The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

Following the pre-arranged route discussed with Qi Yuan, the captain steered the fishing boat towards An Island. Although the sea was calm, the boat was still rocking.

Inside the cabin, Luo Yifei began to recount what had happened to him four years ago.

……

That year, Shen Lixi and I traveled to the Eastern Continent. When we passed a grassy area near Mount Emei, we found two people lying on the ground. They were both covered in blood, and blood was gushing out of the abdomen of one of them.

At that moment, I didn't think about what was wrong with the two of them; I just ran over to check their injuries. But I didn't know anything about medicine and really didn't know what to do.

The two people looked like they were on their last legs, and they didn't say a word when they saw us.

Fortunately, Shen Lixi had a first-aid kit with her. She told me that saving lives was the priority, so I tried to communicate with the two men: "Hello, we are from West Road. It's nice to meet you. My name is Shen Lixi, and his name is Luo Yifei."

The two people didn't answer, they just stared straight at us. Shen Lixi crouched down, opened her backpack, and took out a first-aid kit.

"Shen Lixi, do you think they can understand what we're saying? What if we can't communicate? That would be terrible." I squatted down too, wondering if they could understand what I was saying.

“We can understand,” the person whose abdomen was bleeding said. “My name is Shadow.”

……

"Wait, you said that person's name is Shadow?" Qi Yuan interrupted Luo Yifei's story. "The night before we left Freedom City, the person we met was this swordsman named Shadow. His swordsmanship and ninjutsu are very powerful. He is Chu Jun's bodyguard. I don't know who could have injured him like that."

“Yes, in the martial arts rankings circulating in the martial arts world, this guy called Shadow is also ranked. Apart from a few old guys ranked ahead, the remaining young people don’t have any grudges against him, so in theory, they shouldn’t be able to face each other.” Bi Li also expressed his surprise.

"Perhaps he encountered an adversary while serving the King of Chu. That King of Chu named Chu Ji is truly an outlier; his behavior is the most incomprehensible among the rulers of the various vassal states." After Qi Yuan finished speaking, he felt he had gone off-topic, so he asked Luo Yifei to continue.

……

Shen Lixi found painkillers from the Western Continent and needles and thread used by Western doctors to suture wounds in her bag.

"Hello, my name is Li Hongbo," another person said, looking quite puzzled by the Western items we had taken out.

"Let me treat your wounds first," Shen Lixi said, turning to me. "Open your bag too, and do you know how to use a needle and thread?"

“I can do it myself,” said the man called Shadow.

"Ah." Shen Lixi expressed her surprise, then handed him the medical needle and thread.

“I spent some time in the West and saw doctors stitch up wounds with needles and thread.” The man called Shadow picked up the needle and thread. Shen Lixi used scissors to cut open the clothes around the wound.

I also started treating the leg wound of the man named Li Hongbo.

Shen Lixi gave the painkillers to An Ying: "Here are painkillers, take them."

Just as Shen Lixi finished speaking and was about to hand him the water bottle, he had already swallowed the medicine.

Then he began stitching himself up: "In the East, painkillers are powders sprinkled on wounds, while in the West, painkillers are granules that you take orally."

Our parents asked us to travel to the East together. We were also given a mission: to find a book. However, many people we asked along the way said they had never heard of it.

……

“A book? It can’t be one of those three books, can it?” This time, it was Bi Li who interrupted Luo Yifei’s story.

"Yes." Luo Yifei confirmed Bi Li's guess.

During those nights in Qi State, Qiao Zhi also told Luo Yifei about the three books, but at the time Luo Yifei did not mention that he had looked for one of the three books.

Bi Li had heard about the three books, and he had also listened to Qiao Zhi tell Luo Yifei about them that night, so he didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he gestured for Luo Yifei to continue.

……

I applied medicine powder to Li Hongbo's wounds, and Shadow quickly stitched himself up. Shen Lixi took out a bandage from her bag and bandaged Shadow's abdomen.

After resting for a while, we decided to give it a try and asked Shadow and Li Hongbo about the book.

“We are looking for a historical record called ‘Libationers’,” Shen Lixi asked slowly.

Shadow shook his head, indicating he didn't know.

“You won’t find the libationer.” At this moment, the man named Li Hongbo looked us up and down.

"Why do you say that? It's just a book." I asked, puzzled.

“Since you’re looking for this book, you should understand that it’s more than just a book. Very few people on the Floating Life Continent know of its existence anymore.” Li Hongbo straightened up with difficulty.

“You know.” Shadow looked at Li Hongbo.

“Actually, you already know,” Li Hongbo continued, “it’s a very old legend.”

"I would like to hear the details," Shen Lixi said.

“On the Floating Continent, there is a famous legend about the Orchid Pavilion.” Li Hongbo told me and Shen Lixi the legend of the Orchid Pavilion.

It's the history book of another world that you know about, but that world isn't the Immortal Realm; it's a world that's very similar to the Floating World Continent.

……

“Perhaps it’s another world over the sea. Qiao Zhi told me this on the way to Lanting County. He has always suspected that the so-called other world is just another continent over the sea, but because the sea is too dangerous, it has blocked the communication between the two worlds.” This time, it was Hua Xi who interrupted Luo Yifei.

“Yes, I’ve also heard in Dongwu that people from another world have visited the Tian Sha Islands in the southern waters of An Island.” Ji Qingwei echoed Hua Xi’s words, showing no unusual reaction to Qi Yuan’s earlier mention of Dugu Xin.

"There are too many versions of the legend of Lanting. The one Li Hongbo told me is somewhat different from the one Qiao Zhi told me. Why don't I tell you Li Hongbo's version of the legend of Lanting?" Luo Yifei certainly knew that the other world was Earth. It was he and Shen Lixi who brought back a photocopy of that book, but he couldn't say it now.

The book that Luo Yifei and Shen Lixi brought back recorded events that perfectly corroborated the historical records in the Zuo Zhuan. But that's another story.