I slay demons and monsters in a bizarre city.

Chapter 23 The Black Goat Monster
The purple Death God card number 15 in the bronze shrine did not react, but the blue Hearse card number 9 appeared in Li Changgeng's hand, so at least there was still hope.

The black goat monster that devours human heads and the three-headed, nine-tailed blue fox demon—neither of them are easy to deal with. The Saw Demon is indeed quite formidable; given his severe injuries, the difficulty of dealing with these two monsters is evident.

Li Changgeng has no choice but to save himself, but another problem arises: the red countdown numbers have disappeared, and the green countdown has not appeared. Can he return to reality?
The Saw Demon came from carriage number 2. It was obvious that he hadn't gained any advantage in his fight with the Black Goat Monster. Judging from the current situation, the Saw Demon was no match for the Nine-Tailed Blue Fox either.

The Saw Demon and the Nine-Tailed Green Fox were locked in a fierce battle, exchanging blows back and forth. After a few rounds, the Saw Demon began to lose ground.

The nine-tailed blue fox swung its claw down, knocking the saw demon's chainsaw away.

Li Changgeng recalled the countdown mechanism from last time. The green countdown only appeared after he moved from carriage 5 to carriage 4. With the end of the green countdown, he returned to reality safely. In other words, he had to change carriages.

That means going to carriage number 2 to face the Black Goat Monster.

The black goat monster squatted on the ground, its octopus tentacles tightly wrapped around the human's head, eating with relish, occasionally making gurgling sounds, and sometimes nodding in approval. It ate very seriously and seemed quite docile. After all, goats are not at the top of the food chain in the animal world and are basically prey.

The black goat monster continued to eat voraciously, seemingly unaware of Li Changgeng's presence.

Li Changgeng cautiously tiptoed into carriage number 2. To avoid the black goat monster, he jumped onto a seat and slowly walked across it. The green countdown numbers hadn't appeared yet; perhaps they would appear when he reached the connection between carriage number 2 and carriage number 1.

Click...click, slurp slurp...

The black goat was eating intently, its head in its arms, in the aisle between the train seats. Li Changgeng stepped on the seats and continued walking towards the connection between carriages 2 and 1.

The entire carriage was crimson red, covered in blood, and littered with corpses lying haphazardly.

"My lord, where are you going?" The black goat monster threw the remaining half of the human head aside, its tall body swaying as it stood up, its red, curved horns poking the roof of the carriage.

A green countdown immediately appeared before Li Changgeng's eyes, but the countdown was so long that it felt like the last hour of Li Changgeng's life.

00:59:53
00:59:51
To spend an hour alone with this man-eating black goat monster and survive is practically impossible.

"I'm full, and I'm so bored!" The black goat monster twisted its neck, looked at Li Changgeng with a devout and earnest expression, and said with gentle eyes, "My lord, if I said that I am very timid and docile, would you believe me?"

You call yourself docile? You'd eat human flesh and not even spit out the bones.

Delaying is the most important thing.

Once the green countdown reaches zero, you can leave this ghost train.

The black goat monster called him "Master," but Li Changgeng didn't understand what "Master" meant; he sensed a slight respect in it.

Don't provoke him, just go along with the black goat.

“You’re very docile, and you’re certainly not very brave. You’re bored after eating, so why don’t we talk about our life ideals?” Li Changgeng couldn’t quite figure out the temperament of this black goat monster, so he tried to avoid violence and provocation as much as possible, all in the spirit of stalling for time. But an hour was too long.

"My lord, what you said is actually ambiguous. To be precise, it's not about life ideals, but about the ideals of a goat. Actually, I just want to be a kind black goat, build a house by the lake, face the sea, where spring is warm and flowers bloom, and a seagull flies by the river! But there are always people forcing me! They say I'm a spiritual goat! I say I have a mental illness, and they say only humans are worthy of having a mental illness!" The black goat monster's octopus tentacles were tightly clenched together, like an angry fist.

