Teammate-1.
Wen Xishu thought of these words, and he felt very happy.
Sita being a spy arranged by the higher-ups was very unlikely, but Wen Xishu didn’t like him. Such a person dying was no loss; Wen Xishu felt no pity.
On the contrary, knowing that this place was indeed very dangerous made Wen Xishu incredibly joyous.
No matter how grand one might be previously, in Deceit Tower they might not survive even a minute. This was excellent.
In this way, he might only need to use the rules to induce and deceive, turning a multiplayer game into a solo one.
If he didn’t have some secret, and if he were as popular as Wenren Mirror, Wen Xishu wouldn’t mind forming a wartime friendship inside the Three Towers.
But if these people had the potential to harm him, if they were tools used by the higher-ups to probe him.
Even if they were most likely innocent, Wen Xishu didn’t care. Certainly, in many stories, the protagonists have an almost perfect model of a dependable comrade.
But Wen Xishu didn’t think such luck would belong to him.
Sita’s body became riddled with holes instantly, as if pierced by numerous sharp objects, while the music box got louder and louder.
Wen Xishu couldn’t identify the tune, but it seemed like a school song, the kind that played during recess, with very positive lyrics and a voice full of youthful vitality.
The first teammate’s death was too abrupt, leaving the others somewhat stunned.
Although Wen Xishu didn’t see what happened and chose to hide, the others weren’t quick enough to react, thus they witnessed that eerie and terrifying scene.
When Sita chose to purify the item, the wrong purification directly led to a mass of black smoke appearing from the item, followed by numerous tentacles entering Sita’s mouth, ears, nostrils, eyes, and even... lower parts.
A tentacle went in through the mouth, while another came out of the mouth, like two trains running in opposite directions.
Sita was dead.
The tentacles continued to ravage Sita’s body.
At this moment, Park Mi-hye, the team leader, shouted:
"Quick! Hide, Wen Xishu hid! Follow Wen Xishu’s lead!"
Her words had an effect.
Kane and Mendemuir also chose to hide at that moment; the large room had many objects obstructing visibility like table legs, scattered stationery, wall corners, etc.
In short, they had to find a way not to appear in the range of the tentacles’ sight.
Zheng Zai’s reaction was the fastest.
He was the first to rush toward Sita, but his body was unusually agile, and his perception of fear was exceptionally clear.
The craving for flesh and blood woke him up in an instant, scared by the crisis brought by the eerie presence.
Fear made him calm.
He regained control over his body, and its functions seemed greatly enhanced.
Zheng Zai, like a beast, dodged a tentacle’s strike, then with rapid speed akin to a leopard climbing a tree, he actually climbed on top of a desk significantly taller than himself.
The monster within the clothes continued to ravage Sita.
After ensuring Sita was utterly and completely dead, the monster finally retreated into the clothes.
Silence.
The music box had been growing louder, with the song having played through once and started a second time.
But gradually, as everyone hid, the music box also fell silent.
Finally returning to silence.
A minute later, Wen Xishu came out.
The room had desks and office desks, and there was a blind spot between the office desk and the bookshelf.
Park Mi-hye stuck closely to Wen Xishu, so in the blind spot, there were the two of them.
Wen Xishu smiled and said, "Captain, you really are keen-scented. I hid away in fear, but you figured out that hiding was the way to survive."
Park Mi-hye didn’t have much to say; she just looked deeply at Wen Xishu. Sita’s death, Park Mi-hye believed, was likely orchestrated by Wen Xishu.
He knew how to let someone die within the rules of Deceit Tower.
Although the truth wasn’t like that, it was Sita who courted death himself, but Wen Xishu’s hiding maneuver indeed kept the others alive.
In this situation, Park Mi-hye didn’t want to become someone Wen Xishu disliked.
Seeing both Park Mi-hye and Wen Xishu come out, returning to the center of the study, Kane, who was hiding by the table leg, and Mendemuir, who was hiding by the office desk leg, also revealed themselves.
Through Sita’s death, Wen Xishu gathered the following information:
"There are many contaminated items, and these items may hint at containing a sinful aura, but the one that really needs purification is only one; choosing wrongly means death."
"The game is obvious, find things, and play hide and seek. Finding and hiding."
"As long as I don’t reveal the rules... or I use misleading rules to lure them into purifying items, then they will all die."
Wen Xishu was still contemplating whether to do so. If he were to act, how exactly should he execute the plan?
But before he could think too deeply, he was suddenly distracted by the sound of flesh being chewed.
Jumping down from the three-meter-high desk, Zheng Zai, like a hungry hound, was tearing into flesh.
That flesh wasn’t anyone else’s but Sita’s.
In fact, the smell of excrement on Sita had long attracted Zheng Zai.
This scene scared everyone a step back; no matter how malevolent someone could be, they couldn’t stay composed while witnessing cannibalism.
But Wen Xishu was an exception.
Wen Xishu didn’t see how Zheng Zai avoided the tentacles and escaped so nimbly, but he remembered that Zheng Zai was very close to Sita at the time, under those circumstances...
Zheng Zai still managed to hide far away on the desk...
This was simply unbelievable.
This person had astonishing explosiveness.
The iron muzzle on Zheng Zai had long since disappeared, obviously broken by Zheng Zai using brute force.
Based on Zheng Zai’s prior behavior—
Wen Xishu had a hypothesis.
This wasn’t a disease.
This was a sequence, an eerie sequence.
During his first exploration of Deceit Tower, Zheng Zai likely acquired a sequence with severe side effects.
He remembered one thing, Zheng Zai actually possessed rationality, just that the desire caused his body to act compulsively.
So Wen Xishu slowly walked over to Zheng Zai.
He showed the same warm smile as he did to Jennifer.
Be it in front of Jennifer or the current Zheng Zai, Wen Xishu wasn’t sincerely trying to be someone who brings warmth to others.
He knew clearly, Jennifer, Jack, and the current Zheng Zai were merely tools for his survival.
"Eat slowly, Zheng Zai, don’t worry, we won’t do anything to you. If you really can’t suppress the desire within, just don’t suppress it."
"Sometimes, people need to let loose and vent; releasing the monster inside on your own will give you the power to put it back."
"But if it comes out uncontrollably, it may be too late."
"Is it tasty? Is it enough? Do you want a bite of mine?"
Wen Xishu rolled up his sleeve.
His smile was as radiant as Wenren Mirror; when Wenren Mirror faced people in Desire Tower, he also had that warm and sunny smile.
At this moment, there were sudden tears in Zheng Zai’s eyes.
He really didn’t want to show his monstrous side to people, but he truly couldn’t control it.
When he bit into Sita, internally, he was desperate, even thinking that he would become a monster in the eyes of all his teammates.
But then, Wen Xishu appeared.
As if he carried holy light.