Deadly Game: Almighty Boss’s Guide to Making Money

Chapter 1243. The Book at Night (31)

The glass cabinet's lock clicked open with a crisp "click," sounding particularly jarring in the bookstore where emergency lights were flashing wildly.

Xia Jin subconsciously took half a step forward, and the warmth of the remaining light feather in her palm suddenly turned scorching, as if a small flame was dancing under her skin.

She looked up at Lin Xi, and only after he nodded did she slowly extend her hand.

The moment my fingertips touched the edge of the glass cabinet door, I was startled by a chill and shrank back.

The temperature on the cabinet wall was four or five degrees lower than the surrounding area, as if it were wrapped in an invisible layer of cold air.

"Be careful, don't touch the compass directly." Huang Jingjing quickly stepped forward, took out a pair of rubber gloves, and handed them over.

—Teacher Huang brought quite a complete set of items into the instance.

—I suspect there are not only latex gloves, but also other types of gloves.

--Good.

—The more supplies the better, you never know when you might come across them.

“The silvery-blue powder on the cabinet leg might be corrosive.” Huang Jingjing’s gaze swept over the inside of the glass cabinet and suddenly stopped. “Look at the compass base, it seems to have scratches.”

The group crowded around and, using the flashlight from Bai Yueming's phone, they indeed saw several scratches of varying depths on the edge of the bronze compass base, as if it had been repeatedly scraped by something sharp.

What's even stranger is that the scratches weren't filled with dust, but with the same silvery-blue powder as the cabinet legs, which shimmered under the light like scattered stardust.

Xia Jin put on gloves and gently pushed open the glass cabinet door.

The cabinet doors slid and made a creaking, scraping sound that was particularly jarring in the quiet bookstore.

She reached for the compass, and as soon as her fingertips touched the surface, the previously crooked needle on the compass suddenly began to shake violently.

The markings on the edge of the dial darkened at a visible speed, as if they were slowly being soaked in ink.

"Something's not right!" Lin Xi suddenly exclaimed, reaching out to pull Xia Jin back.

But it's too late.

Suddenly, a thin crack appeared on the surface of the compass, and a wisp of black mist emerged from it. It circled in the air and transformed into several small monsters the size of a palm, their white eyes standing out conspicuously in the darkness.

“It’s the Shadow of Oblivion!” First Snow said.

Lin Xi had just taken the plastic hammer off her backpack.

She immediately raised her hand and swung her hammer at the strange figures, hitting one of them.

The strange shadow made a sizzling sound and quickly turned into a small clump of black ash.

But the remaining few strange shadows suddenly sped up and pounced on Xia Jin and the compass.

Lin Xi stepped forward and struck a few more times with his hammer. The strange shadow let out a shrill scream and vanished in a wisp of black smoke.

Xia Jin was clearly startled and took two steps back, bumping into the bookshelf behind her.

Several books on the bookshelf fell down with a "clatter," and one of them, with a star map on its cover, landed right at her feet.

She bent down to pick up the book, and as soon as she turned to the first page, the star map on the page suddenly lit up, creating a wonderful resonance with the warmth in her palm.

"Look at this!" Xia Jin quickly handed over the book.

Lin Xi took the book and noticed that the cover had no title, only a silver compass pattern.

Turning the pages, you'll find it filled with intricate star trail diagrams, each marked with a different time and location.

Next to the star chart on one of the pages, a line of small print in red ink reads: "The Zi position corresponds to Polaris, the Chou position to Sirius, and the Yin position to Venus—at the third quarter of the You hour, due north is the most important."

"The third quarter of the hour of You (5:45 PM)?" Bai Ye took out his phone and glanced at the time. "It's 6:15 PM now, and in fifteen minutes it will be the third quarter of the hour of You!"

Huang Jingjing pointed to the star chart on the page. "There was a star pattern engraved on the Zi position on the compass just now. Maybe it means that at the third quarter of the You hour, the compass needle should be pointed to the direction of the North Star corresponding to the Zi position."

She paused, then looked at Xia Jin.

"Could the warmth in your palm be a signal guiding our way?"

Perhaps it's the ability to interpret auras.

Xia Jin didn't speak, and reached out to touch the compass again.

This time, the warmth in her palm was even more pronounced, as if a force was pulling her fingers.

She gently turned the compass dial, trying to adjust the pointer to the direction of the zi position.

The pointer seems to be stuck on something; every time it moves close to a position, it suddenly jumps back.

"No, there must be something we haven't noticed."

Lin Xi squatted down and carefully examined the base of the compass.

On the side of the base, there is a small groove. The shape of the groove is exactly the same as the light feather mark left on Xia Jin's palm.

"Xia Jin, try placing your palm on this groove."

Xia Jin did as Lin Xi said.

As soon as my palm touched the groove, a silver-blue light suddenly shone from it, spreading along the base of the compass to the surface.

The previously stuck pointer suddenly stopped shaking and began to slowly rotate towards the child position.

At the same time, the emergency lights on the bookstore ceiling suddenly stopped flashing, and a soft white light shone down from the center of the ceiling, landing directly on the compass.

When everyone looked up, they discovered that there was a huge star map sticker on the ceiling, which they hadn't noticed earlier because of the flashing emergency lights.

Now, under the white light, every star on the star chart is clearly visible.

The position of Polaris on the star chart is exactly aligned with the direction of the compass.

"It's three-quarters past the hour of You (5:45 PM)!" Bai Yueming shouted.

As soon as he finished speaking, the compass needle stopped precisely on the star pattern of the Zi position.

Immediately afterwards, the compass made a soft "click" sound, and a small drawer suddenly popped open in the center of the dial.

There was a silver key in the drawer.

The key is engraved with the words "Astronomical Zone Key" and a wisp of silver-blue light is wrapped around it, as if it were alive.

Xia Jin reached for the key, and as soon as her fingertips touched it, she heard a faint sound coming from inside the key, as if someone was speaking in a low voice.

She brought the key to her ear, listened carefully, and then looked up at the crowd.

“It’s Alo’s voice. It says that this key can open the door to the ancient book section, but the ancient book section contains the ‘Book of Time’ that has been corrupted by the Shadow of Oblivion, and the ‘Hourglass of Time’ must be found to purify it.”

Just then, a series of heavy footsteps suddenly came from deep inside the bookstore. The footsteps grew closer and closer, accompanied by heavy breathing.

The group exchanged glances and quickly put the compass back in the glass case.

Xia Jin put the key in her pocket, Bai Yueming turned off her phone flashlight, and everyone hid behind the bookshelf.

The footsteps stopped at the entrance to the natural science area.

Peeking through the gaps in the bookshelf, everyone saw Uncle Zhang standing there, holding a black book in his hand.

The book cover had no design, only a dark red line, like dried blood.

Uncle Zhang's face was pale, his eyes were vacant, a strange smile hung on the corner of his mouth, and he was muttering something under his breath.