Images of past events flashed before my eyes. They passed my mind and left little behind. The things that were left behind were incomprehensible. They represented my actions according to some unknown conditions upon which the scenarios were constructed.
In some, I was happy. In some I was sad. In some I was courageous. In some, I was a coward. In those scenarios, I was many things, but out of all the things that I Dreamed of, the most recurring scenario was the one that left me horny as hell.
At that moment where blissfulness meets reality and my brain realizes that it was waking up, the generated scenario keeps vanishing from recent memory, as if it was never meant to hold them at all.
Dreams may have a real purpose in life, and whatever it was, it mattered little to me.
At least right now, they did not, for when my brain realized it was waking up from the dream state, it knew that though the memories rarely stayed, unless they impacted the dreamer heavily, it did not mean there were no aftereffects left behind.
Like my current crazed feelings of lust and desire that could not be met.
It has been about a month since I have been in this world. I have abstained from pleasure by distracting myself with other things like; a new language to learn, a new Power to explore; theorizing about my new future, and similar things.
Unfortunately, all that came at a cost, at least one that was induced by the almost perfect brain reconstruction.
Opening my eyes, the now-familiar wooden ceiling showed itself to me.
Feeling for my right hand I found it buried under my pajama, specifically the lower part and in the middle of my legs.
Taking out my hand I considered my current situation and concluded. " This can't go on, I either find a way to lower my hormone imbalance, or it's time I finally ask what is wrong with this body and then fix it. "
Pulling away from the blankets and standing up I found my way to the closet for clothes. It had taken me a few days of wearing pajamas outside the bedroom to realize that being seen like that was very inappropriate for this place and a little girl, especially.
Being a man in my past life I ignored it. After all, it was summer and the clothes that I found in the closet were, well, quite baggy with wide sleeves and complex ways to truly put them on. But that was just an excuse, for my true reason was that the pajamas of Yu Jiao daughter of the Yu merchant family had been of such a quality that they could qualify for everyday wear around the house in my previous life.
That was how I used them, but no matter how much of a different culture I had been from, right now I was in this world. And if I didn't want to be offed before I even started on increasing my potential to actually be able to ignore what society says, it was a small price to pay.
I had no idea what it was called back on Earth, but here they called it Hanfu. It consisted of multiple layers of cloth that formed something like an undershirt, a shirt, or something similar, and over that would then be a full-body garment.
The good thing for me is that there are different versions of these clothes that I only ever saw on TV dramas.
Going for the simplest I left the pajamas on and just downed the full-body version on it. It had a green undertone with brown interwoven for aesthetics. Taking an agonizing long to wear it all, I looked at myself.
The clothes were pleasing to the eyes and the quality of the silk did not disappoint so I could not deny the design. " Still I never understood these wide sleeves. They are such a pain to have. Never mind, once I am strong enough I will just ignore their society and have some tailor design something western-styled for me, or at least something similar. "
Leaving the bedroom, I looked for the servant tending to me.
One thing I found interesting is that despite being the young miss of this family, the previous inhabitant of this body had only one servant. Considering how she was loved by the current head of the Clan I knew she could have more.
So out of curiosity, I asked the healer/physician/doctor about that on one of his visits.
Apparently, despite the previous Yu Jiao being weak in body, that seemed not to be of the character.
She was quite headstrong and despite her weakness, she didn't want to look weak.
So, one servant, it was once she was old enough in her father's eyes.
Still being early morning with a weak biting chill in the air I found her in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Leaving her at it I left for the room adjacent to the bedroom.
It was something like a living room in purpose but it had very little in common with one. Aside from a table and a few chairs it had little.
No big couches or even small ones, and no giant flat TV screen that would have been there if this was a world with modern tech.
There I waited and considered everything that I had gone through in the past month.
From a certain perspective, it was little, as I hadn't left this small courtyard connected to the main mansion, but aside from being taught their language and finding out that I may be learning it faster than I imagined, even with the cheat. The biggest change is my understanding of Life Essence and my own body.
Being locked in thinking about my current understanding of the body and the predicament that I was facing, I didn't notice the time passing and soon Tao Fang, the servant, and maid in question brought the food.
Rice being a staple food here, I grew used to having it for almost anything. Not being that picky with food alongside a few side dishes made it quite ok.
The funny thing about having servants is the dependence on them if you grew with them, not to mention the hierarchical status they brought to civilization, it was only after having them and being able to order them around that I noticed how intoxicating it can be.
