Chapter 732: 732

Chapter 732: Wings

While those half-man-half-fish and frog monsters looked at Zhang Heng in bewilderment, Zhang Heng’s soared into the air . A massive pair of black wings spread out behind him . And at the same time, feather-like fine fragments of shadows were falling from the sky .

This was Zhang Heng’s first experience flying in the air .

Of course, flying on a plane didn’t count . This time, he was flying without the help of an external source . Differing from the birds that flew in the sky, he could feel the presence of the wings in his consciousness, but they were not controlled by his muscles . As of now, Zhang Heng was still discovering how to use his wings right .

Zhang Heng looked a little clumsy as he tried to learn the reins of flight . Since it was his first time using such an ability, he did not dare to rise up too high, merely hovering high enough so the monsters could not reach him by jumping . After that, he flew out of the encirclement .

Under the moonlight, a black shadow floated over the wasteland . Zhang Heng could see that all those monsters lifting their heads, staring at him from the ground . They had been preparing for this battle for a long time, and everything that they did was like a carefully rehearsed stage play . However, none of them foresaw that Zhang Heng would grow a pair of wings and fly away .

Twelve seconds was a short time .

Zhang Heng silently counted the seconds in his heart . He managed to lower his altitude one second before his wings disappeared . Due to his inexperience in flying, he couldn’t estimate the right speed and strength needed for landing . His arm landed first, and he rolled on the ground a few times before coming to a stop .

He didn’t even care about checking his injuries . After he got up from the ground, he continued to run forward . Although he had managed to avoid many enemies by flying, there were still many scattered nearby .

Since he could not use his wings, for now, Zhang Heng was not entirely confident that he would be able to run away . After all, the residents who had lived here for decades or longer knew these grounds much better than him .

Suddenly, he heard someone uttering a series of rapid syllables . The noise came was coming from the priest with the gold crown .

Zhang Heng wasn’t sure if this priest was the one that survived the shootout earlier . Although there were more monsters than priests, he was certain there were more than just three priests . After a while, more and more monsters started to repeat the series of strange syllables and, at the same time, stopped advancing as well . It was as if they had just received an order from their commander .

Although unaffected by the chants, he still looked back as he ran . For the time being, he did not see them coming after him . It seemed they were just going to stand there and watch him leave .

After running for a while, Zhang Heng gradually slowed his pace .

Right now, another sound permeated his ears .

If the voices of those monsters made him feel uncomfortable, then these low-frequency hums filled with malicious intent would probably turn a sound-minded person utterly crazy . It was comparable to the sound that came from the deepest parts of hell .

Since Zhang Heng was gradually losing his emotion, he showed little reaction to the sounds . He guessed that the sounds roughly originated from the black reef .

It was a shame that the wave breaker blocked the person, and he couldn’t see what was beyond it . All of a sudden, a cloud of white smoke reappeared beside Zhang Heng . Judging by its taste, it was the cigar that the bartender gave him .

Zhang Heng knew that it was time to leave . Before he left, he took one last look at the low and dilapidated buildings and ruins in the distant town, and half of the tower spire bathed in moonlight . He then allowed the white smoke to engulf him .

…

“You stayed longer than I expected . ” The bartender lady glanced at the clock hanging on the lounge’s wall and asked Zhang Heng, who had just opened his eyes, “How did the test go?”

“I don’t know if it went well . ” Seemingly remembering something, he went silent before asking, “How much time has passed?”

The bartender lady wasn’t too bothered about Zhang Heng not wanting to talk more about the test . She was never a person who liked to explore the secrets of others and had done an excellent job as a game checkpoint staff . That said, she was quite obsessed with the game herself .

“You were in there for about half a minute . Since you are awake, come and settle the bill first . ”

“How much?” Zhang Heng was not too surprised by her answer . Although he had been in that weird town for almost half a day, he had become accustomed to the change of time after experiencing so many quests .

But that place wasn’t like the dungeons he had been to before . His game items, character panels, and even his watch were taken away from him . If he were to describe it, it was more like a dream .

