On a mild and pleasant evening, Yanqing was practicing his swordsmanship. Though still just a boy, he was already a renowned young hero, wielding a fine sword with effortless mastery. With a single fluid movement, he executed a form and brought his blade to a clean finish.
He took a deep breath to steady his racing thoughts. "It feels like my skills aren't improving as fast as before, even though my training intensity is only higher than ever! Have I hit a bottleneck already?" Yanqing didn't stay discouraged for long. General Jing Yuan had taught him that such things could not be rushed—slow is fast. He went for a stroll through the familiar streets of Aurum Alley, where the evening was gentle and a soft breeze stirred. The wind caught Yanqing's hair, and near a spot where a mechanical bird had just flown past, in a neglected corner, a young man was buried inside a pile of delivery boxes.
The young man's brow was deeply furrowed, as if he were enduring intense pain. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes to pitch blackness. Jolted awake, he suddenly sprang to his feet, and a row of ancient-style buildings came into view. "Where... is this?" Confusion flashed through the boy's eyes, but he quickly calmed his spinning head. He decided to find someone and ask.
Struggling to his feet, he instinctively reached behind his back—the familiar weight was still there. He stepped out of the alley and came upon a food stall, where a kindly older woman was calling out to customers, "Come and get it! Delicious and affordable!"
The boy stepped forward to ask, "Granny, could you tell me where this is?"
The woman looked at him and replied, "Oh? I'm Aunt Gao, just call me Aunt Gao. Judging by your clothes, you're not from around here, are you?"
The boy nodded.
"Well, nothing to fret about. Plenty of outlanders come to the Xianzhou, it's quite normal. This is Aurum Alley. It used to be so lively here... By the way, child, what's your name?" The naturally gregarious woman introduced herself and couldn't help asking when she saw his dazed expression.
The boy lowered his gaze, thought for a moment, and said, "Hello, my name is Doudou—wait, no, Doudou is my friend... I am Baihong. As you said, I'm indeed not from around here, but my memory seems to be acting up. I can't remember where I came from, nor why I ended up here."
Hearing this, Aunt Gao's face softened with pity. "Poor child, don't worry, the Xianzhou is a warm and welcoming place. If you need help, you can look for the Cloud Knights first. Let me call Little Guizi over."
With that, she wiped her hands on her apron, pulled a jade-jade from her pocket, and—under Baihong's astonished gaze—sent a message to Sushang. "There you go, someone will be here to help you in a minute!"
Baihong pointed in bewilderment at the jade-like object in her hand and asked, "Excuse me, what is that you're holding?"
"This? You don't know?" That caught her a bit off guard. Though she used her jade-jade every day, explaining its workings in detail was a bit too much to ask of an ordinary person. She could only give a vague reply: "This is just a tool, we Xianzhou folks call it a jade-jade. It can do anything. Communicating with people, looking up information, taking pictures... super convenient."
Baihong remained perplexed. How on earth did such a tiny trinket manage to transmit information?
"Ah, the exact principles behind it are pretty complicated. I'm just an ordinary person, you'll have to ask a professional about that."
Before long, a brown-haired girl with twin tails came bustling over in a flurry. "Who? Who needs help?"
Aunt Gao chuckled and teased the girl, "Miss Sushang, don't be in such a rush. This young man isn't familiar with the place and has lost his memories, so I thought of you. Come on and help this kid out."
"Hehe, you got it!" Sushang turned to Baihong and introduced herself, "Hello, my name is Sushang. I'm with the Cloud Knights. Since you're an outsider, what's your name? Do you remember anything from before?"
"I am Baihong... My memories are just a blur. Aside from a few things about myself, everything else is a complete mess." Baihong tried hard to recall his past, but the more he thought about it, the heavier his head felt.
"Don't worry, I can fetch someone from the Alchemy Commission. They have brilliant medical skills and plenty of clever tricks; I'm sure they'll find a way." Sushang tried to comfort Baihong, but her peripheral vision caught sight of Yanqing passing by, and she waved to him. "Hey! Over there, come help out! We've got someone with amnesia!"
Hearing the call, Yanqing ran over to Sushang. "Miss Sushang, what's going on?"
Sushang pointed at Baihong. "He's an outlander who somehow ended up here, and he can't remember how he got here either. He only remembers his name."
