Heaven's Loveliest Villain

3. In which one baby screams while the other stays quiet

Auntie Mei had woken up early that morning to collect herbs on the mountainside. It was her favourite chore because she enjoyed the view from up there. As the sun slowly climbed its way up above the tree tops, so did Auntie Mei. The old woman was rewarded for her hard work with a magnificent sunrise this morning.

She knew the road between the mountain capital of Zhou and the Winged capital Xizang dwindled its way somewhere up there.
Auntie Mei had never traveled along that road and she had no interest in doing so.

She had lived all her grown-up life alone in her forest cottage, doing what she did best: making medicine for both the rich and poor. Her father had taught her that all humans were equal and it was important to make medicine that would fit all layers of society. All with proper pricing of course.

She had no dealings with society, her only contact was Shen Li, a low-grade herb tradesman who visited her once a month to collect dried herbs for the poor and the medicinal pills she made for the wealthy. Even though many nobles in the cities used her medicine, no one knew she existed and she was comfortable with that.

The loneliness of living all her life deep in the mountain forest was of no concern for her, she rather enjoyed it. The fresh air, frisk breezes, the view and the sounds of the forest made her happy every day.

This morning the forest was unusually quiet. It was as if all the birds were still asleep and like the wind didn't want to disturb them. Everything was still and it was then she heard the faint cry. It sounded like a baby which was ridiculous since no one lived in the area but her. Still, the crying continued and Auntie Mei slowly made her way through the trees towards the sound.

The first strange thing she saw was a broken wheel lying there, alone in the midst of the forest. She examined the wheel and noticed that there was no moss on it which meant the wheel had been left there recently. She got an uneasy feeling, peeked up towards the cliff high above her and hurried in the direction of the crying sound.

A few steps away she saw more wooden debris and a basket, that kind used as a sleeping place for babies. When she looked inside, she found the basket was empty. She searched the area and found it strange that she couldn't find the child even though it was crying.

Then she saw a bundle under a bush. It was dirty and had some blood smeared on it. She carefully picked up the bundle and unfolded the wrapped blanket. When she saw the child she realized that she still heard that crying even though the baby in her arms had a serene face and was either sleeping or dead. She quickly checked if the child was breathing and thank the Gods, it was.

Auntie Mei couldn't detect any wounds on the child that could have caused the blood stains and concluded that the child had no visible injuries. She was a bit worried about the child being so very still and feared it had internal injuries.

Auntie Mei got on her feet and held the baby in her arms when she walked towards the intensified crying sound. It had to be another child, and she was right. She found a second basket and in this one lay a baby with a furiously red face. The child stopped crying as soon as she touched it and turned two intense blue eyes to her.

She put the babies next to each other in the basket that was large enough to accommodate both children. But she soon found that it was too inconvenient to carry the basket with both children in it. Instead, she made two slings with the blankets the children were wrapped in and hung both of them on her back.

The blue-eyed child started screaming again when she slowly walked down the mountain. The herbs had to wait for another day.

Back at the cabin, Auntie Mei fed and bathed the young children and discovered that they both were boys. She had no experience with small children but she knew the ways of the world well enough from observing the animals of the forest. She was able to feed them and take care of their basic needs.

The blue-eyed baby had finally stopped screaming and had fallen asleep after eating. The other boy still had to open his eyes. She was worried about this one. He looked robust but seemed lifeless compared to the other little screamer, but at least he drank all the diluted goat milk that she gave him.

After some time he finally opened his eyes, only a tiny gap and Auntie Mei could hardly discern what colour his irises had. She could only see that they looked darker than those of the other child. She got an instant feeling that the infant despised her which was silly. Tiny children couldn't possibly have feelings of that kind.