The school archive room hadn't changed.
Still musty.
Still dim.
Still too quiet—like even time was afraid to speak here.
Shi Mu stood at the doorway, fingers clenched around the letter from Lu Feng. Fu Yunshen, beside her, pushed the door open gently.
They stepped inside.
"Records older than 2003 are stored in the sub-level cabinets," he murmured.
"How do you know that?"
He glanced sideways. "I pay attention."
She gave him a look, but her lips twitched slightly.
They found the cabinet labeled "Dormitory Incidents – 1990 to 2005."
Drawers screeched in protest as Shi Mu pulled them open. Yellowing folders, brittle under the fingers, spilled over the edges.
Fu Yunshen helped organize them quickly, both of them scanning names, cross-checking dorm numbers, years, even club affiliations.
Finally—
Shi Mu froze.
A thin file.
Stamped: Lu Feng – Counseling Report – Year 2003
She opened it slowly.
Inside: only two pages.
One was a typed report.
The other—a photograph.
Black and white.
Grainy.
But unmistakably her.
Or… someone who looked exactly like her.
Her breath caught.
Fu Yunshen leaned in.
"That's you," he said.
"No… it's not."
"She has your face."
"Not my face. Just a version of it."
He looked at her. "Reincarnation?"
Shi Mu nodded slowly.
"It's starting to make sense."
The report said Lu Feng had been seeing a student counselor regularly in her last year. Reported feelings of "being followed," "missing time," and "overlapping memories."
One session transcript was attached:
"She said someone promised to come back for her. She said she saw her—in dreams, in reflections, even in the cracks of mirrors. But that girl never came. And now she thinks… she never existed."
Shi Mu's hands trembled slightly.
"That girl was me," she whispered.
Fu Yunshen didn't speak. Just gently took the photograph and slid it into his notebook.
She let him.
[System Notification]
Karmic Link Strengthened – Past-Life Confirmation Verified
Memory Loop Incomplete – Emotional Closure Pending
Brotherhood Value +100 (Personal Truth Discovered + Shared Revelation)
Current Total: 2,700 / 1,000,000
On their way out, Shi Mu turned back to look at the cabinet.
For the first time since this all began, she felt something new.
Not fear.
Not guilt.
Just…
Resolve.