Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

Chapter 257 Survival from desperate situation

Thick fog filled the forest, blocking out the sun and the sky, and not a single ray of light could get through. Hu Bugui anxiously shuttled through the forest, calling out Wu Tao's name over and over again, but the only response he got was the echo of the empty valley and the strange cries of unknown birds and beasts.

"Tao'er, where are you? Answer me!" His voice was hoarse, with unconcealed fear and helplessness. He had never been so scared as he was now, scared of losing her, scared that this was just a nightmare.

Suddenly, he stumbled and fell forward. When he struggled to get up, he found himself in an open space, and the fog around him had dissipated a lot. Not far away, an old man in plain clothes with white hair and beard was sitting cross-legged on a huge rock, looking at him with a smile.

"Who are you?" Hu Bugui asked vigilantly, and subconsciously tightened the sword at his waist.

“Young man, don’t be nervous. I mean no harm to you.” The old man slowly opened his eyes, his deep gaze seemed to see through everything. “You mistakenly entered this place because the magic weapon that allows you to travel through time lost control.”

Hu Bugui's heart moved, and he asked quickly: "Senior, do you know where my wife is? How can we leave here?"

The old man stroked his beard and said calmly, "Time and space are out of order. I have no idea where your wife is now. If you want to leave this place, you can only restore the balance of time and space by repairing the out-of-control magic weapon."

"How to repair it?" Hu Bugui asked anxiously.

"The time-travel magic weapon is a treasure of heaven and earth. It is not easy to repair it." The old man shook his head and pointed at the jade pendant on Hu Bugui's waist and said, "This thing is the hub of the magic weapon. Now it has lost control, which has caused such chaos. If you want to repair the magic weapon, you need to collect five ancient artifacts to stabilize it."

"Five ancient artifacts?" Hu Bugui frowned, "May I ask, Senior, what are these five artifacts? And where are they?"

The old man did not directly answer his question, but said meaningfully: "The secret of heaven cannot be revealed, everything has a fixed number. You just need to remember that time is running out, so don't delay."

After that, the old man gradually faded and finally disappeared, leaving only one sentence echoing in the empty space: "If you want to find the answer, then look for the guidance of fate..."

Hu Bugui looked at the direction where the old man disappeared, his heart full of doubts and uneasiness. Guidance of fate? What exactly does it mean? He clenched the jade pendant in his hand and swore in his heart that no matter what, he would find Wu Tao and leave this hellhole!

At this moment, the jade pendant suddenly emitted a faint light, vaguely pointing in a certain direction... Hu Bugui's face was startled. Could this be the guidance the old man mentioned? He walked towards the direction of the light without hesitation. He knew that the way to find Wu Tao and repair the magic weapon was just ahead.

Hu Bugui tightly grasped the glowing jade pendant in his hand. The faint light was like a guiding light, directing his direction in the foggy forest. He took a deep breath, suppressed the fear and uneasiness in his heart, and resolutely embarked on an unknown journey.

At the same time, Wu Tao was also in danger. She was sucked into an unfamiliar space by a powerful force. She was surrounded by chaos and could not tell the direction. Fear and helplessness surged like a tide, but she told herself to stay calm and believe that Hu Bugui would find her.

"Tao'er, where are you?" Hu Bugui's voice seemed to penetrate the barrier of time and space and rang in Wu Tao's ears. She suddenly opened her eyes and looked around in surprise, but still could not see Hu Bugui.

"I'm here!" Wu Tao responded loudly, with a slight tremor in his voice.

"Follow my voice!" Hu Bugui's voice came again, this time clearer, as if it was right next to his ear.

Wu Tao ran towards the direction where the sound came from without hesitation. She didn't know what was waiting for her ahead, but she had only one belief in her heart: to find Hu Bugui and leave this hellhole together.

After an unknown amount of time, Wu Tao finally saw Hu Bugui. He was standing in front of an ancient altar, holding the glowing jade pendant in his hand, his brows furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.

