The drawing stayed on Shi Mu's desk.
Each time she passed it, she paused—just a second longer than necessary. It wasn't just paper and crayons anymore. It was proof.
Proof that Ying had been real.Proof that someone small had once called this place home.
The house remembered.The floorboards beneath the cupboard creaked differently now.The air near the windows shifted with a subtle warmth.Where there had once been cold…There was presence.
Shi Mu lit incense again that evening.
"Ying," she said gently, "do you remember anyone else?"
The smoke stirred faintly.
A pause.
Then it drifted back toward the box.
She opened it again, checking beneath the drawing.
A second sheet had been folded beneath.
Faded. Smudged.
It was another picture.
This one not drawn by Ying—but for her.
Two stick figures.
One taller. One smaller.
Holding hands.
Scrawled beneath, barely visible:
"Big Sister."
Shi Mu froze.
Her voice trembled as she asked, "You had a sister?"
The smoke swirled—once, twice—then coiled into a single slow nod.
Not past tense.
Present.
The realization struck her like thunder beneath the skin.
The "ghost" at her door…
The reflection…
The voice in the mirror…
They hadn't just been trauma echoing back.
They were trying to find someone.
"Do you want me to find her?" Shi Mu asked softly.
The smoke didn't respond.
But the incense flame suddenly flared—bright, clean, and silent.
[System Notification]
New Thread Activated – Ying's Sister (Unknown Identity)
Memory Link: Unstable
Emotional Thread: Protective / Separated by Relocation / Incomplete Grief
Next Action: Locate Surviving Relative
Brotherhood Value +325 (Hidden Family Connection Revealed + New Purpose Accepted)
Current Total: 14,145 / 1,000,000
Shi Mu stood slowly.
She looked out the window toward the town—toward the lives continuing in ignorance of the memory just uncovered.
"Don't worry, Ying," she whispered.
"I'll find her."
Because some reunions don't begin with a phone call.
They begin with a drawing…
And a name that refused to disappear.