The Hand of Confession – Chapter 313

Volume 9: The Days Can’t Be Lived Anymore

The Death of Ren Yue

She only had you as a friend, could I trouble you to come and see her off?

Lou Jingmo flexed her wrists, her tone exceptionally gentle: “Answer it.”

Shen Maomao pursed her lips. “I have a feeling it’s nothing good.”

Lou Jingmo said, “You’ll know once you answer. Let’s see what she wants to say.”

So, Shen Maomao paused the movie, tapped to accept the call, then brought the phone to her ear and opened her mouth with, “You still dare to call me?”

There were a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line.

Shen Maomao: “Are you sick? Calling and not saying anything? You’re pretty unhappy that I’m not dead, aren’t you?”

The person on the other end said, “Is… is this Maomao? I didn’t dial the wrong number, did I?”

Shen Maomao was stunned and sat up straight on the sofa.

She was very familiar with the voice on the phone, but it wasn’t Ren Yue; it was Ren Yue’s mother.

Ren Yue was a Jiangcheng local. During college, Shen Maomao had been invited to her home as a guest and had received Ren Yue’s mother’s warm hospitality. Later, she often appeared in the frame when Ren Yue had video calls with her family, and her mother would always send some snacks and fruits for the two of them to share.

Ren Yue wasn’t a good person, but her mother had never done anything to wrong Shen Maomao; in fact, she had been very kind to her.

Shen Maomao felt a bit unsure of how to face her mother. She gave an awkward cough and asked, “Ah, it’s me. Auntie, what can I do for you?”

Ren Yue’s mother was silent for two seconds, then asked again, “Did you and Ren Yue have a fight?”

Shen Maomao said, “No.”

Before the person on the other end could breathe a sigh of relief, she added, “We’ve completely fallen out.”

Shen Maomao had always been clear about her loves and hates; to love someone is to wish them life, to hate someone is to wish them death¹. The rift between her and Ren Yue was entirely Ren Yue’s fault, so she had no obligation—and disdained—to whitewash peace² in front of Ren Yue’s mother.

Ren Yue’s mother fell silent again for a long time.

Shen Maomao thought she was calling to be Ren Yue’s advocate³, and her tone couldn’t help but become a little heavier. “Auntie, what is it you really want? If you’re here to speak for Ren Yue, then forget it.”

The thought that she was about to be screwed over and killed by Ren Yue, and that Ren Yue still had the nerve to have someone contact her, made it even harder to control the anger in her heart. She continued furiously, “Before you try to persuade me, you’d better find out what your daughter has done. The only reason I haven’t stabbed her to death with a knife is that the law doesn’t quite allow it, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to hop around for so long!”

“She did something to wrong you, and Auntie apologizes to you on her behalf, but…” Ren Yue’s mother’s voice became choked with sobs. “But… she was in a car accident the night before last. Her funeral is tomorrow. You were her only friend in college, could I trouble you to come and see her off?”

A thunderclap from a clear sky.

It struck Shen Maomao completely dumb.

She held the phone, staring blankly at Lou Jingmo in front of her. Through the phone, Ren Yue’s mother cried that Ren Yue had been calling her name before she breathed her last in the hospital, and that she must have regretted what she had done. Therefore, she begged her to come see her daughter off one last time, offering to reimburse her for the travel expenses.

She didn’t really hear any of this. At that moment, she urgently wanted to tell Lou Jingmo about it, so she quickly said into the phone, “I’ll think about it. I’ll give you a reply in a little while.”

After saying that, she didn’t wait for a reply and hastily hung up the phone. She said to Lou Jingmo, “Ren Yue is dead!”

Lou Jingmo’s hand, which had been spinning her phone, paused. She asked, “What happened?”

Shen Maomao spoke rapidly, “It seems she was in a car accident the night before last. Rescue efforts failed, and she died! Her mom just called me, hoping I could attend her funeral.”

Lou Jingmo fell into deep thought. A few seconds later, she asked her, “When exactly?”

Shen Maomao said, “I didn’t ask…”

Although it was perfectly normal for people in the real world to have accidents, the timing—the night before last—was peculiar enough to make them think twice.

Combined with the fact that Shen Maomao was still alive and kicking, she had reason to suspect that this wave of death had landed on Ren Yue’s head.

But why would this happen? If the final result of Shen Maomao replacing Ren Yue in the game was still Ren Yue’s death, then why was she so desperate to kill Shen Maomao in the game?

Of course, the most important point now was to find a way to determine whether Ren Yue died because of the game or an accident, which would give her a standard to judge if Shen Maomao still had to die.

A glimmer of hope ignited in her heart. She acted on the situation and immediately cut⁴, deciding to go with Shen Maomao to Ren Yue’s funeral.

Shen Maomao felt no sadness over Ren Yue’s death, more so confusion and bewilderment, along with two contradictory feelings: that bastard⁵ Ren Yue had finally gone to die, and what a pity she couldn’t get her revenge with her own hands.

She called Ren Yue’s mother back and said she would arrive in Jiangcheng tomorrow, asking her to send the address of the funeral home.

Ren Yue’s mother kept thanking her on the phone. After Shen Maomao offered a couple of perfunctory words of comfort, she hung up.

In that short time, Lou Jingmo had already bought two high-speed rail tickets to Jiangcheng. As soon as she hung up, Lou Jingmo pulled her upstairs to get their documents ready.

