Chapter 177

The appearance of the novice Wen Xishu undoubtedly surprised everyone.

A body never polluted by pain, a person whose pain tolerance had never been raised.

This made Reina gnash her teeth in hatred:

"Why! Why did I even sacrifice my own father! And you still want to hinder me."

Pain coins usually cannot be held by others, but they can be inherited by blood relatives after one party dies. This also extended a type of pain school called the "Sacrifice Father and Mother School."

Of course, there are also those who sacrifice their children.

Wen Xishu now understood why Xu 04 asked him if his mother was still alive.

"Everyone here has self-healing abilities; presumably, I have them too since I came to this environment."

He took out the Scorpio cheating knife.

This knife itself was very sharp, evolved from a Spanish ham knife.

Wen Xishu thought for a moment, and in the end, he had to do as the locals do, so he used the tip of the knife... to lift his own fingernail.

This immense sense of pain instantly made him feel some kind of power surging around him, but the next moment, this power transformed into a currency value.

In the upper right corner of Wen Xishu's vision, a tiny UI appeared, which was a number—51 points.

A broken finger is certainly painful, but the ten fingers are connected to the heart; the operation of lifting a fingernail was learned from ancient criminal law. There is also needle pricking...

Wen Xishu really didn't want to use these operations on himself; he didn't want to become a pervert who likes pain.

But since the Pain Auction made everyone covet the auction items, it was evident that these items might truly be able to bring about some heaven-defying changes.

A necklace is also very easy to hide.

Wen Xishu said:

"I don't necessarily have to compete with everyone for every single thing. If you all want to compete, you might want to weigh your options."

This sentence was a warning.

After Wen Xishu said this, his body began to undergo slight changes.

In the upper left corner of his vision, a number appeared... 0.8.

He guessed this was pain tolerance. In other words, he had become dull to things like pain.

Of course, 0.8 for everyone else was roughly equivalent to having no pain tolerance at all.

What Wen Xishu was considering was another aspect:

"I am holding an invitation letter. If I use the invitation letter directly now... then I head to the source of the Desire Tower and kill the source of the strangeness..."

"Would I be able to dismantle the pain rules?"

"But before that, I can actually use this rule to temper myself. Use pain to get good things, then improve my pain tolerance, and in the future, I will be immune to a portion of pain."

Considering this point, Wen Xishu felt he could stay in the Mysterious Tower for a while longer. He didn't have to go to the Desire Tower immediately.

"51 points, going once!"

"51 points, going twice!"

"51 points, going three times! Sold! Congratulations, new face, you have obtained this item."

Xu 04 led Wen Xishu to the auction display stand, where he received the Pain Necklace.

The auction was still continuing.

At this time, the Half-Headed Old Man approached Wen Xishu.

"Kid, congratulations on obtaining the auction item I consider the most valuable." The white-bearded Half-Headed Old Man's gaze held no malice.

"My name is Yoshida Dabu; my appearance leads everyone to call me the Half-Headed Ghost. Kid, can we make a deal?" The Half-Headed Old Man was very sincere.

Wen Xishu nodded:

"Feel free to say it."

The auction was still ongoing; the item being auctioned this time was a syringe shaped like an Ouroboros. After injection, it could convert mental pain into physical pain.

Gradually, one would become numb and devoid of any emotion. But the body's pain tolerance would be reshaped.

Many people began to bid one after another; seeing that Wen Xishu was not interested, everyone began to fight for this treasure.

Wen Xishu was of course not interested.

He didn't want to become a monster without emotions; human emotions, in his view, were not to be erased.

But for many people present, mental pain was too torturous. They were willing to become numb.

The Half-Headed Old Man said:

"My grandson was an unfortunate guy. Born with an intellectual disability, he was unsuccessful in everything he did. As a child, he was mocked by others; in middle school, he was looked down upon by teachers and classmates; after growing up, he couldn't find a wife or a good job... but he didn't care."

"Under our guidance, he began to get better, started doing some simple errand work, and actually lived quite well."

"We once heard that in Human Cave Village... no, it was called District 19 at that time, there was a divine doctor who could cure all difficult and miscellaneous diseases, so we thought about curing him."

"But when we arrived, District 19 had already become the terrifying Human Cave Village of today."

"My grandson... under the terrifying curse, turned into a Human Cave."

The Half-Headed Old Man's fists clenched. At this very moment, pain currency appeared on his body again. It is worth mentioning that after pain turns into currency, it doesn't disappear immediately but lasts for a while, but this process will not turn into additional currency.

The Half-Headed Old Man was clearly immersed in the grief of losing his little grandson.

Although the little grandson had congenital defects, he loved his little grandson deeply. Raising such a defective child and allowing him to be self-sufficient in the cruel urban environment of Hujiang...

The effort put in during that time is naturally hard for ordinary people to imagine.

"I quickly began to adapt to this pain rule system and overspent quite a bit of currency, but there are too many perverts here who self-torture. Even if I banged my head against lava and lost half of it... I still couldn't get a turn to go to the Human Cave many times."

