The Hand of Confession – Chapter 394

Volume 11: The Days of Traveling on a Train

The Female Tour Guide

Scavenger

“It’s because they accidentally wandered into your territory?” Shen Maomao asked.

“Not exactly,” Puck said. “I think the Fairy King was in a bad mood after fighting with the Fairy Queen, and this group of humans just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Great. So it lines up perfectly with the plot of 《A Midsummer Night’s Dream》.¹

Shen Maomao was speechless. “So these people were just a convenient venting barrel² for him?”

Puck nodded.

“That’s a bit too tyrannical,” Xiao Ai said.

“The Fairy King is the master here. He can do whatever he wants.” Puck shot her a nervous glance. “You’d better not speak ill of him. He’ll be unhappy if he hears you.”

“He can hear us from that far away?” Shen Maomao asked.

“Exactly. So don’t take my words lightly. The Fairy King’s temper is nowhere near as good as mine,” Puck said earnestly.

Shen Maomao asked another question. “Then how can we get him to release all these souls?”

“Impossible,” Puck answered without a second thought. “If the Fairy King were that easy to reason with, they wouldn’t have been repeating this nightmare for so many years.”

Shen Maomao’s eyes darted around as a wicked idea began to form. “Is there anything your Fairy King is afraid of?”

Puck flew a circle around her, seeming to see right through her intentions. “Don’t even think about it. The Fairy King is only afraid of fire, but he lives at the bottom of a lake. Fire can’t get down there.”

Shen Maomao’s eyes lit up.

When it came to the twelve card types, the one with the highest drop rate was, without a doubt, Andrei. Card collection events usually had two types of cards. One was so common that nearly everyone had a copy, giving you hope that you could complete the set. The other had a one-in-a-billion drop rate—or simply didn’t exist at all—ensuring you could never collect the full set for the reward. Judas was the latter type; Andrei was the former.

She had used an Andrei card before, but she’d gotten another one in a later instance. It seemed like the perfect tool for the current situation. And since the card itself so thoroughly lacked prestige³, she wouldn’t feel the slightest bit of regret using it.

After getting a clear picture of the situation from start to finish, Shen Maomao beckoned for Puck to return to her palm.

Before he did, Puck looked at her and asked, “Are you leaving, too?”

Shen Maomao nodded.

Puck put his hands on his hips, his wings vibrating rapidly to keep him afloat. “Fairies can’t leave this place! If you go, our contract will be voided, and you’ll lose me!”

Is there really such a good deal? Shen Maomao thought. Out loud, she said, “How could this be?! I thought you’d come with me! What a shame…”

Xiao Gao and Xiao Ai stared at her. Could the smile on your face be any more obvious?

“So, will you stay?” Puck asked. “I’ll protect you so the Fairy King won’t find you. You just have to play with me!”

Shen Maomao was very moved, and then rejected him⁴. “I can’t. My wife is waiting for me at home.”

“Pei⁵! You bad human!” Puck shot back before diving into her palm and ignoring her.

Shen Maomao closed her hand into a fist and turned to the other three. “His words are about fifty percent credible. But no matter what, we have to give it a try tomorrow. We can’t give up a single shred of hope.”

The tiny fairy in her fist shouted, “Did you think I couldn’t hear you?! You don’t believe me! You’re horrible!!!”

Shen Maomao froze. Well, this is fucking awkward.

She tried to explain. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. I’m just a cautious person by nature. I don’t trust anyone.”

“I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening!” After roaring three times, he went into seclusion⁶, completely shutting down.

Shen Maomao let out a long sigh, happy for the peace and quiet. She glanced at her watch and said to the others, “It’s almost midnight. Let’s wait here until we’re out of the tunnel, then we’ll head back and check the situation in the other cars. We can discuss everything else tomorrow when we see the lake.”

No one objected. They stood in place, counting down the seconds.

The moment the clock struck twelve, the train’s noise instantly subsided. The four of them immediately turned and walked back.

