Three Towers Game

Chapter 333 The Trial in a Land of Certain Death

Can't escape.

Wen Xishu actually bumped into an invisible wall in the place of his obsession.

As he tried to escape the scene, the upside-down crowd surged towards him, and Wen Xishu had no way to retreat.

Wen Xishu had no choice but to avoid the Hanging Man and walk in the opposite direction.

The mystery of the bizarre sequence clones, the karmic burden of the bizarre sequence Avengers!

At this moment, everything is activated.

A shadow immediately caught the attention of the hanging people. The shadow was summoned by Wen Xishu, and upon seeing so many hanging people appear, the shadow made a hand gesture towards Wen Xishu's main body.

That's an international gesture. Clearly, Shadow, like Wen Xishu, is also very resistant to this kind of boss-sudden-appearance design and timing.

Wen Xishu disregarded his own shadow and even despised himself, because the Hanged Man's speed was too ferocious.

They hung upside down above their heads, and the ropes behind them began to come alive.

The ropes, like snakes, began to fly continuously toward the Wenxi Tree.

"Charlie, you'll always be a loser, nobody's interested in you! Hehehehe!"

Gravity bent Wen Xishu over, and the immense gravity slowed him down.

Meanwhile, the ropes that meandered downwards approached the Wenxi Tree at an even faster speed.

"Charlie, none of us love you~ hehehehe."

The sounds made by the people hanging upside down filled Wen Xishu with a great sense of disgust.

"Little Charlie, who only knows how to run away~ Hang yourself, hang yourself!"

Whispering noose.

Wen Xishu realized that this was the Hanged Man's method, even though he was now feeling a great sense of self-loathing.

But he was still able to analyze some things.

“Charlie…”

"That must be why the Dust Land has become so distorted, right?"

"Is this a place similar to Tang Rui's, created because of someone's traumatic childhood?"

"It's too early to draw a conclusion."

"All they do is run away...hanging themselves, hanging themselves upside down..."

Wenxi Tree, bearing immense weight, slowly dodged the ever-increasing number of ropes.

The sky is made up of countless upside-down faces, their faces showing no pain, but bearing a twisted, almost mocking, calm smile, their eyes being two bottomless black holes.

Countless faces like these make the sky look like hell.

"Hanging upside down means everything is reversed; trying to escape only leads to nowhere..."

We must head towards the clock tower!

Wen Xishu immediately realized what was going on.

He thought of Silent Hill again; perhaps the monsters there symbolized something within someone's heart.

The Hanged Man...

He began to ponder the metaphors he had learned about the Hanged Man in the past, which often symbolized extreme self-loathing, guilt, self-punishment, and distorted self-esteem.

Although it was just a simple battle, after one round, Wen Xishu vaguely got a clue.

However, the biggest problem is...

How should he get to the clock tower?

The laughter of countless hanged men echoed endlessly, and the ropes were piled up in front of him.

It's as if all I have to do now is hang myself. Hang myself, become a hanged ghost, and all the pain will end.

Wen Xishu's hand even unconsciously touched it.

He looked as if he really wanted to stick his head in.

The shadow tried to stop it, but soon, countless tears flowed from the empty eye sockets of the upside-down man…

So that's how puddles are formed on the ground.

Tears clung to the shadow's feet, and soon the shadow began to crumble like dust.

Shadow shook his head helplessly.

The shadow disappeared.

As Wen Xishu watched all this, a multitude of thoughts flooded his mind.

Dust and tears, shifting gravity, whispering nooses...

These must be the Hanged Man's skills. But I don't seem to be able to control them.

This feeling was terrible. He calmly analyzed the situation, examining the enemy's symbols and metaphors, their skills, and the possibilities of the plot...

But on the other hand, he started hanging himself. Under immense self-loathing, he began to doubt himself.

Even for a seasoned expert like him, hanging himself wouldn't be easy.

But the Whispering Gallows is different; it is a living thing.

Soon, Wen Xishu felt as if his neck was being strangled by some powerful force.

Death was imminent, but at that very moment, the immense gravity suddenly vanished!

Wen Xishu suddenly felt that all gravity had disappeared.

When life is in danger, Wen Xishu has two effects: one is the "mutant killing" sequence, which comes from the bizarre competition he participated in with Lao Zheng.

The sequence also contains a rune: Unspeakable Desire.

Simply put, when faced with a deadly battle, Wen Xishu becomes strange. He did this when facing Xiao Jin's assassination attempt, transforming into an indescribable, thread-like creature.

At the same time, the second effect is to gain the advantage of terrain, trapping the beast in the marshland.

Although there is no three phases, the three-tower sequence can still work in the Twisted Tower without the need for three phases.

