As soon as Su Ci stepped into the Su Family Restaurant, a waiter warmly greeted her.
"Doctor Su, it's been a while! Please, come right in. You're in luck today—we have your favorite iced milk curd." The waiter welcomed her enthusiastically while leading her toward a table in the main dining hall.
The Su Family Restaurant was one of the finest eating establishments in the small town.
Its dishes were delicious, and Su Ci always liked to come here whenever she wanted to treat herself to a good meal. The waiter was well acquainted with her preferences.
As Su Ci followed the waiter to a table by the window and sat down, she glanced around at the other patrons in the restaurant.
Looking somewhat puzzled, Su Ci asked, "Brother Daniu, is something special happening today? There are so many unfamiliar faces on the street, and they look like martial artists. Your restaurant is packed today too, and it's not even mealtime yet—there are hardly any tables left."
Hearing Su Ci's question, the waiter immediately leaned in, eager to share the gossip:
"You don't know about this yet, do you? Word has it that the Sword God, Li Xiangyi, is heading to Yanzhou and passing right through our town. That's why so many martial artists have gathered here today—everyone's hoping to catch a glimpse of the peerless master of the age."
Li Xiangyi was coming? When did this happen? What was he coming here for? And when would he arrive?
A flurry of questions raced through Su Ci's mind.
It had to be said that this Li Xiangyi was quite a remarkable figure.
According to martial arts rumors, the fastest sword in the world was the Xiangyi Supreme Sword wielded by Li Xiangyi.
At the age of fifteen, he had first stepped into the rivers and lakes, defeating the Blood Realm Heavenly Demon and becoming the number one martial artist in the world—a true pinnacle of success right from the start.
At seventeen, he founded the Sigu Sect, dedicated to righting wrongs across the martial arts world.
He even signed a treaty with the imperial court: affairs of the common people would be handled by the court, while the affairs of the martial arts world would fall under the jurisdiction of the Sigu Sect, turning the sect into the supreme court of the pugilistic world.
At twenty, he claimed the title of Martial Arts Alliance Leader, signing a truce with the Jinyuan Alliance and bringing an end to the chaotic wars among the various factions.
Goodness gracious—such achievements and feats! Many people wouldn't accomplish even one of these things in a lifetime, yet he had done them all, and in a mere five years. He was practically the favored son of heaven, the absolute protagonist of reality.
Yet, following the battle of the East Sea, Li Xiangyi fell from his divine pedestal, transforming into Li Lianhua—an aging, honest, and taciturn sickly man.
Just how glorious Li Xiangyi's first half of life had been only served to highlight how desolate Li Lianhua's later years were.
Thinking of Li Lianhua's ending in the story, Su Ci felt a deep sense of regret.
Yes, Su Ci had finally remembered where the sense of familiarity she felt upon first hearing the name Li Xiangyi came from.
Back then, Su Ci had purposely asked about Li Xiangyi, and when the system updated its rewards, it mentioned detecting that this world was the world of Mysterious Lotus Casebook. This reminded her of the wuxia drama *Mysterious Lotus Casebook*, which she hadn't managed to finish watching before transmigrating.
Su Ci didn't remember the exact plot of *Mysterious Lotus Casebook* in detail; she only recalled that it was a wuxia detective drama.
The protagonist, Li Lianhua, had left a deep impression on her—after all, there truly weren't many protagonists who met with a bad ending.
He had simply gone out to fight a battle, and upon his return, his home was gone, his girlfriend no longer wanted him, the sworn brother who trusted him was dead, and he himself had been poisoned.
With great difficulty, he was saved, but not only did his appearance change drastically, his internal energy was reduced to a mere fraction, he was left with only ten years to live, and in the end, he was even driven to jump off a cliff and disappeared.
There was no greater tragedy than a favored son of heaven plunging into the mire.
As someone who had studied diligently for the civil service exams, she owed it to the massive popularity of *Mysterious Lotus Casebook* at the time that she had even caught wind of it; otherwise, how would she have known the protagonist's name?
As for the plot, well—apologies, but that question was beyond her level.
Still, Su Ci was confident that even without knowing the plot, her current abilities would be more than enough to ensure she lived a comfortable life.