The clothes they had used to jam the door were now a pile of shreds. This time, the corpses inside were all sitting neatly in their seats, thoughtfully leaving the central aisle clear. Their heads, however, which had been hanging from the windows, were nowhere to be seen—a deeply unsettling development.

Holding their breath, the group passed through the rows of corpses and soon arrived in front of car number five.

Xiao Gao, who was in the lead, tried the door. As expected, it slid open without any resistance.

It seemed Zhan Zhi’s efforts over the past two days had been for nothing. All the doors he’d locked were useless.

They pushed the door open and stepped inside. The car was just as quiet as when they’d left, as if everyone was asleep. Without saying much, they returned to their respective compartments to wait for dawn.

Auntie Ning was already asleep in her bunk. Shen Maomao, however, fiddled with her phone, her mind racing as she planned for the next day.

The Fairy King was at the bottom of the lake, and so was the exit. Her plan was to use Andrei to boil the entire lake dry, and while she was at it, see if she could take out the Fairy King.

Killing the Fairy King had to be done near the exit. First, she wasn’t sure if the exit would still work after the water was gone. Second, if she couldn’t beat him, she could still escape.

This all had to happen after the other players had left. Otherwise, if she fled, the remaining players would have to face the Fairy King’s wrath—and this particular king had an exceptionally bad temper and a penchant for taking his anger out on others.

Who is the Scavenger? she wondered. Should I just reveal my identity to gather the players quickly? But how many of them would even believe me?

Shen Maomao sighed.

Sometimes, being a good person wasn’t easy.

She decided to stop thinking about these frustrating problems for now. As soon as they reached the lake tomorrow, she would reveal her identity and call for the players to jump. Those who believed her could follow; those who didn’t could stay on the train. She couldn’t be bothered to persuade anyone.

With that decided, she slipped under her covers, clenched her fist, and closed her eyes, gradually drifting into sleep.

…

The next morning, there were no screams. She was woken by Auntie Ning shaking her.

To jump into the lake, they needed to know which windows could be opened. Before sleeping, Shen Maomao had asked Auntie Ning to wake her early so they could find an escape route before reaching Lake Baikal⁷.

After waking up, Shen Maomao checked her watch. It was four in the morning. She had slept for less than four hours and was so tired her eyes could barely stay open.

But this was clearly not the time to sleep in. She got up and went to wake Xiao Gao and Xiao Ai to help. The four of them split into two pairs and started checking the windows.

Half an hour later, they regrouped in the fifth sleeper car and shook their heads.

“You didn’t find anything either?” Shen Maomao asked.

Xiao Yanjing from the next compartment poked his head out. “What are you guys looking for? What didn’t you find?”

“None of your business,” Shen Maomao said, then turned back to Xiao Gao and Xiao Ai. “Actually, there’s one set of windows we haven’t checked.”

Xiao Gao understood immediately. “You mean… this one?”

The man from before had opened this car’s window to stick his head out, which meant it could definitely be opened.

Shen Maomao nodded and walked over to the window, yanking the curtain aside.

The sky was still a hazy gray, but their view was no longer obstructed. A round head appeared before them, its lips curling into a smile as they all stared.

Xiao Ai gasped and took a sharp step back, her back hitting the compartment wall.

Steeling herself, Shen Maomao gave the window a push. Sure enough, it opened. She propped it up. The head on the glass shifted with the movement, its eyes darting back and forth, but it never fell off.

A damp wind howled through the opening, so loud that it drowned out all other sounds. She quickly shut the window again and turned to the four people staring at her. “We can get out through here.”

“Get out?” Xiao Yanjing asked. “Where are you going? And how?”

“Jumping into the lake,” Shen Maomao said.

Xiao Yanjing was stunned. “It’s not that bad, is it?! I know this place is scary, but you don’t have to resort to suicide! If you die in the game, you die in real life. You should really reconsider!”

Shen Maomao said, “…I mean, we found out the exit is at the bottom of the lake.”

