The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

Chapter 57 Drinking porridge while watching the wind rustle the leaves in the courtyard

Luo Yifei drank the porridge and slowly regained his strength.

The young monk Huiming has already left.

Luo Yifei shared a room with Bi Li, while Qi Yuan and Song Han shared a room across the courtyard.

The room has a hall in the middle and bedrooms on both sides.

Luo Yifei sipped the last mouthful of porridge, then looked out at the courtyard, where the leaves of the trees swayed in the night breeze.

A breeze blew into the room, bringing a slight chill.

It's getting cold. We must find Shen Lixi and the others before winter and bring them back.

As Luo Yifei was thinking this, a figure stood in front of him; it was Bili, who was coming out of the room.

"It's getting windy, so I've closed the door. You should go back to your room and rest early too. We're leaving early tomorrow morning," Bili said to Luo Yifei, then closed the door.

Luo Yifei nodded and said goodnight.

"Goodnight," Bili replied in return. The two then went to their respective bedrooms and closed the doors.

Lying in bed, Luo Yifei counted the days. Tomorrow would be the 50th day. The email he had arranged to send before coming would arrive in his father's inbox at eight o'clock tomorrow morning.

"What exactly has the Phoenix Group been researching for the past twenty-odd years? It's probably not just about time tunnels. There must be something else. Lin Hai is the researcher Uncle Chen mentioned who's trapped in another world and can't return to Earth. But the tunnel opened four years ago. We came to the Floating Life Continent with Shen Lixi, but Lin Hai didn't return to Earth. The tunnel is so close to Mount Emei. That coming-of-age ceremony was arranged beforehand. Lin Hai must have been involved, otherwise Father and Uncle Shen wouldn't have let us go on an adventure in a strange world. What did I miss?" Luo Yifei thought, and his head started to ache again, just like when he was seasick during those days at sea.

"When Lin Hai saw me, he should have already known who I was, but why did he pretend not to know, and why did he have Qi Yuan cooperate in the act? Was it to deceive me, or simply to help me conceal my identity? Tang Clan leader Li Chao knew Lin Hai's identity, and almost explicitly stated that he was also a modern Earthling. He arranged for Song Han to fake Shi Hao's death. And then the Shi family army conquered northern Qi. Was it just to have a legitimate reason for attacking?"

"Your musket is quite exquisite... You're willing to die with me just for a four-winged monster bird." Luo Yifei recalled his first conversation with Shi Hao.

"The wooden drone Li Chao showed me was made by a prince from the Wu Kingdom's Gewu School. It was taught by Young Master Ding, who married into the Wu Kingdom's royal family three years ago. He's Mr. Ding's son. Young Master Ding wants an industrial revolution, but what does Mr. Ding want? He knows Shen Lixi's whereabouts and had Li Chao arrange for someone to take me to see him. If they are both time travelers, then they can't be father and son. Perhaps only by meeting Mr. Ding and Young Master Ding will we find the answer… Wait, Shi Hao is Mr. Ding's man, so he must have seen the improved musket and might even have used it, but he told me that muskets are prone to exploding and are unusable. He didn't say a word on the way from Lin'an to the capital, as if we had never met. But after meeting Li Chao, he proactively told Qi Yuan why Qi Yuan's trip to An Island was delayed. Could he also be a time traveler? No, no, no, impossible. There can't be that many time travelers. It must be a few influential people who are time travelers, and they brought modern things and ideas to this world."

“We will only intervene when the influence between these worlds becomes too great.” Luo Yifei recalled Wen Bin’s words to him at the deserted island café.

"Could it be because their influence on the world is too great that Wen Bin intervened?"

"Wen Bin, he's not from the mortal realm or the spirit realm. Could he be from the immortal realm or the divine realm? No, probably not. From a more distant galaxy. Perhaps from a super civilization."

Luo Yifei processed the information he had gathered over the past few days, trying to piece together the truth of the incident.

He turned on his phone, which had very little battery left, and tried to find some news from four years ago.

However, as soon as he turned it on, it displayed a low battery warning and prepared to shut down automatically. Just as the shutdown countdown was running, Luo Yifei saw the signal strength on his phone turn full.

……

Office of the Earth-like Planets Research Group, Space Agency of Country C.

"A planet so similar to Earth, with so many probes in space, how come no one has noticed it?" asked the head of the space team.

"This planet is outside the Milky Way. According to the data transmitted by the Phoenix Team, they do not know its exact location in any other galaxy. Electromagnetic waves transmitted via a 'wormhole' have a delay of 483 seconds and 26 milliseconds."

"Bring it here, let me take a look."

The subordinate handed the newly printed documents to the research team leader, who glanced at them and threw them on his desk. "Ridiculous. Eight minutes? Electromagnetic waves can't even leave the solar system. A wormhole? Hmph, another hoax."

Just as the research team leader finished speaking, there was a knock on the door, followed by the team leader's secretary, who was holding a cell phone. "Team leader, it's the bureau chief on the phone."

The head of the research team answered the phone: "Director, I've reviewed the data, and these are simply impossible."

The voice on the other end of the phone said, "Okay, I understand. Delete all the data sent by the Phoenix Team, and destroy the printed document as well."

"But, Director."

"Alright, I understand what you're saying. With current technology, these things do seem like a pipe dream, but none of that matters to you now. We've formed a special task force with the Security Bureau and the original Phoenix Group members. Just do as I say. You'll report to Phoenix Forest tomorrow; I've sent you the location." The director hung up the phone after saying that.

The leader of the outer space terrestrial planet research group slowly put down his phone, and after a long while, he slowly spoke, "Destroy all the data sent by the Phoenix Group." However, as he spoke, he picked up the document on the table.

Seeing the puzzled looks from his subordinate who had printed the documents and his secretary, the research team leader said casually, "I'll destroy this myself. You can leave now."