Firefly Journey

Today is Ario's birthday.

To be precise, it's also Lin Yuanran's birthday.

About half a year after arriving in the Pan-Ancient Continent, as his birthday approached, Lin Yuanran suddenly wondered if there might be some connection between the two.

Previously, since he was just an ordinary person, he didn't pay much attention to this. In the transmigration novels of his original world, the original owner and the host had the same birthday, name, and appearance. It was not strange that he only had the same birthday.

However, as the door to the extraordinary world was opened and the supernatural power was gradually explored, things like dates were classified under time magic. Paninger mentioned a few times that when their time mages reached the pinnacle of their skills, they could change the rings of time at will, which was terrifying.

However, that's the power of a god, and Lin Yuanran is far from qualified to even glimpse it now.

"Could it be... that my arrival was orchestrated by the gods of this world?"

"But what for? I'm just a recent high school graduate with mediocre grades. What's the point?"

"No, according to the logic of the supernatural, my transmigration should be considered spatial teleportation, or a summoner's contract spell..."

"That's not right either. I don't know if my body still exists in the original world. This body clearly belongs to the original owner. If it's just a soul transmigration, then it's related to the Grim Reaper."

Lin Yuanran gave up. Asking someone who had just entered the realm of the extraordinary to explain the reason for the time travel based on imagination was like asking a three-year-old child to solve Archimedes' riddle of the cows without any external help. Wasn't that a joke?

Birthdays should be celebrated in a special way, and naturally, they can't be celebrated like ordinary days. Lin Yuanran decided to splurge a little.

The so-called luxury was very limited, only to changing breakfast from bread to a sandwich with meat.

He also decided to upgrade his lunch and dinner to steak rice and barbecue.

In addition, instead of going to the guild to do quests today, I'll take a stroll around the vast city of Yi. I've been here for several months, but I haven't really explored it yet. I'll take this opportunity to indulge myself and get to know it properly.

Lin Yuanran planned the route, with the first stop being the History Museum.

The principality has been established for a thousand years, conquering countless rivals, either through plunder or by paying tribute, accumulating a wealth of valuable items from the past, making it a must-visit destination.

Locals don't bother going there because they've seen it all since they were kids; it's nothing new.

Lin Yuanran wasn't a local, but when he went there, bought a ticket, and entered, he actually ran into a local person, someone he knew quite well.

He is visiting a sculpture.

"This is the wandering knight Xilin, a chivalrous bandit who roamed various countries eight hundred years ago. He robbed the rich to help the poor and punished the wicked. Those he helped raised funds to build it. Over the years, whenever it was damaged, the government would allocate special funds for repairs."

Fengling appeared behind him at some point, walking slowly with her arms crossed. This posture was not very elegant for a girl, but perhaps for comfort, Fengling herself did not care.

Lin Yuanran didn't respond, but greeted her with slight surprise: "What a coincidence, you're here to visit the museum too."

Aren't you in a phase where you're starting to dislike this place?

Wind Chime rolled her eyes: "Unfortunately, I came here to see you."

"Find me?"

"Yes, of course, nothing serious. If I had to say something, it would be that I'm bored, and being alone is too boring, so I wanted to find someone to be bored with."

Lin Yuanran thought to himself, "Why would they look for me if I'm not bored? Are the class monitor and Paninger really that bored?"

"The museum isn't very interesting; it's only interesting if it's your first time visiting."

Lin Yuanran shrugged and said, "It's obvious that this is my first time here."

"Alright, I'll show you around. Trust me, I'm better at explaining things than those tour guides."

Lin Yuanran had no doubts, and Fengling proved with her actions that she was not lying.

Having grown up in Yicheng, the young lady of the Xu family knows everything about Yicheng like the back of her hand and can talk about it in great detail.

"That's what you call professional!" Lin Yuanran thought to herself. She explained things in much more detail than the other commentators.

At the very back of the museum, the style changes abruptly, and the exhibits gradually shift from sculptures, scrolls, and musical instruments to objects mainly made of porcelain.

Among them, the most imposing is a giant dragon statue.

