And these two people, well, it’s clear they are master and disciple. The older one cheats whenever he can and never plays by the rules, and the younger one is just the same.
Over time, the two had no choice but to reach an understanding: let Wenren Mirror, who was relatively unlikely to cheat and didn’t have astonishing hand speed, shuffle the cards.
The three began to draw cards, and Xun Hui said:
"Alright old man, why did you call me here?"
Albert didn’t answer right away. Instead, he said:
"Have you noticed that your temper has been getting worse lately?"
Xun Hui nodded:
"Yes."
Wenren Mirror’s expression grew more serious.
At this moment, Albert’s hand moved a bit quicker in drawing a card. Xun Hui said coldly:
"If we’re here to talk, then let’s talk. Stop cheating."
Albert, unfazed, put the card back and continued:
"Have you smelled anything recently?"
Xun Hui looked at Albert. The old man was wearing a black cloak, seemingly trying to hide himself.
Xun Hui said:
"Old man, you smell like blood."
Wenren Mirror was startled:
"Teacher, what did you do?"
Albert was very pleased:
"Very good, very good. Kid, your five senses have become stronger. What level are you at in Slaughter Tower now?"
Xun Hui’s tone was indifferent:
"Level 59."
"Oh, nearly breaking through to the sixtieth level. Not bad at all. You’re only in your third year, not even graduated yet," Albert said, increasingly satisfied.
But the next second, all the smile vanished from his face:
"This is the first matter I wanted to talk about today. Xun Hui, it’s time for you to kill someone."
The statement was startling. Fortunately, Wenren Mirror had the ability to calm himself, hence he remained very composed.
Xun Hui frowned slightly and said in a firm voice:
"Old man, make yourself clear."
Albert said:
"You can choose to hang around in the Desire Tower, enjoy life there, and dissipate your violent urges."
"Or you can choose to stay in the Bunker for a long time and stop thinking about mixing in the Slaughter Tower."
"But if you still want to climb the Slaughter Tower and become stronger, the violent urges in you will become heavier and heavier."
"You should have started to feel some inexplicable rage lately, right?"
Xun Hui did not hide the truth. Albert and Wenren Mirror were the two people he trusted the most.
"Yes, I recently started dating someone. During certain activities, I began to have strange thoughts."
Wenren Mirror pricked up his ears for gossip. Xun Hui said:
"Looking at her fair skin and hearing her somewhat painful gasps, I suddenly wanted to tear her apart. It seemed more pleasurable to me than being intimate with her. I wanted to see her blood splatter, her flesh torn."
Xun Hui spoke these horrifying words very matter-of-factly, having killed too many monsters.
He had also restrained these urges. Since childhood, Xun Hui had been a straightforward person. He felt he was simply stating some thoughts, not committing a crime.
So he was very candid about it.
To him, killing was just a job, nothing to hide.
Albert said:
"I started having your reactions around the fortieth level. You are better than me; at least you’ve restrained yourself. I didn’t hold back at the time."
"I’m telling you this: I actually killed someone. You just had urges, but I didn’t control mine. When I was climbing the tower with Old Jin, a Civil Affairs Bureau official berated me for not respecting Old Jin."
"So I tore him apart right in front of Old Jin. Everyone around was scared stiff because I was a madman. Ha ha ha, many who remember this incident are now in high positions."
"They are all afraid of me."
"After killing, I felt much more comfortable, and the rage was gone."
"Old Jin noticed something was wrong with me at that time and talked to me for a long time. Later, I found that every now and then, I craved killing."
"So Old Jin and I concluded that this is a curse. Living to this age, I’ve confirmed many guesses, and all of them were correct."
"Xun Hui, Mirror, I kill people frequently, but you guys don’t know. And I have to tell you, the higher the tower level, the stronger the urge to kill becomes."
"I have been to the Desire Tower, where I couldn’t use violence. Under the rules’ constraints, I gradually gained peace. But each cycle takes seven days, and it often takes several cycles to gain peace."
"Unfortunately, I can’t stay that long. I have to keep climbing the tower."
"Of course, this was decades ago. Later, Old Jin and I compensated the official’s family with some merit points, and they turned out fine."
The teacher has such a brutal side? Wenren Mirror was secretly surprised.
But Xun Hui said casually:
"Is this the only way? And why is this happening to me?"
Albert said:
"It’s simple. After passing the twenty-fifth level, those who meet certain conditions will undergo these changes. They will start craving killing and become irritable. You meet those conditions, but you have a strong mind, which allows you to suppress that killing urge."
"If you continue exploring the Slaughter Tower without restraint, your killing urge will become stronger. If you don’t release it periodically and let it accumulate..."
"Then you will turn into a bloodthirsty and brutal monster. It’s like killing too many monsters but forgetting to light a bonfire."
Xun Hui’s face seemed to have only one expression. He didn’t care that this was happening to him; he simply asked coldly: