By the time Shi Mu emerged from the basement stairwell, the sky was tinged with the pale light of morning.
The wind had picked up, but it was no longer biting. It simply moved around her—gentle, steady, as if carrying something away.
The garden behind her had returned to silence.
The spirit was gone.
But her presence lingered—not in fear, but in peace.
As Shi Mu made her way back toward the dormitory, her footsteps were slower.
Not out of exhaustion.
But reflection.
She hadn't cried.
She hadn't broken.
But something inside her had shifted.
The weight she didn't know she'd been carrying… had finally been set down.
When she pushed open the door to the West Wing corridor, she didn't expect anyone to be there.
But someone was.
Fu Yunshen.
Leaning against the wall near her room, arms crossed, head tilted down in that quiet way of his.
Waiting.
He looked up the moment he heard the door creak.
Eyes scanning her face.
No questions.
Just concern.
"You're back," he said.
"I am."
"You okay?"
She paused.
Then nodded.
For the first time in a long time, it felt true.
Fu Yunshen didn't say anything more.
He just stepped aside as she unlocked the door.
But before she stepped in, she turned.
"I didn't ask you to wait," she said.
"You didn't have to."
The air between them warmed.
Just slightly.
Like the first touch of sunlight on frost.
Inside, she placed the photo of Lu Feng—the one from the archive—on her desk.
Not as a memory.
But as a marker.
A promise kept.
[System Notification]
Karmic Thread Severed – Spirit Resolved Peacefully
New Thread Formed: Human-to-Human Bond Reinforced
Brotherhood Value +95 (Unspoken Loyalty + Patient Presence)
Current Total: 2,995 / 1,000,000
That evening, when Fu Yunshen returned to Room 415, Zhou Zhi looked up from his phone.
"She okay?"
Fu Yunshen gave the faintest of smiles.
"She's more than okay."