The Hand of Confession – Chapter 245

Volume 8: The Days of the Ghost Marriage

Oil Lamp Gone Missing

Oh right, don’t we still have a candle here?

The evening drum beat five times, and the players, who had worked a whole day, finally had a space to themselves again.

Shen Maomao counted everyone and was startled. “Why is one person missing?”

It wasn’t Zhai Yiqiao; besides her, another male player was gone.

The two newcomers, Jiang You and Tang Lusen, were both here. Yun Shengjin and Cheng Rui were also present. The one missing was Zhang Paohui, who had forcefully exchanged information with them last night.

Cheng Rui said, “This morning, while he was replacing tiles in the front courtyard, he fell from the roof. He was knocked unconscious on the spot and has been sent to the infirmary.”

To leave the Shao Manor map alone at a time like this… I’m afraid it’s a one-way trip.

Tang Lusen recalled the earlier scene and said hesitantly, “I wanted to say this in the morning—when he fell, he was right next to me. I felt… like he was dragged down by someone…”

As he spoke, a look of fear appeared on his face. “He was standing very steadily at the time and even reminded me to watch my step… How could he have suddenly fallen? And I was standing right in front of him. When he fell, he didn’t make a single sound. It wasn’t until we heard the thud from him hitting the ground that we knew he’d fallen…”

Indeed, people can’t help but try to grab onto something when they fall. Zhang Paohui was clearly not the type of person who would rather fall to his death than drag down a teammate.

Shen Maomao couldn’t help but think of last night’s black shadow, wondering if it had anything to do with Zhang Paohui’s fall…

Tang Lusen couldn’t stomach his food. He was afraid the same thing would happen to him, that he would be killed just as silently, without any warning at all.

Cheng Rui comforted him, “Don’t be scared. He must have gotten into trouble because he violated one of the instance’s taboos. You’ve been with us the whole time, so you won’t touch upon any taboos.”

The moment he finished speaking, Jiang You, who was beside them, asked, “You guys keep mentioning the word ‘taboo,’ but what exactly is a taboo?”

Cheng Rui said, “We’re not too clear on that either. What taboos exist in the instance is something we still need to slowly explore…”

Jiang You retorted again, “Since you don’t even know what the taboos are, how can you be so certain that what’s-his-name got into trouble because he violated a taboo?”

Cheng Rui frowned.

Jiang You shook his head. “I’m afraid the taboos you speak of can only be fully understood after they’ve been piled high with human lives. And we are the path-finding stones¹ you use to understand the taboos.”

Cheng Rui stood up. “How could you think that?”

Jiang You also put down his bowl. “What I think isn’t important; what’s important is what you think. I’m done eating. Please, take your time.” After saying this, he turned and left the kitchen directly.

Shen Maomao gave his departing back a thumbs-up in her heart.

This brother has real guts, leaving just like that, without dragging mud nor carrying water².

Cheng Rui put on a rather innocent expression. “I don’t know why he would think that. Xiao Tang, you don’t think of me that way too, do you?”

Tang Lusen’s expression stiffened for a moment but quickly returned to normal. He smiled and said, “How could I? Cheng-ge, I’m counting on you to get me out of this godforsaken place! Didn’t we already agree? After we get out, I’ll join your guild. Rounding up³, that makes us family… How could I think that way about my own family?”

He said, “How could I think that way about you,” not “You definitely wouldn’t do that to me.” He was clearly aware in his heart and stomach⁴ of what Cheng Rui was planning.

But he didn’t have Jiang You’s courage, nor the ability to go it alone, so he could only choose to rely on the ill-intentioned Cheng Rui.

Cheng Rui smiled with satisfaction and sat down to continue eating.

Only this time, no one felt like talking. The atmosphere in the kitchen became silent and oppressive.

Some things, before they were completely spelled out, allowed everyone to carry their understanding while pretending to be muddled. But once laid bare on the table, there was absolutely no going back to how things were.

Compared to Yun Shengjin, Cheng Rui is still a bit lacking. He doesn’t have Yun Shengjin’s organizational skills. He doesn’t want to be the leader of all the players; he just wants to keep the newcomers in his grasp. His vision was small from the very beginning.

Thinking about it this way, Yun Shengjin seems even worse.

Shen Maomao secretly glanced over at Yun Shengjin, only to find him still focused on his food, head down, looking as if he’d never eaten a meal before.

She couldn’t quite figure out what he was thinking.

Could it be, just as she and Lou Jingmo guessed, that Yun Shengjin is planning to slack off because of what happened to his wife?

As she was thinking, Yun Shengjin also put down his chopsticks and left his seat without a word, like a gloomy ghost.

Tang Lusen muttered, “One after another… Don’t they know that people who go off alone in horror movies never have a good ending?”

Cheng Rui said, “So you must not learn from them…”

Tang Lusen put on a submissive look. “You’re right, Cheng-ge. I’ll listen to you.”

After the meal ended, the remaining three men left the kitchen together, leaving the five women behind to wash the dishes.

By the time they finished cleaning up the kitchen, the sky had turned completely dark.

The five of them walked out of the dining hall together. The light from the large red lanterns shone on the ground, a glaring crimson that stung the eyes.

