The Hand of Confession – Chapter 87

Volume 4: Days of Making Mischief at School

Standing Water

Gurgling sounds

Although Ren Yue tried her best to pretend to be scared, compared to what Shen Maomao knew from before, there was still quite a difference.

She never dared to deeply investigate what this meant, fearing that the truth would be something she couldn’t accept.

“Four years…” Lou Jingmo pondered for a moment, “It really has been a long relationship.”

Shen Maomao replied: “So, Sister Lou, do you understand what I mean? If this happened to someone else, I would definitely tell them straight away ‘Why keep holding on until New Year?’ [meaning: why delay the inevitable], but when it happens to me… I don’t want to think about her reasons for hiding things from me, unless there’s solid proof.”

Lou Jingmo suddenly reached out and ruffled her head: “Alright, you’re making me feel like the Queen Mother of the West [a Chinese deity] breaking up Niulang and Zhinü [legendary lovers in Chinese mythology]…”

Shen Maomao sighed, her mood as gloomy as the sky.

Now she just hoped Ren Yue wouldn’t disappoint her…

Lou Jingmo was unusually understanding and changed the subject: “Stop overthinking. Let’s walk around and see if there’s anything unusual.”

They spent an entire long break period checking every corner around the teaching building, but ultimately returned empty-handed.

There was nothing unusual outside the school, the children were all lively and lovely, and no one seemed to be the so-called “cleaner.”

“Let’s go back,” Lou Jingmo said as class time approached, “This is only the second day of the game.” The implication was that there were still several difficult days ahead.

They returned to the classroom, and Shen Maomao put away her umbrella, shaking off water at the doorway.

Just then, a tall figure passed by her, and the water she shook off splashed onto their pant leg.

“I’m sorry!” Shen Maomao quickly apologized. When she looked up after apologizing, she froze.

A middle-aged man in a police uniform stood before her, smiling as he patted her head: “It’s okay, little one.”

Besides him was their class’s new homeroom teacher, Teacher Yue. Teacher Yue recognized them both and said: “Class is about to start, why haven’t you returned to the classroom yet?”

Shen Maomao replied in a childish voice: “We’re heading back right now, Teacher Yue.”

Teacher Yue nodded: “Go quickly, don’t be late.”

Shen Maomao grabbed Lou Jingmo’s hand: “Goodbye Teacher Yue, goodbye Police Uncle.”

The two adults waved goodbye as they walked toward the office, talking. Shen Maomao caught a bit of their conversation; they seemed to be discussing Chen Meihan… Chen Meihan… what had happened?

---

The rain continued for a long time, and a large pool of water had accumulated on the school’s front playground, deep enough to cover the children’s ankles.

To prevent accidents, the school administration explicitly prohibited students from entering the playground through the broadcast. However, some playful boys still went to splash in the water, returning with foul-smelling water on their feet. The whole classroom reeked of the smell, and the two culprits were met with disgust from their classmates.

Before the last class, Teacher Yue visited the classroom and almost got driven out by the smell: “Whew! What’s that smell?”

The students in the front rows all spoke at once: “It’s them! They insisted on playing in the water! And came back all stinky!”

Teacher Yue’s face darkened: “Didn’t the broadcast say not to play in the water?”

The two boys who played in the water nearly cried from fear. One immediately apologized: “I’m sorry, Teacher Yue, I was wrong…”

The other pleaded tearfully: “Teacher, could you please not tell my mom…”

This made Teacher Yue laugh: “Even if I don’t tell your mother, she’ll know what you’ve been doing when you go home smelling like this.”

The little boy couldn’t think it through and only knew that if the teacher didn’t contact parents, playing in water was a minor issue, so he continued pleading: “Please, Teacher Yue…”

Teacher Yue sighed helplessly: “You two, come with me right now. I’ll help you clean up.”

The three of them – one adult and two children – walked out, and the classroom became noisy again.

Shen Maomao pinched her nose and said listlessly to Lou Jingmo: “What’s wrong with this water? Did it flood some public toilet? Why does it smell so awful!”

Because of the rain, they couldn’t open the windows, so even after the two boys left the classroom, a persistent foul smell lingered inside, like piled-up rotting meat, emitting an indescribable stench.

Lou Jingmo stared ahead and said quietly: “Maybe it’s the smell of blood.”

Shen Maomao: “If you insist on saying that, I won’t argue with you.”

Shortly after, the two thoroughly cleaned children returned to the classroom and sat in their seats. The next period’s teacher came in, put the books on the podium, and opened the PPT.

Another long class followed. Shen Maomao rested her chin on her hand, looking out the window. Suddenly, she saw two Police Uncles in uniform, followed by Teacher Yue and an unfamiliar woman, all walking together toward the school gate.

