The Hand of Confession – Chapter 264

Volume 8: The Days of the Ghost Marriage

Drunkard

In the bright light of day, under the clear heavens¹

The Shao Manor was not small, so finding someone was quite difficult.

They hadn’t been assigned any work, so they began to wander around the residence. They didn’t find Su Han, but they did see the male players who had been ordered to clean up the joss paper² from the ground.

The funeral no longer needed to proceed, but the joss paper that had been thrown all over the ground still needed to be cleaned up. Recently, the manor was already short on manpower, so the male players were unfortunately conscripted as laborers³.

When the two of them passed by, the men were with a few similarly dressed young servants, dealing with this unlucky joss paper.

Cheng Rui glanced up at them, then looked away. While sweeping, he spoke in a low voice with Tang Lusen, seemingly discussing the plot.

Not far away, Jiang You and Yun Shengjin each occupied their own spot. The two were lazy and listless, maintaining a slow rhythm and sweeping intermittently.

Speaking of which, it was unknown if it was a coincidence——from the beginning of the instance, the number of male and female players had been equal. At the start, there were six male and six female players. Now, three days had passed, and four male players remained, and four female players also remained…

It was unknown if this was a coincidence.

Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo had no intention of helping. They passed through the crowd without a sideways glance, intending to continue toward the western part of the Shao Manor.

After passing through a circular doorway, the sound of footsteps chased after them from behind, and at the same time, a panting voice was heard: “Wait a moment——huff——”

It was Yun Shengjin again.

Shen Maomao turned her head to look at him: “What do you want now?”

Yun Shengjin caught his breath twice and said: “You two went out last night, didn’t you?”

Lou Jingmo neither denied nor confirmed it, and there wasn’t even any extra expression on her face. Shen Maomao followed her example, asking him back with an air full of pretentiousness: “So what?”

Yun Shengjin said: “Cheng Rui also went out, and he brought back a book.”

“Oh?” Shen Maomao was a little surprised.

I didn’t expect this Cheng Rui to actually have some skill.

Lou Jingmo asked him: “The thing he brought back, would he take the initiative to tell you about it?”

Yun Shengjin explained: “He didn’t tell me, I saw it myself. It was almost dawn, and he thought we were all asleep, but I wasn’t. The next day, I thought he would share the clue with us so we could all search together, but he still didn’t…”

“Oh.” Lou Jingmo responded with a cold expression.

Shen Maomao said: “Okay, thank you for sharing this clue with us. You should hurry back to work, lest someone with ill intentions reports you for slacking off…”

“Uh…” Yun Shengjin opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end, he swallowed it back down and nodded. “You two be careful.” After saying this, he turned and walked back.

Watching his retreating back, Lou Jingmo said in a low voice: “He’s already a bit possessed⁴.”

“Hmm?” Shen Maomao was puzzled. “How can you tell? Isn’t his thinking still very clear?”

Lou Jingmo affectionately tapped her on the forehead with her index finger, while her mouth mocked: “With your IQ and thought process, you should just wait to be carried to victory⁵. You think he came to give us information? He was telling us that Cheng Rui triggered a hidden quest, reminding us to remember to snatch it!”

When many people work together, their strength is great. After obtaining an instance clue, the best method should be to exchange clues with teammates and analyze them together. This way, it’s easier to sort out the main storyline of the instance and find the exit.

Yun Shengjin wants to resurrect his wife, so he absolutely cannot miss a hidden quest that could grant an item. He emphasized that Cheng Rui did not share the information, merely because he felt he lacked the ability to snatch the item from him on his own, so he wanted to borrow a knife to kill someone⁶.

Hidden quests generally don’t have a necessary connection to the main quest. Logically, they could completely ignore Yun Shengjin and not do as he wished…

Thinking this, the next second she heard Lou Jingmo say: “Find a chance, and do him in.”

Shen Maomao was startled: “？？ Who？？”

Lou Jingmo: “Cheng Rui, of course. Find a chance for the black to eat the black⁷, and maybe we’ll get a card.”

Shen Maomao: “Aren’t you afraid he’ll turn into a ghost and come back to take revenge on you?”

Lou Jingmo smiled: “Do you think I’m like that idiot Potato Chip? Some people, even until they die, probably don’t know how they died.”

Shen Maomao sensed a trace of danger from her smile.

Lou Jingmo was never a kind person; she just saved all her kindness for her…

It’s over; she must be broken. She actually found this kind of character setting very appealing. She was no longer the kind and cute person she used to be.

Lou Jingmo didn’t know what kind of twisted⁸ thoughts were in her head. She looked up at the sky and said: “Today is almost over. I have a premonition that someone will die tonight, and maybe more than one.”

Shen Maomao sighed: “I’ve thought about this before. The death mechanism in this instance, is it always one male and one female each time?”

“I’m not sure, but here, women are definitely in more danger than men.”

From a selfish perspective, if it really had to be four people, Shen Maomao hoped it wouldn’t be her and Lou Jingmo, or maybe add Su Han to that list.

She quite liked Su Han as a person, she just didn’t know why she had entered this place…

Of course, it was a different kind of “like” from how she liked Lou Jingmo.

She was thinking about things absentmindedly, her hand holding Lou Jingmo’s as she was led forward. After walking for a while, Lou Jingmo suddenly patted the back of her hand and pointed to a figure not far ahead, saying: “Look at that person.”

