The monkey-like creature moved once again atop the tree and I instinctively took a step back towards an unassumingly small rock and tripped, falling on my butt. Throughout my fairly illustrious career in my past life I was a technology giant and as such, I had dealt with my fair share of backstabbing, falsehood and even threats to my life but I never had so much fear towards the unknown as in this particular moment.

Deflated from any bravado I clumsily got up and ran as fast as I could, immediately feeling the low rumble of the Qi circulating through my body giving me superhuman speed.

While feeling the wind hit my face like a treacherous mistress whip, I don't look back to see if the demonic beast was chasing after me.

Not being able to shake the feeling of someone calling me a coward somewhere in the multiverse, I dodged the thick vines and treacherous rocks scattered around the forest floor.

After running for twenty minutes straight and having deemed the distance of safe, I made my way towards a clearing while jogging and I felt safer to see a more open space surround me.

*******************

Now safe in my new found refuge but lost to the path Li Xiao Nu used before, I slumped in the shallow grass hoping no predator was around to disturb my well-deserved rest. Closing my eyes due to fatigue I pondered for a little while and decided that the best course of action would be to wait for any signs of civilization.

Quickly opening my eyes I roll in the grass and observe my surrounding carefully after I clearly heard a sound coming from behind me.

What previously were animalistic sounds, were gone now and what replaced them were something like a river background noise.

Resting in the grass, I felt refreshed after my Qi made two complete circulations, so I slowly got up, face filled with hope to find a bathing place to get rid of all the murk my body had gathered and what accumulated in my once white robes.

Half an hour later of walking, what seemed like a river, was in fact, a big crystalline river flowing with enough space from one shore to the other to let two small vessels go through. Noticing that the river was calm I carelessly jumped inside without considering anything other than to get myself cleaned.

The current of the river was indeed mild, so once inside I stripped of any items and clothing I had and threw them to the shore welcoming a much-needed bath, albeit a freezing cold one.

While bathing I allowed myself a break from the constant awareness that I had installed since coming to this planet and thought about the daughter I left behind on earth and how she had put up with my childish demeanor even after I turned old and gray.

When she was little I had just started to build my company and left everything related to her education and other details to her mother. Even after my wife tragically died on account of a disease, a few years before my invention, my little girl never went against me, always polite and well mannered. Truth be told I hated most of our encounters because of her resemblance to her mother and how it made me feel. It was only in my late years after she joined my company as a developer, that we had formed any kind of familial bond.

While immersed in saddening thoughts, I hadn’t noticed the footsteps approaching the margin of the river.

Quickly turning in the direction of the sound, I glanced at the other side of the river and what I saw was a red-faced girl.

She was wearing a long and blue hanfu that suited very well her pale and beautiful face. In her seemingly fragile hand's I could see that there was a basket filled with clothes. I, not knowing what to do while she gazed at my naked form wide-eyed and trembling lips, just stood in place waiting for any reaction she could have.

“Kyaaaaaa!”

The woman of about sixteen years of age, knees giving out she screamed at the top her lungs while snapping out of her confusion.

“Help Senior Sisters! There’s a perverted male in the river taking a bath!”

Just as I was about to get out of the water and run for it, the young girl screamed towards some unknown point in the distance and I heard quick steps approaching the river bank.

Face darkening I thought of the implications of being caught by the woman in the river swimming naked while not moving at all, even though I was just as embarrassed as her.

'Shit, if other come and see me acting like a pervert I might just die.'

Then out of nowhere, one girl became five and leading them was an even more beautiful girl, her stoic demeanor and fairy-like face that seemed in her late twenties screamed a no-nonsense personality, while through her eyes I could see something that I instinctively recognized, killing intent.

Through her small lips, impossible decibels were reached when her words came out.

“Who dares act impudently knowing this is the Yue sect river, where we wash our undergarments!”

Caught by surprise from the accusation I could only defend myself with a brilliant and sure win one-liner.

“Say what?”