The ring was small.
Worn silver.
Slightly bent at one edge, like it had been clutched too tightly or dropped too many times.
But it wasn't the metal that caught Shi Mu's attention—
It was the ribbon.
Faded red. Fraying at the edges. Still tied neatly, as if someone had taken care to preserve what little was left.
She turned it over in her palm, searching for clues.
No initials.
No date.
But when she pressed her finger into the metal's inner band, the mark on her wrist reacted—flickering once, as if confirming:
"Yes. This one."
The Archive shifted again.
A side hallway opened.
Not wide and formal like Ren Lian's passage had been.
This one was narrow.
Dark.
Steep.
A staircase led downward, lit only by soft threads of light that pulsed in time with the ring's presence.
Shi Mu followed.
Her boots tapped gently on the old stone.
The deeper she went, the colder the air grew—not from danger, but from absence.
Like warmth had once lived here, but had since left.
The stairwell ended in a door.
This one was wooden.
Cracked.
Weathered.
Shi Mu pressed her hand to it.
It didn't open.
But the ribbon in her other hand unraveled on its own.
Softly.
Quietly.
And the door creaked open.
Inside:A small room.A window, covered by ivy.A single chair.And a journal on the floor, left open to its last page.
Shi Mu knelt beside it.
The ink was blurred by what looked like water—or tears.
But one word remained clear:
"Waited."
The system chimed.
[Spirit Signature Identified: Unknown Male – Name Fragment: 'Cheng']
Object Link: Personal Token – Engagement Ring
Thread Type: Abandoned Promise / Unspoken Farewell
Emotional Weight: Dormant. Requires ignition.
Brotherhood Value +180 (Next Case Accepted + Anchor Object Interfaced)
Current Total: 7,290 / 1,000,000
Shi Mu closed the journal gently.
The air was still.
No spirit appeared.
No voice called her.
But something lingered.
The kind of silence left behind when love runs out of time.