A soft, delicate moan broke the silence of the room.
The young woman lying in bed had her eyes tightly shut. Her cheeks were flushed, her pearly teeth biting down on her lower lip. Occasional, faint whimpers escaped her rosy lips as she clutched and rubbed herself against the bedding.
Yu Huan was feeling terribly uncomfortable. Her body was weak and limp, and an unbearable itch seemed to seep from deep within her bones. She knew she was dreaming, and she wanted to wake up, but she simply couldn’t.
Ever since she was fifteen, she had frequently been having the same dream.
The world in her dreams was a cultivation continent—a place overflowing with spiritual energy, where anyone with a spiritual root could cultivate the Dao and eventually become an immortal.
The protagonist of the dream seemed to be another version of herself. Yu Huan was like a shadow, following her dream-self as she studied various techniques, went into seclusion to cultivate, joined her fellow disciples on adventures down the mountain, fought demons and monsters, explored secret realms, and searched for precious treasures.
With each passing day, her dream-self grew stronger and stronger.
Every time she woke up from these dreams, she could remember what she had done. However, whenever she tried to recall the details carefully, they would become hazy and indistinct.
After some time, her entire appearance began to change. She gradually started looking more and more like the version of herself in her dreams.
Her black hair was as smooth as satin, her beauty was breathtaking, and her figure was alluring, with a full bust, slender waist, and shapely hips. Her skin was as smooth and delicate as fine jade.
She welcomed these changes with delight and excitement. After all, what woman didn’t love being beautiful? Besides, this was what she was supposed to look like.
By the time she turned sixteen, her body seemed to have fully matured, and there were no longer any significant changes.
But tonight’s dream was somewhat different.
In the dream, she had also turned sixteen. Her master had given her a dual cultivation technique and instructed her to find a suitable partner to practice it with.
For members of their Hehuan Sect, dual cultivation was an entirely normal part of their cultivation practice.
However, they never formed Daoist partnerships.
Once someone entered into a Daoist partnership, they could only practice dual cultivation with that one person for the rest of their lives. If the two failed to ascend to immortality together, the one left behind would have no choice but to spend the remainder of their life alone.
In her dream, she practiced the technique her master had given her, and her cultivation did indeed advance rapidly. However, the strange sensations in her body became increasingly unbearable.
Eventually, she reached the point where she had to find a dual cultivation partner. Otherwise, she risked losing all the progress she had made in her cultivation.
As the first light of dawn appeared, Yu Huan finally woke up, panting heavily.
She quickly got out of bed and walked over to the table. Picking up the kettle, she poured herself a cup of warm water and took small sips. Only after her throat no longer felt parched did she put the cup down.
Feeling somewhat sticky and uncomfortable, she poured the remaining water from the kettle into the washbasin on the rack behind the door. She took the towel hanging on the wall and carefully wiped herself down, finally feeling a little better.
Thinking about the strange sensations in her body, she couldn’t help wondering:
Could it be that she also needed to find someone to practice dual cultivation with?
The thought terrified her.
She changed out of her sweat-soaked undershirt, then took a roll of white cloth from the wardrobe and carefully wrapped it around her chest.
Her breasts had developed far too much. During winter, when she wore thick layers of clothing, it wasn’t much of a problem. But now that the weather was getting warmer, even wearing a jacket over her undershirt couldn’t hide her figure. She simply didn’t dare go outside without binding her chest.
After getting herself ready, she stepped out of her room.
Seeing that there was still no movement from her parents’ bedroom, she quietly took a bamboo basket from the courtyard, slung it over her back, and slipped out of the house toward the back mountain.
Yushui Village was surrounded by mountains on all four sides. The back mountain was a vast, densely forested wilderness that even ordinary hunters rarely dared to enter.
Yu Huan had discovered that every time she woke up from her dreams, her strength seemed to increase. She felt energetic and full of vitality, so she often sneaked away to this place to practice.
Once she reached the outskirts of the mountain, she began practicing the techniques she had learned in her dreams. With her increased strength, every movement sent gusts of wind through the air.
After fifteen minutes, she stopped and ventured into the woods.
Before long, she emerged carrying two wild rabbits. She placed them in her basket, then gathered some wild vegetables nearby and spread them over the top to conceal the rabbits.
These days, everything belonged to the collective. She certainly couldn’t let anyone see what she had gathered.
By then, the sky was already bright.
On her way home, she encountered several middle-aged women heading out to wash their clothes. She greeted them before walking past.
“Hey, have you noticed? The village chief’s daughter is getting prettier and prettier. She looks just like a fairy!”