Li Changgeng was almost driven mad by the black goat's contradictory and illogical words. People with mental problems are called mentally ill, and goats with mental problems are called mentally ill sheep.

"There's a problem with what you're saying. A house by the lake facing the sea, and a seagull flying over the river—that doesn't make sense. It should be a house built by the sea, facing the ocean, with a seagull flying over from the shore. There wouldn't be seagulls by the river!"

Li Changgeng slowly began to speak, “There’s also the issue of mental illness. Mental illness isn’t entirely like that. If you’re convinced that you have a mental problem, and you strongly believe it, then you’ll basically actually have mental illness.” The black goat’s wooden expression froze, and his empty eyes gradually brightened, as if what he said made perfect sense.

"Sir, do you think I have a mental illness?"

This question stumped Li Changgeng.

Li Changgeng sometimes felt that his thoughts were incomprehensible and that he was intermittently abnormal. He often couldn't remember what had happened for a period of time. What was even more amazing was that he could sometimes foresee things that would happen in the future.

It would be best if the black goat monster didn't have a mental illness, but that's not the case. The monster does have some mental problems. If it did have a mental illness, would the black goat monster demonstrate what mental illness is like by eating people alive?

"Actually, this problem is very simple."

Li Changgeng picked up a bloodstained pencil from the ground, found a clean page in a paper notebook, and quickly drew countless grid characters.

Have you ever played Sudoku?

"The more grids there are, the more blank spaces there are, and the more difficult the Sudoku game becomes. Now I will randomly fill in a few numbers, and the rest is up to you. These ten numbers from 0 to 9 cannot be repeated, whether in horizontal, vertical, or diagonal grids."

Li Changgeng drew simple grids in the other blank spaces on the paper. "Fill in 5 here, 7 here, but you can't have the numbers 5 and 7 here anymore. The further you fill in, the more difficult it becomes."

"Whether it's someone with a real mental health issue or a sheep, not everyone will fill out the form completely correctly."

The black goat monster looked at Li Changgeng with great admiration, as if it had found a treasure. "My lord, this is so interesting, I love it."

Immediately afterwards, the black goat monster began to play Sudoku seriously, sometimes tilting its head, sometimes shaking its head, and looking a little confused. It didn't look like a monster that ate human heads at all.

The Saw Demon was knocked away by the Nine-Tailed Green Fox's sharp claws, and its body swayed.

Li Changgeng heard a strong piano piece playing again. He had heard this piece countless times before and was very familiar with it, but he just couldn't remember where he had heard it before.

"What's going on?" The Saw Demon saw Li Changgeng and the Black Goat Monster squatting together, seemingly drawing.

This accident has left him severely injured, and he is unable to protect Li Changgeng from death. He is now in dire straits, barely able to save himself.

The nine-tailed blue fox sneered, and its three fox heads said in unison, "The Ten Heavenly Stems Pillar God is given the title of 'Yong' and is called 'Pillar of Records,' but it's all empty fame. It's so easily defeated! I didn't see any of your talismans!"

"You're talking nonsense! If I hadn't been injured while fighting the Black Goat, I would have skinned you alive in no time!" The Saw Demon suffered a truly humiliating defeat this time, covered in wounds and completely defeated. The three-headed, nine-tailed blue fox later became an unparalleled demon and one of the mortal enemies of the Mythology Administration Bureau.

The piano music grew louder and louder. The Saw Demon knew his time was running out and he had to leave before the music ended, or he would never be able to return to the Mythology Administration Bureau twenty years later.

"Hehe... I'll skin you alive first!" The nine-tailed fox transformed, and a girl in a green dress, ethereal and otherworldly, held the Azure Moon Fan. The fan ribs were forged from millennia-old cold jade and beast bones, and the fan surface was painted with a nine-tailed moon worship scene.

Knowing the power of the Azure Moon Fan, the Saw Demon took out his life-saving pouch, burned the talisman in the pouch, and dozens of sword talismans transformed into flying sword beams, giving him a final chance to escape.

As the piano music faded away, the saw demon's figure vanished from the spot.

……

(End of this chapter)