Chapter 168: Joining Forces with the Corruptor

Corruptor.

Wen Wen Xishu had actually guessed it. But why was this Corruptor so strange?

"Oh, it seems you're an experienced tower climber. Let's go, let's have a good chat. The coffee at the cafe in this small town is quite good."

Jessica took Wen Wen Xishu's hand, acting just like a couple, and led him toward the cafe by the stone bridge.

This place had a bit of a Jiangnan water town feel to it; from the window seat of the cafe, one could see the flowing water.

Jessica said:

"Although it's not a big brand, I really like the taste. What would you like to drink?"

"Just order whatever you think is good."

The two sat at a window seat in the cafe.

The owner glanced at Jessica:

"You should be fine these past few days, right, Jessica?"

Jessica laughed:

"Of course, I'm doing great."

Afterward, Jessica leaned in quietly:

"I was purified once, so... they're all very concerned about me, thinking I might still go crazy and lose my mind."

Wen Wen Xishu was puzzled.

Jessica then said:

"You know about Corruptors, right?"

Wen Wen Xishu nodded:

"I've dealt with them a few times."

Jessica narrowed her eyes:

"Have you ever been toyed with by a Corruptor?"

Wen Wen Xishu shook his head:

"I'm more like the bane of Corruptors; I'm very effective against you lot."

Jessica smiled:

"Too bad, my personality has changed, otherwise I'd want to test you."

Wen Wen Xishu didn't speak, waiting quietly for Jessica's explanation.

Jessica said:

"I really am a Corruptor. I used to be wicked and did all sorts of evil; I especially loved twisting others, but there was no helping it... a person came to this town who was even more simple and brutal at corrupting others than I was."

"Compared to him, I'm nothing."

Wen Wen Xishu frowned slightly:

"Could it be that you're talking about the Priest?"

Jessica nodded:

"Yes."

"Do you think there's a big difference between me and the image of a Corruptor you have in mind?"

Wen Wen Xishu had to admit that Jessica was a bit of a beauty, giving off a playful and cute vibe, but if her smile were more sinister, she would have more of the characteristics of a Corruptor.

But the Jessica before him didn't seem like a Corruptor at all; she lacked that chaotic, thrill-seeking aura typical of them.

The last time he encountered a Corruptor, it was the director of an orphanage, but the director had been taken in by Jiang Qing as a dog.

What about this time?

"So, the one who caused your image to be subverted... was it the previous tower climber, or the Priest?"

"The previous tower climber? Oh, the taste of the mirror was quite nice. It's a pity I couldn't successfully sleep with him, just a bit of flirting." Jessica said generously.

Wen Wen Xishu almost spat out his coffee. Senior Wenren Jing?

Good heavens...

"Oh, looking at your reaction, you know each other?" Jessica was amused.

Wen Wen Xishu nodded:

"We do know each other."

"That's great, you actually know such a handsome guy. But my personality change wasn't because of him, but because of the Priest." Jessica cut to the chase.

Her expression turned serious:

"I imagine the Corruptors you've encountered in the past were quite evil, right?"

Wen Wen Xishu said:

"How could you... know other Corruptors? Listening to you, it seems you've seen quite a few, otherwise you couldn't have summarized the characteristics of Corruptors, right?"

Jessica shook her head:

"Sorry, that's a secret. Although my personality has changed, if I told you... I would run into big trouble."

A higher-level Corruptor.

Wen Wen Xishu immediately thought of this possibility. There was some higher-level Corruptor constantly befriending others and telling them the traits of their kind!

Wen Wen Xishu remembered that the servant of An Rong, the Corruptor under Jin Jin Zaimin, had said something similar... that a organization had been established between Corruptors.

Jessica said:

"Anyway, I'm not a bad person, but that doesn't mean I don't want to live. Besides you, there are other existences capable of ending the cycle, so don't ask."

Wen Wen Xishu nodded:

"A bunch of Cyber-Zuowangdao. Never mind, let's go back to you. Why are you different from other Corruptors?"

"I was purified. The Priest's ability is to turn the wicked into the good," Jessica said concisely.

"So, I no longer go crazy or corrupt, and I no longer like to toy with others. I am a good person now," Jessica laughed.

She began to recount the past.

Not long after the Priest arrived here, she awakened her Corruptor constitution, but the Priest seemed able to sense the existence of evil...

And so, very quickly, before Jessica could even twist or corrupt anyone—she was purified by the Priest.

Since then, Jessica had become a good person.

A beautiful woman who likes to help others.

