Chapter 67: Liu Shishi: Why does this dream have colors?

A familiar feeling washed over him.

In a trance, Zhang Yang noticed the surrounding scenery shifting.

They were standing before an ancient city. Ahead of him stood a middle-aged man radiating an aura that shook the heavens.

Though there were only a dozen horsemen surrounding the man, tens of thousands of troops stood arrayed against him ahead.

Facing tens of thousands with mere dozens naturally offered no hope of victory. The ruler of the Chen State, positioned within the enemy formation, shared this exact thought: "Yang Su has brought only this handful of men to suppress the rebellion. Has he chosen to give up?"

At that moment, Yang Su slowly spoke: "Tuo, make your move."

By now, Zhang Yang had completely integrated the extra memories flooding his mind.

From this moment on, he was Yuwen Tuo.

"Swish!"

Spurring his mount, Zhang Yang soared forth. Brandishing the Xuanyuan Sword—an ancient divine artifact—he stood suspended in mid-air as his aura surged to the heavens.

Possessing the destiny of the Sovereign of the Earth and wielding the sword of the Yellow Emperor, he could feel boundless power bestowing strength upon him.

channeling the magical energy within his body, he drew the Xuanyuan Sword, amplified his power, and slashed downward with a momentum like a rainbow.

A powerful sword qi was released, transforming into a torrent that instantly obliterated the thousands of cavalry charging toward him.

Seeing this, the ruler of the Chen State ignored the grand preceptor's dissuasion and personally led the troops in a second wave of charges.

"Courting death!"

Completely inheriting Yuwen Tuo's arrogance, Zhang Yang continuously unleashed his swordsmanship, sending countless streaks of sword qi flying.

In his eyes, the tens of thousands of troops were nothing more than lambs to the slaughter, dispatched as easily as chopping vegetables.

The ruler of the Chen State fell in battle as a result, and the demise of the Chen State was proclaimed.

Before drawing his last breath, the ruler of the Chen State grabbed Chen Fu's hand tightly: "Grand Preceptor, you must assist Jingchou in restoring the state. You must..."

"Your will is my command!" Firmly upholding the imperial decree, Chen Fu used his own biological son to secretly substitute for Chen Jingchou, thereby deceiving Yang Su.

The grand curtain of the story rose.

Eighteen years later, Chen Jingchou, who had yet to accomplish a single decent task, embarked on the path of gathering the five ancient divine artifacts under Chen Fu's constant urging in order to swiftly achieve the restoration of his state.

Meanwhile, back in reality, inside a hotel room where Zhang Yang was staying.

After taking a shower, Tang Yan sat on the bed in her pajamas, studying the script with an earnest expression.

Born in 1983, she was a few years older than Yang Mi and Liu Shishi. Having finally broken into the first-tier actor bracket this year thanks to *My Daughter*, her management team had set her on the "sweet and innocent girl" route, steering all her role choices and script offers in that direction.

However, this did not mean she lacked acting skills. As a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama, she was determined to prove herself and show Zhang Yang what she was truly capable of.

After studying the script for a long time, she suddenly received a message from Zhang Yang saying "Goodnight."

"You want to admit your mistake and cozy up to me now? Too late." The corners of Tang Yan's lips curved upward as she decided to give Zhang Yang the cold shoulder and continued reading the script resting on her lap.

Soon, however, a wave of drowsiness washed over her. Feeling drowsy, she slipped beneath the covers and drifted off to dreamland.

She felt as though she had transformed into someone else, yet that person was also herself.

She seemed to live inside this person's body, experiencing everything through her perspective.

She was Toba Yu'er, a member of the Toba divine clan, who had come to the Great Sui military camp with her maid, determined to seize the Luoshui stone carvings by force.

Having secured the stone carvings with absolute strength, she was about to leave when she encountered Yuwen Tuo, clad in golden armor, right at the entrance of the tent.

"A-Yang!?"

Yuwen Tuo's appearance, complete with his armor and mask, was identical to how Zhang Yang was dressed in Tang Yan's memories.

Before she could think further, Toba Yu'er had already struck, easily subduing Yuwen Tuo: "Yuwen Tuo, nothing much after all."

Mindful that she was still deep within enemy territory, Toba Yu'er leaped away and returned to her carriage.

"Nothing much? He was just faking it."

"He knows you are the descendant of Shennong, and that only you can unlock the secret of the stone carvings. He's using you."