When I remembered how the young masters and young misses behaved arrogantly in the stories, it was only now that I experienced it myself that I could truly see it from their perspective.
Having an inherent status class of people under you to order around does give anybody and anything an overinflated ego.
' Let's hope I don't become like that, after all, I do like having servants in this life. '
After Tao Fang placed everything on the table and before she left again I called out to her. " Tao Fang, please go and see Elder He and tell him that I want to see him as soon as possible. And if he has no other things to do and accepts right away, go and prepare some tea for us. "
"Yes, miss. " Nodding, she accepted the order and was gone.
" Having somebody to order around all the time will get into my head, one day, I swear. " Shaking my head, I had my breakfast. Not wanting to be that reliant on servants yet, I took the porcelain cups in which the food was delivered, to the kitchen.
There I saw Tao Fang and saw her boiling the water. Leaving the cups for cleaning I left back to the fake living room.
There I waited again until the elder with the long beard in question came. To me, he looked like somebody in his 80s but from his steps, I could see that he had quite a few years ahead of him.
Standing up I faced him. " Elder He, thank you for accepting my call. Please have a seat. " I pointed to a chair on the opposite side of the table. Nodding, he sat down.
" It is impressive how fast your speech has recovered. It makes me hopeful that other things might recover one day. " He Shoushan delivered his opinion to me in a slower tempo as I have yet to get used to their language.
Sighing in my mind, I shook my head. " We can hope but I doubt that will happen. Memories and speech, while connected to a great degree, are governed by different parts of the mind. Speech is not just reliant on the memories of the mind but muscle memory of the throat and tongue too. You being a healer, should know about that fact better than I do? "
Nodding, he spoke again with some sadness hidden in his eyes. " I see, then tell me why you have called for me? "
" Before that topic, will you tell me something first? " Seeing his nod I ask. " What is the situation with my… ugh, father? "
" Oh. " Was all he said. I could see he was contemplating what to say when Tao Fang came with the tea. Placing the teacups before us, she first filled the old man's and then mine.
One thing I noticed before when Tao Fang offered me tea was that it had no sugar inside. While I liked tea, drinking it without sugar was not for me, so I had asked for something with it.
Seeing the cookies she brought I tried to take a few but then noticed the wide sleeves in the way. I pulled them back and took one, dipped it a bit into the tea, and ate it. I had no idea how they were made, and even if they are not as sweet as I was used to, they were small enough to go all the way in without a problem.
Chewing for a bit I heard the old man speak. " Since you have recovered speech to such a degree, does that mean you are ready to speak about yourself? "
Guess the time has come to open up a bit. " Yes, I am sure my… father has been expecting some answers. Go ahead and ask what you want? " I said as I touched the teacup from the side a bit. Testing it for heat with light touches I shook my head. Taking another cookie I dip it into the tea halfway and swallow it.
" Who are you? " He asked the most simple question and yet it was one of the hardest to answer.
Having already theorized this type of question I theorized many ways to answer but none of them would give them the answer they sought. " Well, I could tell you my identity in my last life and even how I lived it, but it would be useless to you or my… father. "
" Why? "
" The reason is simple, I am not a local. " I replied.
" Local? Are you talking about the Azure Wind Empire or some other kingdom? " He asked.
Shaking my head I denied it. " No, when I say local I mean I am not from this World. "
Immediately distress hit the old man. I could see a disturbing expression on him. " Is there a problem that I am not aware of? " I ask.
Shaking his head and calming down he replied. " Depends, how do you know that? "
" Aside from being sure that I was meant to reincarnate in a Different World from my previous one? Well, the most obvious answer would be when I looked at the night sky. There are too many moons. " After the initial fervor of being here had dwindled somewhat I had decided to observe the night sky and there I found not one, but two moons, and that was not the end of it.
Aside from the main white one similar to Earth's, the other one being green of similar size as the first one, it was a few days later that I found three smaller ones orbiting this planet.
Without the light pollution from the cities, it was easier to notice them and they were respectively brown, blue, and red.
" My previous World only had one. There are other minor details but that one is the most obvious. " I replied. " So is there a problem? " I ask again.
" No, there is not. Don't worry about it. It is an old problem of mine. It has nothing to do with you. " He resolutely denied.
