The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

The computers on the desks, the huge monitors that were set up, and the strange instruments and equipment from four years ago have all disappeared. It seems that all the electronic devices have been cleaned up.

Looking up from the center of the house, one could see the original walls of the ancient well, with some bricks fallen and scattered across the central area. Luo Yifei shone his flashlight upwards; the well was now sealed off from the ground. The fire must have spread from this well opening.

Shining the flashlight downwards, the well water was almost within reach, with tiny ripples on the surface, seemingly caused by underground water flow. Luo Yifei put down the flashlight and took out a diving suit from his backpack. This was the diving suit that Instructor Leng Shan had issued to him when he was in the South China Sea, but unfortunately, it hadn't been used back then.

A seven-person advance team, led by Shen Lixi and with Luo Yifei bringing up the rear, entered the water one by one as planned. The research vessel then took them to the designated location. After donning his diving suit, Shen Lixi was lowered to the designated position by an electric rope and then released; everything appeared normal. After a flash of light, he disappeared into the sea as expected.

Subsequently, Zhao Zhi, Zhang Mei, and Sun Li went into the water one by one without incident. However, just as Su An went in, the underwater currents suddenly intensified. The people on the boat, unaware of what was happening, proceeded with the unhooking as planned. After Su An went in, the sea surface also became restless.

The research vessel began to rock, but they still managed to lower the sixth person into the water. The sixth to go in was Sun Jian. After he went in, there was no expected light; the turbulent currents subsided, and the sea returned to calm. Sun Jian descended to a depth greater than planned, but was unable to pass through the tunnel. At this point, the research vessel received a message from the joint operations team that all tunnels had been closed simultaneously.

Four years later, after meeting Wen Bin, Luo Yifei learned that he was the one who had orchestrated it all. Although their conversation at the deserted island café might have sounded like a casual chat about tunnels traversing mountains to outsiders, Luo Yifei knew perfectly well that these tunnels weren't just about crossing mountains, but about traversing time and space. And all of these tunnels had been shut down simultaneously by this man named Wen Bin four years prior.

For this reason, Luo Yifei never saw Shen Lixi and Su An again, as well as Zhao Zhi, Zhang Mei, and Sun Li, with whom he had trained for some time.

Later, the joint task force was disbanded, and the news reports of alien invasions and bloodshed in various places were transformed into misleading terrorist attacks perpetrated by extremist terrorist organizations.

Luo Yifei put on his goggles, bit down on an oxygen canister, and looked around again. He remembered that there was a frame above the wellhead years ago, with an electric rope lowering him and Shen Lixi down. Now that the water level had risen, the tunnel entrance would probably have to be lowered further down.

Luo Yifei put on his helmet, attached the flashlight, and slung his backpack back over his shoulder. Looking at the groundwater in front of him, Luo Yifei took a deep breath and jumped in.

The weight of the backpack caused him to plummet straight down, falling about ten meters. Suddenly, a blinding light appeared in the water, and Luo Yifei instinctively closed his eyes, just like four years ago.

After the light faded, the groundwater returned to calm, as if nothing had happened, leaving only the long-abandoned and empty Phoenix Squad underground base.

……

In a forest, Luo Yifei crashed heavily to the ground from the air. The intense pain did not cause him to faint like he had during his first transmigration.

He spat out the oxygen tank, removed his goggles and helmet, and looked around. The scenery was exactly the same as it had been four years ago. The trees were just as he remembered them.

Luo Yifei took off his diving suit, revealing the Hanfu he had changed into earlier on the other side. He put the diving suit into his backpack and took out a map from it.

Luo Yifei is currently near Mount Emei within the territory of Qi State. Mount Emei is just north of there. He and Shen Lixi brought a sword from there, and now he has brought it back.

He didn't believe Li Hongbo's words that things between the two worlds couldn't be exchanged, otherwise it would bring disaster. Rather, he had a premonition that this sword would play a significant role in his journey, and he went to great lengths to borrow it from the Xia City Museum.

Moreover, those fishermen who went to Earth took countless things with them. Furthermore, the great calamity has likely passed. Earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, and any other "ghosts" have already killed and injured many people four years ago.

Luo Yifei took out his sword and hung it at his waist, put the map inside, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and headed south. This was the direction away from Mount Emei, and also the direction out of the forest.

After walking for more than half an hour, Luo Yifei finally arrived at a post station marked on the map.

He sat down, ordered some food, and took out the loose silver coins he had prepared beforehand.

The innkeeper looked at Luo Yifei and said, "These are far too many."

"Prepare a fast horse for me." Luo Yifei looked towards the stables.