The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

Early in the morning, Luo Yifei hurriedly bid farewell to the few people who remained on An Island, and then followed Qi Yuan and Bi Li toward the port of Lingao Town in the north of An Island.

The three of them were going to the port of Xuwen County in the southern part of the Floating Continent, and from there they would head north.

Counting the days, they had only been on An Island for two days, and would have to leave hastily on the third day. At this time, Luo Yifei was unaware that too many things had happened in those two days, and these things would be the beginning of everything that would follow.

Luo Yifei didn't have time to say goodbye to Ji Mi, because Ji Mi went to the back mountain of the City Lord's Mansion—the location of the fifth lineage of the Sword Immortals.

Ji Mi originally had no chance; he tried his best but only managed eleventh place. However, luck favors the prepared. One of the top ten was a so-called "born immortal," chosen by the third lineage. The vacant spot naturally went to Ji Mi, who was eleventh.

Everyone in the arena was giving it their all, and Ji Mi was no exception, actually suffering quite a few injuries.

Senior Fang Xiaocong of the fifth branch of the Sword Immortal Sect greatly admired this young man who refused to admit defeat, so he kept him and took him to the mountain to recuperate.

After listening to Wei Er's account of Ji Mi's apprenticeship, Luo Yifei couldn't help but feel a little emotional. Ji Mi had practiced martial arts since childhood, while Luo Yifei had only just begun learning swordsmanship. Although he learned quickly, he was still far inferior to Ji Mi.

So Luo Yifei naturally gave up the idea of ​​becoming the sword immortal's apprentice, and no longer felt regret. He thought to himself that perhaps he should seek help from others to find his friend.

Soon, Luo Yifei and his two companions easily crossed the calm, shallow strait and arrived at Xuwen Port, a port in the southern part of the mainland.

Not long after Luo Yifei and his group arrived, rain began to fall from the sky.

Just as a few drops of rain fell, someone shouted, "Fall the sails and return to port!"

"Flatten the sails, return to port!" The voice echoed through the harbor, and at that moment, the port bells, signaling the return to port, rang.

Just as the bell rang for the third time, a sudden downpour began.

As Luo Yifei, Qi Yuan, and Bi Li entered the port inn, a loud crash followed them, and a torrential downpour began.

……

In the backyard of the Tongren County government office, Han Yue looked at the dark clouds in the sky that seemed to have been blown in by the wind and couldn't help but sigh, "A storm is brewing."

"Prime Minister Han, the rain is coming soon, let's go inside." Standing next to Han Yue was Fei Yuhua, the magistrate of Tongren County.

Han Yue never expected that his painstaking planning would benefit others, and he could only blame himself for not paying attention to the payment team in Tongren County.

After all, the Taihe Money Shop that was robbed this time was in Tongren County. The officials of Tongren County had indeed played a significant role in suppressing bandits everywhere, but unfortunately they had not been able to capture Fan Ye and his gang of bandits.

"Prime Minister Han, you've worked hard. This sago flour is a specialty drink of our Tongren County, known for its longevity-promoting effects. Please try it," the Tongren County Magistrate said to Han Yue, pointing to a bowl of something that looked like lotus root starch prepared by his subordinates.

Han Yue looked at the bowl of things that looked like lotus root starch, picked up the bowl and took a sip. The taste was indeed not very good; all he could taste was the aroma of roasted wood.

"If Prime Minister Han doesn't like it, why not add some sugar?" Fei Yuhua, the magistrate of Tongren County, gently pushed the sugar jar toward Han Yue's table.

"No need, Lord Fei didn't invite me to drink this sago powder. Let's get straight to the point." Han Yue was prepared to deal with whatever came his way, but Magistrate Fei was delaying getting to the point. Ever since he brought his group to Tongren County last night, he had been avoiding the question of how to deal with the bandits.

"Prime Minister Han, don't worry. Those bandits are locked up in the dungeon of my Tongren County and can't escape. Suppressing bandits is a great thing for the country and the people. Let's plan this carefully and come up with a foolproof plan." After saying this, Magistrate Fei picked up his bowl of sago flour and drank it, waving his hand to signal Han Yue to continue drinking.

Han Yue suddenly had a bad feeling. As he drank the sago flour in his bowl, he realized that Magistrate Fei was stalling for time. But he didn't understand why. He had investigated the border areas of the Southern Han Kingdom and found no collusion between officials and bandits. They only had sophisticated ways of making money and naturally looked down on such despicable practices.

The wind outside was getting stronger, and raindrops began to fall.

"Prime Minister Han, suppressing bandits is certainly a good thing, but now that Free City belongs to Eastern Wu, why is Prime Minister Han not suppressing bandits within Eastern Wu's territory, but instead traveling thousands of miles to my Southern Han Kingdom to suppress bandits?" The magistrate of Fei County feigned a puzzled expression, a typical official's face.

Han Yue naturally couldn't tell him that Free City had been forced to submit, nor could he tell him that he had taken the city lord's daughter to An Island for refuge. He simply said, "My Free City's grain officer disappeared before Eastern Wu took over. I received news from the Wind and Sound Society that he was captured by Fan Ye and his gang of bandits. I was ordered by the city lord to investigate the disappearance of the grain officer, and I naturally came to confirm the news."

"I see." Magistrate Fei nodded, looking as if he had just realized something.

Han Yue knew that Magistrate Fei wouldn't believe him, but he couldn't stand Magistrate Fei's hypocritical act and felt a little embarrassed. However, based on the principle that he was not embarrassed, it was others who were embarrassed, Han Yue continued, "I wonder what Magistrate Fei plans to do next? Our grain official is probably still locked up in the bandit's cave."

“Prime Minister Han, you may not know this, but most of the bandits in the eight counties of Mengma Province hide in naturally formed caves, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. We still need to find a way to lure them down the mountain to deal with them,” Magistrate Fei said calmly to Han Yue.