The Hand of Confession – Chapter 250

Volume 8: The Days of the Ghost Marriage

Two Cards

Why wasn’t I the one who died?!

Lou Jingmo turned her head, her gaze as sharp as a torch.

The person who had called out to them was none other than an old acquaintance, Yun Shengjin.

Yun Shengjin walked up to her in a few steps and said in a low voice, “I’d like to ask you about something.”

Lou Jingmo was expressionless. “Don’t know.”

Shen Maomao: “…” Although there wasn’t much to say to this former hypocrite, Lou Jingmo was her woman, alright. She had some real bite!

Yun Shengjin was so thoroughly rebuffed he was rendered speechless. It took him a few seconds to recover before he managed to say, “I’ll compensate you.”

Lou Jingmo: “I don’t need money.”

“It’s not money. It’s John.”

Lou Jingmo raised an eyebrow, a half-smile playing on her lips as she looked at him. “It seems you have quite a few cards in your hand.”

Yun Shengjin said, “How many cards I have isn’t important. What’s important is the information I want to know…”

Lou Jingmo brushed aside the bangs the wind had mussed, seeming to have already seen through everything. “You want to ask for clues about Thomas?”

Yun Shengjin nodded. “Yes. As expected of Xiao Lou.”

Lou Jingmo spread her hands. “Unfortunately for you, I don’t have what you want either.”

“How is that possible!” Yun Shengjin was losing control. “If even you don’t have Thomas, then who else could?”

Lou Jingmo asked him in return, “And who told you that I did?”

“Does anyone even need to tell me? When it comes to who has the most cards right now, besides Shang Zhou, isn’t it you?”

“Then why don’t you go find Shang Zhou?”

At this, Yun Shengjin’s eyes suddenly reddened. His right hand, clenched into a fist at his side, was squeezed so tightly his entire body trembled. But in the end, like a punctured balloon, all the air rushed out of him in an instant. He gently closed his eyes. “I’ve already looked for him… He doesn’t have it either.”

Thomas was a twin card, said to be able to resurrect people who had died in the game.

In truth, Lou Jingmo had never quite figured out how this card was supposed to be used.

The ways players died in reality were wildly varied—jumping off a building or getting into a car accident were minor cases; gruesome deaths were everywhere. Not to mention the other witnesses present when a person died—doctors, police, passersby… In their eyes, that person was already dead. If they could really be resurrected, would everyone’s memories have to be erased?

And the person who was resurrected—would they be human, or a ghost?

She was certain that Yun Shengjin wanted to use Thomas to resurrect his wife.

But she really didn’t have this card.

She looked at Yun Shengjin, her tone placid. “Since the card’s function is listed on the forums, that means someone must have seen it.”

Yun Shengjin was silent for two seconds before saying, “Thank you.” He then added, “If you obtain this card, please contact me on the forums. My ID is just Yun Shengjin. I’m willing to trade John for it. After I use Thomas, I’ll return the spent card to you. It won’t delay you from leaving the game…”

Lou Jingmo: “Sorry, your character doesn’t meet my standards for a transaction.” The implication was a clear refusal.

“My character is no good,” Yun Shengjin said, his eyes bloodshot. “I’m really not a good person… but Yan Nan was innocent! Everything she did, she did for me… She did nothing wrong, it was all my fault… Why wasn’t I the one who died?!”

Lou Jingmo tightened her grip on Shen Maomao’s hand, watching him weep almost hysterically with not a shred of pity in her eyes. “If you knew it would come to this, why did you even start?”

Yun Shengjin knelt on the ground, frantically grabbing his hair and wailing. “I regret it… I really regret it… I know I was wrong… Give me back Yan Nan…”

Several pairs of curious eyes poked out from the kitchen. Shen Maomao glanced over and quickly said, “Alright… everyone get back to what you were doing. Don’t stand around watching the show and slacking off. Be careful the steward don’t catch you…”

At her admonishment, the surrounding people dispersed. The two of them paid no mind to Yun Shengjin, who was crying like a child, and left directly. Before walking out of the courtyard, Shen Maomao glanced back at Yun Shengjin. He was no longer crying out loud, just covering his face and curled into a ball on the ground, like a child who couldn’t find his way home.

“Feeling soft-hearted?” Lou Jingmo asked.

“No.” Shen Maomao retracted her gaze. “Just a bit emotional. Would you say this is retribution?”

Lou Jingmo paused for a moment, then said, “I suppose so? But his wife wasn’t that innocent either. After all, she helped him out when he was swindling newcomers.”

Shen Maomao: “To strike a snake, you strike it at its seven-inch mark¹. This game is truly ruthless.”

Lou Jingmo glanced at her, and as if a thought had occurred to her, she couldn’t help but frown.

Shen Maomao didn’t notice and instead asked about the things they had just mentioned in their conversation. “Were you two talking about cards? What cards? What do they do?”

Lou Jingmo composed her expression and replied, “They’re cards. One is called John, its function is to cleave ghosts. The other is called Thomas, its function is to resurrect people.”

Shen Maomao: “…” What a perfect summary…

“Can you just use them directly? Aren’t there any restrictions?” she added as a follow-up question.

Lou Jingmo gave a trio of unknowing replies: “Don’t know, not sure, no idea.”

Shen Maomao: “Then how do you know what they do?”

