Ning Su became more and more convinced of this possibility.
"How magical fate is. Originally, it was you and I who entered this dungeon together, intending to resolve their misunderstanding and bring them in. But it turns out that even without us, they would still have entered this dungeon together?"
Ling Xiao: "Fate? You call this fate under the control of the system's rules? Even if it exists, it's an inescapable destiny."
Ning Su: "It is fate. The system has its rules, but it can't dictate which dungeon players enter. The birth of certain magical and romantic things is beyond its control."
Ling Xiao neither agreed nor disagreed. Instead, he said, "Do you regret rushing ahead and clearing the dungeon violently? If you hadn't destroyed the Black Tree Monster, their misunderstanding would have been resolved by now—and it might have been more than just resolving a misunderstanding."
Ling Xiao, formed from dark memories, understood better than anyone how difficult it is to share memories with others.
Everyone has dark, despicable, trivial, embarrassing, or sorrowful memories. Sharing these with someone is no different from sharing your entire life.
If someone could decisively share all their memories with a former adversary, it largely indicated that Ning Changfeng had lived an upright life, without any major secrets or shameful deeds.
Even Ling Xiao felt that such a person would be highly attractive to those trapped in the infinite game.
Ning Su replied bluntly, "Then I wouldn’t have discovered you, would I?"
Ling Xiao was taken aback.
Ning Su said, "So, fate is truly wondrous. You never know where or at what moment something awaits you."
It was true that he had destroyed the Black Tree Monster and cleared the dungeon violently, bypassing the subsequent storyline.
If he hadn’t torn the Black Tree Monster apart and had instead followed the later plot, the misunderstanding between Shi Tianzhu and Ning Changfeng would certainly have been resolved. Ning Changfeng would have shared his current memories with Shi Tianzhu, and she would have learned that he was her son. Everything would have become clear.
But then, he wouldn’t have discovered the Ling Xiao trapped within the Black Tree Monster.
Ling Xiao would have remained imprisoned there, growing larger bit by bit, with no telling for how long.
The Ling Xiao outside would have continued living with fewer and fewer memories, uncertain of what he would eventually become.
At the time, aside from clearing the dungeon, Ning Su had wanted to destroy the Black Tree Monster to see if it would release some of Ling Xiao’s memories. He never expected to find all the missing memories.
His actions had stirred changes, but he didn’t consider them bad changes.
Now outside the dungeon with time to spare, Ning Su wasn’t in a hurry to leave. He wanted to know the full storyline of the dungeon.
He had always been curious about the characters in these dungeon worlds—like Yin Daijun and Snowball from <Ghost Animal>, the ghost friends from <Manman>, Yang Tai and Hua Feng from <The Flower Servant>, and the high school student and old man from <Playing Ghost Embodiment>.
In the <Shared Memories> instance, it was his deskmate.
Ning Su asked, "Would Tang Yichen agree to share his memories if the school leaders asked him to?"
Ling Xiao replied, "At first, he must have been conflicted. But after learning that his memories could also be shared with Wang Zhiqiu, he struggled with it repeatedly before finally agreeing."
Ning Su nodded. This made perfect sense.
Tang Yichen had always carried a sense of guilt toward Wang Zhiqiu.
Both he and Wang Zhiqiu were candidates to be the wealthy student's replacement. He intentionally performed poorly on the exam, and as a result, Wang Zhiqiu was chosen to have his memories extracted.
They were likely close friends and "comrades," understanding each other's struggles and dreams. He couldn't bear to see Wang Zhiqiu miss the college entrance exam.
Ling Xiao, noticing the faint satisfaction and pleasure on Ning Su's face, said with a hint of malice, "Several people shared Tang Yichen's memories and discovered his unspeakable feelings for Wang Zhiqiu. Wang Zhiqiu couldn't accept it and distanced himself from Tang Yichen. Other classmates gossiped behind his back, and as a result, Tang Yichen performed poorly on the college entrance exam."
"Everyone else got into their ideal universities. Only he failed and missed his dream school."
Ning Su was taken aback.
Ling Xiao, unable to restrain himself, wanted to taint Ning Su with the evil and darkness of human nature. He gently rubbed Ning Su's neck, pressing his fingers firmly against his throat. "This is human nature. Did you think everyone would be as wonderful as your parents?"
"Saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda?" He laughed, as if he had just heard a joke.
"One player couldn't stand by idly in the face of death and shared his memories with three people."
"Those three must have been incredibly grateful to him at first. But who can guarantee that such gratitude would last a lifetime? Once they knew the player's most hidden memories, could anyone resist revealing them at some point or using them for their own purposes?"
With just a casual thought, Ling Xiao could come up with countless ways to ruin or control that player.
That was why he had said that Ning Changfeng sharing his memories with Shi Tianzhu wasn't just about resolving misunderstandings.
That was also why he felt Ning Changfeng was a rare kind of person.
Ning Su thought about it seriously and actually seemed even more pleased. "It makes it even more right that I destroyed the Black Tree Monster. They all took the college entrance exam fairly, based on their own abilities. I like the ending I changed."
Ling Xiao: "..."
Ning Su looked up at Ling Xiao and said, "I've lived through the apocalypse. I know what human nature is like. I am a dark-type ability user zombie. I know how much darkness exists."
He knew everything.
"I can accept it, but I don't like tests."
Ling Xiao stared intently at him: "Can you accept that your Flower God is actually a dark and wretched being, without a single trace of divine holiness?"
"When you saw me, and realized your Flower God harbored such a dark side—that he wasn't as pure as you saw or as sacred as you imagined—weren't you disappointed at all?"
He had always existed in this space. Before meeting Ning Su, he had never contacted anyone. The only things he could associate with were the System and the other side of himself.
The System did not like his existence.
The Ling Xiao it wanted shouldn't include him. It wanted a Ling Xiao who believed he was born to maintain the infinite world, one who couldn't be tainted.
The other side of himself probably didn't like his existence either.
If given a choice, most people would prefer to be a bright and clean version of themselves, not wanting to carry a heavy, dark side.
He struggled to exist in this closed space. No one knew, and perhaps no one wanted him to exist.
His struggle to exist seemed pointless.
Ning Su shook his head. "You're more complete now."
"Before, you were more like a deity who could only be watched from afar. Now, you feel more like someone I can embrace."
Whether it was due to the special connection they had since childhood or influenced by the world view of the dungeon where they first met, Ning Su always saw Ling Xiao through a filter of divinity.
And he himself was a little dark zombie, his body filled with dark existences like the zombie virus and human greed.
Occasionally, Ning Su felt a little hesitant to get close to Ling Xiao.
When he learned of the dark memories within Ling Xiao, Ning Su was actually a little happy. The distance between them vanished instantly. It was no longer about a god and his tainted little believer, but two people existing on the same level.
Ning Su thought about it and said, "I'm so selfish, to feel a bit happy about this."
Ling Xiao: "?"