Tang Yan wanted to tell Toba Yu'er the truth, but clearly, she could not.

Before long, Yuwen Tuo suddenly appeared behind Toba Yu'er: "Have you unlocked it?"

Toba Yu'er's expression shifted, but showing no fear, she lifted her chin with a mischievous glint: "It seems my poison insects didn't entertain you well enough."

"Yuwen Tuo" smiled indifferently: "Continue deciphering. If your answer satisfies me, I can spare your life."

Hearing this, Tang Yan couldn't help but project herself into the scene: "So arrogant. Yuwen Tuo is identical to A-Yang."

Next, Tang Yan experienced numerous events through Toba Yu'er's perspective.

Her interactions with Chen Jingchou and Zhang Lie felt like they were on fast-forward, merely flashing past in a blur.

Yet every single encounter with Yuwen Tuo was crystal clear, filled with a tit-for-tat dynamic that hinted at love blossoming out of hatred.

At least as an "observer," Tang Yan inexplicably found herself shipping this pair.

As for Zhang Lie and Chen Jingchou, they fell far short compared to Yuwen Tuo.

Mostly because Tang Yan knew Yuwen Tuo acted out of necessity rather than genuine malice.

In the end, Toba Yu'er even sacrificed herself in the bloody array to protect Chen Jingchou.

"Mmh~ humph!"

As the first ray of morning sunlight fell upon her face, Tang Yan slowly opened her eyes.

Her mind was filled with a multitude of hazy memories, all involving fierce entanglements with "Yuwen Tuo."

With just the slightest recollection, she felt capable of stepping into the shoes of Toba Yu'er and marching off to give Yuwen Tuo a hard time.

Of course, she was not Toba Yu'er, but she could certainly go make things difficult for Zhang Yang.

"I must have been studying the script too seriously to have such a lifelike dream," Tang Yan thought to herself.

Yet she felt a lingering puzzlement: why did her dream about Toba Yu'er not revolve around her story with the male lead Chen Jingchou or her nominal first love Zhang Lie, but rather Yuwen Tuo?

"It must be because A-Yang and I are quite familiar, and yesterday I watched him portray Yuwen Tuo up close, and he made me angry..." Tang Yan quickly found a justification.

What one thinks about by day, one dreams about by night; it was simply because she had been dwelling on him during the daytime.

Tapping her cheek, Tang Yan got up to wash up, then messaged Liu Shishi and Nazha to invite them out for breakfast.

"Huh!?"

The phone resting on the bedside table vibrated gently, causing Liu Shishi to snap her eyes wide open. A flush of inexplicable redness bloomed across her fair cheeks, as though she were running a fever.

Feeling a cool sensation between her thighs, her face turned even redder, and she bit her lower lip.

"How could I... have a dream like this!?"

Lying in bed last night, she had kept dwelling on the feeling of acting opposite Zhang Yang.

It wasn't her first time acting, and she had collaborated with many remarkable actors, but Zhang Yang was the first whose gaze she dared not meet.

Those eyes seemed almost capable of speech, conveying such deep affection and love for her that she felt a sudden urge to flee. After all, she was Liu Shishi, not Dugu Ningke—even while playing Dugu Ningke, her "core" remained that of the Demon Lord's daughter.

Once filming wrapped, Zhang Yang's gaze would return to normal, leaving her with a lingering sense of loss.

Lost in these thoughts, she had drifted off to sleep.

Perhaps because she had thought about it too much before dobbing off, she felt as though she had lived through the entire life of Dugu Ningke.

Outwardly the Princess of the Sui Dynasty, Dugu Ningke was in truth a displaced Western female demon general and the daughter of the Demon Lord.

The Yuwen Tuo in her dream looked identical to Zhang Yang, and the way he looked at her mirrored the intensity Zhang Yang possessed during their scenes.

Dugu Ningke and Yuwen Tuo came to know and love one another, ultimately marrying and having a child.

She experienced the profound sensation of knowing, loving, marrying, and having a child with Zhang Yang.

It felt as though this had been her and Zhang Yang's past life.

To make matters even more intense, the process of childbirth had no fast-forward button; she had lived through every detail personally.

"How could I, how could I have such an R-rated dream? And why were the details so vivid?"

"Ah, it must be because Mi Mi used to insist on making me watch R-rated movies..."

"But R-rated movies don't show *that* part, and Zhang Yang is so..."

"Could it be that my imagination is just too wild?"