A few steps away from the Dong Village, nestled among mist-shrouded Cang Wu mountains, a clear river flowed like a silver ribbon through the green hills.
This stretch of water was sacred to the women, prohibited to all men by order of the village head himself.
Here, under the warm afternoon sun, the girls of the village came to bathe and wash their garments, free from any prying eyes.
Cui Cui stood waist-deep in the cool current, her long black hair cascading down her back like silk. At eighteen, she was the most striking beauty in the village, her fair skin glowing under the sunlight, her slender waist flaring into soft, full hips and a moderately perky ass, her rounded breasts rising and falling gently with each breath.
Water droplets clung to her smooth skin, tracing paths over her curves as she laughed freely with her friends.
"Aiya, Cui Cui! Stop splashing so hard!" one of the girls cried out, giggling as she shielded her face. "You’ll soak the clothes I’m trying to wash with your dirty bath water!"
Cui Cui grinned, cupping water in her hands and tossing it playfully. "Then wash faster, Ling! The river feels too good today. Look at this!" She dove under for a moment, then resurfaced with a splash, her full breasts bobbing freely in the water as she pushed her wet hair back from her face.
Another girl, Xiao Yu, was scrubbing a set of undergarments on a smooth stone near the bank. "You’re always the most carefree one, Cui Cui. Your father would have a fit if he saw how freely we play here. He always say we should do our business quickly and come back."
"Father knows this place is safe," Cui Cui replied, her voice light. She swam closer to her friends, the cool water sliding over her bare body. "Besides, no man dares come near. The last one who tried... well, you remember what happened to his eyes."
The girls shuddered slightly but soon returned to laughing and playing. Some splashed each other, their nude forms glistening as they chased one another through the shallows.
Others worked on laundry, beating wet clothes against rocks while chatting about village gossip. Cui Cui floated on her back for a moment, staring up at the clear sky, her beautiful body fully displayed, soft mounds of her breasts breaking the surface, the gentle curve of her stomach, the long lines of her legs.
For a full minute they played like that, the cheerful sounds of water and laughter filling the air.
Then something firm and unexpected brushed against Cui Cui’s buttcheeks beneath the surface.
She jerked violently, a sharp gasp tearing from her lips. "Ah!" In pure panic she thrashed toward the surface, heart pounding. "A beast! Something just touched me!"
The other girls froze. "What? Where?!"
Cui Cui spun around, eyes wide, ready to flee but then she saw it. A human form drifted slowly with the current.
A man. Naked. Unconscious. Long black hair floating around a sharply defined face, his body lean and powerfully muscled, skin pale from the water.
"It’s... a man!" she gasped.
The other women stared in shock, then scrambled toward the bank in a flurry of movement. Hands grabbed discarded robes. Cui Cui quickly pulled on her simple dress, water still dripping from her hair and body as she stared at the floating figure.
"We have to tell Father," she said urgently. "Quickly!"
Hours later the cheerful atmosphere of the riverbank had vanished completely.
A small group of village men stood in a tight circle around the unconscious stranger, who now lay on the grassy bank. A rough cloth had been draped over his lower body out of respect for the women present.
Cui Cui stood a short distance away beside her younger brother Qing Qing, who was only fourteen. Both watched in tense silence.
The man looked to be around Cui Cui’s age, eighteen or perhaps a little older. His long black hair was matted against his forehead. Even unconscious, his body was striking: broad shoulders, defined muscles, the clear build of someone who had trained hard.
An older villager knelt beside him, checking pulse and breathing with careful fingers. After a long moment he looked up at Fei Fei, the village head, his expression grim.
A collective sigh of relief passed through the group.
Then the examiner spoke again, voice low. "If I am not wrong... this man is a Spirit Master."
The words landed like a stone in still water.
Fei Fei’s face tightened. In this world, their Heavenly Dao had never activated. The people of Dong Village were mere mortals, lower even than the weakest Rank 1 Spirit Masters.
The presence of one of the spirit masters here was no small matter.
"A Spirit Master..." one of the men muttered. "If he is a demonic cultivator and wakes up among us..."
"He could slaughter the entire village," another finished quietly. "Or worse."
Yet the opposite fear was just as sharp. If this man belonged to a righteous clan and they harmed him or simply let him die, the consequences would be the same. No clan, not even the Lin Clan their village served, would protect a group of mortals who had injured or abandoned a Spirit Master.
Their lives were worth far less.
Fei Fei stared down at the unconscious youth, mind racing. He could order the body pushed back into the river and pretend they had never found him. Or they could take the risk of helping him, hoping for reward if the man proved righteous.