When Senior Wenren Jing was exploring this area of the floor, Jessica even helped him with some things, but... Senior Wenren Jing wasn't the person Jessica was waiting for.

Jessica said:

"So, do you believe I'm a good person now?"

Wen Wen Xishu said:

"How can I be sure you aren't lying to me? How can I be sure this isn't part of a Corruptor's entertainment?"

Jessica shrugged:

"Can't prove it. Let's talk about what your mission is first."

Wen Wen Xishu refused to disclose it.

His mission content was to help some people in the town turn over a new leaf. That was why the mission name on the invitation was—Desire for Repentance.

But all missions have surface-level completion and deep-level completion.

Wen Wen Xishu had actually already guessed it... the Master of the Gubao was the Priest, so the town residents needing repentance were just the surface-level gameplay.

The Priest was the key.

However, he certainly couldn't tell a Corruptor all of this.

Jessica sighed:

"If you're going to deal with the Priest... come find me again. It's all over; I feel like I'm going to commit suicide again."

Wen Wen Xishu frowned:

"Suicide?"

Jessica said:

"Senior Wenren Jing is your friend, right? After he came, I told him everything about this place. All the evil in the town, except for me at the beginning, was actually created by the Priest."

"He is different from you; he has a certain ability to discern lies. He knew I was telling the truth."

"But unfortunately, he didn't have the ability to defeat the Priest. He tried to use his own power to change the Priest and persuade him to leave this town."

The Desire Sequence? Using the Desire Sequence to change a person's desires...

Senior Wenren Jing had actually opposed the Priest.

"But in the end, the Priest sensed that an external force was influencing his desires... so he viewed Senior Wenren Jing as an enemy."

"With my help, Senior Wenren Jing went into hiding."

"As for me, I was captured by the Priest, but I chose to commit suicide and restart the cycle."

Wen Wen Xishu hadn't expected such a turn of events.

Jessica said:

"I'm not afraid to tell you, all the evil aberrations in the town, every single one of those originally kind residents whose personalities changed drastically, were caused by the Priest."

"He purifies evil, but he also creates it. To be precise, his ability seems to be constantly collecting evil; collecting evil allows him to break the barrier between reality and the story."

"That church is his shell."

Wen Wen Xishu accepted this explanation. If this were his own conjecture, he would verify it in this direction.

He might even assume this possibility directly and go straight to confront the Priest; at worst, he would just be wronging a good person once.

But since this claim came from a Corruptor, he had to be suspicious.

"I still don't believe you."

Jessica rolled her eyes:

"Believe it or not, either way, you don't possess the ability to defeat the Priest. Sigh, if only Mirror were here; last time, he and I were still too rash."

In Jessica's eyes, since this group of Tower Climbers could not use violence, someone like Senior Wenren Jing, who possessed a powerful Desire Sequence, was the strongest assistant.

"I was indeed purified of the evil within me by the Priest. The Priest even marveled at the time that the evil I contained exceeded his imagination. But he thought I was completely cured... thought I was just an ordinary town resident."

"But I have actually experienced many cycles, and my memories have always remained. It was also during these cycles that I discovered the Priest's secret."

"He is the creator of evil, the source of all evil."

"And because of that, after being purified, logically, I should have been grateful to the Priest, but I wasn't. On the contrary, I have been waiting for someone who can fight him with me."

If everything Jessica said was true, then this experience was quite interesting.

Because this was the first time Wen Wen Xishu had teamed up with a Corruptor.

"How am I supposed to believe you?"

Jessica sighed:

"You can investigate for yourself. You have seven days, don't you? Feel free to investigate, but you had better be careful. Don't let the Priest discover you."

"Because once he discovers you, he might summon certain terrifying existences that only exist in his past memories. I told you, he can break the barrier between reality and stories."

"In short, if you believe me, we will act together. Of course, before that, I still need to verify whether you are qualified to defeat the Priest with me."

Jessica got up to leave.

"Also... don't report me to the Priest. Damn it, suicide hurts too."

Wen Wen Xishu did not have seven days. He had arrived via an invitation and possessed a very good entry timing, but he did not have seven days of time.

He only had forty-eight hours.

Moreover, he could not wait forty-eight hours. In previous missions, Wen Wen Xishu had completed them at light speed; forty-eight hours had too many variables.

The Great Devouring had not ended yet.

"Don't go yet." Wen Wen Xishu stopped Jessica.

Jessica said:

"What, figured it out?"

