The Hand of Confession – Chapter 290

Volume 9: The Days Can’t Be Lived Anymore

Lou-jie

Jiejie, where did you find a little brother from?

When she was woken up again, Ren Yue smelled the scent of blood in the air.

The person who woke her was Shang Zhou. Xiao Lou was sitting to one side, holding a piece of paper and wiping her dagger.

Not far in front of her, there was something lying on the ground in a twisted posture. Blood was flowing from its body.

Shang Zhou said softly: “Time to switch shifts.”

Ren Yue climbed up. She first pinched herself to confirm she was not dreaming, then moved a few steps to Xiao Lou’s side: “This is…”

Only when she got closer did she see that the lump on the ground was not in a twisted posture by choice, but rather its four limbs and neck had been pierced by daggers and fiercely nailed into the ground.

At this moment, it was baring its teeth, silently making a roaring motion. Its body twisted and turned on the floor, trying to struggle free, but it failed without any surprise.

Ren Yue: “……” She had already guessed whose masterpiece this was.

A ghost with so little paimian¹.

The main thing was, why hadn’t she heard a single sound??

Xiao Lou rubbed her eyes, left her spot and shifted to the side, then raised her hand and threw a dagger over.

Scared, Ren Yue quickly moved aside, dodging the sudden knife.

The dagger flew past her head, shaving off a few strands of hair, then with a muffled “puchi” sound, it plunged directly into the wall.

Ren Yue turned her head to look. Only the very tip of the dagger was left outside. She walked over and tried to pull it out, but just as she expected, she could not move it.

This time, she knew why there had been no sound.

Where on earth did Xiao Lou hide such a sharp object?!

Her legs felt a little weak. If she hadn’t dodged quickly, she probably would have been disfigured just now: “Lou-jie, could you please take care of the old, weak, sick, and disabled? Or do you hate me so much you want to hack me to death ah…”

Xiao Lou’s hand, which was wiping the dagger, paused. She suddenly turned her head in Ren Yue’s direction, her expression obscure and unclear in the firelight: “What did you call me?”

Ren Yue immediately admitted defeat: “Sorry, it’s all my fault. I should have called you Xiao Lou-meimei.”

Xiao Lou: “……”

She raised a hand to rub her own temple. She seemed to have a bit of a headache; that flash of inspiration from a moment ago was fleeting, so fast that she couldn’t even grab its tail.

This situation had actually occurred once before. That time it was because that idiot was singing; this time it was because she had called her “Lou-jie”…

In her limited memory, she had never seen this idiot, but this idiot could always give her a sense of familiarity—and that annoying face of hers.

Ren Yue did not know what Xiao Lou was thinking. She only thought that Xiao Lou found her annoying, so she obediently sat down next to the brazier, dutifully opened her phone, and prepared to keep watch for the night.

Xiao Lou lay down in her sleeping bag. Before closing her eyes, she reminded her: “The dagger has a special effect. Remember to hold it properly.”

Ren Yue’s eyes lit up: “You’re giving it to me?!”

Xiao Lou: “Still not awake?”

Ren Yue: “……”

She ran over to the dagger that was three fen² deep in the wall again. This time, she used all her suckling strength³ and finally pulled it out. She held the hilt and tested the feel—it was indeed much better for stabbing than her small knife, and its price was probably exceptionally beautiful as well.

Perhaps because of the deterrence from Shang Zhou and Xiao Lou in the first half of the night, nothing else happened in the second half of the night except for some strange and bizarre sounds.

Ren Yue would open the window for a while from time to time to let in some fresh air, while also keeping an eye on the thing Xiao Lou had nailed to the floor. Time passed in a daze.

Sometime after five o’clock, a sliver of light appeared in the sky outside the window. The thing on the floor grunted twice, then transformed into a ball of black mist and disappeared into the air.

The daggers that had originally been nailing its four limbs and neck fell, hitting the ground with a crisp sound.

Ren Yue picked them up and patiently wiped the stains off them.

After six o’clock, the alarm she had set in advance began to vibrate.

Everyone except for Boss Huo had woken up. Little friend Huo Dongdong was lying prone in his sleeping bag looking at her, and said in a small voice: “Jiejie, where did you find a little brother from?”

Ren Yue was startled: “What little brother?”

Huo Dongdong extended a finger and pointed at her neck: “It’s lying right on your shoulder.”

Ren Yue: “!!!”

Her scalp instantly went numb. She reflexively touched the right shoulder he was pointing at, but as expected, she could not feel anything at all.

Boss Huo lightly patted Huo Dongdong’s bottom: “Are you trying to scare Jiejie?”

Huo Dongdong stuck out his tongue, his appearance still as cute as ever: “I want to play with Jiejie~”

Boss Huo got up. While wrapping a jacket around the child, he said: “Dongdong is often bullied by the nearby children because of his evolutionary ability, so he always says things like this to scare people. Don’t be afraid, I’ve been scared by him too. Where would yaomo guiguai⁴ come from in broad daylight?”

Dongdong did not speak, just lay on Boss Huo’s shoulder and smiled, smiling so wide that his two little canine teeth showed. He looked quite a bit more lively than before.

Ren Yue forced a smile, feeling uncomfortable all over. Her eyes kept uncontrollably glancing at her shoulder.

Unfortunately, she still could not see anything.

But not being able to see it did not mean it was not there.