Taking advantage of the terrain and the mutation, when life and death hung in the balance...

Wen Xishu's body began to mutate, and the rules began to move in his favor.

Countless ears began to appear on Wenxi Tree.

These ears appear in pairs, and from a distance, they even look like butterflies.

There are so many ears that they could make someone with trypophobia vomit on the spot.

From a distance, the Wenxi Tree looked like a creature with thousands upon thousands of ear holes piled up.

That stemmed from his desire to unravel everything and uncover everything.

This desire transformed the Wenxi Tree into a bizarre monster.

At this moment, Wen Xishu seemed to be able to hear the entire battlefield.

"There's more than just the clock tower... there are many, many other places."

Many sounds that were previously inaudible can now be heard.

Wen Xishu vaguely discerned that the sounds came from the following places.

The first place is naturally the clock tower area where the Hanged Man is located.

The second place was like a swamp, with bubbles churning and bursting, the sound of which Wenxi Tree could hear.

The third place is where a giant monster is chewing food.

The fourth scene is the sound of ballet music, with the girl dancing.

The fifth place was filled with the clapping of countless hands, echoing layer upon layer.

The sixth sound is the sound of wiping something.

The seventh place was filled with the sound of chaotic electrical current.

The eighth place was a bustling market-like area.

The ninth place is the sound of children crying.

Too much information flooded into Wen Xishu's brain.

Then, footsteps echoed from the silent clock tower.

"The Dust Land is divided into several sections, according to the chapter hints provided by Scorpion Knife..."

"It seems like there's a story behind every place."

"The sound of a child crying must be the final destination. I must save that child. But the plot is too fragmented right now, and I don't know what exactly happened in this place."

Wen Xishu, whose entire body is made of ears, now has powerful hearing, but that's not all.

When he mutated, the upside-down people seemed to sense some kind of danger and immediately tried to strangle Wenxi Tree with a noose.

But from countless ear piercings, many thread-like creatures resembling earthworms emerged. Their thin, elongated bodies pierced the ropes, like blood vessels forcibly connecting the flesh and blood of other creatures, and began to suck the strength of the person hanging upside down from the other end of the ropes.

Wen Xishu was shocked. This mutated body was too ridiculous. If someone saw him like this... he would probably be mistaken for some twisted red house.

However, his good luck didn't last long, and soon Wen Xishu suffered an epic defeat.

The normal method of absorbing the opponent's life force unexpectedly resulted in absorbing a great deal of negative emotion.

Self-loathing, severe guilt, self-blame, repression...

They enveloped the Wenxi tree like thick dust.

Soon, all the ears began to wither, and they began to fall off like flower petals.

The bells, a symbol of death, tolled from the clock tower, accompanied by the mocking cries of countless hanged men:

"Charlie! Charlie! Join us!"

Countless upside-down figures no longer hung in the air; they fell to the ground one by one, carrying sharp knives, and embraced the Wenxi Tree.

Despite having maximized the advantages of the terrain and Wen Xishu's incredible speed, it was all too late.

……

……

[Number of deaths: 1]

Chapter Two: The Ever-Hungry Kitchen.

"Charlie, Charlie~ It's time to eat, Charlie, Charlie... Mom bought you new food again."

Wen Xishu rubbed his forehead.

He soon regained consciousness from the intense pain:
"Damn it, I just gave up first blood?"

At this moment, Wen Xishu discovered that several holes had appeared on his back, in his waist and abdomen area.

These holes are not ear piercings, but rather some kind of...exit.

It is the exit of the rope.

The Wenxi Tree has mutated.

The mutations brought about by death are also a side effect of daring to try new things.

He is now like the Hanged Man, able to produce ropes from an opening in his waist and abdomen.

These ropes are controlled by his mind, allowing him to hang upside down anywhere he can find a place to hook onto them.

"Am I now the Hanged Man?"

Each death brings with it a curse related to the level.

Wen Xishu now understood what it meant.

Even unconsciously, the following thoughts appeared in his mind:

The line, "Charlie, you're such a useless piece of trash," evoked a strong urge to recite it aloud.

Wen Xishu knew this wasn't a good thing, but correspondingly... he suddenly felt that it wasn't too bad either.

“I’m starting to be alienated. If I die too many times somewhere, I might even assimilate my thoughts.” Charlie! Charlie! Join us.

He still remembered the bizarre scene of countless upside-down men surging towards him.

"Theoretically, I can die fourteen times... but it's best not to die more than twice in the same place, otherwise there will definitely be problems."

"Dust Land, this is the most authentic Tower of Horrors level. If your magic resistance is low, you will be swallowed up by the huge negative emotions almost instantly."

