The Hand of Confession – Chapter 336

Volume 10: Days of Cultivating in the Republic of China

Piranhas

Terror on the Bridge

Shen Maomao didn’t know how to explain it either, because she was just a soft, weak little kitty.

She was silent for two seconds, then tried to salvage the situation. “Maybe he just woke up earlier.”

Damn it, it’s not like they have any kind of relationship, so why do I still feel like I just got caught doing something bad??!

Sisi is definitely the problem here.

Sisi glanced at her, looking thoughtful. “You two weren’t secretly discussing the plot behind my back, were you?”

Shen Maomao: “…” Just how sharp is this person?

Sisi had already found her answer in Shen Maomao’s expression. She asked, confused, “What could you two possibly have to talk about? Why didn’t you include me?? I could at least give you a response… or can you do sign language too?”

Shen Maomao swallowed hard. “It’s a long story. Let’s head back first, they must be getting anxious…”

Sisi didn’t press the point. The two of them returned to the dining hall together. Just as they entered, Kang Yuanhuai walked up to them and asked, “Have you seen Student An Jing?”

They both shook their heads, their gazes passing over Kang Yuanhuai to look behind him.

There were four people behind him—three neatly dressed men, with Golden Retriever sitting timidly off to the side. Indeed, there was no sign of An Jing.

“Sigh, where could she have gone?” Kang Yuanhuai checked his pocket watch, a little anxious. “Look at the time. If we really can’t wait, let’s not. We’ll go eat first and just leave her a note.”

Luckily, he had a fountain pen on him, so he took it out and hastily wrote, “Waited long, but you did not arrive, so we have gone on ahead,” then used a vase to weigh the paper down on the table.

The weather was gloomy, so they naturally needed umbrellas to go out. They were now short three people, and coincidentally, also short three umbrellas. The missing ones were all red—come to think of it, it seemed the missing people had all taken red umbrellas. Kang Yuanhuai was the first to pick a yellow one and head out, leaving the rest for the other five to divide.

Five umbrellas. Two yellow, three red.

Sisi immediately reached for an umbrella, but this time the two men were faster. Dahai, in particular, snatched the yellow umbrella from right under her hand.

Sisi resentfully pulled her hand back and shot them a reproachful look. “You guys are so mean, not even letting a girl have it…”

Dahai gave a simple, honest laugh. “In the face of death, everyone is equal.”

Sisi’s smile vanished. She rolled her eyes at him, then scooped up the three red umbrellas and handed them out to Shen Maomao and the other.

The place they went to eat was the same teahouse as before. At the table, Kang Yuanhuai said, “Since Student An Jing isn’t here, your group is a little too big. Why don’t you send one person over to ours?”

Sisi, still remembering how Dahai had snatched the umbrella from her, immediately said, “Then you can have Student Dahai.”

Hearing this, Dahai glanced at her, his face devoid of expression, looking somewhat profound and unfathomable.

Kang Yuanhuai frowned and was the first to object. “You’re all girls. It’s more convenient to have a strong man with you.”

Sisi picked up a xiaolongbao, dipped the bun into the sauce dish, and then said in a deliberately cute and coquettish tone, “But we three girls want to stick together~. Girls just don’t have anything to talk about with you rough men, you know.”

Shen Maomao got goosebumps from her affected voice, but Kang Yuanhuai seemed to fall for it, nodding in agreement. “Alright, we’ll do as Student Sisi says.”

Sisi lifted her chin and shot Dahai a triumphant look. Dahai’s mouth twitched, his thoughts impossible to guess.

After the meal, the two teams disbanded on the spot.

Sisi, holding her umbrella, grabbed Golden Retriever’s hand and didn’t forget to call for Shen Maomao to keep up. The three of them headed west. After walking for about ten-odd minutes, they came to another river.

“Don’t tell me Huai Town is surrounded by water on all four sides?” Sisi said in disbelief. “What kind of topography is this?”

Shen Maomao didn’t answer, just looked at the river’s surface. “There aren’t many boats in this river. There should be a bridge.”

Sure enough, after they walked along the river for a while, they saw a bamboo-plank suspension bridge in the distance.

The suspension bridge spanned the river, connecting the two banks. Pedestrians were crossing back and forth on it. The ropes swayed precariously, yet the walkers moved as if walking on flat ground¹, their steps swift, as if they had no fear of falling.

Seeing this, Sisi’s legs went weak, and she nearly dropped to her knees right then and there.

Shen Maomao said helplessly, “The bridge is practically touching the water. It’s only about half a mi² high. What’s there to be afraid of?”

Sisi: “I’m scared I’ll fall in!!”

Shen Maomao gestured toward the bridge with her chin. “Just copy them. Walk a little faster, and you’ll definitely be fine.”

Sisi: “…I’ll try my best.”

As they spoke, the three of them reached the head of the bridge. It wasn’t wide, allowing only one person to cross at a time. Shen Maomao took the lead, her steps as nimble as flight. With a few whooshes, she ran from one side of the bridge to the other. Sisi had intended to follow right behind her, but one look at how violently the bridge was swaying, and she instantly lost her nerve.

