Zi Ying walked very slowly—so slowly that the gathered clanspeople on the stone terrace fell silent, as though afraid their voices might interrupt the road she was walking.
She did not know how long she had been in seclusion. Her robe was coated in dust, and her back had bent so deeply it was nearly an arc.
Her pale violet hair hung loose over her shoulders, so sparse that her scalp could be seen.
Most of those violet eyes had already clouded over, as though covered by a thin layer of ash. Yet when she looked at me, something seemed to gently brush that ash aside from within.
She looked at me for a long time without speaking.
"Brother, you really came back... If you'd been any later, I truly wouldn't have been here anymore." Zi Ying grinned.
I nodded. "You've suffered."
"It wasn't really suffering. When the God Clan reached the city, I burned my lifespan three times. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in this ghostly state... My husband died in battle. My eldest son and youngest daughter also died in the war when the God Clan attacked the starfields. But my third son remained, along with his descendants... I united more than half of the Sin Clan. I didn't disgrace the Pupil Clan or you, Brother. I had quite the glorious life. Now that you've returned, all regrets are gone, and I have no lingering concerns." Zi Ying walked toward me with her hands behind her back. Only when she reached me did she lift her head.
She had once possessed a slender figure and had never been short, but now every trace of wretched hardship and wasted years could be found upon her.
I raised a hand and touched her sparse hair, gently rubbing it. "What? You don't