The Hand of Confession – Chapter 62

Volume 3: Days of Working at the Manor

Rose

Rose petals falling one by one

After the rustling footsteps faded away, Lou Jingmo finally let Shen Maomao out.

The two stood behind the grass clump, their upper bodies exposed. Shen Maomao covered her nose, like a “salted fish” (meaning listless or lacking energy): “What’s going on… isn’t this too intense?”

Lou Jingmo’s expression was grave as she counter-questioned: “Do you know who just passed by?”

“Who?”

“—It was you.”

Shen Maomao: “??”

Lou Jingmo added: “Wearing a maid outfit, with your bestie’s face, exactly like how you look right now.”

Shen Maomao: “??!” Me? But I’m right here, if she’s Shen Maomao then who am I?

Lou Jingmo pondered: “It seems the supernatural beings in this world believe you’re dead. The other you’s situation should be the same as those two who passed by earlier—they’re all imposters.”

Shen Maomao opened her eyes wide in confusion, completely bewildered: “Then… how did you determine that I’m real and she’s the fake?” Could it be that Sister Lou knew her so well, their bond stronger than gold (meaning a deep, unbreakable bond), that she could distinguish real from fake at a glance?

Lou Jingmo pinched the soft flesh at the back of her neck: “The revived you appeared directly at my feet.”

Shen Maomao, who had already imagined several episodes of a dramatic series in her head: “…” Fine, pretend she never asked.

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The sudden incident made Shen Maomao’s identity awkward. Her job was taken by a ghost, and she couldn’t return to her post unless they could eliminate the ghost… but if ghosts were that easy to kill, why would they need to struggle through this challenge? Wouldn’t they just go on a killing spree?

Lou Jingmo was considering more: “What I’m thinking now is—if they discover that you’re actually not dead…”

Although she didn’t finish, Shen Maomao understood the implied meaning.

If the supernatural beings discovered her true self, what awaited her would likely be endless pursuit and attempts to kill her…

Shen Maomao leaned weakly against Lou Jingmo, thinking desperately: she might not survive this side quest.

Lou Jingmo pushed her away in disgust: “Stay away from me, it’s too hot.”

Shen Maomao: “It’s early morning and the sun hasn’t fully risen, what the hell are you hot about?”

Lou Jingmo realized she had a point, so changed the subject: “Don’t go to the manor for now, just stay with me. Don’t overthink it, maybe those people in the dining hall will expose you directly anyway.”

Shen Maomao was speechless: “…Sister Lou.”

“Hmm?” Lou Jingmo raised an eyebrow.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re particularly bad at comforting people?”

Lou Jingmo smiled: “I wasn’t trying to comfort you.”

Shen Maomao: “…” Gan (a modern internet slang expressing frustration, similar to “damn”).

The minute hand of the clock tower slowly pointed to 12, almost seven o’clock, as the two walked unhurriedly into the garden.

Carved wooden fences enclosed a large garden plot, entwined with emerald vines, and the garden inside was filled with bright red roses.

Even though it wasn’t the season for roses to bloom, the ones before them were flowering with extraordinary brilliance. As a gentle breeze passed, the roses collectively swayed their heads, creating ripples across the sea of crimson.

Standing before the rose field, Shen Maomao couldn’t help taking a small step back. This flower field gave her an unsettling feeling, just like the old locust tree at the entrance of Lingyuan Village from the previous side quest.

Lou Jingmo, standing behind her, spoke eerily: “Do you think this is because of the wind?”

What else could it be?

“Wait…”

Her barely audible voice was carried to her ears by the wind. The seven o’clock bell rang, signaling that the servants should begin their duties. The already gentle wind gradually diminished until it completely disappeared, yet the roses before them continued to sway their heads tirelessly, as if expressing a silent rejection towards them.

“Owww!” A strange cry came from deep within the flower bed, followed by someone crawling out in panic, rolling to their feet.

It was actually Golden Retriever who had left earlier!

Now he looked like he was covered in a red blanket, his entire back surrounded by roses.

Shen Maomao crouched down and poked the back of his head with her index finger.

“Ow it hurts so much wuwuwuwu…” Golden Retriever cried tearfully, “Help help help QAQ!”

Shen Maomao grabbed a flower and tried to pull it out forcefully.

Golden Retriever immediately let out another howl: “Ouch ouch ouch!”

“What’s going on?” Shen Maomao didn’t dare to touch it again, looking helplessly at Lou Jingmo.

With his face to the ground, Golden Retriever broke down: “I don’t know!! It was fine before! As soon as the bell rang, those roses went crazy and started biting me!!”

“I told you these roses are alive,” Lou Jingmo squatted down and tried to pry a rose, prompting another wail from Golden Retriever.

“What plant isn’t alive! Who knew they were alive like this?”

“These flowers…” Lou Jingmo hesitated, “seem to have grown together with you…”

Golden Retriever shivered: “How could it be?!”

Shen Maomao gently touched a rose: “Does it feel anything?”

“Ying~” Golden Retriever whimpered, “It tickles QAQ!”

Shen Maomao: “Golden, you look like a flower fairy right now.” The pain eased a little, and Golden Retriever got up by himself, crying loudly: “At a time like this, please stop joking around… Am I going to die?!”

