The Hand of Confession – Chapter 305

Volume 9: The Days Can’t Be Lived Anymore

Eat Ghost

I beg you all, do not hurt Dongdong

Under the illumination of the Red Moon, everything seemed to have changed its appearance.

From all around came waves of rapid and blurry whispers, so fast that you could only make out a few vague syllables, like a crowd of people endlessly muttering fragmented thoughts in your ear, so noisy it was headache-inducing. The surrounding walls were already orange-red, and under the illumination of the red moonlight, they were even more red, as if they were dripping blood; on top of the walls, some black birds were densely perched, their glowing green eyes faintly following their running figures.

It was truly too dark at the time; aside from Boss Huo, it is estimated that no one was clear on what had happened, but now was clearly not the time for explanations.

Huo Dongdong’s voice had only appeared for an instant, and after that, it never appeared again.

Boss Huo could only rely on his feelings to run forward. Running and running, he was suddenly tripped by a rock in the snow, and his entire person fell into a snowdrift, unable to climb out for a good while.

Lou Jingmo, who was closely chasing behind him, hauled him out and asked: “What exactly is abnormal about Huo Dongdong’s body?”

Boss Huo’s entire person was dazed. Hearing this, he was stunned for a few seconds, only to then give an irrelevant answer, saying: “Dongdong must be angry at me… It’s all my fault…”

Shen Maomao rushed over, panting for breath: “What on earth is going on? Why did the moon suddenly turn red?”

“Wuu—”

From not far away came a long and drawn-out wolf’s howl; listening closely, it was much deeper than a wolf’s sound.

She looked at the time, somewhat anxious.

It was now 8:07 in the evening, their time was already running out, but if she were to leave Boss Huo behind and depart by herself, she felt it would be somewhat unconscionable¹.

Lou Jingmo said: “Huo Dongdong ran down on his own.”

Shen Maomao was first stunned, and then immediately had a feeling of “as expected.”

Her guess was not wrong; Huo Dongdong was indeed not normal.

Over there, Shang Zhou also ran over and asked: “Where is Heng Chuan? Did he not follow?”

Shen Maomao: “He probably ran. The exit is right before our eyes, why didn’t you run with him?”

Shang Zhou was stunned: “I forgot.”

Shen Maomao did not believe his nonsense one bit. For a calculation-type big shot like Shang Zhou, it was feared that every action and decision was made after meticulous calculation: “In any case, since we’ve all stayed behind, let’s not worry about this for now. Boss Huo, what exactly is the situation with your son? For you to be like this is really too unconscionable. We were about to complete the mission, yet he pulls a stunt like this…”

The melted snow on Boss Huo’s face was melted by his body temperature, dripping drop by drop onto his overcoat. He clenched his fists, was silent for a few seconds, and finally, he still spoke up: “Dongdong he… is not quite the same as a normal human.”

Shang Zhou said: “Aside from his eyes, does he have any other special characteristics? You had best speak a bit more comprehensively, this way it will also be convenient for us to determine where we can find him.”

Boss Huo said: “His staple food… is ghosts.”

Shen Maomao had a shocked expression on her face. She had only guessed that Dongdong possessed some ability that made ghosts fearful, and that he himself was a bear child² who relied on his ability to bully ghosts for fun, not expecting that he had stood at the very top of the food chain from the very beginning.

Lou Jingmo, on the other hand, was not very surprised, and even helped Boss Huo supplement the words he had not finished saying: “After eating ghosts, he himself will also become like a ghost, right?”

Boss Huo was on the verge of breaking down: “I have already tried my best to restrain him… but he always goes behind my back to secretly run out and eat… That day he came home with a mouth full of blood, I personally saw several flesh flowers bloom on his body, and inside the pistils were several different faces…”

He was not an evolver, nor was his courage considered great; he was almost scared to the point that his soul flew and his spirit scattered by that scene.

Before, he had discovered that Huo Dongdong liked to chew on things in the corners of the house. Some ghosts, after being eaten, left no visible trace, but other ghosts would leave behind a room full of blood and stains. In the past, Huo Dongdong never lied to him, so as soon as he asked, Huo Dongdong told him everything.

He said those things were very tasty, and even held up his blood-covered hands to let his daddy also have a taste.

Later, he strictly forbade Huo Dongdong from eating ghosts, and also forbade him from mentioning this matter to others, fearing that the official people would take his child away for research.

But eating ghosts is like taking drugs; once there is a first time, there will be a second, and a third. If his daddy did not agree, he would secretly run out to eat by himself. It was not possible for Boss Huo to watch him at all times.

That day, Huo Dongdong did not attack him, but instead called out ‘Daddy’ and threw himself into his embrace.

Actually, for a moment, he wanted to throw the child out, but he had been both a father and a mother, raising him from a small baby to this big in this post-apocalyptic world. The feelings he had poured into him were already more than just simple kinship and love, so in the end, he still tremblingly hugged Huo Dongdong’s small body and began to have the thought of leaving Paradise Lost.

As long as he went a long time without eating ghosts, Huo Dongdong would return to the appearance of a normal child, but his self-control was too poor, so he was constantly wavering between changing and getting better. In the end, Boss Huo finally made up his mind, packed his things, and set off with his child.

He had originally planned to hire a guide and a few helpers in the maze town to the south, but as a result, he discovered that the small town had become a completely empty city. He could only take his child and turn north instead, and then on the road, he successively hired Da xiongdi, Xiao Lou, and Shen Maomao, heading north all the way.