Xiao Lou finished packing her things, stood up and stretched her body a few times, then walked to Ren Yue’s side and lightly patted her on the right shoulder.

Ren Yue’s eyes widened, and she looked at her with a completely dumbfounded⁵ expression.

Perhaps it was a psychological effect. It was clearly just a light pat, yet she felt the heavy sensation from before disappear immediately.

Xiao Lou: “What are you looking at? Didn’t I just accidentally bump into you?”

“Ah? Oh, oh…” Ren Yue responded dazedly, mechanically packing her things, but her heart was so sweet that it was bubbling over.

Aojiao⁶ Xiao Lou is so cute too! She’s too ke ⁷!!

…

After making do with a quick breakfast, the sky had brightened. The da xiongdi stamped out the remaining sparks in the brazier, Boss Huo unwillingly shouldered his backpack, and the group left the building, beginning their exploration of the maze in the truest sense.

Before they had walked far, Ren Yue turned her head and glanced at the building’s unit door.

Three pitch-black, blurry shadows were standing at the entrance, quietly gazing at their departing figures.

She retracted her gaze and asked, “What did you guys do to them?” Making it so that they didn’t even dare to chase, and could only watch from behind in that yazi⁸.

The da xiongdi said: “When I was on watch, nothing happened except for you suddenly flying into a rage and hurting someone…”

At that, the group collectively looked towards Xiao Lou and Shang Zhou.

Xiao Lou tilted her head and said nothing, looking cool to a max⁹.

Shang Zhou said: “Those few at the door are ghosts from next door. They snuck in in the middle of the night trying to stir up trouble and were defeated by me and Xiao Lou working together.”

Ren Yue pouted.

Why call her so intimately? Just because you fought a monster together once, you can call her so intimately? She and Xiao Lou have the camaraderie of having killed people together! Did she show off?!

…

Their current primary task was to circle around to the entrance of the maze town—because Ren Yue often walked that way, she was more familiar with it, and it was relatively safer than other places.

Today was a bright, sunny day. The sun hung high above their heads. Perhaps because of the high walls, it was not very cold inside, but the accumulated snow was still very thick, making walking rather tiring. Boss Huo still handed his luggage to the da xiongdi, carrying his son himself.

“Why don’t you tell us about the things we need to pay attention to while walking through the maze?” he said.

Ren Yue thought for a moment: “There’s nothing special to pay attention to. During the day, the main danger in the maze is “ghost hits walls”, but with me here, that doesn’t count as a danger.”

Xiao Lou raised her eyebrows and glanced back at her.

Ren Yue’s tail lifted up¹⁰: “Ghosts and monsters also have their own territories. During the day, the ghosts and monsters hide in their respective territories. The purpose of a “ghost hits walls” is to send challengers one by one into the monsters’ mouths. At night, the ghosts and monsters will come out to patrol, so we need to find a place to hide and avoid their sharp edge.”

As for the yaomo guiguai encountered after hiding… they were completely not worth mentioning.

“The ghosts and monsters on the maze’s periphery don’t have very strong abilities, but encountering them will waste a lot of time. The further in you go, the more formidable the ghosts and monsters become. If we are unfortunate enough to encounter that kind of ghost or monster… everyone should just flee for your own lives.”

Boss Huo said in surprise: “That terrifying? Then have you never encountered one before?”

Ren Yue was silent for a second, then said: “I think… I haven’t, right?”

“You think?”

“Because…” Ren Yue shook her head, “because they’re relatively lazy… I think…”

Boss Huo said gloomily: “‘I think’… what does that mean? Are you really a professional?”

Ren Yue raised a hand to knock on her own skull, and said strangely: “I don’t know what’s been going on recently, I always feel like my memory isn’t very sharp… but it probably won’t affect our journey through the maze. Mr. Huo, please rest assured.”

Xiao Lou and Shang Zhou exchanged a look, both extracting the information they wanted from the other’s eyes, before silently looking away again.

Boss Huo sighed: “We’ve already come in, so it’s impossible to switch people now. You’d better be careful. Don’t you dare lead us into a ditch, or I won’t let you go even if I become a ghost.”

Ren Yue smiled: “Do you think becoming a ghost is that easy?”

Boss Huo: “……”

Sometimes, this dead rabbit and that ice-block-faced Xiao Lou were really alike. Both were the type to not rest until their words were shocking¹¹, always speaking to others with the goal of angering them to death.

After walking and stopping for over an hour, the group finally set foot on the path Ren Yue was more familiar with, which was the maze entrance where the maze town was located.

Only after arriving did she discover that this entrance seemed to have been locked by someone from the inside.

The da xiongdi said: “Luckily we didn’t take this door…”

Otherwise, not only would they have made a trip in vain, they would also have had to struggle with the yaomo guiguai in the town.

Besides a large lock engraved with runes, there were also a few faint footprints on the ground, covered by a thin layer of new snow. The footprints followed the exact path they were going to take.

Xiao Lou kicked at the ground with the tip of her shoe, kicking up a patch of a red ice-and-snow mixture that, from a distance, looked very much like frozen blood.

Shang Zhou said: “It seems someone else entered the maze before us—as far as I know, the group of people interested in the maze went in long ago. People who aren’t interested in the maze are content with their current lives and would be even less likely to challenge it. So why have the traces of human activity in the maze suddenly become so frequent?”

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