The Hand of Confession – Chapter 368

Volume 11: The Days of Traversing Through the Mirror

Secret

Maomao’s head can turn 360 degrees, can you?

What did it feel like to go through a mirror? Shen Maomao finally experienced it today. She felt like a tube of toothpaste about to run out, being forcefully squeezed until the very last bit was gone.

After being squeezed for who knows how long, Shen Maomao felt the force holding her hands loosen. A white light exploded before her eyes, so bright she could not open them at all.

The next second, the ground beneath her feet vanished, and she fell right onto the floor.

As her vision gradually cleared, she looked left and right, discovering that she was, surprisingly, still in the restroom. The layout was identical to the one she had been in before, only this time, there was no female ghost beside her, nor was there Lou Jingmo.

Shen Maomao instantly felt as if a giant, capitalized “DANGER” was hovering over her head.

She scrambled to her feet with a jolt, first looking at the mirror, then glancing outside the door.

The corridor was pitch-black, making it impossible to see very far, but she could basically confirm—Lou Jingmo was truly not nearby. It was not the “scouting ahead” scenario she had been hoping for.

Then, the “DANGER” turned into a massive “COWARDICE”.

Without Lou Jingmo, she was like a fish out of water—completely unable to make any waves¹.

The most pressing matter was to find Lou Jingmo quickly, so they could return home together, wife and wife².

Thinking this, Shen Maomao got moving, randomly picking a direction and walking forward cautiously.

This must be the world inside the mirror. It did not seem any different from the real world. However, she had a nagging feeling that something was off, but she could not pinpoint what it was.

It was only after she reached the side staircase that she saw which floor she was on—the fifth floor, not the one from which she had entered the mirror.

Looks like the female ghost thought they were too difficult to deal with together, so she decided to separate them and take them down one by one?

Where could Lou Jingmo be? Upstairs or downstairs?

People strive for higher places, while water flows downwards³. Faced with a difficult choice, Shen Maomao hesitated for a moment before the stairs before finally making a decision. She decided to climb up first.

The sixth floor seemed deserted as well. She did not try to push open any doors, only tiptoed past, floating down the corridor like a specter, the dagger in her hand never lowered.

She quickly floated past the sixth and seventh floors without encountering a single person. Soon, she was on the eighth floor. Just as she poked her head out from the stairwell, she saw a dark figure dash away in the opposite direction like a puff of smoke.

She did not get a clear look at who it was before she reflexively gave chase.

After all, Shen Maomao was basically made of springs; if the ghost was weak, she was strong.

Besides—she looked at the long, rod-like object that the person in front of her did not forget to carry even while running—she thought she could now identify who it was.

She quickened her pace, and the distance between them continuously shrank. She also got a clear look at the person’s clothes; it was indeed Peng Xiaorui, who had disappeared outside the restroom. So Bai Lu and Peng Xiaorui had not left earlier—they had entered the mirror.

Finally, she caught up to Peng Xiaorui just before she could head downstairs, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder. “You’re runn—”

Before she could finish her sentence, Peng Xiaorui whipped her head around. Her left hand swung high, the end of the wooden plank with the nails glinting coldly under the moonlight. She brought it down mercilessly on Shen Maomao’s head.

“FUCK!!” Shen Maomao’s scalp went numb. She immediately ducked and rolled forward, then quickly scrambled back to her feet. “Why are you attacking me?! You’re not the fake Peng Xiaorui, are you?!”

Peng Xiaorui held the plank and quickly backed away, keeping at least a two-meter distance between them. She said from afar, “Gotten smart, have you? You know to have the villain file the lawsuit first⁴?”

Shen Maomao was completely bewildered. “What the hell? Are you bullying me because I got here late?”

Peng Xiaorui narrowed her eyes. “Are you the real one?”

Shen Maomao caught on. It seemed Peng Xiaorui had encountered some impostors and did not dare to trust her easily. So, she opened her hands and took two steps back to show she was harmless, saying, “I just got here. I’m still not sure what’s happened.”

Peng Xiaorui thought for two seconds. “How can you prove you’re Maomao?”

Shen Maomao was speechless. “If I could fucking prove that, I’d have become a great philosopher⁵ long ago.”

Peng Xiaorui continued, “Maomao has a secret that only I know. If you’re an impostor, you definitely won’t be able to do it.”

“???” Shen Maomao was truly baffled this time. “What the hell? What secret do I have? You can’t just spout nonsense like that!” If Lou Jingmo heard this, would I still be able to live??

Peng Xiaorui said, “Never mind what the secret is. If you can’t do it, you’re a fake.”

Hearing how decisively she spoke, Shen Maomao began to doubt herself. Could Peng Xiaorui be someone I know in real life?

She looked at the person in the distance and said tentatively, “Then why don’t you tell me?”

Peng Xiaorui said, “Maomao’s head can turn 360 degrees, can you?”

Shen Maomao: “????”

The two stared at each other, big eyes meeting small, for a full two minutes. A suffocating silence filled the air.

Peng Xiaorui urged, “Hurry up and turn it.”

“Aren’t you fucking trying to force a man to do the impossible?” Shen Maomao said with difficulty. “When did I ever have this kind of little secret with you??”

God fucking damn turning her head 360 degrees. Did she think her neck was a basketball?

Peng Xiaorui blinked. “You’re the real one?”

Shen Maomao said, “No, I’m the fake one.”

Peng Xiaorui relaxed a little and took two steps closer. “I’m relieved to hear you say that. The xuejie⁶ and I were waiting for you guys outside, but a mirror suddenly appeared on the wall. We were both sucked in when our guards were down, and then we got separated.”

