Chapter 224: Clue
“This thing doesn’t look ordinary at all…” Zhang Qian muttered while examining the brush pen in his hand.
Unlike most other supernatural items, this was a brush pen that appeared and felt extremely ordinary in both appearance and aura.
The dark brown pen body had no pattern decoration; instead, there were several cracks visible from dryness. The pen tip didn’t seem to be made of good materials and had frayed from improper storage, like a black broom.
But it did have some unique aspects.
For example, it could write without ink, and though frayed, the writing was still smooth…
Also, according to the waiter, this was the only pen that could modify the notebook.
“This notebook is undoubtedly extremely important; even calling it one of the cornerstones of the ghost restaurant wouldn’t be an overstatement.”
There wasn’t much content in the notebook, but every item was very important: the personnel list, the rules employees needed to follow—almost the core structure of the ghost restaurant.
And this was only the first few pages; what other roles did the subsequent pages have?
“Is the key to leaving on this?”
Zhang Qian casually flipped through the notebook in his hand. Besides the first few pages, there were at least dozens of blank pages afterward, waiting for him to write and plan.
So many blank pages couldn’t possibly be completely useless.
Maybe that guy has some clues?
Closing the notebook and turning his head, the waiter was still lying on the ground, panting heavily.
Although the two ghost hands on his face showed no intent to attack, the supernatural power from the severed limb ghost was still corroding his cheek, leaving some shallow wounds.
These wounds weren’t serious and couldn’t even be called painful, but the intermittent itchy feeling still made the waiter extremely uncomfortable.
However, since this thing was left by Zhang Qian, the waiter didn’t dare to move it at all and could only stiffen his body, praying that Zhang Qian would leave this place quickly.
“Do you know more about the notebook? Besides the employee handbook and hiring new employees, does this notebook have any other uses?” Zhang Qian asked.
After all, he was the old man; even if he had given up on the ghost ship, he might have picked up some information from exposure in other branch stores before.
As for whether the waiter would cooperate…
Zhang Qian had no doubts about that; after truly dying a few times, anything with consciousness should just want to send him away.
“Notebook?” The waiter was stunned upon hearing Zhang Qian’s question, then shouted, “I barely saw this thing before; I only saw it once when I joined the branch store and signed my name.”
“Later, although I got one myself, you know that guy—given his personality, he didn’t study it properly at all, so…”
He didn’t finish speaking, but his meaning was already clear.
I don’t know, don’t ask me.
“As expected, I can’t rely on you. You’re an old employee who’s worked in the ghost restaurant for decades, yet you really know nothing after one question.” Zhang Qian rubbed his forehead and sighed.
Good thing he hadn’t held out much hope anyway; he was just asking as a matter of routine.
Now it seemed the shortcut wouldn’t work, so he could only try it himself.
But before that, he still needed to confirm one more thing.
“Besides the notebook and brush pen, is there anything else special in this branch store?”
Zhang Qian thought for a moment, then added, “Like special items you get after becoming the shopkeeper, such as a key or employee badge or something.”
“You mean the symbol of authority, right?” The waiter shook his head. “No such thing exists.”
“The boss just tossed me a notebook and a pen before disappearing. As soon as I got on the ship, I automatically appeared in this place without receiving any other special items.”
“Maybe the resting area has something? Not necessarily—that guy stayed inside for decades and never found anything special.”
That meant these two things really were the most special…
Zhang Qian touched his chin and sorted through his jumbled thoughts.
First, it was certain that an exit existed—not just because of the waiter’s earlier words, but because the ghost restaurant had ordinary people as employees.
In other words, besides ghost controllers entering the dining area as customers, there were other ways for people to come and go.
And that opening was what he needed to find.
“Notebook and pen… they definitely need to be used together, right?”
Hesitating for a moment, Zhang Qian sat back in his position and opened the last page of the notebook in front of him.
If he wrote content in the notebook different from the employee handbook and employee list, would it still take effect?
Regardless, he would try it first.
Without further hesitation, Zhang Qian picked up the brush pen and quickly wrote a few small words on the first line.
【Send me away】
As soon as the last stroke fell, he immediately raised his head to observe the surroundings, trying to catch any clues.
Unfortunately, Zhang Qian failed.
The space was still a hazy darkness, showing no changes.
“Is the command wrong, or did I guess the notebook’s purpose wrong?”
Zhang Qian was somewhat puzzled and immediately began the next experiment.
First, verify if the notebook could control the ghost restaurant—whether the written content, besides constraining employees, could affect the ghost restaurant itself.
“Let’s try a simple command first.”
But what to write…
The effect had to be obvious, but the difficulty couldn’t be too high, and best not to cause any anomaly.
His gaze swept around, and Zhang Qian was suddenly drawn to the light shining from an unknown source above his head.
How about… turning off the lights?
“Forget it; even if it’s not necessarily safe in the light, falling into darkness isn’t a good sign either.”
Zhang Qian shook his head to dismiss the idea, then looked at the bowl and plate on the table.
These things seemed relatively harmless.
Plus, the waiter had casually discarded the bowl after finishing the dish, so using them for the experiment should be fine.
So…
【Make these bowls disappear】
Right next to the previous command, another line of small words appeared under the pen tip.
“It seems no different from last time… wait, no, there seems to be a change.”
Zhang Qian hadn’t finished speaking while staring at the writing when a black shadow suddenly flashed in the corner of his eye.
Looking up, the porcelain bowls on the table were disappearing one by one; because of the speed, it looked just like they were being erased.
However, Zhang Qian’s eyesight was good, and he could clearly see where those bowls and plates went.
Watching those black shadows, with a thought, one of the shadows actually stopped.
“The previous skinny palm… so the ghost restaurant uses this method to fulfill commands?”
