"Only I remain."
An inexplicable sorrow welled up in her heart. For a fleeting moment, Shi Zhao seemed to hear a sigh that had crossed ten thousand ages to echo beside her ear, and grief rose within her unbidden.
Her long lashes trembled as she opened her eyes, their light spilling out like water.
"Big sister!"
Shi Hao was alarmed. Seeing that something seemed wrong with his sister, he shouted, "What the hell are you? Come out!"
The Broken Sword flew up and erupted with blazing light. The old bloodstains on its blade turned so scarlet they seemed ready to drip, ravenously devouring the dark light and actually stripping the Ghost Ship of its power.
Shi Hao swiftly regained his freedom and rushed to her side, his face anxious.
"I'm fine. Don't worry." Shi Zhao came back to herself, tears shimmering in her eyes. She reached out to stroke Little Shi's head and forced a smile onto her face.
Shi Hao still felt uneasy. He had never seen his sister so downcast before.
"If one day the starry heavens shatter and Heaven and Earth overturn, leaving you all alone, invincible beneath the heavens yet with nothing left but memories-watching your beloved's hair turn white as snow before her soul returns to the world, watching your family and friends fall amid the passing years-what would you do then?"
Shi Zhao suddenly murmured again, her gaze distant, as though she were asking and answering herself.
"No! I don't want that day to come! Big sister, what's wrong with you?" Shi Hao was frightened, his little face instantly turning deathly pale. He hurriedly wrapped his arms tightly around her.
"After endless years, perhaps you'll stand alone upon the river of time, looking back across ten thousand ages, with only the Great Dao for