The Hand of Confession – Chapter 256

Volume 8: The Days of the Ghost Marriage

Suona

The blue-faced Dou Erdun steals the imperial horse

After personally watching them serve the little fatty until he finished his meal, Haitang took her leave first to go back and accompany Madam Shao.

The moment she left, the players, as if by unspoken agreement, turned their gazes toward the little fatty and the two oil lamps on the table.

Cheng Rui asked, “This is?”

“Oh… allow me to introduce you.” Shen Maomao pointed at the little fatty. “This is the Little Young Master of the manor.”

The Little Young Master silently straightened his little back.

Cheng Rui spoke again, “It’s so late, why would the Little Young Master be with you?”

Shen Maomao lied as easily as she breathed: “This afternoon, the Little Young Master grabbed us to go fly a paper kite, and when evening came, he insisted on sleeping with us no matter what… There was nothing we could do.”

Cheng Rui one hundred percent did not believe this reason, but he had no way to deal with Shen Maomao, so he could only say with an unclear meaning, “The wedding is tomorrow. There isn’t much time left in this instance. If anyone has any clues, it would be best not to keep them to yourselves.”

Shen Maomao rolled her eyes at him without giving him any face and said, “There are no clues at the moment.”

Cheng Rui looked at the others, and everyone avoided his gaze one after another. The only one who leaned toward him with a bright gaze was Tang Lusen, but this newcomer was the typical type who was just drifting along and waiting for death¹, clearly unable to provide him with any help.

His face darkened, and he said, “Since nobody wants to cooperate, let’s just act independently.”

After speaking, he turned and left with Tang Lusen.

The friendly discussion ended unhappily. Shen Maomao wiped the Little Young Master’s small hands, picked up the child, and said faintly, “Shall we go?”

Lou Jingmo also picked up an oil lamp. “Let’s go.”

The other few players also hurried to follow. The group walked silently toward their quarters. Only the little fatty, lying on Shen Maomao’s shoulder and looking at the sky, said innocently, “Why can’t I see any stars tonight?”

No one answered him.

He didn’t make a fuss, continuing to talk to himself, “Is it going to rain?”

Just as his voice fell, a drop of water landed with a pada on his small, chubby hand. He was startled, then said excitedly, “It’s really raining!!”

Shen Maomao pressed his head down onto her shoulder. “Could you keep it down, my Little Young Master…”

The little fatty struggled, refusing to lower his head. “Xiao Yu-jiejie! It’s raining, Xiao Yu-jiejie is coming to play with me!”

Shen Maomao: !! F#ck!

“Run!” Lou Jingmo suddenly shouted.

The players, like wind-up robots, all lifted their legs and started running in unison.

At the same time, a bolt of lightning tore across the sky, and raindrops the size of beans poured down, striking the players’ heads, faces, and bodies, carrying a chill that penetrated to the bone marrow, making them shiver uncontrollably.

Shen Maomao was carrying the little fatty, already a step slower than the others, and to make matters worse, the child in her arms thought a relative was coming and struggled to get out of her embrace.

Seeing this, Lou Jingmo said, “Knock him out!”

Shen Maomao: “…He-he-he’s so small, I’m afraid I’ll kill him if I hit him!”

Lou Jingmo moved the lamp to her left hand, formed her right hand into a knife-edge, and brought it down crisply and neatly on the back of the little fatty’s neck.

The little fatty’s eyes rolled back, and he immediately went still.

If her hands weren’t occupied, Shen Maomao would have even wanted to give her a thumbs-up.

She didn’t dare to look back the entire time. As soon as she entered the room, she immediately placed the little fatty on the tongpu² and shook her sore arms.

After Lou Jingmo also came in, Su Han, who was guarding the door, quickly shut it and turned to urge, “Quick, light the lamp!”

Only when the warm yellow light shone on them did the few people in the room let out a sigh of relief.

Shen Maomao moved to the side of the window and carefully glanced outside, but she couldn’t see anything clearly. Outside the window was only a thick fog. She didn’t know if it was because it was too dark, or because… that Xiao Yu was waiting right outside their window.

“Laa~”

“Ahh~”

A faint singing voice, mixed with the sound of rain, drifted from the distance. The sound grew closer and clearer, until she could make out the lyrics and melody—

“The blue-faced Dou Erdun³~ steals the imperial horse…”

“Pfft—!” She couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

Potato Chip, who had been in a daze beside her, was also stunned for a moment, her face a mask of “who am I, where am I.”

“What’s wrong?” Lou Jingmo asked her.

At the same time, the next line of lyrics drifted over— “The red-faced Guan Gong⁴ battles at Changsha…”

Shen Maomao stifled her laughter. “That female ghost… is singing Shuochang Lianpu⁵“. She had been quite scared at first, but now she inexplicably found the female ghost to be rather cute.

Lou Jingmo also remembered their experience from the morning. The corner of her mouth twitched a couple of times, but she managed to suppress her laughter. “Serves you right for singing randomly.”

Shen Maomao: “Is it my fault? You were the one who praised my singing, that’s why she learned it.”

Seeing that the two were about to start fighting, a bewildered Su Han asked from the side, “What’s going on? What happened?”

Shen Maomao briefly explained what had happened that morning.

Su Han wore an expression that said, “I want to say something, but it seems there’s nothing to say.” In short, it was very surreal.

As if hearing their conversation, the singing suddenly stopped. The surroundings became extremely quiet for a moment, the air filled with an awkward atmosphere.

Afraid that she would come looking for her in the middle of the night, Shen Maomao quickly said to the window, “Actually, you sing very well. I support you in pursuing your dream…”

Lou Jingmo rolled her eyes. “Stop messing around. Wash up and go to sleep. Take off your wet clothes, there might be an event tomorrow morning.”