Xiao Yanjing didn’t believe her. “Don’t lie to me. We’re not even at the lake yet. How would you know the exit is at the bottom? Are you trying to trick us into a suicide pact with you?”

Blue veins started popping⁸ on Shen Maomao’s forehead. Annoyingly, he had a point, and for a moment, she couldn’t think of a good rebuttal.

Fortunately, Auntie Ning came to her rescue. “Young man, we won’t force you to jump. You can think it over for yourself…”

“You don’t have to persuade me anymore,” Xiao Yanjing said immediately.

Shen Maomao had a “Then take care of yourself” ready on the tip of her tongue, but before she could say it, he added, “I’ll jump with you!”

“Weren’t you just saying you didn’t believe us?” Xiao Ai retorted.

“I was just expressing a symbolic bit of doubt,” Xiao Yanjing said frankly.

Shen Maomao was speechless.

“I can swim!” Xiao Yanjing announced. “If anyone can’t, I can give you a hand!”

“No need,” Shen Maomao said. “Just take care of yourself.”

Despite their lengthy conversation, none of the other passengers seemed to be waking up. Sensing something was wrong, Shen Maomao sent the others to check on the nearby compartments while she went directly to Zhan Zhi’s.

The person in Zhan Zhi’s lower bunk was still alive, his breathing heavy, just sleeping very deeply.

But the upper bunk—where Zhan Zhi was—was now empty from the neck up. He had lost his head in his sleep.

Shen Maomao didn’t feel particularly upset, because she knew Zhan Zhi would be revived.

But with his death, the mysterious phone call from that day became an unsolved mystery. What had Zhan Zhi been trying to warn her about? Was that person even Zhan Zhi? It was all unknowable now.

She didn’t hesitate for long, turning and heading straight for the female tour guide’s compartment.

The female tour guide was fine. Her eyes were shut tight, her face deathly pale, and her eyelashes trembled violently as if she were trapped in a nightmare from which she couldn’t wake.

Could she be the Scavenger? Shen Maomao asked herself. Is it her? Or Zhan Zhi? Or the other tour guide?

She reached out and began waking up the remaining survivors one by one.

After a final count, a total of fifteen people were dead, every single one of them headless. But looking at the round, dark shadows on the aisle curtains, Shen Maomao felt she had a pretty good idea where the heads had gone.

The people who woke up were completely bewildered; they had no idea the person in their compartment had died. She paid special attention and noticed that the dead were all from multi-person compartments. Now, aside from her group and Xiao Gao and Xiao Ai, only one person was left alive in each of those rooms.

In other words, there were only thirteen survivors left on the entire train, and that included two tour guides who were not in their right minds.

At this point, Shen Maomao had no intention of playing any more childish guessing games with the Scavenger. She gathered everyone who was still conscious and announced loudly, “How many players are left? I have something to say!”

The three npcs looked confused.

Shen Maomao’s gaze swept over their faces, immediately ruling them out.

The car fell silent for a moment before a man stepped forward. “I am.”

Then, another woman stepped forward. “Me too.”

“That’s it?” Shen Maomao asked.

One of the npcs asked, “What game? Are you guys really playing a prank show? This isn’t funny at all…”

Another male npc gripped the female player’s hand tightly, his eyes bloodshot. “What is going on? Why don’t I know anything about this? Why did you hide it from me? Is my love for you not enough?”

He seemed to be deeply under the spell of the Love-in-idleness Flower Juice.

Shen Maomao frowned and answered the first person’s question. “This isn’t a prank show. This probably isn’t the first time you’ve experienced scenes like this. Do you have any memory of it?”

The npc froze.

“You’re all actually long dead,” Shen Maomao continued. “The only reason you’re still here is because of the so-called Fairy King’s punishment. He wants you to repeat these horrors over and over, so you can never leave.”

The remaining npcs were stunned into silence. Only the man poisoned by the Love-in-idleness Flower Juice kept pestering the female player, his expression growing more frantic. “Why do you always look at me with such impatience… What did I do wrong? Or are you just planning to use me and throw me away?”

