Chapter 118 Companionship of Soulful Union

Ning Shuyin's heart clenched.

This was the first time she had seen Zhou Zhiheng like this. He looked like a helpless child.

"Zhou Zhiheng..." She no longer hesitated, responded to his plea, and stretched out her arms to hug him tightly.

She gently patted his back, trying to summon the last bit of healing power to relieve his discomfort.

At the very moment they embraced.

A vortex of light and shadow suddenly appeared beneath their feet.

The next second, the two were pulled into it by a gravitational force, and the entire memory corridor behind them collapsed.

The space the two entered was completely different from the "teleportation transfer station" that Ning Shuyin had experienced before.

She felt as if she had become completely "invisible" in this strange passage.

Every thought, every idea, even the deepest emotions, are laid bare.

It was completely spread out.

What's going on? Where am I?

She only had the question in her mind. This thought actually became a clear voice, echoing in the space.

“This is the normal exit, we are going out,” Zhou Zhiheng replied.

After answering her question, he added, "Don't look, don't think, don't listen."

Ning Shuyin, however, could not control herself.

As a result, she not only opened herself up like a completely transparent person, but Zhou Zhiheng was also unable to maintain his defenses.

They were forced to engage in the most direct exchange of senses.

Real emotions, desires, and thoughts.

Everything is laid out before you.

"Why is this happening?" she asked him.

“This is my private passage, what’s the big deal?” he explained impatiently. “It’s the place I use to confront myself.”

One person passed. Whether or not it was revealed is irrelevant.

However, it's a bit awkward for the two to be traveling together now—their souls are completely open to each other.

She saw into his heart.

His reluctance to let go of those memories, his fear of future losses, and... his newly emerging, complex feelings for her.

The same applies to Zhou Zhiheng.

He sensed her courage in the face of danger, and the pity he felt when he was worried about her.

When Ning Shuyin felt the reality of the situation, she realized that she and Zhou Zhiheng were face to face, lying on the bed in the lounge.

They made it back successfully.

The little metal robot was sitting between them.

Everything inside the room was the same as before.

The experience I just had in the memory corridor felt like a vivid dream.

But the physical exhaustion and the strange sense of spiritual connection they had just experienced clearly told them that it had all really happened.

It's not a dream.

The confusion in Zhou Zhiheng's purple eyes faded, and his composure returned.

He looked at Ning Shuyin, who was standing right in front of him. Their eyes met in mid-air.

That one glance contained so many emotions: relief, exhaustion, embarrassment, shyness, and... closeness.

In the past, Ning Shuyin would have felt uncomfortable lying face-to-face with a young man on the bed like this.

But I don't feel that way right now.

"What did you finally... exchange?" Ning Shuyin asked him.

Zhou Zhiheng sat up. The young man's tall figure loomed over her, who was still lying down.

He lowered his eyes: "I won't tell you."

Ning Shuyin's heart trembled inexplicably at his understated words.

Is the reason for not telling them because the sacrifice is too heavy?

She lay in bed, gazing at him from afar. The lingering afterglow of their souls merging still remained, and she could sense the awkwardness in his heart that he didn't want to be seen.

She was right.

Zhou Zhiheng turned his head slightly, avoiding her probing gaze.

He won't tell her.

At the final moment of decision, he traded most of his future "fortune" for her to escape from the void.

Fortune...

For someone like Zhou Zhiheng, who sees money as omnipotent and only cares about the game of capital, "fortune" is almost equivalent to his very existence.

It is his foundation.

Trading her foundation for an uncertain outcome, just so she could escape...

This is undoubtedly a deal that will result in a complete loss.

He knew that at that moment his rationality had failed him; it was all a side effect of the memory corridor.

Thinking of this, he got up, took out two energy supplements from the refrigerator, unscrewed the cap of one of them, and handed it to Ning Shuyin.

Ning Shuyin took the supplement and drank a sip. She felt her energy, which had been almost depleted, being replenished.

"Why are all the superpower supplements iced drinks?" Ning Shuyin didn't understand.

"If the temperature is too high, the energy will easily evaporate from the carrier," Zhou Zhiheng explained casually, then asked, "Do you want it hot?"

"No, just asking." Feeling a bit better, her gaze fell on the little robot again.

This tiny thing is actually the entrance to a spacetime repair pod.

She touched the robot's eyes in an exploratory manner.

"Don't mess around, or I'll suck you in again and you won't be able to get out," Zhou Zhiheng warned.

Upon hearing this, Ning Shuyin quickly put the robot down.

She even nervously kept a distance from the little gadget.

Zhou Zhiheng chuckled inwardly.

They're so easy to fool.

In truth, this robot had completely lost its purpose. His memory corridor had collapsed.

But what really bothered him wasn't the collapse of space itself.

Instead, it was the emotions he had sealed away in that space that surged back into his body after it collapsed.

Their restlessness disrupted his usual calm and decisiveness.

The dependence, pity, and even... a certain longing he felt for Ning Shuyin in the corridor of memories were now vividly brought back to his senses.

It will probably be difficult to be completely ruthless in the future.

I can no longer look at her with the same perspective as before, simply weighing the pros and cons.

Unbeknownst to Zhou Zhiheng, a slight blush rose to his face.

He turned his head somewhat uncomfortably, but couldn't help but steal glances at Ning Shuyin out of the corner of his eye.

Ning Shuyin didn't notice his gaze. She was listening to the system announcement.

[Host, we have detected that you rescued Zhou Zhiheng, an important male supporting character in the story, from danger. Your "Meme Attraction Device" has now been upgraded to the ProMax version.]

[Item Effect: Increases the date's affection level by 50 points, up from 30.]

Ning Shuyin: "!!!"

Before she could even mentally complain, a series of positive feedback notifications reached her ears.

[Target person Situ Linchen, favorability increased to: 80 (Affection).]

[Target character Loran's favorability has increased to 70 (Affection).]

[The target person Zhou Zhiheng's favorability has increased to: 50 (Friendly)].

[Target person Caesar's favorability has increased to: 30 (Familiar)].

Ning Shuyin was speechless as she watched the favorability rating rise so dramatically.

At one point, she only hoped these men wouldn't kill her. She felt the meme attractor wasn't working effectively enough.

But now, she's having a headache because of their high level of affection for her.

Zhou Zhiheng's gaze softened as he looked at her. His favorability rating had increased by several dozen points since they left the Memory Corridor.

Now, thanks to the upgraded items, I've gained another 30 points.

The handsome young man with long hair that reached his shoulders was walking step by step toward the foot of her bed.