Perhaps these monsters, also include the Mage.
Following this train of thought, he seemed to understand the Mage’s realization.
Wen Xishu said:
"Master Lingqing, I want to know the origin of the entire incident."
Master Lingqing shook his head with a smile:
"Of course, I will tell you everything you want to know, but first I need to understand one thing: where do you come from?"
"Or rather, let me ask more explicitly, which time period of the future do you come from?"
Wen Xishu was stunned, truly not expecting Master Lingqing to ask such a question.
"Which future? What do you mean?"
Master Lingqing said:
"You only ask about the origin, not the consequence, which shows that you know the consequence. Moreover... anyone who comes to Rokkasho should be extremely resentful towards me."
"I can no longer leave the mountain, and outsiders shouldn’t know about me, which makes me think you might come from the future?"
However, guessing that someone comes from the future is still too far-fetched. The reasoning mentioned above does not hold water.
So Wen Xishu asked:
"Could it be that you have seen others from the future? Otherwise, you wouldn’t make such an absurd guess?"
Master Lingqing nodded:
"I have indeed seen. According to that person, I have seen them more than once. It’s just that I don’t remember."
Wen Xishu had to admit, this conversation took him by surprise. However, he also realized that the Mage had likely found the "defiler."
That person the Mage spoke about. Moreover, that person was probably very arrogant, having defeated Master Lingqing, and thus boastfully shared some memories belonging to the defiler with the Mage.
Wen Xishu was not in a hurry; since he had already found the Mage, everything would naturally come to light.
He decided to proceed step by step, Wen Xishu said:
"Yes, I do come from the future."
Master Lingqing sighed:
"What is the future you are from like?"
Wen Xishu thought about it and decided to tell the truth. He began to recount his experiences.
After listening, Master Lingqing sighed with emotion:
"Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. I believe that at that time, hearing your words would have greatly encouraged me. I never expected that someone would be like me, trying to save this mutated and twisted island."
Wen Xishu said:
"Now you should be able to tell me everything, right?"
Master Lingqing didn’t nod but seriously looked at Wen Xishu. After a long while, the Mage sighed:
"But even if I tell you everything, I’m afraid it won’t make much difference."
Wen Xishu said:
"Why?"
Master Lingqing said:
"There are some things, we are powerless to change... the future you are from is very terrible."
"But that is not the only future, perhaps... when you return to your time, you might find the future even worse."
Wen Xishu seemed to have grasped some crucial information:
"Do you mean... the past is changing? No, no, is it that the present is changing? There exists someone who can alter the past and present, thereby changing the future?"
Lingqing was slightly shocked, surprised by this visitor’s insight:
"Yes, the future you are from is also just a past tense. You cannot defeat ’that person.’ Moreover, the future you are in will also be changed because of ’that person.’"
"He might not be able to travel to such a distant future as you, but in the current time loop, no one understands what is going to happen better than he does."
"He is already the god of Rokkasho."
"He has also said that even if someone from the future appears, they won’t pose a threat to him."
"Because people from the future will be constrained by other rules, they can’t even exert a bit of violence on the island’s inhabitants. This is his greatest reliance."
"Although he is also subject to the same constraints, he can command all the monsters in Rokkasho..."
"Especially, the seven people from your future that you mentioned: the Foodie, the Wanderer, the Doctor, the Maniac, the Talented Student, the Delivery Man, the Niu Lang."
"He has found the truly pivotal seven people in countless cycles."
"I fear he has already begun to win over those seven people."
Wen Xishu suddenly understood everything.
"I see, I was puzzled before about how Mariko became a goddess."
"In my version of Deceit Tower, Mariko was just a common girl from Hujiang."
"But in the Desire Tower version, that patient clearly treated Mariko with great respect."
"And that doctor, Mariko should be very afraid of doctors, I asked her why she didn’t seek treatment from a doctor, she answered that the doctor would harm her."
"It shows that in the Deceit Tower version, Mariko considered the Foodie to be good and the Doctor to be bad."
"Including Mariko herself... she wasn’t any good either."
"But as the defiler gradually influences everything... Mariko turned into a goddess. The Doctor became the god-like healer promoting evolution, and the Foodie... hmm, very likely in my version of the Deceit Tower, the Foodie has already been beautified."
"Simply put, the defiler has found the seven most crucial people in time loops again and again and is continually helping them... complete their beautification."
"He is gradually changing the future! Gradually causing the trajectory of fate to unravel further!"
In Wen Xishu’s original Deceit Tower, the apocalypse has already arrived, even if Mariko turned into a monster, she wouldn’t have a good reputation.
But now, in the Desire Tower version, before the apocalypse arrived, Mariko had already become the "goddess."
The Doctor directly transformed from an evil person conducting horrifying experiments into a saint granting evolution.
"If I fail to expose the defiler... I can imagine that upon returning to Deceit Tower, the 42nd floor I am on might become even more twisted..."
Wen Xishu suddenly smiled, this smile surprised Master Lingqing:
"Why does the donor’s smile look so cheerful?"
Wen Xishu said:
"My luck is bad, this journey’s level of aberration and corruption far exceeds expectations."
"But correspondingly, my luck is also good because I found you, and because of you, I learned clues about ’that person.’ This is great."
Master Lingqing was puzzled:
"Why do you say so?"
Wen Xishu said:
"I need to know what really happened on this island, which is the reason I came to find you."
"But before that, I need to tell you one thing. ’That person’ is wrong."
Master Lingqing was even more confused but seemed to see some hope; he softly asked:
"Where is he wrong?"
Wen Xishu’s expression gradually became fierce as if a demon awakened:
"I am not one of those non-violent noble players; if the future is to become more twisted. I don’t mind starting now — "
"Killing my way through the entire Rokkasho."