“Bugui!” Wu Tao rushed over and hugged Hu Bugui, tears welling up in his eyes, “I finally found you!”

Hu Bugui hugged Wu Tao tightly, his heart filled with joy of regaining what he had lost. He gently stroked her hair and said softly, "Tao'er, don't be afraid, I will definitely take you away from here."

At this moment, the light of the jade pendant suddenly became stronger, and several lines of ancient text appeared on the altar. Hu Bugui carefully identified the text, and his face gradually became solemn.

"What's wrong?" Wu Tao noticed that Hu Bugui was acting strangely and asked anxiously.

"These words record the method of repairing the magic weapon, but..." Hu Bugui paused and said in a heavy tone, "We need to find five ancient artifacts scattered in different time and space to repair the magic weapon, otherwise..."

"What else?" Wu Tao's heart was in his throat.

"Otherwise, the disorder of time and space will be irreparable, and the whole world will fall into chaos!" Hu Bugui held Wu Tao's hand tightly, his eyes full of determination, "Tao'er, are you willing to go with me to find these ancient artifacts?"

Wu Tao nodded without hesitation, "I am willing to face it with you no matter what the odds are!"

In this way, Wu Tao and Hu Bugui embarked on a long journey to find the ancient artifact. They traveled through time and space and experienced countless dangers and challenges. They once went deep into the volcano to find the artifact swallowed by magma; they also dived into the deep sea to fight ferocious sea monsters; they also fought wits and courage with cunning time and space thieves...

Every adventure is full of thrills and excitement, but they never give up hope, because they know that they are fighting to save each other and save the whole world!

Finally, after going through untold hardships, they found the last ancient artifact. However, just as they were about to activate the altar and repair the magic weapon, a powerful force suddenly sucked them into the vortex of time and space...

When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves in a familiar scene - the majestic Chang'an city gate, the bustling crowds, the lively streets...

"We...we have returned to the Tang Dynasty?" Wu Tao asked in surprise.

Hu Bugui looked around, frowning, and said in a deep voice: "Something is wrong. Everything here seems to be different from when we came here before..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw a group of soldiers in armor walking towards them aggressively. The leading soldier pointed at Hu Bugui and shouted, "You bold lunatic, how dare you impersonate the current emperor? Come on, capture him!" The soldiers approached step by step, with their swords shining coldly unsheathed, and surrounded Wu Tao and Hu Bugui.

"Wait!" Wu Tao stepped forward and faced the soldiers. "We are not pretending to be the emperor. We just got lost and came here by mistake. You must have recognized the wrong person!"

"How dare you, these rude people, to quibble!" The leading soldier's eyes widened with anger. "In the presence of the present emperor, how could we admit our mistakes? Come on, arrest these two lunatics who dare to disturb the peace of the imperial city!"

After that, the soldiers rushed forward, brandishing swords and attacking Wu Tao and Hu Bugui. Hu Bugui was quick-witted and protected Wu Tao, dodging the attack while pulling out the dagger he carried with him to parry the soldiers' attacks.

"Bugui, these soldiers seem to be a little strange..." Wu Tao dodged while observing the situation around him, "They seem to really think you are the current emperor, and..."

"Moreover, the Tang Dynasty here seems to be different from when we came here before." Hu Bugui calmly took over Wu Tao's words, his eyes scanning the surrounding environment, his doubts deepened.

The shop signs on both sides of the street had words written on them that they had never seen before; the goods sold by the street vendors were also very different from the Tang Dynasty they remembered. Even the clothes of the people were very different from the Tang Dynasty clothing style they had seen before.

“Could it be that, because of the loss of control of the time-travel magic weapon, not only have we returned to the Tang Dynasty, but even the history of the Tang Dynasty has changed?” Wu Tao’s heart sank as he realized the seriousness of the matter.