The female player placated him. “I love you the most, but I’m a little busy right now. Can you wait for me for a bit and just be quiet?”

The man finally settled down. He kept his arms wrapped around her waist, as if to declare his ownership.

Shen Maomao warned her, “You’d better deal with that. Otherwise, there could be serious consequences.”

The female player was unconcerned. “It’s fine. You can continue. You gathered everyone so suddenly. Did you make a major discovery?”

Shen Maomao relayed what Puck had told her, concluding with, “So I’ve called you all here to hear your decision.”

The female player’s brow furrowed, and she instinctively glanced at the male player beside her.

The male player also looked conflicted. Shen Maomao found it completely understandable. “Take your time to think it over,” she said. “This is the only way out I’ve found so far. Don’t ask me how I found it; it’s too complicated, and I can’t be bothered to explain.”

“We’ll think about it…” the female player said.

“We’ll arrive at Lake Baikal after seven o’clock,” Shen Maomao stated. “You have twenty minutes to decide.”

“Can I ask you a question?” the woman asked.

“Go ahead.”

“Right now, of the three tour guides, one is dead and two are insane. So where did you learn that we’ll arrive at Lake Baikal after seven?”

Puck had told her, but her intuition warned her not to reveal his existence in front of the Scavenger. “How I know isn’t important,” Shen Maomao said. “What’s important is that your time is running out. This offer expires.”

The woman gave her a long, meaningful look, probably thinking she was up to no good, but she didn’t say anything else, clearly lost in thought.

The remaining npcs couldn’t help but crowd around. “What do you mean by all this?”

“How are we all dead?”

“I can’t explain it clearly,” Shen Maomao said. “Please, everyone, try to remain calm. If conditions permit, I’ll find a way to save you.”

“And if conditions don’t permit?”

“Can you guarantee you can save us?”

“No, I can’t. No comment.”

The area erupted into a clamor. Shen Maomao was thinking she might as well just knock them all out to keep them from getting in the way. But before she could act, the train’s broadcast suddenly crackled to life. It was the same male voice from before. “Dear passengers, the train is now approaching Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is…”

The broadcast began to describe the beautiful scenery of the lake, but Shen Maomao caught a whiff of blood from the open window.

She pushed past the people in front of her and rushed to the window, sticking her head out to look ahead.

Lake Baikal was just ahead. She saw no blue, only a line of red.

As the train drew closer to the water, that line grew wider. She was almost certain now. This was the lake—a lake of blood-red water.

Shen Maomao turned and shouted, “Get ready to jump!”

Xiao Gao, Xiao Ai, and Auntie Ning all came to the window and pulled open the curtains.

Rows of heads turned to stare at them, their eyes fixed.

The female player was startled. “My god… who would dare jump into that!”

“Jump or don’t jump. If you’re not jumping, get out of the way,” Shen Maomao said, then looked at Auntie Ning. “Can you swim?”

Auntie Ning nodded. “I can. Don’t worry about me. You do what you need to do.”

As the train continued forward, the red lake came into full view. When the wind blew, ripples spread across its surface, and thick, sticky bubbles rose with a gudu gudu⁹ sound, like a pot of boiling blood.

This time, even Xiao Gao hesitated. “Are we really supposed to jump in there?”

Shen Maomao repeated her line: “It’s up to you. Auntie Ning, are you ready? If the train doesn’t stop by the time we reach the middle, we jump anyway!”

“Okay!” Auntie Ning carefully climbed onto the table, sat on the edge of the bunk, and swung her legs outside. The strong wind whipped painfully against her calves.

But a few seconds later, the train began to slow, finally coming to a steady stop at the lakeside.

“Jump!” Shen Maomao yelled.

“Wait!”

A voice suddenly called out from behind her. Shen Maomao paused, halfway onto the table, and turned to look.

The female tour guide, who had been acting insane, suddenly lunged forward, shouting at her, “Don’t believe her!”

A smirk touched Shen Maomao’s lips.

