48 Hours a Day

“It’s not enough that he destroys our entire species. In the past few months, he has been chasing and killing whatever we have left,” the mysterious man said bitterly. “Thanks to him, my people have been becoming fewer and fewer. With the Pupae Tree gone, we can no longer reproduce in this world. He still refuses to give us the chance to spend our lives hidden among humans quietly. If this is the case, we will also kill all who are related to him and let him have a taste of loneliness.”

Bai Qing had backed up all the way to the rear of the parking lot, and she had no more space left.

She looked around, spotted a fluorescent tube, and grabbed it from the trash can.

If she were still the old her, she would probably be fearing for her life right now. She was still a little scared after experiencing the alien incident three months ago, but at least she was not trembling in fear anymore. And she could make use of objects that were around to protect herself. She was uncertain, however, if the fluorescent tube could help defeat the alien in front of her.

Seeing the masked man approaching her slowly, Bai Qing held on tight to the only weapon she could rely on.

The masked man seemed a little disappointed by her reaction. According to what he knew, Bai Qing should have been shivering by now, desperately attempting to explain that she had nothing to do with Zhang Heng. After taking a closer look at her face, he realized that she had accepted the reason why he had come to her for revenge.

Although there was no one in the parking lot now, the masked man wanted to waste no time. This was, after all, a public parking lot, which meant there was a constant flow of people here. Hence, he picked up speed and dashed at Bai Qing, wanting to end the fight as soon as possible.

And the battle ended as fast as he expected. After running less than five steps, blood gushed out of the back of his head. A bullet that had come from nowhere penetrated its head, going through the alien, was latched on the fourth ventricle.

The masked man’s eyes were filled with unwillingness and bewilderment, and at the same time, a touch of fear.

However, in the next second, the alien was unable to control its body anymore. It fell beside Bai Qing’s feet. Seeing blood and brain matter spattering out of the bullet wound, she did not scream in fear but Instead showed a touch of joy. Immediately, she dropped the fluorescent tube in her hand and looked around.

“It’s you. You are here, right?!”

“…”

No one answered her question in the parking lot.

“So you plan not to see me for the rest of your life?” Bai Qing hollered loudly, “What are you afraid of? Afraid that I will ask you that question? Am I scarier to you than those things?”

After a while, a voice finally emerged from the roof next door. Zhang Heng replied helplessly, “Let’s talk about the other matter later. This guy has an accomplice in the mall. He couldn’t go after you while locking the fire exit at the same time. I need you to help me to load the body into the car first. I will go and deal with the other guy.”

He then threw down a car key from above.

“Okay.” Bai Qing said happily as she grabbed the keys. After a pause, she seemed worried that Zhang Heng would leave without repeating goodbye. She added, “I miss you very much.”

“I know.”

After his reply, Zhang Heng disappeared from the roof.

…

A quarter of an hour later, the two met again in the parking lot. Initially, Bai Qing wanted to run to Zhang Heng, but a Ford Mondeo drove past her and blocked her way. She had to wait for a while before running to Zhang Heng. This time, she was no longer as reserved, pouncing onto him and hugging him like a koala.

The latter had to reach out and hug her to prevent her from falling off.

“I knew you hadn’t left yet,” Bai Qing said.

The Mondeo’s driver found a parking space. Then the family of three got out of the car and saw the intimate scene between Zhang Heng and Bai Qing. Immediately, the father quickly covered the eyes of his youngest son. And the mother shook her head repeatedly.

“Teenagers nowadays know no shame. This is a public place.”

Usually, Bai Qing would blush when she heard this kind of comment, but now she was drowning in the joy of reunion. Although under criticism, she still did not stop hugging Zhang Heng.

She was even brave enough to reach out and touch Zhang Heng’s cheek, “Am I dreaming now? Are you really back?”

“Yes, I’m back, but I can’t stay for long. I still have to deal with a body in the women’s toilet,” Zhang Heng replied.

“Sometimes, I do wonder if you will return to Krypton after saving earth,” Bai Qing sobbed with teary eyes.

“When I am done with them, yes. I am afraid I will be away for a long time.”

“How long will you be gone? Forever?”

“Something like that.”

“That means the secret code that we had between us is more than a secret code, right?”

“I’m sorry,” Zhang Heng apologized.

“No, you don’t need to apologize to me. You saved me and my life. You are my hero, even if I’m the only one that knows about it in this world,” Bai Qing said. After that, she moved closer to Zhang Heng and placed her luscious lips on Zhang Heng’s lips. It was a quick and soft peck, like a dragonfly skimming above the water of a pond during the summer.

Bai Qing’s face finally turned red this time, and she murmured, “So this is how it feels like to kiss.”

…

…

On the bar lounge deck, Zhang Heng woke up from the Proxy War’s quest.

As compared to the past, he found out that his body had not undergone any changes.

After what happened on the roof of workshop No.3, Zhang Heng had been trying to study what happened to him. But after trying several times, he failed to replicate what he did previously.

After that, Zhang Heng also checked on his game items and confirmed that none had been responsible for what happened to him.

Putting the weird dream that he had into consideration—the wet and dark seaside town and the strange-looking old man—was perhaps more noteworthy to him than the quest itself.

“You look good today,” the bartender said. “Saw an old friend?”

“I guess so. You look delighted today too. Why?”

“Oh, because my old friend is coming back too. I’ve been waiting for him for a long time.” The bartender’s eyes were filled with joy when she talked about the person. After that, she made two glasses of cocktails as fast as possible and passed one of them to Zhang Heng. “To friendship and memories, the two most beautiful things in the world,” she toasted.

“Shouldn’t you be drinking this with your old friends?”

“It doesn’t matter. Drinking with you is the same. He doesn’t like drinking very much anyway.” The bartender lady took a sip of the cocktail, then frowned slightly. “Is it too sour? I think I put too much lemon juice in it?”