The Hand of Confession – Chapter 234

Volume 8: The Days of the Ghost Marriage

New Instance

A New Atmosphere

Good times always fly. For the past two months, Lou Jingmo hadn’t taken any missions. Her days were spent either writing her book or being lovey-dovey with Shen Maomao. Under her pampering (?), Shen Maomao had successfully gained five jin¹, and her face had become adorably plump.

One day in mid-August, while Shen Maomao was buying groceries with Lou Jingmo at the supermarket, she felt a sudden jolt as they were checking out. A time slowly surfaced in her mind—08/15, 00:00.

She rubbed her temples and sighed. Just like that, her good mood for the day vanished.

Lou Jingmo noticed the abrupt shift in her mood. After a quick mental calculation of the date, she figured out why Shen Maomao was upset.

It had been two months. It was about time for Shen Maomao’s new instance.

Back home, she patted Shen Maomao’s head comfortingly and got straight to the point. “What time?”

Shen Maomao told her.

Lou Jingmo found it strange. “Midnight? Is August 15th special for some reason?”

It was just August 15th on the Gregorian calendar, not the Mid-Autumn Festival. Why would the instance start exactly at midnight?

A possibility occurred to Shen Maomao. She quickly opened the calendar on her phone and took a look—August 15th happened to be the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, traditionally known as the Ghost Festival².

She pressed her lips together, feeling a little spooked. “Lou-jie… do you think ghosts are real?”

Lou Jingmo replied, “If you do nothing to wrong your conscience, you needn’t fear a ghost’s knock at midnight.”

She wasn’t afraid of encountering situations like this in the game. After all, most ghosts in the instances were quite polite; they would never step foot inside a house without the owner’s permission. But—

Shen Maomao imagined someone knocking on her door in the middle of the night in the real world. She figured that even if she became a devout vegetarian, chanted sutras daily, and prayed to every god in the heavens, she’d still be scared.

For a “delicate” girl like her, fear had nothing to do with having a guilty conscience. When something was scary, it was just plain scary.

Today was August 13th. They had two days… no, to be precise, they had a day and a half to prepare.

To be even more precise, it was time for Lou Jingmo to prepare.

Shen Maomao, on the other hand, had nothing to her name. After thinking it over, it seemed the only thing she needed to bring was her girlfriend.

On the night of August 14th, Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo were crammed together on the living room sofa, competing to be the champion of staying up late.

In the past, Lou Jingmo was used to not sleeping in instances, afraid that if she fell asleep, she might never wake up again. But ever since she had Shen Maomao, she found that her heart had grown bolder. In instances, she slept whenever she felt like it, as if she’d been possessed by the god of sleep.

This is a bad habit, I need to fix it.

With that thought, Lou Jingmo pulled Shen Maomao tighter into her arms, patting her shoulder gently. “If you’re sleepy, go to bed. I’ll wake you up at 11:30.”

Shen Maomao yawned. “What about you? Aren’t you sleepy?”

Lou Jingmo shook her head. “Not sleepy.”

Shen Maomao looked at her with drowsy eyes. “But you have dark circles…”

Lou Jingmo: “???”

She let go of Shen Maomao, shot up, and went to the bathroom. Staring into the mirror for a moment, she did indeed see a faint, dark shadow under her eyes. If one weren’t looking closely, they might mistake it for thickly applied eyeliner.

And so, the plan for one person to sleep turned into a two-person affair. The pair went upstairs to bed, only to be woken up together by the 11:30 alarm.

Lou Jingmo didn’t turn on the light. She just lay there, quietly watching her girlfriend in her arms, who clearly hadn’t had enough sleep. It was a sight she could never get tired of.

Shen Maomao took ten minutes to come to her senses, then rubbed her eyes and looked back at her.

For the next half-hour, the two of them just lay in bed, foreheads touching, gazing at each other without doing anything else. Shen Maomao felt an inexplicable urge to laugh. It felt like two little kids who had secretly woken up to chat after the adults were asleep. With the lights off, it seemed like they had endless things they wanted to say to each other.

Time ticked by, and it was almost midnight.

In the final half-minute, Shen Maomao perked up, nervously awaiting the arrival of the “tumble dryer.”

With five seconds to go, Lou Jingmo suddenly leaned over and kissed the corner of her mouth, whispering in her ear, “Happy Ghost Festival.”

And then, the world started spinning.

?? Happy my ass??

What was that for? Was she so sure I was going to become a ghost in this instance that she decided to celebrate the holiday for me in advance?

Shen Maomao was so thrown by Lou Jingmo’s sudden “happy” wish that she was still dazed even after the “spin-dry cycle” ended.

A moment later, she pushed herself up from the ground. The first thing that caught her eye was the clothes she was wearing—a dress and outfit that didn’t look modern at all. Perhaps this instance is set in ancient times.

Feeling a bit awkward, she got up and patted the dust and dirt off herself, her attention shifting from her clothes to her surroundings.

She had entered at midnight, but here it was daytime. A bright sun was dazzling her poor eyes, yet the air was neither hot nor cold; the temperature was perfectly comfortable.

She seemed to be at the end of a small alley. Behind and to her sides were tall, white-washed walls topped with gracefully upturned, grey-tiled eaves. The whole place looked both grand and beautiful.

She walked toward the alley’s only exit, and after just a few steps, the view opened up dramatically.

