How to Take Care of a Baby 101
The closer Bai Rong got to the origin of the scream, she also heard the sound of panting.
Bai Rong was prepared to run away anytime, but then she saw a woman lying in between some trees with a pool of blood underneath her and a spirit beast with blood soaked claws advancing on her. The woman didn't notice her arrival because her attention was on the predator in front of her.
Bai Rong pulled out her sword to attack the spirit beast when suddenly, the injured woman and the beast were enshrouded in a thick mist. When the mist was gone, the beast ran away howling, as if it had seen just something fearful.
When Bai Rong approached the woman, the first thing she heard was the wailing of a baby.
She checked for the woman's pulse first. It was very weak, but she would live for now. The Devil Lord Bai Rong of yesterday would have walked away without a second glance; the Bai Rong of today knelt down next to a stranger and wrapped her daughter in the outer layer of her own dress.
Hmm, maybe her near death experience had changed her? Or maybe this was what Chu Yuan would have done. At the thought of him, Bai Rong nearly cried again, but what use was crying when nothing could ever bring him back? What use was self pity and drowning in sorrow when she was still alive? Yun had given her a second chance, even if his condition made her want to tear her hair out.
She placed the baby in her mother's arms and nudged the woman lightly. "Miss? Are you alright?"
The woman's eyelids fluttered, and when she first saw Bai Rong, she shook and crawled away from her like an injured animal. Nine snow-white tails appeared in a puff of smoke and wrapped around the woman and her child protectively. When Bai Rong looked into the woman's eyes, she saw them turn silver.
This woman was part of the Fox Tribe for sure, but she didn't know which realm she was from. Still, Bai Rong tried to calm her down. "I won't hurt you. Where is your family? I'll take you home."
The woman kept shaking her head, and a glint flashed through her eyes, making them turn dark coloured again. "Can't trust anybody," she whispered. "Danger. They're coming."
The sound of hoofbeats and horses neighing reached their ears.
Bai Rong's first instinct was hunters, but she couldn't hear their conversation because she no longer had the enhanced hearing of a cultivator. Even so, she didn't think that hunters traveled in such large groups.
The woman stiffened when she heard them, evidently hearing something Bai Rong couldn't. Then she knelt in front of Bai Rong and held out her bundled baby. "Please," her voice shook. "Please take my daughter away, and never bring her back."
Bai Rong's mind blanked out. She'd gotten her life back, but she could not take revenge against Lin Jun. So what if...
She took over the baby and asked, "What is her name? And what is your name?"
The innocent baby slept soundly, unaware that her life would change that very moment, and that her first time being held by her birth mother was her last.
Snow fell around them, making The White Forest even whiter. The woman touched her baby's cheek and replied, "Yin Xue. Yes, Yin Xue is perfect for her."
She looked at Bai Rong with tears in her eyes. "My name is not important. I only beg of you to let Yin Xue live a happy life. I would rather be nobody in her memory than a ghost she has to find. I can sense that you have no cultivation, but perhaps it is better this way. Go to Mortal Realm, and live a good life there, it's not safe for you--for her--here."
The sound of horses grew nearer, and the nameless woman held out a palm before her. "Go!"
A burst of spiritual energy sent Bai Rong and Yin Xue far away just as a large black horse appeared before the woman.
The cold wind whistled by her ear, and when Bai Rong looked back, the woman and the previous scenery was gone.
A reddish brown leaf fell onto the earth, long devoid of life.
***
The spiritual energy in this place felt less dense, and although they were still in The White Forest, it was autumn, not winter. Bai Rong guessed that Yin Xue's mother had sent them to Mortal Realm through a portal.
She decided to find a place to stay first. However, Yin Xue chose that moment to wake up and cry nonstop. Bai Rong tried singing a lullaby, jiggling the baby, and even praying. Nothing worked.
"Seriously?! Over twenty thousand years of living and I can't make a baby be quiet? I should have done my research before adopting."