The Hand of Confession – Chapter 207

Volume 7: Days of Stargazing at the Inn

Fire Harbor

Someone took away the head chef’s body.

The receptionist glanced at him and said sharply, “What murder? How can you just open your mouth and define what happened? Don’t tell me you’re from another inn, sent here to ruin our business! Chef Huang¹ hasn’t been feeling too well lately, and then he had to prepare dinner for you all so late. None of us wanted to see him faint from exhaustion. The man’s dead. I think it’s best to send him to the back mountain for burial and let him rest in peace sooner rather than later.”

The old TCM doctor’s face darkened, his cane tapping loudly on the floor. “You little girl, you usually look so honest. How can you be so venomous when you speak? According to you, are you saying we all killed him?”

The receptionist yawned. “I didn’t say that.”

The old TCM doctor was so angry his beard trembled. “If it weren’t for the fact that we can’t leave right now…”

Nearby, Xiaobao’s family, who still didn’t know the road was blocked and that the mud was “eating” people, were startled by his words and immediately asked, “What do you mean, can’t leave?!”

Several people nearby recounted the situation to them in a flurry of words. After they finished, everyone knew about it, except for Xi Tian and Qu Jing upstairs, who hadn’t made a sound.

Now they couldn’t leave this place, and there was a corpse in the kitchen with its head plunged into hot soup. Everyone’s face was etched with worry; fear and helplessness enveloped the entire inn.

Shen Maomao felt this setup was somewhat familiar. A sealed environment, a suddenly appearing corpse, and if you added people with their own agendas…

She couldn’t help but look at Lou Jingmo, only to find Lou Jingmo looking back at her.

Shen Maomao paused, then leaned closer and said, “Lou-jie… don’t you think this setup is a bit familiar?”

Lou Jingmo nodded. “I know what you’re thinking.”

Golden Retriever: “??” So what are you guys thinking???

However, the two of them kept him in suspense², not saying anything. Golden Retriever was so anxious he was scratching his ears and cheeks, racking his brains but still couldn’t figure out what they knew.

The old TCM doctor, having been snubbed³ by the receptionist, decided not to try getting help from her. He turned and started to rally everyone: “Could I trouble everyone to go upstairs and check if there’s anyone who hasn’t come down? Call them all down for a meeting to discuss what to do about this…”

No one wanted to look for trouble.

Lou Jingmo thought for a moment, then stood up. “We’ll go to the third floor to call people.”

The old TCM doctor happily stroked his beard. “Look at this young lady, and then look at you big men over here…”

Several men felt embarrassed and had no choice but to stand up too. “Then how about we guys go to the second floor? Old sir, why don’t you come with us?”

A large group of them went upstairs. Shen Maomao watched as the group escorted the old TCM doctor back downstairs, then quickly closed the elevator door again.

Golden Retriever was captivated by his reflection in the mirror. He touched his bright red hair, his expression on the verge of tears, which actually looked a bit funny.

Lou Jingmo said, “There’s something wrong with this Chef Huang’s death.”

Golden Retriever snapped back to reality. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t quite put my finger on it,” Lou Jingmo said truthfully. “His death was too… casual.”

No reason, no warning, he just suddenly died. It was baffling, practically happening right under their noses, leaving them with no clues to even begin to investigate.

They quickly reached the third floor. Shen Maomao stood in the hallway and yelled, “Anyone still here? Something’s happened downstairs! Someone’s dead! Be careful if you’re alone!”

A head poked out from the large room. Qu Jing, peering through a crack in the door, beckoned Shen Maomao and the others over with her finger.

Shen Maomao walked over.

Qu Jing whispered cautiously, “Is it that murderer you were talking about?”

Shen Maomao shook her head. “I don’t know, but you can’t leave now even if you want to.” She then explained the situation to her again.

After hearing it, Qu Jing’s face turned even paler. She opened the door, then quickly shut it again before Shen Maomao could get a clear look inside, and said secretively, “There’s something wrong with this place… When I was rescued earlier, I was too scared to think straight and didn’t get to tell you: Xi Tian and I hadn’t gone far when it started to rain. We didn’t think much of it and decided to brave the rain and keep going because we were scared. But just as we walked a few meters out, the mudslide came rushing down…”

As she spoke, she lowered her head. “I think… this mountain… it doesn’t want us to leave…”

Shen Maomao patted her shoulder, not knowing what to say to comfort her.

Of course it won’t let you leave. If you left, what would the horror movie film? If the male and female leads in horror movies had your level of awareness, there wouldn’t be so many deaths.

While they were talking, Golden Retriever had already knocked on every door from one end of the hall to the other, getting no response.

The third floor wasn’t fully occupied to begin with, and now only the couple Xi Tian and Qu Jing hadn’t come down.

Qu Jing said, “Xi Tian’s leg isn’t good, and he’s unconscious now. It’s the same if I go down with you to talk.”

So the four of them went downstairs together.

Qu Jing naturally sat with them, and the trio temporarily became a foursome.

After a while, the two men and the old TCM doctor came down with three other people. The old TCM doctor said, “There’s one person who’s completely stubborn⁴ and refuses to come down no matter what. The rest should all be here.”

