Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 165 Master, Let Me Enter Your Dream
Without the slightest hesitation, Murong Huan pointed his sword at the man in purple!

The sword light, as white as snow, instantly pierced the twilight, tearing apart bolts of lightning against the low-hanging starlight.

Just as Wang Xianke was preparing to fight, he was pushed aside by the man in purple. At the same time, as Murong Huan approached, he also spat out a judge's pen from his sleeve, which clashed with the approaching sword light, creating a dazzling spark.

Murong Huan felt a jolt in her wrist and couldn't help but take a few steps back. Xiao Muchen rushed forward, steadied her, and drew his soft sword from his waist to stab the man in purple. At the same time, Murong Xian'er, Lu Shiyilang, and Li Yi also took out their weapons and began to fight the man in purple.

Liu Sheng even set up a mechanical dragon that had been reassembled and used it to chase after the assassins.

In the midst of this fierce battle, Murong Huan looked once again at the man in black wearing a white jade mask. The man in black seemed unconcerned about everything happening around him, and calmly walked towards her step by step.

"Are you really my master?"

Murong Huan asked again, and when faced with this figure that was so familiar, she couldn't help but feel fear and even tremble.

“You once said that once I learned the art of bone reading and portrait drawing, I would be able to draw my master’s face.”

"Actually, I've already drawn it, but even I don't quite believe it myself."

"You taught me to play the flute, to control incense, and to draw portraits. You also told me so many stories about those famous scrolls. But why did all the people in those scrolls die later?"

"Was all of this orchestrated by you?"

The man in black walked up to her and suddenly raised his hand to stroke her hair, just like his master used to stroke her head many years ago. Although she couldn't see his face, she could feel his unconditional love and doting on her.

"How have you been these past few years?"

"Is he good to you?"

He asked two questions in quick succession.

Murong Huan nodded with tears in his eyes: "Very good, I am very happy."

"That's good!" he replied with a smile. "I can answer your question. Not everyone in the legends is an assassin. The stories I told you are all true. Huo Xiaolian, Xie Zi'e, Li Yi, Liu Sheng, and Murong Xian'er are all people in the legends, but they are not assassins, but heroes!"

As he spoke, his deep voice echoed like a gentle breeze in an empty valley, making the world feel peaceful and serene.

"Heroes?"

"Yes, so not everyone on the list deserves to die, but Helan Minzhi, Hongxian, the Prefect of Nanke, Xue Huaiyi, and Wu Chengsi all deserve to die!"

"I am not the creator of legends, I just gave them the ending they deserved."

"Then who is the creator of the legend?" Murong Huan asked.

"Li Chunfeng!"

After slowly uttering those three words, he looked towards the Kunlun Mountains not far away and continued, "It was Li Chunfeng who came here and created the legend, but initially there were only a few people in the legend, namely Li Chunfeng's disciples. However, later, with the change of the legend's leader several times, and the greed and selfishness that arose in everyone, this place became a place where the strong prey on the weak, and the strong rule. Only then did assassins, death squads, and spies gradually appear..."

He paused for a moment, then looked away and turned to Murong Huan.

"Your mother is also a legend!"

"However, your mother was also someone who pursued the Great Dao and sought the supreme realm. After she learned the Tui Bei Tu left by Li Chunfeng and calculated the future, she wanted to become someone who defied fate and changed destiny. Thus, she gave birth to you."

Murong Xian'er had mentioned this, Murong Huan nodded, and then asked:

"And you? Master, can you tell me why you are here?" The man in black did not answer immediately, but instead removed the white jade mask from his face. In the next instant, in this vast land where stars hung low, the moonlight, as if it were right next to him, clearly illuminated his face.

Murong Huan felt his heart skip a beat, and his expression froze for a moment.

This was indeed the face she had dreamed of, but had never dared to acknowledge.

After a long while, she heard her slightly hoarse voice ask, "What exactly is your relationship with Xiao Muchen?"

They looked almost identical, the only difference being the weariness in his eyes and the indifferent detachment that seemed to care nothing for him.

The man in black smiled calmly.

“Ah Huan, your master once told you that when your flute-playing hypnosis surpasses his, you will know all my secrets.”

Yes! He had said that before, but in the past she just thought that her master didn't want her to know, after all, how could her hypnosis skills be better than her master's?

But now, she suddenly felt that it wasn't entirely impossible.

So she took a step back and took out her bamboo flute.

"Alright, Master, then let me enter your dream!"

As the distant desert sands were swept up by the cold wind, Murong Huan's flute music gradually resounded throughout the world, swirling like the wind across the desert and snow-capped mountains.

The man in black did not move; in fact, his figure appeared extremely ethereal and unreal under the vast sky.

As the flute music grew more melodious, Murong Huan gradually drifted into his dream.

In his dream, she saw his childhood, adolescence, and youth, which were almost identical to Xiao Muchen's life experiences: his mother left, his family was wiped out, and he became the top scholar in the imperial examination at the age of eighteen through his own efforts and talent. He also established himself in the court with his intelligence and eloquence, gained the trust of the empress, and rose through the ranks in his career.

Afterwards, he not only revitalized the Lanling Xiao family, but also became the youngest prime minister in the Wu Zhou dynasty.

Such a life, though unfortunate, was at least relatively smooth in terms of career advancement.

Until he met a woman.

A woman who looks just like her, yet soars high like an eagle in the desert.

However, when he first met her, he did not know that she was a woman and thought she was just a capable assistant to Li Xian.

After Li Xian returned from Fangling, he was often ordered by the emperor to go to the battlefield with this woman. He witnessed her kill Li Jinzhong and Sun Wanrong, completely destroying the Khitan. Later, the two of them defeated the Tubo and Tujue, which made the Khans of the two countries take the initiative to seek peace and pay tribute to the Great Zhou, thus realizing the Empress's lifelong wish: peace throughout the world and all nations paying tribute!
Later, this woman naturally gained the favor of the Empress. The Empress even adopted her, who was disguised as a man, as her godson and replaced Li Xian, who was originally the Crown Prince, as the new Crown Prince.

This move naturally met with opposition from some ministers in the court, but fortunately, with opponents come supporters. She gained some support from the military by virtue of her reputation in the frontier battles, and she also gained the recognition of some great Confucian scholars by virtue of her outstanding talent and ability.

It wasn't until the five ministers, led by Zhang Jianzhi, gradually recognized her talent and acknowledged her status as the crown prince.

After becoming the crown prince, she took him to Anxi to fight the last battle against the Tubo. However, to his surprise, the court suddenly issued an edict ordering her to return to Luoyang immediately. The edict stated that the emperor had agreed to the Tubo's marriage policy and that the crown prince should quickly return to the capital to end the war.

Although she had her doubts, seeing that the imperial seal on the edict was genuine, she had no choice but to hand over the 40,000 soldiers still on the Anxi frontier to him. In the end, she only instructed him: "I am afraid that the Tibetan Khan will use the trick of feigning surrender again. You will lead the soldiers to stay here in my place. I will go back first!"

He said "okay," and the woman gave him a very warm hug before leaving.

After that, he endured nearly half a year of hardship on the frontier of Anxi. Instead of receiving news of peace and an end to the war between the two countries, the Tibetan generals launched a large-scale surprise attack while they were off guard. Although he used some military tactics to draw away the enemy with minimal losses and save the lives of most of his soldiers, the court cut off supplies to the rear from then on.

It was at this moment that he learned that the world in Luoyang had changed drastically. The Empress was dead, the Great Zhou had returned to the Great Tang, and Li Xian had ascended to the throne. All news about her had been completely covered up, as if she had vanished, and no one knew whether she was alive or dead.