The voice was aged and still, as though it came from beyond the distant heavens.
"You are the artifact spirit of Returning Shadow, Flowing Light." Chu Luohen spoke with certainty, not as a question.
The voice paused, seemingly unprepared for Chu Luohen to raise the matter so abruptly.
"Yes, though it has been a long time since anyone called me that." Indeed, it had been a long time since anyone had addressed him that way, and just as long since anyone new had come.
"How did you come to be here?"
The moment Chu Luohen finished speaking, the surrounding air grew noticeably stiller.
Only after a long while did the voice sound again. "How did I come to be here... So much time has passed in this world that I can no longer remember clearly. All I recall is a hazy figure who took me to many places before finally choosing to leave me here."
Chu Luohen did not pursue the question, knowing that doing so would yield nothing more.
He was just about to withdraw when the voice sounded again.
"But I am curious. Is there truly nothing you wish to know?"
"You are a sacred artifact. Since I am inside your body, I imagine you have already unearthed every last one of my secrets. Whether there is anything I wish to know, you should understand better than I do. Why bother asking me?"
A hint of pleasure entered the artifact spirit's voice. "People like you are rare. Then would you like to see what your two companions are experiencing?"
Chu Luohen flicked his sleeve lightly and vanished into the boundless space, leaving only an icy reply. "Not interested."
If he wished to know something, he would seek the answer himself rather than pin his hopes on a sacred