"Only those guys with the code name 'Xu' can open portals and let us enter the interior of Human Cave Village."

"Kid, you are very likely the person chosen by them."

"A novice like you is simply a chosen one. For us, things that can only be obtained by gouging hearts, cutting flesh, and killing beloved ones, you can get just by lifting a fingernail. So... you will definitely become the hero this time."

Wen Xishu said:

"Uncle, what do you want me to do?"

The Half-Headed Old Man said solemnly:

"This bottle of Pain Sake is yours. I only tasted a sip; I hope you don't mind. Consider it my reward."

"I want you to head to this Human Cave..."

The Half-Headed Old Man took out a photo.

The content of the photo was the shadow of a human who looked like they were walking with a slight limp...

Looking at the outline, that was definitely a human shadow.

But looking closely, that was not a human shadow, but pitch black—not light, but true darkness, like the entrance to a cave.

"This is the appearance of the Human Cave formed by my grandson. I hope the first Human Cave you explore is his."

"Actually, this is helpful to you. You already know my grandson's life story, but you don't know the other Human Caves."

"So with a comparison, you will be able to know what exactly is going on inside the Human Cave."

This was truly a very good request; Wen Xishu had no reason to refuse.

A wine that can create mental pain, a necklace that can use pain to isolate death, and on top of that, the backstory of the person who became the Human Cave was known to him—he could consider his intelligence and preparation work done.

Next, he just needed to wait for the auction to end.

The auction sold a total of six items.

The fourth item was called the Pain Umbilical Cord.

It was a summoning-type tool... simply put, it would make the user experience the pain of childbirth and summon various otherworldly monsters.

It is worth mentioning that it wasn't just simple childbirth pain; if the summoned monster was a mammoth, then the user would have to experience the pain of giving birth to an elephant using human organs.

This is impossible in reality, but under the effect of the tool, that kind of pain can be simulated.

This kind of pain, for people with low pain tolerance, would cause them to be pained to death.

But Wen Xishu was very interested.

He discovered one thing: this place was like the Mental Hospital Museum. Before the mission ended, these auctioned items had no quantity limit. In other words, before they were taken out of the dungeon, they didn't occupy usage slots.

This was naturally the more the better.

It's just that... these items were indeed extremely terrifying. All of them were the kind aimed at making you wish you were dead.

Wen Xishu also became increasingly curious about what kind of person the creator of the pain rules was.

After Wen Xishu performed the "steel needle piercing the gums" stunt—a minor trick that nonetheless crushed the whole venue... everyone knew that when a novice made a move, it meant they had no chance.

Thus, Wen Xishu obtained the third item—the Pain Umbilical Cord.

The shape of this thing was like an intestine several meters long; once connected to oneself, it would continuously produce monsters...

If one couldn't stand it, it could be forcibly removed.

For the fifth item, Wen Xishu did not compete.

This item was a hammer shaped like a human spine, with immense power. It could be said to possess destructive force.

But the side effect was that every time the hammer was swung, a portion of real memory would be permanently lost.

Wen Xishu didn't look favorably upon this hammer; whenever a side effect was related to the mental world, he would skip it directly.

But for others, everything was the opposite.

Having no memory in this painful world was mostly a good thing.

The sixth item was called the Heel of Paradox.

It could achieve subsonic movement, but every step would trigger a micro-bone explosion. It would cause major damage to one's own body.

Since it was damage rather than pain, Wen Xishu ultimately did not choose this item either.

After the six items, the auction ended.

Wen Xishu defeated all the pain immortals here at the cost of bleeding gums and a torn-off fingernail.

And he was held a grudge against by a girl named Reina.

He, of course, didn't care.

Soon, Xu 04 said:

"Congratulations, hero, you have obtained quite a few items, although you should have claimed all the items for yourself."

Wen Xishu shook his head and said:

"I am not interested in some things. Tell me, how do I head to Human Cave Village."

Xu 04 took out the knife again:

"I will take you to Human Cave Village."

Wen Xishu's brows furrowed slightly:

"You wouldn't... be planning to perform seppuku again, would you?"

"Of course, pain allows me to teleport more accurately," Xu 04 admitted.

Wen Xishu said:

"How about... you take a sip of this wine?"

He took out the sake.

Xu 04 immediately shook her head:

"No... no, I beg you, do not make such a request. Mental pain is simply not something I can bear!"

Xu 04 was terrified. Wen Xishu thought of the scene at the auction where everyone was fighting for the Ouroboros syringe... and probably understood.

Physical pain, they felt was pleasurable.

But mental pain made them afraid. Of course, even so, for some people whose bodies could no longer feel pain, like the Half-Headed Old Man, they would still try their best to bid for items.

Wen Xishu said:

"Alright, then I'll trouble you to lead the way."

Xu 04 stabbed the knife into her abdomen; compared to last time, her knife moved a bit lower.

Wen Xishu felt pain just watching.

