It had been years since Shi Mu had stepped inside her childhood home.
Not the Shi family estate.
The house before.
Before Zhao Yilan.
Before the lies.
Before they tried to erase her.
The key still worked.
She turned it in the rusted lock, and the door opened with a reluctant groan.
Dust filled the air like memory. The light switch crackled. Everything was still there—faded, quiet, untouched.
It was like time had stood still…
Waiting for her return.
She walked through slowly.
Each creaking floorboard beneath her feet told a story.
The bookshelf in the corner still had her old picture books.
The table bore the scratches of chopsticks tapping during long-forgotten meals.
On the wall: a faded crayon drawing labeled "For Mama."
Shi Mu pressed her palm to the worn frame.
A strange ache bloomed in her chest—not grief.
Absence.
The kind that doesn't scream or sob, but lingers behind your ribs for years.
In the bedroom, the mirror was cracked. The bed sagged slightly.
And on the nightstand—
A music box.
Shi Mu opened it.
The melody was off-key, aged.
But she remembered the tune.
She sat on the edge of the bed and let it play.
[System Notification]Memory Residence Identified – Anchor Site: Stable
Personal Archive Reactivation: Complete
Emotional State: Balanced (Nostalgia / Pain / Ownership)
Brotherhood Value +210 (Home Returned To + Memory Safely Reclaimed)
Current Total: 11,600 / 1,000,000
Later, she swept the floors. Wiped the glass. Opened every window.
Not to purge the past.
But to let it breathe.
This was her house.
Not grand.
Not gilded.
But real.
And for the first time in a long time…
hers.