The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

Chapter 38 The Port Inn's Chicken Leg Negotiation Fails

In the southern region of the Floating Life Continent, at the port inn in Xuwen County, within the territory of the Southern Han Kingdom, Luo Yifei and his group checked into their room. Seeing the rain constantly seeping into the room, Luo Yifei went to the window and immediately closed it.

"The journey ahead will likely be fraught with difficulties. The three of us must stick together and look out for each other," Qi Yuan said to Luo Yifei and Bi Li.

The three of them shared a room, which was a large dormitory-style room like those used by sailors, and naturally far less luxurious than the Dream Inn in An Island Sword Immortal City.

They planned to keep a low profile, preferably staying in a mixed-use inn, and trying to avoid attracting attention.

After asking Luo Yifei to produce the map, Qi Yuan continued to plan a more detailed route.

Before the three of them came up, they ordered some food and asked the waiter to prepare it and bring it up.

They behaved like ordinary guests, showing no sign of worry about enemies attacking. Even when the waiter brought food, Qi Yuan slowly put away the map in front of him, as if it were the kind of map sold in ordinary bookstores.

After the waiter came over, Luo Yifei picked up a chicken leg and started eating it. After taking a couple of bites, he said, "Brother Qi Yuan, looking at this map, we should probably avoid people. I heard from my elders that this map is very valuable."

"I'm afraid it's not particularly valuable, just a bit more detailed. Different countries have drawn maps, and piecing them together makes yours. It's just that it's inconvenient to look at like that." After saying that, Qi Yuan returned the folded map to Luo Yifei and picked up the chicken leg on the table to eat.

“Luo Yifei, we agreed on the ship to keep a low profile from now on, but I knew we couldn’t keep a low profile just now when you ordered chicken legs,” Bi Li said to Qi Yuan.

"What? You think it's high-profile just because I want to eat a chicken leg?" Luo Yifei said, somewhat puzzled. "Isn't acting impulsively and following your heart the best way to confuse your opponents when they are chasing you? What's wrong with that?"

“No one orders chicken legs at the port inn, they’re too expensive. Seafood is cheap here, so ordering a few seafood items is the norm. It’s okay, these three chicken legs, plus the fish I ordered and the scallops Bili ordered, shouldn’t attract too much attention,” Qi Yuan explained.

The three of them quickly finished their dinner.

It was getting dark, but the rain showed no signs of letting up.

Luo Yifei lay on the bed, counting the days. It had been a month since he had passed through the tunnel—three days to and from Mount Emei, seven days to Wanfeng Lake, ten days from Wanfeng Lake to Beihai County Port, eight days at sea, and only two days to reach An Island.

During this month, the first two days, which were the two days on An Island, were the two days in which Luo Yifei's heart changed the most.

On the first day on An Island, in the morning I saw Xu Xiaohong return disappointed after failing to challenge the Sword Immortal; in the afternoon I slept all afternoon, but dreamed back to my high school days and remembered many things from the past; at night I saw Song Han fighting Qi Yuan, and mustered up the courage to help, and unexpectedly obtained a clue.

On the second day in An Island, I missed seeing Ji Mi and Wei Er, who had arrived in Sword Immortal City early in the morning, because they had gotten up early at the City Lord's Mansion. Around noon, Qi Zhi, Hua Xi, Ji Qingwei, and Bi Li went to Bi Li's house together and weeded around An Island's residence in the yard with Bi Li for a while. In the afternoon, I discussed the next steps with Qi Yuan and packed up my things, leaving most of them on An Island.

On the morning of the third day, I left An Island and am now lying in bed at this port inn.

"Diving suits, thermos flasks, flashlights. Will leaving the flashlight with Hua Xi put them in danger?" Luo Yifei suddenly asked Qi Yuan beside him.

"Don't worry, they won't be. Qiao Zhi and Wei Er are both here; they'll handle things as they come. And Ji Mi, who's a disciple of Sword Immortal Bai Ru, will be fine too," Qi Yuan answered Luo Yifei's question.

"Don't think about it anymore, go to sleep early," Bili said, yawning.

……

Let's go back to Earth four years ago.

On a civilian passenger plane departing from Hainan and bound for Country B on the Atlantic coast, sat several middle-aged men dressed in black suits.

"Captain Feng, I want to know what we're looking for?" Shen Cheng couldn't help but ask.

“I was planning to tell you later, but since you asked, I'll tell you now.” Captain Feng looked at Shen Cheng and Luo Yan beside him. “We’re going to find the fishermen from Planet Z. Besides the two time-space tunnels in the desert no-man’s-land and Phoenix Forest in Xia City, three more time-space tunnels have appeared underwater, in the South China Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean. A fishing boat has appeared in each of these three locations. They look very similar to the treasure ships of the Ming Dynasty. We’ve already calmed down the people on the fishing boat in the South China Sea, but according to them, several of them were torn to pieces by a beam of light when they traveled through the tunnels. I suspect those ghosts are them.”

"But why did they kill Ye Yu?" Luo Yan asked.

"I don't know, I'm just guessing. We need to find the answer now," replied Captain Feng of Phoenix Team One.

Soon, the civilian airliner carrying the group landed in Country B, on the Atlantic coast. A private car waiting at the airport took them to the country's conference center.

Shen Cheng was somewhat nervous at the negotiating table; he hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

Representatives from various countries have arrived, all wanting the fishermen and the boat. Country B claims a fire occurred last night, destroying the boat. The 36 people on board have been settled, and they intend to use a bidding process to decide which country they will go to.

“This is a democratic era. We are in a negotiation, not an auction,” Luo Yan tried to argue.

At this moment, Captain Feng whispered in Luo Yan's ear, "Captain Zhang's idea is to raise the bid and let it go."

Luo Yan nodded slightly, and then relayed the message to Pan Shi, a diplomat at the embassy in Shencheng.

An hour later, the negotiations ended. The 36 so-called fishermen will be handed over to Country A.

Team leader Feng, Shen Cheng, Luo Yan, and diplomat Pan Shi from the Phoenix Group walked out of the conference room.

"Wait!" someone called from behind.

"Gentlemen, please come this way. We have a gift to present to you as a token of our goodwill." The negotiator from Atlantic Country B followed.

The group was taken to a dock.

"What is this? That ship!" Luo Yan asked.