48 Heavenly Eye

The pressure on her neck suddenly vanished. Shi Nian crashed to the floor, gasping for air amidst a fit of violent coughing. Her throat felt as though it were on fire, and she forced herself to raise her eyes. In the darkness, the man wore a look of profound shock, his eyes locked onto hers.

Shi Nian thought that if she hadn't been in too much pain to make an expression, her own face must have reflected that exact same shock.

She understood. Everything made sense now.

Why the temporal string had vibrated so violently this time, why the range had been so vast—from 600 to 760 AD. Back in 600 AD, that would have been the Sui Dynasty, wouldn't it?

In the scene she had just witnessed, those people had addressed Dugu Ying as Yang Guang.

The last ruler of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang of Sui, had somehow appeared in Chang'an prior to the An Lushan Rebellion.

According to the files, Dugu Ying had suddenly appeared here three months ago, and no one knew his origins. The flow of time between ancient and modern eras differed; converting it, that matched the exact moment they had sensed the vibration of the string.

If she wasn't mistaken, this entire anomaly was caused by Yang Guang, a man of the Sui Dynasty, actually time-traveling into the Tang Dynasty!

As for Zhang Ke and Meng Xia, they had undoubtedly been sent to the era in the Sui Dynasty from which Yang Guang had vanished!

Unbelievable, they could actually pull a stunt like this! Veins throbbed at Shi Nian’s temples. Events had far exceeded her imagination, and she instinctively wanted to turn to Nie Cheng for help. As if echoing her thoughts, a voice drifted faintly from outside: "Is Shi Nian back?"

"Not sure, she should be, right? Go check her room."

Nie Cheng! He was here with Bris!

She scrambled to her feet and made to run toward the door, but someone else was faster. Dugu Ying grabbed Shi Nian from behind, clapping a hand over her mouth!

Shi Nian: "Mmph mph mph..."

Dugu Ying seemed somewhat tense as well, his muscles rigid, yet he gave a soft laugh, his warm breath brushing against her neck. "This deviates somewhat from the plan. But things have reached this point, so I must trouble you to accompany me on a trip, Niannian..."

What? What was he planning to do?

Shi Nian tried to struggle, but caught the scent of a strange fragrance. The scenery before her eyes grew hazy, and finally, she faded into complete darkness.

When Shi Nian woke up, the setting sun hung outside the window, its brilliant golden rays dyeing half the sky in a magnificent, fiery orange. Groggy, she thought, weren't we just in the middle of the night? When did she fall asleep, and why had she slept for a whole day and night?

Last night...

She jerked awake as a voice sounded right beside her: "Awake?"

The sudden intake of breath agitated her throat, aggravating her injuries and triggering a fit of coughing. Tears welled up in her eyes from the coughing. Through the blur, a hand holding a cup extended before her. The man bent down slightly, and she caught sight of his dark, slender eyes.

"Drink some water."

Dugu Ying. No, Yang Guang.

He was right here.

Scenes from right before she lost consciousness flashed rapidly through her mind. Shi Nian was surprised to find that her heartbeat wasn't beating all that frantically, as if that long period of unconsciousness had already allowed her to digest everything.

Dugu Ying was Yang Guang.

With this fact confirmed, looking back, there were already countless clues. He had claimed his surname was Dugu; the Empress of Emperor Wen of Sui was surnamed Dugu, and that historically formidable and jealous Empress Dugu matched the fierce mother he described to a tee—not to mention the uncontainable, and unhidden, aristocratic aura he carried.

Still, Shi Nian didn't blame herself for not figuring it out sooner. After all, who could have guessed that this fellow had actually time-traveled, and judging by the looks of it, bodily time-traveled at that?!

How on earth was she supposed to handle this?!

"You've slept so long; aren't you thirsty?" Yang Guang asked, seeing that Shi Nian remained motionless.

His words snapped Shi Nian out of her daze. Remembering the last sentence she had heard before passing out, she realized with a start that she was in a completely unfamiliar room. "Where is this? Where have you brought me!"

What about Nie Cheng and Bris? Did they know she had been abducted?

"A safe place, where you needn't worry about being found by Zheng Sanniang. And naturally, your 'patron' won't find you either."

Hearing the sarcasm in his tone, Shi Nian realized he had already deduced that her identity as a "courtesan" was entirely fabricated. Looking at the man's calm face, she suddenly realized with crystal clarity: this person was Yang Guang.

That historically famous, dissolute, licentious, sinister, and vicious ruler of a fallen state.

Recalling her brush with death the previous night, she finally became certain that he must have harbored suspicions about her from the very beginning, which was why he had deliberately approached her. Most likely, even the claim that she resembled Wan Niang had been entirely fabricated by him!

He had wanted to test her, tossing out Wan Niang as bait. Yet in reality, Wan Niang was his concubine back in the Sui Dynasty, someone no one in this era could possibly have seen. The moment she bit the hook, he knew she had ulterior motives.

Cunning! Utterly cunning! You deserved to lose your empire!

Yang Guang waited for quite a while—long enough for him to assume she wouldn't react at all—before the girl finally took the porcelain cup and drank a sip of water.

Yang Guang: "Aren't you afraid I poisoned it?"

Shi Nian: "If you wanted to kill me, you wouldn't need poison."

The skin on her neck still ached at the slightest touch, a testament to how ruthless he had been back then. If not for her flash of quick thinking at the last second, she probably really would have died at his hands!

At this thought, her heart gave a sudden lurch. In order to survive back then, she seemed to have said... some rather extraordinary things...

