That night, Shi Mu couldn't sleep.
Not because of memories.
Not because of thoughts.
But because the walls were whispering again.
The West Wing had always been strange.
Drafty, yes. Dusty, always.
But this was different.
The air was thick. Not with cold—but with presence.
Something was trying to speak.
And it wasn't friendly.
Shi Mu sat up in bed, eyes narrowing in the dark.
The whisper was faint—like breath against concrete. Not words exactly, but shapes of them. Emotions. Echoes.
She pressed her hand against the wall beside her bed.
Cold.
Then—
A voice, clearer now, slid into her ear:
"She lied."
Shi Mu's pulse quickened.
This wasn't a residual echo.
It was aware.
Deliberate.
Dangerous.
She grabbed a charm from her drawer and pressed it to the wall.
It burned immediately, the paper curling to ash in seconds.
She didn't flinch.
Across campus, Fu Yunshen jolted awake.
His jade pendant pulsed faintly against his skin—something it only did when Shi Mu was in direct contact with hostile spiritual energy.
He didn't hesitate.
He got up, dressed, and left without a word.
By the time he reached her room, the air outside the West Wing felt colder.
Tighter.
The dorm light in her window flickered.
He knocked once.
She opened immediately.
"Let me guess," she said. "You felt it too?"
Fu Yunshen stepped inside, eyes scanning the room. "Where?"
She pointed to the wall beside her bed.
"It's old. Cracked in places. But something's been hiding inside it."
They worked quickly.
Salt across the floorboards.
Protective symbols drawn in chalk.
A small ward placed near the window.
Fu Yunshen knelt, pressing his fingers to the wall.
Then he whispered, "It's feeding off regret."
"Whose?"
"…Yours."
Shi Mu's stomach turned.
"I'm not ready to face that," she murmured.
"You don't have to do it alone."
The whisper came again, louder this time:
"She said she wouldn't leave… but she did."
A chill swept across the room, and the wall cracked—just slightly.
Enough to reveal something tucked between the plaster layers:
A letter.
Shi Mu pulled it out with shaking fingers.
The paper was old. Yellowed. Addressed to Lu Feng.
From herself.
She didn't remember writing it.
But her handwriting was unmistakable.
[System Notification]
Personal Memory Fragment Recovered – Emotional Link IdentifiedS
pirit of Lu Feng – Anchor Strengthened
Brotherhood Value +95 (Joint Confrontation of Buried Regret)
Current Total: 2,425 / 1,000,000
As the wall settled and the cold air began to lift, Shi Mu leaned against the frame and whispered, "I'm scared of what else I've forgotten."
Fu Yunshen stood beside her.
"I'm not."
She looked at him.
"Why?"
He met her eyes, steady.
"Because I'll remember with you."