Ning Su knew just how important the college entrance exam was for children from families with no power or influence.
In a way, he himself had changed his fate through the exam.
At the very least, he could earn scholarships, tutor others, and afford to buy himself plenty of good food. If not for the apocalypse, he might have even had a bright future ahead.
By then, they had already gone through seven mock exams. Every panicked, despairing face in the testing hall, every trembling figure, every test paper soaked with tears—and that girl who had jumped from the rooftop, lying in a pool of blood.
These scenes flashed through their minds like monochrome stills.
They couldn’t even guarantee their own success in the exams—they shouldn’t have been worrying about others. But at that moment, no one could bring themselves to object.
Lu Yue said, “Fine. There’s nothing we can do about the past, but we can at least try to help our classmates.”
Ning Changfeng thought it was a good idea. “Even if they can’t take the exam with their own memories, using the ones the school specially preserved should still get them into better universities. There’ll be setbacks and regrets, but their efforts won’t be in vain.”
His words suddenly made it all feel meaningful.
There’ll be setbacks and regrets, but don’t be afraid. Believe that effort will never betray you.
Ning Su said, “If this works, consider it a secret gift from us.”
At the time, the three amnesiac players in the school infirmary were about to be discharged. But after this plan was set, they obediently lay back down in their beds.
Last time, players had suffered heavy casualties in the Reflection Hall. Some students had called for an ambulance, but the school leadership insisted it couldn’t be allowed in.
Those who lost their memories during the exams and were taken away by the instructors for “treatment” surely hadn’t been sent to any outside hospital either.
Working from both inside and out, over the next ten days, they indeed found those students in a large ward in the school infirmary.
The room resembled a morgue more than a hospital—rows of students strapped to beds, motionless.
A few were still mumbling something under their breath.
Lu Yue walked up to Wang Zhiqiu, now gaunt and hollow-eyed, and heard the dry whisper from his cracked lips: “Seven… seven hundred points…”
Shi He’s amnesia had taught them one thing: when someone’s knowledge-based memories were suddenly ripped away during the exam, the rest of their memories didn’t completely disappear.
Wang Zhiqiu’s subconscious still remembered his goal of scoring 700.
Without any of his knowledge-based memories, this became a particularly cruel torment.
Lu Yue untied the ropes binding him. "Listen to me—we’ll help you get that 700."
"Sev… seven hundred?" Wang Zhiqiu’s murky eyes suddenly widened.
Lu Yue nodded. "Yes. That 700 belongs to you—it’s yours."
Three players with their memories intact and three without, along with 25 students, slipped silently into the black woods under the cover of night.
As they neared the black cabin, Wang Zhiqiu suddenly froze.
"700… 700… ‘To repay your grace on the Golden Tower’—next line, next line, the next line is—‘I raise my jade sword to die for you!’ Hahaha… ‘I raise my jade sword to die for you!’ Hahahaha—"
Lu Yue stared at him in shock. "You… you remember?"
Meanwhile, in the boys’ dorm, the Gu Witch leaned against the wall by the third-floor stairwell.
Past 3:30 AM, even the most diligent students had returned to their rooms.
The seven players were also in the dorm. Jiang Ming, who had twice failed to score 600, had been sent back to the third-floor dorm. Any of them trying to leave the building would have to pass by the Gu Witch.
For the past ten days, the seven had been quietly observing them. Human nature was unpredictable—who could guarantee that after repeated rejections, they wouldn’t snitch to the school during the operation?
This school had many strange and formidable instructors. If all of them descended on the black cabin, the mission would surely fail.
The Gu Witch listened carefully to the sounds inside. Suddenly, he frowned, strode to the nearest dorm room, and pushed the door open.
"No, no, no—it can’t be!"
Inside, a chair lay toppled on the floor, surrounded by scattered pens and a math test paper.
Jiang Ming crouched in a corner, clutching his head and muttering frantically, "It can’t be… I must just be exhausted!"
The Gu Witch yanked him into the bathroom. "What’s going on?"
His voice was icy. Ants crawled over his fingers, instantly reminding Jiang Ming of that time in the school infirmary when the Gu Witch had interrogated him.
Jiang Ming shuddered, his panic growing worse.
The Gu Witch snapped, "Don’t make me ask again—speak!"
Jiang Ming raised his head, his face streaked with tears.
The bathroom light was off, and in the dim glow from the wall lamp outside, his terror and despair were painfully clear. "I—I suddenly couldn’t solve the problems anymore. The memories I took from that student in Exam Hall Two… they’re gone!"
The Gu Witch froze.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop, Ning Su had been waiting among the tree-like structures for the amnesiac high school student when Lu Yue finally came running out of the dark forest.
"Ning Su! Something’s wrong! There’s a problem!"
"They remember! Their memories are coming back! Wang Zhiqiu’s memories returned!"
Both Ning Su and Ning Changfeng were stunned.
"What’s going on? How did their memories return?!" Ning Changfeng couldn’t stay calm either.
Then, realization dawned on him as he looked at Ning Su’s hands and the tree-like growths on the roof.
Ning Su’s pale fingers were still stained with dark, inky liquid—splattered when he had torn off one of the "branches."
The moment Ning Su had ripped it free, the entire rooftop structure had shuddered, as if a nerve had been severed. The whole thing had visibly weakened.
Ning Changfeng muttered, "Its memory-stabilizing system was disrupted—or maybe you damaged it. Now it’s unstable, and under the students’ strong subconscious pull, the memories are returning to their original owners?"
"..." Ning Su glanced guiltily at the fractured black "branch" in his hand.
Then, at the same time, both of them realized something and whipped their heads toward the black fruits.
Earlier, Gui Sheng had described what his eyeball had seen—and combined with what they later overheard from the school officials, they had guessed that these fruits, condensed from the rooftop structure, were the school’s stored memories.
Now, as the memories of the 25 affected students returned to their rightful owners, the black fruits began shrinking one by one… then vanishing.
"Damn it!" Ning Changfeng couldn’t hold back a curse.
Their whole plan was to transfer these memories. If the fruits disappeared, how were they supposed to score 600 on the exam?!
"What do we do?" Ning Changfeng asked Ning Su.
Ning Su was still on the rooftop as the fishy, bitter night wind swept in from the lake, bending the soft strands of hair on his forehead.
One eye dark, the other clear, he gazed at the high school senior not far away—laughing and crying in the frenzied joy of having regained what was lost, wildly shouting, reciting ancient poetry, vocabulary words, and math formulas.
The tree-like structure beneath his feet still trembled, as more and more memories returned to their rightful places.
Memory is life. Within memory lies obsession, and for every high school senior, knowledge-based memory is their deepest obsession—their most precious treasure, so precious it’s worth defending at all costs, unshakable.
A hazy light began to break at the horizon.
The summer dawn arrived much earlier than winter’s.
"Then let it be worse," Ning Su murmured. "Let it all come undone."