All the inn’s guests were finally gathered. Shen Maomao counted everyone and found nine players and eighteen NPCs. The number of NPCs was exactly double the number of players.

Besides the guests, the inn’s other two employees also came to the meeting. Only the receptionist looked indifferent to everything, continuing to curl up in her chair and play with her fingers.

“It’s hard to say anything about this matter right now. Let’s first talk about the dead chef,” the old man said, taking the lead and directing his question to the two employees. “Which of you knew this Chef Huang better?”

The cleaner shook his head. “I usually just do my own work and don’t get involved in other things. I haven’t really talked to anyone except for Xiao Fu⁵ at the front desk.”

The young food-runner girl timidly raised her hand. “I… I knew Chef Huang very well.”

The old TCM doctor asked, “How was his health usually?”

“Pretty… pretty healthy, I guess.”

“I see.” The old TCM doctor nodded. “Then it definitely wasn’t suicide or an accident.”

Shen Maomao: “??”

What the heck? Just because he’s usually healthy means it can’t be suicide or an accident? That logic really deserves its own book.

The old TCM doctor continued, “Do you know if he had issues with anyone?”

The food-runner girl: “This… I don’t know either… Chef Huang was usually very kind, always smiling at everyone. How could he have bad blood with anyone?”

He asked several more questions, and the food-runner girl answered them all, holding nothing back, but it wasn’t very helpful.

The old man started to get anxious and wanted to go check the scene, saying maybe he could find some clues there.

But Hong-jie scoffed at him, “Even if there were any clues, they’ve probably been destroyed by now, right?”

The food-runner girl weakly added, “The kitchen… the kitchen does have a back door.”

The old man was furious. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?!”

The girl started to cry. “I… I was too scared, I forgot about it!”

Hong-jie rolled up her sleeves. “If you ask me, men just aren’t as meticulous as women. You, old man, are trying to lead us just because you’re older, but you don’t have the ability to lead. You might as well give up your position to someone who knows what they’re doing.”

“I just don’t understand the situation!” the old man said, fuming. “Even if there are no clues left, as long as the body is still there, I can find clues on it!”

Saying that, he ignored his fear and angrily stalked towards the kitchen.

Everyone watched him enter the kitchen, and not two seconds later, a cry of surprise came from inside.

Lou Jingmo acted decisively, stood up, and rushed over. A few braver players and NPCs followed.

“The body… the body is gone?” The old man seemed to have collapsed on the floor in fright, his cane lying forlornly to one side. He pointed ahead, his fingertip trembling slightly.

Where the corpse had been slumped over the stove, it was now empty. The head chef’s body had vanished into thin air⁶, leaving only a pot of meat broth with a layer of congealed grease on its surface.

Lou Jingmo walked into the kitchen, squatted down, and observed for a moment. On the floor leading to the kitchen’s back door, there were some glistening wet spots, shining with a yellow light under the incandescent lamp, looking exactly like that pot of meat broth.

She extended her index finger, wiped a bit, and sniffed it. It indeed smelled like meat broth. “It’s here,” she said.

Someone had taken away the head chef’s body.

Of course, it was also possible the body had walked out on its own.

The group followed the trail of broth. The kitchen’s back door led directly to the back mountain. It was already dark, and the light on the back mountain was insufficient. As far as the eye could see, there were only trees soaring into the sky, making it impossible to discern anything specific for the time being.

With the height of the bushes outside, hiding a murderer or a body would be incredibly easy.

The group returned empty-handed. Lou Jingmo seemed to think of something and reached for Shen Maomao’s hand, but Shen Maomao deftly dodged it. Lou Jingmo immediately frowned and looked at her coldly.

Shen Maomao raised her hands in surrender. “Jie, can you wash your hands first?”

Lou Jingmo: “…”

The two of them went to the women’s restroom as a pair. Hong-jie, worried that something might happen to her people again, insisted they take a few others with them. After all, in horror movies, those who wander off alone always meet a bad end.

So, a large group trooped into the restroom. Shen Maomao took the opportunity to relieve herself, then went to find Lou Jingmo, who was waiting by the sink.

Lou Jingmo casually wiped her hands on her clothes and typed on her phone for Shen Maomao to see: Go check the inn sign outside later.

Shen Maomao looked completely puzzled.

Lou Jingmo couldn’t be bothered to type. “Just go when I tell you to. Less nonsense with me.”

Shen Maomao let out a little “Ying~”⁷ sound. “Ying, you’re so bossy~”

Lou Jingmo: “…”

The others who had finished their business also came out, and the group squeezed out the way they came in, each returning to their seats.

Shen Maomao used the excuse of getting some fresh air and dragged Golden Retriever out with her.

Golden Retriever was pulled out, completely bewildered. He was about to say something when he looked up and blurted out, “How did this sign break?!”

Of the six characters for “Soul Harbor Inn,” not even one and a half characters were lit. At first glance, it looked like “Fire Harbor Inn,”⁸ and that “Fire” character even seemed half a head shorter than the others.

At the same time, Hong-jie’s cry of surprise came from inside the room: “How is someone missing?!”

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The author has something to say:

I just got home and there’s a lot to do. After a while, I’ll try my best to write more words each day qwq

Red envelopes for this chapter will be distributed as usual.

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