This dragon has no wings and its limbs are of similar size, so it is not a typical dragon.

Lin Yuanran was very familiar with it. As a member of the Great Foodie Empire, wasn't this his ancestral totem?

As far as he knew, the only country in the world with this kind of culture was the Chu Kingdom in the East.

If the Principality of Bema and the Debasa Empire are like a modified version of the Victorian era from another world, then the State of Chu is like a modified version of ancient China.

Lin Yuanran knew very little about the State of Chu, yet he felt a strange longing for it. After all, he was more familiar with everything there than with his own principality, a feeling stemming from a sense of cultural identity.

Seeing that he seemed to be deep in thought, Feng Ling explained, "In the Chu Kingdom, dragons are an exclusive decoration for the royal family. This thing is called a dragon talisman, which is the token used by the Chu emperor to mobilize troops."

"This isn't real, of course. It's one of the gifts they gave us when they defeated the Debasa Empire and formed an alliance with us. It's a replica of the original dragon talisman, enlarged and recreated to a certain scale, symbolizing peace."

Peace? Lin Yuanran curled his lip and said, "As far as I know, it's more like begging for protection, isn't it?"

"You could say that. It's not just the Dragon Talisman; among the grand gifts from the Chu Kingdom, there's also their Crown Prince. You'll meet him in a few days. Um, we're classmates, and so are you."

"Okay, it seems I've joined some incredible organization..." Lin Yuanran felt like a country bumpkin visiting the Grand View Garden, with all her classmates being either rich or powerful.

After visiting the museum, Lin Yuanran returned home with a sense of accomplishment. He thought Feng Ling would leave, but to his surprise, she had no intention of leaving and instead took him to lunch.

It was truly a feast! All the ingredients were things Lin Yuanran had never seen before: various kinds of seafood transported from the frozen Storm Sea, yaks from the northern tundra, and even a large piece of meat of unknown origin—later, he heard that it was meat that some wild boar people had cut off themselves for survival.

Their clan has an extremely fast recovery ability, so they simply started a food business, cutting off their own bodies and selling them. The wealth they gained far exceeded the cost of buying supplements, making them a sure-fire way to make money.

When Lin Yuanran first heard about it, he felt horrified and nauseous, but he gradually got used to it. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, after all, wild boar meat tastes really good.

In the afternoon, they went to the theater to see a stage play. Lin Yuanran wasn't interested. As a modern person who sleeps with her phone in her hand, she felt that the play was too old-fashioned, both in terms of makeup and plot.

Lin Yuanran watched the wind chimes with great interest. With the intention of accompanying the prince in his studies, he remained focused and eventually became engrossed in the reading.

As we left the theater, it grew dark, and the most anticipated dinner was about to begin.

"Huh? What kind of restaurant is this? Is it an outdoor, wild-style place?" Lin Yuanran said, looking at the strange rocks and trees around him.

“A desolate mountain in the suburbs,” the wind chime replied.

"We're not going to eat? I mean, what are we doing here..."

"Look at the sky."

"There's a moon in the sky." Then Lin Yuanran added in his mind, "That might be the hometown I can never return to."

“I come here often.”

"why?"

"There's no reason why, just don't tell anyone."

"You mean I'm the second person to know about this place?"

"If I had to pick one, it would be the third one."

"Who is the second one?"

"it's me."

"Huh? Shouldn't you be the first one...?"

"I'm not the first, and it doesn't matter who the first one is."

"Okay, I've discovered that this place is actually quite beautiful."

"Okay, I know. Let's eat first."

With a flick of her wrist, the bell at her waist trembled, and a blanket immediately spread across the uneven ground, upon which lay a cake.

Lin Yuanran suddenly realized that she couldn't possibly be so bored as to keep him company; it was because today was...

"Happy birthday," Feng Ling said softly.

"Thank you, thank you."

"Eat the cake, then go to school properly."

"Why don't you have some too?" Lin Yuanran said dryly.

Wind Chime rolled her eyes again. "It's so big, do you think you can finish it all by yourself?"

Lin Yuanran choked and didn't know what to say. He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. It was sweet.

(End of Volume 1)