"But it's a good thing that I can use the Hanged Man's abilities now. Maybe... the Hanged Man's abilities will be surprisingly effective in other levels."

"It seems that after death, you will randomly appear in other levels, that is, other chapters... But that's not bad. Perhaps by using this randomness, I can grasp the plot more quickly."

Wen Xishu raised his head and looked at the ceiling. With a thought, the ropes were instantly launched.

Like a grappling hook, Wen Xishu's body was immediately lifted into the air as the rope secured him.

He has a Spider-Man vibe.

However, this wonderful experience quickly vanished as the new scene became shocking.

"Charlie, Charlie~ It's time to eat, Charlie, Charlie... A child who doesn't eat isn't a good child."

"Charlie, Charlie~ It's time to eat, Charlie, Charlie... A child who doesn't cherish food is not a good child."

Wen Xishu then noticed that she seemed to be in a gray-toned kitchen.

This kitchen is enormous; it's a self-expanding Victorian kitchen.

What terrified Wenxi Tree the most was the enormous creature.

An obese monster that is constantly chewing food.

Its appearance is quite similar to that of a "butcher": obese, covered with countless stitched-up pieces of flesh, with fleshy tumors all over its body, and a huge "split mouth" on its belly.

It kept chewing meat in its mouth, but seemed to be never full.

It was enormous, probably standing six meters tall. It sat crouching in a corner of the kitchen, constantly munching on its food.

On the surrounding walls, there were characters that Wen Xishu could recognize.

It was written by a child in their childish handwriting: "Hungry," "More," "Eat it all up."

It was later overshadowed by the frantic cry of "Never enough!"

In addition, the slightly scolding yet impatient voice of a woman could be heard continuously from all around:
"Charlie, Charlie, eat them! This is what Mommy has sacrificed!"

"Charlie, eat up, eat happily."

“Charlie, do you know that food should not be wasted? In many places, children don’t even have anything to eat. You need to learn to be grateful.”

Every time this sound appeared, the fat man would immediately start chewing frantically.

But soon, the fat man will start pounding the ground again.

This kitchen is comparable to a building, no... comparable to a stadium.

But when the fat man hammered at it, the whole kitchen actually shook.

Countless tumors will rupture as a result, bursting out a lot of pus.

This disgusting scene was clearly visible to Wen Xishu, who was hanging upside down in the air.

Wen Xishu silently analyzed the rules:

"Could it be... that we have to defeat the monster?"

"No, if that's the case, it would be too difficult."

The monster's power was such that even the Red House would have to give way. Wen Xishu could hardly imagine how high his attack power would need to fight such a tough-skinned monster.

They're not in the same league. The chances of winning in a direct confrontation are very low.

"The fat man in the perpetually hungry kitchen may be a personification of another of Charlie's desires."

"Greedy? That seems too simplistic..."

"The mother's voice is there, but the mother cannot see... there is only endless food."

Yes, everywhere I looked there was rotting food, and in my ears I could hear my mother's voice.

But I just can't see my mother anywhere.

All that could be seen was the ever-expanding, living kitchen, where the fat man was constantly devouring food.

Wen Xishu has ways to kill the fat man directly, such as summoning archers, but one thing is certain: this area challenge...

You need to defeat more than one enemy.

Therefore, killing the fat man won't be the final step before a perfect victory. The cost of summoning the archer is far too high.

Wen Xishu looked at the fat man:

"We might be able to force our way through the Hanged Man level, but not this one."

"Perhaps some seemingly invincible enemies have solutions. If we can solve the fat man's mystery, we might find a way in."

"Let me think about it."

"Assuming the fat person is a metaphor, then what does the food represent? Desire?"

"No...it doesn't seem like it. Why is desire related to its mother? That woman's voice, the voice calling Charlie, should be his mother's."

"And it seems that every time the fat guy pounds the ground, it's because he hasn't finished his food... So, is there any way I can help the fat guy finish his food?"

Wen Xishu observed silently.

It must be said that the Hanged Man's abilities allow him to have a very safe overview of the entire situation.

Soon, Wen Xishu noticed more details about the kitchen.

He noticed that there was a dining table in the corner of the kitchen.

He crawled carefully, without making a sound, moving in sync with the sound of the fat man chewing his food.

The evening tree is like a spider nervously crawling along the corner of the room.

With the help of the Hanged Man's abilities, Wen Xishu is quietly solving the mystery and has already obtained some initial clues.

First, there's the refrigerator.

Of course there's a refrigerator in the kitchen. And since the fat man is six meters tall, the refrigerator is naturally enormous.

The rusty door of the industrial refrigerator was embedded in the brick wall, its handle polished smooth by countless handprints. Inside, there was no food, but rather bottomless darkness and a biting cold wind.

