Night wrapped around the cliff, the sea wind lifting the hem of Shi Jin's clothes. He leaned quietly against the reef, his thumb brushing the cherry blossom bookmark in his palm over and over, his thoughts fogged in confusion.
Soft footsteps behind him suddenly cut through the silence of the night.
He turned.
Jiang Na stood at the path holding a paper lantern, warm yellow light spilling through the paper, her shadow swaying gently. She clearly hadn't expected to find him here. After a short pause, a soft smile curved her lips.
"I came out for a walk at night. I heard some movement over here… didn't expect it to be you."
She stepped closer with the lantern. The warm glow made her cheeks look soft, like freshly steamed cherry blossom cakes from earlier that day.
Reaching his side, she pulled an oil-wrapped packet of cherry candy from her bag and held it out, her fingers carrying a faint warmth.
"The sea wind is cold at night. Have a candy to warm up. Want one?"
Shi Jin reached out and took it. His fingertips accidentally brushed hers — that soft warmth a stark contrast to the cold of the night.
He unwrapped the oil paper. Sweet fragrance spread. He put one in his mouth. The light, delicate sweetness of cherry blossom bloomed gently on his tongue.
Jiang Na sat down beside him, setting the lantern between them. She looked out at the dark sea and spoke softly.
"When I was little, I always came here. Sometimes I could see shooting stars. Every time, I wished for everyone on the island to be safe and well."
She turned to look at him, her eyes bright with the light of the lantern.
"What about you? Why are you here?"
Shi Jin looked into her eyes. The words died on his lips.
Ten thousand years of wandering, the navigation log in the study, the plan that would be set in motion tomorrow — all stuck in his throat.
Faced with her pure smile, he finally only shook his head.
"Nothing. Just came to enjoy the wind."
Jiang Na did not ask further. She smiled and nodded, turning back to the ocean.
After a short silence, she whispered suddenly:
"Next year's cherry blossoms should bloom even more beautifully. Jiang Yu said he would help me pick some to make cherry blossom sauce."
Her words drifted to his ears on the wind.
Shi Jin's hand holding the bookmark tightened sharply.
He had lived for ten thousand years, seen cherry blossoms bloom and fall countless times. Next year's flowers were just a moment in time to him.
To her, they were a sweet, earnest hope.
And he — he might have to snuff out that hope with his own hands tomorrow.
The light of the paper lantern wrapped around them like a small, warm cocoon, temporarily calming the chaos in Shi Jin's heart.
But he knew: when the lantern went out, when the morning sun rose, he would eventually have to face the fate he could not escape.
He looked into Jiang Na's eyes, opened his mouth, and finally asked softly:
"If you had only one day left to live… how would you spend it?"
Jiang Na's hand holding the lantern tightened slightly. The warm light flickered in her eyes.
She lowered her head and thought for a moment. When she looked up, her gaze was filled with gentle longing.
"I would wake up early to watch the sunrise by the sea. Walk along the familiar streets, say thank you to the old lady who sells cherry blossom cakes. Then sit with Grandma in the sun.
In the afternoon, I'd find Jiang Yu, pick seashells by the beach together, listen to him tell stories."
She paused, then looked at Shi Jin, her voice softer.
"Grandma always said: the Cherry Blossom Sword is never a burden. It is a protection to be passed down.
The inheritance has a rule. It must be given willingly, wholeheartedly, to the next person. Otherwise, the divine artifact loses its power and becomes no different from scrap iron."
She smiled, set the lantern by her feet, and looked up at the stars.
"So if my last day is connected to the artifact… I would finish everything I want to do. Then find someone willing to protect Floating Sakura Island with all their heart, and pass the Cherry Blossom Sword to them, cleanly and without regret.
Even if I'm gone, the artifact will still protect everyone. That way… I'll have no regrets."
Shi Jin also looked up at the starry sky. The stars shone like diamonds scattered on black silk.
The sea wind blew, lifting the hems of their clothes. The lantern's light spread soft circles on the ground.
