The Hand of Confession – Chapter 39

Volume 2: The Days of Playing with Monkeys in the Village

In a Dream

Why are you pinching my face?

The piercing cries shattered the silence of the night. Frightened by the sound wave attack, Shen Maomao reflexively started running and singing loudly. Because she was out of breath, her singing was somewhat intermittent and even more off-key.

“Whoo!” The owl that had been circling in the air folded its wings and fell directly, while the ghosts following them were collectively stunned for a moment, missing the best opportunity to catch them.

Lou Jingmo, running ahead, stumbled and almost fell, but fortunately, the culprit, Shen, reacted quickly and grabbed her, preventing her from the fate of not being caught but falling to death.

The two staggered forward for some distance. The things behind them seemed to be wary of something, blocking the exit of the path, and did not follow them to the back mountain, so they slowed down from running to walking. Shen Maomao also ceased her “magic,” gasping for air.

“Rabbit,” Lou Jingmo suddenly said.

Shen Maomao was cautiously observing the surroundings. Hearing Lou Jingmo call her, she naturally turned her head and showed a puzzled expression: “What’s up?”

Lou Jingmo’s tone was very serious: “As long as you don’t sing randomly, we are still good friends.”

Shen Maomao: “Seriously? Aren’t you just burning bridges after crossing the river?”

Lou Jingmo thought about it and agreed. If it weren’t for Shen Maomao’s singing that startled the ghosts, they might not have had time to run to the back mountain and would have been caught. So she changed her tune: “Then remind me next time, so I can be mentally prepared.”

Shen Maomao rolled her eyes.

The current back mountain has no fog, but because it is dark, they still cannot see very far. The two carefully walked through the mountain, with wet soil underfoot, as if it had just rained heavily.

“Plop—”

A gentle breeze blew, branches swayed, and a cold drop of water brushed her eyelashes and landed on the foot she had just stepped forward with. She reflexively wiped her face with her hand, and the slippery feeling made her somewhat panic.

She lightly pinched her fingers together, and as the cold wind blew, the water dried on her fingers, leaving a sticky, nauseating sensation.

Lou Jingmo asked her, “What’s wrong?!”

“It seems like the trees are all covered in blood…” Shen Maomao raised her hand in front of her eyes, and as she had suspected, there were black bloodstains on her fingers.

Hearing this, Lou Jingmo looked up and finally noticed: besides the swaying leaves, there seemed to be something else hidden behind the branches, secretly watching the two beneath the trees.

Another strong wind blew, and a large amount of droplets fell from the trees, splashing all over them, soaking them with a fishy smell as if giving them a shower.

Shen Maomao, feeling both disgusted and scared, shielded her head with her hands and quickly ran forward with Lou Jingmo.

Without knowing how long they had run, they came across a cave.

Inside the cave was a familiar white light, resembling the exit from the game. However, in front of the cave was a group of monkeys, numbering over thirty. These monkeys were gathered around two corpses, gnawing on them incessantly, happily enjoying their dinner, seemingly unaware of the two humans that had appeared behind them.

One of the bodies was so mangled that it was unrecognizable; the other was in slightly better condition. By his clothing and appearance, Shen Maomao recognized him as Shan Xiao, a boy from Ye Tingnan’s team.

Since Wu Menghan went missing, this boy, who didn’t seem very brave, had been looking for her. It was obvious to anyone that he had feelings for Wu Menghan. In this scenarios, people rarely acted together, and it wasn’t until this moment that she realized they hadn’t seen Shan Xiao for some time.

It turned out he was dead.

Unfortunately, the current situation didn’t allow much time for her to grieve. She looked at Lou Jingmo, who gestured for her to “shh,” signaling her to remain silent.

The exit was right in front of them, but they needed to find a way to deal with these monkeys.

Shen Maomao felt something was off.

The important ritual plot hadn’t started yet; how had they found the exit? Moreover, they might not even be in the real world now—leaving the game from this inner world… would they return to reality?

Lou Jingmo also sensed something was wrong, gently shook her head, and signaled for her to slowly retreat.

In front were the monkeys continuously chewing on the corpses, and behind were trees full of unknown creatures and inexplicable bloodstains… The back mountain was vast, yet offered them no place to stay.

The two tiptoed backward, their feet making slight sounds on the grass. The monkeys were so engrossed in their gnawing that they didn’t attack them.

Once they were a little distance away from the monkeys, Lou Jingmo whispered to Shen Maomao, “I suspect we’re in a dream.”

Shen Maomao: “What should we do then?”

Lou Jingmo: “Should I slap you?”

Shen Maomao: “??? What did I do wrong?!”

Lou Jingmo explained, “I’ll help you see if it hurts. If it doesn’t, we’re in a dream.”

“If you slap me, of course, it won’t hurt you!”

“Maybe it won’t hurt you either.”

Shen Maomao extended her arm, palm facing out: “Stop! No need for you to do it, I’ll do it myself!” She closed her eyes and pinched her own arm hard, and surprisingly, she didn’t feel any pain.

“What the heck?”

Lou Jingmo pinched her face: “Looks like we really are in a dream.”