Not wanting to increase my problems I go on with my origin. " My last name is not important right now, since I will continue using Yu Jiao. What is important however is that in my previous life I had been a male. "
" Male? " Surprised, he asked.
" Yes, that is one of the reasons I have called for you, but we can get back on that later. Let us finish the current topic. What else should I explain to ease the concerns of my… father. " Giving him a question I took another cookie but this time I just placed it in my mouth and took a sip of the tea. It has a peculiar taste. It reminded me of the various green teas I had on Earth. Being made of dried leaves it was of no surprise and they call it, Tieguanyin or roughly translated in my mind the Iron Goddess Tea.
" Well, me being an outsider, it is not right to interfere with the internal affairs of the Yu clan, but I think asking this instead of the Lord is much better. Since the Jiao before you is gone and you have replaced her, what are your plans for the future in regards to the Yu clan? " Asked the old man while stroking his beard.
That was much harder to answer. " I have thought about it, but it is hard to answer. I carry the blood of Yu Liwei and aside from the feelings, my… father had, currently I do not see any reason to be on the bad side of them. I would certainly appreciate it if I am accepted as a family member, as I would try my best to reciprocate any feelings but it will be hard on both sides.. "
Having lost his much-cherished daughter, and having her replaced by somebody else was quite horrifying to anybody. " The only problem I see with that is that I am not his daughter in mind and I can never replace her, especially since I have several decades of life experience being a man. "
"Decades? " He exclaimed, forgetting about his beard as he stared at me.
Nodding, I looked at his expression for a bit when a thought came to me. " Did you expect me to be older for some reason? Now that I am here in this world, how long do humans even live here? "
Calming himself for a second he replied. " Depends on the cultivation of the individual but for those without any cultivation, it is somewhere around a century if not killed. "
"It is not that different from my World, but why the surprise? " I asked as I was not surprised about the cultivation part.
It was not the first time I came across it, as the teacher that was teaching me the language and script mentioned it plenty of times. And if I had to be honest, Asian-type civilizations without any kind of cultivation probably didn't exist.
" Ah, according to my old teacher, may he rest in peace forever, said that only those at the highest levels of cultivation can enter reincarnation willingly and keep their memories. All those that reached those levels are at least centuries old, after all, it only gets harder and harder to cultivate as you progress. Before you ask, I am 367 as of 4 months ago. "
" Oh, you look good for someone close to 400. " I said jokingly to him, taking another cookie and sipping some more tea.
" Hoho, no need to be shy about it, I know I am old, and likely won't be able to advance anymore too. But that is beside the point if you have only decades of experience, how could you be here and remember your past life? "
" Simple old man, there are two reasons. The first is, that you should not assume that my World and yours follow the same Power scheme. " At that, he raised an eyebrow and went back to stroking his long beard. " The second being that you assume I came here willingly, which I did not? "
Blinking a few times. " You did not? Then how and why are you here? "
Remembering my story, with only a few flourishes I explain. " The reason as to why I only have decades of memories is because my memories are incomplete. My last memory is of me being in an accident. After that, I woke up here with a type of message stuck in my head. "
" What was in the message? " Tinged with curiosity in his voice, the old man asked.
" There was a lot, but in short it goes like this. I am a small slice of his being that he chose to send out into a different World along with a few gifts. " I said.
" That, I did not expect? Hmm. " Stroking his beard and thinking for a bit he asked. " Was he experimenting by any chance? "
This time I raised an eyebrow at him. We stared at each other for a bit. By nodding at his thought, I explained. " Yes, the method he used was so delicate that it could not sustain his… heavy existence. So he used his old memories from before he became what he became and sent me hoping that at some point I would become strong enough to contact him back and tell him it worked. "
" Hmm, hoping blindly but not without knowledge, since you are here. " Commented the old man. " Tell me, among your gifts, there should be a Flame, right? "
Hearing that stunned me a bit. Tilting my head in curiosity I asked. " How do you know that? "
" Ho, don't be surprised. When the young miss's heart stopped for some time, a Flame appeared in her body and soon outside it. The Flame had no color. Neither did it emit any heat but that is not the reason I ask. No, the reason is that the Flame in question burned down the young miss's roots? It is there that my curiosity lies and how you are alive without them. "
"Roots? Roots? " I said while tilting my head in thought.
