The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

“Then your father, Hans, must know the meaning of these words,” said City Lord Hua Yi to Han Yue, the City Minister of Freedom City.

"My father died ten years ago during the massacre in Liang, and no one knows the meaning of these words anymore," Han Yue responded to the city lord's lament.

"So be it. What good would it do even if we knew? The so-called Immortal Path is too ethereal and unreal. Even if it were real, what difference would it make? It would only make this Floating Life Continent more chaotic." After Hua Yi finished speaking, he was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "Help me bring Hua Xi to An Island."

Hua Yi seemed to have made up his mind, and added, "With that old guy protecting An Island, it should be peaceful for another ten years without any problem. You call Wei Er and we'll go through the secret passage together."

Meanwhile, on the other side, Qi Yuan also accepted Ji Liang's request and, together with Qiao Zhi, led Qingwei to the secret passage.

Meanwhile, Sanmu had already led Ji Mi and Bi Li into the secret passage. Without reporting to the city lord, Sanmu privately approached Ji Liang and Bi Mo, requesting that they send people to other countries in the Eastern Continent to procure grain. Ji Liang and Bi Mo then sent their only sons with Sanmu to secretly leave the city.

The three groups entered the secret passage from three different entrances and eventually met each other inside.

After exchanging brief pleasantries and telling each other where they were going in the secret passage, the group discussed splitting into three groups after leaving the city and meeting up again in Lanting County.

The city of Liberty, located above the secret passage, had its gates tightly shut.

The clouds in the sky carried a sense of oppression, and a tense atmosphere permeated the surroundings.

"Strengthen defenses; the enemy could attack the city at any time," the defending general ordered his soldiers.

The soldiers, tense and alert, peered from the city walls at the distant camp. The enemy's numbers were clearly superior, and no one dared to slacken their guard. They had no chance of victory in a direct confrontation; they could only wait for reinforcements.

A month has passed, and the people in the city are already considering surrendering. Waiting is undoubtedly the most terrifying thing. Food is dwindling, and it's truly a miracle that they've managed to hold on this long. The king has opened the granaries, but everyone knows there's hardly any food left.

In this city, the so-called granaries are nothing more than the city lord's kitchen. This city has never been a site of military conflict, and its army is merely a temporary contingent. No one could have predicted that war would break out in this city.

As darkness fell, the air currents caused the tree branches to sway. The horse grazing on the ground danced wildly in the wind.

Voices could be heard from the military camp outside the city.

"We can get started now. Everything is ready." A slightly weathered voice said.

"Good," came the young man's voice, a single word, yet it carried an air of authority.

The trees shook even more violently, and the rain, which had stopped, began to drip again. The soldiers guarding the city kept their eyes fixed on the enemy, but their vision was beginning to blur.

Then, one by one, they all fell to the ground, including the general. Fortunately, they had only been affected by a mind-altering drug and were not in mortal danger.

The city gate opened, but there was no one beside it; it just opened by itself.

"Alright, what needs to be done has been done. I hope it was all worth it," the young man's voice rang out. This man was none other than Chu Ji, the ruler of the State of Chu.

"This old minister does not understand why?" Ningxia, a Grand Scholar of Chu, respectfully bowed to the King and expressed his question.

"Old scholar, the people we saved are no ordinary people," Chu Ji said with a smile, looking at the old minister left behind by the old king. He thought to himself that these old ministers were indeed loyal, but sometimes they were too pedantic.

"This old minister doesn't understand why it's being made to resemble a war. There hasn't been a war here for hundreds of years," Grand Secretary Ningxia couldn't help but ask. Although the emperor's mind was hard to fathom, the actions of his predecessor after ascending the throne were indeed quite strange, and none of the court officials knew what the emperor's plans were. He had a responsibility to assist the emperor in achieving hegemony, but he didn't know what to do.

“I know my father valued you highly when he was alive, but there are some things you'd better not know.” Sitting in his chair, Chu Ji put away his smile and said seriously to Grand Scholar Ning Xia.

"Then, this old minister shall take his leave." Ningxia was quite helpless, but he could only step down. He had already guessed that he and his fellow old men would gradually be driven out of the center of power.

Inside the city, all was dark, and a figure moved swiftly through the darkness.

……

After Qi Yuan and the captain finalized the sailing route, Qi Yuan left the bridge and went to the deck. He saw Luo Yifei fiddling with something and went over to him.

"What's that in your hand? Is it also a tablet? But it looks much smaller," Qi Yuan asked Luo Yifei.

"This is a mobile phone, similar to a tablet, you can think of it as a small tablet." Luo Yifei had just turned on his phone, which had been in the sun for two hours, and it had only charged to five percent. He was quite disappointed, especially considering he had carried this solar generator all the way.

"Is this the generator you were talking about?" Qi Yuan asked, pointing to Luo Yifei's small solar generator.

"Yes, it's just a pity that the power generation speed is too slow. I don't know if it will be enough for the tablets to run all the way to An Island," Luo Yifei replied.

"Are you going to keep an eye on this thing all the time?" Qi Yuan asked.

"No need for that." Luo Yifei simply turned off the device and unplugged the charging cable.