Su Han couldn’t help but grab Potato Chip’s arm. The three girls huddled closely together, their faces buffeted by the cold night wind.

“Don’t you two want to get a little closer?” Su Han called to them. “It’s so cold, colder than yesterday, it seems.”

Shen Maomao’s hand was held by Lou Jingmo’s warm one, and her heart felt warm too, so naturally, she didn’t feel the cold. Hearing this, she said directly, “No need, we’re not cold.”

The two of them walked behind the other three, as leisurely as if they were strolling through their own back garden.

The moon rose above the willow branches. The wind rustling through the leaves made a shala shala sound. The stone-paved path was dyed red by the lanterns, and these red patches swayed left and right with the swinging of the lanterns. At a glance, it looked like some kind of disco…

Thinking this, Shen Maomao said it out loud, instantly earning accusatory glares from the three in front.

They were in the middle of being scared, and her comment completely dispelled the terrifying atmosphere, making them seem like they were making a big fuss over nothing.

Shen Maomao smiled sheepishly. “My nerves are thick, you guys go on being scared, don’t mind me.”

Su Han: “…”

But the rest of the walk was indeed not as unsettling as before.

They passed by room after room with lit lamps, just like yesterday, and returned to the small courtyard where the servants lived.

The door to the male players’ room on the right was locked and the light was on; they had probably gone to bed.

Back in their room, Shen Maomao used the moonlight and the light from other rooms to feel for the lamp stand on the windowsill. She was planning to go next door or somewhere to borrow a light. But after fumbling and looking for a long time, she couldn’t find where it had gone.

“I have some bad news. Don’t get too nervous when you hear it,” she said.

Before she could answer her own question, Lou Jingmo said, “The lamp is gone?”

Shen Maomao turned around with a mournful look on her face. “Yeah, it’s gone. I don’t know who took it…”

Milk Tea panicked. “What do we do? Can we borrow another one?”

Lou Jingmo said, “Do you know where Baozhu and Feicui live? Go ask to borrow from them.”

Su Han quickly said, “I know! I saw them come out of the room on the far right this morning.”

Lou Jingmo said, “Let’s go, all together.”

Milk Tea and Potato Chip hurriedly got up. The five of them arrived at Baozhu’s door. Shen Maomao, whose name had been remembered by them, took on the task of knocking. As she knocked, she said, “Baozhu, Feicui! Are you there?!”

A voice answered from inside. A moment later, the door was fully opened. Baozhu stood in the room looking at them. “What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”

Shen Maomao stated it concisely, “Do you have a spare oil lamp? The one in our room was taken by someone…”

Baozhu looked troubled. “We don’t have that many spares here…”

Feicui, from inside, suddenly said, “Oh right, don’t we still have a candle here?”

Saying this, she walked over with a section of a bright red candle and even threw in a fire starter⁵. “This is all we have. Take it and make do. It’s gotten dark, you should hurry back to your room.”

“Many thanks.” Shen Maomao gripped the candle and fire starter tightly and curtsied to thank them.

Baozhu smiled. “It’s nothing, we’re friends, aren’t we? One section of a candle probably won’t last the night. You should try borrowing from the others around here, you might have some luck.”

Shen Maomao apologized again. The two exchanged another pleasantry, and Baozhu closed the door. Then, no other sound came from the room, so quiet it was as if no one had ever been there.

Shen Maomao cocked her ear to listen for a moment, and suddenly a chill ran down her spine.

Why was there no sound of footsteps, and no shadow at the window?

Either the two of them don’t have shadows, or they don’t make a sound when they walk. No matter which possibility, the ‘ghost’ card was a perfect match⁶.

That red candle Baozhu left them, can they still use it?

Apparently, Shen Maomao wasn’t the only one who had thought of this problem. Lou Jingmo also said, “Let’s go ask the maidservant who lent us the oil lamp before if she took it back.”

The five of them turned and walked further in. This time, it was Su Han’s turn to knock. “We’re the ones who borrowed the lamp yesterday. We wanted to ask if you took the lamp back today!”

A muffled voice came from inside the room: “No.”

“Then do you have any other lamps?”

“No, I don’t. That lamp was a gift to you, no need to return it. You all… will have to seek your own good fortune.”

As this final, whisper-like sentence faded, this room also fell silent.

Shen Maomao looked at Lou Jingmo.

Lou Jingmo looked at the male players’ window. “Do you have a suspect in mind?”

Shen Maomao nodded at her.

The NPCs each had their own lamp, so they naturally wouldn’t need to come to their room to take one. In the entire servants’ quarters, only the newly arrived players were short on lamps.

Some shameless person must have taken advantage of their absence to sneak into their room and swipe their life-saving oil lamp.

But this was only her speculation; she had no clear evidence to prove it. It was also possible that one of the ghost-jiejies had taken a liking to their lamp and casually took it.

So, Shen Maomao could only knock gently on the door next to them. “Excuse me, do you have any spare lamps?”

The person inside, just as they had done last night, didn’t open the door, speaking through it instead: “We don’t. We borrowed ours from someone further inside. You could go try borrowing one too.”

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