Shi Tianzhu prepared a table full of dishes, and Ning Su and the two children ate with happy faces.
Pang Yang ate with a puzzled expression, nearly poking his nose with the shrimp on his chopsticks.
“You’ve known the president for a long time?”
Ning Su, busy as he was eating, managed to squeeze out a moment and let out a “hmm.”
“The president went to pick you up.”
Ning Su said, “Maybe.”
Ning Su had seen many parents picking up their children from school since he was young, so much so that it seemed like a very normal thing.
When he emerged from the instance, he was actually very happy to see Shi Tianzhu and Ning Changfeng outside the aperture.
The regrets and expectations from childhood were thus filled.
Ning Su felt even happier eating.
“The president also gave you the Heaven-Piercing Silk.”
Ning Su said, “When we had only known each other for a few days, ah, I used it in the instance just now, but you were hiding under the bed at the time so you didn’t see it.”
Pang Yang: “...”
“Why!”
Ning Su said, “Probably because I’m good-looking.”
Pang Yang: “...”
He finally understood why Ning Su seemed familiar.
Pang Yang said desperately, “Can you show me the Heaven-Piercing Silk?”
Ning Su hesitated, “...”
Pang Yang recalled, “The first and only time I was in an instance with the president, she used the Heaven-Piercing Silk as her weapon. Her wrists were so slim, yet she effortlessly threw a giant monster into a volcano with the white silk. The Heaven-Piercing Silk was like a divine weapon in my heart.”
Ning Su asked, “Why was it the only time? You admire the president so much, why didn’t you continue doing instances with her?”
Pang Yang exclaimed in frustration, “I have to be able to keep up too! The President usually enters instances that are level five or higher!”
Ning Su: “...”
He naturally wasn’t qualified to use skill weapons in the base, he just took it out to show Pang Yang up close.
After they finished eating, Shi Tianzhu appeared.
They moved to a different location and arrived at a small conference room.
The chief steward served two children and Ning Su a cup of camel milk, while Shi Tianzhu and Pang Yang had coffee.
Ning Su gave Pang Yang the opportunity to perform in front of the idol, letting Pang Yang say everything he knew first.
“It’s about following a complete path of death, starting from the hearse on the normal road in the human world, then onto the boat on the Black River, and finally to the trial in the underworld. It’s a complete process that one undergoes after death, a set procedure.”
“During this process, the deceased will experience death, loss of consciousness and memory, restoration of consciousness, restoration of memory, realization and acceptance of death, and also undergo significant evolution.”
“Players, during their evolutionary stages, must adjust at any time to pretend to be their own kind and not be discovered as outsiders.”
“Determining outsiders goes both ways. The corpses first suspect the players, send out probes, and players actively touch them, provide them with evidence such as body temperature, and the corpses can confirm that the players are outsiders, which would then trigger the ‘seek sameness and disregard differences’ prompt.”
“They will pretend to be players themselves, and even pretend to be the deceased player whom the current player feels the most guilt towards, loves the most, or hates the most, in order to lure players into interacting with them willingly.”
“If they confirm that the player is an outsider, and if the player wants to survive and is capable, they can destroy the corpse and erase all evidence. However, this choice must be made carefully because there will be a trial in the end.”
“On this road, players must do good deeds and avoid bad deeds. Only by doing good deeds can they easily pass the trial, while doing bad deeds will result in multiple rounds of punishment.”
“If a player’s good deeds move a certain ghost, they will give the player a ‘good person card’.”
He talked incessantly, nervously watching Shi Tianzhu.
Shi Tianzhu nodded. “Not bad. The train of thought is quite clear.”
Pang Yang rubbed his head embarrassedly, his face unexpectedly turning red.
Ning Su: “...”
Shi Tianzhu looked at Ning Su. “Do you have anything to add?”
Ning Su said, “The content I want to add is mostly speculation.”
Shi Tianzhu nodded. “I’m very interested in your speculation.”
Ning Su, under her earnest and gentle gaze, spoke willingly, “There are two types of ghost on the boat. During the final trial, the judge’s confirmation regarding the new ghost and the old ghost confirmed my speculation.”
“I guess the new ghosts are those who have recently died, the preparatory players who died on the spirit bus entering the game.”
Shi Tianzhu didn’t appear surprised. She was the person who had completed the most instances on the entire base. Perhaps she had already noticed that some players were not simply dead.
“For the most part, these new ghosts won’t focus solely on players.”
“The old ghosts are players who died early in the instance world. They are the ones who test and assimilate with the players.”
“Some of them were selected based on the players entering the instance.”
“In the three rounds of testing—guilt, love, and hatred—some are impersonators, while others are the deceased themselves.”
Pang Yang: “If this is true, it’s too difficult.”
“In that case, this instance is not suitable for players who have been through many instances. They have more deceased loved ones they can’t let go of. But since it’s a level four instance, newcomers who don’t have much experience would dare not enter it.”
Ning Su nodded.
Shi Tianzhu: “Knowing this, we can arrange for newcomers to enter.”
“Thank you. The map is very clear,” Shi Tianzhu said.
The three adults and two children came out of the meeting room. Pang Yang stood for a moment and then left.
Shi Tianzhu then said to Ning Su, “The man in the black windbreaker who came out of the instance with you is the one I told you about last time, the man I saw when I first entered the game base. It’s been over ten years, but he hasn’t changed at all.”
After the last instance, Shi Tianzhu mentioned this person to him.
Shi Tianzhu and the people with her at that time were the first group of people to come down from the spirit bus. At that time, the game base was desolate, and they saw a person leaning against a crooked-neck tree.
Ning Su thought to himself that it’s no wonder Ling Xiao didn’t know about the spirit bus.
“I didn’t expect him to appear again after more than ten years.” Shi Tianzhu asked, “How strong is he?”
Ning Su replied, “He’s a passive winner.”
If this instance was designed to counter human pupa master, then for Ling Xiao, who wasn’t human, this instance was a custom-made game where he could just sleep and win.
Ning Su thought for a moment, then said to Shi Tianzhu, “His strength is pretty good.”
Shi Tianzhu asked, “What level of ‘pretty good’ are we talking about?”
Ning Su: “At the level where he might not lose if he were to spar with Ning Changfeng.”
Shi Tianzhu: “...”
Was he that good?
She thought for a moment, “Well, then I’m glad.”
Ning Su: “...”
Was it because finally there was someone who could challenge Ning Changfeng, which would then make her feel happy?
Ning Su left with concerns about whether he might suddenly disappear in the future.
Just after leaving the Yinhua Guild, he made plans for supper with Ning Changfeng.
Ning Changfeng: [Why did you suddenly leave the instance without saying anything?]
Ning Changfeng: [Next time you go to an instance, you must tell me.]
Ning Su: [Why should I call you?]
Ning Changfeng: [I have to let my son have the experience of winning without effort; it’s essential father-son bonding time.]
Ning Su: “...”
Ning Su: [It’s not necessary.]
Ning Changfeng: [It is necessary!]
Which dad didn’t want to be a hero to his son?
Just now, he heard Pang Yang say that Ning Su is a fan of Shi Tianzhu. The more Ning Changfeng thought about it, the more he felt that he had performed poorly in the <Flower Servant> instance, not demonstrating his true strength.
Not only did he fail to demonstrate his strength, but he also failed to protect his son.
He often recalled Ning Su’s expression in that instance.
Thanks for the update
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