48 Hours a Day

Chapter 54: Go After It!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“What you’re saying is that in the real world, the city I’m living in, there’s a monster?” Even though Zhang Heng had experienced supernatural phenomenons these past months, he still found the old man’s story inconceivable.

“Mm… Not exactly, the specifics are not completely accurate, but the essence about it is about right.” The old man pulled out a packet of Wangzi QQ soft candy. It would seem his mouth would just not stop. “But don’t worry, after losing the Alkiz’s worship, it’s in the weakest it has ever been. In my heyday, dealing with this kind of low-life pest is just a matter of snapping my fingers.”

“What about now?”

“Now… I just found someone to help me, didn’t I?”

Zhang Heng turned to a street per the old man’s instruction. “…that sounds very reassuring.”

“Relax. Even though my strength has depleted quite a bit, there are two of us and one of them. In terms of numbers, we are at an advantage.” The old man said encouragingly, as he wolfed down the candies in his hand. At the rate he ate, it would be a miracle if he survived diabetes.

“I still don’t understand why a Papua New Guinean monster come all the way here?”

“Its original believers, the Alkiz, are all dead. If we compare it to an economy, while it has escaped from the prison of time, the Papua New Guinean market has now split up. Unable to mingle inside but desperate to recover its strength, it needed to find new believers. And so it was forced to leave and eventually followed a couple to China.

“I was in Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Airport when I came across the monster. That dumbass had been locked up for too long and was completely out of touch with society. Thinking that since there were so many people there, he would try his luck. But 99% of the people who went to the airport never stayed long, and while it may have been able to fool the indigenous 20,000 years ago, it wouldn’t work now. The monster spent half a month there, managing to convince two cleaners – they were elderly women, where one of them offered the remainder of her time to the monster as a sacrifice. The other one remained undecided. Then, when it saw me, it ran away!”

The old man shifted in his seat, settling in a more comfortable position. “Ever since we last met, I have been busy taking care of this matter. I’ve been going after it for nearly two months now. Tonight, with your help, we can probably solve this problem. Otherwise, I’m afraid sooner or later, this guy will find you.”

“Why?”

“Because the ‘Time Anomaly’ you have on you poses a fatal attraction to it, and because you are my representative. We had friendly relations for these past two months. I’m 100% sure that that thing wants to get even with me.” The old man answered. “Turn left at the intersection in front, take the side road, but don’t take the overpass.”

Zhang Heng was quiet as he tried to process the old man’s words. After a while, he said, “Did this world go crazy after you found me, or has it always been this insane?”

The old man gave his driver a meaningful smile. “You are a smart guy. You already know what the answer is. You just need to continue to play the game to find the answer. There are some things in this world that unless you see them with them your own eyes, it would be very hard to believe… Stop the car over there, I can feel it nearby.”

Zhang Heng stepped on the brake and the Audi A6 slowed down until it came to a halt in a damp looking tunnel.

About 2.8 km long, it was located in the center of the city. The construction site had been sealed off to reduce noise to its surrounding areas. There were few cars in the tunnel at this hour, and Zhang Heng had not spotted anything suspicious so far. He was just about to speak when he saw the old man placing a finger on his lips.

Zhang Heng turned off the engine, and the whole world was once again immersed in complete stillness. After about half a minute, loud clattering footsteps came from the roof of the tunnel. It was getting closer and closer, then stopped abruptly!

Just like that, 5 minutes had passed. The two people in the car were composed and silent. Just when Zhang Heng thought that the thing had disappeared, something hefty suddenly landed on the roof of the car! There were dents in the steel the shape of two footprints above Zhang Heng’s head.

And then, the next minute, a strange face peeped down from the windshield!

It was a creature that looked very much like a monkey, but with unusually large eyes that took up nearly a third of its face. Like the primate, its face was hairless, covered only in wrinkles like an old man.

Zhang Heng could see the greed in its yellow pupils. But when the creature noticed someone else sitting at the back of the car, it quickly turned around and scrambled towards the other end of the tunnel!

“Go after it!” The old man in the Tang suit finally broke the silence.

Since there was no time for questions, Zhang Heng got the car running and floored the gas pedal. The metal beast roared as it barreled forward.

Zhang Heng turned on the high beam, and under the luminosity, he could see that Moresby creature running on the wall of the tunnel. Its movement was swift, as if completely unaffected by gravity.

If he had not seen it with his own two eyes, he really would not have believed that such a being existed on earth, and at least now he knew why the old man had been chasing this creature for two months and had yet to succeed.

With his level 2 driving skills, he was barely able to tread on the creature’s heels, and that too was thanks to his car’s light that flooded the tunnel. Once they were outside of the area sealed in both directions, it would be able to burrow its way into a building nearby with this creature’s agility.

If that were to happen, even if Zhang Heng’s driving skills were 10 times better, he would never be able to catch up to it.

Fortunately, the old man in the backseat finally made a move. He opened the broken luggage he had been hugging to his chest, and took out a metal piece speckled with rust and assembled them into a rusty spear.

From its appearance, it did not look like a weapon but a cultural relic that had just been unearthed.

“I borrowed this thing from a friend of mine,” the old man explained as he opened the window and stood up on the seat with the spear in hand.

He was not very tall, but at that very moment, he appeared like an imposing god as if becoming one with heaven and earth.

Zhang Heng did his best to keep the Audi stable, keeping the car from swaying side to side as the old man threw the spear without even aiming.

When the spear left his hand, it exploded into a burst of light, flitting across the sky like a bolt of lightning!

As it sensed the incoming danger, the Moresby creature gathered even more speed, and began to jump frantically! But no matter how hard it tried to avoid it, the spear remained firmly locked onto it as if it was equipped with a tracking device.

Finally, the creature pushed itself to its limits, and just when it was about to escape the tunnel, the spear punctured it from the back into its heart and out through its chest!

Moresby dropped as if he had been drained of all strength and fell motionless onto the asphalt road.