Sure enough, the next instant she heard Yang Guang say: "Since you know I am not going to kill you now, then you surely know why I changed my mind as well?"

Despite his words, the look he directed at Shi Nian remained icy. She had no doubt that given his bloodthirsty nature, one wrong move on her part could easily prompt him to kill her after all.

Yet looking at him like this, Shi Nian didn't feel all that scared anymore. Instead... audacity rose to match her gall.

Having time-traveled so many times and faced countless dangers, last night had still been the closest she had ever come to death. The more she thought about it, the angrier she grew. Fine! Since you're so formidable, I'd like to see if you actually dare to kill me!

Swinging her legs off the bed, Shi Nian walked over to the desk, poured herself another cup of water, and drank it slowly. Yang Guang watched her the entire time. Only then did Shi Nian turn back, offering a sweet smile. "Naturally, it's because I revealed the secret of Yulang."

Yang Guang's brows twitched violently once more. After a long silence, he suddenly strode over, grabbing her by the chin. "Who on earth are you!"

He was still using so much force. Wincing against the pain, Shi Nian put on an inscrutable, unfathomable expression. "Would you believe me if I told you? What if I said I possess the Heavenly Eye of Insight—would Yulang believe that or not?"

Bathed in the brilliant golden sunlight, Yang Guang's expression stiffened, turning utterly bizarre.

Actually, Shi Nian wasn't just acting recklessly. With matters having developed to this point, she had no clear idea what to do next, save for one certainty: the key to the entire problem was undoubtedly Yang Guang. Nie Cheng and Bris were absent, but that didn't matter; they would surely track her down. All she had to do was stall Yang Guang as best she could until they arrived.

The words from last night had already been spoken, so she had no choice but to play along. Besides, Shi Nian found this to actually be the best option. Eccentric individuals with supernatural abilities had always found a market in ancient times, let alone for Yang Guang, who had suddenly time-traveled and whose worldview had surely been shattered. Since he wasn't a modern person with the concept of time travel, he would naturally attribute it to ghosts and deities.

As for herself, she had already played the part of a celestial maiden before; acting like a divine mystic was no big deal. Shi Nian felt quite confident!

After a long silence in the room, Yang Guang finally spoke quietly, "You say you have the Heavenly Eye of Insight?"

"Indeed."

"How do you prove it?"

"Haven't I proven it enough? I told you, you are not of this place, you do not belong to this era, and your Wan Niang does not belong to this era either. You stumbled in here by accident, didn't you?"

Yang Guang fell silent. Shi Nian continued, "Very well, let me tell you more. My lord hails from a noble house, of high and prestigious status, and possesses the destiny of an emperor in his fate..."

Her voice suddenly cut off because Yang Guang's hand had pressed against her lips.

It wasn't the crude, muffling grip of the previous night, but fingers pressing lightly against her mouth. Her lips brushed his fingertips—a tender touch that instantly frightened her into absolute stillness.

The man lowered his head, staring at her for a long moment, before suddenly smiling. "You really are courting death, daring to say anything."

His tone was as gentle as if he were whispering sweet nothings, yet Shi Nian could hear the grinding of teeth beneath it.

She couldn't help but shiver.

Yang Guang looked at Shi Nian. Outwardly, his expression seemed calm, but within, his mind was churning with towering waves.

Three months.

Ever since he woke up to find himself lying in the woods outside Chang'an city, it had been three months.

In this unfamiliar world, there was not a single person he knew, nor a single person who knew him. He had thought he would simply live out his days like this, yet she had spoken it all aloud.

He suddenly recalled yesterday in Pingkang Lane, how a gentle flutter of her eyelids had caused that arrogant young scion to lose his soul entirely.

At that moment, he had thought he was looking at a mountain demon or a siren from storybooks.

Could it really be true...

Shi Nian waited anxiously, unsure of how Yang Guang would react, but he abruptly stood up and strode straight toward the door. Watching his retreating figure, Shi Nian stayed frozen for a moment before calling out, "Hey! Where are you going? Yulang? Dugu Yulang? Hey!"

Dugu Yulang left without a trace of mercy, not forgetting to shut the door behind him. Left all alone in the room, Shi Nian stood in place for a moment in silence and rolled her eyes.

If you're going to ignore me, fine! I didn't want to deal with you either! By now, she knew that she and Nie Cheng shared a connection, meaning it wouldn't take them long to track her down. Once everyone reunited, they would put their heads together—she wasn't worried about failing to take him down!

She poured herself another large cup of warm water, and feeling her throat somewhat relieved, let out a long sigh of relief. Across the room was a window. She gave it a tentative push and discovered to her delight that it wasn't even locked.

No matter what, she needed to figure out where she was. With a bit of luck, she might even be able to send a message to Nie Cheng and the others.

With that thought, Shi Nian applied gentle pressure with both hands and pushed the window open.

What met her eyes was that she was on the third floor of a pavilion. Before her, a continuous expanse of magnificent halls unfolded—red walls, black tiles, and soaring ridge-beasts all bathed in the sprawling rays of the sunset. Further out, the jade-green waters of the Taiye Pool rippled gently, with the Penglai Islands in the center resembling immortal mountains upon the sea.

Such scenery—Shi Nian had seen it not long ago in a documentary feature. It was a CCTV documentary where experts used historical texts and computer technology to reconstruct a massive palace complex built for the Tang Dynasty royal family over a thousand years ago—a complex four times larger than the Forbidden City: the Daming Palace.

That bastard Yang Guang had actually dragged her right into the imperial palace?!