The Hand of Confession – Chapter 370

Volume 11: The Days of Traversing Through the Mirror

HIV

This rope is mine.

Shen Maomao clutched the key and bolted, not forgetting to hold on tight to the bag in her hand.

A rustling sound came from behind. She didn’t dare turn back to see We Mei’s condition, nor could she imagine what state We Mei was in. All she could do was run for her life.

Soon, they reached the first floor and burst through the main entrance, disappearing into the darkness.

They ran for what felt like an eternity until they finally couldn’t run anymore and had to stop to catch their breath.

Thankfully, the feeling of being relentlessly pursued was gone. Maybe We Mei had given up.

Exhausted, Peng Xiaorui flopped onto the ground. “What do we do now?” she whispered.

“First, let me see what’s in this bag,” Shen Maomao said.

She opened the bag, which was nearly soaked through with blood. Rummaging inside, she found a wallet, a pack of tissues, a small keychain, and a charging cable.

First off, the bag definitely wasn’t We Mei’s. The players’ luggage was all identical, with minor stylistic differences at most. The system-assigned luggage only consisted of backpacks, not crossbody bags, and she’d never seen We Mei carry one.

She opened the wallet while Peng Xiaorui held up her phone, using it as a flashlight. They examined its contents carefully, finding bank cards, a meal card, an ID, and some cash. There was also a neatly folded square of paper, tucked away inconspicuously.

Mystery solved. The owner of the crossbody bag was Wu Huiling.

Judging from the photo on the ID, Wu Huiling was very pretty. She had chestnut-brown hair, delicate makeup, and a slight smile playing on her lips as she looked at the camera—it was the kind of face that instantly made you like her.

How did a girl like this become a target everyone shouts to beat?¹

Shen Maomao put the ID back, handed the wallet to Peng Xiaorui, and then carefully unfolded the slip of paper.

The two of them put their heads together, peering at the contents by the light of the phone’s flashlight.

It was a hospital lab report, covered in a bunch of hard-to-decipher English terms. The name on the report was Wu Huiling.

Peng Xiaorui stared at it for a moment before saying uncertainly, “This HIV… isn’t that… AIDS?”

Shen Maomao’s head shot up. “Where?”

“At the very bottom,” Peng Xiaorui said. “We had one of those health-ed classes on AIDS. I didn’t memorize it all, but it just popped into my head… I can’t be certain, though.”

Shen Maomao’s eyes scanned down the page until she found the line Peng Xiaorui was talking about. It was HIV, all right, and the test result was positive.

In other words, Wu Huiling had AIDS.

AIDS was a topic that made people’s faces change color at its mere mention². Regardless of how Wu Huiling had contracted the disease, those around her wouldn’t hesitate to speculate about her with the utmost malice.

She just didn’t know if the other students were aware of this, and if that was why they ostracized her.

Shen Maomao folded the report, put it back, and tucked the wallet into the crossbody bag before zipping it shut securely.

Once that was done, she placed the bag at the base of a statue and yelled into the distant darkness, “WU HUILING!! YOU LEFT YOUR BAG HERE!!”

The air seemed to freeze for an instant. A sudden gust of wind kicked up, carrying with it a heavy, thudding sound——

Thump——

Thump——

Something was rapidly approaching them.

Peng Xiaorui had learned her lesson this time. The moment she heard the sound, she took off. Shen Maomao was a step behind but quickly caught up thanks to her own physical fitness. “Quick on your feet,” she commented.

“I’d be dead by now if I wasn’t!” Peng Xiaorui shot back. “I can’t believe you actually summoned her, holy fuck…”

“Less talking, more running,” Shen Maomao said.

They were like two marathon runners, spending the entire night doing nothing but flee. They sprinted back along the usual path they took after class, and it wasn’t long before the dark silhouette of Dorm Building 18 came into view.

The daily routine for humanities majors was a straight line between the academic building and the dorms. Since they hadn’t found Lou Jingmo and Bai Lu in the classroom building, Shen Maomao figured they’d try their luck at the dorms. Maybe the other two had found a different way to leave.

It was almost two in the morning. The power in the dorms had been out for hours, and the only sound was a series of heavy breaths. It didn’t sound human; it was more like the low rumble of a beast, which made Shen Maomao’s nerves prickle.

To keep the keys from jingling and giving them away, she used her paws to dig a small hole next to Building 18. She hid the keys inside and stuck a twig in the dirt above it as a marker.

Once that was done, she carefully brushed the dirt from her paws and gestured for Peng Xiaorui to go inside.

Peng Xiaorui nodded, and the two of them tiptoed into the dormitory.

The inside of the building felt like it had a powerful air conditioner running; a bone-deep chill hit them the moment they stepped inside. Shen Maomao’s nose began to itch, and she almost sneezed. She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, stifling it.

Watching her, Peng Xiaorui broke out in a cold sweat on her behalf.

The dorm’s layout seemed identical to the real world, but Shen Maomao couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off—an indescribable sense of wrongness. She’d had this feeling ever since entering the mirror world but had never been able to pinpoint the cause.

They didn’t linger on the other floors, heading straight for the third to check on their two dorm rooms.

