The Hand of Confession – Chapter 66

Volume 3: Days of Working at the Manor

Kill It

Ring around the roses, pockets full of posies

The cart used for carrying hay was parked on a nearby open space, and the tether for tying the horse had been destroyed by the horse, with Shen Maomao even able to see the horse’s glistening saliva shining in the sunlight, imagining how much effort Horse Goldren Retriever had put into biting through the rope.

“It seems this horse left here not long ago…” Lou Jingmo said.

Behind Shen Maomao, Horse Goldren Retriever nudged her with its head, nodding like crazy.

Goldren Retriever looked at this unusually intelligent horse and hesitantly said, “I remember when we arrived, this horse wasn’t this smart.”

The old horse’s head froze for a moment, snorted loudly, then lowered its head to nibble on a couple of blades of grass, pretending to be just an ordinary horse without a care in the world.

“It’s definitely got issues!” Goldren Retriever said in a mysterious and superstitious way, “We can’t take it with us!”

Lou Jingmo curved her lips, but there was no real smile on her face: “So what do you suggest we do?”

“We can’t take it back…” Goldren Retriever, with sharp eyes, spotted a kitchen knife stuck in the cutting board in the backyard. He immediately walked over and pulled it out, forgetting his previous ‘fearful of shadows’ persona.

He raised the kitchen knife and walked straight towards Shen Maomao: “We have to kill it! It’s not normal!”

In just a few words, a sense of bloodshed filled the air.

Shen Maomao blocked Horse Goldren Retriever and looked at him, saying, “What are you doing?”

Goldren Retriever frowned, “Sister Rabbit, you’ve been bewitched by it.”

The old horse angrily scraped the ground with its hooves, snorting heavily from its nostrils, looking as if it wanted to go down fighting together, and let out a long, loud neigh.

Shen Maomao rolled her eyes, “I warn you, don’t act rashly. I’m really a tenth-dan judo master now!”

Goldren Retriever’s expression turned fierce, “Sister Rabbit! Move aside! Don’t be fooled!” He shouted as he charged at her with the knife.

Shen Maomao was fearless and went straight towards him, grabbing his wrist with one hand and pinching the blade with her thumb and index finger, striking a “flamboyant orchid finger pose” (a delicate hand gesture often associated with elegance).

The kitchen knife seemed completely immobilized, no matter how hard Goldren Retriever tried, he couldn’t move it an inch. Two clear fingerprints appeared on the steel blade, showing just how strong Shen Maomao had become.

Shen Maomao found this quite interesting and twisted the hand holding the knife. The kitchen knife bent into a twisted angle as if it were just a thin piece of iron.

Goldren Retriever stomped his foot in frustration, “Why don’t you believe me?!”

Lou Jingmo said calmly, “Because you’re too rushed.”

She grabbed Goldren Retriever’s other arm and smiled at him, “You should know, our relationship has never been equal…”

How could the real Goldren Retriever dare to order them around?

With that, she pressed a dagger against Goldren Retriever’s neck, and a thin red line of blood immediately appeared: “Speak up, who are you?”

Horse Goldren Retriever gently kicked Shen Maomao with its hoof.

Shen Maomao looked confused, “What are you doing? Are you crazy?”

Horse Goldren Retriever rolled its eyes at Shen Maomao.

Shen Maomao: “??” Are you crazy?

Meanwhile, Goldren Retriever, pinned down by the two girls, showed an extremely sorrowful expression, “Why don’t you believe me? I…” Just as he spoke halfway, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he widened his eyes, looking behind them.

Shen Maomao immediately turned her head, and Lou Jingmo quickly looked at the ground. A pitch-black shadow separated from the old horse’s shadow and rapidly darted towards the three of them.

“Run!” Lou Jingmo shouted, and Shen Maomao released the hand holding the knife and started running, quickly covering a distance in the blink of an eye.

“Hey, wait for me!” Goldren Retriever wailed as he followed them, shouting while running, “I told you that horse was suspicious, right?”

Horse Goldren Retriever galloped up from behind, and even while escaping, it didn’t forget to give Goldren Retriever a kick, knocking him flat on the ground.

Goldren Retriever screamed in panic, “Sister Rabbit, save me!”

Seeing the shadow about to catch up with him, Shen Maomao skidded to a stop, ready to turn back and help, but Lou Jingmo grabbed her: “Where are you going?”

Shen Maomao replied, “To save him!”

Lou Jingmo said, “Save my foot, don’t you know how many props he has?”

That made so much sense!

Shen Maomao thought so too, so she stopped worrying about Goldren Retriever. Instead, she reached out and wrapped an arm around Lou Jingmo’s shoulder, bent down, and slipped her other arm under her legs, effortlessly lifting her goddess in a princess carry!

Lou Jingmo was still a bit stunned, “?? What are you doing?”

Shen Maomao panted heavily, almost matching the speed of a horse with four legs, “Carrying you so we run faster! Let’s make the most of the time before the prop effect wears off, no wasting it!”

Lou Jingmo exclaimed, “Put me down!” It was fast, sure, but it was definitely ruining her cool and aloof image!

Shen Maomao replied, “We’re close enough, no need to be polite with me!”

Who the heck is being polite with you?!

Lou Jingmo was so annoyed her hands shook, “No need to run! Look behind you!”

Shen Maomao replied, “Huh?”

