The Hand of Confession – Chapter 219

Volume 7: Days of Stargazing at the Inn

Seer

Whoever is Checked is a Wolf¹

Alarm bells blared wildly in Shen Maomao’s mind.

This big brother had personally witnessed others commit suicide out of guilt and remorse, so how dared he bring up this topic now?

The few NPCs beside them seemed bewitched. Not only did they fail to notice anything amiss, but they also started treating the tycoon like a trash can, pouring out their grievances.

The old Chinese doctor was the first to speak, saying, “Sigh—the thing I regret most is not being able to see my old wife for one last time when she passed. At that time, I was framed by a competitor over pharmacy matters and got thrown into the police station during the New Year. My old wife fell critically ill around that same time. I’ve had no children my whole life, just her as my only family. The nurse even told me that when she was dying, she kept looking at the door, as if waiting for someone to come back…”

Speaking up to this point, he finally couldn’t hold back, and tears streamed down from the corners of his eyes.

Just then, the tycoon suddenly said, “You only regret not seeing her for the last time? What about the boy who was poisoned to death by your fake medicine? Do you also resent him for not having his incident sooner or later, but specifically when your wife was critically ill, causing you to miss seeing her one last time?”

The old Chinese doctor shot up with a whoosh, his eyes glaring at him as if they would split: “Who are you?!”

The tycoon smiled mysteriously. “You don’t need to know who I am. You just need to answer yes or no.”

The old man leaned on his cane with both hands, his back hunched like an aged shrimp. “Nobody wants this kind of thing to happen. If anyone’s to blame, it should be that malicious competitor! If his family hadn’t swapped my medicine, that child wouldn’t have died! And I wouldn’t have missed seeing Ah Mei² for the last time.”

The tycoon showed a half-smiling expression and said softly, “Is that really the case?”

The old Chinese doctor, fierce in appearance but timid in heart, retorted, “You weren’t there, what do you know?!”

After speaking, he put on an offended expression, turned, and walked angrily towards the elevator with his cane, quickly disappearing from everyone’s sight. It was unclear whether it was due to a guilty conscience or something else.

The tycoon chuckled to himself for a moment, then aimed his sights at another female NPC. “What about you? Care to share your deepest regret?”

The NPC nervously clasped her cup and began, “I… My deepest regret is aborting my first child for various reasons… which has led to me being unable to get pregnant now.”

The tycoon immediately interjected, “So, by trafficking other people’s children, are you atoning for your sins?”

The NPC frowned. “That’s slander! Slander can land you in jail!”

The tycoon took out his phone. “When we go out later, do you dare to call the police?”

The woman gritted her teeth, stood up, and said coldly, “Are you delusional? You psycho!” With that, she turned and left, quickly following the old Chinese doctor’s footsteps, as if a wolf was chasing her from behind.

The tycoon watched her enter the elevator with a blank expression, then turned his “gun barrel” towards the next person. “You? Want to talk?”

That person said nervously, “N-no… I just remembered I have something to do… I’ll leave first, you guys chat!”

He took two steps forward, feigning composure, when the tycoon’s haunting³ voice came from behind him. “Let me help you remember, shall I? Your deepest regret is failing to make the campus belle your girlfriend. So on graduation day, you and a few others gang-r#ped her. She jumped from upstairs and fell to her death right in front of you, while your belt wasn’t even fastened. Since then, you haven’t been able to sleep at night, only hating yourself for not leaving faster back then…”

The man was trembling like a sieve. At this point, he couldn’t even bother to forcefully deny he had done these things. He just stared at the tycoon, pale-faced, and asked, trembling, “Who on earth are you? How do you know so much?”

The tycoon said, “I am no one. You should hurry up and leave.”

In almost the blink of an eye, three people had disappeared from the lobby.

The remaining people also felt the urge to leave, but they were afraid that fleeing would make others think they had something to hide. They could only sit awkwardly in place, as if nails were growing on their seats, fidgeting left and right, as if trying to wear out the stools by friction.

The tycoon didn’t look at them, instead casting his gaze towards Shen Maomao and her group.

Shen Maomao’s heart leaped, and she immediately avoided his gaze.

If this were a game of Werewolf⁴, this big brother would be a prophet! D#mn⁵, whoever he checks turns out to be a wolf. A couple of glances from him and you’d probably be exposed completely⁶, he could even tell you about that time you sneakily took fifty cents⁷* from your mom’s cabinet when you were little! Those NPCs who went out with him earlier, could they have been talked to death by him just like that?!*

Just as she feared, it happened. Big Brother Tycoon walked over to their table and said, “What about you? Do you regret anything?”

Shen Maomao abruptly raised her head, only to find Big Brother Tycoon staring intently in one direction. The person seated in that direction wasn’t her, nor Lou Jingmo, but Golden Retriever, who had been keeping his head down, lost in thought!

She nervously clutched Lou Jingmo’s sleeve.