Just as they reached the second-floor landing, Peng Xiaorui’s flashlight flickered twice and died. Her mouth fell open. “Bat-ter-y’s… dead…” she whispered.

So Shen Maomao took out her own phone and turned on its flashlight.

“Fu—”

The rest of the curse was muffled by a hand clamping over her mouth. Warm breath tickled her ear, followed by a soft, “Shhh—”

Peng Xiaorui raised her board, her eyes fixed on the person who had appeared.

Shen Maomao pried at the hand on her mouth, signaling for them to let go. Then she whispered, “Hai Dongqing?”

The person behind her nodded.

“She might not be the real one—” Peng Xiaorui said urgently.

Lou Jingmo shot her a look, one eyebrow raised.

More than worrying about whether this was the real Lou Jingmo, Shen Maomao was afraid of them making a noise and waking whatever was breathing in the dark. “That’s not important right now,” she whispered soothingly. “We can figure that out in the morning. What’s the plan?”

Lou Jingmo pointed upstairs, then made a walking motion with two fingers.

She was probably telling them to head to rooms 3056 and 3058.

And so, two became three. Peng Xiaorui, deeply suspicious of the newcomer, decided to walk at the rear to keep an eye on her. Shen Maomao, her courage renewed, took the lead.

Rooms 3056 and 3058 were close to the side staircase—only a few steps down the hall.

Shen Maomao peeked around the corner of the wall. She didn’t spot anything unusual in the hallway.

She waved the other two forward and crept toward the door of 3058 like a spy at a dead drop.

Her heart pounded faster the closer she got to the door.

The door to 3058 wasn’t fully closed. From inside, she could hear a wet, squelching sound, gloop… gloop…. It sounded like bubbles bursting on the surface of a pond, or like someone slapping a slab of bloody meat onto a cutting board.

Finally, the three of them reached the doorway. Shen Maomao pressed herself against the wall, listening to the squelching inside, a fresh wave of goosebumps breaking out over her skin.

She gingerly peeked inside. A dark figure was crouched on a desk, its back to the door, hunched over and gnawing on something. A third arm extended from the center of its back, rummaging through a nearby wardrobe.

Shen Maomao pulled her head back and mouthed to the others, “It’s… Zhan… Xin…”

Saying this, she peeked again, trying to see what Zhan Xin was eating. This time, she looked straight into a pair of crimson eyes.

“!!!” A “holy fuck” caught in Shen Maomao’s throat, but she didn’t dare let it out.

Zhan Xin looked noticeably more robust than the last time they’d met. Her face was smeared with blood, and she was clutching a hunk of dark, glistening meat. The sight was both nauseating and terrifying.

Shen Maomao stumbled back two steps. Zhan Xin, her red eyes wide, took two steps toward them.

Lou Jingmo grabbed Shen Maomao by the collar, yanked her back, and stepped in front of her without a moment’s hesitation.

Zhan Xin just stared at them silently, unmoving.

Shen Maomao ventured a quiet question. “Were… were you killed by your roommates? Do you want revenge?”

“So hungry…” Zhan Xin mumbled, the words like a delirious whisper. “So hungry… so hungry…”

As she spoke, her eyes fixed on Lou Jingmo. Drool dripped from her lips as her mouth gaped open, revealing a row of triangular, shark-like teeth.

Lou Jingmo grabbed Shen Maomao’s arm and ran.

Peng Xiaorui let out a short, stifled scream and scrambled after them.

But her scream caused the heavy breathing from the other rooms to pause, then fall completely silent.

The monsters awoke from their deep slumber. A chorus of roars rose up, successfully drawing Zhan Xin’s attention.

“I think I messed up!” Peng Xiaorui yelled as she ran.

“It’s fine!” Shen Maomao shouted back. “At least Zhan Xin switched targets!”

Lou Jingmo stopped at the top of the stairs and peered down, her brow furrowed.

From upstairs came the sound of ghosts wailing and wolves howling; Zhan Xin must have been on a rampage. From downstairs came a stampede of heavy footsteps; everything in the other rooms must have come out. With Zhan Xin above and monsters below, they were trapped on the landing.

“If I still had my rope, we could get down through the window,” Peng Xiaorui said.

The words had barely left her mouth when a rope, nearly identical to the one Peng Xiaorui had owned, appeared in Lou Jingmo’s hands. “I have one, too,” she said, tying one end to the staircase banister.

Peng Xiaorui’s eyes narrowed. “How do you have one of those?”

Lou Jingmo retorted, “You can have one, so why can’t I?”

Sensing the tension between them, Shen Maomao quickly interjected, “Let’s just get somewhere safe first! We can recap everything later!”

“Fine,” Peng Xiaorui said. “Let her go first.”

Shen Maomao gave Lou Jingmo a helpless look.

Lou Jingmo just patted her head, then opened the window, grabbed the rope, and vaulted out.

“Happy now?” Shen Maomao said. “Let’s get going.” She moved to climb out the window.

But Peng Xiaorui grabbed her arm, dropping a thunderclap in a low whisper: “This rope is mine!”

---

---