The first words made Wen Xishu feel incredulous.
Pain Auction? Rendong Village?
"You mean, I’m now in Rendong Village?"
Wen Xishu looked at the woman. Although the woman was leaning sideways, her hair, defying gravity, was also straight and leaning.
This was very much like a neon painting style.
Her hair was aqua blue, as were her clothes, giving her an ethereal, unreal quality. She didn’t look real at all.
Wen Xishu realized that this person might not be... human.
"Yes, you are in Rendong Village. Before you enter the human-shaped holes, I suggest you come with me to the auction to auction off some items that can help you survive," the woman said with a smile.
Then Wen Xishu remembered, the Pain Auction... Albert said that pain had become a form of currency.
"Why is this house tilted?"
"Not long ago, there was a great collision here... many special force fields emerged, causing some buildings to float in the air," the woman explained seriously.
Wen Xishu asked again:
"Who are you?"
"I am Xu 04, a service attendant at the auction," Xu 04 said with a smile.
What a very standard robot name.
It seemed, indeed, not human.
Wen Xishu’s mind immediately understood it as a guide, a beginner’s guide NPC.
"A great collision happened here... is it ruins now?"
"Yes, the outskirts have become ruins, but Rendong Village still exists. If we can’t solve the human-shaped holes in Rendong Village, our world will still be cursed with doom. So Hero, please follow me to the Pain Auction to auction items suitable for you to purify the human-shaped holes," Xu 04 smiled.
Suddenly, Wen Xishu felt a strong sense of déjà vu.
"Does this often happen, people like me appearing nearby?"
"No... but according to our clues, people appearing near the ruins are the ones who can save us, they are the best heroes," Xu 04 still smiled.
The best heroes randomly appearing in the land of obsession...
Hmm, indeed the best, just like in an island country’s manga, where transmigrators are hit by dump trucks and enter another world.
But calling them the best heroes made Wen Xishu feel like mocking.
So there are also inferior heroes?
"Before you take me to the Pain Auction, why not tell me, what is Rendong Village all about?" Wen Xishu asked.
Since there was a free explanation, it naturally had to serve its purpose.
Xu 04 said:
"As you see, everything here is dominated by a great mysterious force, we call it a curse."
"You are our hero, the one who can break the curse."
Wen Xishu immediately interrupted:
"Don’t label me just yet, tell me first, what is this curse all about?"
Then Wen Xishu felt a sense of looping stories, like "once upon a time there was a mountain, in the mountain, there was a temple."
Xu 04 said seriously:
"No one knows when it started, but when people die, they turn into a hole, a human-shaped hole."
"The Demon Cleansing Monks from Northern Hujiang once said that if these holes are not filled somehow... they will bring a curse to our city."
"Look."
Xu 04 pointed outside the window. Wen Xishu, gradually adapting to the tilted gravity, looked out through the broken house’s window...
Outside, there were many floating houses, some were villas, others small buildings. Buildings in the island country were not very tall, giving Wen Xishu the impression of countless floating boulders.
There was a sense of the Shushan Immortal Realm, but instead of floating mountains, waterfalls, and palaces, there were Japanese-style buildings.
But what really attracted Wen Xishu outside the window was not the buildings.
It was the giant vortex in the sky.
A black vortex.
This vortex instantly reminded Wen Xishu of the bunker being devoured.
"It is said... only by eliminating all the human-shaped holes can the black vortex disappear. And the black vortex releases curses periodically."
Wen Xishu thought of an orange vortex.
"Is it possible that the black vortex is also a hole?"
Xu 04 looked at Wen Xishu in surprise:
"Hero, you are indeed different from the others. Yes, the black vortex is also a hole. Do you see those threads?"
Following Xu 04’s gaze, Wen Xishu saw countless threads extending from the black vortex.
Like black tentacles, countless black lines stretched out from the giant vortex in the sky, connecting to the human-shaped holes below.
"We treated these black threads as pathways to the black vortex. We arranged for many people to climb along them... but everyone was rejected at the end."
Wen Xishu sensed that the term "rejected" was perhaps too polite.
"Rejected? Did it give you hints?"
"Yes, everyone heard one phrase, ’Not enough.’"
"Not enough of what?"
"That’s also what we want to figure out," Xu 04 said.
Wen Xishu said:
"So you’re saying, we need to obtain something from these holes... when this thing accumulates to a certain amount, the black vortex will let people in?"
Xu 04’s eyes lit up again:
"Your imagination is really good."
Wen Xishu asked again:
"Did the voice reveal any details?"
"No, it is mixed with too many voices, like many people speaking together... but it is filled with resentment. We once invited the leader of the Demon Cleansing Monks—Master Lingqing, but the master couldn’t enter either. The master only said it was a massive spiritual debt," Xu 04 sighed lightly.
Wen Xishu laughed. Did he just hear about Master Lingqing?