The Hand of Confession – Chapter 342

Volume 10: Days of Cultivating in the Republic of China

Human Wall

Red Umbrella and Yellow Umbrella

“Splash, splash, splash.”

Suddenly, the sound of breaking water came from the river beside them, giving the three of them a small fright. They looked toward the river’s surface. In the darkness, they could vaguely make out something leaping out of the water before falling back in.

Mingyue said uncertainly, “It’s probably because the oxygen content in the water is low on a rainy day, right?”

Shen Maomao was a little uneasy. “In any case, let’s get away from the riverbank first.”

The rain grew heavier, and a faint mist shrouded the world. Although the festival was just one night away, there was still no celebratory atmosphere in the town.

Before setting out, she had specifically reminded the others to bring oil-paper umbrellas, not just because it was raining, but also because she had a feeling the umbrellas would be useful for something. If they didn’t bring them now, she feared they might not get another chance. However, A Nan and Mingyue hadn’t taken her reminder seriously. Only Golden Retriever had obediently taken a small red umbrella.

Shen Maomao had originally taken a red umbrella as well, but just before leaving, she saw the yellow umbrella A Nan had tossed by the door. She swapped the red one for the yellow, which happened to create a nice contrast with Golden Retriever.

She tried opening the yellow umbrella, propping the handle on her left shoulder, and looked ahead—and then she froze.

—Along the riverbank stood a row of expressionless people, a human wall.

There were men and women, old and young. Some wore ancient-style clothing, others wore Western suits and long gowns. Without exception, their faces were ashen, their lips a vivid crimson. They looked like water ghosts¹ that had crawled out of the river to claim the lives of the living, enough to scare a person into fainting in the middle of the night.

“What the fuck.” Shen Maomao couldn’t stop a curse from slipping out.

Mingyue looked at her. “What’s wrong? What happened?” As she spoke, she stepped under the umbrella and followed Shen Maomao’s line of sight. Then, she uttered the same sentiment. “What the fuck…”

Golden Retriever, copying the others, opened his umbrella as well. “What the fuck?! An exit?!”

A Nan whipped his head around to look at him. “What the fuck? Are you a man or a woman?”

Golden Retriever shot him a glare, a hint of grievance in his eyes, and said coyly, “Why care about such a small detail? I saw the light of the exit!”

A layer of chicken skin bumps² rose almost instantly all over A Nan’s body.

Shen Maomao was half-believing and half-doubting. “What exit? Roughly which direction? How come I don’t see it?”

Mingyue then ducked under Golden Retriever’s umbrella, stunned for a second, before saying, “There really is a white light, right in front of us…”

Golden Retriever spoke quickly, “Is there some kind of problem? Do we just need to open an umbrella to find the exit?”

A Nan said, “I’ve opened an umbrella before, and this didn’t happen.”

Golden Retriever: “Does it have to be dark and raining for the umbrella to work?”

“Wait a second,” Mingyue interrupted him. “Let me finish. There’s a problem with this exit.”

“What problem?” Golden Retriever and A Nan both looked at her curiously.

Mingyue said, “Because from the perspective of the yellow umbrella, where the exit is, there’s a human wall.”

It was hard to explain the situation with words alone, so Shen Maomao simply swapped oil-paper umbrellas with Golden Retriever, letting all four of them see the different effects produced by the different colored umbrellas.

After they had all taken a look, A Nan said, “I’d advise you not to act rashly and move recklessly. That human wall looks pretty creepy. It’s best not to get too close.”

Golden Retriever had the same idea. “Shouldn’t we go find Kang Yuanhuai first? At the very least, we need to figure out what’s going on with him before we can determine if this is really the exit.”

The moment he finished speaking, Shen Maomao, holding the yellow umbrella, saw every component of the human wall stiffly raise an arm and point in one direction.

Shen Maomao couldn’t help but take a step back. She asked tentatively, “Are you… pointing to Kang Yuanhuai’s location?”

Three people, six eyes, immediately stared at her.

The human wall in front of her turned its heads stiffly, staring fixedly in the direction their arms were pointing.

Shen Maomao gritted her teeth and said to the others behind her, “Let’s go. We’ll go over and see.” With that, she walked to the front to lead the way.

The three behind her had no objections and followed closely.

The four of them walked faster and faster, until they were practically flying.

Under the yellow umbrella, the human wall on the riverbank stretched as far as the eye could see. They stood shoulder to shoulder in neat ranks, their movements almost perfectly synchronized as they pointed uniformly to the south.

The surrounding scenery grew more and more familiar as they ran. Golden Retriever said between breaths, “Isn’t this…! Isn’t this the road to the southwest Hebo Temple!”

Shen Maomao: “Yes, it’s that road!”

Golden Retriever thought for a moment and said, “If the southwest Hebo has already been dealt with by Kang Yuanhuai, then that place is indeed a good hiding spot.”

“But we need to cross the river to get there. We need a boat.”

Golden Retriever said, “Let’s go check it out first. When the cart reaches the mountain, there will surely be a road.”³

With this thought in mind, the group made their way to the lakeside and stopped at the shore.

Looking at the boundless Ye Lake, A Nan said uncertainly, “Are we supposed to cross? How? Swim?”