“It’s fine.” Lou Jingmo shook her head, “You’re far from dying.”

Reassured by the boss’s words, Golden Retriever stopped crying, wiped his nose, and then felt the roses growing through his clothes on his back: “It was fine before seven… What kind of nonsense, what horse eats roses?!”

Lou Jingmo couldn’t help but chuckle.

Shen Maomao asked: “Besides pain, do you feel anything else?”

“Wait a moment…” Golden Retriever closed his eyes to feel it, then said, “How do I put it? My brain tells me these flowers are part of my body… Is my brain broken QAQ?”

Lou Jingmo thought for a moment and instructed Shen Maomao: “I left a tool bucket over there, bring me the big shears.”

Shen Maomao took the order and ran over excitedly to get the scissors.

Golden Retriever trembled in fear: “No way! You can’t cut them! It’s like watching my own arms and legs get cut off! I can’t do it!”

Shen Maomao quickly returned with the big scissors, and Golden Retriever let out a yell and tried to run.

Lou Jingmo swiftly chopped the back of his neck with a hand strike.

Golden Retriever rolled his eyes, his body going limp like noodles, and he lay still.

“Sister Lou! The shears!” Shen Maomao handed her the scissors, looking at Golden Retriever on the ground and the roses on his back, “What now?!”

Lou Jingmo concisely said: “Cut them off!”

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“My little roses!”

Golden Retriever, awakened by Shen Maomao, gathered a handful of roses, grief-stricken: “You died so tragically!”

Shen Maomao kicked him from behind: “Stop the damn acting, if you love them so much, want us to put them all back?”

Golden Retriever: “No no…”

These roses appeared to grow from his flesh, but they were actually just attached to his jacket—not even touching the clothes underneath.

Lou Jingmo thought Golden Retriever had a point about his brain malfunctioning. So she knocked him out directly, and while he was unconscious, she quickly cut up his jacket, which indeed caused no pain.

“Pick up the flowers from the ground and hurry to feed the horses.”

Golden Retriever was afraid: “Will they grow back…?”

Lou Jingmo said: “How can they grow back when they’re all broken? If they do, come find me. But remember, before feeding the horses, check your entire body and make sure there are no flowers left.”

With her explanation, the other two instantly understood.

The Baron’s horses like eating roses, and Golden Retriever, covered in roses, would feel the roses were part of his body…

If the two met, things could go wrong, and Golden Retriever might die from pain in the stable.

Golden Retriever’s face turned pale. As he picked up the scattered roses into a bamboo basket, he muttered: “Sisters, isn’t this side quest much harder than the first one?”

Shen Maomao had plenty to say about this: “Harder? This is freaking impossible! I almost died right at the start… cough nearly died at the beginning!”

The side quest didn’t have a clearly defined difficulty level; its ease or difficulty depended on personal experience. Like how a thousand readers see a thousand different Hamlets, a thousand players going through the same side quest would have a thousand different experiences.

But for this side quest, even Lou Jingmo felt the difficulty was too high.

Usually, those extremely difficult side quests wouldn’t have newcomers. This side quest had two newcomers, so logically, it shouldn’t be too difficult, and there should be a peaceful night. But so far, including Shen Maomao, three people had died, not counting the two tutors whose fates were unknown.

—And they still didn’t know if any of the confirmed survivors had been replaced by supernatural beings.

So where did the problem lie?

Lou Jingmo looked at Ren Yue’s face that Shen Maomao was wearing, deep in thought.

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This game wasn’t part of Lou Jingmo’s plans.

After the first game, she put in some effort to find Shen Maomao—speaking of which, she initially thought Ren Yue was “Rabbit” until she heard Shen Maomao say her name at the book signing, realizing she had identified the wrong person.

After helping Shen Maomao clear her second game, Lou Jingmo found Lingyuan Village and anonymously reported the village that was surviving on selling various wild animals.

Then Golden Retriever contacted her.

He had somehow learned about the 《Confession Game》 player forum, went on a shopping spree for game props there, and offered a substantial commission fee to hire her as a power leveler (gaming term for someone hired to play on behalf of others).

Fearing he wouldn’t find a better power leveler, Golden Retriever used expensive items he purchased to postpone his second game for a month, and fortunately, he managed to find Lou Jingmo on the forum.

In the following days, Lou Jingmo formed a one-time team contract with him, then continued struggling with her new book. Since there was plenty of time, she hadn’t given much thought to the game issues, until last night when she was unexpectedly pulled into the game, not even having time to change her character’s face!

This game didn’t belong to the three of them, but to Shen Maomao’s best friend, the girl called Ren Yue.

She always felt Shen Maomao’s self-explanation wasn’t coherent.

The soul-calling substitution initially chose Ren Yue, and with Shen Maomao’s interference changing the target mid-way, the outcome should have had nothing to do with Ren Yue, and Shen Maomao shouldn’t be wearing Ren Yue’s face in the game…

So she always suspected something was wrong with Ren Yue, but currently had no concrete evidence.

Finding out everything would be simple—if she could obtain an identical item, the problem would be solved easily.

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LP: I knew it, something’s sus about Ren Yue!

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