Chapter 213: Joining The Restaurant
The waiter who entered the dining area seemed to undergo some eerie change, no longer as obedient as before, and even wanted to escape Zhang Qian’s clutches right then.
Moreover, the ghost hand really couldn’t quite stop it; if its strength were just a bit greater, it might have succeeded.
“This situation really happened…” Zhang Qian said with a wry smile.
The waiter had mentioned earlier that after entering the dining area, it would transform into a fierce ghost, not just physically, but mentally as well, affected by supernatural influence.
Zhang Qian naturally wouldn’t forget such an important matter; he was even waiting for the waiter to bring it up proactively.
But until it entered the dining area, it hadn’t mentioned this at all, unsure whether it had forgotten or had other intentions.
If not for being cautious earlier, this guy probably would have gotten away under the opportunity.
Arranging the ghost hand to follow was certainly for experimentation, but also to add an extra layer of insurance.
If the waiter really wanted to take the ghost hand and hide inside, the ghost hand naturally wouldn’t let it, and Zhang Qian could discover the abnormality in time.
“Can’t even one ghost hand handle it?”
Zhang Qian shook his head, then grabbed the waiter’s arm that was constantly shaking.
Whether it overlooked this matter or truly had other ideas, it made little difference to him.
Either way, it could be easily resolved.
With a slight exertion of strength, without even using true qi, just pure strength alone suppressed the waiter’s struggling momentum.
Unsure if it was because the transformation into a fierce ghost was incomplete, or because the waiter itself was too weak, even after becoming a fierce ghost, it wasn’t that formidable.
Soon, the waiter’s right hand, which had nearly sunk into the walls, slowly emerged from the wall surface again.
The immense force made bones crack, but the waiter’s body showed little tendency to retreat, instead constantly shaking its body.
It seemed to want to tear off its own arm right there to seize a chance to escape.
Zhang Qian naturally wouldn’t let it succeed; hazy true qi floated above his palm.
An inexplicable suppressive force appeared, and the amplitude of the waiter’s resistance instantly diminished considerably.
But diminished, not nonexistent.
And given the waiter’s supernatural strength, true qi should easily suppress it completely.
“These walls not only block the entity’s ghost hand, but even intangible supernatural power can’t pass through?” Zhang Qian said in surprise.
True qi surprisingly couldn’t suppress the entire fierce ghost at once, only able to influence the inside by suppressing this small section of body outside.
Fortunately, this bit of influence was more than enough for Zhang Qian.
Seizing the moment when the waiter was powerless, he yanked fiercely, pulling it back out from the walls.
“Bang!”
The immense force not only dragged the entire waiter out, but also slid it across the ground for some distance until it crashed into that pile of tables and chairs and finally stopped.
A few unstably stacked stools directly smashed onto the waiter’s head, leaving it seeing stars and dizzy.
But it had no time to check its own condition; its legs bent as it prepared to kneel and beg forgiveness, “This lowly one dares not do it again!”
No choice, now that the method to leave had been given, to put it bluntly, it no longer had any value to Zhang Qian; if he was displeased, he could casually kill it without issue.
The waiter knew its recent behavior was suicidal, but it couldn’t control itself.
Fortunately, Zhang Qian had no intention of making things hard for it; he casually supported its body as it tried to kneel, “No need. Supernatural influence is indeed terrifying; not everyone can control it.”
“Some ghost controllers I know don’t even realize when they’re about to lose control; for you to be aware of this is already quite good.”
Most importantly, this accident caused Zhang Qian no losses at all; the only one injured was probably the waiter’s shoulder and head.
This attempt failed, so the idea of sneaking through probably wouldn’t work either.
The other ghost hand similarly found no clues; although not all areas had been explored, Zhang Qian no longer held any hope.
“Then now only one path remains…” Zhang Qian murmured.
Now that other possibilities were eliminated, there was no reason to delay further.
Wanting to leave would eventually require taking this path anyway; better to settle it quickly than drag it out.
Just how exactly to do it was still uncertain.
Zhang Qian first pressed the waiter onto a chair, then placed the notebook in front of it, “You said writing a name makes one the shopkeeper, so how should it be written? And what to do with your name?”
“Need to find the brush pen first.” The waiter said with a grimace.
Damn, its butt started hurting again.
Though puzzled by the waiter’s strange expression, Zhang Qian still followed its guidance and rummaged through the pile of miscellany on the side.
The tables, chairs, stools, and door panels on top were casually tossed aside, soon revealing a dark brown brush pen.
However, the brush pen’s tip was somewhat frayed, clearly showing its owner hadn’t cherished it much.
In a few quick steps back to the dining table side, Zhang Qian held the brush pen and asked: “Found it, then what next? Need ink?”
“No ink needed, just write normally. Only this pen can write on this notebook; others won’t have any effect.”
The waiter took the brush pen from Zhang Qian’s hand, intending to demonstrate for him.
“But there can only be one shopkeeper, so before writing your name, mine must be crossed out first.”
With that, it lightly stroked the words “Niu Xiao Er” with the pen tip, and a uniform ink trace immediately appeared, cutting the characters in half at the waist.
Looking carefully around, Zhang Qian noticed no special changes.
The restaurant interior remained deathly quiet, and the waiter showed no changes.
It seemed the so-called shopkeeper was just the head of the workers, utterly dispensable to this ghost restaurant.
“Done.”
The waiter stepped aside and explained, “Shop assistants’ names must be written by themselves; this lowly one can’t help.”
“Whoever is written in the shopkeeper row is the shopkeeper; the rest are all shop assistants.”
Just writing a name felt too hasty.
Zhang Qian muttered to himself but still followed the waiter’s instructions.
The seemingly crude brush pen was unexpectedly easy to use; in just a few strokes, 【Zhang Qian】’s two characters were complete.
A bit ugly, and simplified characters too, but the effect should be fine.
Because as Zhang Qian looked up, he saw a door frame suddenly appear on the previously seamless walls.
With no door panel blocking the door frame, it revealed only a pitch-black opening leading to that unknown dining area.