A note was hanging on the refrigerator door, which read the following:

"Eat Charlie! Wasting food is tantamount to taking a life!"

Wen Xishu was certain that if he got too close to the refrigerator, he would be sucked into its dark interior.

Not far from the refrigerator, Wen Xishu noticed a huge cake model covered with a thick layer of gray frosting on the greasy work surface.

Now, the cake looks like it's covered in dust.

A faded birthday hat lay scattered next to the cake. The size of the hat suggested it wasn't meant for the chubby boy; perhaps it was meant for the chubby boy when he was a child.

That's a "children's size" birthday hat.

Next to the hat was a birthday card, covered in grease.

Even so, Wen Xishu was still able to make out the handwriting on the card:

"Charlie, you're another year older, and you should be more sensible than before. Do you like your birthday present? It's a new tutoring book."

Wen Xishu felt a pang of sympathy; he seemed to understand the metaphor behind it all.

His gaze soon fell on the dining table.

In the distance, the fat man was still chewing on rotten food, everything was a gray, dusty color... but on the dining table, there were some other colors.

Wen Xishu had excellent eyesight, and he looked at the rotten food on the table.

In his eyes, it wasn't food, but broken toys and fragments of exam papers.

On the fragments of the exam paper, you can even see red "X"s, which look like they're covered in syrup and symbolize mistakes.

On the plate, Wen Xishu saw this pattern—

A stick figure sits in front of a giant dining table, crying over an empty plate.

Beside the plate, there were crooked, childish notes:
Am I full?

Having read this far, Wen Xishu already had a definite answer in his heart.

"If I'm not mistaken, this isn't actually the kitchen..."

Wen Xishu seemed to be able to imagine a child named Charlie with a pair of "stereotypical" parents.

This is not a kitchen, but a prison that embodies emotions.

Wen Xishu's reading comprehension ability reached its peak at this moment.

He had once been obsessed with various interpretations of Silent Hill, but now, that ability made him realize that the truth might be completely different from what he saw.

Next, he began to piece together the truth about the "kitchen".

"This is a story about a boy named Charlie."

“During Charlie’s childhood, his mother filled the emotional support that she herself could not provide with an abundance of material things and rigid responsibilities, such as being ‘sensible’ and ‘obedient’.”

“I might see each instance of forced feeding as a kind of neglect of Charlie’s true needs.”

"Charlie's father might often be away from home? In any case, he certainly rarely participates in family dinners."

"As for Charlie's childhood fun, such as toys, paintings, and fantasy stories, they are all 'swallowed' and 'digested' here."

"Because that's not what parents need. What parents need is to use the sense of superiority from providing material things to demand that Charlie... study better."

“This is different from Tang Rui’s parents. Tang Rui’s parents didn’t love Tang Rui, but there is another type of parent in this world who is willing to provide abundant material things, but never cares about their child’s feelings…”

"To the point that the child can't tell whether they love him or not."

"For his parents, Charlie just needs to accept it. He doesn't need to have his own ideas."

"His birthday present can only be a study guide, nothing else."

"And this fat man is not Charlie; he is Charlie's 'glutton' born from his thirst for love."

Wen Xishu stared at the "glutton" who kept eating.

It kept chewing, but it could never fill its stomach. Even though there was more and more food in the house and it was eating faster and faster, it still couldn't finish the food and was never full.

"The glutton is a monster born from Charlie's parents' attempt to fill that huge emotional void with material possessions, achievements, and even distorted desires."

"The more it devours, the emptier it becomes inside... The more it is pampered by its parents with material things, the stronger its inner desires become."

"What children want is to be loved and seen; what parents give is demands and material things."

"It is never full, and there is never enough food."

Wen Xishu felt somewhat saddened after analyzing these points.

He knew that while a sharp childhood could leave one covered in wounds like a blade, there was another kind of childhood, like a soft knife cutting into flesh, which was even more painful.

He suddenly realized that perhaps the child he had saved was Charlie.

But perhaps... that child named Charlie is already dead.

He died in the dust, and his past experiences transformed into many different kinds of monsters.

Shaking his head, Wen Xishu dismissed these distracting thoughts.

"Since we've met, it must be fate. I hope you're still alive, Charlie."

Wen Xishu thought about it and realized that redeeming Charlie was indeed an extremely difficult task.

But he has always enjoyed doing difficult things.

He realized that perhaps the first thing he had to do was close that huge refrigerator, which seemed to contain a black hole.

Although at first, Wen Xishu sensed that it was an extremely dangerous place.

But now, he has the courage to give it a try.

From the hole in his waist, a long rope shot out again, suspending Wen Xishu upside down, and he began his rescue operation.

(End of this chapter)