He stood on the edge of a double-edged sword.
Cui Cui stepped forward quietly. She kept her voice low so only her father could hear, careful not to undermine him in front of the others.
"Father... it doesn’t matter what he is. He is a man in need of help. We should help him. Please don’t do anything to him."
Fei Fei looked at his daughter’s earnest face, then at the young man lying on the bank. After a long moment he exhaled and turned to the gathered adults.
"Lift him up. We take him back to the village. And send a messenger to the Lin Clan at once. Tell them of his presence here. If he is a demonic cultivator, they will deal with him. If not... then we have done what is right."
The men nodded and carefully lifted the unconscious Spirit Master.
Cui Cui lingered a moment longer, gazing down at the stranger’s face. Softly, almost to herself, she murmured:
"I hope you’re not trouble, young master..."
***
Hua Ke walked down the dark cavern tunnel, his footsteps echoing softly in the quiet space, free of any other creatures.
He had finally triumphed over the trial Senior Pu Zi had prepared for him. However, what exactly transpired during that trial was a matter he would take to his grave.
Right now, after sweeping the place clean of every treasure he could collect and refining whatever his current body could handle, the young man strutted forward. He felt like a newly appointed emperor ready to conquer the heavens.
The path led straight to a rather peculiar exit.
Hua Ke stopped in his tracks and stared at the bizarre stone formation.
"Why does this door look like a giant anus?" he muttered to himself, tilting his head in pure confusion. "Did Senior Pu Zi have some strange fetishes? What kind of grand senior leaves a legacy behind a literal anus?"
He had no memories of the door he originally entered. If he did, he would have remembered that the entrance looked exactly like a giant stone vagina, making this exit perfectly fitting to this inheritance. But ignorance was truly bliss. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
Hua Ke shook his head, clearing away the unwanted thoughts. He had no time to ponder about that. He needed to leave this cave.
Far more adventures awaited him! He needed to grow strong, strong enough to expose his murderous older brothers to the clan elders and not get slaughtered in the process.
He stepped confidently toward the exit. The fleshy looking stone puckered and opened upon his arrival, a sight that made him shudder violently.
"Nine heavens!" he exclaimed, holding his breath.
First step. Second step.
Squelch.
The moment his body was fully outside, the exit slammed shut behind him, vanishing into the solid rock face as if it had never been there.
Young Hua Ke found himself standing in a lush, sprawling forest right below a majestic, towering mountain.
He looked up, shielding his eyes from the bright afternoon sun. He blinked once, then twice.
"Wait a minute," he said, rubbing his chin. "That is definitely not Tie Zhu mountain."
The peaks here were entirely different, draped in an unnatural mist that he had never seen anywhere near his clan territory. The realization hit him fast. He had traveled an incredibly far distance! He must have entered an entirely new region.
A massive grin spread across his face. "Perfect! If I popped out near the clan estate, those bastards would just try to assassinate me again. Out here, I am completely safe! I can train in peace, I can become a peerless expert before going back to them!"
Right on cue, his stomach let out a thunderous roar that sounded exactly like an angry demonic beast.
Hua Ke suddenly doubled over, clutching his gut in pure agony. "Ah! Good heavens, what is happening?"
His throat suddenly felt like it was stuffed with hot, dry sand. His limbs grew impossibly heavy. It became immediately apparent that the mystical energy of the cave had been holding his mortal hunger and thirst at bay.
Now that he was outside the formation, weeks of accumulated starvation and dehydration slammed into his weak body all at once.
"Water," he gasped, his vision blurring as he swayed on his feet. "Just a single drop of moisture, please!"
He stumbled forward, taking maybe fifty desperate steps into the woods. His grand dreams of becoming a peerless expert were instantly replaced by the primal, pathetic need for a drink.
Babble, babble.
The sweet, melodic sound of flowing water reached his ears.
"A river!" Hua Ke croaked, tears of joy threatening to fall, though he was too dehydrated to produce them. He dragged his heavy feet toward the sound, bursting clumsily through the thick foliage.
There it was. A beautiful, clear river shining brilliantly under the sun. He scrambled toward the grassy bank, reaching his hands out to scoop up the life saving liquid.
"Salvation!" he cheered weakly.
But right before his parched lips could touch the water, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. His exhausted, starved body simply gave up. He fainted on the very edge of the bank, tumbling headfirst into the current with a loud splash.
The gentle river caught him and carried his unconscious, naked body smoothly downstream... right toward a group of unsuspecting bathing village girls.