Shen Maomao stretched her neck and stared intently out the window. The teacher at the front angrily called her name: “Shen Maomao!”

“Present!” Shen Maomao jumped up, looking confused at the teacher on the podium.

The teacher pointed to the door: “What, are there flowers outside? Go stand in the hallway!”

Since Shen Maomao wasn’t really a child, she wasn’t too bothered by being punished to stand outside. After the teacher’s criticism, she immediately put on a scared expression and slunk out.

As soon as she stepped out, she ran to the main entrance of the teaching building, watching the four people get into a police car, which then drove away from the school.

It was still class time, and because of the rain, the playground was completely empty, looking especially desolate due to the muddy water on the ground.

Shen Maomao only took one look before turning around to dutifully serve her punishment, but at that moment she heard strange sounds coming from the playground behind her.

“Gudu…”

“Gudu…”

It sounded like a fish hiding in a drain making bubbles, or like the final sounds of a drowning person still in this world.

Shen Maomao felt as if ten thousand caterpillars were crawling up her back, making her shudder involuntarily.

“Gulu…”

“Gulu…”

One after another, with increasingly shorter intervals, as if something was eagerly emerging from the mud, from the deep sea, ending with a “hua” [splash sound] as it broke through the water.

She whirled around to look at the playground nearby.

A small corpse lay in the mud, still wearing their elementary school uniform, with ripples spreading in circles beneath it.

Shen Maomao’s eyes widened, and as she staggered backward, she tripped over something and fell sitting on the ground.

She opened her mouth but found she couldn’t make a sound.

Large amounts of fresh blood poured out from the tiny body, rolling and staining the entire playground red, making one wonder how such a small body could contain so much blood, as if it would never stop flowing.

People in the classroom also noticed something strange on the playground and burst into exclamations. The teacher teaching Class 1-1 realized something was wrong and quickly ran out, scooping up Shen Maomao and covering her eyes with the other hand: “Don’t be afraid… don’t be scared… it’s not real…”

The alarm rang throughout the school.

After being frightened, Shen Maomao had already composed herself, but to maintain her elementary school student persona, she continued to act dazed while the gentle female teacher stroked the back of her head comfortingly for a long while.

The school immediately took emergency measures regarding this incident. To protect the children’s mental well-being, all classrooms had their curtains drawn, and two teachers were assigned to guard each classroom to prevent curious children from doing anything dangerous.

Parents were notified; those who were available came to pick up their children early, while those who couldn’t had to entrust their children to the teachers’ care.

The water pump hummed continuously as the red-colored water was gradually pumped away, revealing the corpse at the bottom.

The little girl appeared to have been soaked in water for several days, her skin slightly swollen, stretching her well-fitted school uniform tight. Her small face was wrinkled, but this didn’t prevent those who knew her from recognizing who she was.

Teacher Yue, who had returned at some point, stood beside the Police Uncle handling the scene, holding a black umbrella. He looked at the body, closed his eyes, and sighed: “She’s the missing student from our class, Chen Meihan.”

The unfamiliar woman following him ignored the blood-filled water that hadn’t been fully pumped out, rushing forward while calling out Chen Meihan’s nickname and crying, but was stopped by the police standing guard.

“Don’t contaminate the scene! You can’t go there!”

The woman stumbled and fell in the rainwater, her sobs mixing with the sound of rain until people could no longer distinguish which was which.

Although Shen Maomao didn’t see what happened next, she remembered the fear from that fleeting glimpse. The corpse had a pink hairpin on its head, identical to the one Chen Meihan wore.

She felt chills down her spine, not understanding why Chen Meihan, who had been picked up by her father, had ended up like this, or why she suddenly appeared in the mud of the playground, with so much blood pouring out.

The teacher carried her back to the classroom, carefully set her down, and asked: “Shen Maomao? How are you feeling?”

Shen Maomao swallowed and said: “I’m fine, teacher. I want to go back to my seat.”

The teacher released her grip on her wrist: “Then go ahead, but make sure to tell the teacher if you feel unwell.”

Shen Maomao nodded and turned to walk back.

A bunch of passing children curiously asked her: “What happened outside, Shen Maomao?”

“Is a monster going to attack Earth?!”

“The teacher already said a typhoon is coming, you’re all so silly.”

The teacher tapped the blackboard: “Quiet! I’ll repeat once more – a typhoon is coming, it will be dangerous outside. The windows might get broken by the wind, and the curtains can only help block some glass fragments, but that doesn’t mean students sitting near the windows are truly safe. So please move your desks to the left, everyone try to stay as far from the windows as possible, okay?”

---

---