Wen Wen Xishu nodded. Just now, he had sorted everything out.

First, according to what the child said earlier, those who do not believe in the religion are likely to go mad... this indicates that the Priest might truly have a problem.

Second, Wen Wen Xishu had experienced the Tower of Deception games so many times and discovered that Corruptors could indeed only be active in the Tower of Desire.

Therefore, the master of the Tower of Deception—that is, the owner of the Gubao story club—was indeed not a Corruptor.

And the format of the story club was as follows—

One person is voted to death each round. The person voted to death loses their memory and becomes a kind audience member. The audience members are all town residents... while the participants are all people who possess evil deeds.

So, this also aligns with the statement of the Corruptor Jessica. The participants' evil was purified, and they became kind audience members.

Of course, the Tower of Deception and the Tower of Desire have many differences.

Now Wen Wen Xishu understood clearly: the Tower of Deception is a place of obsession.

A powerful obsession constructs a place that can be cracked by a Tower Climber, though it could also be a place that kills the Tower Climber.

Whether a Tower Climber cracks the obsession and eliminates it, or is killed by the place constructed by the obsession, depends on the Tower Climber's ability.

The eerie rules sometimes kill Tower Climbers, but to a certain extent, they also constrain the source of the eeriness.

But in the Tower of Desire and the Tower of Slaughter, Tower Climbers must face the source of the eeriness directly. There is no help from rules, nor are there any constraints from rules.

The source of the eeriness this time is very likely the Priest.

And the power to break the barrier of reality is indeed the same power as that of the Gubao story club.

"I believe you."

Wen Wen Xishu steeled his heart and decided to take a gamble. If he was wrong, he would just slaughter everyone.

Jessica said:

"Really?"

Wen Wen Xishu said:

"How many Tower Climbers have you actually met?"

"Senior Wenren Jing is the one who left the deepest impression, then there was a married couple. That couple's strength wasn't great, but they were indeed very insightful. As for the other Tower Climbers, they were all very lackluster. One even firmly believed I was trying to swindle him. It forced me to commit suicide on the spot..."

Jessica didn't have it easy either:

"My greatest advantage is that when I die, after the next cycle begins, I always remember everything, but the Priest does not remember these things."

"Because the Priest is evil, opposing the Priest does not essentially count as an evil act. The Priest cannot purify my obsession with him, and through cycle after cycle of purification... I have gradually been able to hide some thoughts."

"Once, the Priest even discovered my special nature, knowing that I was eager to deal with him and that I would retain my memories... but with the next restart, it was reset again."

"I have dueled with the Priest many times, but this guy is too strong. I can only pin my hopes on variables, and you Tower Climbers are the variables."

Wen Wen Xishu said:

"Tell me, what do we need to do?"

Jessica's expression was grave:

"Confession. I will go to the Priest to confess. During the confession process, the Priest will close the church doors, but you need to sneak in—or rather, you need to lie in wait inside early. The process of the Priest initiating purification will have a circular domain!"

"Within the range of the domain, everyone's evil thoughts will be purified..."

"You are the same. Once you enter that domain, you will likely lose your aggression, unless you firmly believe that your actions are not evil deeds, but are righteous."

Wen Wen Xishu said:

"I have some ability to resist mental intrusion. Continue, what happens next?"

In the Tower of Deception, once one speaks of their evil deeds in the accident room, the victim will descend into reality.

But what constructs the Tower of Deception is very likely the obsession of the townspeople and the obsession of the Priest; some rules are favorable to players.

The Tower of Desire is different.

Jessica said:

"Next, that power that breaks the barrier between reality and stories will take effect..."

"In the evil deeds you confess, the person you committed the evil against will appear in reality... for example, me. If you committed an evil act against me, then I would be forcibly summoned by that power."

"But that is not the real me, but another 'me' created by a power strong enough to influence the real world."

"Killing that other me will not affect me, but once the target is killed by the Priest... your purification of evil thoughts is complete. The Priest will also devour the power of the person who was summoned. Understand?"

Wen Wen Xishu understood.

In other words, the person confessing must be the perpetrator, and during the purification process, the Priest will cause the perpetrator to lose evil thoughts, simultaneously summon the "victim," and the Priest will devour the "victim" to gain the "victim's" power.

Sure enough, this was different from what Wen Wen Xishu experienced in the Gubao story club in the Tower of Deception.

In the Gubao story club of the Tower of Deception... Wen Wen Xishu felt that what he summoned were the real An brothers, as well as Jack and Jennifer.