“I don’t have either of those cards,” Lou Jingmo said. “I told you to browse the forums more. Did your village just get internet?² Just because I don’t have the cards doesn’t mean I can’t look up a guide.”

Shen Maomao: “…I’m warning you, talking like that will get you turned into a single dog.”

Lou Jingmo reached out and pinched her little chubby face, squeezing her mouth into a “3” shape, then gently nibbled it. “Getting bold, are we?”

Shen Maomao’s face flushed red, and she raised a hand to push her away. “Don’t just kiss me whenever you want, or I’ll rip your arm off.”

Lou Jingmo let out a loud laugh, releasing her and striding forward. A sentence drifted back on the wind: “Save your strength for ripping off a ghost’s arm.”

Shen Maomao: “…I could, but I don’t have the guts.”

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Since no one had assigned them any new work, the two returned to the Young Master’s courtyard after they left, planning to search for more clues inside.

Compared to the morning, the Young Master’s courtyard had a bit more life to it. Servants were busy in the yard, and Steward Shao stood at the entrance directing them. It was quite a lively scene.

But even with so many people around, the atmosphere in the courtyard was still strange, with a suffocating feeling that Shen Maomao couldn’t quite describe.

The humidity in this courtyard seemed different from outside… Just by standing inside for a short while, she felt her clothes had already become damp.

Upon seeing the two of them, Steward Shao walked over in a few steps and said, “Don’t just stand there. I have some red paper here. The two of you take it and make a round of all the wells in the estate. You must place one sheet of red paper by each well, propped up with a stone. You can’t miss any, understand?”

Shen Maomao nodded. “Alright, Steward Shao. Should we go now?”

Steward Shao nodded. “Finish it before noon. Can you do that?”

“No problem!” Shen Maomao took the red paper, her reply full of passion.

Lou Jingmo, however, asked, “Could we trouble Steward Shao to tell us exactly how many wells there are in the estate? It would make it easier for the two of us to count.”

Steward Shao frowned and thought for a moment. “I think there are eight wells… That should be right, eight wells. Oh! That’s right!” As he spoke, his voice suddenly rose, and he clapped his hands excitedly. “I almost forgot about this, such an important matter… The one in the Young Master’s courtyard and the one in the kitchen, you don’t need to put paper on those. Make sure you don’t mess it up, remember?”

Shen Maomao agreed instantly. Fearing he might omit another crucial detail, she asked again if there was anything else they needed to pay attention to. After receiving Steward Shao’s negative answer, she and Lou Jingmo set off on their journey of pasting red paper.

On the way, Lou Jingmo said, “Pasting red paper is to prevent newcomers from being tainted by bad luck. Normally, you wouldn’t need to put it on wells used for drinking water.”

Shen Maomao naturally went off-topic³. “Lou-jie, how do you know about this stuff?”

Lou Jingmo: “I looked into it for our future wedding.”

Shen Maomao’s eyes instantly widened in astonishment as she stared at her, dumbfounded.

Lou Jingmo finished her sentence: “Do you think that’s possible?”

Shen Maomao: “Lou Jingmo, I may not be human, but you are truly a dog.”

Lou Jingmo couldn’t help but laugh. “Let’s be serious, don’t ask such useless questions. The red paper is to ward off bad luck, yet the Shao family is doing the opposite, telling us not to paste it on the two wells that are obviously problematic. I wonder if there’s some special meaning to it.”

Shen Maomao said, “I’m more concerned about this—does Steward Shao know that there’s something in the well in the laundry yard and the one behind the rockery?”

Lou Jingmo thought for a moment, then turned to ask her, “Do you dare to court death?”

Shen Maomao patted her chest. “I, Shen, have never been afraid of courting death!”

Lou Jingmo said, “Then you do it. Go and paste red paper on all the wells. We’ll do the ones in the Young Master’s courtyard and the kitchen last. How about it?”

Shen Maomao nodded. “Charge!”

And charge they did. The two began to wander through the Shao Manor.

Steward Shao had said there were eight wells in the estate. So far, they knew of one in the Young Master’s courtyard, one in the kitchen, one by the rockery, one in the laundry yard, and one in the courtyard where the young ladies lived—a total of five wells.

Although they didn’t know whose courtyards the remaining three were in, Lou Jingmo already had a rough deduction in mind.

“Follow me.” With that, she walked straight in one direction, looking very purposeful.

Shen Maomao asked curiously, “How do you know there’ll be a well in this direction?”

Lou Jingmo said, “The wells we know of are in different locations. The laundry yard is in the northwest corner, the rockery is due north, the kitchen is in the northeast corner, and the Young Master’s courtyard is in the southeast corner. Do you get what I mean?”

Shen Maomao understood. “The eight wells are arranged by cardinal directions?”

Lou Jingmo nodded. “We’re heading due south now, which should be right at the main gate.”

Speaking of which, they hadn’t had a chance to come to the front courtyard these past few days, and they hadn’t paid special attention to any wells around when they first entered the instance. For a moment, she really couldn’t recall if there was a well at the entrance.

Normally, a family wouldn’t dig a well right at their front gate. With people coming and going, it would be easy to contaminate the water source.

Unless the water in that well wasn’t meant for drinking.

The two walked for a while, passing rows of red lanterns, and finally arrived near the main gate, where they began to search for a possible well.

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