Chapter 158: Trap
Oxygen was being consumed bit by bit, and it wouldn’t be long before he, having lost his true qi, might really drown in this special place.
“That anomaly doesn’t plan to show up and wants to trap me to death like this?”
Fortunately, although he had lost the boost of true qi, Zhang Qian’s emotions remained very stable, and he didn’t choke on water due to panic.
“This situation came somewhat suddenly, and without preparation, I can’t hold my breath for too long either…”
He roughly estimated in his mind that he probably had a little over one minute but less than two minutes.
This amount of time wasn’t ample; he needed to act more nimbly.
After exhaling a string of bubbles, Zhang Qian tried to control his body. Although it felt very strange, the good news was that his arms did move.
However, the seawater here seemed much thicker than ordinary seawater. When his palm swept through, it wasn’t like cutting through water flow but more like reaching into a large pool of mucus.
“That black water? So I’ve really ended up inside the stomach of the severed limb ghost.”
If that was really the case, leaving probably wouldn’t be that simple.
The crucial point was whether he could find that thing emitting the crying sound.
Struggling to open his eyes wide, Zhang Qian scanned his line of sight around, trying to find useful clues.
Unfortunately, he failed.
In this pitch black space, Zhang Qian couldn’t even determine whether the surrounding space was completely empty or if his line of sight simply couldn’t see that far.
For a supernatural land, an ordinary person’s body could hardly play any role.
“The true qi in my body seems to have disappeared; I wonder if that thing is still there?”
With the thought arising, Zhang Qian laboriously moved his palm and reached into his pocket.
Zhang Qian was slightly stunned; it was actually still there…
He had only just opened it and thought the surrounding situation was merely some kind of environment, but now it seemed not only his consciousness was affected, but his whole person had been unknowingly swallowed by the fierce ghost.
However, being able to borrow the fierce ghost’s strength was better than having no means at all.
Soon, a leather map with a smooth texture appeared before his eyes.
This map was suspected to be from a strange fierce ghost, an existence on the ghost ship just like the severed limb ghost, and it might have some common relationship.
After slowly raising the map to his eyes, the patterns on it indeed underwent some bizarre change.
The lines representing the aisles and rooms all vanished, leaving the entire map as a pure black, just like it had been thrown into an ink pool and contaminated, with no details visible.
“The shades of color represent the strength of supernatural power. So because the surroundings are now full of supernatural power, the map has simply turned completely black?”
“I thought I could rely on this thing to find that anomaly; looks like it’s not that simple…”
Obviously, as a map, the ghost map was already useless and offered no help for the current situation.
As for other functions, Zhang Qian had groped around for so long before without finding any, let alone in this short time.
After waiting a moment, the map in his hand still showed no reaction, so Zhang Qian could only put it back in his pocket.
After exhaling another string of bubbles, the breath he had inhaled earlier was already exhausted.
His lungs now had not a bit of air left; if he still couldn’t find a way, he’d have to consider finding an auspicious place for himself.
However, with the seawater here so icy cold, the corpse soaking in it probably wouldn’t stink.
At most, it would just keep swelling, like the water ghost he first encountered in the corridor?
“There are still two envelopes…”
Zhang Qian hesitated somewhat. If there was any thing most likely to work on the current situation, it would definitely be the post office’s power.
“But this medium must be delivered to the corresponding target to take effect. The one for the old house owner had no effect when taken out, and the blank envelope must be saved for the captain.”
“If I use that blank envelope here, even if I survive temporarily, I won’t be able to leave the ghost ship; it would just delay death a little.”
Let’s look a bit more; if it really doesn’t work, he could only prioritize survival.
He tried groping around once more.
Zhang Qian discovered it was now like swimming in syrup; although his speed wasn’t affected, it consumed much more physical strength.
Just moving a short distance gave him an obvious feeling of accelerated heartbeat, and even his line of sight ahead became somewhat blurry, with a sensation of about to faint.
He probably didn’t have much time left now.
“If I drag it out any longer, I probably won’t even have the strength to take out the envelope…”
Just as Zhang Qian was about to give up struggling and reach for the envelope.
He suddenly discovered a strange thing in his pocket.
Feeling it carefully, it seemed to be an icy cold chain.
“That pendant of unknown material?”
Zhang Qian couldn’t help but feel somewhat surprised. He clearly remembered that when he picked up the necklace, the fierce ghost entered the room, so he casually threw this thing onto the floor and definitely didn’t put the necklace in his pocket.
“Has it latched onto me?”
However, having a change was a good thing; it was better than being helplessly trapped to death here.
After thinking it over, Zhang Qian temporarily gave up the idea of taking out the envelope and instead pulled out this necklace.
The gold chain wasn’t anything rare, but that pendant of unknown material emitted a strange green light.
This green light was clear even in the pitch black seawater, flashing on and off, as if conveying some kind of information.
“The flashing light…”
Looking at this eerie green light, Zhang Qian seemed to think of something and wrapped the necklace around his body once.
Soon, he stopped facing a certain direction.
When facing this direction, the pendant’s flashing frequency was the fastest.
“Is it this way?” Zhang Qian furrowed his brows.
But the remaining time wasn’t enough for him to hesitate too much.
Oxygen was almost gone; he now already felt chest tightness and probably wouldn’t be able to hold back from inhaling uncontrollably for much longer.
Even without knowing what the flashing frequency of this green light represented, it was the only change, the only hope.
“Better to go check it out than wait to die in place.”
Confirming the direction, Zhang Qian stopped overthinking and focused on swimming toward that place.
Maybe just a few minutes, maybe a few hours.
His consciousness was gradually blurring, no longer caring about time or distance, just mechanically swimming forward.
If not for the blurry flashing light spot in his line of sight, Zhang Qian might not even be able to confirm if he was still alive.
The distance gradually closed in.
This light spot’s flashing frequency grew faster and faster, even urgent, like an alarm continuously sounding.
Just as Zhang Qian could no longer hold on and couldn’t control his body’s instincts anymore.
A mouthful of water choked into his nasal cavity, but at the same time, it seemed he had grabbed something with his hand…