“That’s not all. Her figure is pretty good, too. Even though she wears loose clothes and trousers, you can still tell she’s well-endowed.”
“I wonder which lucky young man will marry her in the future. There isn’t a single man within a hundred miles who could match her looks. She’ll probably have to marry someone from the city.”
“What’s the use of being pretty? She’s still just a village girl. What kind of man from the city couldn’t find a beautiful woman? Why would he come all the way out here looking for one?”
One of the women chimed in sarcastically, disagreeing with the others.
The rest exchanged glances and quickly changed the subject, chatting about other things instead.
No one dared speak ill of the village chief’s daughter. The village chief was extremely protective of her, and if he found out they were gossiping about his daughter, he might make life difficult for their husbands.
Yu Huan heard their conversation but didn’t pay it any mind.
After all, when people lived in the same village, there would always be someone who disliked you. As long as they didn’t cause trouble directly in front of her, she couldn’t be bothered to argue with them.
By the time Yu Huan arrived home, her parents had already left for work.
She placed the bamboo basket beside the kitchen door, then went into the kitchen and finished the steamed egg custard her mother had left for her.
Afterward, she began preparing the wild vegetables and rabbits.
Her family never sold their eggs. According to her mother, they weren’t short of money, so all the eggs should be saved for Yu Huan to nourish her body.
Her father wholeheartedly agreed.
Unlike most families of that era, who favored sons over daughters, Yu Huan’s mother had given birth to three sons and had always wanted a daughter.
After Yu Huan was born, everything in the household was reserved for her first. Her three older brothers always had to take a back seat.
As the only daughter in the family, she had been pampered and cherished by her parents since childhood. They never allowed her to do any household chores.
It was only in the past two years that things had changed slightly.
She had been attending junior high school in the county town, and simply cycling there and back took nearly three hours.
Her eldest brother had joined the army, her second brother worked at the supply and marketing cooperative and lived in the staff dormitory, while her third brother attended high school and boarded at school.
Her father had no way of taking her to school and picking her up every day, so she had no choice but to live at the school dormitory.
However, the school had become rather chaotic over the past six months. Combined with the strange dreams she had been experiencing, she eventually decided to move back home.
A few days ago, she had already taken her graduation examinations.
During the six months she had been home, she only did some cooking and light housework. Whenever she had free time, she would go up the mountain and bring back a few pheasants, wild rabbits, or other game.
Even so, her mother constantly worried about her and couldn’t help nagging.
After cleaning the wild rabbits and vegetables, Yu Huan noticed she still had some time. She washed the clothes she had changed out of that morning before preparing lunch.
At noon, her mother returned from work.
Seeing that Yu Huan had already prepared the meal, she looked helpless.
On the table sat a large bowl of spicy stir-fried rabbit meat and a plate of cold dressed wild vegetables.
“Huahuan, did you go up the mountain again?”
Her mother sighed.
“If you want to eat meat, just tell me. I’ll go buy some. You can’t keep going up the mountain like this. There are plenty of wild animals up there. What if you accidentally run into one?”
Yu Huan was arranging the bowls and chopsticks. After letting her mother finish nagging, she smiled reassuringly.
“Mom, don’t worry! I only wander around the outer areas. I never go deep into the mountains. Besides, I’m so strong now that I could kill a tiger with just one punch!”
Her mother looked at her increasingly beautiful daughter.
She knew that Yu Huan’s strength had been growing over the past year or so. Her daughter was certainly strong enough to protect herself.
Still, she couldn’t help worrying and reminding her to be careful. Her daughter was growing up, and there was only so much she could do to stop her from going wherever she wanted.
“Mom, where’s Dad? Why hasn’t he come back yet?”
Yu Huan quickly changed the subject.
“He’s still at the brigade headquarters attending a meeting. Another group of educated youths is arriving tomorrow, so your father has to make arrangements for them.”
Her mother picked up a large bowl and began setting aside some rabbit meat.
“Let’s eat first. We’ll just save some meat for your father.”
Over the past few years, batches of educated youths had arrived in the village.
Some had managed to return to the cities, while others had been recommended for admission to worker-peasant-soldier universities. Most, however, had remained in the village and gradually become no different from the local young men and women.
Yu Huan wasn’t particularly interested in educated youths, so she didn’t ask any more questions.
After lunch, her mother told her to go and rest while she washed the dishes.
Yu Huan couldn’t win the argument, so she obediently returned to her room.
She hadn’t slept well the previous night and needed to get some proper rest.
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