As soon as Shen Maomao looked up, she saw a maidservant who was swaying and twisting as if she had drunk ten catties⁹ of fake liquor.

She frowned, and images from movies like 《Sheng Hua xx》 and 《x Shan Xing》¹⁰ appeared in her mind. She couldn’t help but say: “Has she turned into a zombie?!”

Lou Jingmo: “…What kind of eyesight do you have?”

Shen Maomao: “？”

Lou Jingmo: “That’s that Su Su something…”

Shen Maomao: “Su Han？！”

The maidservant in front turned around in response, revealing a crimson face. Su Han squinted her eyes, two red patches on her cheeks, and waved at them unsteadily: “You two——？”

Shen Maomao quickly ran over: “What’s wrong with you? Did you get a fever too?”

Su Han walked in a cross-step, looking as if she could start dancing a jig the next second if you gave her a big fan: “What fever? Come! Have another couple of sips with me!”

Only then did Shen Maomao notice that she was still carrying a teapot she had swiped¹¹ from somewhere, and the water inside was spilling onto the ground as she swayed from side to side.

Shen Maomao: “…” Is she drunk??

Lou Jingmo raised her right hand in displeasure: “Why are you helping her up?”

Shen Maomao immediately let go and obediently linked arms with her girlfriend’s hand: “I was afraid she’d be like dog gnawing on mud¹².”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Su Han stumbled and fell, and the teapot in her hand instantly shattered into pieces on the ground.

Shen Maomao: “…I should just shut up.”

Su Han was stunned for a moment, and her first instinct was to grab the shards: “My alcohol!”

“Stop!” Shen Maomao shouted, first stunning Su Han, then looked at Lou Jingmo. “It’s not too much for me to help her up now, is it?”

Lou Jingmo was caught between laughter and tears: “Let’s do it together.”

The two of them pulled up the very reluctant Su Han, supporting her with one on each side of her arms.

Su Han looked completely drunk, but there was no smell of alcohol on her. The liquid spilled on the ground was also no different from clear water; it was obviously the Spirit Water from the well.

“She really went and drank the water…” Shen Maomao said helplessly. “Then how did she manage to draw the water by herself and come back alive?”

Su Han heard this and said: “What do you mean, alone? I wasn’t alone! Potato Chip was with me!”

Shen Maomao: “So where is she?”

Su Han looked left and right, then pointed to a pillar of the nearby pavilion: “Isn’t she right here!”

Shen Maomao: “You really have gotten high on fake liquor…”

Lou Jingmo said: “It’s possible Potato Chip abandoned her and left on her own after she got drunk.”

“Did she go near the well again after that?”

Lou Jingmo: “I’m afraid only the ghosts and she herself know that.”

Shen Maomao: “…So, should we take her back?”

Lou Jingmo nodded: “Let’s go. We’ll wait for her to sober up.”

Su Han struggled, wanting to go hug the pillar: “Potato Chip, let’s down another bowl¹³!”

Shen Maomao helplessly grabbed her flailing hands: “Stop downing it, she already abandoned you and ran off. Didn’t I tell you to be careful of Potato Chip? How could you still act together with her?”

“Perhaps if she didn’t act with Potato Chip, there was no one else,” Lou Jingmo said. “From what she’s saying, it seems Potato Chip also drank the well water.”

“Not necessarily.” Shen Maomao shook her head. “Su Han is such a big fool, maybe the other person just pretended to drink to trick her. She definitely wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”

Lou Jingmo couldn’t help but laugh: “You have the nerve to call someone else a fool?”

Shen Maomao thought for a moment and replied: “Before meeting her, I wouldn’t have dared.”

She is a simpleton, but Su Han gave her the feeling of being the ironclad simpleton of all ironclad simpletons, which couldn’t help but restore her confidence (bushi¹⁴).

The two of them carried her back to the room and didn’t go out again after that.

Lou Jingmo reached out and patted her on the head again, giving a very pertinent evaluation: “Shen Maomao, you’re as strong as an ox.”

Shen Maomao pouted and gave her a big eye-roll: “Get lost!”

Lou Jingmo opened her arms to her: “Come here and let me hug you.”

Shen Maomao glanced at the soundly sleeping Su Han and scurried into her arms like a little mouse stealing lamp oil, saying: “What are you doing… there’s still someone here.”

Lou Jingmo sat on the shared bed platform, her legs spread open. She turned her around, making her sit in her lap facing outward, then wrapped her arms around her waist, pressing her own chest tightly against her back and rubbing a couple of times.

Shen Maomao’s whole body stiffened. She was like a shrimp that had been boiled red, and she stammered: “You… what are you doing… In the bright light of day, under the clear heavens…”

Lou Jingmo, with an innocent face: “I’m not doing anything?”

Shen Maomao, blushing, turned her head to glare at her, which gave Lou Jingmo the perfect opportunity to pinch her chin.

Lou Jingmo slowly lowered her head, kissed her on the lips, then parted her lips and began to deepen it.

The two of them exchanged a wet kiss in this awkward position. A few minutes later, Lou Jingmo pulled back first, rested her forehead against hers, and said in a low voice: “I’ve been holding back for a long time, Shen Maomao. You’re just asking to be kissed.”

Su Han, who had been woken up by them: “…” I should be under the car¹⁵.

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