After that day, Lan An never returned.
Su Su was placed in a side hall of the Zhou Kingdom. Every evening, Tantai Jin would return to sleep.
He slept on the floor, sometimes gazing at the moonlight outside the window, other times staring at her with pitch-black eyes without blinking. Yet he never touched her again, instead keeping her far away.
If not for his comment about her being beautiful that day, Su Su would have thought he utterly despised her.
What troubled Su Su most was how the little brat let his blood smear all over her body without any intention of wiping it off.
She couldn't tell whether it was deliberate or if he had simply forgotten.
Fortunately, Su Su currently felt no sensations, only hoping to quickly regain her human form and kick Tantai Jin out of the dream.
Though staying in the dream could help her learn more about the Evil Bone.
In reality, if dawn broke before Su Su awakened Tantai Jin and Ye Bingshang, they would all perish in the dream.
Trapped within the crystal, Su Su grew increasingly anxious.
Yet she wasn't the master of this dream. Tantai Jin's soul wasn't something she could control, leaving her like a leaf floating on water, drifting along with the dream's progression.
Unaware of how much time had passed, a young boy's voice, filled with malice, sounded outside the door.
"Yes, throw it in and kill that little bastard."
"Eh, wait, what's that?"
The door was pushed open, and Su Su saw a richly dressed boy of about seven or eight years old enter.
He picked up "Su Su" from the table and murmured, "What is this? So beautiful..."
Su Su currently had zero fondness for the word "beautiful." Would this child also smear blood on her? Was the entire Tantai royal family insane?
The boy carefully lifted her and urged, "Xiao Quanzi, fetch some water."
He washed away the blood Tantai Jin had smeared on Su Su, his eyes growing brighter.
"Xiao Quanzi, do you recognize her?" Could there really be a maiden like this in the world? Just the silhouette of this crystal statue was enough to captivate one's gaze.
She was many times more beautiful than his mother.
Xiao Quanzi shook his head, uneasy. "Third Highness, we should leave quickly. He... he'll be back soon."
Only then did Tantai Minglang remember his original purpose, his face darkening with cruelty.
"Hmph, throw the things in, then we'll go. I'm taking this with me. That bastard must have stolen it from somewhere else."
"Yes." The eunuch hastily threw a bamboo basket into the dilapidated palace.
Su Su saw dense clusters of venomous snakes and scorpions crawling out of the basket.
And Tantai Jin was indeed about to return.
Su Su grew somewhat anxious. Tantai Jin couldn't die in the dream. She wanted to break free from her current predicament, but Tantai Minglang had already carried her far away.
Su Su felt restless with worry.
Would the Little Demon really be killed?
Nightmares were born from fear and obsession.
Su Su feared the decline of the Immortal Sect and the fall of her fellow disciples. But what were Tantai Jin's fears and obsessions?
Taken away by Tantai Minglang, she arrived at a magnificent palace.
Su Su could tell at a glance that this prince was deeply favored.
His living conditions and clothing were vastly superior to Tantai Jin's. Compared to this prince, Tantai Jin resembled a little beggar.
When the moon rose, commotion arose outside.
The palace door was pushed open. In the twilight, a small, thin shadow appeared at the entrance. "Tantai Minglang, return what's mine."
Tantai Minglang roared in anger, "Who let this little beast in here!"Tantai Jin remained silent, clutching a venomous snake as he walked toward Tantai Minglang.
Being just a child after all, Tantai Minglang retreated fearfully and shouted at the surrounding servants, "You useless dogs! Are you all dead? Stop him!"
The eunuchs seized Tantai Jin, and the snake was wrested away and discarded.
Su Su saw the child being pinned to the ground.
Tantai Minglang strode over, angrily stepping on Tantai Jin's face with his foot. "You're nothing but a bastard! A bastard deserves nothing! Do you want this?"
Tantai Minglang picked up the colored glaze.
Tantai Jin's dark pupils rested quietly on the colored glaze in his elder brother's hand, focused like a simple child easily captivated.
"Fine, then I'll return it to you." Tantai Minglang suddenly released his grip.
In Su Su's final glimpse, she saw the child on the ground, firmly restrained by the eunuchs, the corners of his eyes tinged red as he coldly stared at the colored glaze statue.
The colored glaze shattered before Tantai Jin's eyes.
That moment stretched into an eternity. Su Su even saw Tantai Jin's pupils contract, and then the air seemed to fall into silence.
The God statue Su Su inhabited shattered, finally allowing her soul to emerge.
Before she could feel joy, the space twisted in the next instant, and she lost consciousness.
Tantai Jin blinked once, then again.
His expression remained relatively calm, without a trace of anger.
Amid the mocking laughter of the eunuchs and Tantai Minglang, Tantai Jin suddenly reached out, picked up the colored glaze fragments scattered before him, and swallowed them expressionlessly.
The sharp shards cut his throat. Maintaining his prone position on the ground, he laughed hoarsely in a low voice.
Outside the dream, black mist fled in terror.
But not a single wisp escaped; all were sucked into the body of the black-haired, red-lipped boy on the ground. Tantai Jin convulsed briefly, his eyes turning pitch-black.
Figures in the mirror screamed as they were torn apart by an invisible force.
