Pan Ma

Pan Ma in Ultimate Note

**Pan Ma (盘马)** was an old guide living in Yangjiao Mountains. In 1976, he directed Chen Wenjin's team to the same mountains.

Pan Ma is also a companion in the game *Time Raiders*.

## Background

Pan Ma was a local aborigine of the Yangjiao Mountain. His family had lived there for many generations.

Pan Ma himself was a well-skilled hunter. He was a good marksman and could accurately shoot a hundred yards through the trees. He was also agile and could climb trees very well. He was the most suitable person to be Chen Wenjin's guide at the time.

## Appearance

Despite his old age when Wu Xie met him, he was very lean with defining muscles. He has a qilin tattoo on his chest.

The qilin tattoo is the tattoo of Fanggu, which was given to him by a passing Miao shaman when he was a child. It’s said that with this tattoo, you can pass through the Miao village without any hindrance and no one will stop you.

## History

### Guide to Chen Wenjin's Archeological Team

In 1976, Pan Ma served as a guide to Wenjin and the People's Liberation Army in the Yangjiao Mountains. The team was there to gather archeological items from a tomb in the lake nearby. Part of Pan Ma's duties included dropping off food for the archeological team.

Pan Ma received help from his four brothers. On one occasion, after delivering food, Pan Ma and the four brothers waited around in the hopes of getting some of the food in return. When the archeological team never offered anything, the brothers resorted to stealing. Pan Ma wanted no part since his family was well-fed. The four brothers proceeded without him but were caught by a soldier. They killed the soldier to keep the matter quiet and enlisted Pan Ma to help cover up the incident. Pan Ma decided to drag the body away so the soldier would be presumed missing. While moving the body, another soldier discovered them and was killed. After two people were killed, the brothers proposed to kill the whole archeological team.

After massacring the whole team, Pan Ma and the brothers threw the bodies and all their possessions in the lake. When Pan Ma returned to his village, he declared that the team had disappeared and people assumed they had died in a border conflict.

After three days, Pan Ma returned to the lake to go through the valuable items dumped in the lake. To his horror, he discovered that the previous archeological team was still there. The team greeted him as if nothing had happened and there were no traces that they were ever murdered. The only thing that appeared different about the team is that they developed a strange odor, a smell Pan Ma described as death.

Soon one of the four men that committed the massacre, Pang Ergui, disappeared for a short time but later reappeared at the camp with the archeological team and also smelled of death. Pan Ma believed the man's expression had changed and that he became a different person. The next day Pang Ergui hanged himself. Two of the other men left the village. The third man stayed in the village but was soon found dead in the same way as Pang Ergui. Pan Ma was the only one left.

Half a month after the army left, Pan Ma returned to the lake again to find out what had happened. He found a piece of iron that had washed up on the shore. He kept it in his possession for almost 30 years.

### Meeting Wu Xie

In 2004, Pan Ma was one of the few villagers at the time who knew the mountains well enough to serve as a guide. When Wu Xie, Zhang Qiling, and Wang Pangzi wanted to go to the mountains, Agui recommended Pan Ma and added that Pan Ma served as a guide to some of the members of the Xisha Archeological Team.

Only Zhang Qiling and Wu Xie headed out to see Pan Ma. The two arrived at his house but were instead greeted by Pan Ma's son. The son informed them that his father had become obsessed with a mysterious iron piece that he originally intended to sell to his nephew but decided against it. The nephew continued to harass Pan Ma over the item, so Pan Ma left to avoid the cumbersome nephew.

Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling decided to wait, but Pan Ma did not return. As Wu Xie and Qiling left his house, some villagers told them that Pan Ma has gone missing in the mountains. Both of them went with the villagers to look for Pan Ma. They ran into lynxes who began attacking them. While running away, Wu Xie was attacked by a lynx and almost killed but was saved by Pan Ma. Pan Ma had encountered the lynxes while hiding in the mountains which is why he was unable to return. Pan Ma's shirt had been torn off and his qilin tattoo was seen by both Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling.

Once everyone returned, Pan Ma told Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling that "[i]f you two are together, sooner or later, one of you will cause the other's death.” Zhang Qiling confronted him and asked if they knew each other, he then proceeded to show Pan Ma his qilin tattoo. Pan Ma remained silent and refused to say more. Pan Ma would only talk to Wu Xie, so the two, along with Agui, returned to the house.

Pan Ma reluctantly told Wu Xie what happened when he guided Chen Wenjin's archeological team. Afterward, he refused to be a guide to Wu Xie because he did not want to return to the lake where it all happened.

### Death

He likely followed Zhang Qiling's team when they went into the Zhang Jialou and subsequently died. His body was found in water and was very bloated. Wu Xie recognized him based on his qilin tattoo.

## Adaptation Differences

* In Ultimate Note, Pan Ma has a qiongqi tattoo. This is a change from the novel where he has a qilin tattoo.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Volume 6, Chapter 5
2. ↑ Volume 6, Chapter 15
3. ↑ Volume 6, Chapter 8
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Volume 6, Chapter 14
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Volume 6, Chapter 15
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Volume 8, Chapter 60
7. ↑ Ultimate Note, Episode 25
8. ↑ Volume 6, Chapter 8