Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

Chapter 235 Peach Blossoms Reflecting the Moon

After returning to the present, Wu Tao's life seems to have returned to normal. She still goes to work every day and chats and laughs with her friends, but only she knows that her heart has long been lost in that distant dynasty.

In her dreams, she often returned to the prosperous Chang'an City and to the man who loved her deeply. They strolled side by side in the imperial garden, admiring the blooming peonies; they sailed on the lake, listening to the melodious music; they snuggled in front of the window, tasting the sweet osmanthus cake... Everything was so beautiful and so real.

However, when she woke up from the dream, the cold reality mercilessly pulled her back. She looked at the empty room, her heart filled with inexplicable emptiness and loss.

"Bugui, where are you? Are you okay?" Wu Tao muttered to himself while looking at the bright moon outside the window.

She began to try various methods to find a way back to the Tang Dynasty. She used the knowledge she learned in the Tang Dynasty to study the possibility of ancient time travel; she read a lot of ancient books, trying to find clues; she even tried to contact some people who were said to know psychic skills, hoping to get their help...

However, reality is cruel, all efforts are in vain, no news. Wu Tao's heart gradually sank, is it true that she can never go back to the place that she has been dreaming about, and never see the person that she has been thinking about?

"No, I can't give up!" Wu Tao clenched his fists, his eyes gleaming with determination, "I must find a way to go back, I must!"

She began to look up information more frantically, in the library, on the Internet, in antique markets... as long as there was a glimmer of hope, she would not miss it.

"Girl, what book are you looking for? Maybe I can help you." An old man noticed Wu Tao's anxious expression and asked kindly.

Wu Tao raised her head and saw that the old man was holding an old thread-bound book with a few traditional Chinese characters written on the cover that she could not understand.

"This..." Wu Tao hesitated for a moment and asked, "What is this book about?"

Wu Tao told the old man about his painstaking search for a way to return to the Tang Dynasty. After hearing this, the old man stroked his gray beard, and a barely perceptible gleam of light flashed in his eyes.

"Girl, what you are pursuing may be something that can change your destiny. I can't help you." The old man shook his head and put the ancient book in his hand back on the bookshelf.

Wu Tao sighed in disappointment. Is there really no other solution? She was unwilling to accept it, but she was powerless.

In the following days, Wu Tao continued to rush between the library and the Internet, looking up a huge amount of information, but still could not find any useful information about time travel. She became more and more frustrated. Should she really give up and accept this cruel reality?

By chance, Wu Tao passed by an antique shop. The shop looked old, with a faded signboard at the door. The shop was dimly lit and filled with an old atmosphere. Wu Tao wanted to leave, but was attracted by an item in the window.

It was an antique bronze mirror, the surface was a little blurry, with exquisite patterns carved on it, and a few blooming peach blossoms could be vaguely seen. Wu Tao's heart moved, why did this pattern look so familiar?

"Boss, what era is this mirror from?" Wu Tao walked into the store and asked, pointing at the bronze mirror.

A gray-haired old man was dozing off behind the counter. He raised his head when he heard the sound, squinted his eyes, and looked at Wu Tao. He said slowly, "This is a treasure from the Tang Dynasty. It's priceless!"

Tang Dynasty? Wu Tao's heart was shocked. Could this mirror be related to her time travel?

"Boss, can I take a look at this mirror?" Wu Tao suppressed his inner excitement and asked as calmly as possible.

The old man glanced at her, slowly took out a wooden box from the counter, opened it, and carefully took out the bronze mirror.

Wu Tao took the mirror and looked at it carefully. Although the mirror surface was a little blurry, it could still be seen that the workmanship was very delicate, especially the peach blossom patterns, which were lifelike and seemed to carry a faint fragrance.

The moment Wu Tao's fingers touched the mirror, a strange energy suddenly surged out of the mirror and instantly spread throughout her body. Wu Tao felt her eyes go dark, countless images flashed through her mind, and a series of noisy sounds rang in her ears...

"Boss, I'll buy this mirror!" Wu Tao came back to his senses and said without hesitation.

"Girl, are you sure?" The old man seemed a little surprised. "This mirror is not cheap."

"I'm sure!" Wu Tao said firmly, "I'll buy it no matter how much it costs!"

The old man looked at her deeply, then held up two fingers.

"Twenty thousand?" Although Wu Tao felt that the price was a bit high, she didn't care about that in order to find out the secret of this mirror.

"Two million." The old man said word by word.

"What?!" Wu Tao was stunned. "So expensive?"

The old man snorted coldly: "This is a treasure from the Tang Dynasty. Two million is already a bargain for you!"

Wu Tao took a deep breath and suppressed her inner shock and confusion. What secrets did this mirror hide? Why did she feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity?

"Okay, I'll buy it!" Wu Tao finally decided to buy the mirror. "But I don't have that much cash on me. Can I pay a deposit first?"

"Okay." The old man nodded, "Give me a deposit of 100,000 yuan, and you can pick up the goods tomorrow."

After Wu Tao returned home, she immediately called her best friend and asked her to help raise funds.

"Taozi, what do you need so much money for?" her bestie asked worriedly, "Are you in any trouble?"

"I'm fine, don't worry." Wu Tao comforted, "I'll explain to you tomorrow. Anyway, you must help me raise the money!"

The next day, Wu Tao came to the antique shop with the money, but found the door closed and the owner was nowhere to be found.

"Strange, where is the person?" Wu Tao had a bad feeling in her heart. She knocked on the door, but no one answered.

At this moment, a cold voice came from behind her: "Who are you looking for?"