" The most common story tells us that the Roots are Heaven's gifts to us mortals so that we can cultivate and become higher beings. Seeing you alive and not dead, there is probably some truth in that story. The Roots are a mystical network in our bodies. It has no physical presence and yet it is there and it is thanks to them that we gather and channel Qi from the air and into ourselves to refine our mortality and reach Immortality. " Responded the old man. " Or so goes the common story. "
" I think I know what you are talking about. " Standing up, I went to him. " Give me your hand old man, and don't resist this, please. I have barely a month of practice after all. "
Receiving the confirmation, I took his old wrinkled right hand into my own and concentrated.
First, I split one more part of my Will and set it to the task I was about to do. Next, I poured some Life Essence into his hand as a test. Once there was no negative response, I sent more into his arm. More and more went and soon it reached his shoulder and soon the chest and from there it went all over his body.
Seeing his old body was different from how I saw my own. Mine was clear as crystal and his was murky like a river bed. Once it was all over his body I switched from broad scanning to details and in seconds the Roots he was talking about appeared.
An interconnected 4th-dimensional highway of roads crisscrossed all over his body, like a reflection of the real one. From the big highways that acted as the main road that connect metropolises to the smaller roads that connect to cities and towns, maybe even villages, and finally roads that one could mistake for forest walkways in such numbers that one could actually get lost in them.
My original had mentioned them and their purpose but to see it all in person was a very different story.
These Roots inside the old man, as they called them here, consisted of one major center that was located in the abdomen, one major highway that was the spine, and the lesser highways that were the bones all over the body. After that would be the major organs representing the cities and towns representing the less used but equally important.
At last, we have the roads that lead nowhere, or it should be said that they lead to the muscles and then to nowhere that represents cells, probably.
Done with the major scanning of it I slowly start pulling on my Life Essence and back inside me. Back in my body I used the same Life Essence and gathered it all into one ball in my head and there I just let it rest, for later examination.
This method was similar to how I was learning a new language, so I was quite familiar with it.
Opening my eyes I stared at the old man almost eye to eye as I was quite small compared to him, even when he was just there sitting with a spine ramrod straight.
Back in my seat I looked back at the old man and spoke. " I have confirmed what the Roots are and I can tell you why they were consumed by the Flame of Life, as my original called it. Want to know? "
" I must say that was the most... enigmatic Divine Sense I have ever felt. If not for you diving so deep I would not have felt it at all. " Nodding, I filed that name in my mind. He voiced his thoughts seconds later. " But go ahead, I am very curious about the answer. "
" I will tell you what the original told me. " I said. " The Roots as you call them are a cane. By cane, in this case, I mean the one old people use to walk, only in this case the Roots are a cultivation aid for children. I am sure even children can come to that conclusion, but what they can not tell, and probably everybody else that cultivates, is that Qi, or Balance as my original calls it, is not a fundamental force of Creation. "
"It's not? " Intrigued, he inquired. Shaking my head I continue my explanation. " No, it consists of two forces, and If my current language teacher was correct then here in this World it's called Yin and Yang, Thought and Reality. "
" Yin and Yang, kind of obvious, though " Again, he stroked his beard, up and down in thought.
' Is he in love with his beard or is everybody here like that? Hmm, but then again while I didn't have a long one I did like running my hand over it, while I had it. Must be a man thing then. Wonder what's the equivalent in a female? Hair, maybe? '
" So that Flame of Life's purpose is to separate everything back into fundamentals. Hmm, having the Roots sets one on a path from the start, in a manner of speaking. Does that mean you won't cultivate Qi? " He asked me.
" Probably? Maybe? I don't know? Will see where life takes me after all my path is not set in stone and I can choose any that I want. After all, Balance is achieved not granted. "
" Achieved and not granted, a good saying that is. " He replied to my thoughts.
" I think we got sidetracked in our conversation. I had called you here for a reason and now we are talking about… the Dao I think, as it's called here? " Seeing him agreeing I picked up my tea that cooled down quite a bit since I spent time exploring his roots.
Now that I am female, it sounds so kinky. " Let me wet my throat a bit, I suggest you do too. We will be here for some time. One sec. "
Leaving the fake living room and the old man behind, I found Tao Fang and told her to make some more tea. Back inside I found the healer sipping tea.
Sitting down I found the words and the right timing for this and with an inner glee, I spoke. " The reason I called you here is that I have a problem. I am a bit hesitant to say it, but I cant pleasure myself. "
COUGH, COUGH. Ting, ting sounded the teacup on the table.
' Got him, haha. '