“100 game points . ”

“Why is it so expensive?” Zhang Heng frowned .

“Compared with what you have recently received, this is nothing to you . ” The bartender raised her eyebrows and returned all the game items to him . Zhang Heng had stored all his game items here before he entered the game .

“But I don’t have so many points with me . ” Zhang Heng said .

“Impossible . Aren’t you ranked first on the proxy war’s leaderboard?” The bartender lady was surprised .

“But there were no game points to earn in the proxy war’s dungeon . ”

Zhang Heng told everything truthfully to the bartender lady . Initially, he could have gotten four hundred game points from 1807, but the latter decided to pay with his game items . And the points that he earned from the Western dungeon had practically been used to pay off his debts . Now, all he was left with were thirty game points .

“All your points have been used to recast the sword . ” The bartender lady rubbed her chin . “What should I do?”

“I still have twenty-nine game points . If possible, I will pay the remainder after the next quest,” Zhang Heng said .

“If it was someone else, I won’t take the deal because I don’t know if the player can survive the next round . And even if they do, I don’t know if they can earn enough points . But given that we have done so many transactions, I might make an exception and let you pay the next time . However, this is only a one-time thing,” Miss bartender said . She seemed nicer to him this time .

However, Zhang Heng did not seem to appreciate the favor very much . His expression changed, “You used to collect game points before providing me with services . ”

“You mean, I’m making you pay all your game points now?”

“That’s not the case . I mean, why did you set a different rule this time . You seem to be really eager for me to participate in this test . ” Zhang Heng looked into the eyes of the bartender, his mind filled with thought .

“Are you doubting me? Why? Did anything happen during the test?”

Zhang Heng could read nothing from the bartender’s cunning eyes . In the end, he said, “Nothing, maybe it’s just a coincidence . ”

Due to deal restructure text to speech player is currently unavailable. Will find a solution soon.

Chapter 733: Chapter 733 – Mukaiji Nanako

Chapter 733: Mukaiji Nanako

Tonight, Zhang Heng had achieved two things in one—he solved Yogurt’s kidnapping and accepted the Shadow-set’s test .

The former went by reasonably smoothly . Although he received no game points from 1810, he did acquire a game item . At least he got something in return after spending all that effort to look for Yogurt . As for the grievances between Yogurt and 1810, and the love story between Yogurt and Shen Dongxing, these had nothing to do with him .

After completing the trial of the Shadow-set items, he received a huge amount of new information . He had actually been unable to fully understand what was going on; until now, that was .

According to his previous analysis, he should have entered the Shadow-set’s dungeon for the test after inhaling the white smoke . Due to personal reasons, however, he returned to the strange town that he had dreamed of . This time, though, he managed to find out why the town was slowly rotting away .

But then Zhang Heng noticed Fabericotte’s behavior . That was when he first started to doubt if he should continue investigating his life .

In the end, he decided not to go to the black reef and meet the creatures there . Fabericotte did refer to him as his most loyal servant and follower . However, based on Zhang Heng’s experience, when someone did not mind paying the massive price of forcing another to do something, it often meant that myriad unfavorable factors would plague the matter .

When Zhang Heng first arrived in that town, he instinctively felt a particular connection with him . The person standing on the black reef should be the leader of those half-man-half-fish and frog monsters .

If Fabericotte wasn’t lying, and that person was his servant and follower, then who was he?

What about the other items from the Shadow-set?

If it was as simple as returning to his dream, how were those Shadow items on him? And what about the choice he had to make at the end of his dream?

Did he pass the test? If tonight’s dream was related to his body and he hadn’t completed the Shadow set’s trial, how did he acquire the wings?

What did the bartender have to do with this incident? Did she know that the ritual would go wrong? Could she have been one of the people that knew about Zhang Heng’s life?

What was the relationship between her and the old man in the Tang suit? Did they know each other? If this was the case, it was no coincidence that the old man asked him to come to this checkpoint where the bartender was .

