The Hand of Confession – Chapter 279

Volume 9: The Days Can’t Be Lived Anymore

Paradise Lost

Ah… her voice is also very nice to listen to.

December 12, 2012, the end of the world.

The zombie sieges, heavens collapsing, and the earth splitting apart that people had imagined did not appear; what replaced them was a sudden emergence of all sorts of spiritual bodies——commonly known as ghosts.

These ghosts and monsters lurked in every corner, emerging every nightfall to terrorize humans, and they took pleasure in it.

The world fell into chaos, human casualties were innumerable, and order collapsed in an instant. Countless new factions, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain¹, strives to be first and fear to be last², yet none of them achieved any effective results.

Most physical attacks were ineffective against the ghosts and monsters. It was a one-sided slaughter. Humanity suffered disastrous losses, and the population plummeted. This continued until these beings had had their fill of fun, at which point they penned the remaining humans inside a single city for their own amusement and play.

Half a year passed in a flash. With few humans left, they began to rest and build up life force³, gradually establishing a new political power, electing new leaders, and developing a new order. In this way, they began to coexist with the ghosts and monsters——as slaves.

This city was called Paradise Lost.

Every night, at least ten people would die.

At first glance, the odds were minuscule, one in tens of thousands. But for the person on the verge of death, the odds were always one hundred percent.

People lived in fear, facing the night with their hearts raised and their gallbladders hanged⁴. In the face of death, the evil in human nature was magnified infinitely, and the laws and regulations of the past naturally no longer held any sway.

In Paradise Lost, everyone used their fists to reason. The strong were revered, and the victor was king. Situations like the one just now occurred from time to time.

And she, because of her exceptionally beautiful face, was often harassed.

But it didn’t matter. In this environment, people didn’t trust each other. Aside from the officials, there were no organizations that had become a significant force. People like that, without proper occupations who only engaged in stealing chickens and feeling dogs⁵, were a minority and rarely appeared in groups.

One or two of them, she could still handle.

Carrying her shopping bag, she got on the escalator, like a piece of cargo on a conveyor belt, involuntarily being sent toward her destination.

Hearing the sound of keys, the man from two doors down poked his head out and said with disappointment, “Why did you buy a new one again? What a waste of money ah……” as if he were completely unaware of the situation with the clothes.

She didn’t respond, merely opening the door with a blank expression and icily saying another “thank you.”

The man immediately broke into a smile, “If you’re short on anything, just tell me. Don’t be polite with ge⁶.”

His response was a tightly shut door.

Fine dust motes floated in the room’s air. Ren Yue put down her bag, piled the instant food on the table, stuffed the fresh food into the humming refrigerator, and then curled herself up on the not-so-soft sofa.

She picked up the pen and notebook from the coffee table, flipped to a blank page, and wrote a large “6” on the topmost line.

It was now eleven o’clock. In seven more hours, today’s work would begin.

All of humanity was concentrated here, so naturally, all the ghosts and monsters also remained here. Barring any accidents, the ghosts would kill ten people each day. After ten people died, the rest could live through a peaceful night. Furthermore, nearly all supplies were located here, so most people held onto a mentality of relying on luck and just getting by, not caring from which direction the next day’s sun would rise.

But there was also a portion of people who were unwilling to continue living as slaves, so they had to twist out all of their brain juices⁷ to leave Paradise Lost and challenge the maze at the edge of the map.

Paradise Lost was a large city, and its edge was a maze formed by high surrounding walls.

As long as one could walk out of the maze alive, they could go wander in the outer wilderness, a place with neither ghosts nor civilization——this was an unwritten rule here.

But under the added effect of a “ghost hitting a wall”⁸, almost no one could leave alive. Those who tried either turned back dejectedly, or their corpses were hung on the city gate tower by the ghosts to be devoured. Gradually, fewer and fewer people took up the challenge.

Another half a year passed. A small portion of people suddenly developed some evolutions that weren’t of much use: some could directly touch ghosts, some could understand the language of the ghosts and monsters, and others, like her, possessed a partial immunity.

Her immunity was specifically against the “ghost hitting a wall”, making it the most suitable ability for entering the maze.

So she began to make a living from this, specializing in guiding people who wanted freedom through the maze.

Of course, besides the “ghost hitting a wall”, there were other things in the maze. She was only responsible for guiding people and did not take responsibility for her clients’ safety.

To date, she had already led six people out.

This maze was very interesting. To get out, one had to experience untold thousand bitters and ten thousand hardships, but to go back required only a single step.

Several times, the thought of leaving with them had occurred to her, but after much consideration, she always took that one step back.

She always felt…… there was still something here waiting for her, but she had searched for a long time without finding it. Eventually, she simply couldn’t be bothered to look anymore.

The place she lived was located slightly north of the city center. To leave, the best way was to set out from here, head straight north, advancing by day and resting by night, until she was out.

She had traveled this road six or seven times already; under normal circumstances, no accidents would occur. Tonight’s meeting was for everyone to get acquainted and to discuss the details of tomorrow’s departure. She just didn’t know why the other party had chosen a time as unsafe as six o’clock.

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After dawdling and eating her lunch and dinner together, it was already five o’clock.