Shen Maomao looked around. “Right, the kite was left in the kitchen!”

Lou Jingmo reminded her, “Quiet down. We can get it back tomorrow morning.”

With one less person tonight, the originally cramped room became more spacious. Fortunately, the addition of the little fatty made it feel less empty.

Actually, Shen Maomao was quite curious about what Potato Chip had said to Su Han, but it was clearly not the right time now, so she could only suppress her curiosity in her heart for the time being.

The sound of the rain outside was much louder than when they were on the road. If it had been like this just now, their undergarments would have probably been a lost cause.

Shen Maomao stripped off the little fatty’s wet clothes and tucked him into the quilt before taking off her own.

Their two sets of bedding were connected to form one large bed. The little fatty was placed in the middle, and Shen Maomao consciously lay on the outer side, voluntarily lying next to the spot where Zhai Yiqiao had slept.

Accompanied by the flickering shadows of the lamp, she slowly closed her eyes, emptying her mind to let herself fall asleep.

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“Hey…”

“Wake up…”

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Shen Maomao vaguely felt someone pushing her arm.

Her heart pounded wildly. She abruptly opened her eyes, and what met her gaze was the unchanging ceiling.

Lou Jingmo was also awake and was currently looking coldly at the little fatty who had woken them up. Her expression looked as if she was about to eat a child in the next second. “What do you want?”

The little fatty shrank his shoulders. “I want to relieve myself…”

Shen Maomao sat up, got out of bed, and brought the niaohu⁶ to his side. “Pee.”

The little fatty covered his lower body, his face bright red. “No! Girls can’t watch boys relieve themselves…”

Shen Maomao, not having had enough sleep, was gradually losing her patience. “Then what do you want to do?”

The little fatty said, “I want to go outside…”

Shen Maomao: “Dage⁷, it’s pouring rain outside, can’t you hear it?”

Su Han, on the side, turned over and said in a low voice, “Just hold it!”

The little fatty’s eyes turned red, and tears immediately started to fall. “Wuwuwu… I want to find Mommy… I want to find Xiao Yu-jiejie…”

Shen Maomao quickly covered his mouth. “Alright, alright, no crying! What do we do, Lou-jie…”

Potato Chip also said, “What if his voice attracts something?”

Lou Jingmo glanced at the time. It was already eleven-fifty, almost twelve o’clock.

She put on her shoes, got out of bed, and peered outside through the thin layer of oil paper, then said, “Take him to the door, have him pee under the eaves.”

“Will it be okay?” Shen Maomao asked.

Lou Jingmo: “We’ll go together, it’ll be fine.”

Shen Maomao draped a coat over the little fatty. “Don’t make a sound, okay? Everyone is asleep. Did you hear what this jiejie said? Do as she says in a moment. We’ll all turn our backs. If that’s still not okay, then you can just pee your pants.”

The little fatty considered it, then held back his tears and agreed.

Shen Maomao put on her coat and got out of bed, holding hands with Lou Jingmo.

Su Han, lying on the tongpu, watched their movements and asked, “Will something happen if we open the door in the middle of the night?”

Lou Jingmo said, “If something happens, I’ll take responsibility.”

Su Han pursed her lips. “Alright, I can feel that you must be very powerful.” After saying that, she turned back to sleep.

Shen Maomao: “…?” She gave in just like that? Although she trusted Lou Jingmo, wasn’t Su Han being a bit too dense!

Potato Chip obediently maintained her position facing the ceiling, offering no opinion.

Lou Jingmo lit the other oil lamp and, carrying it, led the little fatty and Shen Maomao to the door.

As soon as they opened the door, a cold wind rushed in, carrying one or two icy strands of rain. Shen Maomao shivered. Lou Jingmo reached back and pushed the door to, leaving only a small crack.

The little fatty began to pee. The two of them, one looking at the top of the little fatty’s head and the other at the distant courtyard, both remained silent.

As she was watching, Lou Jingmo suddenly grabbed Shen Maomao’s hand. “Did you hear a sound?”

Shen Maomao listened closely. “The sound of rain? The sound of peeing?”

Lou Jingmo: “It’s the sound of a suona⁸.”

Shen Maomao: “?? If that thing comes out, won’t everyone in the whole city wake up?”

Just as her voice fell, the sound of the suona clearly entered her ears. “What the? There really is one?!”

The sound was not too loud and not too soft, just enough for one to hear clearly without finding it noisy. She said strangely, “Who is this, with no public decency? Playing the suona in the middle of the night?”

The little fatty pulled up his pants and rubbed his eyes. “I’m done.”

Shen Maomao: “Go back and wash your hands in the small basin, then go back to sleep.”

The two turned around and went back into the room. As soon as the door was closed, the suona sound, which had been very clear, vanished in an instant.

Shen Maomao looked at Lou Jingmo, and Lou Jingmo looked at her at the same time.

Then, the two of them simultaneously withdrew their gazes. Everything was understood without words.

Shen Maomao coaxed the little fatty to sleep. Over on the other side, Lou Jingmo had already gotten dressed and instructed her, “You watch him, I’m going out to have a look.”

Su Han sat up at once. “Going out? Did you discover something outside?”

Lou Jingmo nodded. “Some clues can only be discovered at night.”

Su Han said, “Then I’ll go with you!”

Lou Jingmo sized her up and, without giving any face, spat out two words: “You’re a hindrance.”

Su Han: “…”

Shen Maomao: “…” For Lou Jingmo to have wandered the jianghu⁹ for so many years without being beaten to death, it must be because she’s good-looking, right?

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