The Hand of Confession – Chapter 246

Volume 8: The Days of the Ghost Marriage

The Song

This night had only just begun.

Yesterday, the girls hadn’t opened the door; today, it was the male players’ turn to refuse. It was truly a case of the feng shui turning in cycles¹, and today, it had come to their house. The realism was palpable.

The group moved far away from the small cabin. Su Han asked, “Are we going to split up to act, too?”

Milk Tea recalled the human figure that had flashed past their window yesterday and couldn’t help but say in a small voice, “Let’s not… What if… what if we end up with an extra person, too?”

Lou Jingmo said, “Whether or not an extra person appears has nothing to do with whether we split up. As long as we’re still outside, we’re in more danger than the people inside.”

Milk Tea asked, “Without a lamp… what will happen?”

“I have absolutely no desire to find out,” Su Han said, thumping her own shoulder. “Enough talk. Let’s split up to borrow lamps. The sooner we go, the sooner we’re back. I’ll team up with Milk Tea and Potato Chip to borrow from the left side. You two can be a team and borrow from the right. Sound good?”

Shen Maomao nodded and immediately pulled Lou Jingmo toward the right.

It was as if today’s instance was deliberately working against them. Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo knocked on several doors, but the people inside either didn’t answer at all or just gave a curt “don’t have one,” shutting down any further conversation.

Lou Jingmo looked up at the moon. At some unknown point, it had become shrouded in a thin, red veil, like a red lantern hanging at the edge of the sky, casting a bewitching glow upon the ground.

“Stop borrowing,” she said, gripping Shen Maomao’s hand. “Go find the other three. We need to get back, now!”

Shen Maomao was a little bewildered but reflexively followed her command at once.

The two of them ran to the left side and found the other three still knocking on the door of a house.

Shen Maomao said, “Let’s go, back to the room!”

Potato Chip was confused. “But we haven’t borrowed one yet…”

Lou Jingmo looked up. “See for yourselves. Look at the sky.”

The other four followed her gaze, and Shen Maomao instantly let out a “holy sh#t.” “When did it change?! How did I not notice?!”

The Shao Manor was too red. The red light from the lanterns illuminated the surrounding buildings, and after looking at it for a while, a layer of red light would automatically envelop one’s vision. This layer of red light then combined with the red moonlight, which was why not a single one of them had noticed that the moon in the sky had changed color without their knowledge.

Lou Jingmo said again, “Go.”

Shen Maomao immediately took off with her, sprinting in the direction of their room.

As for whether the three behind them were willing to come back… in any case, she and Lou Jingmo had done all they could.

The three behind them weren’t idiots, either. Faced with this kind of situation, their first reaction was, of course, to run along with them.

The five of them, two in front and three behind, sprinted wildly down the path. A faint red mist began to congeal in the courtyard, and from the distance, it seemed someone’s song could be heard.

“Autumn wanes, the crickets’ cries are sharp with sorrow; night deepens, the lamp’s wick-flower flickers and falls…”[1]
“And in this most groundless of moments, this fine night is spent, after all, in lonely slumber…”[2]

It was a woman.

Her singing voice was exceptionally mournful and long, as if filled with an endless, inexpressible sorrow of parting and loss.

Milk Tea stumbled and nearly fell, tears bursting from her eyes. “It’s her! She’s here!!”

Potato Chip quickly steadied her, dragging her forward. “Don’t stop! Hurry!”

The singing grew louder and louder, as if the singer was getting closer and closer. Danger was pressing in. Shen Maomao’s hands trembled as she yanked open the door, first shoving Lou Jingmo inside before following her in.

The three behind them filed in one by one, and Su Han, who was last, slammed the door shut.

With a bang, Potato Chip and Milk Tea slumped directly to the floor, their legs so weak they could barely stand.

Lou Jingmo spoke rapidly, “The candle? Give it to me!”

Shen Maomao took out the candle and a fire starter together, accurately placing both items into the palm of her hand.

Lou Jingmo’s hand was very steady. She lit the candle in an instant.

The weak flame dispelled the darkness in the room. She dripped two drops of wax onto the windowsill and stood the candle firmly upon it.

Once the candle was set, Shen Maomao clearly felt the singing outside grow quieter.

Potato Chip and Milk Tea also let out a visible sigh of relief, helping each other to their feet.

Lou Jingmo asked, “What do you mean, ‘it’s her’? Who?”

Shen Maomao’s head snapped up to look at her.

Su Han also said, “I wanted to ask that too… what’s here?”

Potato Chip said, “It’s the singing we heard by the well before. You guys really can’t hear it!”

Shen Maomao said, “I heard it too. It seems to be related to the well water from the kitchen.”

Of the five of them, only Su Han and Lou Jingmo had not drunk the well water, and only they could not hear the singing.

Milk Tea said, “Should we go drink the water too?”

The moment she said it, she immediately negated her own idea. “Better not… there might be a corpse in the well…”

Su Han retorted, “If the well water could save your life, would you refuse to drink it because of what’s inside?”

Shen Maomao sat down on the communal bed², sighing. “The problem is, right now we have no idea if the well water is a life-saving talisman or a death sentence.”

Did not being able to hear it mean there was no danger? Perhaps Lou Jingmo and the others would be in even more danger because they couldn’t determine if the female ghost was nearby.

The well water was a double-edged sword. It was best they didn’t act rashly.

Lou Jingmo sat down next to her, her left hand naturally coming to rest on her shoulder, leaning almost her entire weight on her. “The candle won’t last the whole night.”