Ren Yue put on her newly bought down jacket and cotton-padded shoes and unhurriedly opened the door.

It was already getting dark, and the snow was still falling. The corridor lights were on, and the floor was a bit slippery from the melted snow. One had to be extremely careful when walking to avoid falling from the upper floor.

Compared to the morning’s bustling crowds, there were far fewer people now.

The sun would be setting soon. Compared to the outside, home was also very dangerous, but generally speaking, it was at least a familiar place, with familiar ghosts.

She stood on the escalator, her right hand gripping the handrail tightly.

Looking down from the top-floor escalator, one could see all the way to the first-floor lobby at the very bottom. She didn’t have a fear of heights, but it was still hard to avoid feeling a little dizzy.

As she was descending, the escalator, which had been moving downwards at a steady pace, suddenly let out a few strange, grating sounds. Then, with a long CRUNCH sound, the entire escalator came to a stop.

The person in front of her clearly began to panic; the hand gripping the handrail was trembling nonstop.

Ren Yue took two steps forward and patted the person’s shoulder. “Excuse me, please let me pass. I’m in a hurry.”

The person flinched, then relaxed as if deflating, turning sideways to make room for her.

Ren Yue walked past her, reached the platform in a few steps, and prepared to take the stairs instead.

The woman behind her hesitated repeatedly, then also started to walk down. She had barely taken two steps when she was suddenly pushed by something. She staggered and fell forward onto the escalator steps, sliding down headfirst, screaming all the way.

SQUEAK—— The escalator started moving rapidly. In a matter of seconds, she had slid to the very bottom. Her hair was pulled into the internal mechanism of the steps, and the force of the movement tore an entire patch of scalp from her head.

It all happened so suddenly that no one present had time to react.

Ren Yue was stunned for a second, then immediately rushed over and pressed the emergency stop button for the escalator, but it was already too late.

The woman lay prone on the ground, completely motionless, as a pool of blood spread out from underneath her.

She averted her gaze, dialed the rescue team’s number on her phone, and explained the situation at the scene as she walked away.

The escalator had always been fine; for something like this to happen today, she estimated that it wouldn’t be so crowded when she went out tomorrow.

After exiting the building, a gust of cold wind mixed with ice and snow hit her full in the face. She followed a small path trodden out by others and soon arrived at a bus stop.

An old bus came swaying from a distance and slowly stopped in front of her. The bus was crowded, and everyone inside looked drowsy.

She stood her ground, not moving, and let the bus drive away. She continued to wait right where she was, not the least bit anxious.

At five-fifty, the familiar bus pulled up to the curb. She rubbed her frozen hands, lifted her legs and walked over, deposited a coin, and then greeted the driver, “Good evening.”

The driver closed the front door and started the bus, his eyes focused on the road ahead, but his mouth was not idle. “Been waiting long? Let me turn up the heat. This snow today is really something, huh? I’ve never seen snow this heavy in my life. Luckily, it was cleared quickly, or I wouldn’t have dared to come out to work today. I ran into a ghost just now, which delayed me a bit, otherwise I would’ve been here long ago……”

Ren Yue didn’t reply, simply sitting down in an empty seat nearby and quietly looking out the window.

The driver’s nickname was Bage⁹, because he was exceptionally talkative. He was the one who had called her last night to introduce the job.

Besides being talkative, his network of information was also very extensive, as if he had evolved a talent for it. The two of them had collaborated many times and trusted each other.

Fortunately, their destination wasn’t far. The bus traveled for a little more than one stop before arriving.

He parked the bus on the side of the road and walked with Ren Yue into a sparsely populated evolver’s tavern.

Inside the tavern were a few drunks who weren’t afraid of dying. Besides them, there was one table of guests whose style was completely out of place with the surroundings, sitting right at their appointed spot.

There were four people opposite them: three adults and one child.

A man holding a little boy sat in the center, flanked by a burly man and a particularly beautiful woman.

Ren Yue’s gaze fixed on the woman.

Her own face was very beautiful, but this woman was even more beautiful than she was.

She had dyed her long hair a beautiful shade of pink, which was now tied up high on the back of her head. The ends were styled in a few sexy curls, giving her a somewhat playful look.

But she was very cool, with no superfluous expressions on her face. Her delicate features were as icy as the heavy snow outside, and her entire being radiated a “strangers, do not approach”¹⁰ aura.

Ren Yue watched as she sat down opposite the man and asked, “Is it you who wants to go through the maze?”

The man opposite her gave an awkward cough. “Um…… it’s me. I’m the one who wants to go through the maze.”

Ren Yue shifted her gaze back to him. “Did you bring all the money and supplies?”

The man said, “We left in a hurry and only brought money…… Since Bage recommended you, that means you’re trustworthy and capable. So I’ll give you all the money, and you can be responsible for purchasing the necessary supplies. What do you think?”

Ren Yue continued to look at the woman. “Fine. I have a question.”

The man said, “Go ahead.”

Ren Yue asked, “Who is she? Your child’s mother?”

The woman glanced at her and spoke coldly, “I am the bodyguard hired by Mr. Huo.”

Ah…… her voice is also very nice to listen to.

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