Shen Maomao was speechless. “Wouldn’t we die of exhaustion swimming to the other side?”

She looked at the human wall by the river and asked uncertainly, “Can you… help us?”

As her voice fell, the human wall moved again. They gathered together, clinging to one another, their bodies twisting. Soon, they had stacked themselves one on top of another to form a long, strip-shaped “human boat,” a sight that made Shen Maomao’s scalp feel like it was about to explode.

She absolutely could not be the only one to witness such a horrifying scene!

Thinking this, she took the umbrella over to Golden Retriever, held it over his head, and turned his head to force him to look.

Golden Retriever had a curse on the tip of his tongue that he suppressed with great effort, managing not to make a sound that would startle these… people.

Underneath the “human boat” were many misplaced hands and feet, which now served a transportational purpose. They used their hands and feet to crawl into the water and float on the surface. Without a close look, it really did resemble a small boat.

Beside them, A Nan asked, “What are you two looking at?”

Shen Maomao and Golden Retriever fell into a strange silence for two seconds, then said in unison, “A boat…”

A Nan and Mingyue looked at the empty lake surface. “Where’s a boat??”

Shen Maomao: “Honestly, it’s better that you can’t see it.”

A Nan and Mingyue: “???” How were they supposed to take a boat they couldn’t see?

Shen Maomao, holding the umbrella, stretched out a hand and said, “We have a boat, that’s for sure, but I don’t know if it’s safe. Is there anyone not afraid of death who’s willing to get on and try it with me?”

A Nan and Mingyue hesitated for a few seconds. Seeing this, Golden Retriever spoke up directly, “I’ll go.”

“Alright.” Shen Maomao gripped his wrist and led him as they carefully stepped onto the human boat.

The boat was very stable, not swaying in the slightest, but stepping on it felt like treading on a soft mass of flesh, which was psychologically hard to accept.

Shen Maomao tried moving the umbrella away from Golden Retriever’s head.

Golden Retriever looked down and saw the human boat disappear from under his feet, leaving only the dark, churning river water. He was extremely nervous, but he still had Shen Maomao let go of him, then curled himself into a ball and squatted on the human boat, unmoving. “You… you go get them.”

Shen Maomao used the same method to bring the other two onto the boat, then tried to issue a command. “Please take us to find Kang Yuanhuai! Thank you!”

The human boat moved at her words, slowly advancing. Mingyue and A Nan, their faces pale, tried their best not to think about what kind of boat they were sitting on.

“Crack, crack—”

A breaking sound came from beneath their feet. Golden Retriever looked down and could faintly see dark shadows gathering on the water’s surface, their bodies swaying happily. “What are these things…!”

“Fish, probably,” A Nan said with certainty. “There are a lot of piranhas in this river, the same kind we eat at every meal.” After speaking, he looked at the others, hoping to see the same expression of discomfort on their faces that he’d had when he first learned the truth. To his disappointment—aside from Mingyue frowning slightly, the other two had no reaction at all.

Golden Retriever said smugly, “We found the fish too smelly, so we didn’t eat any.”

A Nan: “…”

The small boat quickly reached the other side of the river. The group disembarked one by one, with Shen Maomao leading the way toward the Hebo Temple.

From a distance, they could still hear the dull ringing of the bell on the temple roof. The human boat automatically disassembled back into individual people, once again forming a line on the bank, their gazes fixed fervently on the temple.

Golden Retriever glanced back, though he couldn’t see anything without the umbrella. But he could imagine their standing posture and couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, “What do you think… they are? Why are they helping us?”

“Perhaps they’re the lingering obsessions of the people Kang Yuanhuai killed,” Shen Maomao deduced. “Now is probably the best time for them to get their revenge.”

“BOOM—” Thunder cracked open the sky as the group braved the rain and walked to the wooden bridge.

This particular Hebo seemed truly disliked. The broken section of the wooden bridge in front of the temple still hadn’t been repaired. The turbulent river rushed beneath it, and from time to time, black fish would leap from the water, sending up silvery splashes.

A wooden plank lay across the other side, the same one Kang Yuanhuai had used to cross before. Clearly, there was someone in the Hebo Temple right now.

This time, without any command from Shen Maomao, the human wall moved on its own, piling up one after another to form a bridge.

There was no Sisi with a fear of heights in their group this time, so they crossed quickly, arriving at the entrance to the Hebo Temple in an instant. Shen Maomao, at the very front, yanked the main doors open. With a shua—, a black shadow shot out from within, its sharp claws aimed at her chest.

Shen Maomao shifted her shoulder slightly, moving her heart out of the way and offering her right shoulder instead. Bracing for the injury, she used her other hand to grab the outstretched arm.

The hand felt slick and greasy, like the scales of a fish or some other creature, but its general shape was that of a human wrist.

The black mist dissipated, revealing a face covered in fish scales. It was Kang Yuanhuai.

Kang Yuanhuai spoke through gritted teeth, “So close… I was so close… Why must you people oppose me… Why couldn’t you just obediently wait for the festival to arrive… You things who ruin my good work… go to hell!”

“Stupid cunt.” Shen Maomao tightened her grip on her dagger, cursed coldly, and then kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backward into the Hebo statue inside.

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