The Hand of Confession – Chapter 291

Volume 9: The Days Can’t Be Lived Anymore

Lead the Disaster Water East¹

Other Challengers

Ren Yue said, “Indeed, in the past, it was very rare to see the figures of humans in the maze.”

Moreover, according to her memory—it had been a very long time since anyone had come looking for her to enter the maze.

Of course, it was also possible that there were other people who possessed the same ability, but she could guarantee that in their residential complex, she was definitely the most formidable.

People had already grown accustomed to a life ruled by ghosts and monsters, accustomed to days with human presence, with electricity, water, and internet, so naturally, they were unwilling to go survive in the wilderness.

If it weren’t for the constant emptiness in her heart, she probably would have long since left Lost Paradise to become a savage in the outside world.

Thinking of this, she glanced at Xiao Lou.

Now that the person she wanted to find had been found, whether to stay or go next would depend on Xiao Lou’s decision. What she needed to do was to shamelessly pester her and strive to win her over.

The moment she thought of this, she immediately felt full of drive.

Shang Zhou asked with a smile, “So why did you all come to challenge the maze in such cold weather?”

Xiao Lou shrugged her shoulders. “You’ll have to ask Boss Huo himself.”

The two people in front turned their heads over curiously together. Adding Ren Yue behind them, three pairs of sparkling eyes looked toward Boss Huo. Only Da xiongdi was still walking forward. He walked two steps before realizing something interesting seemed to be happening behind him, and he quickly turned around as well.

Boss Huo retreated half a step, seemingly frightened by their three-way interrogation posture, and said haltingly, “Well… I discovered that the ghosts and monsters are now coming out earlier and earlier, and the time they disappear during the day is getting later and later. I’m worried that one day, the ghosts and monsters will appear even during the daytime…”

He bounced Huo Dongdong up a bit. “Besides, Dongdong is still so young, and he has awakened such an ability. I want him to be able to have a normal childhood.”

There was nothing wrong with this explanation, but Ren Yue kept recalling Huo Dongdong’s abrupt words before they left, and inexplicably felt that things were not as simple as he said.

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The daytime maze was solemn and quiet.

Or rather, after the disaster, the world outside of Lost Paradise was solemn and quiet.

The roads extended in all directions, leading to different places. On both sides of the roads were rows upon rows of buildings. Behind the buildings was an abrupt high wall. The wall was not as high as the buildings, but it was definitely at a height that was impossible to climb over with bare hands, fundamentally eliminating any attempts to exploit loopholes.

They trod in the shadows of the tall buildings and the surrounding wall, slowly advancing along a route familiar to Ren Yue.

The sun rose higher and higher, hanging distantly in the sky. The surface of the snow reflected the sunlight, sparkling so brightly that it made it hard for people to open their eyes.

On the way, they did not meet any other challengers, and of course, they did not encounter any ghosts either.

At noon, the group found an abandoned building and hastily made do with a couple of bites, then continued to advance.

By two or three in the afternoon, they had arrived at the first fork in the maze.

In front of them were three paths: forward, left, and right. The path forward was the same as the one they had come from, a straight road that seemed to stretch to the horizon at a glance. On the left path, the buildings were clearly fewer, replaced by more bizarrely shaped withered trees. To the right were densely packed tall buildings, one connected to the next, looking like the center of some city.

Da xiongdi, who was clearing the path at the very front, stopped and turned his head to ask, “Which way do we go?”

Ren Yue: “We usually take the middle path.”

Boss Huo said, “The middle one then. We’ll do as you say.”

“Then let’s keep going straight. We should be able to reach the next choice point before dark.” The team continued to advance. As she walked, she said, “The boss of this area died by dismemberment. Its four limbs, torso, and head are slumbering in different places, though I’m not sure of their exact locations. What’s fortunate is that it’s a lazy ghost. It usually doesn’t come out to wander during the day, and whether it comes out at night depends on its mood.”

As she spoke, she laughed a little to herself. “Why is this so much like a strategy briefing before running a instance…”

Hearing this, Xiao Lou and Shang Zhou’s footsteps paused at the same time. Xiao Lou turned her head to look at her, her brow tightly furrowed as if she had made a connection to something. “What did you just say?”

Ren Yue repeated in a daze, “A strategy briefing before running a instance…”

Shang Zhou said thoughtfully, “Instance… that sounds like a very familiar term. We are now about to enter a instance, but where were we before entering? Could it also be a instance? And there are other instances inside this instance… one link interlocking with another, one set after another…”

Ren Yue: “…” Here we go again, here we go again. The philosophy moment where she can’t get a word in at all has come again.

Boss Huo was even more at a loss for words. “…You can’t even eat your meals in peace, and you still have the mood to explore the essence of the world?”

Shang Zhou wasn’t annoyed either. The eyes showing above his scarf curved up as he said with a smile, “Sorry, I studied philosophy before the apocalypse, so it’s a bit of an occupational hazard.”

“Although I don’t really want to interrupt you all…” Da xiongdi at the very front suddenly said, “but do you want to see what that is up ahead?”

Ren Yue, at the back of the team, craned her head for a look and immediately let out a “Wocao!”