Upstairs, as Shen Maomao packed her things, she sorted through the situation from the moment she entered the game.

Ren Yue had used something (most likely the real-world effect of Judas) to trap her in an illusion. First, she scared her, then called her name within the illusion, causing their fates to be swapped. She entered the game with Ren Yue’s face, thus achieving Ren Yue’s goal of escaping the game.

But Shen Maomao, a helpless newcomer, didn’t die in the instance as she had wished. Instead, she successfully cleared it, causing Ren Yue’s plan to fail. So, she pulled Shen Maomao into another instance, but then inexplicably appeared in the instance that belonged to Shen Maomao.

They hadn’t thought about these problems carefully at the time. Thinking about it in detail now, it seemed there were some hidden details they didn’t know.

Ren Yue had a contract with Shen Maomao, so why was she still pulled into the game herself? And her own game had just been completed by Shen Maomao; logically, it should be impossible for a new game to start after such a short interval…

Shen Maomao felt her brain might not be enough for this.

The two of them took their necessary documents, went straight downstairs, hailed a taxi, and went to the train station.

Although it was highly likely that Shen Maomao no longer had to die, Lou Jingmo was still uneasy and held her hand tightly the entire way.

It was already dark when they arrived in Jiangcheng. They didn’t waste any time and went straight to the funeral home where Ren Yue’s mother was, giving her a call at the entrance.

Ren Yue’s mother came out quickly. Her eyes were red as she rushed over to grasp her hands, crying until she couldn’t form a sound as she said, “Good child… thank you for being willing to come… thank you…”

Shen Maomao didn’t want to exchange too many pleasantries with her and said directly, “Auntie, has Ren Yue’s body been cremated? I want to see her.”

Ren Yue’s mother shook her head. “The cremation is tomorrow morning… Follow me…”

Shen Maomao was all too familiar with a place like a funeral home.

She had lived here for several days during the game, and she had stood vigil for several nights when her cousin passed away. Coming in again felt surprisingly familiar.

On the way, Ren Yue’s mother wiped away her tears and said to them, “It’s not good to show two young ladies a corpse this late at night, but Auntie was afraid you wouldn’t get to see her tomorrow morning… Please don’t blame Auntie…”

Shen Maomao offered a few perfunctory words of comfort. “It’s okay, Auntie. I also want to see Ren Yue one last time.” And see what that Judas thing really is, she thought.

Lou Jingmo, who had been silent the whole way, suddenly asked, “How did Ren Yue die?”

Ren Yue’s mother looked at Lou Jingmo and answered, “She died in a car accident. The night before last, in the middle of the night, the police suddenly called me and told me that Ren Yue couldn’t be saved…” At this point, she choked up. “Sob… in the dead of night, what do you think she went out for…”

It seemed Ren Yue’s time of death was indeed after they had left the game.

While they were talking, the three of them had already walked to the innermost part of the funeral home. Ren Yue’s mother used a key to open a locked door and led them inside.

This was a very narrow and crowded room. There was a mortuary slab in the room and a plastic stool on the floor. Besides that, there was hardly any space to stand.

Ren Yue’s body lay on the mortuary slab, with only her mother keeping vigil.

In order not to cause too much trouble, Shen Maomao put on a sad and grieving expression and threw herself onto the glass cover.

Ren Yue’s body must have had makeup applied. With her eyes closed, she looked more like she was sleeping, as if she would open her eyes and sit up from the slab in the next second.

Shen Maomao’s first instinct was to look at her hands, and then she frowned.

There was nothing under her hands.

She stood up straight and turned to ask, “Auntie, has anyone else been here besides me?”

Ren Yue’s mother didn’t understand why she was asking this question, but she answered with a puzzled look, “Quite a few people. Relatives from the family, her dad’s colleagues, and some of Ren Yue’s old friends…”

Shen Maomao asked again, “Was anyone left alone with the body?”

“What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly asking this?”

Shen Maomao said, “I gave Ren Yue a ring. The ring is quite valuable, but now it’s gone.”

Mother Ren said, “Was it lost at the scene of the accident? There was a young lady who spent some time alone with Ren Yue, but she was crying so sadly. She wouldn’t do something like that, would she?”

Shen Maomao quickly pressed, “What did she look like?”

Mother Ren was at a loss, with her hands and feet nowhere to go⁶. “I didn’t pay much attention… She seemed to be very pretty… Why don’t I ask her when she comes to the funeral tomorrow…”

Shen Maomao shook her head. “No need. Maybe she took the ring off herself after we had our fight.”

Mother Ren wanted to speak, but then stopped. After a glance at them, she chose to remain silent.

The two of them stayed at the funeral home and “cried” with her for a while, asking for some details about Ren Yue’s death. Afterward, Lou Jingmo booked a nearby hotel, planning to come back in the morning to check on the situation. Before leaving, she said they would be back tomorrow morning. Ren Yue’s mother saw them out of the funeral home. Before they left, she held Shen Maomao’s hand, refusing to let go, and kept saying thank you. “Auntie can feel it, Ren Yue must have done something unforgivably wrong… Thank you for being willing to give Auntie some face… and still coming to see her off on her final journey…”

Shen Maomao gave a helpless smile. “It’s okay, Auntie. Who made us… fr-iends, after all.”

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