Chapter 187

The chat history did not end there.

Promises are sometimes beautiful, but reality is cruel.

Until March 25th.

Akiyama Xiaoxing kept communicating with Morita Hitomi, but it was limited to just communication.

Akiyama Xiaoxing kept asking when Morita Hitomi would be able to arrive.

Morita Hitomi also kept asking his brother, Morita Yu, when he could go find Xiaoxing.

Upon learning of Xiaoxing's misery, Morita Yu took no action.

Because saving Xiaoxing meant offending a group of powerful elites. The rise of Immortal Morita was built on helping people in the Nineteenth District find happiness.

But after his reputation grew, and he could finally see the same scenery as those elites...

The people Immortal Morita helped had changed to wealthy merchants, councilors, doctors, and bankers.

Making those who could already find happiness even happier. Making those who were not short on money even wealthier.

As for Xiaoxing, what was the point of someone like her finding happiness?

Morita Yu would always bring in many "unfortunate" people he had packaged, telling Morita Hitomi:

"My dear brother, I promise you, this is the last time. I have already started contacting Xiaoxing's side, but today, will you help your brother finish the ceremony first?"

This sentence seemed to have a kind of magic; no matter how many times it was said, Morita Hitomi always believed it. He always thought that next time, his brother would take him away from here to find Xiaoxing.

Yet Akiyama Xiaoxing never waited for Morita Hitomi.

But she seemed to know this, too; she just kept reminding him of their promise, kept reminding Morita Hitomi—

I am still waiting for you.

The chat history finally ended, and Wen Renjing and Wen Xishu now knew the ins and outs, the cause and effect.

In a city like Hujiang, the two most human-like existences had both become inhuman.

Of course, one could not see "Xiaoxing's" thoughts in the chat history.

Wen Xishu and Wen Renjing could not obtain the complete story of Morita Hitomi and Akiyama Xiaoxing for the time being.

But both were people with powerful associative construction abilities.

Relying on the dialogue between Morita Hitomi and Akiyama Xiaoxing, plus the details of the Mysterious Tower—

Wen Xishu had almost reached a conclusion.

Akiyama Xiaoxing was kept in captivity by someone. Akiyama Xiaoxing was the qualified person of the Twentieth District. She was the source that triggered the Pain Currency rule.

This was very interesting.

A qualified person on the sixtieth floor of the Mysterious Tower being kept in captivity—this was truly full of misfortune.

You have to know, even with the Disruptors stirring things up, Wen Xishu had experienced scenes where Disruptors were enslaved.

But thinking it over—

The only ones who could keep Akiyama Xiaoxing in captivity were Disruptors.

As for Morita Yu, everything matched Wen Xishu's initial guess.

"When I was roleplaying as Morita Yu, in the Human Cave, from Morita Yu's perspective, there was no younger brother at all... In other words, for Morita Yu, having a younger brother, Morita Hitomi, was one of his misfortunes."

"But Morita Hitomi himself didn't know. He always lived in Morita Yu's lies."

"And in the Twentieth District... the Curator bears everyone's pain, yet is the one giving. I was also wondering why the Curator was so special."

"Now I know."

The tragedies of the two children had been linked together.

One lived in deception, thinking they were happy.

One lived in despair, step by step demeaning their own personality, beginning to give up on being "human."

It is hard to say which of these two lived more sorrowfully.

Wen Xishu and Wen Renjing looked at each other.

"Let's leave here first," Wen Renjing said.

"Hitomi, are you willing to come with us? I'll take you to find Xiaoxing. She is still waiting for you," Wen Xishu offered an invitation.

At the same time, it was also a test.

Sure enough, the result of the test was very sad.

After struggling for a moment, Morita Hitomi shook his head and said:

"I'm sorry... I can't go. I promised my brother. He will take me there."

Wen Xishu tested further:

"Actually, we are Xiaoxing's friends. Do you trust us?"

Morita Hitomi said:

"I can feel... you don't seem to have any malice, but I can't go with you. My brother promised me he would take me to find Xiaoxing."

In their chat history.

In the end, it almost always cycled through this kind of dialogue.

Akiyama Xiaoxing:

"I'm really about to leave... Your brother is very busy. Why don't you come find me?"

Morita Hitomi:

"Soon! My brother promised me he will come find you right away! I can't leave the cellar... He already promised me, he won't lie to me."

Akiyama Xiaoxing:

"Do you trust him completely? Have you never thought... that he is lying to you?"

Morita Hitomi:

"No, no, absolutely not. My brother loves me very much, and I love my brother very much too."

When seeing this text record...

Wen Xishu and Wen Renjing actually both guessed a certain possibility.

They also understood one thing: unless they used violence, there was no way to take Morita Hitomi away.

So the two planned to leave first while Morita Yu hadn't returned, and think of another way.

Wen Xishu smiled:

"Hitomi, if—I'm just saying if—she took the initiative to come find you, but your brother didn't allow you to save her, what would you do?"

