The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

Chapter 27 Southward to An Island: Li Hongbo Arrives at Tian Sha

Let's rewind to this morning. Luo Yifei's fishing boat had just stopped off the west coast of An Island. Qi Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that his planned sea route had been effective; they hadn't encountered pirates, nor had they been tricked by Ji Mi's secret letter.

Tang Clan swordsman Song Han watched as Xu Guan's son, Xu Xiaohong, challenged the sword immortal Duan Xiuzhang, and a murderous thought arose in his heart. His purpose in coming south was to eliminate several rivals from the Free City for the Later Tang Dynasty, so he might as well deal with another powerful minister from the Liang Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Ji Mi and his group's ferry had just departed from the port of Xuwen County.

Xuwen County is located in the southern part of the eastern continent of the Floating Continent, separated from An Island by a shallow strait, and can be reached by boat in less than a day.

Accompanying Ji Mi were Wei Er and Qiao Zhi, as well as Master Zhao's six retainers. As agreed, these six would leave on the second day after arriving at An Island.

Besides them, Ji Mi's future brother-in-law, Dugu Xin, was also on the ferry. He came to An Island naturally for Li Hongbo, the envoy of the Nanzhao Kingdom, and also because he had received a secret order from the King of Chu to find the whereabouts of the Chu hermit, Shadow.

Along the way, Ji Mi and his group repelled many enemies, and the six men borrowed by Master Zhao naturally contributed a great deal. All of them sustained injuries to varying degrees; even Wei Er, who was in the best condition, had his arm cut by a sword.

And this lonely letter was completely unharmed. When he encountered Ji Mi and his group in Yangcheng, they were being assassinated by the Cao family, and he even helped them end the lives of all their enemies.

This made Ji Mi admire Dugu Xin's swordsmanship greatly; the Dugu sword technique was indeed well-deserved of its reputation.

Even Wei Er was greatly surprised. He never expected that the Lone Sword Technique would be so superb. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that someone who wasn't a Grandmaster could achieve the level of killing without leaving a trace through swordsmanship that only Grandmasters could do.

Along the way, Ji Mi asked Lonely Xin many questions, but most of them received no clear answers. Ji Mi had no choice but to send a secret message to Qi Yuan through the Wind Whisper Society, but she didn't know if Qi Yuan would receive it.

Gu Duxin ultimately did not answer why he was working for Chu Jun, but he did not hesitate to discuss swordsmanship with Ji Mi and taught Ji Mi many sword moves.

On the ferry, Lonely Xin was speechless upon learning that Ji Mi had sent messages through the Wind Whisper Society.

"You actually sent a message through the 'Wind Whisper Society'? No wonder we haven't encountered a single enemy since passing Yangcheng. They've probably all been lured to Qi Yuan's side." Lonely Credit looked at Ji Mi with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.

“But I didn’t say the letter was for Qi Yuan. I told them to deliver it to Ji Mi, because Qi Yuan was using my identity. We switched identities when we first entered Nan Han in Lanxi County.” Ji Mi, of course, still didn’t realize what mistake he had made.

"The higher the price you offer at the Wind and Whisper Society, the more valuable the information you can buy." Dugu Xin simply sighed softly and said nothing more.

Ji Mi then realized that she had done something stupid.

……

Let's turn back the clock to this morning.

Two days have passed since Li Hongbo left An Island. At this time, the fishing boat he was on arrived at a small island in the Tian Sha Islands in the southern sea.

Li Hongbo woke up from his dream again, the bloody scenes still lingering in his mind, and he felt a little dizzy.

Two days had passed since they parted ways with Shadow. They boarded separate ships on An Island and Nan'an. He went to the southern sea to search for clues about the so-called "Road to Heaven," while Shadow returned to the State of Chu to see his monarch, Chu Ji.

Based on previous clues, he tracked down several islands in the southern sea. He decided to bypass the Nanzhao Kingdom and go to the southern islands to take a look. Starting from An Island, the largest island in the south, was the most suitable.

He has already died once for his king; now he lives for himself.

The dream seemed clearer than before, with more and more scenes. His intuition told him that the three ships from the Nanzhao Kingdom might appear in the southern seas.

Li Hongbo arrived at the village on the island. Apart from some local fishermen, he did not find any soldiers. In the distance, an old man was pulling in a fishing net.

He walked over and asked, "Old man, have you seen any ships crossing the sea to the islands further south recently?"

The old man glanced at him, looked him up and down, and replied, "No, no."

Li Hongbo wanted to ask more questions, but the old man ignored him and went back to tidying up his fishing nets, so he gave up. He continued walking and arrived at the fishing village.

The village was very quiet, and some elderly people were sitting at the door of some houses as if waiting for something.

Li Hongbo stopped in front of a house, intending to ask the old woman there what had happened. But the old woman squinted and asked, "Is Er Gou back?"

"Grandma, I'm not Er Gou. Is Er Gou your son?"

"It's not Er Gou!" the old man muttered, then slowly fell silent and closed his eyes.

Li Hongbo seemed to be asking something, but seeing the old man's condition, he couldn't bear to disturb him any longer, so he got up to leave.

"Is that Er Gou back?" The old man seemed to hear his footsteps.

"Yes, Grandma, Er Gou is back."

"No, you're not Er Gou. Er Gou has to call me Mom."

Li Hongbo fell silent, inwardly mocking his own foolishness. Er Gou was clearly the old woman's son, yet he called her "Grandma." He felt he wouldn't find any more answers here and quietly prepared to leave.

"Uncle." Li Hongbo heard a child's voice behind him.

"Little friend, what's your name?" Li Hongbo walked over, squatted down, and asked.

"My name is Xiao Er Gou."

"Where did your father go?"

“A few days ago, some soldiers came and took my father out to sea. They never came back.”