"It seems we have to figure out what exactly happened here first." Hu Bugui was thinking about countermeasures while resisting the soldiers' attacks.

At this moment, a cry of surprise suddenly came from the crowd: "Look! Isn't that the Imperial Master?!"

Wu Tao and Hu Bugui looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old man in a purple Taoist robe, slowly approaching, surrounded by several Taoist children. The old man had white hair and a youthful face, and he looked like an immortal, with an awe-inspiring majesty between his brows.

"Stop!" The old man gave an order, and the soldiers stopped and retreated.

"Master Imperial Master, these two maniacs..." The leading soldier stepped forward and was about to explain, but was interrupted by the old man raising his hand.

The old man walked up to Wu Tao and Hu Bugui, looked them up and down, and a gleam of light flashed in his cloudy eyes: "Two donors, where are you from, and what are you doing here?"

"We..." Wu Tao was about to explain, but Hu Bugui gently pulled her sleeve, signaling her not to act rashly.

Hu Bugui stepped forward, bowed and said, "Sir, we two came from far away and got lost and strayed into this place. We apologize for bumping into you all."

The old man smiled slightly, stroked his gray beard and said, "Don't panic, my two donors. I see that you two are extraordinary and not ordinary people. Why don't you follow me back to my house and have a chat?"

Wu Tao and Hu Bugui looked at each other and thought to themselves: This old man does not seem to be an ordinary person. Perhaps we can get some news about this "strange" Tang Dynasty from him.

"In that case, I'm sorry to bother you, old sir." Hu Bugui bowed again and followed the old man with Wu Tao. Wu Tao and Hu Bugui followed the old man to his residence. The old man claimed to be the imperial teacher of the Tang Dynasty, proficient in astronomy, geography, and the art of Qimen Dunjia. He saw at a glance that Wu Tao and Hu Bugui were not from this world, and told them that the loss of control of the magic weapon had disrupted the order of time and space. If it was not repaired in time, it would lead to unimaginable consequences.

"Don't worry, my two donors. Although I cannot intervene directly in this matter, I can guide you to find the key materials to repair the magic weapon." The old man said, taking out a yellowed sheepskin scroll from his sleeve. "It records the five materials needed to repair the magic weapon, representing the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth."

Wu Tao and Hu Bugui took the scroll and carefully read the contents. The five materials were: meteorite iron, thousand-year-old vine, ten-thousand-year-old ice, earth core fire, and soil essence. These materials were all rare treasures in the world, and it was not easy to collect them all.

"Time is running out, the two donors need to act as soon as possible." The old man's voice echoed in their ears, "Remember, repairing the magic weapon is not only for yourselves, but also for saving the world."

Wu Tao and Hu Bugui knew that they had a heavy responsibility on their shoulders. They said goodbye to the old man and embarked on a long journey to find materials. They traveled through high mountains and steep ridges, crossed vast deserts, and even dived into the deep seabed. Along the way, they encountered various difficulties and obstacles, but they never gave up, always supported each other, and moved forward firmly towards their goal.

In the process of searching for materials, Wu Tao and Hu Bugui's feelings for each other deepened day by day. They experienced life and death together, shared joys and sorrows together, and the bond between them became deeper and deeper.

Finally, under the guidance of the souls of ancient wise men, they found the last material - the essence of Xirang.

"We succeeded!" Wu Tao cheered excitedly.

Hu Bugui also showed a relieved smile. He held Wu Tao's hand tightly and said, "Yes, we succeeded."

The two returned to the modern world with all the materials. With the help of the ancient wise men and the guardians of time and space, they successfully repaired the magic weapon of time travel. As the magic weapon emitted a dazzling light, the order of time and space gradually restored its balance.

"It's finally over." Wu Tao let out a long sigh and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

"Yes, we can finally have a good rest." Hu Bugui also said.

However, at this moment, something strange happened... The repaired magic weapon suddenly lost control again, flashing and then falling silent.