Wu Tao turned around suddenly and saw a burly man standing behind her with a sneer on his face.

"You...who are you?" Wu Tao asked vigilantly.

"It doesn't matter who I am," the man approached, a trace of greed flashing in his eyes, "What's important is that I know what you are looking for..."

Wu Tao's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition came over her. This man was obviously up to no good, and his words "I know what you're looking for" made her more certain that she was in trouble.

"I don't understand what you are talking about." Wu Tao tried to remain calm, took a few steps back, and quickly scanned the surroundings, looking for a route to escape.

"Stop pretending!" The man pressed on, with a sinister smile on his face, "I advise you to hand over that Tang Dynasty mirror, otherwise..."

"What do you want to do?!" Wu Tao stared at him warily and clenched the bag in her hand, which contained the bronze mirror.

The man didn't answer, but sneered and reached out to snatch Wu Tao's bag. Wu Tao reacted quickly, dodged sideways, then slammed the bag at the man, and turned and ran while he was dodging.

"Want to run? Not that easy!" the man roared and chased after him.

Wu Tao ran wildly on the narrow street, with the heavy footsteps of the man behind her. She knew she couldn't just sit there and wait for death, she had to find a way to get rid of this dangerous guy.

When she ran to an intersection, Wu Tao suddenly turned around and hid in a secluded alley. The man chased her to the intersection, but he didn't see Wu Tao and was stunned.

Wu Tao hid in the alley, not daring to breathe. She knew the man must still be searching nearby, and she had to find a way to escape as soon as possible.

She looked around and found an iron gate at the end of the alley with a rusty lock on it. Without thinking too much, Wu Tao rushed over and tried to open the iron gate.

"Don't waste your energy!" A man's voice suddenly came from behind him. Wu Tao's heart sank, knowing that he had been discovered.

The man approached step by step with a smug smile on his face: "You can't run away, just hand over the things!"

Wu Tao leaned against the iron gate, with nowhere to retreat. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Her experience in the Tang Dynasty taught her to stay calm and courageous in the face of adversity.

"You want this mirror?" Wu Tao took out the bronze mirror from her bag and waved it in front of the man. "I can give it to you, but you have to tell me first, who are you? Why do you want this mirror?"

The man was obviously startled by Wu Tao's action. He was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Want to know? Maybe in the next life!"

After saying that, the man rushed towards Wu Tao again. At that moment, the bronze mirror in Wu Tao's hand suddenly flashed a dazzling light, and the man screamed and fell to the ground, covering his eyes.

Wu Tao took the opportunity to rush over, snatched the key from the man's hand, then opened the iron gate and fled out of the alley.

She didn't know what that light was, but she knew that this mirror was definitely not an ordinary antique. It seemed to have some mysterious power, and this power might be able to help her return to the Tang Dynasty...

"It seems like I have to go find someone..." Wu Tao looked back in the direction of the antique shop and muttered to himself.

Wu Tao stepped into the antique shop again. The shop owner was slowly cleaning the porcelain on the shelves with a feather duster. When he saw her come in, a barely perceptible light flashed in his eyes.

"You're here." The boss put down the duster and spoke calmly, as if the previous conflict had never happened.

Wu Tao went straight to the point: "You know how to use it to go back to the past, right?" She spread out her palm, and the bronze mirror lay there quietly, emitting a faint luster under the dim light.

The boss's eyes fell on the bronze mirror. After a moment of silence, he slowly spoke: "This mirror is not an ordinary object. It connects the two ends of time and has the power to travel through time. To activate it, you need to collect three things..."

For the next hour, Wu Tao seemed to be in a bizarre world, listening to the boss telling the legend about this ancient mirror and its close connection with the Tang Dynasty.

It turns out that this mirror was a treasure made by a skilled craftsman for the royal family in the Tang Dynasty, and it possessed incredible power. However, it was lost in the war, and was lost among the people. It was eventually broken into several parts and scattered in the dust of history.

"You need to find two other things: a jade pendant engraved with special runes, and a drop of blood from someone with royal blood." The boss finally said, "Only when you have these three things can you activate the power of the ancient mirror and allow you to return to the past."

Wu Tao's heart surged with emotion, and she felt an inexplicable sense of mission. She knew that this was not just a simple time travel, but a destined journey, a promise across time and space.

Following the clues provided by her boss, she began to run around looking for the two crucial items. Her efforts paid off, and after a series of thrilling encounters, she finally found the jade pendant and the drop of precious blood.

Just as Wu Tao was about to follow his boss's instructions and combine the three things into one to activate the power of the ancient mirror, an accident happened.

A group of men in black suddenly appeared and surrounded the antique shop. They were well-trained and moved quickly, and it was obvious that they were not ordinary thieves.

"Hand over the mirror if you don't want to die!" The leading man in black spoke in a cold tone with greed flashing in his eyes.

Wu Tao's heart trembled, realizing that she might be involved in a bigger conspiracy. But she did not back down, but held the bronze mirror tightly in her hand, and faced the man in black with a firm gaze.

"Who are you? Why do you want to snatch this mirror?"

The man in black sneered and did not answer. Instead, he gave the order directly: "Do it!"

A fierce battle was about to break out. Although Wu Tao was agile, he was outnumbered and was soon forced into a corner.

At this critical moment, the bronze mirror suddenly emitted a dazzling light, and a powerful force shook Wu Tao and the man in black away at the same time.

"Oh no, she's going to..." The man in black seemed to realize something, his face changed drastically, and he wanted to stop her, but it was too late...