Lin "Sherlock Holmes" Baici

"Monster?"

18D screamed, his voice cracking as he hurriedly ducked behind Xia Hongyao.

"Stand still!"

Lin Baici growled a warning.

He had kept his eyes on Earphone Guy the whole time, and with his exceptional dynamic vision, he immediately saw clearly when that black shadow pounced on Earphone Guy at tremendous speed.

It was a gray octopus with ring-shaped markings and protruding fleshy lumps all over its body. It looked revolting.

Its head was oval, like a huge coconut, and with its tentacles spread out, it was over a meter long.

Smack!

The octopus shot out of the water like a cannonball and leaped onto Earphone Guy's face. Four tentacles flashed out and clamped tightly around his head, leaving not even a sliver of space.

Two more tentacles coiled around his neck and squeezed hard.

"Save..."

Earphone Guy struggled desperately, clawing wildly with both hands as he tried to rip the Octopus Monster off his face. But the suction cups on its tentacles had too much pull; he could not budge it at all.

Worst of all, the octopus's body covered Earphone Guy's nose and mouth, leaving him unable to cry for help or breathe.

The Octopus Monster's remaining tentacles stretched into the water, hooked onto a seat, and began to pull.

Splash!

Earphone Guy was yanked over and fell into the seawater.

Glug glug glug!

A string of bubbles rose to the surface.

Xia Hongyao's sense of justice surged. Gripping her short blade, she was about to rush over and save him.

"Don't move. He's beyond saving!"

Lin Baici stopped Xia Hongyao.

The instant Earphone Guy was dragged into the seawater, Lin Baici heard a crack. It was likely that the Octopus Monster had snapped Earphone Guy's cervical vertebrae.

"H-He's... dead?"

Every hair on 18D's body stood on end, and goosebumps covered him.

In the seawater, Earphone Guy's limbs no longer struggled. Like a dead fish, he slowly sank to the bottom.

He was obviously dead.

"Don't panic. I'll take it down!"

Xia Hongyao was reckless to the extreme. A living person had just died right in front of her, yet she was not the least bit afraid. Instead, her fighting spirit burned even hotter.

"Don't move!"

Lin Baici growled. "Do you know how this monster tracks its prey? All of its attack methods? How many there are? And do you have a tactic to deal with it?"

This high-ponytail girl was brave, but bravery should not mean throwing away her life.

"Uh..."

Xia Hongyao was left speechless.

Lin Baici's questions had stumped her.

When you saw a monster, you just killed it. Why did you have to think about all that?

"If you don't, then stay put like a good girl!"

Lin Baici was taking no small risk by speaking now.

If his judgment was wrong, and this Octopus Monster could track prey by sound as well as by ripples on the water's surface, then he would be attacked.

After killing Earphone Guy, the Octopus Monster slipped beneath a seat and hid.

"Where did that monster go?"

18D trembled violently. He wanted to leave this carriage, but he did not dare.

"You already know the answers to all those questions you asked?"

Xia Hongyao stared at the water's surface as she questioned Lin Baici.

"Yeah!"

As Lin Baici spoke, he gripped the torch tightly in his right hand and scraped it hard against the ceiling of the carriage.

Whoosh!

The Pine Torch ignited, its orange-red glow bringing a trace of warmth.

This was the advantage of being tall with long arms.

At over 1.8 meters tall, Lin Baici would not have been able to light the Pine Torch without moving his body if he had been any shorter—he would not have been able to rub it against anything.

Firelight reflected on the water's surface.

Xia Hongyao felt nothing, but 18D's gaze was instantly drawn to the torchlight. He could not look away, seized by an urge to leap forward and embrace it.

"You're lying to me, aren't you?"

Xia Hongyao did not believe him.

How long had this monster even been around?

Ten-odd seconds, maybe?

How could he possibly have gathered so much information?

Did he think he was Sherlock Holmes?

"The first shadow I saw was this Octopus Monster!"

"Out of caution, I didn't let you move. We weren't attacked then. After waiting a while, Earphone Guy across from us went into the water, and the Octopus Monster immediately ambushed and killed him. Now that we aren't moving, it hasn't attacked us either. That's enough to show that it searches for enemies through the ripples in the seawater caused by their movements!"

Lin Baici explained.

"So that's how it is."

Xia Hongyao suddenly understood and felt that Lin Baici's reasoning made perfect sense.

This kid's deduction skills were seriously strong!

Just a tiny bit better than mine!

"What do we do now? We can't just stand here waiting for that octopus monster to leave, can we?"

18D was worried. The fact that they had not been attacked meant Lin Baici's analysis was correct, but they could not remain standing still forever!

The seawater was still rising.

Some of the passengers in the seats were shorter, and the water had already risen over their noses and mouths. The children in particular were completely submerged.

But due to the anesthetic's effects, they remained asleep.

Lin Baici suddenly reached up, yanked a Trolley Case from the luggage rack, and threw it into the seawater.

Splash!

A huge spray of water flew everywhere.

Ripples immediately spread outward, hit the carriage walls, then surged back.

The nearby passengers swayed gently with the waves.

"Holy shit, what are you doing?"

18D was nearly scared to death.

Lin Baici ignored him and stared at the water's surface.

The monster, hiding somewhere unknown, did not appear. It seemed it could tell whether what had fallen into the water was a human or luggage.

"This is troublesome!"

Xia Hongyao understood that Lin Baici had been trying to lure the monster out, but it was clearly intelligent.

"It probably senses and distinguishes targets by their body temperature?"

