The Entertainment Opportunity Guide could also be used as a detection device, Zhang Yang thought.
As soon as he got the role of Zhao Kuangyin, he wanted to try Dream Entry.
On the one hand, he wanted to experience its effects and analyze them properly.
On the other hand, Zhao Kuangyin was a role whose talents and abilities were worth inheriting through Dream Entry.
But when he tried to enter the dream, the guidebook warned him that he couldn't. Zhao Kuangyin had too few scenes in The Legend of Dugu—not even enough to qualify as a proper supporting character.
That was one of the reasons he wanted to add more scenes for himself. Fortunately, things had worked out well.
A wave of drowsiness washed over him. Zhang Yang felt his body sink into sleep, yet he became more aware of everything around him, as if he were viewing it from above.
Before he could properly take in this state, the world spun around him, and his consciousness arrived in a new world.
Drip!
The sound of raindrops pattering on leaves came steadily.
After a moment of disorientation, Zhang Yang realized he was kneeling beside a stream.
His reflection in the flowing water showed an utterly ordinary face.
He knew that face well. It was his own.
"It feels so real. You'd think I'd actually traveled to another world."
As he digested the scant information in his mind, Zhang Yang looked at the stick in his hand.
Its short front section was connected by an iron ring. One end was shorter, the other longer. Among the common folk, it was known as a shaozi stick, the precursor to the nunchaku.
"So this is the Grand Ancestor's Coiled Dragon Staff."
Zhang Yang slowly rose and swung the staff in his hand. It felt remarkably light.
Zhao Kuangyin had been renowned for two martial arts: Grand Ancestor's Long Fist and Grand Ancestor's Coiled Dragon Staff.
Grand Ancestor's Long Fist consisted of thirty-two forms and was hailed as the "mother of a hundred fists." Styles like Qi Family Fist and Tai Chi Quan had been influenced by it.
Grand Ancestor's Coiled Dragon Staff was even hailed as the founding ancestor of staff techniques. It had made Zhao Kuangyin invincible on the battlefield, inspiring the saying that he had swept through eighty-one military prefectures with his Coiled Dragon Staff.
"Taiyuan Qingyou Temple is not far from here."
Zhang Yang put away the staff and headed toward a Taoist temple that could just be made out in the distance.
Meanwhile, inside the temple, four or five men sat around a fire, drinking and feasting.
"Fifth Brother, we came down the mountain this time and got nothing. The chief will punish us when we get back to the stockade. Good thing you spotted this young lady. You'll get a few taels of silver as a reward."
"Thanks, Third Brother. I'd originally planned to offer the young lady to you."
"I wouldn't dare. Even our stockade chief's wife isn't as lovely as this young lady. The second-in-command once said, 'A common man isn't drunk, but a priceless treasure can make him drunk.' We're not worthy."
"Third Brother, I'm Fourth Brother, and I disagree. You're one of the best men in our stockade. Surely you can still sleep with her?"
"No, no..."
The bearded man leading them shook his head.
He understood what the younger men were thinking. They wanted a taste of the beauty's charms.
But she was the gift he planned to present to the chief in exchange for avoiding punishment and earning a promotion and riches. He couldn't let them ruin things.
The other four saw they couldn't talk him around and said no more. They went back to drinking and eating.
The bearded leader drank the most and soon collapsed, snoring loudly.
The others were soon sprawled around, fast asleep.
A short while later, a skinny man who looked like a monkey opened his eyes, the firelight reflected in his pupils.
He was the one who called himself Fourth Brother. Seeing that everyone else was asleep, he got up and tiptoed toward the cramped space behind the statue in the main hall, reaching for his belt.
"Damn it, I've never seen a young lady so fair and delicate. Even if I'm going to die, I've got to have a taste first."
In the space behind the statue lay a woman dressed in a white robe. Her hands and feet were bound with hemp rope, and a rag had been stuffed in her mouth.
Her skin was whiter than snow, her features delicate and her eyes full of allure. Bewilderment and terror showed in her gaze, and tears still glistened at their corners.
She remembered how her parents had died beneath the blades of marauding soldiers. Her maid had fled with her in a carriage, only for a gang of bandits to surround them along the way. Her maid had been hacked to death protecting her. She had fallen from the carriage and lost consciousness. When she woke, she was here, bound hand and foot.
"Crack."
A branch snapped underfoot.
She instinctively turned her head and met the lecherous gaze of the monkey-faced man.
"You're awake, young lady. Just in time to enjoy the greatest pleasure in the world."
The skinny man crouched down and reached to pull open her clothes.
"Mmm! Mmm!"
The woman shook her head frantically, her eyes full of pleading.
But that only brought out the man's bestial nature.
At the critical moment, a staff smashed through a window on one side and flew into the room, striking the skinny man in the chest.
"Pfft."
The man flew several meters backward, spat out several mouthfuls of blood, then tilted his head to one side and lay still.
The woman's eyes widened in shock. She saw a man smash through the window and leap into the room.
He was tall and strong, with a stern face, bright eyes, and an imposing bearing.
She committed his face to memory at once.
"Who's there?!"
A furious shout suddenly rang out from the front.
The man was Zhang Yang. He had discovered that Zhao Jingniang really did look exactly like Nazha, which made it easy for him to immerse himself in the role.
He didn't rush to answer. Instead, he went into the main hall and fought the bandits.
They had only just finished drinking. Though they weren't careless, they were no match for Zhang Yang.
Before he had even finished one set of Grand Ancestor's Long Fist, he had sent the kidnappers flying, blood spilling from their mouths. They were done for.
Zhang Yang felt as if his strength were endless. He wondered if people got cheat codes in dreams.
After dealing with the bandits, he went to the back and rescued Zhao Jingniang, carrying himself with bold courtesy.
When they found out they both had the surname Zhao, they immediately began calling each other brother and sister.
"Don't worry, little sister. Puzhou may be a thousand li away, but your brother will see you safely home."
After getting Zhao Jingniang settled in the carriage, Zhang Yang began his escort mission.
They ran into trouble along the way, but Zhang Yang dealt with all of it.
Spending day and night together was bound to stir up feelings. Zhao Jingniang's gaze gradually changed when she looked at Zhang Yang.
When they reached Puzhou, Zhao Jingniang stopped holding back her feelings and said to Zhang Yang, "Brother, all the splendors of this world mean nothing without you. My heart has chosen you alone."
Zhang Yang understood, but his answer was, "A true man sets his sights on the world."
Under Zhao Jingniang's wistful, longing gaze, Zhang Yang rode away.
When they met again, Zhang Yang had become Emperor Taizu of Song, while Zhao Jingniang had become an abbess in a nunnery.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Yang, lying in bed, suddenly opened his eyes.
Countless pieces of information surfaced in his mind, and his body underwent subtle changes.
A moment later, his eyes gleamed.
"Grand Ancestor's Long Fist, Grand Ancestor's Coiled Dragon Staff, Grand Ancestor's Calligraphy—all in their complete forms."
"Even the muscle memory is there."
This Dream Entry had paid off beyond measure.
In ancient times, he could have called himself Little Grand Ancestor.
With Zhao Kuangyin's martial arts experience and muscle memory, all he had to do was practice diligently to reach the grandmaster level with ease.
"It's already eight."
After checking the time on his phone, Zhang Yang quickly got up, washed, and went to the door of Nazha's room to ring the bell.
Before long, the door opened, revealing Nazha's bare-faced yet captivating face.
At the sight of Zhang Yang, delight blossomed in her eyes, and she smiled like a flower. "Brother!"
Zhang Yang: ?
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