“Pretty much the same as our situation,” Shen Maomao replied.

“Mm-hm. The moment I got in, I ran into the xuejie, but it ambushed me when I wasn’t on guard.” Peng Xiaorui rolled up her sleeve to show Shen Maomao the wound on her arm. “If it’s a human, the wound will bleed. If it’s an impostor, there will only be some kind of black, flocculent substance…”

At this point, Peng Xiaorui stopped talking and instead looked quietly at Shen Maomao.

Shen Maomao instantly understood her intention. “You want to see my blood?”

Peng Xiaorui nodded.

Shen Maomao said, “Nope, can’t do that. It can’t be that you’re wary of me, but I’m not wary of you. What if you’re trying to trick me into giving you my blood? I disagree. Why don’t we just go our separate ways? It’ll save us the trouble of being on guard against each other.”

Peng Xiaorui was choked speechless by her nonchalant attitude. After mustering her thoughts for a while, she finally said, “Never mind, let’s stick together. I believe you.”

“If you believe me, then put your weapon away. That nail of yours is scaring me.”

Peng Xiaorui’s mouth twitched. Your expression doesn’t look the least bit scared!

And Shen Maomao truly was not scared anymore.

As long as there was someone by her side, she would not let her imagination run wild. If she did not let her imagination run wild, she would not be afraid. And if she was not afraid, when a ghost came, she would just cut down every one she saw… In short, she could survive until Lou Jingmo appeared, one way or another.

The two traveled together. Since neither trusted the other, they chose to walk side-by-side.

On the way, Peng Xiaorui told her about some of her discoveries. “I came up from the second floor. The security guard who attacked us came out of a large mirror on the second-floor side staircase landing. There are still bloodstains on the ground.”

Shen Maomao said, “The security guard that you attacked.”

Peng Xiaorui’s old face flushed. “This is not the time to get hung up on such details!” After saying that, she quickly changed the subject. “I think this world in the mirror is very important. We might discover something here.”

“Mm-hm,” Shen Maomao nodded perfunctorily. “Coming up from the second floor, did you see Hai Dongqing?”

Peng Xiaorui shook her head. “No, I only saw a xuejie, and she beat the crap out of me.”

“Then let’s go check out that mirror you mentioned. For him to specifically run to the second floor to go through a mirror, there must be something special about the mirror on the second floor.”

Peng Xiaorui said, “I touched it, no reaction. The mirror’s surface is solid.”

Shen Maomao rubbed her chin. “In that case, the security guard must know something, right?”

“Are you thinking…” Peng Xiaorui said, a bit uncertain.

“Bingo!” Shen Maomao snapped her fingers. “Let’s go. We’re going to the first floor.”

There was no way in hell they would take the elevator, so they could only take the stairs down, one step at a time.

When they reached the second floor, Shen Maomao saw the mirror Peng Xiaorui had mentioned, as well as the large patch of bloodstains on the ground.

She had not been lying. There was indeed more blood near the mirror and less on the stairs further away, creating a winding trail of deep to light-colored crawl marks. It was enough for her to imagine how the security guard must have dragged his one remaining leg down the stairs.

The two followed the blood trail. Peng Xiaorui felt a pit in her stomach, extremely uneasy. “Will this really work? What if we get reverse-killed⁷?”

Shen Maomao comforted her, “He wasn’t your match when he had two healthy legs, let alone now when he only has one.”

“Now that you put it that way…” Peng Xiaorui said faintly, “why do I feel a sense of guilt, like I’m bullying a disabled person?”

“Not a disabled person,” Shen Maomao patted her shoulder. “A disabled ghost. It’s either we subdue him, or we join him as ghosts. Think it over before you feel guilty.”

Peng Xiaorui patted her chest. “My conscience is alive and kicking.”

Shen Maomao said in a grave and heartfelt tone, “That’s right. This whole ‘invincible ghost’ thing is just to trick the newbies. We’re all veteran players who have survived in the game for this long, how could we possibly believe that? Sometimes, when you can’t escape, you might as well rise up and fight the ghost. After all, the worst that can happen is just death.”

Peng Xiaorui looked as if her entire world had been shattered.

After saying that, Shen Maomao, fearing that Peng Xiaorui would evolve too completely and transform into Peng Xiaomang⁸, added, “But it’s best not to do this when you’re not confident, otherwise you’ll only enrage the ghost and speed up your death.”

“Thank you, dage⁹, for the lesson.” Peng Xiaorui had come to terms with it. She gave Shen Maomao a respectful fist-and-palm salute, nearly poking Shen Maomao’s face with the wooden plank.

Shen Maomao dodged sideways and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. “Jiemei¹⁰, that plank of yours is a bit scary…”

Peng Xiaorui sheepishly retracted her hands. “I forgot… I forgot.”

Shen Maomao whispered, “We’re about to reach the first floor. No more talking. When the time comes, we charge right in. I’ll restrain him, you’ll be in charge of interrogating him, okay?”

Peng Xiaorui nodded vigorously. “Okay!”

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The author has something to say:

Regarding the feeling I mentioned yesterday, I actually wanted to write about it, but I somehow forgot???

If I had written it, it would have been something like this: Seeing she couldn’t cut off the female ghost’s hand, Lou Jingmo made a swift decision, immediately placing her blade against Shen Maomao’s wrist and saying, “There’s no other way. Since I can’t cut her, I’ll have to cut you!”

Shen Maomao: “FUCK FUCK FUCK!! Spare me!!”

_(:3」∠)_

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