Fortunately, there weren’t many people crossing now, so she could dawdle a bit longer.

Shen Maomao reached the other side and waved from afar, yelling, “Hurry up and get over here!”

Sisi gritted her teeth and shakily put one foot forward onto the bridge.

Golden Retriever tried to go with her. The moment he set foot on it, Sisi cried out, “Wait! Please let me go by myself!”

So the two of them waited, one at the head of the bridge and one at the end, watching her grip the ropes tightly, her arms spread wide, moving across the bamboo planks like a snail.

An unknown amount of time passed. Just as she was about to reach the end, Shen Maomao stretched out an arm to grab her. Sisi cautiously extended a hand in return, then lifted her foot to step onto the last bamboo plank.

Just as their hands were about to meet, there was a loud crack. The bamboo plank had split in two. With her center of gravity shifted forward, Sisi instantly fell through the gap, letting out a long scream.

Shen Maomao jumped in fright. She threw her umbrella onto the bank and lunged forward to grab her, but it was already too late…

At that moment of a thousand jun hanging by a single hair³, Sisi’s fall suddenly halted. She just stopped. Shen Maomao froze, then couldn’t help but let out a pfft of laughter—her chest was stuck between the two planks.

Sisi was also stunned for a second, then immediately spread her arms out across the bridge and rolled her eyes at Shen Maomao in exasperation. “What’s so funny! If it were you, you would’ve fallen straight through!”

Shen Maomao laughed so hard she started to cry. “What is wrong with you? Why the personal attack?”

Sisi’s knees were completely submerged. Hearing that, she kicked the water a couple of times and snapped, “Just hurry up and pull me out!”

Shen Maomao took her umbrella first, then grabbed her arm and started pulling her toward the bank. She had just managed to drag Sisi’s knees out of the water when she suddenly heard Golden Retriever roar from the opposite side, “Look out——!! There’s something in the water!!”

The two immediately looked down. In the clear river water, something pitch-black was circling Sisi’s legs, as if picking out a good piece of meat to bite into.

Sisi quickly lifted her legs, and Shen Maomao yanked her back with all her might. The instant she left the water, the thing in the river could no longer hold back. It burst from the surface, its sharp teeth bared as it lunged for her foot.

“Ahhh—!” Sisi screamed again, clutching Shen Maomao’s hand and pulling herself up with all her strength. Golden Retriever was running over from the other side of the riverbank, but he was still some distance away.

The creature was pitch-black all over. At first glance, it looked like a fish, but it had a huge mouth filled with densely packed, sharp teeth, a sight that made one’s scalp tingle.

“Kick them with the soles of your shoes!” Shen Maomao shouted as she pulled.

Sisi did as she was told, but she couldn’t stop the fish from tearing two chunks of flesh from her legs. Fresh blood dripped into the river, staining a small area red. Beneath the bloody water, more and more of the strange fish could be seen circling and gathering, leaping from the water one after another.

Golden Retriever finally arrived. Together, they dragged Sisi onto the bank. The fish in the river gave chase reluctantly, swimming through the bloody patch. In just a short while, the water there became as clear as before, with no trace that blood had ever been present.

Sisi lay on the ground, panting as if from exhaustion. She rested for a moment before climbing up, her gaze passing over Golden Retriever to the space behind him. “Where’s the person who warned us just now?”

Golden Retriever: “…”

Golden Retriever had shouted from the other side. Sisi’s back had been to him, so she couldn’t see who was speaking, and since she’d never heard his voice before, it was only natural for her to suspect it was someone else.

Shen Maomao tried to bluff her way through. “I don’t know. I was so focused on saving you, I didn’t notice who was talking…”

The mute Golden Retriever nodded frantically in agreement.

Sisi frowned and looked around, confirming that there were only the three of them by the river. Then her gaze fell upon Golden Retriever.

Golden Retriever felt as if he were sitting on a carpet of needles⁴, and a cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

Sisi withdrew her gaze and changed the subject. “Forget it… Never mind that for now. What on earth were those fish in the river? Piranhas?”

She lifted the hem of her skirt to look at her calves. Several pieces of flesh had been torn away, and blood was pooling in her shoes.

Shen Maomao: “Could be. Can you still walk?”

Sisi gritted her teeth and got up. “Barely. But I’ll need one of you to help me up, let me lean on you.”

“I’ll do it.” Shen Maomao put Sisi’s arm over her own shoulders. “Shishi… meimei, you can take both our umbrellas and lead the way.”

From behind Sisi’s back, Golden Retriever shot her a glare, then picked up the two umbrellas from the ground and walked on ahead.

Shen Maomao couldn’t help but smile, following along behind him.

To accommodate Sisi’s leg injury, the group walked very slowly. It took them over an hour to reach the entrance of the West Hebo Temple.

This Hebo Temple was very different from the last one they had visited. The most obvious difference was that this temple was crowded with people, and its scale was incomparably larger.

The temple stood on the riverbank, with a long wall running alongside the water. Lush green trees poked their heads out from within the walls. The temple’s glazed tiles⁵ rose above the wall, and bells on its four corners swayed in the wind, yet the white incense smoke rose straight up, piercing the clouds.

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