Between heaven and earth, only silence remained, steeped in the night of Floating Sakura Island.
Shi Jin pushed himself up from the reef, the cool stone brushing his clothes.
He glanced down at the still-warm lantern at his feet, then at Jiang Na. His throat tightened slightly.
In the end, he only spoke a soft reminder.
"It's late. You should go back. The wind is strong at night. Hurry home."
Jiang Na nodded, adjusting the edge of the lantern. Warm light spilled over her curved eyebrows.
"You too. Be careful on the way back."
Shi Jin murmured in response.
He turned, paused for a moment, then glanced back and curled his lips into a smile — faint, like a cherry petal falling in the wind, light and fleeting in the night, almost vanishing at once.
Jiang Na watched his back, her smile soft and quiet, like the lantern's broken light.
A gust of evening wind swept over, carrying the coolness of the sea, messing up the light at the crossroads and lifting their clothes.
In that moment, Jiang Na blinked.
When she looked up again, Shi Jin's figure had melted into the distant darkness, gone from the end of the path.
The night fog in the alley wrapped around the sea wind.
Shi Jin's footsteps stepped over the cool bluestone, walking silently back to the inn.
He pushed the door open. The wooden hinge creaked softly, shattering the dim silence inside.
He closed the door behind him, shutting out all the warmth of Floating Sakura Island — the lantern's glow, Jiang Na's smile — all locked outside.
The cherry blossom bookmark was still clenched in his palm. The petal pattern pressed into his skin, its warmth not yet gone.
He set it gently on the corner of the table, his gaze falling on the blade rack on the wall.
The Yama Sword hung quietly there, its sheath smooth and cold, branch patterns hidden in the dim light — the sharp blade he had hidden for ten thousand years.
Shi Jin walked over and took it down. His fingertips stroked the cool sheath, his movements slow, almost reverent.
He took a clean soft cloth, dipped it in water, and carefully wiped the sheath, hilt, and blade.
The sound of cloth against cold iron was soft, like a sigh in the quiet room.
He wiped it meticulously, even cleaning the dust from the gaps in the hilt, as if smoothing out the ten thousand years of wind, frost, and cruelty it had borne.
When he finished, he placed it back. The blade touched the rack with a clear, steady ring — just like the orderly, unshakable path he had followed for ten thousand years.
After doing all this, he stood still for a moment.
His hand hanging at his side slowly rose. A wisp of pale blue magic condensed at his fingertips. Dark light coiled around his knuckles, calling into the empty air.
A low hum shook the void.
Black gas surged like ink, breaking through with stone chips and cold light.
With a heavy crash, a huge, rough stone greatsword stabbed into the ground beside him, cracking the bricks.
Thick, wild aura spread — completely different from the elegant Yama Sword.
Its body was rough, covered in dark brown stone patterns. The edge glinted coldly. The coarse cloth wrapped around the hilt was worn smooth, yet it carried the most familiar feeling in the world.
Shi Jin bent down, gripped the hilt with one hand, and lifted it easily.
The heavy weight pressed into his palm, spreading up his arm to his heart — the most real companion in ten thousand years of wandering.
He looked down at the sword, his eyes fogged with loss.
The warmth of Floating Sakura Island, the choice of tomorrow, the emptiness of ten thousand years — all tangled together, bitter and mixed.
In the end, he only let out a soft sigh, his voice hoarse and broken by the night wind, quiet enough not to disturb the sword beside him.
"In the end… you're the one who's always been with me."
The cherry blossom bookmark on the table trembled slightly in the through wind.
Its petal shadow fell onto the rough stone patterns of the greatsword.
Amid the cold hardness, a faint, tiny warmth seeped in.
He stood holding the hilt in the dim lamp.
Behind him: the sheathed Yama Sword — his mission, his blade, the sharpness hidden in the years.
Before him: the stone greatsword that had accompanied him for ten thousand years — his wandering, his belonging, the companion carved into his bones and blood.