Morita Hitomi seemed to find it very difficult to think about such questions; he shook his head:

"My brother and I are of one mind. My brother's wish is my wish... Why would he not allow it?"

Wen Renjing instantly touched Morita Hitomi, drawing out the anxiety and negative emotions from within him.

Morita Hitomi calmed down all at once.

Looking at Wen Renjing's peerless face, he felt as if he saw a sea of blooming flowers.

Wen Renjing smiled:

"No one can stop you from saving Xiaoxing, right?"

This time, Wen Renjing did not ask, "If Morita Yu stops you from saving Xiaoxing, will you save her?"

Because at this stage, this situation could not be opened.

Wen Renjing and Wen Xishu both guessed one thing—

Immortal Morita had obtained some conceptualized power.

Immortal Morita's happiness was related to his brother's absolute trust.

When Immortal Morita obtained happiness, his brother, Morita Hitomi, would absolutely never doubt Immortal Morita.

Because his brother's doubt was also one of Morita Yu's misfortunes.

Morita Hitomi's doubt, distrust, hatred, and opposition toward Morita Yu... none of these would exist. If one said his brother Morita Hitomi was a wish-granting machine—

Then as long as Morita Yu wasn't stupid, he would try to consolidate his control over his brother.

Facts proved that this kind of control was very powerful, powerful to the point of being "die-hard" in the true sense.

Actually, precisely because of this, Morita Yu only did superficial work, because with just a casual word, a perfunctory remark, his brother Morita Hitomi would believe it deeply.

As long as he didn't openly harm Morita Hitomi, Morita Yu would likely always be trustworthy in Morita Hitomi's heart. Absolutely, completely, unquestionable.

So Wen Renjing decided to bypass this point.

"Do you long for Xiaoxing to find happiness?"

Morita Hitomi nodded without hesitation:

"Yes, I will definitely let Xiaoxing find happiness. No one can stop me."

Wen Renjing smiled:

"That's good. Xiaoxing has been waiting for you, she is still living in pain, she still... cannot live with dignity like a human."

These words also deeply stung Morita Hitomi; he lowered his head, actually feeling some fear inside, some reluctance to face Xiaoxing.

Because he had never gone to find Xiaoxing.

"We are leaving now. If possible, please keep this a secret for us." Although Wen Renjing said this, he didn't count on it.

Because once Morita Yu asked, Morita Hitomi would likely say everything.

Half an hour later, Wen Xishu and Wen Renjing had already left the Morita mansion.

When they came out, the people around them looked at them very vigilantly, which also meant that next time they went to the Morita house, Wen Renjing would have to expend more effort.

But Wen Xishu had to say, Wen Renjing was truly powerful.

The feeling of passing through without obstruction was very satisfying.

The two returned to the coffee shop from a short while ago, returned to the Nineteenth District.

The two began to formulate a battle plan.

The plan, first of all, was to deduce the overall situation.

Wen Renjing said:

"Combined with what you encountered in the Mysterious Tower... I already know the whole story."

"Xiaoxing has powerful qualifications related to pain, but in the entire Twentieth District, no one has seen her, and in the entire Nineteenth District, no one has seen Morita Hitomi..."

"Morita Hitomi must have turned into a black vortex; what you saw in the Human Cave tunnel was Morita Hitomi's obsession shadow."

"Even if everyone turned into a Human Cave, Morita Hitomi himself turned into a vortex... his consciousness was still protecting those who had once imposed misfortune upon him."

Wen Renjing was very moved; he really wanted to save this child.

In the Tower of Desire, the thing least hard to see—was people with twisted desires.

Such a pure child, he had rarely seen.

Wen Xishu, however, felt... fate was truly magical. In places like Kashima and Hujiang, where monsters with twisted desires were absolutely born, there were people like Master Lingqing and Morita Hitomi.

The most terrifying thing about this world is not that it is rotten from beginning to end.

The most terrifying thing is that almost everything is rotting, yet one can still see one or two pure lands.

"Xiaoshu, Morita Hitomi and Akiyama Xiaoxing will likely never be able to meet," Wen Renjing sighed.

Wen Xishu nodded:

"If we follow the original trajectory of the story—"

"Morita Hitomi is constantly devouring the misfortunes of others, slowly turning into some unspeakable monster; those misfortunes, actually, will backfire."

"Clearly, the tragedy of the Nineteenth District, the formation of the Human Cave, all stemmed from Morita Hitomi's backlash. Simply put, too much misfortune was fed to him, and it blew him up."

"The Nineteenth District turning into a Human Cave village is actually demanding something."

Wen Renjing kept up with Wen Xishu's thinking completely:

"It is demanding misfortune. But it is different from normal misfortune; it is demanding those... misfortunes of people who have already obtained happiness."

"In other words, because he helped many people obtain happiness, it led to Morita Hitomi becoming unfortunate; Morita Hitomi became a black vortex."