Before her stood a magnificent manor. The alley she’d come from opened directly onto its pair of great vermilion gates. A golden plaque hung above them, inscribed with the two characters for “Shao Manor.” Below the gates sat two majestic stone lions, and a set of white jade-like steps led up to them. The surrounding walls stretched far into the distance on either side.

The Shao Manor faced a wide road, with two servants standing guard at the entrance. Shen Maomao scanned the area but couldn’t spot a single person other than herself and the two servants.

Looks like the setting for this instance is the Shao Manor.

Shen Maomao didn’t advance rashly. She decided to observe from a distance first and look for Lou Jingmo.

Just as she was peeking around the corner of the wall, someone tapped her from behind. The touch made every hair on her body stand on end, and she nearly screamed.

Wait, I’m in a dead end! Where did this person come from?!

On pure reflex, she grabbed the person’s wrist, using their arm to fluidly gain leverage on their shoulder, and flipped them to the ground with a shoulder throw. She then twisted their arm behind their back, immobilizing them.

“Ouch!!” the person on the ground groaned. “Why’d you hit me?! I just wanted to ask you something.” It was the high, thin voice of a young girl, and Shen Maomao noticed she was wearing the same style of clothes.

Realizing her mistake, Shen Maomao quickly let go and pulled the girl back to her feet.

The girl got up, rubbing her sore backside. “What’s wrong with you? I just tapped you, why did you have such an extreme reaction?”

Only then did Shen Maomao get a good look at her face. She looked very young, perhaps not even a teenager yet. Her hair was done up in two buns, and she had a pretty face—the makings of a real beauty.

The girl also noticed Shen Maomao’s clothes. Her eyes darted around before she suddenly clutched her head and said weakly, “My head hurts so much… I can’t remember anything! You must have given me amnesia…”

Shen Maomao: “…”

With over-the-top acting, the girl continued, “Where is this? What era is this? Who am I? Why am I here?”

Shen Maomao: “…”

The girl gave her a light, petulant push. “Why aren’t you talking? Are you mute?”

Shen Maomao coughed twice and finally spoke. “Your name is Cuihua³. You’re a pig-rearing servant at the Shao Manor. You went out to buy pig feed and never came back. I was sent to find you.”

The girl’s expression cracked. “Pig… pig-rearing?!”

A burst of laughter came from behind them. Shen Maomao whirled around to face the end of the alley. A person stepped out from the shadows, looked at the girl, and said with a smile, “You must be a newbie, right? Don’t let her fool you, she’s just teasing.”

Before he could finish, Shen Maomao cut in, “Seeing how dedicated you were to your act, I couldn’t resist teasing you a little. Sorry, you haven’t time-traveled, and this isn’t really ancient times.”

The girl had a moment of realization. “You’re filming a reality show? I was wondering why there was no one on the road! Where are the cameras hidden? Was I chosen as a lucky guest participant?”

The newcomer was a man dressed as a servant. He was quite handsome and quickly captured the girl’s full attention. The man didn’t answer her question, instead turning to Shen Maomao. “Hello, my name is Cheng Rui. Cheng as in ‘journey,’ Rui as in ‘auspicious.’”

Shen Maomao replied politely, “My name is Rabbit.”

Though no one had asked her, the girl, not wanting to be left out, chimed in, “My name is Zhai Yiqiao! Yi as in ‘memory,’ Qiao as in ‘clever.’ Are you guys celebrities? How come I’ve never seen you on TV?”

Cheng Rui patted her head and smiled. “Don’t be anxious, Qiaoqiao. We’ll explain everything once everyone is here. I just hope you don’t get scared then…”

Shen Maomao: “…” [Image of a grandpa on the subway staring at his phone with a complicated expression.jpg]

Why do I feel like this Cheng Rui guy is a bit… greasy? He just learned the girl’s name and he’s already patting her head?

Zhai Yiqiao didn’t seem to find him greasy at all. Instead, her cheeks flushed, and she stood shyly beside him, asking softly, “Scared of what? Are we playing a game? A detective game? Werewolf? Or an escape room?”

Cheng Rui put on a mysterious act and kept her in suspense. “You’ll find out in a bit,” was all he said.

Before long, another group of people emerged from the dead end. Seeing the others at the mouth of the alley, they consciously stopped and stood with them. A few people quietly stated their names, but most remained silent, observing their surroundings as well as the other players.

Shen Maomao spotted Lou Jingmo. She said nothing, but quietly stood on her tiptoes to make it easier for Lou Jingmo to find her in the crowd.

The two stood together without a word, continuing to wait.

The chatter from the others gradually died down until more than a dozen people were standing in front of the alley in a deathly silence.

Zhai Yiqiao also sensed that something was wrong. She shrank closer to Cheng Rui in fear. “Is there a fake wall in that alley? Where did they all come from?”

Cheng Rui stated succinctly, “This isn’t a show, and it’s not a movie. There are ghosts in this world. If you die here, you die in reality, too.”

Zhai Yiqiao’s expression went blank, as if she couldn’t comprehend his words. After a long moment, she whispered in disbelief, “G-ghosts?”

Cheng Rui nodded.

The color drained from Zhai Yiqiao’s face. “You’re kidding, right? Where would ghosts come from? What’s all this about dying… You guys have to be messing with me, right??”

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The author has something to say:

Someone wanted to see Lou-jie in ancient clothing, so I made a whole ancient world setting _(:з」∠)_. The acquaintance I mentioned isn’t a good person; someone has already guessed it correctly!

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