The Hand of Confession – Chapter 137

Volume 5: Days of Applying Makeup to Corpses

Key

Lou-jie, you’re not right!

From start to finish, Shen Maomao wasn’t troubled in the slightest. After finishing the makeup, she bowed to Wang Liang’s corpse again: “Big Brother, thank you for being so well-behaved and not suddenly sitting up to scare me. Next, I’m going to change your clothes. At this point, don’t worry about the whole ‘men and women shouldn’t touch’ thing. Just treat me as a piece of wood.”

Lou Jingmo at the door: “…”

Shen Maomao continued muttering: “I’ll take off your clothes first, then put on a new set. Wearing new clothes should be a happy thing, right…”

In the cabinet of this room, there was a set of burial clothes—a thin Tang suit with a very festive red base and yellow floral pattern. She opened the body bag and saw that Wang Liang’s original clothes had been torn in half, with large patches of bloodstains that had now frozen into a cold, icy crust.

So, Wang Liang really had been split in half by the yaksha, but under some unknown force, he had been put back together.

This was actually a good thing for Shen Maomao, as it meant she didn’t have to do cross-disciplinary work like stuffing Wang Liang’s spilled organs back in and sewing up his stomach…

Just thinking about that scene made her hands tremble.

“I’m starting now, okay?” Shen Maomao asked. “If you have any objections, just tell me. Don’t start moving around—it’ll look bad, understand?”

She pulled off Wang Liang’s clothes from both arms, threw the old clothes on the floor, and then grabbed his wrists, using force to pull him up.

Wang Liang sat up stiffly, and while Shen Maomao was busy getting the clothes, he fell back down exactly as he had been.

The difficulty of a weak, pitiful, and helpless woman dressing a stiff corpse was immense. She moved behind Wang Liang, propped up his head to lift him, then knelt on the bed, using her shoulder to support his cold body, and wrapped her arms around him to put on the sleeves.

The corpse was cold, still emitting a chilling air. Shen Maomao, both cold and panicked, couldn’t help but call out to Lou Jingmo: “Lou-jie? Are you still there?”

Lou Jingmo responded: “I’m here.”

Shen Maomao sighed in relief, continuing to dress Wang Liang while talking to her: “Wang Liang is so heavy. I almost couldn’t push him.”

Lou Jingmo asked: “Should I help you?”

“No, no, no!!” Shen Maomao quickly refused. “Just keep an eye on the door for me. Having you here makes me feel safer.”

For something as uncertain as this, she didn’t want Lou Jingmo to get involved. Besides worrying about Lou Jingmo’s safety, there was also the matter of their contract. If something happened to her, she could still revive by Lou Jingmo’s side, but if something happened to Lou Jingmo, she’d be done for.

Once again, Shen Maomao thanked Lou-jie for her incredible strength—otherwise, it would have been a very different scene.

Lou Jingmo paused for a moment, looking at Shen Maomao’s busy back, then suddenly called out: “Maomao.”

Shen Maomao was putting on the other sleeve and didn’t stop her movements, responding with a nasal sound without turning her head: “Hmm?”

Lou Jingmo: “I’m going to tell you something. Don’t be scared.”

Shen Maomao’s body stiffened, but she acted as if nothing was wrong: “Then don’t say it. I might not handle it well.”

Lou Jingmo chuckled softly, though her face remained expressionless as she looked at Wang Liang’s open eyes, her voice gentle: “It’s fine. It’s not a big deal.”

Shen Maomao sighed in relief: “That’s good, that’s good…”

The top was quickly put on, and the pants were even easier. After dressing Wang Liang in the burial clothes, Shen Maomao rubbed her hands together, looking at Wang Liang lying on the table with his eyes closed, and whispered: “I’m leaving now. If there’s anything you’re not satisfied with, just tell me. If you have no objections, don’t block me with that air wall, okay?”

As she spoke, she sidestepped toward the door—this position allowed her to keep both the door and the corpse in her line of sight, making her feel safer.

She inched her way toward the door, continuing: “After all, it’s so cold here. If I freeze, there’ll be no one to do your makeup, right? And you can’t go out anymore. It’s pretty hot outside, and if you get overheated, it’d be a real loss…”

This way of moving was safe in terms of visibility but not in terms of actual safety. After just a couple of steps, Shen Maomao stepped on something soft and almost tripped.

It was the clothes she had taken off Wang Liang.

Shen Maomao quickly picked up the two pieces of clothing, and at the same time, something fell out of them, making a crisp “clink” sound.

—It was a set of keys.

Shen Maomao didn’t dare pick them up, immediately looking at Lou Jingmo.

Lou Jingmo said uncertainly: “Why don’t you ask?”

Shen Maomao thought this was a good idea and immediately asked Wang Liang: “Big Brother, are these keys for us? Can I take them? If you have any objections, just make a sound. If not, I’ll pocket them.”

Lou Jingmo: “…” You’re really asking?