Shen Maomao, puzzled, asked: “Why are you pinching my face?”

Lou Jingmo: “Feels nice.”

Shen Maomao: “Thanks?”

Lou Jingmo calmly withdrew her hand: “You’re welcome.”

Shen Maomao: “??” Who thanked you?

In the dream world, aside from the absence of pain, all other sensations were present. So initially, they didn’t realize that the so-called inner world was actually a dream.

Once it was confirmed to be a dream, Shen Maomao became much bolder: “Since it’s all a dream, what are we afraid of? Let’s go for it and take down those creatures that only know how to scare people!”

Lou Jingmo: “…Bon voyage.”

Shen Maomao marched in place: “Aren’t you going?”

“I won’t seek death.” This dream came mysteriously, and since both of them entered it together, who can guarantee that they wouldn’t die in the dream?

“You make a good point,” Shen Maomao stood at attention. “I think our top priority should be finding a way to leave the dream rather than wasting time on meaningless fighting.”

Lou Jingmo glanced at her and said nothing.

What fighting? It would probably be a one-sided slaughter, right?

Shen Maomao pretended not to see her disdainful look: “So, goddess, how should we wake up?”

Lou Jingmo thought for a moment and said, “Have you ever heard the saying? If you’re stuck in a dream and can’t escape, just jump from a high place, and you’ll wake up.”

Shen Maomao hadn’t heard this saying before, but it didn’t stop her from thinking Lou Jingmo’s logic was sound. She had experienced waking up immediately after falling from a height in a dream, so she thought this method was worth a try—after all, they didn’t feel pain now.

With that decision, the two searched around and finally found a low cliff, standing at the edge, ready to jump down. Shen Maomao felt like they were Jack and Rose, even considering singing 《My Heart Will Go On》 for the occasion.

Before jumping, Lou Jingmo suggested, “How about one at a time?”

This suggestion was practical. If the method didn’t work, at least one of them would remain and avoid total annihilation.

“Then I jump, you jump?” Shen Maomao asked, “Should I jump first?” She and Lou Jingmo were contractually bound, so if jumping down caused any trouble, it would affect her regardless of who jumped first.

Lou Jingmo didn’t argue with her: “Sure, you go.”

They were standing about ten meters above the ground. Shen Maomao looked down, felt a wave of dizziness, and was tempted to back out.

“Do you think I should jump backward? Maybe that would be scarier and make it easier to wake up?”

Lou Jingmo: “Do you need me to give you a push?”

Shen Maomao: “I think that might help… I just can’t make myself step off.” As she spoke, she turned around to face away from the cliff, then couldn’t help but exclaim, “Oh sh*t.”

Lou Jingmo also turned her head sharply and met the gaze of a group of monkeys that had been behind them for who knows how long.

In the crimson moonlight, the monkeys appeared particularly eerie. They stood silently behind the two, their blood-red eyes showing a human-like pity, looking at them as if they were two people about to die.

Shen Maomao couldn’t help but take half a step back, and a small stone rolled down the cliff, illustrating what it meant to have no retreat.

The monkeys, like statues, didn’t move at all, blocking their path, as if forcing them to jump off the cliff.

Even with limited intelligence, Shen Maomao realized: they might have chosen the wrong path…

Just as the standoff was happening, suddenly a pair of hands covered in blood and dirt shot up from below the cliff, grabbing Lou Jingmo’s leg and pulling her down.

“Sister Lou!”

This change happened in an instant, and no one could react in time. Lou Jingmo only managed to let out a scream, and in the blink of an eye, most of her body was already being dragged off the cliff.

She frantically grabbed at the ground with her hands, finally managing to catch hold of a branch just as she was about to be pulled down, and kicked hard with the foot entangled by the hands.

Shen Maomao, like an ant on a hot pan, frantically bent down to grab Lou Jingmo’s arm.

When she looked down, she saw clearly what was grabbing Lou Jingmo.

It was a giant emerging from the cliff face, its face covered in dirt, its body bloody, with its upper body connected to the cliff like a tree bursting out of the ground. Its arms were long and soft, like ropes, binding Lou Jingmo’s legs.

Shen Maomao couldn’t tell who it was, but she knew clearly—if Lou Jingmo was taken, the consequences would be unimaginable.

“Sister Lou! Hold on!” she gritted her teeth, using all her strength to pull Lou Jingmo up.

Time seemed to rewind to that scenario at the construction site, on the night she first entered the game, when Lou Jingmo held her hand like this and never let go, saving her life.

Now it was her turn to save Lou Jingmo…

So no matter what, she absolutely, absolutely would not let go!

Lou Jingmo’s free hand clenched into a fist, and with a thought, a shiny little knife suddenly appeared in her hand.

“Shen Maomao! Let me down!” she shouted.

“If I let go any more, you’ll fall!” Shen Maomao yelled back with difficulty, holding onto her wrist tightly.

Lou Jingmo: “Let go!”

“F*ck!” Shen Maomao had just slightly loosened her grip when a huge force pulled her whole body downward.

In that critical moment, she grabbed the branch Lou Jingmo had been holding, leaving them both dangling precariously over the cliff…

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