[1.x] fix(core): revert extensibility improvement for replyCountItem()

[DavideIadeluca]

Fixes #0000

Changes proposed in this pull request:
This fixes a breaking change in #4048 with third-party extensions calling replyCountItem() and not expecting it to be an array.

Reviewers should focus on:

Screenshot
No differences

QA

Necessity

• Has the problem that is being solved here been clearly explained?
• If applicable, have various options for solving this problem been considered?
• For core PRs, does this need to be in core, or could it be in an extension?
• Are we willing to maintain this for years / potentially forever?

Confirmed

• Frontend changes: tested on a local Flarum installation.
• Backend changes: tests are green (run composer test).
• Core developer confirmed locally this works as intended.
• Tests have been added, or are not appropriate here.

Required changes:

• Related documentation PR: (Remove if irrelevant)
• Related core extension PRs: (Remove if irrelevant)