What came after that is the story they all know.

…

The story was not long; it was told by him in a few words.

After finishing speaking, it was as if Boss Huo had unburdened himself of a heavy load, and his whole person became listless.

Shen Maomao said: “Does this mean he won’t be in danger? Right now, we should be more worried about our own safety, right?”

Shang Zhou thought for a moment, then asked: “Is any ghost a freebie in front of Huo Dongdong?”

Boss Huo shook his head: “I don’t know… There are so many powerful ghosts in the maze, and Dongdong is so small…”

Shen Maomao felt that he probably had some misunderstanding about Huo Dongdong.

Lou Jingmo said: “Let’s search a bit further ahead, he probably didn’t go too far. Starting from now, we search until ten o’clock. If we still haven’t found him after ten o’clock, then we must leave.”

Although Boss Huo was unwilling, he had no other choice but to nod and agree.

He staggered forward, calling out Huo Dongdong’s name as he walked, startling a flock of black birds on the wall along the way.

“Caw—! Caw—!”

The black birds let out hoarse cries. Judging from the sound, they seemed to be a type of bird similar to a crow.

The blood moon indiscriminately sprinkled its red light onto every corner of the great earth. Looking at such a red light for a long time made Shen Maomao feel as if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

She looked towards Lou Jingmo, unable to even be certain whether it was the moonlight that had reddened her, or if her own eyes had also turned red.

Something under the snow was stirring restlessly, and along with it, the ground and the surrounding walls were also shaking slightly, as if a small-scale earthquake was occurring.

“There’s a big fellow down below,” Lou Jingmo said thusly.

The moment her voice fell, the vibrations suddenly intensified. The snowy ground beneath their feet bulged up into a large mound, bringing them up along with it.

Shen Maomao quickly jumped away from her original position, landing in the untrodden snow to the side.

Among the four of them, Boss Huo was the slowest to dodge and was shakily thrown to land beside Shang Zhou.

A monster with a gigantic body drilled out from the ground, carrying a thick layer of snow. Its body had a thick layer of armor, and on the armor bloomed cluster after cluster of fleshy, meat-colored, round-leafed flowers. In the middle of the flower discs grew all sorts of strange faces, each one moving vividly, muttering something, looking extremely similar to that monster they had once encountered in the first instance, but it was even more disgusting than she was.

Contrary to its enormous body, its real head was very small, and its mouth was kachi kachi chewing on a pitch-black bird, with half of a yellow bird leg still exposed beneath its lips.

Under the red light, Shen Maomao could vaguely make out the shadow of Huo Dongdong in this face.

If she could see it, Boss Huo could naturally see it even more clearly.

He let out a mournful cry of Huo Dongdong’s name, trembling like he was sifting chaff³, seemingly not daring to believe that his own son had actually turned into this ghostly appearance.

Huo Dongdong’s action of chewing the crow paused for a moment. He turned his head to look at Boss Huo, kacha kacha completely swallowing the bird in his mouth, and then opened his blood-filled mouth and said: “Daddy…”

His voice had changed from the original milky and tender child’s voice to become extremely coarse, like an old man who was approaching the wood⁴, without a trace of vitality.

The moment Boss Huo heard it, his tears came down, so sad that he could not even speak.

A large lump bulged up on Huo Dongdong’s body. The lump grew bigger and bigger, until it was about the same size as the other flower discs, and then with a pu sound, it burst open, revealing a meat-colored round flower. In the pistil, a crow’s head was cawing noisily.

It extended its long claw towards Boss Huo. Shang Zhou quickly reached out, wanting to pull Boss Huo back, but he himself took a step forward, actively meeting it: “Dongdong…”

Shang Zhou’s eyes widened: “Don’t go!”

Huo Dongdong grabbed his own father, bringing him before itself.

Compared to its body, its head was very small, but compared to Boss Huo’s body, its head was very large; it could probably swallow him whole in about three bites.

Boss Huo, with tears streaming down, looked at Huo Dongdong’s face and said: “Why won’t you be obedient?! Didn’t Daddy tell you not to continue eating these things? Why won’t you listen to Daddy’s words!”

Huo Dongdong said intermittently: “Hungry… hungry… I’m so hungry…”

Boss Huo opened his arms, hugged his son’s head, and pressing against his forehead, he broke down crying uncontrollably: “We were clearly about to get out… We clearly made it here… Why did it become like this… Why did it become like this, ah…”

Shen Maomao’s eye sockets also became wet. She moved to Lou Jingmo’s side and asked her with red eyes: “Do you think Huo Dongdong can still change back?”

Lou Jingmo glanced at her, seemingly unable to understand what there was to cry about, and answered indifferently: “The possibility is very small. The consciousness belonging to Huo Dongdong seems to be disappearing.”

She took out a dagger, and generously gave one each to her and Shang Zhou: “Prepare to save the person.”

Shang Zhou fumbled to catch the dagger: “This… how do we snatch him…”

Lou Jingmo: “Simple, just chop off its hand.” Her tone was as relaxed as if she were going to chop a Chinese cabbage⁵.

Shang Zhou: “This…”

Before he could finish speaking, over there Boss Huo suddenly shouted loudly: “Don’t! I beg you all, do not hurt Dongdong!”

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