In the distance, two people were seen running with flying feet in their direction, and behind those two, a head was rolling over and over, dragging a bright red trail across the white snow.

Shang Zhou: “I think it would be better for us to run.”

Ren Yue grabbed Xiao Lou’s hand and pulled her as she turned and ran.

Xiao Lou struggled a bit, and she immediately said, “Don’t throw a little tantrum! Run!”

Xiao Lou: “???”

Boss Huo also reacted, quickly telling Dongdong to wrap his arms around his neck, and lifted his legs to follow the pace of the two women in front.

Shang Zhou and Da xiongdi followed close behind. The group of people speedily returned the way they came, sprinting back to the fork in the road.

Boss Huo panted as he ran, so tired that his arms could barely hold Dongdong.

Da xiongdi passed by his side, lifted Dongdong off his back, and ran with him tucked under one arm. Even like this, he looked much more relaxed than Boss Huo.

A miserable scream came from behind. Boss Huo turned his head to look—one of the two people had been caught. The person who was caught fell into the snow, and the rolling head attached itself to his face, twitching nonstop, seemingly gnawing on something, causing him so much pain that he wailed and struggled desperately.

And the other person abandoned his teammate and ran straight in their direction, clearly wanting to lead the disaster water east.

Boss Huo said urgently, “Which way do we run?!”

Ren Yue’s expression was grave. She glanced left and right, and said with heavy breaths, “The right! Get into a building and hide!”

The five of them turned right together. Taking advantage of the fact that the person couldn’t see them after the turn, they picked a nearby building and rushed inside. Then they immediately climbed up two floors and huddled in the stairwell, panting.

Boss Huo sat down on the steps with a plop, not even daring to pant loudly, for fear of attracting the attention of the thing outside.

Ren Yue placed her luggage on top of her shoes and stood sideways by the stairwell window, staring intently at the street below.

That man quickly appeared at the corner. He was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting them to have vanished so quickly, then he speedily rushed into a building on the opposite side.

Ten seconds later, two heads mixed with snow and blood appeared from the corner and slowly stopped at the intersection.

Ren Yue held her breath and hid back a little, simultaneously placing her index finger vertically in front of her lips, making a “shhh—” gesture to the others.

The two heads rolled a few circles on the spot but still did not set foot on the land of the right fork. They wobbled away.

Ren Yue let out a sigh of relief, turned her head to look at the sorry-looking group, and said, “Is everyone alright?”

Xiao Lou lowered her head with a blank expression, looking at the paw that was tightly gripping her hand, and spoke coldly, “Can you let go of my hand now?”

Ren Yue: “!!”

I was nervous for a moment! I forgot about this matter!

She got to hold Xiao Lou’s hand! Who should they invite to their wedding?

Xiao Lou shook her wrist and mercilessly flung her paw away.

“Huu—” Boss Huo exhaled a breath of turbid air. “Alright, stop flirting. Rabbit, didn’t you say it was very lazy?”

Ren Yue didn’t expect the face-slap to come so quickly. In her memory, the owner of that head was not only a lazy ghost, but also a female ghost whose hair, when rolled up, could circle her face twice, whereas the two below were clearly both male…

“Either those two heads below both belong to challengers, or there’s a problem with my memory,” she said. “That lazy ghost is a female ghost.”

“In that case,” Shang Zhou said, “the middle path now has at least three heads, right?”

Ren Yue nodded.

Boss Huo said, “Isn’t that person also hiding here? Should we find him and ask about the situation?”

Xiao Lou said, “It’s best not to.”

Ren Yue quickly explained for her, lest all the opportunities to show off be snatched away by this xinji boy², Shang Zhou, “That dog man just wants to lure the monster to our side to screw people over. If we look for him, getting false information would be a small matter. Don’t get screwed over to the point that we don’t even know how we died.”

Boss Huo gave up the idea. “Since it’s like this, should we wait for him to leave first before we set off? Should we switch to a different path?”

Ren Yue fell into a dilemma. “To be honest, I haven’t walked the other paths. What might happen is an unknown variable.”

But the path she was familiar with also seemed to have undergone some kind of unknown change, with the danger index increasing exponentially.

In the end, it was Xiao Lou who made the final decision. “Take the middle path.” The fact that it had changed was relative; being slightly familiar was still better than being completely unfamiliar.

Compared to their side’s idea of “come out later to avoid meeting him”, the man’s side was clearly the exact opposite. He probably very much hoped to meet them, and then logically play a dirty trick.

Different thoughts, however, created the same outcome—both sides were waiting for the other to come out first. An entire street, buildings on both sides, the enemy doesn’t move, I don’t move. Everyone was wearing each other down; whichever side could last until the end would win.

Ren Yue checked her watch, her eyes fixed on the street below, her fingers tapping on the windowsill intermittently.

In comparison, their side had five people, while the man’s side only had himself. He should be the more anxious one.

Sure enough, after about five minutes, the man darted out of the building, looked around, and then walked down the right-hand path.

Ren Yue put away her phone and lightly kicked the sole of Boss Huo’s shoe. “Get ready to hit the road, Boss.”

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