"But Morita Hitomi should not be dead."

"He can still be resurrected. The way to resurrect him is to do the opposite."

"His misfortune, which led to him becoming a black vortex, was caused by helping others obtain happiness... Therefore, to make him break out of this state, one must make those who were helped by him, those who are already happy... possess misfortune again."

Wen Xishu nodded.

Wen Renjing had explained almost everything.

Why Morita Yu injected misfortune into Morita Hitomi's body, and Morita Hitomi would become ugly.

Why Wen Xishu injected misfortune into Morita Hitomi's body, and Morita Hitomi would return to his original appearance.

Everything was explained.

Because what Morita Yu did was to bring the misfortunes of others to Morita Hitomi to bear.

If someone is happy, someone else will become unfortunate.

In this world, many things are conserved.

And what Wen Xishu did was to forcibly create misfortune among those who no longer possessed it, letting everything return to balance.

This kind of misfortune is not actually misfortune in the true sense, but rather a kind of antidote to alleviate Morita Hitomi's corruption.

Wen Renjing couldn't help but sigh:

"Let these people possess misfortune again, let everyone in the Human Cave feel misfortune once more... only then can they share the misfortune Morita Hitomi bears in the black vortex. Only then can Morita Hitomi obtain redemption again."

"And according to what you said, Xiaoshu, entering the Human Cave means losing oneself, and the various necessary emotions that produce misfortune—pain, sadness, anger, doubt, fear—will all be concretized..."

"It can be seen that it is very difficult to make those people in the Human Cave become unfortunate. It is almost impossible to do."

Wen Xishu nodded:

"Yes, it is almost impossible to do. I was truly lucky to have killed my way out of the Human Cave; the first time was thanks to luck, the second time was with the help of external force."

Wen Renjing also immediately realized the key—external force.

"It seems that injecting pain can forcibly make people become unfortunate, and the Human Cave can then be broken open."

"What a sad story."

For the last sentence, Wen Xishu pondered a little before understanding the meaning.

A sense of sorrow also arose in his heart.

The story in the Tower of Desire—

Akiyama Xiaoxing longed for redemption and had been waiting for Morita Hitomi to come and save her. But the final result, due to various reasons, layers of deception and lies, was that Morita Hitomi didn't even have time to meet Akiyama Xiaoxing before he turned into a black vortex and created the Human Cave village tragedy.

Yet the bond between the two was not severed.

In the Mysterious Tower, which is the story in the Obsession World, everything is reversed again—

Akiyama Xiaoxing is no longer waiting for Morita Hitomi to save her. On the contrary, in the Mysterious Tower, the rules Akiyama Xiaoxing created are the key to breaking the Human Cave...

Using pain to create misfortune, letting these people in the Human Cave feel misfortune again, and finally redeeming Morita Hitomi.

Yet the two children never met.

In the Mysterious Tower, no one dared to approach the Human Cave village.

In the Tower of Desire, Akiyama Xiaoxing did not wait for Morita Hitomi.

What a desperate and sad story this must be.

So much so that Wen Xishu clenched his fists without realizing it.

Wen Renjing said softly:

"Xiaoxing ultimately did not wait for Hitomi, but she must have known Hitomi's situation. She should have guessed through their communication that Hitomi was living in lies."

"It's hard to say who is more sorrowful: living in cruel truth or living in hypocritical lies."

"In the end, she didn't wait for redemption, but she didn't hold a grudge either. On the contrary, when the apocalypse came, in the Obsession World... her obsession brought the possibility of breaking the Human Cave. Since I didn't wait for redemption, then I will go save you."

"I am not as good as her."

Perhaps thinking of Wen Zhaohua, Wen Renjing felt that in terms of persistence, he was not as good as Akiyama Xiaoxing.

This is indeed a tragedy through and through.

The torrent of fate allowed two poor young boys and girls to meet, but the next wave made them unable to see each other.

No wonder the vortexes would merge, no wonder the Obsession Worlds of the two regions would merge into one...

Everything is obsession.

Everything is the original intention of longing to meet, longing for redemption.

Wen Renjing shook his head:

"I hate tragedies."

Wen Xishu suddenly smiled:

"I hate tragedies too. As it happens, if these two kids end in tragedy, I will question my ability to climb the tower."

Wen Renjing frowned:

"Hitomi is already controlled by Morita Yu, and there is no breakthrough point for now, so the key to breaking the situation lies with Xiaoxing."

"But Xiaoxing... should have Disruptors around her, right? At this level, I don't know if the Disruptors' forces will be hard to deal with, especially since we cannot use violence. I don't know if I can turn the tide and change the fate of these two children."

Wen Xishu stood up, the smile on his face becoming brighter:

"I have to say, this story makes me uncomfortable, but this time node makes me happy. The invitation letter, combined with your luck value, Senior, brought us here before the tragedy happened."

Wen Xishu's tone paused slightly:

"And—who said we can't use violence?"

(End of chapter)