She stopped in confusion, turned around while still holding Lou Jingmo, and saw that Horse Goldren Retriever had also stopped, anxiously trying to run back.

Under the blazing sun, Goldren Retriever’s legs were surrounded by a thick black mass. He wasn’t using any props; he just helplessly reached out to the two women.

The blackness looked like a puddle of water or a patch of fog, rolling freely and fearlessly under the scorching sunlight, rapidly crawling up his legs and soon reaching his waist.

Goldren Retriever screamed in terror, hysterically questioning Lou Jingmo and Shen Maomao why they weren’t saving him. After cursing, he realized his words were pushing them away and quickly changed his tone, “Help… I don’t want to die! Sister Rabbit, please save me…”

He clearly wanted to get closer to them, but the shadow beneath him pinned him in place, unable to move an inch.

Horse Goldren Retriever returned to his own body, desperately trying to bite the black mist with his teeth, but ended up biting Goldren Retriever instead, causing him to howl in pain.

The shadow’s ability was limited; it couldn’t move further up once it reached Goldren Retriever’s waist. This child-like shadow was quite smart; instead of just dropping Goldren Retriever, it emitted a sound like an electric current.

With that sound, two big and two small shadows emerged from the house’s shadow, merging with the first one, completely wrapping Goldren Retriever and turning him into a little dark figure.

Shen Maomao put Lou Jingmo down, looking puzzled, “Aren’t we saving him? Or running away?”

Lou Jingmo stared at the shadows as they became thicker and started to take a more solid form, then suddenly shouted at Horse Goldren Retriever, “Take his body into the shade!”

Horse Goldren Retriever, with all four hooves in a fluster, immediately followed the advice, using all his strength to grab his own collar and slowly drag his body into the house’s shadow. Strangely enough, the shadows didn’t attack him as a horse, perhaps because they automatically classified him as a native creature of the game world?

No one could really say for sure.

As Horse Goldren Retriever moved, Lou Jingmo also pulled Shen Maomao into the shadow of the house. Inside, there were no lights, and their shadows merged with that of the house, making it impossible to tell them apart.

The shadows on Goldren Retriever’s body disappeared the moment he entered the shade. Without support, he collapsed softly to the ground, his face pale and eyes shut, leaving everyone unsure of what had happened to him.

Shen Maomao suddenly realized, “Since there are no other shadows in the shade, it turns out the place that looks the most dangerous is actually the safest?”

Lou Jingmo nodded and crouched down to check on Goldren Retriever’s condition.

Horse Goldren Retriever stood silently by, shedding tears, perhaps worried about his future.

Five shadows slipped out from the house’s shadow and circled around it. Some indistinct sounds reached the ears of the two people and the horse, like someone humming an unfamiliar tune.

Goldren Retriever’s body was fine, but whatever had been occupying it was nowhere to be found, and Horse Goldren Retriever still hadn’t managed to return to his body.

Lou Jingmo found a spot to sit and rest, and Shen Maomao followed suit.

Once Horse Goldren Retriever was sure he wouldn’t be attacked by the shadows, he dashed off to every corner of the farm to search for clues, probably hoping to find a way back to his body.

As the sun slowly set in the west, the house’s shadow shifted, and Lou Jingmo and Shen Maomao had already changed spots three times.

The five shadows, like the most patient hunters, waited outside the shadows for them to come out. They held hands and circled in front of the two, with the song becoming clearer and clearer.

The distant sky was filled with red and purple clouds, like a gorgeous brocade. Not far away, Horse Goldren Retriever, seemingly full of endless energy, ran freely across the grassland.

Shen Maomao’s prop effect had worn off, leaving her muscles a bit weak. She turned to the side and tried resting her head on Lou Jingmo’s lap, surprisingly without being refused.

The colorful clouds in the sky slowly drifted eastward, and surprisingly, she felt a rare calmness. “Sister Lou, look, doesn’t that cloud look like a little lion?”

Lou Jingmo rolled her eyes, “Not looking.”

Shen Maomao insisted, “Just take a peek!”

Lou Jingmo slapped her face lightly, “Shut up and don’t disturb me while I’m listening to the song.”

Shen Maomao was confused, “?? This song sounds like a ghost, you can’t even make out the lyrics. What’s so good about it?”

Lou Jingmo replied, “…They’re singing in English.”

Shen Maomao was speechless, “…”

Lou Jingmo also fell silent, “…”

For a moment, they looked at each other without words. Shen Maomao awkwardly tried to save face, “Haha, I wasn’t listening carefully. What’s the song about?”

“It’s just one line of lyrics, sung over and over,” Lou Jingmo looked at the shadows, “The gist of it is—’Ring around the roses, pockets full of posies, a-tishoo, a-tishoo, we all fall down.'”

The way she recited those lyrics made her sound like an emotionless lyric-reading machine.

Shen Maomao crossed her legs, “Does this song have any deep meaning?”

As she spoke, she glanced at the shadows performing their “magical love spinning” act and shouted, “Hey—we’re not leaving before dark! Aren’t you dizzy? Go home and sleep!”

The five shadows ignored her entirely and kept spinning tirelessly.

Lou Jingmo said, “I wasn’t finished speaking, why are you so excited? If I’m not mistaken, this song is from ‘Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes’ (a collection of traditional nursery rhymes).”

Shen Maomao suddenly sat up straight.

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