48 Hours a Day

When the crowd began to flee in panic, Han Mu ran toward the air-raid shelter as well, but before she could run far, someone pushed her from the back, and she fell to the ground.

Falling amid a stampeding crowd that was fleeing in panic was extremely dangerous. Han Mu tried to get up, but someone stepped on her waist. The person happened to be a young student and was very polite. And he immediately apologized to Han Mu after he realized that he had accidentally stepped on her. A few seconds later, someone accidentally stepped on Han Mu’s calf again.

The young student was trying really hard to get Han Lu’s mother to stand up amid the chaotic frenzy. However, it was a fruitless attempt. Driven by the survival instinct, everyone was shoving those in front to get to the bomb shelter as fast as possible. The young student couldn’t stop the people behind him, as he too got shoved. He almost fell to the ground, and when he looked back again, he saw that a lot of people were stepping on Han Mu.

Suddenly, he felt that someone was squeezing his side. The young student opened his eyes wide and wanted to know who the person that ran past him was. Af of now, he couldn’t control where he was headed to, as if being caught in a giant wave. Though he wanted to help Han Mu very severely, he was utterly powerless against the tide of human bodies. At the same time, it was hard for him to imagine that someone would go against the huge wave.

A single person was like a small boat in this storm. Anytime now, it would be torn to shreds by the massive storm. He could, however, always find a gap to squeeze through the crowd.

And just like that, Zhang Heng managed to grab hold of Han Mu. Having lost count of the people that stepped over her body, she didn’t look too good. Her right hand was severely injured as well, and she managed to survive the stampede by the skin of her teeth. If she stayed on a little longer, she would be indefinitely killed. Zhang Heng paused for a while, found the perfect opportunity, and grabbed her from the ground.

At the same time, he glanced at the dragon in the sky. The three dragons began to move separately, wandering around the city and spitting fire everywhere. This time, even if Zhang Heng hid in a tall building, he would not be able to avoid the dragon’s attack. A single breath from the dragon was enough to raze the entire building to the ground.

The most dangerous dragon had to be the one that attacked the bus earlier. Compared to the other two, it was closest to Zhang Heng and Han Mu. It had also turned both streets into a sea of flames in a blink of eyes.

It now landed on the restaurant’s roof, with four of its long clawed legs resting on the eaves. It adjusted its position and chose its next target. After a while, it spotted the bomb shelter that was filled with people. The rabbit had managed to get to the shelter’s door, but Zhang Heng had a little trouble since he was with an injured Han Mu. With an extra person, he couldn’t squeeze through the crowd like he so flexibly did before.

This meant his current situation had become more dangerous. After resting for a bit, the dragon expanded its black wings again. It dived into the crowd and took a deep breath of air. A few seconds later, it started spewing a stream of fire from its mouth. Half the street turned into a sea of flames in the blink of an eye.

The flame scorched a large area around the bomb shelter, charring those who had not been able to enter it in time. Even those who had just entered the shelter couldn’t escape the brunt of the far-reaching inferno.

Like a neverending sea of napalm, the dragon’s breath had immense destructive power!

Zhang Heng got lucky, being right beside the dragon when it attacked the crowd. As a result, he got to witness the dragon killing all the unlucky ones. The extremely high air temperature singed the hair on his head, causing them to frizz up. Unlike the rest which turned around and fled in terror, Zhang Heng stopped for a while, then covered his mouth and nose with his clothes and rushed into the sea of flames ahead of him.

It was impossible to outrun a flying dragon. For the same reason, sticking with the crowd was almost equivalent to committing suicide. The dragon, too, was very cunning. It would only target places where there were most people. The only way for Zhang Heng to survive was to run toward the area that the dragon had already scorched. Obviously unsatisfied with the damage dealt, the dragon didn’t look back, continuously looking for its next target and leaving a trail of burnt mayhem and destruction behind.

It was not easy deciding to go into the blaze. In addition to overcoming the dragon’s fear, the ridiculously high temperatures and toxic smoke in that area were enough to stop anyone attempting to approach. When Zhang Heng’s stepped on the ground, he felt as if he was standing on magma in a volcano crater. The rubber on the soles of his shoes started melting, producing a sickening sizzling noise.

Even with Zhang Heng’s extraordinary physique, it was hard to last long in such a hostile environment. He almost had to give Han Lu’s mother up, but fortunately, they were now was not too far away from the bomb shelter’s entrance.

Zhang Heng ran as fast as possible, managing to get to his target location in less than eight seconds. The one-foot-thick iron gate was half-melted, exposing a black hole behind it. At the same time, Zhang Heng could smell something strange burning.

Upon his arrival, he felt a burning heatwave rushing towards him. He even went into a momentary trance, where he thought he made the wrong bet this time, and the giant dragon had turned and attacked him. Zhang Heng soon realized that the dragon’s deadly flames weren’t targeting him, but it was simply the draft from the dragon flapping its wings. The crowd was still its main target.

The temperature around Zhang Heng was so high to the point he thought that the dragon was actually aiming for him. Seeing that it was just hot air, Zhang Heng bent down and sprinted into the bomb shelter. By then, his body had almost reached its limits, just like barbecued meat on a stone slab. His mouth, nose, and respiratory tract were severely irritated from the overbearing smoke and poisonous gasses.

After enduring ten meters of torture, Zhang Heng got to breathe fresh air again. The underground city’s ventilation system was well built, where it was said that more than two thousand ventilation shafts cris-crossed the bomb shelter. It ensured that nobody would be stuffy even after long periods. Zhang Heng ran for some distance before finally ending up at a relatively safe place. He put Han Lu’s mother down and leaned against the wall. Only then did he have the time to check on her condition. She was still breathing, albeit unconscious. Her face was bluish, with an almost delayed reaction to external stimuli. It appeared to be the effects of excessive carbon monoxide inhalation. Fortunately, she survived.

Zhang Heng breathed a sigh of relief. Han Mu was the only useful clue that he had obtained ever since entering Han Lu’s dream. If the dragon killed her, he would have to start looking for another needle in a haystack. Clearly, it was an outcome he didn’t desire. He would rather risk it a little and make sure she survived.