Potato Chip said, “Could we blow out the candle and then light it based on the singing?”

Milk Tea chimed in, “If that’s possible, the three of us can take turns on watch duty. Each person watches for two hours, and we light the candle as soon as we hear the singing?”

Lou Jingmo fell into deep thought.

Su Han thought for a moment and said, “We’re still not sure if the candle works against that singing female ghost. Should we blow it out and see?”

“Let’s see.” No sooner said than done, Lou Jingmo blew out the candle with a huff.

Although they were mentally prepared, Potato Chip and Milk Tea were still startled. The two of them waited with trembling hearts for a long time, but they never heard that familiar singing again.

Lou Jingmo’s gaze was heavy as she relit the candle. “The worst-case scenario has occurred.”

The flickering candlelight reflected on her face, making the others feel for a fleeting moment that she was a woman of profound schemes and unfathomable depth, her beauty carrying a trace of deadly danger. But when they blinked, they realized that what they had just seen was merely an illusion born from excessive tension.

The little building was still the same little building, and her face was still the same ordinary face.

“The worst-case scenario is that the singing ghost only attacks people who are outside, and the candle is for fending off a different ghost,” Lou Jingmo said methodically. “This way, you won’t be able to determine if a ghost has appeared based on the singing. You can only rely on your intuition.”

In any case, one section of a candle was definitely not enough. They had to be frugal, or they wouldn’t make it through the night.

Potato Chip’s heart sank, and her shoulders slumped. “Then we’re done for… I’m really dense, I usually can’t sense anything…”

Milk Tea said, “I’m okay… I should be able to keep watch… but I’m a coward, I might get scared and faint…”

Potato Chip vouched for her. “That’s true. One time before when we saw a ghost, she just fainted without a sound. Scared the hell out of me.”

Lou Jingmo’s lips curled into a disdainful sneer.

Su Han also frowned and asked, “So what you’re saying is—you don’t plan on keeping watch?”

Milk Tea clenched her fists, her head lowered. Only after a few seconds did she look up again. “That’s not what we mean… I wanted to ask if the two of us could count as one person and keep watch together? My attentiveness plus her courage is the only way to ensure we’re foolproof…”

Lou Jingmo averted her gaze, offering no opinion.

Shen Maomao, ever the wife to follow her husband’s song³, also remained silent.

In the end, it was Su Han who made the decision. “Fine, it’s settled. You two are one group, and the three of us are in our own separate groups.”

Shen Maomao clutched Lou Jingmo’s hand, unwilling to part. “Lou-jie… I can’t bear to leave you…”

Lou Jingmo rolled her eyes. “Get lost.”

Su Han gently patted her own quilt on the communal bed and said, “Then it’s settled. We’re currently four teams, so each team will watch for about two hours… just estimate the time yourselves. I’ll take the one to three AM shift, is that okay?”

The period from one to three in the morning was definitely when people were sleepiest and least alert. Since she proactively offered to take this watch, the others naturally had no objections.

Lou Jingmo said, “I have an item that can measure time.” As she spoke, she placed the item she had previously used to tell time in the underground laboratory onto the spot Zhai Yiqiao had vacated.

Only then did everyone realize that it was actually only around nine o’clock at night. For modern people, the nightlife was just beginning, but for people in ancient times, it was already considered the dead of night.

Speaking of items, Shen Maomao remembered something in Lou Jingmo’s possession that should be very useful. “Lou-jie! What about Blinding Flash?!”

The three people beside them: “???”

“Good idea.” Lou Jingmo took out the item as she spoke. “But the game will restrict items. In an instance like this where light is the main focus, all light-related items will be weakened.”

The item that could originally blind people, which was like the light of the sun, had been reduced to a firefly’s glow, so faint it looked like it was about to go out. Only now did Shen Maomao see Blinding Flash’s true original form.

It was just an ordinary, rhombus-shaped stone. It was truly a mystery how its tiny body could erupt with such immense light.

Lou Jingmo put the item away again without explaining it to the others.

Now all that was left was to assign the watch times.

Su Han had volunteered for the sleepiest one-to-three shift. Shen Maomao felt she couldn’t fall short, so she said, “I’ll take the eleven-to-one shift.”

Lou Jingmo immediately said, “You take the watch from now until eleven.”

Shen Maomao turned to look at her.

“The hours around midnight are more dangerous. I wouldn’t be at ease with you on watch,” Lou Jingmo said bluntly.

Shen Maomao’s eyes sparkled. “You’re worried about me?”

Lou Jingmo was expressionless. “I’m worried you won’t do a good job.”

Shen Maomao acted as if she hadn’t heard her. “You really are worried about me, hahaha. Then I’ll take the watch now.”

A small smile touched the corner of Lou Jingmo’s lips.

Milk Tea and Potato Chip now had enough time to rest and only needed to guard the relatively safer morning period, so they naturally had no objections.

With the work divided, everyone got into their quilts to prepare for sleep.

Shen Maomao blew out the candle and wrapped the quilt around her body, holding the candle in one hand and the fire starter in the other, ready to light the candle at a moment’s notice.

The room fell into silence. This night had only just begun.

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[1] From the poem “Jade Butterfly” (玉蝴蝶) by the Song Dynasty poet Liu Yong (柳永). The line describes the melancholy of late autumn.

[2] Also from Liu Yong’s “Jade Butterfly.” The line expresses the sorrow of spending a beautiful night alone.

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The author has something to say:

The lyrics are by Liu Yong!

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