The Hand of Confession – Chapter 258

Volume 8: The Days of the Ghost Marriage

Pima Sha¹

F#ck, wait for me!

For a moment, Shen Maomao felt a bit of rejoicing in disaster and delighting in misfortune.

Not only was Milk Tea whom she had personally pushed into the well, fine, but she had instead become the Eldest Young Master’s ghost bride²… She wondered what kind of spectacular expression Potato Chip would have after finding out about this.

The wedding procession advanced in the direction of the Eldest Young Master’s courtyard. The rain seemed to stop in an instant, replaced by round, square-holed pieces of paper money³ fluttering down from the sky.

Shen Maomao had a psychological trauma regarding paper money, and it took great effort to restrain her desire to jump up and dodge it.

Only after the tail of the wedding procession disappeared from their sight did she let out a sigh of relief and stand up. It was also then that she discovered a person seemed to be standing not far from them.

“F#ck! Who?!” Shen Maomao jumped back a small step, exclaiming in a low voice.

That person was dressed in a full set of white clothes⁴, with a triangular piece of white cloth draped over their head. At this moment, they were facing them with their head lowered, their entire face obscured by the hat. It was unknown how long they had been standing there.

Hearing her voice, that person slowly raised their head, revealing a face without eyes.

The face was a normal human face, but its features looked as if they had been drawn on by a child with a writing brush⁵. The nose was a simple black dot, and the mouth was a scarlet arc—the same art style as the eyes on the lanterns.

The eyes on the lanterns probably belong to it, right?

How many eyes are on those lanterns? How many of these things are around us?!

Just as she was panicking, Lou Jingmo next to her suddenly said, “Still not running, what are you waiting for?” After saying that, she abandoned her, turned around, and ran.

Shen Maomao: “??? F#ck, wait for me!!!”

The two fled in a panic, the monster behind them in hot pursuit. The scarlet arc on its face split open towards both sides, letting out sharp shrieks.

Following their roars, more and more monsters converged behind them, closely following the two running girls ahead.

Shen Maomao asked, panting as she ran, “What the hell is this thing?!”

Lou Jingmo glanced back, then quickly turned her head back around and answered, “Pima Sha!”

Shen Maomao: “What does this thing do??!”

“When a Pima Sha appears at a wedding, there will surely be a funeral in the newlyweds’ home.”

The moment Shen Maomao heard this, she instantly ran even faster. “They’re waiting to hold a funeral for us, aren’t they?”

Lou Jingmo tried to be even faster than her. “Good that you know. If we can’t outrun them, remember to use your flesh to block them for a bit.”

Shen Maomao shouted curses, “Lou Jingmo, are you even human?!” Lou Jingmo laughed out loud, and with the sound of laughter, she surpassed her.

Shen Maomao suspected this b#tch used a prop, otherwise it would be absolutely impossible to suddenly run so fast!!

If one were to say which place in the entire Shao Manor was the safest, it would definitely be the courtyard where the servants lived. There were no lanterns there, nor could one hear the funeral music played by the suona. Comparatively, it was much better than outside.

The two had a very clear destination: the place where they lived.

After much difficulty, they ran back to the front of the courtyard with a crowd of Pima Sha in tow, but Lou Jingmo suddenly slammed on the brakes, stopping in her tracks.

Without looking up, Shen Maomao crashed right into her, making Lou Jingmo stagger.

“What is it now?!” She craned her neck to look ahead and immediately let out another curse, “The heavens want us dead…”

Clinging to the small courtyard’s gate were two stark-white Pima Sha, it was unclear if they were guarding the gate or trying to get in.

The group of monsters behind them was getting closer and closer. It was clear they no longer had the option to return to the courtyard.

Lou Jingmo grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her to run in another direction. “Don’t just stand there! Keep going!”

The prolonged running had caused a thin layer of sweat to form on Shen Maomao’s body. A cold wind blew through, and the icy, damp clothes sticking to her body made her shiver violently.

Her legs could barely lift anymore. Her throat felt like it was holding a whole piece of red-hot charcoal, searing her throat until it was dry and painful.

She kind of wanted to give up…

Shen Maomao’s pace slowed.

Why not just do as Lou Jingmo said? She would draw the fire and let Lou Jingmo run by herself. Anyway, she had resurrection armor…

Thinking this, she stopped, turned around to face the monsters behind her, and shouted, “Lou-jie, you run! I’ll hold them off!”

“Hold them off my ass!” Lou Jingmo wrapped an arm around her waist, hoisted her onto her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and ran in one direction, walking as if flying.

Shen Maomao was so jolted she wanted to vomit, and at the same time, her heart was filled with shock.

What the hell? What the hell??

Lou Jingmo used a prop, right??

The ground and the scenery on both sides were moving backward rapidly. Shen Maomao asked intermittently, “Where… are you… taking me?”

Lou Jingmo’s breathing was not disordered in the slightest. “To throw you into the well as a sacrifice, in exchange for the female ghost’s protection.”

Shen Maomao: “???”

In a short while, Lou Jingmo arrived at her destination.

Shen Maomao couldn’t see clearly where this was, but she heard the sound of a door opening.

Lou Jingmo strode over the threshold in one step, then turned and closed the main gate, shutting the monsters outside.

