48 Hours a Day

Zhang Heng moved his face a little closer to the ferns, but the strange smell around him did not become stronger. It seemed these weren’t the ones emitting the putrid stench. The presence of these plants, however, made the air more humid. Coupled with the smell, it made for an even more uncomfortable experience.

Zhang Heng scraped off the ferns with a knife, put them in a sealed bag, and continued further down.

About ten steps later, a door appeared in front of him.

If those ferns could make anyone feel uncomfortable, then whatever that grew on the door could only be described as downright ugly. It looked like some kind of vine, and there were many small sarcomas on each of its nodes. Zhang Heng saw something that looked like a sucker on an octopus’s tentacles at the bottom of the vine, firmly entangled with each other on the door.

Upon closer inspection, he saw the vines moving slowly.

This was Zhang Heng’s first time seeing such a mysterious organism.

He now felt like he was an Alice who fell into the rabbit hole. Instead of walking into a dreamland, Zhang Heng was about to enter an abyss of infinite terror. Just by standing in front of the door, he could feel the terrifying atmosphere slowly devouring his mind. It was hard to imagine what he would see behind the door.

If Zhang Heng were ordinary, he would have definitely turned around and leave immediately. Now, he was simply a little uncomfortable, thanks to the putrid smell. Usually calmer than most, and when coupled with the turbulent emotions experienced in this quest, he had almost forgotten the taste of fear.

He walked toward the door, his cat coming in handy again.

Though the feline struggled and resisted, Zhang Heng grabbed its neck and brought it near the moving vines. As the cat approached, the vines began to squirm faster, looking like they were preparing to devour their prey. At the same time, the cat’s instincts allowed it to sense the imminent danger. It now struggled with greater intensity.

Its attempts were futile, however, since Zhang Heng was pinching its neck really hard, escaping an impossible feat to achieve.

When the vines’ squirming had reached a critical speed, Zhang Heng could hear a muffled explosion. The sarcomas on the branches started to explode simultaneously, where countless small twigs sprouted and unfolded out, like a mosquito’s feet. The twigs then started to pierce their way into the cat’s body, and with the Filter Lens, Zhang Heng could see blood flowing into the vines along those tentacles.

The cat’s body was trembling, and Zhang Heng could see the animal drowning in fear.

Zhang Heng had retracted his hand right before the sarcoma exploded, but the vines held on to the cat. Once their tentacles had fully penetrated its body, the cat finally calmed and stopped struggling.

At the same time, the vines at the door handle seemed to loosen a little. Although unintentional, those vines had technically come from the other side of the door. Hence, the door wasn’t sealed completely. While the vines slowly devoured the cat, Zhang Heng cut out some of them with a knife.

There was just enough space for him to squeeze himself into the room.

Although the cat allowed him to witness the horror of those vines, he still decided to go in and take a look. He had observed how the vines hunted down their prey and knew that the process took some time. Thus, Zhang Heng had enough time to step away when the sarcoma exploded. While they were in hunting mode, they would increase speed. This could serve as a sign for Zhang Heng to avoid their attack.

Other than that, Zhang Heng also confirmed one more thing about those vines when he pried the door open. It looked like the plants didn’t respond to inanimate matter, and as a result, he was brave enough to enter the room through the door.

Even if this were hell, now that he was on the other side, he had to check out the place come what may.

……

Bai Qing has been listening in to everything going on on Zhang Heng’s side,

Zhang Heng had not spoken to Bai Qing for some time now since their last conversation ended. However, the girl could hear the miserable shrieking of the cat through the Bluetooth earpiece. It was like chalk scratching the board, and it made her panic.

Although she was not there to witness the prehistoric ferns and the ugly vines with Zhang Heng, the fear she was experiencing was no less than the cat. Someone once said that the source of fear came from something that humans failed to comprehend.

The sound on the other side made the atmosphere even more tense and terrifying. Bai Qing could not help but ask Zhang Heng about the situation over there and what he saw. However, she was afraid that she might distract him and put him in danger. So she decided to keep quiet until she heard a babbling sound.

This time, she could not hold it in anymore, asking hastily, “How is it? What do you see?”

Zhang Heng did not answer.

The latter seemed to have disappeared. The noise was getting louder and louder, and it caused Bai Qing’s hands and feet to become ice-cold.

Zhang Heng also noticed the problem with the earpiece.

Earlier, he could hear Bai Qing’s breathing, but now, only the strange noise was audible.

Zhang Heng figured that it might have something to do with the magnetic field here.

Since he had come into this place, he had no intention to leave immediately. And the most important thing was his attraction to the sight in front of him.

Zhang Heng finally knew where the vines came from.

In the center of the hall, in front of him, was a strange plant. It looked like a banyan tree, only shorter, and had more luscious branches and leaves. The vines on the tree had almost covered the entire room, making the place seem like a botanical garden of horrors.

No one knew how long this thing had lived. It seemed to be even older than those ferns outside.

At the same time, Zhang Heng noticed that this fossil-like plant could breathe like an animal. Something was beating in its tree cavity, much like a heart. Besides, an ash-like material was ejecting from the tree canopy.

The strange smell that Zhang Heng smelled earlier came from these tiny specs of ashes flying in the air, some of which had fallen on his shoulders and hair tips.

However, this part was not the most terrifying.

Zhang Heng saw many capsules that looked like cicada pupa hanging from the trunk. They all came in different sizes. The smaller ones had dark shadows moving within it, and judging by its shape, it looked like the shadow he saw on the CT film. And the thing that wrapped in the big cicada pupa had a human form.

Suddenly, within the wriggling pupae, Zhang Heng saw his face.