The moment Yanqing laid eyes on Baihong, his heart skipped a beat. In his spare time, he liked to sneak away to read pulp fiction, and he had long idolized the chivalrous martial artists in those stories, using them as inspiration for his swordsmanship training. The youth standing before him today, though somewhat dusty, could not hide his heroic bearing. Dressed entirely in white, handsome and dashing, with his belt fluttering in the wind, he looked every bit the towering hero just by standing there.
Gathering his thoughts, Yanqing spoke up, "Miss Sushang, there's no need to panic. It's getting late, so I'll first arrange a temporary place for this friend to stay and report the situation. At the same time, I'll notify the Ministry of Development to keep an eye on recent travelers coming to the Xianzhou and investigate his identity."
Sushang nodded. "You got it! True to form, Junior Brother Yanqing handles things—uh, what's that word again?" Sushang scratched her head, trying to fish a suitable expression of praise out of her meager vocabulary. "Oh well, you know what I mean! In that case, I'll take my leave."
Watching Sushang walk away, Yanqing turned back to Baihong. "Hello! I am Yanqing. Since you're new here, you should know this is the Luofu Xianzhou. Even though I don't know which world you hail from, guests are always welcome. As long as you are sincere, the Xianzhou will accept you. Also, the most important thing here is not to openly express an excessive desire for longevity—the reasons for that are a bit long-winded, but I'll explain in detail another time. For now, please come with me."
Baihong nodded, cupped his fists in gratitude, and said, "Thank you very much, Brother Yanqing." Following behind Yanqing, he looked up and saw unidentified flying objects soaring overhead, carrying square paper boxes as they flew in various directions.
"Pardon me, Brother Yanqing... what are those?" Baihong pointed at the flying contraptions above.
"Those? Those are mechanical birds used for cargo delivery. They're terribly convenient," Yanqing replied without looking back.
Baihong glanced around. Even though it was quite late, the streets were still brilliantly lit, and the night market bustled with endless cries from vendors.
"Well, this is Aurum Alley after all! It's one of the major ports and trade hubs of the Xianzhou, where countless outlanders come every day to trade and do business."
The two arrived at an inn, and the innkeeper warmly received them. After Yanqing explained the situation, he asked a necessary question, though he already suspected the answer: "Pardon me, do you have any currency on you? Here on the Xianzhou, you can choose to use Credits or Shield."
Baihong shook his head. He truly didn't have any money on him; the only thing of any value was the sword strapped to his back.
Yanqing nodded in understanding and promptly paid for the room.
"Thank really you, Brother Yanqing, I don't know how to repay you..." Seeing how much Yanqing had helped him, Baihong felt uneasy that he could offer nothing in return.
"Think nothing of it. As a Cloud Knight, the most important thing is to lend a hand to those in need. However, I do have a small favor to ask." Yanqing weighed his words carefully before continuing, "To be frank, I am quite fond of swords myself, and I have a habit of collecting treasured blades. Though my knowledge is shallow, I can tell the sword behind you is extraordinary. I wonder if you might let me have a look at it?"
Baihong nodded and handed the sword over to Yanqing. Yanqing accepted it with utmost care and drew it from its scabbard. A flash of red light swept outward, as if the blade possessed a soul of its own, and Yanqing fancied he could hear the sword whispering tales of a distant era.
"What a fine sword! A truly magnificent sword!" Yanqing inspected the blade closely before sliding it back into its sheath and handing it back to Baihong. "May I ask if this treasured sword has a name?"
"Changhong." The name flashed into Baihong's mind the moment he glanced at the sword. It seemed this weapon was of great importance to him.
After bidding Yanqing goodnight, Baihong retired to a guest room to rest. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he sorted through everything he had witnessed today. This place was called the Luofu Xianzhou. A *zhou*, to his mind, should just be a small boat; yet judging by the scale of Aurum Alley, it was far too vast to be carried by any ordinary vessel. Why was it called a celestial ship (*Xianzhou*) then? Was it connected to the immortals of legend? What secrets lay hidden here? And were the Cloud Knights the ones who governed this place? There were so many things he wanted to know, but he had no clues whatsoever. He would simply have to wait for Yanqing to come find him tomorrow.