Morning arrived grey and hesitant.
Rain tapped lightly at the window panes, casting the West Wing in a soft, cold hue.
Shi Mu hadn't moved much from her spot by the window. A steaming cup of tea sat untouched beside her. Her thoughts weren't in the room.
They were still with the letter.
The yellowed paper—found in the wall the night before—rested on her desk. Though it bore her handwriting, she had no memory of writing it.
Fu Yunshen approached, glancing down at it again.
"Are you sure it's yours?" he asked.
"I never forget my handwriting," Shi Mu said softly.
"But you forgot the memory."
"That's what scares me."
The letter itself was short.
But every word carried a weight she couldn't explain.
"Lu Feng, if you're reading this, I hope it means I found the courage I couldn't find before. I'm sorry. For not staying. For not helping. For forgetting you when I should've remembered. If this reaches you… know that someone is still trying. Not out of guilt. But out of memory."
Fu Yunshen read it again, slowly, then looked at her.
"Shi Mu," he said quietly. "What aren't you telling me?"
She didn't respond.
Not immediately.
Then, in a voice barely audible, she said, "I think I knew her."
He waited.
"In another life. Or another timeline. Or… something."
The Gu stirred within her.
"She was a bond once broken," it whispered. "And your soul still owes her."
Shi Mu flinched slightly at the voice only she could hear.
Fu Yunshen noticed.
"What did it say?"
"That she's my debt."
They sat in silence, the kind that only comes from shared weight.
Fu Yunshen finally asked, "Do you want to find out what happened to her?"
Shi Mu's reply was instant.
"Yes."
[System Notification]
Memory Fragment Confirmed – Past-Life Residue Detected
Spiritual Thread Established: Shi Mu ↔ Lu Feng (Unresolved Karma)
Brotherhood Value +95 (Revelation of Personal Connection + Emotional Commitment)
Current Total: 2,600 / 1,000,000
That afternoon, they went back to the archives.
Hand in hand—not out of romance, but solidarity.
And somewhere in the layers of dust, records, and forgotten curses…
Shi Mu hoped she'd find more than truth.
She hoped she'd find a way to say the words she never did the first time.
Before it was too late again.