The tenderness of Floating Sakura Island still lingered in his chest, hot and aching.
But the cold, heavy weight of the stone greatsword in his palm — that was the unchanging color of his ten thousand years.
The forgotten past, the people and things lost in time, the warmth and joy he could not hold onto — all blurred into shadows.
Only this sword remained.
Through mountains and seas, through dynasties rising and falling, through bloodbaths and endless wandering, from the beginning he could no longer remember…
…to this Floating Sakura Island today.
Always by his side.
Never absent.
The sea wind beat against the window frame, again and again, as if softly answering his sigh.
Shi Jin held the stone greatsword.
The dim lamp stretched his shadow long, reflecting on the mottled wall, merging with the sword's shadow —
the only shape in the lonely room.
On the cliff, the night wind carried the salt of the sea.
Jiang Na stood by the reef with her paper lantern, the warm yellow light shining in her eyes as she stared at the night sky.
The starlight fell into her gaze, but the warmth from moments ago was gone.
Shi Jin's smile — faint as a cherry petal.
His sudden, strange question.
His figure vanishing abruptly in the wind.
The little details she had once thought shy and gentle now replayed in her mind, piecing together an answer that made her heart turn cold.
She suddenly understood.
Shi Jin… was perhaps the one hiding in Floating Sakura Island's shadow.
His gentle approach, his company late at night, his soft questions — all just deliberate preparation.
What he wanted was never only her Crimson Fall Sword.
He wanted Jiang Yu's Kiyotaki Sword too.
The two divine artifacts that protected Floating Sakura Island.
To take them completely… he would have to take her life, and her brother's.
The thought struck, and Jiang Na's fingers tightened sharply around the lantern handle.
The bamboo dug painfully into her palm. Her breath caught for a moment.
But the next second, her mind flashed back:
the way he'd gently taken the cherry candy,
the quietness in his eyes when she talked about next year's cherry blossom sauce,
the lost, lonely look in his eyes when he stared at the ocean —
as if he had been wandering for ten thousand years.
He had been gentle.
The person who had eaten candy with her, felt the same wind with her.
How could he be a villain who coveted the swords, who would kill without mercy?
Her heart twisted into a mess in the wind, conflicting feelings suffocating her.
She wanted to believe the gentleness she saw with her own eyes…
but she could not ignore the clues.
She craved the brief warmth of these days…
but that warmth could never outweigh the mission in her bones,
the promise she had made with her brother beneath the cherry tree.
When the blossoms were in full bloom, the two of them had held the prototype artifacts, vowing to protect Floating Sakura Island together with their lives.
To protect the Crimson Fall and Kiyotaki Swords.
Even if they were crushed to pieces, they would never let the swords fall into the wrong hands.
Never let the islanders fall into danger.
The two swords were the root of Floating Sakura Island.
The life of thousands.
She would never give up the artifact for the warmth of a short meeting.
Never break the promise to stand with her brother.
But if it really came to a fight…
if she had to hold the Crimson Fall Sword, stand with her brother,
and draw her blade against the one who had eaten cherry candy with her,
who had felt the same sea wind…
What would she do?
Jiang Na's shoulders trembled slightly.
Her fingers unconsciously rubbed the lantern handle.
An indescribable helplessness welled up in her heart —
and a faint, unhidden fear, unique to a young girl.
She knew she had to fight.
Even if the opponent was the gentle Shi Jin.
Even if the two of them together might not be his match.
Even if fighting would shatter all these days of warmth completely.
She could only grip the hilt of the Crimson Fall Sword at her waist,
keep her promise with her brother,
stand by his side,
and protect this island, protect the two swords, with all her strength.
The wind grew stronger.
The lantern's light flickered, bright then dim, reflecting the panic and stubbornness in her eyes —
half the softness of disbelief,
half the determination to keep her promise, protect the island, and stand with her brother.
Floating Sakura Island was quiet in the night, only the sound of wind sweeping over the reef.
But inside her heart, a storm was already coming.