The next day at dawn, Lu Feng sat at his desk in the bureau's dormitory, the first rays of sunlight casting long shadows through the window. He hadn't slept. Fang Keqing's hollow stare and the mirror ghost's mocking grin still looped in his mind.
Then, a soft beep.
A new mission alert flashed on his wrist communicator—sent by Kai Lin herself.
> **Case X-020**
> **Location: Old District, Yinhua Road – Abandoned Public Phone Booth**
> **Summary: Three unrelated victims answered an unlisted call at midnight. Within 72 hours, each committed suicide by jumping from a height. Forensics found burn marks in the victims' ears—possible "curse echo" phenomenon.**
> **Action Time: 9:00 a.m. sharp.**
Lu Feng stared at the phrase "curse echo." He recalled training manuals that described it as:
> "A spectral virus formed from sound and emotion, transmitted through auditory devices—phones, radios, televisions. The only cure: sever the source."
He arrived at the scene right on time.
The phone booth stood alone on a forgotten street, its red paint faded to brown. Glass panels were cracked, but the phone itself remained untouched—old, black, and intact.
"This phone rang three times this week. No ID, no traceable signal," Kai Lin explained, stepping under a broken streetlamp. "Each person heard something different—abusive parents, dead lovers, childhood bullies."
Lu Feng frowned. "It shows them what hurts most."
She nodded. "The entity behind it feeds on emotional pain. We'll wait for it to call again."
Lu Feng blinked. "Wait, who's answering it?"
Kai Lin handed him an earpiece. "You."
---
Midnight.
The sky was a cloudless black sheet. Inside the phone booth, Lu Feng sat rigid, clutching the receiver. Outside, Kai Lin stood still, hand on her charm pouch.
11:59 p.m.
Silence.
Then—**ring.**
Lu Feng inhaled slowly. "Hello?"
A pause.
Then—
> "Feng'er… why haven't you called Mom?"
His heart stopped.
That voice. That name. **His mother**—who had died in a car crash five years ago.
> "You promised to protect me. You didn't. You let me die."
"No… this isn't real."
> "You forgot me."
"No!!"
A piercing whine filled his skull. The world tilted. His limbs went numb. The booth's walls oozed black liquid. The phone wrapped around his fingers like tentacles.
> "Come with me… join me… sleep forever…"
Suddenly—**a seal exploded**, blasting light into the booth.
Kai Lin's charm shattered the illusion, tearing the phone free from Lu Feng's grasp.
Smoke coiled from the receiver as a **spirit surged out**, forming a distorted, faceless woman. Her mouth was open impossibly wide, screaming.
Kai Lin stepped forward, eyes glowing.
"Echo spirit—bound to sound and sorrow."
She flung a silver charm.
> "By voice, you ensnared. By silence, you're freed. Be gone!"
The spirit shrieked and imploded into dust.
Silence returned.
Lu Feng collapsed to his knees, gasping.
"She… she used my mother's voice…"
Kai Lin handed him a water bottle, her tone unusually soft. "Echo spirits don't invent. They amplify what's already inside."
He looked at her. "Then that guilt…"
"Was always there."
They sat in silence.
Before leaving, Kai Lin said softly:
"You're not a substitute. At least not to me."
Lu Feng blinked.
For the first time in years—his heart felt lighter.