The suckling pig had been prepared by Nick in advance. Inside the pig’s belly was a high-grade explosive — enough to take down an elephant, and more than sufficient to destroy whatever was lurking in the water.

Assuming it actually swallowed the pig whole.

The pale white pig sank into the water, setting off rings and ripples, then bobbed and swayed back up to the surface, floating there.

The flashlight beam fell across it, making the small pig look even more clean and plump — almost unbearably adorable.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on it……

Ada held the detonator.

Shen Mo had his weapon raised.

Ada angled his flashlight to illuminate as much of the stone chamber as possible.

And Bai Youwei — crouching, chin resting in her hand, watching the pig with full concentration.

Wave rings rippled quietly across the water. Seconds ticked by.

Bai Youwei’s brow furrowed slightly. She was getting impatient. If the pig approach didn’t work, she’d have to move to plan B.

She actually had a selection of highly toxic pesticides in her bag — purchased through contacts, courtesy of Yi Zichu — things like dichlorvos, tetramine, imidacloprid, paraquat, chlorpyrifos……

None of these were sold in the competitive district. Only the residential zone carried them.

A few bottles of that into the water, and it would be catastrophically polluted — but the spectacle might be underwhelming. If the monster was thrashing in the deep water, viewers wouldn’t be able to feel it.

There needed to be something explosive. Something bloody. Visuals that would land……

As she was thinking through it, the ripple patterns across the water grew violent.

Bai Youwei immediately perked up, eyes wide, locked on the little pig!

One tentacle broke the water’s surface — moving with what seemed like caution, slowly, inch by inch — curling around the small pig.

One loop……two loops……then it began to tighten.

Tighter and tighter!

A sharp yank downward — the pig disappeared beneath the surface, gone in an instant!

“It ate it?!” Ada couldn’t stop himself from blurting out.

“It ate it!” — this voice was Nick’s.

He saw the floating pig get dragged under, and it was as if a stone had been lifted from his chest. Without hesitation, he pressed the detonator.

——BOOM!!!!!

The earth shook. The mountain trembled.

The stone pillars, solid as they were, nearly cracked.

The water’s surface erupted in a massive upheaval — a wave like a reverse waterfall slammed up over their heads. And inside that white wall of water were flecks of green, of black, and threaded through it all, something viscous and red — the color of ketchup, only thicker.

They’d done it.

The thought flashed through every mind at once, simultaneous and certain.

When the surge receded, the water had indeed turned a dirty, murky pink.

The monster’s blood had dissolved into it.

Here and there across the surface floated fragments — severed tentacle sections, slightly curled.

“Finally dead.” Nick exhaled, the relief genuine.

“Wait.” Shen Mo frowned, still alert, eyes locked on the water. “Watch — the color is changing.”

“Changing?” Nick looked over. The dirty pink was beginning to shift……turning red. Darker and darker red.

That meant the wound was hemorrhaging heavily. Which also meant the monster was not in deep water — it was nearby. Very nearby.

Nick’s expression changed instantly. He snapped his weapon up.

A colossal shadow launched itself from the water!

It had a massive, rounded head. Eight tentacles — three of them blasted away, three more hanging limp and useless. The remaining two: one coiled around the stone pillar where Shen Mo and Bai Youwei stood, and the last one came swinging directly toward them!

Bullets couldn’t stop it fast enough. Shen Mo dropped his firearm without hesitation, drew a length of steel wire-saw from his belt, and met the incoming tentacle head-on — looping the wire around it with rapid, practiced speed.

The tentacle’s force was enormous. It swept him into the water!

Shen Mo used the momentum, holding both ends of the wire, and pulled with everything he had. In the instant of hitting the water, the tentacle — like a piece of sliced fish — was cut cleanly in two.

The sea beast let out a long, shrieking roar!

It had no tentacles left. But it wasn’t willing to give up. It stretched its enormous head forward, mouth gaping, trying to swallow Bai Youwei whole from her place on the pillar!

Bai Youwei’s hands moved faster than thought. She scooped up a packet of something, and when the monster’s mouth opened wide to roar, she hurled the packet straight into its spiraling maw!

The sea beast suddenly convulsed — and crashed back into the water.

The surface churned with thousands of bubbles, frothing and boiling as if on a stove.

Nick stared at her, eyes wide. “What — what did you throw into it this time?”

Bai Youwei dusted her hands lightly and looked at the seething water. “Effervescent tablets.”

Do not attempt this at home.

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