The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

Chapter 46 The Night Before the Sudden Cessation of War Three Years Ago

The forest west of Qianmo City's Xicheng New District in 2010.

After bidding farewell to their respective families, Ye Xuehan and Nan Tian arrived at the western suburban forest where the time tunnel was located.

“No, we have to find a way to go back to 2025.” It was Ye Xuehan who spoke.

"How do we get back? You saw it yourself, that time tunnel has disappeared." That was Nantian's answer to her.

“There’s more than one time tunnel on Earth. We need to find other time tunnels.” Ye Xuehan’s expression showed his determination.

"There aren't that many time tunnels. It's already a miracle that there's even one on Earth, okay?" Nantian looked very frustrated.

“That’s right, it’s a miracle that you were able to find this time tunnel, isn’t it?” Ye Xuehan still showed no sign of giving up.

"Do you have a solution?" Nan Tian asked.

"No. But do you remember the first person you met after you transmigrated here?" Ye Xuehan seemed to know some clues.

"In the nearest village, there's an old man waiting for a bus at the village entrance. He told me that there are three buses a day to the city," Nan Tian replied, puzzled.

"What was the first thing he said to you?" Ye Xuehan continued to ask.

"He asked me, 'You're not from around here, are you?' What's wrong with this old man?" Nan Tian still didn't know what Ye Xuehan was asking.

"Who?" Ye Xuehan suddenly shouted.

"I am the old man you were talking about," a voice came from afar.

The old man quickly walked up to them and said, "This door is closed, and you can no longer go back to where you came from. But you can go back to 2025."

"May I ask, who exactly are you?" Nan Tian asked sincerely.

"Who I am is not important; what is important is that you do not belong here," the old man replied with a smile.

……

Ye Xuehan pictured the old man's face under the tree at the village entrance in her mind and said to Captain Zhang, "We made things very clear three years ago, and we went to see our respective families."

“Yes, I know that, and I believe you’re not lying, but what happened after that? How did you get back?” Captain Zhang in the office said to the two men.

Looking at the two of them, Captain Zhang recalled the scene three years ago when he first heard that they had returned.

……

That morning, Captain Zhang had just hung up the phone with General Ma when he hurried back to Yuntian's study on the third floor of the Desert Island Cafe.

He looked at Yun Tian: "You know, as a psychiatrist, protecting the privacy of patients is the first principle. I respect that, so I don't care how you cured that programmer named Mu Qing, or how he lost his memory. But that strange man named Wen Bin is not your patient. He is just staying with you temporarily. I hope you can tell me what he did and said before he left."

Doctor Yun seemed a little nervous and said, "Didn't I tell you? He smashed up a wall, said we didn't abide by the agreement, and then left in the last boat on the island."

“Dr. Yun, you know that this young man, Mu Qing, and his friends developed a game. You should have seen it in the news before; the source code for this game was given to him by someone else, and we just found out that the person who gave him the source code is Wen Bin. Are you still going to continue to hide the truth? You're a smart man; you should know that this concerns the survival of the Earth.” Captain Zhang tried to use the “righteousness” rhetoric to get Yun Tian to cooperate.

"Before Wen Bin left, I was giving Mu Qing one last treatment, but it failed. He still couldn't distinguish between reality and dreams. At that moment, Wen Bin broke through the basement wall and came to this treatment room on the third floor, saying he had a solution."

"What method? Erasure of memory?" Captain Zhang was very dissatisfied with this explanation of amnesia.

"Yes, Mu Qing's memories of this past year have been erased. Both his dreams and reality have been erased. Only some fragments of his real-life memories remain. Wen Bin said that the human brain can use these fragments to connect and rationalize the memories of the past two years. I did a follow-up phone interview a while ago, and it is indeed as he said. In Mu Qing's memory, he always thought that he was living a boring and monotonous life in college for the past two years."

"Dr. Yun, you..." Captain Zhang was about to say something when he felt his phone vibrate. Seeing that it was the Space Administration calling, he quickly answered the phone, "Yes, go ahead."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone before the voice said, "I'd like to meet with you before tonight's meeting to discuss the matter concerning Ye Xuehan and Nan Tian."

"Okay, no problem." Captain Zhang hung up the phone after saying that. "Dr. Yun, take good care of Mu Qing. You're busy, I'll be going now, no need to see me off."

Yun Tian watched Captain Zhang's departing figure with some surprise, but did not get up to see him off.

As the person in charge, Captain Zhang never dared to stop for a moment. Although he was well-prepared, he still needed some time to process the overwhelming amount of information flooding his brain. As he boarded the speedboat leaving the island, his phone vibrated again.

"Team Leader Zhang, there's new progress." General Ma's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Well, you say."

"The marine salvage team found another fishing boat from Planet Z near the plane crash site. It's the same fishing boat as the one used in the '930' naval battle. After confirmation, they both came to Earth from the time tunnel in the South China Sea," General Ma said on the phone.

"Our South China Sea Fleet's special investigation team on the South China Sea seabed time tunnel already informed me this morning, and you should have received the shared information as well," Captain Zhang responded.

“Yes, we retrieved the atmospheric change map of the incident location on September 30th last year. I have reason to suspect that the ghosts that attacked the Phoenix Team last year came from this fishing boat. When ghosts pass by, they affect the direction of airflow. We have contacted the meteorological team and located the last known location of the ghosts,” General Ma stated his conjecture.

"Well, how did you report the ghost to the weather bureau?" Captain Zhang asked with a serious expression.

"We only said that we detected a slight abnormal airflow," General Ma replied calmly.

"The matter of the ghosts must remain a secret; we absolutely cannot let it descend into chaos like it has in the West," Captain Zhang expressed his concerns.

“Okay, I understand,” General Ma replied.

"Okay, see you at the meeting tonight." After Captain Zhang finished speaking, General Ma Ying on the other end of the phone hung up.

The speedboat sped away from land, and after a while, an aircraft carrier came into view—the famous Nanhai.

After boarding the ship, Captain Zhang went straight to his office, where two people were waiting for him—Jing Yun and Du Qi, both former members of the Phoenix Team who now work for the space agency.

After Captain Zhang came in, he closed the door behind him.

"We've found Ye Xuehan and Nantian," Jingyun said eagerly.

"Hmm." Captain Zhang looked at Jing Yun, signaling him to continue.