Even when Wen Wen Xishu wanted to summon Wen Zhaohua, Wen Wen Xishu felt a sense of crisis.

Wen Wen Xishu said:

"That fake you, the one created by the power that breaks the reality barrier, how much of a gap is there between it and the real you?"

Jessica shook her head:

"No gap, almost exactly the same."

Wen Wen Xishu said "Oh," and had an idea in his mind.

Jessica added:

"Remember, the evil deed must have actually happened. But the object of the evil deed cannot be the Priest. That is to say, it cannot be the practitioner." Jessica sighed again.

Clearly, she had tried it.

"I once thought, since it is an evil deed that actually happened, then my committing an evil act against the Priest is also real. Could I let the Priest summon the Priest, and let the Priest deal with the Priest?"

"It didn't work. The Priest just said faintly—so you harbor malice toward me. And then I died."

Wen Wen Xishu had to admit that Jessica was definitely the most miserable Corruptor.

Jessica said:

"Everyone in this town will constantly become evil under the influence of the Priest. Actually, devouring those victims... the Priest doesn't become much stronger."

"But purifying evil thoughts makes him very strong."

Wen Wen Xishu understood.

The Priest's power comes from two channels.

The first channel is absorbing victims from stories.

The second channel is converting evil thoughts into combat power.

I have to say, this ability is truly invincible...

Because the Priest is the source of evil, the people in the town will irregularly become evil and twisted, and the Priest will irregularly obtain evil deeds.

Once people become evil, they will commit violence, creating victims, and so during the confession process... the victims will be devoured by the Priest.

It amounts to saying that the town is continuously providing power to the Priest.

Jessica also said the most critical sentence at this moment:

"Remember, it doesn't matter how evil the deed is, but that victim... must be powerful enough. Because the only thing that can break the situation is that summoned victim."

"So... among your experiences, is there any particularly powerful existence you have committed an evil act against? It must be very powerful. Otherwise, it will only be devoured by the Priest, making him even stronger."

Jessica was not sure.

After being turned into a good person, she really wanted to eliminate the Priest, this source of evil. But the Priest was too powerful, and Jessica could only pin her hopes on the Tower Climbers.

"If you haven't had that kind of experience... you'd best not provoke the Priest; you'll die. I will arrange a retreat for you."

Wen Wen Xishu did not expect that one day, a Destroyer would actually help him like this, even preparing a Plan B.

After listening to the account from the Destroyer Jessica, Wen Wen Xishu discovered... the Priest was indeed very difficult to deal with.

The Priest's own strength was already very formidable, and in the Desire Tower, it is hard to encounter anyone who has weathered great storms.

After all, if you can inflict violence upon the strong, it means you are even stronger. Such people do not climb the Desire Tower. Ordinary tower climbers simply have no way to deal with the Priest.

But the survival difficulty of this mission is actually not high, because the role the Priest plays is that of a good person. In other words, you can clear this mission just by lying low.

But Wen Wen Xishu is certainly not a person who lies low. He had already begun to think about how to kill the Priest.

In the Trick Tower, An Rongzai, the Ghost Bride, the Shoe Lady, and Jiang Qing could do nothing to the Priest, so in the Desire Tower, it is almost impossible to defeat the Priest.

"I cannot rule out the possibility that the Priest in the Trick Tower is stronger and the Desire Tower Priest is relatively weaker... but if I have miscalculated, then the Priest will absorb the power of An Rongzai, the Ghost Bride, and the others."

"Therefore, I must summon an existence capable of a one-hit kill."

Wen Wen Xishu caught onto a most crucial point.

"In the Gubao Story Club, the things summoned... are very likely real."

"And in the Desire Tower, what is summoned during the confession and purification process is merely something simulated by a power that breaks reality..."

One is real, the other is a simulation; this perhaps stems from the gap in strength between the Desire Tower version of the Priest and the Trick Tower version, or perhaps it is the influence of the special rules of the Land of Obsession.

But in any case, this is a breakthrough.

Wen Wen Xishu immediately thought:

"Although the simulated victims are almost identical to the real victims, with no difference..."

"But in essence, they are different."

A thought surged in Wen Wen Xishu's heart again. Last time he intended to summon Wen Zhaohua, but he had the feeling of being locked onto by some super terrifying existence.

It was as if there were a sniper aiming at him from the shadows.

Then what if what he summoned was only a simulated version?

Once this thought emerged, it began to take root and sprout wildly.

Wen Wen Xishu said:

"When do we start the operation?"

(End of chapter)