Golden Retriever slowly raised his head. The faded red antiseptic on his face and head made him look somewhat comical. He met the tycoon’s gaze, slowly opened his mouth, and said, “My deepest regret… is hitting someone while driving drunk…”

As expected, the tycoon spoke, “Do you regret it? Do you regret hitting him, or do you regret not hitting him hard enough to kill him?”

Shen Maomao was stunned.

She looked at Golden Retriever, then at Lou Jingmo, and suddenly remembered the first instance dungeon they had met in.

If the tycoon really is a prophet, then are Golden Retriever’s true inner thoughts really like that?

As she was thinking this, Golden Retriever slammed his fist on the table. “How could I not hate him! If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have come to this godforsaken place!!”

Lou Jingmo pulled him. “Alright, snap out of it! Get a grip!”

Shen Maomao also realized—Golden Retriever entered the game because he hit someone. It was inevitable that he harbored resentment in his heart.

The tycoon shrugged and smiled. “Today’s symposium ends here. Let’s meet again tomorrow.” After saying that, he swayed towards the elevator and also went upstairs.

Shen Maomao’s brain was a tangled mess of yarn, impossible to sort out.

What’s up with the tycoon? Why did he suddenly start ‘checking for wolves’? Will the few people who were ‘checked’ today also commit suicide like those who drowned themselves in mud?

Golden Retriever sat on the chair, and after a long while, he suddenly shivered violently. “D#mn! What just happened to me? Was I controlled by someone?!”

Shen Maomao patted his shoulder. “I did a quick divination; you might be in danger today.”

Sanmu said, “This person is quite sinister… Everyone, be careful not to run into him.”

Golden Retriever looked like he wanted to cry. “Then what should I do?! Why don’t you guys tie me to a chair?!”

Lou Jingmo said, “What are you afraid of? You’re far from dying.”

After being stirred up by the tycoon, the others lost their appetite. So, they quickly finished the rice in their bowls. The three men proactively took on the task of returning the bowls to the back kitchen, incidentally helping the NPC, who had degenerated from a food-runner girl to a kitchen helper, dispose of the leftovers, all while trying to gather some information.

Shen Maomao ran to the glass door to look outside. The world was still a vast expanse of white, and the snow continued to fall. A thick layer of snow had accumulated on the ground, yet no one was seen clearing it. Now that the snow had already passed the threshold, if it was left unattended, they would probably even struggle to open the door.

With such heavy snow, any footprints would likely be quickly covered by new snowflakes. Shen Maomao looked for a long time but couldn’t find any traces. She could only return to Lou Jingmo’s side dejectedly and said listlessly, “We can’t go out to investigate… There should still be clues outside…”

Lou Jingmo looked at Xiao Fu at the front desk and said perfunctorily, “Go play your Tetris.”

Shen Maomao: “?? What are you looking at? Is she prettier than me?”

Hearing this, Lou Jingmo looked at her, her eyes traveling down from Shen Maomao’s face, finally settling on her completely flat chest. The meaning was self-evident.

Shen Maomao’s old face turned red. “Where are your eyes looking??”

Lou Jingmo said, “Looking at the plains.”

Shen Maomao was so angry she fiercely pinched her arm.

Lou Jingmo replaced a cry of pain with a cough. Only after coughing did she say seriously, “I was just wondering, what are the chances of using this room card in hand to exchange for the other room cards?”

Shen Maomao: “…What do you think?”

Lou Jingmo’s lips curved up. “I also think it’s not possible. So, besides this, are there any other ways to get the room cards for other rooms?”

Shen Maomao thought for a moment and said, “Give me that card. I’ll go return it and observe the situation up close.”

Lou Jingmo placed the room card on the table and pushed it towards her.

Shen Maomao picked up the card and walked towards the front desk.

Xiao Fu was still in that lazy posture, painting her nails with that seemingly inexhaustible scarlet nail polish. Shen Maomao placed the card on the counter, pushed it forward, and said, “Our friend had an accident.”

Xiao Fu put down the nail polish bottle and raised an eyebrow. “My condolences.”

Shen Maomao said in a joking tone, “Is the feng shui of this place bad? There were eleven of us when we came, and now half of them are gone.”

Xiao Fu pinched the room card, carefully picked up a small card holder, and inserted card 304 into it without smudging her nail polish. She replied nonchalantly, “Actually, I think so too. When I first came to this hotel, there were over thirty people. Now, there are only four of us left… Ah, three of us.”

Unexpectedly, there was an accidental gain.

Shen Maomao, while staring at her hand movements, tried to get more information: “Where did everyone go?”

Xiao Fu casually tossed the card holder forward. “They all found it too remote here and resigned. Of those who stayed, one died.”

Shen Maomao wanted to ask more, but she suddenly spotted a long, strip-shaped creature coiling up a chair leg. She quickly pointed at the chair and shouted, “I think there’s a snake!”

“Ah!!” Xiao Fu screamed, jumped onto the counter with a yelp, and looked back nervously. “Where?! Where?!”

Under the light, a dark shadow was cast on the floor, mimicking Xiao Fu’s movements.

Shen Maomao rubbed her eyes in surprise.

This Xiao Fu actually had a shadow!!

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