Chapter 149: Main Weapon Get
There is still some time left before the five-minute deadline.
During this time, Zhang Qian did not idle around either; he took out the satellite phone and edited a message in the text messages.
The content of the message was simple: an overview of the ghost ship and various precautions. Although it couldn’t be sent out, it might come in handy after losing memory again.
“It’s a pity that there’s probably only me as a living person here. Otherwise, based on past experience dealing with fierce ghosts, after being attacked once, the fierce ghost would prioritize others who trigger the attack condition, greatly reducing my probability of being attacked.”
Putting the mobile phone into his pocket, Zhang Qian wandered around the room for two more laps and finally set his gaze on the shaky picture frame.
This picture frame didn’t look particularly special; it seemed like just an everyday item from some household, temporarily used as a storage place for the ghost map.
The dark red picture frame was already somewhat peeling, revealing uneven wood underneath the paint, not like good materials.
The backboard didn’t even have paint; the natural wood was exposed to the air, corroded by the humid air and covered with many mottled mold spots.
Apart from being quite old, this picture frame looked really cheap; if placed in a flea market, it probably wouldn’t sell even for five yuan.
“But besides the ghost map, the picture frame is indeed the only thing different about this room compared to the others.”
Normally, the thing inside the picture frame would be more important, but supernatural things are unpredictable—perhaps the ghost map is just the subordinate body, and the picture frame is the main body?
He quietly walked to the bedside.
Zhang Qian extended his empty right hand, wanting to take that frame down from the nail.
But as soon as he placed his hand on it and was about to lift the picture frame, the entire frame suddenly fell apart, breaking into several wooden strips of varying lengths.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly, reaching out to grab one long and one short wooden strip in mid-air.
The rest of the picture frame fell downward, silently landing on the bed.
Before Zhang Qian could examine it closely, the fragments on the bed actually emitted wisps of black smoke, then turned into a pile of black powder like weathered ash.
“Even with some supernatural connection, it still couldn’t withstand the corrosion of time.”
Immediately after, the wooden strip in Zhang Qian’s hand underwent the same change, but only the shorter one disappeared, while the longer one remained intact.
He rubbed the black powder with his finger; it felt fine and dry, like the ash left after firewood burns out, nothing special, not even the chilling supernatural feeling unique to supernatural items.
“So the other parts are just foils, and the most important part of the entire picture frame is only this one border?”
The entire border was roughly as long as Zhang Qian’s arm, presenting an unsettling dark red color throughout.
Unlike the other worn parts of the picture frame, this long border was merely covered in dust; after wiping it clean, the intact paint surface seemed able to reflect light.
Smelling it carefully, Zhang Qian could even detect a bloody smell from it.
This thing didn’t seem like a picture frame that had been left on the ghost ship for a long time; it was more like a murder weapon just found at the scene.
Undoubtedly, this thing was absolutely related to the supernatural.
But upon careful sensing, this wooden stick didn’t seem like a real fierce ghost; the supernatural aura it transmitted to Zhang Qian was very limited, probably just a supernatural item similar to the ghost candle or envelope.
As for its effect…
“Is the picture frame assembled with it as the main body, borrowing its strength to restrict the ghost map?”
“It even has double insurance; the fierce ghosts in those previous rooms didn’t have such treatment.”
Perhaps the ghost map is considered a very special existence even within the ghost ship?
Flipping it back and forth, Zhang Qian found that the shape of this border was a bit strange.
There were no carved decorations on it, and the entire wooden stick had angular edges, nearly a rectangular prism; rather than being part of a picture frame, it was more like a stool leg sawn off from somewhere.
Looking at this unique shape, Zhang Qian couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, “Does this count as a different kind of getting what you wished for?”
He had just wanted to find a supernatural item, and this stool leg delivered itself right to the door.
The length, width, and thickness were all suitable; plus, being related to the supernatural, its strength didn’t need to be worried about—it might be a good choice to use as a weapon.
He tentatively swung it through the air twice; there was a whistling sound, and the feel was unexpectedly good, but Zhang Qian still felt somewhat unsatisfied.
“It’s just a bit too light; it feels floaty when swung.”
Clearly, this wooden stick was seventy or eighty centimeters long and solid, yet the weight Zhang Qian felt was less than that of a balloon of the same volume.
“I wonder how its conductivity for true qi is…”
With a thought, a stream of gray airflow immediately emerged from Zhang Qian’s hand, wrapping and climbing up the wooden stick.
In less than two seconds, the originally dark red wooden stick was enveloped in a layer of hazy faint light, like it had been freshly coated with translucent clear varnish.
Nodding, Zhang Qian satisfactorily tucked the stick into his waist belt: “It’s a bit ugly, but the effect is pretty good.”
Until he found another handy weapon, he could make do with this for now.
With this delay, not much time was left before the five minutes.
Zhang Qian took out his phone to check the time, then walked to the window side, quietly waiting for time to pass.
The room remained calm; the ghost map was clutched in his hand, limply drooping, with no abnormalities appearing.
Until the five-minute deadline completely passed, that eerie musical sound did not ring out again.
“From when I recovered my memory to being attacked, six minutes passed, which means the fierce ghost can’t monitor the entire ghost ship in real time; it should be quite a distance from me, not only with delay, but the influence it can transmit is also very weak.”
“Although I only waited five minutes, adding those fragmented times, it definitely exceeds six minutes.”
“The fierce ghost has already discovered me but can’t launch an attack for some reason; I don’t know how long this recovery time will take—I can’t just keep waiting like this.”
Even with some curiosity about whether the ghost hand could block this musical attack, Zhang Qian didn’t plan to wait any longer.
The pattern is still unclear now, and it’s uncertain how long it takes for the fierce ghost to launch a second attack. The only certainty is that the later it gets, the greater the possibility of the fierce ghost recovering.
But this time is always an unknown; if it never attacks, can Zhang Qian really stay in this room accompanying it forever?
Even if Zhang Qian himself won’t easily starve to death from staying too long, the ghost ship might use this time to break free.
No perfect plan exists; the more you think, the easier it is to fall into hesitation.
So Zhang Qian simply decided to stick to his previous decision and leave the room immediately.