At the same time the gate closed, the sound of the suona also vanished. The courtyard became a small world of its own, isolating the wind, rain, and danger.

Having rushed back to freedom, Shen Maomao first rubbed her stomach, which was aching from being pressed against the shoulder, then began to survey her surroundings. “This is…”

Lou Jingmo nodded. “The young misses’ courtyard.”

Besides the players’ residence, this was the second place in the Shao Manor without red lanterns.

“In a bit, you remember to negotiate well with the female ghost sister,” Lou Jingmo continued, “I used a prop, I’ll have a three-hour period of weakness.”

Shen Maomao: “I knew it! How did you suddenly get so strong!”

Lou Jingmo rolled her eyes. “What kind of point are you focusing on?”

Shen Maomao: “Mainly because I don’t know what else I should be focusing on.”

Lou Jingmo: “…”

“Who are you?” As the two were talking, they suddenly heard a childish voice from behind them.

Shen Maomao turned around and saw a little girl not even as tall as her knee.

It wasn’t the one she saw by the well during the day, but she looked a bit similar.

She squatted down, looked into the little girl’s eyes and said, “We’re refugees. There are a lot of strange people outside. We were chased all the way here. Are you a young miss of the Shao family? Are you the Second Miss?”

The little girl shook her head. “I am the Third Miss.”

Shen Maomao immediately looked toward Lou Jingmo, asking with her eyes: Didn’t you say there were only two young misses?!

Lou Jingmo also frowned and squatted down, asking her, “Why are you the Third Miss?”

The little girl put her hands on her hips and laughed at her, “You’re so stupid. Of course it’s because I’m ranked third that I’m the Third Miss.”

Shen Maomao scanned the surroundings. “Then where is the Second Miss?”

This courtyard where the young misses lived was exceptionally desolate. When she came this morning, she had a task at hand and didn’t look closely. Now, looking at it again, this place was so desolate it no longer looked like anyone lived here.

Coupled with this Third Miss who shouldn’t exist in the Shao Manor…

She had reason to suspect this child was no longer human.

Hearing Shen Maomao’s question, the little girl clapped her hands happily and said with a smile, “Of course it’s because she died! She was reunited with her mother!”

The moment her voice fell, a faint sigh suddenly came from the back courtyard, and then that familiar tune started up again—

“Autumn gradually grows old…”

She had just sung one line when Shen Maomao interrupted her: “Stop, stop, stop, don’t sing, sister, don’t open your throat, we’re on the same side!”

The female ghost: “…”

After the incident with “Rap of the Opera Masks,”⁶ Shen Maomao really wasn’t that afraid of her anymore. But in the next second, Lou Jingmo staggered and fell onto her.

Shen Maomao’s brow twitched. She asked in a low voice, “How are you?”

Lou Jingmo frowned and replied, “I’m okay, just a bit unsteady on my feet.”

With Lou Jingmo out of commission, Shen Maomao felt no confidence in her heart and started to get scared.

“The female ghost appeared?” she asked.

Shen Maomao shook her head. “No. But I think she will soon.”

She supported her wife, whose side effects were starting to kick in, and then gently stroked the little girl’s head, her brain spinning rapidly, thinking of a feasible countermeasure.

“Um, sister…” After thinking for a moment, she said loudly to the empty courtyard, “We’re not bad people, we just want to figure out what exactly happened inside the Shao Manor, we didn’t mean to disturb you…”

A low chuckle came from the back courtyard.

Shen Maomao continued to reason with her: “What are you laughing at? Do you think I’m lying? We came for the secrets of the Shao Manor. After we know the secrets, we will leave.”

“Leave…?” The female ghost’s voice from the well was extremely hoarse. “And after leaving, use the same method to become rich?!”

This female ghost sister seemed to know quite a lot. Shen Maomao’s eyes lit up, and she changed her tune, “Why don’t you show yourself and we can go inside, sit down, and chat. It’s quite cold out here…”

As she was muttering, an icy hand suddenly clapped onto her shoulder, scaring her so much that her whole body shivered and froze on the spot.

An icy breath licked at her ear. This was a completely different feeling from the warm breath Lou Jingmo exhaled, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, ready to bite her throat at any moment and inject venom into her body.

Shen Maomao trembled like a sieve.

Even though I have a resurrection card, what’s scary is still scary…

The person behind her said, “Didn’t you want to have a chat with me?”

Shen Maomao: “!!” Survived a disaster! The whole world celebrates together!!⁷

She twisted her stiff neck, turned her head to look at her, and said drily, “Talk inside?”

The female ghost sister didn’t say whether she agreed or not, but simply walked past her, picked up the still “giggling” little girl along the way, and entered the room before her.

Lou Jingmo whispered, “It seems like there’s another face under her hair.”

Shen Maomao: “…Don’t say it, the mental fortitude I just built up…”

Lou Jingmo smiled and said weakly, “It’s so tiring to talk… You do your best.”

Shen Maomao nodded, suddenly feeling a heavy burden pressed upon her.

She supported Lou Jingmo, followed the female ghost closely into the room, and then watched her place the little girl on the bed. She then turned back, sat on a chair, and said to them, “What do you want to know?”

Shen Maomao also helped Lou Jingmo to a stool to sit down. Hearing her words, her hands didn’t stop moving as she said, “I want to know everything you know.”

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