba had even acted. His actions showed he wanted Wang Liang dead, and if even she could see through this intention, how about the other shrewd people?

So his actions weren’t meant to deceive people, but to deceive ghosts.

No matter what others thought, as long as Wang Liang himself believed he was a good person, that was enough.

Shen Maomao raised her head, looking at Lou Jingmo’s chin, and asked softly: “Did we ever tell him about Gong Lian?”

They hadn’t particularly avoided talking about Gong Lian’s matter, but they hadn’t broadcast it either. When Gong Lian died, Guan Qiwen wasn’t present. Logically, he shouldn’t have known that Gong Lian was dead and had started haunting Xiao Qiao, yet he somehow knew and had even prepared countermeasures…

Lou Jingmo didn’t answer her question, instead saying: “The props in his hands are quite interesting.”

Shen Maomao understood immediately.

The three-person group had become a habit, so she couldn’t help but cast Guan Qiwen in Golden Retriever’s role.

But these two people were ultimately different – Golden Retriever was their friend, while Guan Qiwen was just a businessman who liked to maximize benefits, nothing more.

The corpse was jointly placed into the body bag, and Lou Jingmo released Shen Maomao, letting her adjust to the scene.

Shen Maomao looked up, and the first thing she saw was the splatter-pattern bloodstains.

Guan Qiwen lifted the front of the stretcher, Dao Ba carried the back, and the two entered the gate safely, one after another.

The iron gate closed with a “clang”, everyone felt more at ease, and then began expressing their thoughts in a cacophony, the courtyard becoming chaotic.

After killing one person, the Yaksha seemed satisfied and didn’t appear again despite their noisy situation. After the group talked for a while, San Huang finally announced the discussion’s result: “It’s dark now, probably nothing else will happen tonight. Everyone return to their rooms to rest. The three morticians stay behind to handle the corpse.”

Shen Maomao yawned, two physiological tears appearing in her eyes: “Whew— I’m too tired, can’t even keep my eyes open, let’s talk about anything else tomorrow.”

Xiao Qiao, hugging her shoulders, also refused: “Besides, we’re short one mortician now, shouldn’t we select someone to fill in?”

San Huang’s gaze fixed behind her: “Who’s missing? Aren’t they all here?”

Xiao Qiao’s expression finally changed: “What do you mean?”

San Huang looked completely confused: “Shouldn’t I be the one asking what you mean?”

Xiao Qiao’s eyes widened into perfect circles as she suddenly turned to look where San Huang was gazing. But all she could see were unfamiliar faces, one after another, with no trace of Gong Lian’s figure.

She began trembling, her teeth chattering, making a rapid clicking sound, yet her expression remained calm, her gaze even ice-cold. However, beneath this calmness, her nerves were stretched taut like a wire. This wire could snap at any moment, and when it did, it would whip back and hurt her.

She grabbed her hair, red blood vessels spreading through her eyes like crawling earthworms.

“Where is she?” she asked, her voice unnaturally hoarse.

San Huang was startled by this series of behaviors, and upon hearing her question, immediately pointed behind her: “Right behind you…”

Xiao Qiao acted as if she hadn’t heard, grabbing the arms of the person next to him, hysterically asking: “Where is she? Where is she?!”

Everyone could see Gong Lian, except for her.

That person shoved her away angrily: “Have you gone mad?!”

Xiao Qiao seemed possessed, crouching on the ground holding her head, continuously saying: “What right do you have to haunt me?! I didn’t wrong you in any way!”

“What right do you have to demand I sacrifice myself to save you?! Do you think this is some kind of charity game?!”

Gong Lian watched her quietly, a compassionate smile [悲天憫人 | bēi tiān mǐn rén | Buddhist phrase meaning “to feel sorrow for the world and pity for mankind”] hanging at the corner of her mouth, watching as she gradually descended into madness, step by step walking towards destruction.

Shen Maomao felt her hair stand on end, unconsciously gripping Lou Jingmo’s hand tightly.

“Let’s go.” Lou Jingmo gripped her hand back, leading her into the dormitory building, no longer watching this drama unfold.

Only after entering the building and her tensed heart settled back in her stomach did Shen Maomao realize her bladder was protesting, so she quickly said: “Lou-jie, do you need to use the bathroom?”

Lou Jingmo: “I don’t.”

Shen Maomao said seriously: “I think you do. Listen to me, when I say you need to go, you need to go.”

Lou Jingmo couldn’t help but smile: “Alright, whatever you say goes. Let’s go.”

The two went to the bathroom hand in hand.

The bathroom here had two trenches, with three squat toilets partitioned on one side.

The poor conditions aside, the lights here were sound-activated, perhaps designed to make them clap and cheer for themselves while doing their business.

In such an environment, Shen Maomao couldn’t care about embarrassment anymore. She randomly chose a squat toilet near the outside, didn’t even dare close the door, and quickly took care of her physiological needs.

Lou Jingmo conscientiously turned her back to avoid suspicion, and afterward accompanied her to wash hands by the sink.

The atmosphere was somewhat awkward. Shen Maomao inexplicably felt her face heating up, so she hurriedly splashed some water on it, which made her feel a bit better.

When the cool water flowed over her wound, there was still some stinging sensation. She mysteriously thought of the scene where Lou Jingmo had held her finger in her mouth, and couldn’t help calling out: “Lou-jie?”

Lou Jingmo made a nasal sound: “Mm?”

Shen Maomao said: “Actually, I hadn’t washed my hands all morning.”

Lou Jingmo: “…”

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