manynovel 11. Emerging Talent
11. Emerging Talent
Park Guk-chang, who was engrossed in his analysis but had no clue what to do, was interrupted. He felt irritated, especially when he saw that the person who came was Qin Mian. A strange sense of superiority and impatience surged up instantly.
Without even looking up, his tone was laced with undisguised contempt: "What are you doing here causing trouble? Go away and rest, don't disturb us while we're doing our business! What kind of map can a college-aged nerd understand?"
Whether it was a feeling or something else, Qin Mian felt that Park Guk-chang was always targeting him.
Alice smoothed things over, saying, "Qin Mian, did you discover something special?"
"Heh, he's just a college student, a shut-in. He probably hasn't even seen a map before. What clues could he possibly have?" Park Guk-chang said dismissively.
Qin Mian rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "Did I dig up your ancestral graves or something?"
However, he ignored Park Guk-chang and said, "I have indeed made some discoveries, but I need to see your map to confirm them."
"Heh!" Park Guk-chang scoffed. "You probably don't understand the average college student in Daxia these days. Most of them waste four years playing games, sleeping, and doing nothing. Let alone other skills, they might not even master the professional skills they're studying. Expect them? Heh!"
[Damn it, what did we college students do to you? You're so mean.]
Damn it, those Koreans are crazy, they always like to target us Chinese.
[Park Guk-chang, I'm so angry! What did I do to deserve this?! I graduated from a top-tier university!]
[Qin Mian, keep it up! You must prove yourself to us college students!]
……
For a moment, the university students of Daxia were cursing, but then they stopped underestimating Qin Mian. They seemed to have empathized with Qin Mian and just wanted him to solve the mystery and then slap Park Guk-chang in the face.
Qin Mian ignored Park Guk-chang's sarcasm and looked directly at Alice, pointing to the location of the three tiny dots on his map: "Alice, can you take a look at this area on your map? Are there any similar...small dots?"
Although Alice wasn't very hopeful, she still cooperated by moving the map closer to the firelight and carefully looking at the location Qin Mian was pointing to. She blinked her eyes carefully, as if she couldn't see clearly, and then moved even closer.
After a moment's hesitation, she said, "It seems... there are very faint traces, almost imperceptible unless you look closely. But what does that mean? It could be printing..."
Before she could finish speaking, Qin Mian quickly looked at Scarlett: "Miss Scarlett, what about yours?"
"My eyesight isn't very good, so you should take a look," Scarlett said, handing over the map.
Qin Mian took a look and saw the same three tiny ink dots in the same spot!
Immediately afterwards, Andreev, Yamamoto Ichiro, Akuko... even Park Guk-chang, who looked disdainful, all hurriedly checked their maps.
The result was that all eight maps, in exactly the same relative positions, had those three extremely tiny raised dots or ink blots arranged in a triangle!
The area around the campfire fell silent instantly, and everyone looked at Qin Mian with surprise and uncertainty.
Park Guk-chang frowned. "What... what does this prove? It's normal for mass-produced maps to have the same, unavoidable printing flaws. Three insignificant ink spots are just a coincidence."
Qin Mian shook his head. "If they were just random ink splatters, they couldn't all be in the same spot. The most crucial thing is..."
"What is it?" Scarlett asked hurriedly.
Qin Mian said, "This evening, I was over there," he pointed in a direction in the darkness, "and saw three dead poplar trees, arranged in this triangle. If it's not all a coincidence... then what does that mean...?"
"Really?" Scarlett exclaimed excitedly, standing up abruptly.
Andreev frowned and thought for a moment, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember seeing three poplar trees standing together on the road.
Alice also thought about it carefully.
She did see many plants along the way, including poplars, but they were mostly scattered here and there, with very few in pairs. As for three together, she didn't notice them.
After all, by evening I was very tired and was walking with my head down, mostly following the direction of the compass.
Qin Mian continued, "If these three points on the map correspond to those three poplar trees... then this is the only location reference point on the map that can correspond to the actual situation and has been deliberately hidden. Only by finding it can we truly know where we are on the map, instead of wandering around like blind men in this all-consuming sea of sand."
Park Guk-chang still didn't believe it. "Heh, kid, do you know that if your guess is wrong, we'll waste at least half a day, not only our energy, but also our food and water?"
"Besides, why should I believe you? How can you prove you're not a 'ghost,' and not using these seemingly reasonable 'clues' to deliberately mislead us, delay us, deplete our survival resources, or even... lure us into a more dangerous trap?"
Park Guk-chang's words immediately put Scarlett, who had just been excited, on her guard.
Qin Mian cursed inwardly, thinking how wicked this guy was for splashing dirty water on him.
and many more……
"This guy said I'm a ghost and stopped me from leading everyone back to check. Could he be the real ghost?"
Qin Mian seemed to be deep in thought.
For a moment, he couldn't figure out whether this guy was just targeting him or if he was a real devil with ulterior motives.
He glanced at the others, who seemed to be thinking as well, but no one said anything. They were all very cautious, guessing each other's identities in their hearts but never revealing them casually.
Qin Mian thought to himself, none of these people are simple; they're all old foxes.
He stopped thinking about the issue and instead looked at him like he was an idiot, a look that annoyed Park Guk-chang.
"If I were a 'ghost,' would I expose myself in such an obvious and easily verifiable way? Just to waste everyone's half a day? Isn't this 'ghost' act a bit too unskilled and too hasty?"
Park Guk-chang was speechless.
Ah Ku Ku was straightforward: "Since there's no other way, we might as well go and take a look. Dragging things out will only waste more time."
Andreev also said, "Yes, I agree. I trust the people of Daxia, and this brother looks honest and simple, so he definitely doesn't have many tricks up his sleeve. I believe what he says."
"Then... let's go take a look together. If Qin Mian's guess is right, we won't have to blindly try our luck like headless flies!" Scarlett agreed.
"Hmph, even if there really are three poplar trees, it might just be a coincidence. Don't blame me if you waste your energy!" Park Guk-chang said sarcastically.
Qin Mian said, "Your legs are your own, no one is forcing you. If you think it's a trap, you can stay here and guard the campfire while we wait."
"I...I want to witness it with my own eyes, hmph." Park Guk-chang squinted and snorted, then said nothing more.
These people are very efficient and can leave whenever they want.
They walked for another three hours, but it was still pitch black all around them, and they couldn't see the three poplar trees that Qin Mian had mentioned.
This inevitably made everyone a little suspicious.
……