Chapter 150: The Star Map

“Why is there an iron plate here?” Zhang Mingyang rubbed Bai Muqing’s forehead and looked up, only to find an iron plate overhead. He knocked on it—“bang, bang!”—and discovered it was hollow inside.

“Mingyang, is there something above?” Bai Muqing groped along the iron plate and found a lock. “There’s a lock here?”

Seeing the lock, Zhang Mingyang suddenly recalled what Jin Yaowen had said. “No way! Could it be inside?”

Bai Muqing, hearing that the secret place was supposedly right above the iron plate, looked proudly triumphant. “See! Am I not your lucky charm? I helped you find this.”

“Yes, yes! You are my lucky charm!” He laughed and touched the iron lock on the door, telling Bai Muqing to go down and find a stone.

“Here.” Bai Muqing handed him a stone, which Zhang Mingyang grabbed and struck the lock hard—“bang! bang! bang!”

After three hits, the lock broke open. “It’s open!” Zhang Mingyang quickly lifted the iron door and pushed it upward.

With a thud, the door swung open, revealing a room.

“A room?” Zhang Mingyang climbed up first and then helped Bai Muqing up.

“What is this?” Staring at the room, Zhang Mingyang was stunned. It was sealed, containing a bed, a desk, and a device resembling an astronomical telescope.

“Mingyang, has someone lived here?” Bai Muqing looked at the furnishings and wiped dust off the desk, noticing it was spotless—clearly someone had stayed here.

“I don’t know!” He was baffled, walking over to the desk where he found a huge picture covered with galaxies and stars. Across the top were two large characters: “Star Map!”

“Is this the universe?” Bai Muqing also came over. At first glance, she thought it was a photo of the cosmos.

“I don’t know.” Zhang Mingyang shook his head, staring at the words “Star Map” and fell into deep thought.

“There’s food!” Bai Muqing found a box of provisions under the bed—bread, biscuits, and a few bottles of water.

“Hmm! Tasty!” She unwrapped a package and began eating. “Mingyang, here,” she handed him a piece of bread.

“Ah? Thanks!” Zhang Mingyang snapped back to reality, took the bread, and ate.

“What’s this?” She examined the telescope-like device. “Why is it so dark?” She looked through the eyepiece and saw only pitch black.

“Let me see.” Zhang Mingyang came over, peered through the eyepiece, and confirmed it was indeed dark inside. “Oh! Almost forgot, it’s raining outside with clouds overhead—it must be dark.”

“Not fun.” Bai Muqing searched the room for other items, while Zhang Mingyang returned to studying the star map. This must be the secret Jin Yaowen mentioned, but he couldn’t grasp the meaning of the star map before him.

---

“If only the communicator was still here. If we could send this photo, we’d know where these stars are.”

“Mingyang, come quick!” Bai Muqing called urgently, spotting something on the wall.

“What is it?” Zhang Mingyang hurried over. Bai Muqing pointed to a photo on the wall. “What’s this?”

“A black hole?” Zhang Mingyang immediately recognized the emblem of the Black Hole Organization. It was a photo of a black hole. Clearly, this was Jin Yaowen’s secret base.

Zhang Mingyang then inspected the entire room. Only the photo on the desk and the telescope-like instrument seemed useful; the rest yielded no clues.

Did Jin Yaowen bring me here just to see this? He didn’t understand what the photo represented.

“Ugh…” Bai Muqing yawned, looking sleepy. “Mingyang, are you tired?”

Zhang Mingyang shook his head. “You sleep first, I’ll watch a bit longer.”

“All right then.” Bai Muqing tidied the bed and lay down. “Call me if you get sleepy.”

“Okay.” Zhang Mingyang nodded and let her rest.

Before long, Bai Muqing fell asleep while Zhang Mingyang dragged a stool and stared at the star map.

“What does this mean?” He searched the map, hoping to find Earth’s location.

The map was densely packed with stars. Roughly measuring, it was about two meters by one and a half meters. Zhang Mingyang was a novice in cosmology; finding a single planet on such a vast image was daunting.

After a while, he grew restless. “How am I supposed to find this?”

He gave up. It seemed there wasn’t a single distinct star. He couldn’t even find the sun. The map was filled with blue spiral galaxies and red nebulae—a cosmic chart on a grander scale.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, in the lower left corner, he noticed a tiny label beside a small elliptical galaxy: three small characters read “Milky Way.”

“Milky Way?” That’s the galaxy where Earth resides. This discovery thrilled Zhang Mingyang—it meant he knew Earth’s location.

However, being new to cosmology, he didn’t recognize any of the galaxies or nebulae surrounding the Milky Way.

“Forget it, I’ll put it away for now.” Since he couldn’t understand it, he planned to store it and study it on a computer once home.

Rolling up the photo, Zhang Mingyang glanced at the sleeping Bai Muqing and smiled. “You really can fall asleep anywhere.”

---

After teasing Bai Muqing, he rested his head on the desk and dozed off.

…

He woke to silence—no more rain.

“Uh!”

He stretched and flexed his limbs.

“Steak’s here!” He nudged Bai Muqing awake, shouting.

“Steak? Steak?” Bai Muqing suddenly sat up, waving her hands wildly, demanding the steak.

“Haha, here…” Zhang Mingyang laughed at her antics. “Wake up, I think the rain has stopped.”

“Ugh!” Bai Muqing sighed. “You tricked me again!” She playfully smacked him for teasing her with steak.

“Alright, alright.” He placed her shoes in front of her. “Put these on quickly. I’m going out to check. If it’s stopped raining, we’ll leave right away.”

Bai Muqing pouted but reluctantly put on her shoes. Zhang Mingyang grabbed the rolled-up star map and prepared to leave.

“Wait!”

He suddenly remembered something and hurried to the telescope to look through the eyepiece.

This time, with no clouds blocking the view, it was no longer pitch black. A red planet and an orange dot appeared before his eyes.

“Why does this look so familiar?” Zhang Mingyang felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

“Let me see.” Bai Muqing grabbed the eyepiece.

“What is this?” Zhang Mingyang searched his memory, then a sudden realization struck him. “Altair! Yes! It’s Altair!”