Wang Liang didn’t move, so Shen Maomao bent down to pick up the keys, stuffed the clothes into the cabinet where the burial clothes had been, and then quickly walked to the door, tentatively reaching out a hand.

Lou Jingmo, standing outside, grabbed her wrist and pulled her out.

Shen Maomao let out a breath of relief, her legs so weak that she collapsed into Lou Jingmo’s arms.

Lou Jingmo quickly caught her, touching her cold hair: “It’s okay, you’re out now.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the door to Room 104 suddenly slammed shut with a loud “bang.” Shen Maomao was so startled that she shivered, letting out a yelp and clinging to Lou Jingmo.

She wrapped her arms around Lou Jingmo’s neck, her legs around Lou Jingmo’s waist, and buried her face in Lou Jingmo’s neck.

Lou Jingmo helplessly raised her hands to avoid suspicion: “Stop burrowing. There’s no hole in my collarbone.”

Shen Maomao blushed, ashamed of her jumpy behavior, but she was so cold and didn’t want to leave Lou Jingmo’s warm embrace. She looked up at her and said fiercely: “What are you looking at? Don’t you know how to hug me?!”

Lou Jingmo could only support her bottom with her hands, saying: “This is what you asked for. I’m not taking advantage of you…”

Shen Maomao: “Where are your hands? Can’t you just hold my waist?”

Lou Jingmo moved her fingers slightly and said honestly: “There’s more meat here. You offered yourself up—might as well take the opportunity.”

“You two…” Shen Maomao frowned, about to say something, when a voice suddenly came from the side: “Am I interrupting something?”

Shen Maomao: “!!!”

Both women turned their heads and saw Guan Qiwen standing awkwardly at the end of the hallway.

Shen Maomao couldn’t keep holding on and quickly let go of Lou Jingmo, jumping down. She awkwardly touched her bottom with her hand, her face hot enough to fry an egg.

Lou Jingmo: “If you knew, why did you speak up?”

Shen Maomao quickly pulled on her sleeve to shut her up: “Stop talking.”

Then she looked at Guan Qiwen sheepishly: “What’s up?”

Guan Qiwen said: “It’s nothing major. I just wanted to let you know that San Huang received another call. He said Huang Hongxing wants his body cremated between 8 and 10 tonight. Since I couldn’t find you, I decided to come over early.”

Lou Jingmo: “Isn’t Room 102 locked?”

Guan Qiwen: “So they went to find tools to pry it open. They should be here soon.”

Shen Maomao: “Got it. You can go now.”

Guan Qiwen: “???” Where was he supposed to go? He still had to wait here for them!

Shen Maomao realized this and grabbed Lou Jingmo’s hand: “Then you wait here. We have some girl talk to take care of.”

Guan Qiwen’s expression shifted, but he finally settled on a smile: “Then you two go ahead. I’ll wait at the door.”

Lou Jingmo didn’t know what Shen Maomao was planning, but she quietly let herself be dragged out of the building to the back.

Shen Maomao got straight to the point: “Lou-jie, you’re not right!”

Lou Jingmo, who had been playing with Shen Maomao’s hand, looked up with a puzzled expression: “?”

Shen Maomao pointed at her left hand, which Lou Jingmo was holding: “Look at this! You said you wouldn’t be so desperate, but what are you doing now? If you were a man, I’d be reporting you for sexual harassment.”

Lou Jingmo’s hand froze.

She frowned, letting go first, and leaned against the building, keeping her distance from Shen Maomao and forbidding her from getting closer: “I do seem a bit off.”

Shen Maomao took a few steps back and asked: “What do you mean?”

Lou Jingmo hesitated, as if the next words were difficult to say: “To put it bluntly, I want to pursue you right now.”

Shen Maomao was first shocked, then inexplicably excited.

Look at how much charm she had! Even her goddess had fallen for her!!

Shen Maomao’s heart soared, and she almost wanted to set off firecrackers to celebrate this joyous occasion.

But the next second, Lou Jingmo shattered her beautiful fantasy: “Please stop imagining things.”

Shen Maomao: “…”

Lou Jingmo lowered her eyes and said: “It’s probably related to Wutong.”

Shen Maomao: “Huh?”

Lou Jingmo: “Wutong is a desire ghost, so it naturally has ways to amplify people’s desires. I’ve probably been affected since you were bitten yesterday, so…”

Shen Maomao automatically filled in the rest—that’s why she had sucked her finger and grabbed her butt.

But there were still some unexplained parts. If Wutong amplifies desires, doesn’t that mean Lou Jingmo already had those thoughts to begin with?

Shen Maomao gave her a suspicious look.

Lou Jingmo: “…Please don’t overthink it. The reason it’s you is simply because you’re the only woman around me.”

Shen Maomao responded gloomily: “Oh, I see.”

Lou Jingmo: “?? Why do you seem a little disappointed?”

Shen Maomao denied it three times: “I’m not, I don’t, stop making things up!”

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