48 Hours a Day

Previously, Zhang Heng could see the garden at the center of the maze through the drone’s camera even before he entered it.

However, if he hadn’t stood there himself, it would have been hard to believe that such a beautiful garden could be hidden amid a desolate red island that had nothing but snake embryos in the pebbles.

It was like an oasis in the desert.

When Zhang Heng reached the entrance of the garden, the rumbling sound behind him disappeared.

As if realizing that it was impossible to stop Zhang Heng, the red mud walls stopped changing. The entire maze returned to its initial state of stillness. Just then, a gentle breeze blew past, and the plants in the garden started swaying as if welcoming a new guest.

However, Zhang Heng didn’t seem to be a guest at all. He put the Hidden Scabbard back on his waist, removed the Pestilence Bone Bow from his back, and placed the Paris Arrow on the bowstring, maintaining a half-drawn posture. He then walked into the garden.

The fragrance of flowers greeted him, the air mixed with the scent of jasmine and osmanthus.

These two plants had different flowering periods, and it was rare to see them blooming simultaneously. However, the garden seemed to contain some kind of magic. In fact, Zhang Heng didn’t just see just jasmine and osmanthus, but he even saw tulips, roses, and other flowers a little further away. Moreover, each flower seemed to be in good condition, and there was no sign of decay.

However, as Zhang Heng went deeper, he could still smell a faint fishy smell in the air. It wasn’t overbearing, but even the scent of flowers in the yard could not hide it.

To Zhang Heng, this fishy smell was the best signpost, guiding him into the depths of the flowers.

He noticed that the deeper he moved, the lower the terrain became. At the same time, the flowers and trees around him grew in lushness. Some tree branches extended to cover a radius of a hundred meters. The drone overhead could no longer provide any vision, so Zhang Heng simply put it back into his travel bag.

After walking for about five minutes, the stench only became stronger, prompting Zhang Heng to raise his alertness. The opponent he was about to face this time was the famous Norse mythical monster, the giant python Jemengard. Now in its lair, Zhang Heng naturally wasn’t naive enough to think that Jemengard would be oblivious to his arrival and treat him like the old man outside the maze, a potential believer of the new island.

So far, the giant python has made no movements. It either didn’t care and was waiting for Zhang Heng to come over and give it more food, or it was hiding somewhere in the garden, quietly observing the new enemy.

In comparison, Zhang Heng naturally hoped that Jermengard would choose the first option. According to legend, the power of the giant python was unrivaled. Coupled with its cautious and cunning personality, this battle would probably be more difficult than expected.

Zhang Heng was about to pass through more than half of the garden. Due to the sinking terrain, he estimated that he should be reaching sea level by now. Zhang Heng even heard the sound of the waves hitting the reefs. After another 20 meters, the trees and plants in front of him finally disappeared.

It was only then that Zhang Heng realized that the center of the red island was actually hollow. In front of him was a reef beach. Clearly, there was a passage connecting the reef beach to the outside world where seawater could flow through that passage to this place.

However, Zhang Heng had already forgotten about this matter. Right in front of him, there was a red reef that was connected together. It was exceptionally huge, like a throne that stood tall amid the vast sea. Right now, that throne was occupied by its monarch—a giant black python.

Zhang Heng estimated that the creature was already over 400 meters long, and although it wasn’t as endless as the legends said, it could still form a circle around the school’s track. No wonder it could hunt sperm whales in the deep sea, easily dragging the behemoth all the way to the station.

Its head was bigger than a locomotive. A pair of yellow eyes stared back at Zhang Heng. He could feel the strong malice in its eyes. With a body lined with black scales, they rubbed the red rocks when it slithered, making a heart-wrenching sound.

Zhang Heng did not stand at on ceremony. He immediately pulled the bowstring. This kind of thing only happened in wuxia novels. In actual combat, the one who had the upper hand was obviously the one who had the upper hand. Considering the black python’s exaggerated size, Zhang Heng did not need to aim much, and he aimed the arrow at his opponent.

Moreover, the Paris Arrow had the ability to lock on to its target, and there was no need for Zhang Heng to make adjustments before he released his finger. The next moment, the Paris Arrow left the bowstring.

Zhang Heng did not use a normal arrow to test it out first because the black Python’s body scales could not be penetrated by a normal arrow. Therefore, Zhang Heng did not waste any time and used the Paris Arrow.

Even though the Paris Arrow was only a C-grade item and had the lethality of a normal arrow, it produced amazing effects in previous battles due to its unique characteristics. Zhang Heng did not expect the arrow to hurt the giant black python, but as long as he could find the weakness of the snake, the C-grade item would be considered to have completed its mission.

However, Zhang Heng did not expect that the Paris Arrow, which had always been a hit, had actually failed in front of the snake.

The arrow was aimed at the monster, but for some reason, it lost all its power when it was about five meters away, fluttering weakly to the ground.

Zhang Heng did not even have time to retrieve it from the sea. The black python on the reef had also made its move. It did not expect the tiny human to be the first to attack. Even though the arrow did not hurt it, it did manage to provoke it.

Its yellow eyes seemed to be burning. The python twisted its body and climbed down the reef. It did not even launch an attack. When its body fell into the sea, the huge wave that it created was already aimed at Zhang Heng.

However, the Black Python was surprised to find that the human before it did not run away as it had expected. Instead, it stood where it was and reached out a hand. When the huge wave came into contact with Zhang Heng’s palm, it actually split in two!