Under Xu 04's mixed expression of pain and pleasure, the portal opened:

"Hero! You must... you must be able to dismantle the Human Cave, right! Our curator said... people like you are the most likely to solve everything, capable of dismantling everything from the source."

"Your curator?" Wen Xishu suddenly realized something.

The curator knew of the existence of "heroes." Could the curator be a Corruptor?

Heroes appearing randomly in certain areas, heroes being able to solve problems from the source... these descriptions sounded like they knew his identity as a Bunker player.

So he naturally thought, could the curator of the Pain Auction be a Corruptor?

"I want to see your curator," Wen Xishu said.

"No, only after you dismantle the Human Cave will the curator see you... to be precise, only then might the curator be able to recover and see you," Xu 04 said.

Wen Xishu was secretly surprised.

He had seen Corruptors enslaved like dogs, seen Corruptors truly causing the world to collapse, and seen Corruptors being whitewashed...

But now, it seemed the Corruptors had been played with new tricks by the sources of strangeness?

He found it interesting, but right now, Xu 04 had already cut her stomach open with a small knife; this portal couldn't be wasted.

So Wen Xishu walked into the portal.

……

……

Human Cave Village.

When floating buildings appeared in the sky, Wen Xishu knew he had arrived at Human Cave Village from the auction.

There were truly no living people around.

The sky of the entire Human Cave Village was gray.

The floating buildings surrounded the entire Human Cave Village in a circle.

It was like an ancient Roman arena.

But in the center of the arena, there were no beasts or warriors.

Only individual, static human shadows that seemed to be standing upright.

Those were, of course, not shadows; the pitch-black outlines meant they were individual cave entrances.

Wen Xishu walked cautiously between the Human Caves.

When he approached a certain Human Cave, he seemed to be able to hear a boy whispering:

"Don't come near, leave quickly! Don't come near, leave quickly!"

Wen Xishu tried several times, whether walking to a Human Cave that looked like a woman or one with a man's outline... he would hear the same voice.

"Don't come near, leave quickly. Is this a warning to me?"

There were too many Human Caves.

Some Human Caves looked like small children. Some Human Caves were hunched over, like old people.

And some Human Caves were huge in size, presumably very gluttonous.

These people were all villagers who originally lived in District 19. But they all died from the curse and turned into Human Caves.

"If I don't enter the Human Cave..."

"Staying here for seven days also meets the requirement of surviving for seven full days, right?"

"In other words, after the two vortexes merged, that anti-AFK mechanism hasn't been fully perfected yet."

Wen Xishu finally found the Half-Headed Old Man's grandson on the outskirts of the Human Caves.

That was a very peripheral place.

The closer to the center the Human Caves were, the darker they were.

Although they were all black, Wen Xishu felt that the closer to the center the Human Cave was, the deeper and more terrifying the blackness was.

"Those close to the center likely know something."

"And the Half-Headed Old Man's grandson was an outsider, so he was placed on the outermost periphery. Logically speaking, the Half-Headed Old Man's grandson actually didn't know what happened here at all..."

"So I shouldn't have wasted time going to the Human Cave formed by his grandson."

"But I promised the Half-Headed Old Man, and I also knew his grandson's past, so perhaps I could compare experiences and know what the situation inside the Human Cave would be like."

Wen Xishu arrived in front of the Half-Headed Old Man's grandson's Human Cave.

Because the grandson had an intellectual disability, even his limbs were uncoordinated, so even his walking posture was very strange.

This was also the reason Wen Xishu could quickly find the grandson's Human Cave among the dense crowd of shadow Human Caves.

"Don't come near, leave quickly! Don't come near, leave quickly!"

That voice appeared again.

But Wen Xishu steeled his heart and entered the Human Cave.

His figure was quickly swallowed by the Human Cave.

At this moment, if someone were looking from the outside, it would seem as if... Wen Xishu had died, as if he had been swallowed by a black hole.

At the same time, a new Human Cave appeared on the outermost layer.

……

……

Wen Xishu, of course, did not die.

On the contrary, after stepping into the pitch black, he saw a shocking scene.

He had arrived in a tunnel radiating seven-colored luster.

"Big brother, why didn't you listen to my advice? You shouldn't have come here. Now... you are about to turn into a Human Cave too."

A little boy wearing a white kimono looked at Wen Xishu with somewhat resentful eyes.

The seven-colored light fell on him, like a little angel.

Wen Xishu was shocked by the change in scenery.

Outside was a group of strange, pitch-black Human Caves; after entering the Human Cave... he saw a tunnel of dreamlike colors.

"Who are you?" Wen Xishu asked.

"The guide of the Human Cave. Big brother, I will tell you some things about the Human Cave... eh, it's already too late, you really shouldn't have come in."

The little boy was very sad, seemingly sad for Wen Xishu's impending death:

"I really don't want you to die..."

Wen Xishu became increasingly puzzled:

"How can you be so sure I will die?"

There were tears in the little boy's eyes; this sadness didn't seem faked:

"Because no one can leave here alive, never."

(End of chapter)