The Door Opened

The bus swerved slightly.

The driver kept the bus moving with forced composure, but the sweat running down his forehead gave him away.

"How long until the next stop?" A voice broke the silence first.

"About five minutes," someone answered.

The bus fell silent again.

"Could you let the Fire Fang Dog smell your scent? Maybe it can figure out where that thing is." Qiao Sang suddenly spoke into the silence.

Before the female student could say anything, the Square-faced Man standing beside her sneered. "Even if there really is a wild Ghost Type Extraordinary Creature on the bus, are you sure you want to look for it while we're driving? What if you anger it and something happens? Can you take responsibility?"

"Yeah, let's wait until the bus stops at the next station."

"We should contact the Patrol Department to handle this. We shouldn't make things worse."

"Right, what's the Patrol Department's number again? I'll call."

"I think it's 669."

"...That's the Control Department."

The people on the bus discussed it one after another.

"It's not Ghost Type," Qiao Sang said.

"How do you know it isn't?" someone asked.

"You were the one who said you noticed something moving, and now you're the one saying it isn't. Are you messing with us?" the Square-faced Man shouted.

Qiao Sang looked directly at him and smiled. "Uncle, I feel like you've been targeting me from the very beginning."

The Square-faced Man's eyes widened as he roared, "I'm only twenty-four!"

"Uncle, you're being a little loud," Qiao Sang said, digging at her ear.

The Square-faced Man glared viciously at Qiao Sang, his expression feral. If not for the Fire Fang Dog in front of her, he probably would have made a move the next second.

"Why isn't it Ghost Type?" the female student asked then.

"That auntie's pet beast is a Magnetic Fierce Rat. If a Ghost Type Extraordinary Creature appeared nearby, its tail would take on a lightning-bolt shape. But its tail is hanging straight down right now." Qiao Sang pointed at the pet beast on the auntie's shoulder beside them as she explained.

The female student froze for a moment. Thinking back, that did seem to be the case...

Magnetic Fierce Rats had magnetic field sensitivity and could detect unusual movements in magnetic fields.

Magnetic fields unlike their own, such as those around Ghost Type Extraordinary Creatures, would unconsciously stimulate the temporal lobes of a Magnetic Fierce Rat's brain, causing its tail to take on a lightning-bolt shape.

But textbooks were textbooks. She had never thought to connect such obscure knowledge to reality so quickly...

"Yes, yes, that's exactly how my Magnetic Fierce Rat is," the auntie beside them said, nodding as she came to her senses.

Hearing that, the female student no longer hesitated. "Go ahead and smell me."

Qiao Sang nodded at the Fire Fang Dog.

The obedient Fire Fang Dog leaned close and began sniffing the female student.

Qiao Sang noticed that the facial muscles of the Square-faced Man standing nearby instantly tensed.

The Fire Fang Dog sniffed her, then sniffed the air a few times before barking at the Square-faced Man.

"What are you barking at, you dead mutt?!" the Square-faced Man snarled.

"Fang!"

The Fire Fang Dog's fur stood on end. It braced itself on all four limbs, baring its sharp fangs wide. It had clearly been enraged by the man before it.

The Square-faced Man jumped in fright, but he still stubbornly refused to step back.

He looked toward the girl holding the Fire Fang Dog, intending to have her control her pet beast. Instead, he found her staring at him expressionlessly, her gaze icy. Somehow, she seemed even more frightening than the Fire Fang Dog...

Qiao Sang felt incomparably calm at that moment. She slowly stroked the Fire Fang Dog's back, trying to keep it from bristling.

She couldn't attack him first. The Alliance explicitly prohibited Beast Tamers from using pet beasts to attack ordinary citizens. Even if she wanted to attack him, she couldn't do it so openly. There was a whole bus full of people here.

There was obviously something wrong with this man. When she had said the Fire Fang Dog sensed something, he had reacted the most intensely. And the Fire Fang Dog had smelled the same scent on him as it had on the female student.

But there was no way he himself could make something appear on another person one moment and vanish the next.

Pulling tricks on a bus meant either stealing money or taking advantage of women.

That thing could make the Fire Fang Dog suddenly lose track of it, and the female student hadn't noticed anything either. If someone had touched her body, she definitely would have reacted.

So it wasn't about taking advantage of her.

Then it was theft.

"Have you lost anything?" Qiao Sang turned to the female student and asked.

The female student froze, then realized what she meant and checked her bag and pockets. Two seconds later—

"Fuck, my phone is gone!"

Just as I thought, Qiao Sang thought.

Seeing this, everyone on the bus began checking their belongings as well.

"My phone is gone too!"

"My wallet too!"

"And the necklace I bought for my girlfriend is gone!"

"Where are my height-increasing insoles?!!!"

"My pet beast's Rustle Fruits! Ahhh!"

After checking, a third of the people on the bus discovered that their belongings were missing.

Qiao Sang keenly noticed that all the people who had lost things were seated around the middle of the bus.

Looking at the Square-faced Man, Qiao Sang became even more certain of her guess.

When the Square-faced Man saw Qiao Sang looking at him, his expression turned extremely ugly. Gritting his teeth, he said, "My phone is missing too!"

Qiao Sang: "..."

"Oh dear... I can't be apart from my pet beast for even a moment..."

At that exact moment, a loud ringtone sounded from the Square-faced Man's body.

The man: "..."

Everyone's gaze turned toward him.

The Square-faced Man gave an awkward laugh. "Turns out it's still on me. I just couldn't find it earlier."

"You're a Beast Tamer, aren't you?" Qiao Sang asked.

The Square-faced Man's face darkened before he could decide how to answer.

"He is! He's even wearing a Beast Tamer Badge!" Having realized the Square-faced Man's abnormal behavior, the female student said excitedly.

All Beast Tamers registered with the Alliance were issued corresponding badges. For example, an F-rank Beast Tamer's badge had a white background, the Pet Beast Alliance emblem on it, and an F symbol.

Some people liked wearing them, while others did not. Those who did not wear them were generally lower-ranked Beast Tamers.

The Square-faced Man before them was clearly wearing an E-Class Beast Tamer Badge with a gray background on his chest.

That meant he had at least two Intermediate Pet Beasts.

"Would you mind showing everyone what pet beasts you have?" Qiao Sang asked pleasantly.

The Square-faced Man wanted to refuse, but the eyes of everyone on the bus had gathered on him.

"Show us your pet beasts!"

"Yeah, what are you afraid of?"

"Weren't you acting all tough just now? Say something."

"Do you have some pet beast you can't let people see?"

The Square-faced Man's expression grew uglier and uglier. His already cramped features squeezed together even more, while the sweat on his back made his gray tank top cling tightly to his body.

Just as he had no idea what to do—

"Yonglin Station has arrived. Passengers getting off, please take your belongings and exit through the rear door."

The electronic stop announcer sounded.

The door opened.