The fox finally couldn’t resist showing its tail.

The female tour guide spoke in a rapid-fire burst. “Don’t believe her! She’s not even human! She’s the one who killed the people in the dining car! I saw her face, and I was so scared she’d kill me to silence me that I had to pretend to be a fool to get by… And last night, I heard her talking to someone, walking back and forth in the car—that old lady is her accomplice!”

The woman and man grew even more hesitant.

After her speech, the tour guide lunged toward Auntie Ning, probably deciding to pick on the soft persimmon¹⁰ first. “Everyone, help me restrain them! We can’t let them escape!”

Auntie Ning was perched precariously by the window and couldn’t easily dodge. Shen Maomao stood up on the table, grabbed the luggage rack above, and launched herself forward, planting a foot squarely in the tour guide’s face. “Get lost!”

The kick nearly knocked her jaw crooked, sending her collapsing to the floor with a massive shoe print on her face, completely stunned.

Shen Maomao gave Auntie Ning a gentle push from behind. “Go, now!”

Putong¹¹! Auntie Ning fell into the water. Shen Maomao glanced back at Xiao Gao, Xiao Ai, and Xiao Yanjing, then followed without a second’s hesitation.

The bloody water looked disgusting and smelled of iron, but jumping in felt no different from normal water. Swimming wasn’t sluggish at all.

Putong—

A moment later, a much louder splash sounded behind them. Shen Maomao turned to see that Xiao Yanjing had followed them.

Treading water, Shen Maomao asked him, “Weren’t you scared?”

“I have absolutely no clues!” Xiao Yanjing said. “Rather than just wait to die, I’d rather take a gamble with you guys!”

Fearing that delays breed trouble¹², Shen Maomao urged them on. “Dive, now!”

The three of them took a deep breath and plunged headfirst into the water.

Once they were submerged, the blood-red color vanished. It seemed to exist only as a thin layer on the surface. Below it was the normal water of Lake Baikal.

A white light flickered faintly from the lakebed. Having grown familiar with these instances, Shen Maomao immediately recognized it as the exit.

Two more splashes sounded from behind them—probably Xiao Gao and Xiao Ai. Shen Maomao ignored them and swam up behind Auntie Ning, pushing her forward and giving her a hard shove toward the bottom of the lake.

Xiao Yanjing, for his part, broke into a frantic dog paddle¹³, and he was surprisingly fast.

Auntie Ning waved at her. Shen Maomao kicked Xiao Yanjing in the back, helping him sink faster, and used the momentum to push herself back to the surface.

She floated on the lake, wiping the water from her face. The train hadn’t left yet. The female tour guide was staring down from the window. When she saw Shen Maomao resurface, a strange smile spread across her face. “You actually dared to come back?” she said in a low voice.

Shen Maomao met her gaze without fear. “There’s nothing Ye¹⁴ wouldn’t dare to do.”

The tour guide’s expression turned cold. “You won’t be able to leave this time, you little thing who ruined my plans,” she sneered.

After she spoke, she waved her right hand. Two headless corpses were thrown from the train into the water by a group of tiny fairies that looked just like Puck. Judging by their clothes, they were the two players who had been hesitating just moments ago.

“Aren’t you afraid of retribution for doing that?” Shen Maomao asked.

“Your retribution is coming right now,” the tour guide replied.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Shen Maomao noticed a dark shadow swimming rapidly beneath her feet.

Peng¹⁵! The tour guide slammed the window shut. She waved through the glass, a victorious smile on her face, as the train slowly began to move, pulling away from the lake and heading toward its so-called final destination.

Shen Maomao’s lips curled into a smirk. She pulled out the Andrei card and chose to use it.

A tiny flame appeared, then, in an instant, it spread with the irresistible force of smashing the withered and pulling up the rotten¹⁶.

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The author has something to say:

I’ve been busy with a relative’s wedding yesterday and today. I just finished typing this and I’m exhausted enough to vomit. I’ll fix any typos later.

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