The Hand of Confession – Chapter 380

Volume 11: The Days of Traversing Through the Mirror

Number One

So hungry, so hungry, so hungry, so hungry

“Go on, smash it,” Lou Jingmo said faintly.

Shen Maomao: “No way, no way. I can’t even make a dent in it.” What was the point of smashing a statue? It was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot¹—bringing about her own destruction.²

“Stop just standing there with the slick talk!” Peng Xiaorui yelled. “IT’S ABOUT TO STICK ITS HAND IN!”

The moment she spoke, the glass was shattered by a metal fist with a crack, and the enormous hand opened, reaching for her with slow movements.

Shen Maomao pulled her back, turned, and ran downstairs. The three behind her immediately followed, reaching the first floor in the blink of an eye.

The statue was guarding the front door. It couldn’t bend over, so from downstairs, they could only see a pair of giant feet, which were much more acceptable than its face.

Shen Maomao sent the entire back door flying off its hinges with a kick, leaving Gan Ze, who had never seen her unleash her power before, staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed. An envious expression soon followed.

The four of them took to their heels and ran for the dormitory building, encountering countless statues along the way.

All of these statues came rolling toward them, but because their bodies were so massive, their movements were extremely clumsy. The group ran a few circles around them and easily shook them off.

It seemed there were no living people in this world, only these animated statues outside.

Why they had come to life and why they were roaming about were complete mysteries to the group, but they didn’t have any extra time to investigate the matter right now.

The four of them soon arrived in front of the dormitory building. Peng Xiaorui was the first to charge in, shouting, “Senior! WE’RE HERE TO GET YOU!”

A woman with a disheveled appearance walked out from around a corner in the hallway, but she didn’t approach, merely watching them from a distance.

Peng Xiaorui said, “Blood! The one with blood is a real person!”

As she spoke, she touched the back of her head and held out her red-stained fingers. “Senior, look!”

Shen Maomao: “…Sis, you’ve got some nerve. You still haven’t treated that wound?”

Peng Xiaorui: “Why treat it? It’s too much trouble. Right now, it’s perfect for proving my identity.”

Across from them, Bai Lu also made a cut on her finger with a small knife, holding it up for them to see as she walked over.

Peng Xiaorui: “See? If it weren’t for the back of my head, we’d have to make a wound just like Senior did.”

Shen Maomao found that she had a point and actually had no words to reply with.

Bai Lu walked up to them and scanned the group, her gaze sweeping over each of their faces. “It’s so good that you’re all okay.”

Lou Jingmo said, “This isn’t the time to talk. We need to test the connection between the mirrors.”

Bai Lu asked, “How do we test it?”

Lou Jingmo took out a dagger and slashed viciously at the left side of the mirror frame. A deep gash immediately appeared. She made a second, third, and fourth cut, and soon carved out an irregular quadrilateral piece from the edge.

After doing all this, she said, “Let’s go. Inside.”

This scene left Bai Lu in the clouds and mist³. She couldn’t help but ask, “What is this for?”

Peng Xiaorui tugged at her. “We’re using Dashen’s⁴ method to find an exit. Senior, just follow along and you’ll be fine. Trust in Dashen.”

Bai Lu didn’t really trust this Hai Dongqing of unknown origin, but for some reason, she trusted Peng Xiaorui. She just had a feeling that Peng Xiaorui would never harm her, so, muddled and confused, she followed the group into the mirror like a train.

When she opened her eyes again, she found that she was still on the first floor of Building No. 16’s dormitory. Lou Jingmo had already pushed the piece of the mirror frame she had carved out back into its original spot. It fit, a tight silk joined seam⁵, not differing by a fen or a hao⁶, forming a complete whole.

They had entered the mirror, but they hadn’t left the previous world.

Shen Maomao had an epiphany. “I get it! This mirror isn’t as complicated as we thought! Mirrors in the same location correspond to the same world, so the plan to destroy the mirrors is viable!”

Lou Jingmo smiled. “You’re right.”

Peng Xiaorui: “…What are you guys talking about?”

Gan Ze: “I think I get what you mean, but how do we destroy this mirror? We get sucked in as soon as we touch it.”

Lou Jingmo said with a deadpan expression, “First, we confirm the situation with the other mirror. Then, we blow both of them up at the same time.”

…

With a deafening BOOM—the entire dormitory building shook three times over.

Quantitative change leads to qualitative change. A single small explosive ball is tiny, but when a pile of them are detonated together, the power could not be spoken of on the same day⁷. Back in the day, Golden Retriever had relied on this to collapse an entire building.

The sound of the explosion attracted the bronze statues in the distance. The group covered their mouths and rushed into the ashes to check the shattered remains of the mirror. Peng Xiaorui even boldly reached out and touched it to confirm that the mirror was as gone as it could possibly be.

Shen Maomao gave the order, “I think these were the only two mirrors in this building, right? Next, we’re going to the Humanities College⁸. Let’s rescue Number One⁹ from the neighboring bed first.”

The other three had no objections, and Lou Jingmo was ready to follow her lead completely.

The five of them fled, rolling and crawling¹⁰, howling as the statues chased them—this was mainly Peng Xiaorui and Shen Maomao. After experiencing a thousand bitternesses and ten thousand hardships¹¹, they finally made it back to the Humanities College’s teaching building.

