The next haunting wasn't loud.
It didn't announce itself with screams or moving furniture.
It started with a faint light—
Right beneath Shi Mu's skin.
She was brushing her teeth in the dorm bathroom when she noticed it:A subtle shimmer beneath the skin of her left wrist.
At first, she thought it was a trick of the mirror.
But when she brought her hand closer to the light, it was unmistakable:
A mark.Faint. Circular. Glowing gold.
Almost like a seal.
"System, identify," she said aloud.
No response.
She tried again, mentally this time.
[No classification available]
[Mark outside standard catalog]
[Warning: Unknown spiritual imprint detected]
Her stomach turned.
By the time she reached Room 415, Fu Yunshen was already awake.He didn't ask why she was there.
He just stepped aside and let her in.
"I need you to look at something," she said.
"Show me."
She held out her wrist.
The glow had dimmed but hadn't disappeared.
His eyes narrowed.
"I've seen this once before."
"Where?"
He hesitated.
"On someone who disappeared mid-assignment. Without a trace."
Zhou Zhi, groggy and confused, sat up in bed. "Did someone say 'mid-assignment vanishing'? Because that sounds very not ideal."
Shi Mu ignored him. "What was the mark linked to?"
"A contract," Fu Yunshen said. "A spiritual bond made outside system regulations."
"Voluntarily?"
"No," he said softly. "It was branded."
Shi Mu clenched her jaw. "Then someone—or something—marked me."
The glow flared slightly, reacting to her anger.
Fu Yunshen reached out, fingers brushing hers.
The glow dimmed.
Instantly.
They both noticed.
"It responds to emotional stability," he said.
"Or to you."
He didn't respond.
But he didn't deny it either.
[System Notification]
Unregistered Mark Detected – Emotional Influence Noted
Classification: Pending
Brotherhood Value +135 (Shared Discovery + Stabilization Assist)
Current Total: 4,105 / 1,000,000
Later that night, Shi Mu sat at her desk, sketching the shape of the mark on a blank page.
It pulsed faintly beneath her skin like it had a memory of its own.
She stared at it.
And for the first time since arriving at the academy—
she felt like she was being haunted.
Not by a ghost.
But by a promise…
She didn't remember making.