Seven of Hearts

Judging by the thoughts of the tentacled monster...

If the distance became too great, this freak would switch to attacking someone else.

In both instances, the monster had completely ignored all other passengers on the train, targeting only Zhou Ke and the silver-haired girl.

Did they alone fit its killing criteria?

Moreover—

If one of them created distance, would it immediately shift to attacking the other?

Earlier, when the tentacle monster had been about to kill the girl, Zhou Ke had inadvertently taken a step forward.

In response, the monster had tossed the girl aside and turned its attention to Zhou Ke.

Zhou Ke formulated a hypothesis: the monster could only kill one person at a time, so it would always attack whoever was closer.

Testing this theory was simple.

Zhou Ke looked up and shouted at the silver-haired girl:

"Run toward me!"

"What?" The girl froze.

"Trust me!"

She gave him a quick once-over, weighing her options, before finally complying and sprinting in his direction.

[Target switched!]

The tentacle monster abandoned Zhou Ke and lunged for the girl again.

"Stop!" Zhou Ke barked.

The girl cooperated instantly, halting in place.

Zhou Ke immediately moved, rushing toward the monster.

Once he was closer...

[Target switched!]

The monster retracted its tentacle from the girl and lashed out at Zhou Ke instead.

Just as he thought...

This thing had no independent judgment—its behavior followed a simple logic:

1. It would only attack either Zhou Ke or the silver-haired girl.

2. It would always prioritize the closer target.

With that in mind, the solution became obvious.

Who would’ve thought that mind-reading, seemingly useless in this situation, could prove so unexpectedly effective?

"There’s no such thing as a useless magic tool... only unreliable magicians," Zhou Ke muttered.

Who said offensive abilities were better in scenarios like this?

"In the hands of a skilled magician, even rotten wood... can bloom."

Zhou Ke’s earlier panic vanished, replaced by icy calm.

He took a leisurely step back, his movements graceful and unhurried.

Now, the silver-haired girl, the tentacle monster, and Zhou Ke stood in a straight line inside the train.

And the distance between the two humans and the monster was perfectly equal.

Instantly, the monster froze.

To an outsider, it looked as though Zhou Ke’s half-step back had immobilized the creature.

But Zhou Ke knew the real reason.

A smirk curled his lips as he listened to the monster’s thoughts:

[Anomaly! Targets equidistant!]

The monster’s logic was simple: attack whoever was closer.

But if both targets were the same distance away, its judgment short-circuited.

This was the real key to breaking the deadlock.

The girl stared in disbelief, glancing between the motionless monster and Zhou Ke.

Since she couldn’t hear the monster’s thoughts, his effortless control over it baffled her.

But the next moment...

The monster extended both tentacles, striking at them simultaneously!

[Simultaneous attack!]

Its voice was guttural, its pitch rising sharply.

"So you’re not completely brainless," Zhou Ke murmured.

He wasn’t surprised by the monster’s reaction.

In fact, if the creature had just stood there dumbly, he’d have questioned the intelligence of the Skull Society’s assassins.

Zhou Ke quickly called out to the girl:

"Move back! Both of us—keep equal distance as we retreat!"

Since she couldn’t hear the monster’s thoughts, she had no way of deducing its attack patterns.

So she didn’t understand his reasoning.

But after seeing him immobilize the monster with a single step, she trusted him enough to obey without hesitation.

The girl moved with feline grace, leaping onto the train’s side wall to evade the tentacle before swiftly retreating.

Zhou Ke mirrored her, darting backward so fast he became a blur.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, maintaining equal distance and forcing the monster to split its focus.

Once they’d put enough space between themselves and the creature...

CRACK!

The tentacles reached their limit.

The scene in the carriage now looked like this:

A tentacled freak stood in the middle.

Its two appendages stretched to either side, straining to reach its targets.

But its limbs had a maximum length, so...

It was stuck.

Both tentacles were fully extended, yet neither could touch their intended prey.

"This thing’s brain is pathetically simple."

Zhou Ke bent down, casually picking up a metal rod from the floor—a piece of the train’s railing dislodged during the chaos.

He tested its weight. Not bad.

In one fluid motion, he raised it and drove it down like a stake, impaling one of the flailing tentacles to the ground.

The girl watched, bewildered.

Zhou Ke met her questioning gaze.

"If you don’t get it, just copy me."

After a beat, she nodded.

Summoning a spear with her ability, she mimicked his motion, pinning the other tentacle with a decisive thrust.

Now, both of the monster’s limbs were immobilized.

"Move toward it with me—keep the distance equal," Zhou Ke instructed softly.

The girl complied.

Step by step, they advanced in perfect sync.

With the distance identical, the monster couldn’t focus on a single target.

So it tried to attack both simultaneously.

But...

Its tentacles were already nailed to the floor, rendering it helpless.

This was exactly why Zhou Ke had pinned them down.

They stopped right in front of the creature.

[Royal blood... eliminate!]

[Error! Targets equidistant!]

The monster’s thoughts crackled like static.

It thrashed wildly, but the rods held its limbs fast.

Zhou Ke’s eyes locked onto the skull emblem on its clothes, his expression darkening.

"I told you—send as many assassins as you want."

"However many come..."

"...I’ll kill them all."

A blade flashed.

Zhou Ke drew a dagger from his pocket and slit the monster’s throat in one clean stroke.

In the bloody mist of the monster's disintegrating skull, a crimson gleam slowly swirled in Zhou Ke's eyes before fading away.

The noise-like murmurs of the monster's thoughts had now vanished entirely.

The disappearance of the supernatural effect meant this freak was well and truly dead.

Zhou Ke stretched lazily once more, tilting his neck with casual ease.

It was as if he hadn’t just killed someone—merely woken up from a nap.

The silver-haired girl glanced at him, hesitating to speak.

"Ask whatever you want," Zhou Ke said softly.