The morning breeze swept through the mountain forest, carrying wisps of mist not yet fully dispersed. Beneath the cover of trees and undergrowth, a mountain stream wound its way onward, its waters shimmering.
This crystal-clear brook meandered through the quiet forest. Several other streams of similar size converged with it, gathering into a deep pool where the land widened before spilling down along the cliff face to form a waterfall.
Below the waterfall, the stream broadened. Its emerald waters were clear, its bed covered in fine white stones. Schools of fish swayed and darted through the water, set against blue skies and verdant trees in a beauty beyond words.
A gentle breeze blew, making the waterfall's flow tremble softly and shake loose countless fine droplets, forming a faint rainbow. Amid clear birdsong, the waterfall suddenly parted down the middle. First, a slender, jade-white hand emerged, seeming to catch the drifting droplets. Then, a small bamboo raft slowly floated out, revealing a graceful figure in white.
At the front of the little emerald-green bamboo raft stood a young woman of breathtaking beauty. She had bright eyes and pearly teeth, dressed in a long white robe, like a fairy maiden from a painting. Yet a longsword in a green scabbard hung at her waist, adding several strokes of heroic spirit to her air.
In the morning breeze, the black hair of the young woman in white fluttered as her delicate hand gathered it back. She made no visible movement, yet the bamboo raft beneath her feet drifted slowly along the stream. Drops of crystalline dew condensed upon purple flowers in the forest rose one by one, flying into the jade bottle in her hand.
With a splash, a two-foot-long white carp suddenly leaped from the clear brook.
After the carp fell back