…

So many questions were left unanswered, yet Zhang Heng was in no rush to get their answers . After he came out of the bar, he found a hotel and rented a business suite, falling asleep from morning all the way to the afternoon . Although the mysterious and depressive atmosphere had little effect on him, the battle that began at Gilman Lodge all the way to the swamp had cost him a great deal of stamina .

After returning to the real world, Zhang Heng didn’t want to think about other matters, merely wanting to have a good rest . Fortunately for him, he had a sound sleep, where there were no interruptions and no strange dreams as well . When his eyes finally opened and he glanced at his watch, the time showed 4:20 in the afternoon .

After that, he headed to the bathroom for a shower . Once he came out, he turned on the computer on the desk and organized the information at hand .

Perhaps intentional or otherwise—Zhang Heng realized that Fabericotte had never told him the town’s name from the beginning . However, he did mention that he was traveling around New England .

New England was in no way related to the United Kingdom . Referring to six states in the Northeastern United States, they included Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut . Newburyport was a city located in northeastern Massachusetts . Zhang Heng had gone to the United States twice in two games, and he still clearly remembered some of the country’s facts .

But the name Arkham was unfamiliar to Zhang Heng . Those familiar with comics, however, knew that there was an Arkham Asylum in Gotham City . The place was filled with talented people, and they were friendly and polite . However, in reality, it seemed that such a place did not really exist . To verify his doubts, Zhang Heng clicked on an electronic map .

As expected, no such place existed .

So was Fabericotte lying about it?

Zhang Heng was in no rush to draw a conclusion . He continued searching for July 15, 1927, the day that Fabericotte and the townsfolk were very concerned about . However, the results obtained weren’t beneficial . The 1946 plague shared no clues about the place he was looking for, and in the end, Zhang Heng was left with a frown on his brow .

Suddenly, his mobile phone vibrated . Zhang Heng picked it up, took a look, and found that Chen Huadong had sent him a message . There were only two words—HELP ME!

He even sent his location .

Zhang Heng took a look and knew that it was near a commercial pedestrian street, not too far from where he currently was .

As of now, the last thing he wanted was to dwell on this matter . He had recently been dealing nonstop with supernatural incidents, and he needed to relax his nerves by doing things an ordinary person would do .

So, he turned off the computer, went downstairs to check out his room, took a taxi, and rushed to where Chen Huadong was . The latter was waiting for him in front of the street . Scratching his head, a girl was beside him .

At about only 1 . 5 meters, her stubby height made her look petite, not to mention her silver hair and the quirky outfit she had put on . Her bangs were slightly cocked, making her look like she had just woken up from sleep .

Zhang Heng remembered Hayase Asuka saying that she had a friend who loved anime and was here as an exchange student . And she wanted to find someone to practice her Chinese, so Zhang Heng had recommended Chen Huadong, who himself had been coming to terms with his lengthy period of bachelorship . Hence, that marked the beginning of their international friendship .

After Zhang Heng got the contact information Hayase Asuka sent him, he immediately forwarded it to Chen Huadong . He never asked if the friendship worked out or not .

So this was Zhang Heng’s first time seeing her in the flesh .

Chen Huadong was in luck this time . She was almost as gorgeous as Hayase Asuka . Although she fell slightly short of Hayase Asuka’s sharp facial features, she was cuter than most of her counterparts . As they were walking just now, many boys had their eyes on her . It was rare that she shared the same hobbies as Chen Huadong . It was no wonder Chen Huadong had been so passionate about learning Japanese recently .

“You are finally here!” Chen Huadong’s eyes lit up when he saw Zhang Heng .

“Well, how can I help?”

“We are going to visit the bookstore . Nanako… Oh, by the way, I haven’t introduced her to you yet . ”

Chen Huadong started to speak in crappy Japanese . “Nanako… this… Zhang Heng, Zhang Heng, this Mukaiji Nanako . ”

Nanako then stretched out her hand, wanting to shake Zhang Heng’s hand, “Asuka-senpai talks about Zhang-san almost three times a day . Recently, she had been complaining about you not contacting her . She admires you a lot!”

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