The mirror Number One had entered was in the elevator on the sixth floor.

The elevators at their school had a huge mirror inside, mainly to expand the visual space and for students to check their appearance. But in a haunted world, this kind of elevator was practically a perfect tool for scaring people.

At the time, Number Two¹² hadn’t specified whether it was the left or right elevator. After finding Bai Lu, Gan Ze had tried to contact her again by phone, but no one answered.

But since they had to try both elevators anyway, Shen Maomao decided to try the one on the left first.

All five of them squeezed into the elevator and successfully saw five figures in the mirror with their backs turned to them.

Shen Maomao’s scalp tingled¹³ at the sight. She couldn’t help but say, “Seriously, none of the other tricks before were as scary as this. This is genuinely terrifying.”

Anyone who walked into an elevator and found their reflection facing away from them would probably piss their pants on the spot, right?

Peng Xiaorui strongly agreed. “I’m so scared they’re going to turn around suddenly… Please don’t do that…”

This time, the two daredevils didn’t dare to take the lead. So, Shen Maomao had Lou Jingmo stand in front, which made Lou Jingmo feel both amused and helpless. She squeezed Shen Maomao’s hand and walked in without a trace of fear.

Another spell of the sky spinning and the earth turning¹⁴, and when they came to, they were already in the side stairwell of the teaching building’s corridor.

Shen Maomao looked up at the number plate on the classroom door next to her. It read 402. “We’re on the fourth floor,” she said. “Number Two said she’s in 815.”

“I think there are students over here…” Bai Lu said.

Shen Maomao pricked up her ears and did indeed hear some orderly speaking voices from the next room, as if they were reciting a text. But before she could make out what they were saying, Lou Jingmo raised a hand and covered her ears. “Don’t listen. They’re saying ‘so hungry.’”

“Eugh—” Peng Xiaorui rubbed her arms and whispered, “That’s so fucking scary.”

Shen Maomao made a hushing gesture. “Shh—let’s go up quietly. Don’t let them find us.”

The five of them climbed the stairs. They didn’t encounter anything strange along the way, but the clamor from the classrooms grew louder and louder, accompanied by the miserable shrieks and groans of some unknown creatures. It instilled an involuntary fear in their hearts, making them want to retreat, worried that the creatures would suddenly burst out and tear them to pieces.

The corridor on the 8th floor was bright with sunlight, so the fresh blood on the floor and walls had nowhere to hide its form¹⁵. The blood hadn’t fully coagulated yet, and it gave off a metallic stench and warmth, as if a vicious battle had just taken place.

At the door of classroom 815, Shen Maomao pressed her ear against it and listened. She heard no sound from within. She inserted the key into the lock and turned it carefully.

It was darker inside than outside because all the classroom curtains had been drawn. Her eyes swept across the room, but she didn’t see anyone. She called out Number One’s name, but received no reply.

“Where is she?” Peng Xiaorui muttered.

Gan Ze took out her phone. “I’ll try calling her again.”

A few seconds later, a faint buzzing sound came from the lecturer’s podium.

The group’s gazes focused on the multimedia computer on the podium. The only place someone could hide… seemed to be right there.

Shen Maomao had a very bad feeling.

They walked into the classroom and surrounded the multimedia console. Normally, to prevent vandalism, the multimedia equipment was locked. But this one wasn’t, and there was a noticeable gap, as if it couldn’t be closed properly.

Bai Lu grabbed the handle of the console and yanked it upward. The first thing that appeared before them was a pair of bloodshot eyes.

Bai Lu’s hand trembled, and she almost slammed the lid shut again.

Number One was curled up in the small space beneath the multimedia equipment, her body entangled in wires of various colors, like a folded-up chair. Beside her lay a blood-stained phone, still vibrating. The light from its screen illuminated the surroundings, as well as the right hand she had stuffed in her mouth.

Shen Maomao waved a hand in front of her face and saw that her pupils were no longer focused, but she was still breathing and mumbling something incoherently.

Peng Xiaorui said, “What… what do we do?”

Shen Maomao: “How about… we find a way to take her with us? Maybe she can still be saved.”

Lou Jingmo: “She’s already lost her mind.”

Shen Maomao said, “Maybe she’ll be fine once we get back to reality, right? I’ll carry her in a bit, don’t worry. If she drags us down, I’ll just toss a sofa out.”

Lou Jingmo: “…”

Time was short. Shen Maomao was a woman of action and tried to pull the person out.

She bent down, and only when she got closer did she hear clearly that the words Number One was constantly muttering were the same as what the things in the classrooms below were saying: “So hungry.”

“This world is so damn weird…” she muttered, and with Peng Xiaorui’s help, she pulled Number One’s arm out of her mouth.

Peng Xiaorui said, “Fuck… she chewed off her own fingers…”

That hand could no longer be called a hand. All five of its fingers were gone, leaving only five empty, bloody holes and a round palm. It looked like a ball of flesh, which was exceptionally horrifying.

The two of them worked together to pull her out. Neither of them noticed her eyeballs move, staring fixedly at Peng Xiaorui. Then, she suddenly let out a sharp scream and lunged forward, biting at her ear.

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