Chapter 146: Ghost Map
Time was still ample, so Zhang Qian didn’t rush to set off and began investigating the various suspicious points around him.
The first and foremost was this blueprint that seemed to be his lifesaver.
After flipping through the blueprint twice, Zhang Qian discovered it only had content on the front side, with the back completely blank, without a single symbol.
Spreading the front side out on the carpet, the details of the entire blueprint were fully visible.
Judging by its condition, this blueprint was very old, made of dark brown leather, soft in texture, and very smooth to the touch.
If not for the cold aura on it, it would just look like an ordinary old item with stains.
The content drawn on it was somewhat interesting.
“Is this… a map?”
He hadn’t noticed before, but now looking closely, Zhang Qian found the content on this blueprint somewhat familiar.
Two straight lines extended through the center of the blueprint, dividing the entire piece of leather into three sections.
On both sides of the straight lines were continuous square grids, though most grids were empty, with some black ink stains in a few, and one even smeared completely black with thick ink, just a black spot.
Though crude, it inexplicably resembled the environment in the outside corridor.
If the two straight lines were the corridor, then these grids were individual rooms.
The blank grids were easy to understand, probably rooms that couldn’t be opened but posed no danger, and the number matched the pattern explored earlier.
The black grids, however, reminded Zhang Qian of that damaged doorway before.
In the darkness of that door lurked an unknown fierce ghost; it had only shown one foot and accomplished the extremely difficult feats of kicking down the door and tripping the fierce ghost, with a terror level probably no less than the limb ghost.
“Knowing the terrain is one thing; the corridor terrain is unchanging, even I could draw it easily. But this map actually indicates which rooms have ghosts…”
The map’s material was very special, with dense textures, finer than any sheepskin or cowhide Zhang Qian had seen, undoubtedly a supernatural product.
Or rather, it was a fierce ghost with a relatively special form of existence.
Both were fierce ghosts imprisoned in rooms by the ghost ship; how could this map cross beyond the room to know information outside?
If that were true, this map would provide considerable help for the next actions.
But this didn’t resolve his doubts.
Why his injuries had recovered, why the fierce ghost had suddenly retreated from outside the room, and why the sealed memories had suddenly surged forth.
As a map, displaying the surrounding environment and fierce ghosts was understandable, but having the ability to heal others and repel fierce ghosts seemed impossible no matter how you looked at it.
“Am I overthinking it, or is this map really not as ordinary as it seems?”
Generally, a fierce ghost’s ability is tied to its form.
Ghost rope can hang people to death, ghost hand can strangle people to death, ghost face can scare people to death…
Thinking about it, Zhang Qian suddenly felt something off.
Fierce ghost abilities all seemed to exist for killing; even special existences like the ghost post office posed severe threats to human life.
Though this map’s ability was miraculous, it seemed unable to directly harm others.
Even holding an envelope carried the risk of backlash, yet his contact with the map had no feedback at all.
Things related to the supernatural all seemed to harbor immense malice; the previous exception was probably only the ghost candle.
Was this map also a supernatural item like the ghost candle?
“No, it definitely can’t be that simple…”
“According to Yue Linhai, the ghost ship is used to imprison fierce ghosts. If this map were truly harmless, it wouldn’t have been specially sealed inside a room.”
“Under this harmless disguise, there must be some unknown danger.”
Compared to obvious dangers, hidden pitfalls that could emerge at any time were more likely to kill people.
But a map that could display the surrounding environment was truly rare; it could foresee dangers and mark the positions of other fierce ghosts.
Moreover, the space in the corridor was extremely special; Zhang Qian had walked for so long without any change, and he even suspected that walking another six hours wouldn’t get him out.
Having finally obtained a clue related to the corridor environment, he was indeed reluctant to just give it up.
Without agonizing long, Zhang Qian made a certain resolve.
He definitely had to take it; such a useful item couldn’t be abandoned, but he needed to ensure it wouldn’t threaten him.
Holding an item tied to a bomb, if the remote wasn’t in his hands, even if the item was useful, there would always be some unease.
“Even if the ghost ship is now suppressing the true qi in my body and my strength is far inferior to outside the ghost ship, other fierce ghosts are similarly suppressed, and this ghost map is no exception.”
“On the same starting line, I have three ghosts while it has only one; as long as I’m not ambushed, there’s no possibility of it instantly killing me.”
“So I need to test its killing pattern now while the environment is safe, or I won’t feel at ease.”
Killing patterns generally include two aspects: first, attack condition—triggering it leads to an attack.
Second, attack pattern, that is, the way the fierce ghost launches the attack, or its manifestation.
Currently, the ghost map’s attack condition seems hard to trigger; the easiest ones like touch, speaking, direct gaze have all been ruled out.
Next, as long as used normally, the chance of being attacked should be small.
But Zhang Qian still felt uneasy; he hadn’t forgotten that when he first woke up, this map had been on his face doing who knows what.
Though he hadn’t sensed any signs of attack then, it still planted a seed of doubt, making him feel the ghost map would sneak attack when he wasn’t looking.
So Zhang Qian now planned to court death, forcing it to attack him once to experience its supernatural strength.
“Let’s try a milder method first.”
Balling up the map, Zhang Qian grabbed one corner and pulled hard outward.
But this seemingly old map was exceptionally tough; even under his full tear, it didn’t tear, only stretching slightly outward.
As soon as he let go, the just-unfolded leather immediately retracted; spreading it out, the entire map showed no deformation, not even a single wrinkle.
“It can even endure this…”
Zhang Qian was somewhat surprised, then pulled a lighter from his pocket.
“Pa—”
An orange-yellow flame shot out; Zhang Qian turned the flame to maximum and mercilessly put the map to it.
