Chapter 1: Chapter 1

"Spring had arrived, the weather was warming, sunlight flooded the ground, and not a cloud could be seen for miles—a perfect day for an outing. The Qingshan Forest Park outside Binhai City was teeming with visitors.

Deep within the park, an area fenced off with barbed wire marked the Qingshan Forest Reserve.

A silver-white wolf darted through the trees, carrying a figure in grass-green on its back. On closer look, it was a loose hoodie, with a few soft curls peeking out from under the oversized hood.

“Yin, we’re almost at the edge. Just drop me off here,” Mu Ying patted the wolf’s back.

Shi Yin stopped at her words, scanning the surroundings warily. Light shimmered over his body, and in the next moment, a tall, silver-haired boy stood up. He reached out and gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind Ying’s ear.

“Study hard. When I come back from this trip, I should finally be able to control the transformation of my ears.” This was the last part of his humanoid form he hadn’t fully mastered. After completing his third initiation, he’d have it down. Then he could go to school with Ying in the human world.

Shi Yin thought longingly about it. Supposedly, lots of high schoolers fall in love. Even though Ying said she wasn’t interested, he just couldn’t relax when he wasn’t by her side. Besides, after this initiation, he’d finally be able to use that ability.

“What are you smiling about?” Mu Ying rose on tiptoe and pinched Shi Yin’s ear, reluctant to let go—beast-eared boys were just too cute.

“N-nothing,” Shi Yin shook his head, the silver fur on his ears starting to turn red. “I grew up in the mountains and never went to school. I’ll have to rely on you to support me in the future… I’ll be a kept wolf…”

“?” Mu Ying looked at him, at a loss for words. Her adorable little werewolf had clearly been corrupted ever since she taught him Chinese. After a moment, she sighed.

“What have you been reading online this time? And what’s wrong with being a kept wolf? When I was little and you took care of me, didn’t that make me a kept girl? We just take care of each other—that’s the beauty of socialist brotherhood!”

Besides, as someone who’d awakened memories of her past life, even if she’d died young before, counting both lives together she was nearly forty. How could she not afford to support one cute little kept wolf—no, wait, one adorable little werewolf?

Mu Ying patted Shi Yin’s shoulder with confidence. “Don’t worry, I can definitely take care of you!”

Shi Yin nodded obediently, watching as Mu Ying, backpack on her shoulders, nimbly wove her way through the woods. Only when she was out of sight did he transform back into a wolf and, with a few leaps, disappear into the forest.

What exactly is brotherhood? Though Shi Yin hadn’t gone to school, he was eager to learn. The first thing he did after returning to the mountains was dig out his phone from his den, climb onto the rock with the best signal, and search for answers.

“The meaning of brotherhood is: sharing honor and disgrace, unconditional support… sharing blessings, shouldering hardships together.”

“You’ll have many friends in your life, but only one true brother.”

Shi Yin nodded as he read, a look of understanding dawning on his face. He was full of confidence—his partner contract was as good as done!

After being apart for just a little while, he already missed Ying. He couldn’t wait to finish his final initiation and go find her. Why not start now?

Shi Yin’s eyes grew resolute. A ripple of spatial energy spread from his body, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished.

Meanwhile, Mu Ying skillfully pulled aside a rusted section of barbed wire and slipped through. Soon, she was walking along a forest path in the park.

Now she didn’t have to worry about being seen.

It was still early, and most visitors were only at the park’s edge. But based on years of being praised by elderly uncles and aunties, even if someone did see her, they’d just think she was an unusually diligent girl for being up so early.

As she climbed the stone steps, her thoughts wandered.

At times like this, she always felt as if she’d crossed from a fantasy novel into an urban one—just like the first time she’d come down the mountain years ago.

She’d been an abandoned baby left in the mountains, discovered by Shi Yin and raised on wolf’s milk. Back then, Yin’s human form was only a few years older than her, and she couldn’t understand his language at all.

For a long time, she thought she’d been born into some ancient beast world—maybe just in a remote area, with only Shi Yin as a beastman.

It wasn’t until she finally managed to grow to five or six and left the valley that she was found by a forest ranger and sent to an orphanage at the foot of the mountain.

Mu Ying still remembered how disillusioned she’d felt when she saw the familiar Arabic numerals on the ranger’s uniform.

So the “universal language” Shi Yin had taught her wasn’t universal at all—everyone spoke Chinese!

Luckily, at that time, Shi Yin’s wolf form wasn’t very big, and thanks to her feeding, he was a bit chubby, with droopy ears that made him look like a fat puppy.

Following her scent, he found the orphanage and disguised himself as a stray dog nearby.

After observing for a while, Mu Ying realized this world was very similar to her previous one, yet subtly different.

The language and society were the same, but many historical legends and works of literature and film were different. Considering Shi Yin’s existence, Mu Ying figured that while this world looked modern on the surface, there were hidden elements of fantasy beneath.

Because of the language barrier, she was extremely cautious, never daring to act too out of the ordinary.

But since she’d grown up in an orphanage in her past life too, she adapted easily and managed to get by smoothly.

When she started high school, Shi Yin’s bloodline began to awaken, and he started receiving initiations in the space-time realm.

Three years had passed. He’d already undergone two initiations and was gradually mastering his humanoid form. This time would be his last initiation, and supposedly, he’d gain even more amazing abilities afterward.

Mu Ying was more than a little envious. All these years, aside from Shi Yin, the world seemed perfectly ordinary, and her only “cheat” was her past-life memories.

Over the years, she’d published some web novels online, borrowing a few popular tropes from her previous life. Though none became huge hits, she earned enough to get by.

She planned to use more of her past-life ideas once she got into college. Since this world favored realistic literature, she figured writing xianxia (cultivation) novels would make her more money. Then she could buy a farmhouse near Qingshan Forest—no problem.

Why not move somewhere bigger? Because she loved this forest too much. Well, truthfully, after living in the woods so long, cities just felt stifling and uncomfortable.

Plus, after some self-reflection, she realized she did have a tiny bit of a “special ability”—she was exceptionally good at growing plants. So living near the forest would probably suit her best.

She was, after all, a cultivation enthusiast…

Her goal in this life was to survive to adulthood, own a house with a yard in the countryside, grow flowers and plants, make money writing, spend her free time cultivating—and have a wolf-eared boy for company. What could be better?

That was her dream for this life.

But just now, all of that had been shattered."

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In her previous life, she’d read countless fantastical web novels. So when she heard that electronic voice, she didn’t just laugh it off or dismiss it as an illusion. Instead, she quickly made her way to a nearby scenic overlook with a clear view.

From here, she could see tourists climbing the mountain trail below.

But what really caught the eye was the meteor shower blazing across the sky.

Within just a few breaths, the meteors were right overhead—two of them streaking straight toward her.

Mu Ying shifted her backpack to her chest, reached inside to grip the handle of her knife, and cautiously stepped back.

Of the two meteors closest to her, one seemed to lock onto her like it had a homing system, while the other continued toward the center of the overlook.

When they landed, Mu Ying realized they were just glowing orbs, floating about a meter above the ground. The one heading toward her grew larger and larger, soon reaching the height of a person.

Inside the orb, a human-shaped silhouette appeared, head tilted at an odd angle, flickering in and out of view.

She glanced at the other orb on the overlook—it was still only palm-sized, and seemed to contain a square object.