The closer they got to the Yinhua Guild, the more shocked people became.
When they entered the guild hall, Ning Su saw several players who, upon noticing Ning Changfeng had actually stepped into Yinhua, instinctively reached for their weapons.
Ning Su: "."
He glanced at Shi Tianzhu. Her face was expressionless, perfectly calm—except for the fact that she hadn’t looked back at them even once.
The group entered the meeting room again, where a light screen appeared on the white wall, displaying the dungeon scenario from Shi Tianzhu’s memories.
The old butler served tea to everyone. When he handed Ning Su his cup, he quietly muttered, "Ning Changfeng is no good. Stay away from him."
Ning Su: "...Okay."
Ning Changfeng: "..."
Couldn't you have said that quieter?
It was still class time at Yinhua Elementary. Ning Su let Gui Sheng and Manman out, sending them off to attend their lessons.
The two children, who had just come out of the <Shared Memories> dungeon, were much more enthusiastic than before.
All their schoolbags and supplies were stored in Ning Su’s crystal ball. Before leaving, Gui Sheng held up his Elementary School English Vocabulary book and asked Ling Xiao, "Do you still need this?"
Ling Xiao: "..."
Ning Su quickly grabbed Gui Sheng by the back of his collar and tossed him out.
Ning Su: "How dare he insult the Flower God with an elementary school vocabulary book! Disgraceful! Our Flower God could score a 149 on an English test!"
Ling Xiao: "..."
After sipping some tea, everyone began discussing the dungeon.
Lu Yue, who had retained his memories throughout, said, "This dungeon targets both underachievers and top students, using different methods to steal memories—all tied to the history of Reflection Hall at Qingyi High."
"Rumor has it that the Reflection Hall was originally used to motivate underperforming students by slightly altering their memories. That explains the first way players enter—those with poor grades, ranking in the bottom 100 of placement exams, get sent there for 'reflection.'"
"Later, the school started using the Reflection Hall to steal academic memories from top students and transfer them to privileged kids for college exams. That’s the second method—high-achieving players who score in the top 10 on placement tests get 'rewarded' with a trip to the Reflection Hall."
"The third way is breaking school rules and being sent for 'self-criticism.'"
"Three paths to the Reflection Hall."
Ji Zeming added, "Players need to watch out for these three triggers. Avoid the Reflection Hall as much as possible—each visit risks memory loss. One visit might cost you memories, two visits mean a 50% chance, and three visits guarantee total amnesia."
"By the time players figure out the pattern, most have already lost too many memories. The survivors wouldn’t dare go near the Reflection Hall again."
Lu Yue sighed. "That’s the real trap. The players who don’t lose memories after multiple visits are usually the high-scorers. Once they realize how dangerous the Reflection Hall is, they’ll refuse to go, relying on their own skills to hit the 600-point goal for the main mission."
"And that’s how every type of player gets doomed."
"Because this exam is deceptive. At first, it feels like you can score 600 points, but later, the test suddenly gets harder—almost no one can actually reach 600. Players who stake everything on hitting 600 are in serious danger."
"If no one enters the Reflection Hall, those amnesiac players are finished. The memories they need to recover are stored inside that Reflection Hall."
Hong Zhenjiang said, "That’s why this dungeon is called <Shared Memories>—it’s hinting that this is a memory-related dungeon, and cooperation is necessary to clear it."
He glanced at Shi Tianzhu, secretly impressed.
Even though Shi Tianzhu had lost her memories early on, before that happened, she had already gathered the players and proposed cooperation between those with memories and those without, laying the foundation for the dungeon’s collaborative framework.
Ning Su nudged Ning Changfeng.
*Time to step up and impress.
Ning Changfeng looked at Shi Tianzhu. "Even if the players finally realize they need to cooperate and muster the resolve to enter the Reflection Hall, there’s still a bigger problem."
"First, they have to figure out the method of memory transfer. This step might alert the school and trigger tighter security. If players try to enter the Reflection Hall a second time, they’ll likely have to face the Black Tree Monster."
"If the players can’t defeat it, they won’t retrieve the memories—meaning they’ll fail the dungeon."
"But if they hurt the Black Tree Monster, the memories might reset, and the ones they wanted to transfer could disappear."
If not for Ning Su having Gui Sheng, this would’ve been an unwinnable scenario.
Even now, the players present couldn’t help but feel this dungeon was downright unfair.
Ji Zeming said, "Looking back, should we have just snatched that memory-transfer neuron when Hong Zhenjiang and Lin Jiazhe went to investigate how memories were transferred?"
Shi Tianzhu shook her head. "That was too early. On exam day, the school’s defenses were tight. Even if we’d transferred the memories, the instructors would’ve swarmed in to extract them, and the Black Tree Monster was still active—it might’ve just swallowed the memories again."
Even more unfair.
Shi Tianzhu continued, "For future players entering this dungeon, they’ll need to behave well in the early stages to avoid raising the school’s suspicions. They’ll have to endure until right before the college entrance exams, break a rule to get sent to the Reflection Hall, and transfer the memories from the second floor while the school hasn’t reinforced its defenses—then escape immediately."
"The timing has to be precise: afternoon, while still at school, breaking a rule to get locked in the Reflection Hall, right before dismissal when they’re about to go on break for the exams."
Throughout the discussion, Ning Su didn’t participate.
In his view, the dungeon’s map wasn’t particularly meaningful, and whether the dungeon would even reopen was another question entirely.
By the time the discussion ended, the sky was already painted with sunset hues.
Except for the members of the Yinhua Guild, the other players gradually left. Ning Changfeng stood hesitantly for a moment. Just as Ning Su was about to approach him, he saw Shi Tianzhu walk over instead.
Ning Su pricked up his little ears.
Shi Tianzhu said, "Thank you for taking care of me in the dungeon."
"Ah." Ning Changfeng lifted his hand slightly before letting it drop again. "No need to thank me, it was only natural."
Shi Tianzhu glanced at him. "Originally, it wasn’t."
Ning Su: "..."
After expressing her thanks, Shi Tianzhu left.
Ning Su shot Ning Changfeng a look before following her.
For some reason, Shi Tianzhu’s delicate brows remained slightly furrowed the entire time.
Ning Su asked, "President, what’s wrong?"
Shi Tianzhu: "Why did Ning Changfeng treat me like that?"
Ning Su wasn’t sure how to answer that. He couldn’t exactly say, *Maybe because Ning Changfeng has a bit of a crush on you?
Or, *Because you’re the mother of his son?
Instead, he said, "I think Ning Changfeng genuinely looked after you in the dungeon. He doesn’t seem as bad as he’s made out to be."
He felt Shi Tianzhu should have sensed this—she was probably more perceptive than anyone else.
Which was why she was so puzzled.
Seizing the opportunity, Ning Su asked, "President, why do you and Ning Changfeng have such a terrible relationship?"
This time, Shi Tianzhu answered.
It was the same incident Ning Changfeng had mentioned, but from a different perspective and with different emotions. From her point of view, Ning Changfeng really did come across as a deceitful scoundrel.
Ning Su cautiously suggested, "President, is there any chance… this was all just a misunderstanding?"
"I’ve heard that bloodline inheritance was extremely unstable in the beginning—hard to control how it manifested."
Shi Tianzhu: "Even if that were true, why didn’t he explain it to me once he could speak?"
Ning Su: "..."
...Fair point.
