48 Hours a Day

Chapter 971: Testing Blade

“What’s going on? Are you ready to surrender?”

The man standing in the middle of the road sneered.

Although he was taunting Zhang Heng, he remained as vigilant as ever. After the two fought for so long, his fear of Zhang Heng gradually increased. Now, he didn’t dare underestimate Zhang Heng, looking like he was preparing to face a very powerful enemy. From the start of the fight, he made sure his eyes were locked onto his opponent.

Of course, he did not forget to taunt Zhang Heng. He now realized that his words had no effect. It was as if Zhang Heng’s emotions would never fluctuate. However, he still didn’t shut his mouth since talking helped him release part of his anxiety.

After that, Zhang Heng planted Miss F’s tungsten steel sword beside his feet and finally pulled out the Shrouded Sheath from his waist. Due to the overpowering effect of this blade, this was Zhang Heng’s first time using it ever since he obtained it.

Zhang Heng mimicked the skill, Hyakkidou-ri, inspired by Okita Soji. He aimed the tip of his blade at the man’s eyes.

The latter then blinked and muttered, “What the hell?! Don’t you dare think you can cut through my exoskeleton with that blade.”

To answer his doubt, Zhang Heng took the initiative to attack. Upon seeing that, the man standing in the middle of the road wasn’t surprised but rejoiced instead. Earlier, he was thinking about how he could force Zhang Heng to fight him face-to-face. To his surprise, Zhang Heng volunteered for the first strike.

The man in the middle of the road was thrilled, immediately raising his fist to fight again. In Zhang Heng’s hand, the Shrouded Sheath collided with the enemy’s exoskeleton, emitting a loud clank. Soon after that, the clanks became more and more frequent. They sounded like raindrops falling on a metal roof.

The noises made the man more and more nervous, but when he realized that his exoskeleton sustained no damage, he managed to calm down again.

That said, his current situation was unlike what he had expected. Initially, he thought that once he engaged in close-quarters combat with Zhang Heng, he could take advantage of his strength and speed to get the upper hand. However, he would be too naive to think so. Zhang Heng appeared to have concealed some of his strength. The moment he pulled out the Shrouded Sheath, he was about to give it everything he had to fight against the man.

Now his attacks gushed onto his enemy like a raging tsunami. The man who stood in the middle of the road thought that the statement was just a metaphor, but now he felt that he might just be drowned by the tsunami. The last thing that he could rely on was his strength. Hence, he believed that there was no way Zhang Heng could continuously maintain such high-intensity attacks. No matter how good Zhang Heng’s swordsmanship was, he would be the final winner as long as Zhang Heng failed to penetrate his exoskeleton.

That was what the man thought in the midst of the fight. However, he heard a more distinct clank, and this one sounded a little harsh. When he looked for the source of the sound came from, he realized that it had come from his right arm.

Then, he saw something that almost terrified him to death. The exoskeleton of his right arm was covered with dense cracks.

If he had not seen it with his eyes, he would’ve never believed that an exoskeleton strong enough to withstand a tungsten steel sword could be cut to pieces by a single slash. When he realized that the situation wasn’t in his favor, he tried to withdraw his hand, albeit a little too late.

After taking in a deep breath, Zhang Heng smashed his target’s exoskeleton with a single stab, the blade driving deep into his flesh, cutting off half of his carpal bone along with it. If the latter had not withdrawn his arm, the blade would’ve severed off his entire right hand.

After Zhang Heng managed to wound the man, he dashed away from Zhang Heng at an explosive speed with the help of the exoskeleton. Words would fail to describe the amount of pain and shock he had just endured. And that triggered his primal rage.

The people who were brought to the garden by Mr. G today were all murderers. All of them had killed at least a dozen people each. Although the injuries on the man’s arm were severe, they did not destroy his will. Instead, the pain motivated him to fight harder. The man fumbled around his waist and found the medical gel, and sprayed it on his wounds. With gritted teeth, he growled, “It appears that I’ll have to get serious too. I want to see if you can do the same thing to me again!”

When he was finished, he saw Zhang Heng putting the Shrouded Sheath back into the scabbard. Zhang Heng then pulled out the tungsten steel sword from the ground and said, “It’s a pity. You can’t see it anymore.”

“It’s just a small injury.” The man licked his lips and smirked, “Don’t worry. I will make sure you pay for it with your body...”

The man stopped suddenly because he noticed a pool of blood on his feet. It was blood that was coming from the injuries Zhang Heng had inflicted on him. The man was horrified by what he saw. Although the wound wasn’t fatal, it was indeed deep. If it weren’t patched in time, he would probably die from excessive blood loss.

Thus, the man pulled out the bottle of medical gel again and sprayed it on the wound on his wrist. Supposedly, medical gels could heal such wounds. However, the strange thing was that he began to bleed even more after applying for the medicine. The wound had even begun rotting, emitting a stench so putrid it overpowered the fragrance of the nearby flowers.

But Zhang Heng, who was opposite of him, had moved away from where he stood. He lifted the bucket of honeycombs and continued to walk on the path. Whoever the Shrouded Sheath hurt would eventually be harvested by the reaper.

Not only would the wound fail to heal, but it would also continue to rot. This effect was thanks to Pestilence’s phalanx that was added to the blade when recast. The wound was also quite deep, so even if the man lost only one finger, he wouldn’t be leaving the garden alive.

Not long after Zhang Heng walked away from him, he heard the sound of his enemy falling to the ground behind him. And that marked the end of the battle.

On the other side of the garden, Mr. G was in complete bewilderment. When Zhang Heng asked to borrow F’s sword because his blade was too sharp, Mr. G thought Zhang Heng was ridiculous. The moment Zhang Heng took out his blade to cut the exoskeleton, however, Mr. G quickly felt that Zhang Heng was actually too humble.

The blade’s hardness had surpassed any material he knew. However, Mr. G was more interested in the owner of the blade. He could not figure out who Zhang Heng was, whether from a human or clone perspective.