If possible, she actually wanted to study the poison infesting Li Lianhua and see just how formidable the reputed, incurable Bicha poison really was.
If she crossed paths with him, she also wanted to lend a hand and alter his doomed fate.
Not for any grand reason, simply because she felt that a good person should not meet with such a tragic end.
"Doctor Su, you'll be having your usual dishes, won't you? Just wait a moment, the food will be served shortly." The waiter's voice interrupted Su Ci's train of thought, bringing her back to reality.
Seeing the waiter finish clearing the table and preparing to place the order, Su Ci quickly spoke up, "Wait, Brother Daniu. I want to change my order today. Bring me one of every signature dish your restaurant has. Whatever I can't finish, help me pack it to go."
The waiter looked surprised. "Doctor Su, did something wonderful happen to you today?"
Su Ci smiled. "Nothing much. It's just that the mourning period for my family ended a few days ago, so I wanted to try something different today."
The waiter said cheerfully, "Ah, that's wonderful! I'll go tell our head chef right away and have him pull out all the stops to make sure you thoroughly enjoy our signature dishes."
"Please wait a moment, I'll go tend to things."
Su Ci nodded. "Go ahead. And please pack the iced milk curd for me later so I can take it with me."
"You got it, I'll remember!"
While waiting for the food, Su Ci didn't waste her time. She listened closely to the conversations of the other diners, hoping to catch some useful information.
As it turned out, everyone was discussing Li Xiangyi.
Witnessing this ancient version of celebrity stanning, Su Ci couldn't help but grow interested.
It turned out that some time ago, Li Xiangyi had teamed up with the dragon of the martial arts world, Zhan Yunfei, to crack down on the Lianhai Gang and capture its leader, Jiang Dafei.
When they wanted to tie up Jiang Dafei and drag him to Yanzhou, the two men realized they were short a length of rope.
Li Xiangyi took a fancy to Zhan Yunfei's headband, but Zhan Yunfei, who was rather fastidious about his appearance, was naturally unwilling and told Li Xiangyi to use his own hair tie to bind the prisoner instead.
Both men were young and hot-tempered, and neither was willing to back down. So, they wagered their headbands on a duel to decide the victor, promising that whoever lost would never tie up his hair again.
The outcome went without saying: Li Xiangyi naturally won.
Zhan Yunfei was a man of his word, and from that day on, he never bound his hair up again.
As it happened, Su Ci had been out of town gathering herbs during that period and had missed the storytelling sessions for that chapter, so she hadn't heard about this incident yet.
At that moment, Su Ci was listening with rapt attention, completely unaware that she was about to lay eyes on the protagonist of the story—the legendary Li Xiangyi himself—very soon.
Before long, the waiter served the dishes, and Su Ci stopped eavesdropping to focus on savoring the delicious food.
Just as Su Ci finished most of her meal and was preparing to leave, a commotion at the entrance caught her attention.
She saw a man in red martial arts attire walking straight toward them, holding a sharp sword.
At first glance, his clothing seemed unremarkable, but upon closer inspection, one could see that the garment was crafted from cloud brocade, with gorgeous cloud patterns embroidered across the front.
Silver clasps fastened the sleeves, from which two white silk ribbons hung down.
He wore a silver lotus crown on his head and a palm-wide belt around his waist, which only accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow waist.
Exquisite accessories hung from both sides of his belt, swaying rhythmically as he walked.
What a high-spirited, radiant young hero!
The red robes worn on him did not look feminine in the slightest; instead, they made him appear unrestrained, dashing, and full of vitality.
"Why shouldn't a youth dream of plucking the stars, daring to draw the mulberry bow to shoot the Jade Balance?" Looking at such an peerlessly striking and brilliant young hero, Su Ci couldn't help reciting softly.
"Li Xiangyi! Li Xiangyi is here!"
"Look, it's Li Xiangyi!"
"Look, look, Li Xiangyi!"
The surrounding noise brought Su Ci back to her senses.
So, this was Li Xiangyi.
He was Li Xiangyi.
Now, this truly deserved to be called Li Xiangyi.
At that moment, Su Ci finally understood why so many people held Li Xiangyi in such high regard.
She also understood why so many people were willing to travel thousands of miles to this small town, just for a single glance at a stranger.