Lin Baici guessed. He pulled a small backpack from the luggage rack and hurled it at a balding middle-aged male passenger seated two meters in front of him near the aisle.

Bang!

The Bald Passenger, unconscious in his seat, was struck. His body tilted, and he toppled into the water!

Splash!

Water sprayed wildly!

"What are you doing?"

Xia Hongyao was shocked.

Before her words had even faded, a black shadow shot through the water beneath the surface. Then, with a splash, it burst from the water and wrapped itself around the head of the middle-aged passenger, who had not yet fully sunk.

Lin Baici moved. He took a full-force step forward, closing in on the Bald Passenger. At the same time, he thrust the burning Pine Torch at the Octopus Monster like a spear.

The Octopus Monster sensed the danger. One of its tentacles snapped out and struck the Pine Torch, but the instant it touched it, it ignited with a boom like an iron-plate octopus soaked in gasoline.

Lin Baici immediately swung the Pine Torch with all his strength, stopping the Octopus Monster from getting close and preventing it from making a desperate last stand and dragging him down with it.

But he had clearly overestimated the monster's courage.

Once it caught fire, the Octopus Monster's first reaction was to flee, to get away from the torch.

It released the Bald Passenger and swiftly swam into the depths of the seawater, hiding while trying to Extinguish Fire with the seawater.

But it was useless.

Anything ignited by the Pine Torch would not be extinguished by water.

In only a few seconds, the Octopus Monster burned into a clump of ash and was scattered by the seawater.

Lin Baici grabbed the Bald Passenger, pulled him out of the seawater, and tossed him back onto his seat.

After such a powerful shock to his body, the Bald Passenger woke up. But seeing the carriage full of seawater, he wore a blank, bewildered expression.

"This dream is way too real!"

The Bald Passenger wiped his face, only to see the short female traveler beside him completely submerged in water, her face deathly pale. It nearly scared him to death!

After dealing with the Octopus Monster, Lin Baici let out a sigh of relief. He opened his backpack, took out the Bodhi Messenger Kasaya, and draped it over himself.

"..."

18D was completely baffled.

Why did he suddenly feel like cosplaying at a time like this?

People usually picked superheroes. If not, at least an Ultraman, right?

Who was he cosplaying in a kasaya?

Tang Sanzang?

"A God's Taboo Object?"

Xia Hongyao had not expected this Big Male Student to have another God's Taboo Object. She just did not know what its effect was.

"Let's go!"

Lin Baici extinguished the torch, called out to Xia Hongyao, and quickened his pace.

He had not worn the kasaya earlier because it was far too conspicuous. Even an idiot would know Lin Baici was a God Hunter upon seeing it and would be doubly on guard.

But the appearance of the Octopus Monster made Lin Baici choose to arm himself from head to toe.

"Holy shit, that's awesome!"

Watching Lin Baici's retreating figure, 18D thought he looked cool as hell.

Now that was a real man.

Xia Hongyao had initially thought Lin Baici was too ruthless for using people as bait, but on second thought, the Bald Passenger had not died and had instead woken up. At the very least, he now had a better chance of surviving than the others.

Besides, if Lin Baici dared to do this, he must have been confident no one would die!

And the claim that he was too cowardly to face monsters and had therefore used people as bait did not hold water at all. There would definitely be more monsters ahead, yet Lin Baici was heading forward alone.

If it had been another cold-blooded God Hunter, they would have long since awakened several passengers and used them as Cannon Fodder to clear the way.

When the Bald Passenger saw the beautiful Xia Hongyao walk past him, he could not resist reaching out his hand.

Xia Hongyao narrowed her eyes, swung the short blade in her hand, and viciously smashed it into his mouth.

Bang!

"Argh!"

The Bald Passenger screamed and collapsed onto a seat. Blood and teeth sprayed from his mouth, falling into the seawater and blooming through it.

"Trash!"

Xia Hongyao shot the Bald Passenger a glare.

"Dumbfuck!"

18D sneered. "This isn't a dream!"

The Bald Passenger was dumbstruck. His mouth hung wide open as he swished his hand through the seawater a few times.

Holy shit!

It really was seawater?

Watching the three of them leave, the Bald Passenger glanced around the carriage. Quite a few shorter people were already completely submerged in the seawater.

The Bald Passenger shuddered, shouted, "Wait for me!" and hurried after them.

In Carriage 04, Lin Baici's group of four did not encounter any Octopus Monsters and passed through safely.

"It's over. How are we supposed to get off this train?"

18D was worried to the point of despair.

Standing at the junction between carriages, he looked through the blurry window and saw that the train was still speeding along. Even if they opened the door, jumping out would only lead to death.

"First, we stop the train!"

The instant Lin Baici stepped into Carriage 03, his hunger intensified sharply.

The God's Taboo Object was here!

Lin Baici's spirits lifted, but after sweeping his gaze across the carriage, he found nothing unusual!

The passengers were all unconscious.

The one who had caused all this was cunning and cautious. He had pretended to be unconscious and blended in among the passengers, making it impossible to pick him out.

"Then hurry up!"

the Bald Passenger urged.

"If we can't find the enemy, we should stop the train first. Otherwise, if it crashes into something, we're finished!"

Xia Hongyao suddenly realized that Lin Baici had skipped the rear of the train and come straight to the front. Perhaps he had already considered this.

She lifted a hand to smooth her High Ponytail, watching Lin Baici's back as the thought of recruiting him into the Nine Provinces Divine Guard arose in her mind.