Ling Xiao, naturally, couldn’t respond to such words. Ning Su seemed to see a question mark floating above Ling Xiao’s head.
Lowering his head again, Ning Su quietly resumed writing. The first sentence he wrote was: "I shouldn’t have tricked an innocent and clueless classmate into saying sweet nothings."
"But... is saying sweet nothings a natural talent? He knows nothing, so why does he sound so good when he says them? Does the teacher know about this?"
Writing down the first thing he needed to reflect on, Ning Su finally went back to filling out his personal information.
The paper provided in the Qingyi High School’s Reflection Hall for writing self-reflections followed a standard format. The first few sections required the student’s personal information: name, class, student number, gender, and age.
It was more like a file.
Leaving a record here was equivalent to storing a file in a "memory archive." If needed, the memories of the person leaving the record could be matched and retrieved at any time.
Ning Su wrote a full page of self-reflection with ease and sincerity. As he wrote, his heart gradually settled.
After finishing his own, he helped the person next to him—who could no longer recognize words—write one as well, mimicking Ling Xiao’s handwriting:
"My name is Ling Xiao. I shouldn’t have said such things to a younger classmate. I shouldn’t have forgotten someone so important."
"I’ve been a bit aloof lately. Since I’m so good at talking, I should talk more. Since my arms are so long and my chest so broad, I should hug my heart more often. If the heart is separated from the body for too long, it feels uncomfortable and isn’t good for physical and mental health."
"But, given that I forgot him yet still followed him, forgot him yet still protected him... Given that I tie his tie so meticulously, look so handsome, and can still draw while suffering from amnesia, I ask the teachers to consider forgiving me this time and give me another chance."
This reflection was even more heartfelt and sincere than his own.
After finishing, it was time to get down to serious business.
Ning Su asked Ling Xiao, "Do you feel any special presence here?"
Ling Xiao thought for a while and shook his head.
It was his first time in the Reflection Hall, and he hadn’t noticed anything unusual. This time was no different.
But Ning Su felt it.
Something was strange.
Even though Ning Su had absorbed the energy the system had accumulated for so long, he still wasn’t certain he was stronger than Ling Xiao. Why had he sensed it, but Ling Xiao hadn’t?
Was it because he had a dark-element ability that allowed him to devour dark energy, making him more sensitive to things related to darkness?
Or was this dungeon specifically designed to target Ling Xiao, and the system had found something tailored to restrain him?
Ning Su released Gui Sheng and whispered to him, “Gui Sheng, take a look at the general situation here.”
He had scanned the room and didn’t find any surveillance equipment. Besides, when he and Ling Xiao had just been hugging, the director of student affairs hadn’t barged in, so it seemed likely that there really wasn’t any monitoring here.
Gui Sheng nodded. “Mm!”
He lay down on the floor by the door and popped his eyeball out through the crack beneath the door.
Seated on the desk in front of Ning Su and Ling Xiao, he reported, “First floor, four rooms!”
There was no need to mention the room they were in. Gui Sheng began describing the other rooms one by one.
“One has awards!”
That was probably the place where the top ten students in the grade received their rewards.
“One has a sofa—pretty!”
Ning Su guessed that this room was likely for receiving important guests.
Perhaps it was in this room that they watched the first exam candidates, selecting the ones whose memories they wanted to seize.
“One has many cabinets, full of books and papers!”
This was probably the archives room. Ning Su’s written self-reflection was likely to be stored there, along with his other records, such as his exam results over time.
There were four rooms on the first floor. The second floor probably had even fewer.
Ning Su waited for Gui Sheng’s eyeball to crawl up the stairs.
After what felt like an agonizingly long twenty minutes, Gui Sheng said, “Two rooms. One’s very big.”
He thought for a moment with his tiny head before saying, “Black tree branches full of black fruits.”
Ning Su’s expression turned serious as the image took shape in his mind.
The small dark room was surrounded by black, tree-like structures, narrowing as they extended upward. The ceiling above was likely formed by those same black, tree-like structures, with fruit-like objects hanging down—possibly stored memories.
“The other room has no cracks. Can’t see inside.”
Sitting across from them, Gui Sheng suddenly shuddered, his butt leaving the surface of the table by two centimeters before dropping back down.
Ning Su immediately asked, "What's wrong?"
"My eyeball," Gui Sheng gestured outward with his two little hands, "it exploded."
Ning Su: "…"
Thoughtful little angel Gui Sheng quickly added, "It grew back really fast."
As he spoke, he turned his favorite round black eye sockets toward Ning Su.
Ning Su patted his cowlick. "Gui Sheng is amazing. And still so cute."
The number one cutie of Huaiyang Village immediately waved his tiny arms and scooted over closer.
Just as Ning Su was about to feed him, he heard the sound of high heels clicking against the floor. He quickly absorbed Gui Sheng back into his body.
The hour was up.
The director of student affairs unlocked the door to the reflection room with a key and saw the two people who were supposed to be reflecting sitting there, deep in thought.
On the table in front of them were self-reflection essays, densely filled with writing.
As long as someone had written a reflection essay before, they didn’t need to write another one. She remembered that Ling Xiao had already written one when he came in, so he didn’t have to this time. However, he wrote another one anyway, which demonstrated a decent attitude toward admitting his mistakes.
The director of student affairs nodded in satisfaction and said, "The hour is up. It’s late. Go back to your dorms and sleep."
Ning Su: "Oh, okay!"
He immediately pulled Ling Xiao along to leave.
The director of student affairs picked up their reflection essays to read.
"…"
At the door, Ning Su glanced back.
As expected, the dark fog in this place was strong enough to stain things— the director of student affairs' face had turned slightly black.
The director of student affairs looked up with a darkened expression. "What is this nonsense you wrote!"
Ning Su glanced at her, his face full of "How could you not feel my sincerity? I wrote it so earnestly and emotionally."
The director of student affairs: "?"
She lowered her head again to confirm that they were indeed talking about the same thing.
By the time she looked up again, Ning Su had already dragged Ling Xiao out of the room and bolted off. In mere moments, they were nowhere to be seen.
"......"
Thank you for the chapter!!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧
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