Blood on Their Hands

"The ancient way of sword forging has been gone for too long," Teng Yuan continued, "so it's no surprise that this comes as a shock to you. But in the old days, it wasn't unheard of for spirits to awaken from legendary swords and take on human forms. They are similar to immortals, as they don't age and don't require sustenance to survive. When they die, they enter the same cycle of life as we humans do."

He paused, letting the information sink in.

My first thought was that such a ridiculous possibility couldn't be real. But after the initial shock subsided, I realized that this was the only way to explain many things that didn't make sense before. The fact that the girl—my previous self—remained so young throughout the visions; the fact that the tell-tale crimson light from Twin Stars glowed all over her when she wielded them; the fact that Bai Ye said she needed the bonding technique to support her body …