Tantai Jin stood up, and the dream shattered piece by piece behind him.
Su Su found herself lying face down on a bed, her back exposed.
A burning pain seared her back.
She moved her fingers and realized she could control her body now. Previously, trapped in the bodies of the medical maid, palace maid, kitten, or colored glaze, she had felt bound hand and foot, forced to watch events unfold.
It was less like entering Tantai Jin's dream and more like being a spectator.
But now, she felt as if she had truly come back to life.
A complaining female voice said, "Hong Dou, I told you not to approach The Emperor. See, you've been punished by Her Majesty the Empress. With these dozen lashes, what if scars remain on your back? How will you ever marry?"
Su Su thought: Where is this place now? And where is Tantai Jin?
The woman, however, had no intention of explaining: "I have to report to Chengqian Palace for duty. Zi Ying will come later to apply medicine for you. Rest well and don't dwell on it too much."
Su Su nodded.
Once the woman, who appeared to be a palace maid, left, Su Su hurriedly got up from the bed to look in the mirror.
The dream was bizarre and ever-changing—where had she ended up now?
The mirror reflected Su Su's current body: a girl of about sixteen or seventeen named Hong Dou.
However, the scars on her back looked truly frightening.
The door was pushed open before Su Su could put on her clothes, leaving her exposed back facing the person entering.
It was a woman in purple. Startled by the sight of her bare back, the woman froze for a moment, then a flush of embarrassment spread across her face.
Lowering her gaze and looking away, the woman clasped her fists and said softly, "My apologies, I did not mean to intrude."Su Su called out uncertainly, "Zi Ying?"
The woman nodded, still not looking up, and prepared to close the door politely.
Su Su said, "Wait! Please help me apply the medicine. I can't reach."
The woman remained silent for a moment, then shook her head. "In that case, I'll find someone to help Miss... Hong Dou with the medicine."
Su Su vaguely sensed that this person was different from the others.
The woman before her seemed incongruous no matter how you looked at her—like a modest gentleman, and a sense of familiarity washed over her.
Such distinct personal traits, even if it were role-playing, didn't fit at all.
Su Su had a bold guess—
Su Su tentatively called out, "Prince Xuan?"
Xiao Lin looked up at her, his gaze briefly touching her back before he politely averted his eyes. "My apologies, who are you?"
Su Su quickly pulled her clothes back on, suppressing the pain, and happily ran over. "I'm Ye Xi Wu!"
Finally, she had encountered a normal person who could give her a sense of security!
Su Su was beyond moved.
In the previous dream, she had felt utterly worn out—constantly frightened and horrified.
Xiao Lin asked, "How did you end up here?"
"It's a long story, but I didn't enter voluntarily. Your Highness, do you know where this is?"
"This is Bingshang's dream, set in Great Xia six years from now." Xiao Lin frowned, rubbing his temples in frustration.
Su Su was greatly surprised.
This confirmed that Tantai Jin had also emerged from the dream, which was why she had entered the next one.
She never expected it to be Ye Bingshang's dream. If she was here, where was Tantai Jin?
"Your Highness, have you tried to wake her?"
Xiao Lin shook his head, smiling bitterly. "Bingshang refuses to wake up."
What? Even Xiao Lin couldn't rouse Ye Bingshang?
This had to be the most awkward dream Su Su had ever experienced.
Watching the woman in the lotus pond pavilion laughing seductively, she felt an urge to facepalm.
Xiao Lin beside her, however, remained exceptionally calm.
"This is exactly what you see." Xiao Lin had already been in the dream for some time, transitioning from initial shock and embarrassment to his current state of calm detachment.
The time in Ye Bingshang's dream was five years into the future of Great Xia.
Su Su and Tantai Jin's dreams had been nightmares.
Yet Ye Bingshang's dream could almost be described as a beautiful one.
Here, Xiao Lin had already ascended the throne as emperor, enfeoffing Ye Bingshang as his empress. The two were deeply harmonious, and the common people greatly admired the kind and gentle empress.
Until recently, the beautiful dream had taken a turn—
In the dream, Xiao Lin had also taken Ye Xi Wu into his harem.
Su Su: ...
What kind of bizarre dream was this? Was Ye Bingshang's fear really this—that she, or rather the original Ye Xi Wu, would steal her husband?
At this moment, "Ye Xi Wu" was sitting on "Xiao Lin's" lap, giggling flirtatiously as she fed him grapes.
Su Su coughed, her expression serious as she said to the Xiao Lin beside her, "Prince Xuan, that isn't me, you understand, right?"
Xiao Lin lowered his gaze. "Yes, I know. Everything in dreams is illusory."
Having reached this understanding, the situation became slightly less awkward. At least they were in the same boat now—if they didn't find a way out of the dream before dawn in reality, they would all be doomed.
"Your Highness, have you tried to wake her?"
"When I first arrived, I told her this was a dream, but Bingshang thought I was talking nonsense."For Su Su and the others, this dream was illusory—they had only just stepped into it. But for Ye Bingshang, she had already lived here for five real years and even had a little prince with "Xiao Lin."
It was understandable that she was unwilling to leave.
Seeing Xiao Lin's troubled expression, Su Su thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, I have an idea, though I'm not sure if it will work."
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