The city looked different when you knew someone was watching you.
Shi Mu walked through the marketplace as if nothing had changed—buying vegetables, nodding at familiar vendors, exchanging exact change.
But beneath her calm exterior, her senses were sharp.
Every reflection in a shop window.Every car that idled too long.Every passerby who lingered just a second more than they should.
She wasn't paranoid.
She was trained.
Fu Yunshen called as she reached the third intersection.
"You felt it too?" he asked without greeting.
"They're not hiding," she replied. "They want me to know."
She turned a corner and entered a quiet bookstore.The kind of place with no cameras, no windows at the back, no one to listen.
Fu Yunshen was already there, leaning against the far wall, flipping through a copy of a worn detective novel.
"They're testing your threshold," he said.
"For what?"
"For fear."
Shi Mu's voice was cool. "Then they'll be disappointed."
He set the book down.
"We need to trace the letter."
"I tried," she said. "No fingerprints. No fibers. No scent trail. It's like it was printed in a vacuum."
"Because it probably was."
She pulled the letter from her coat pocket and unfolded it between them.
Eight words.
Still chilling.Still direct.
"You've seen ghosts. Are you ready to meet monsters?"
Fu Yunshen's jaw tensed.
"They're not talking about spirits, Shi Mu."
"I know."
"They're talking about people like us."
[System Notification]
Thread Type Evolved: Suppressed Human Experiments / Anomalous Entity Origin Suspected
Danger Rating: Level VII (Escalating)
New Tag: [Human-Crafted Horror]
Brotherhood Value +390 (Threat Identified + Truth Accepted Without Retreat)
Current Total: 16,710 / 1,000,000
Shi Mu folded the letter again and tucked it back into her coat.
Fu Yunshen glanced at her.
"What now?"
She looked up, her expression cold and steady.
"Now we find out who the real monsters are."