The sunrise in this little ancient village was perhaps one of the most beautiful moments of Xieren's life thus far. The clear blue sky, fluffy white clouds and smell of fresh rain lingering from the soil gave a feeling of a fresh start.
Xieren ,woke up with a little doll clinging to his neck for dear life. It was a situation where he ,Mr. Alone and Independent has no clue how to react. In some ways, he was annoyed that someone had infiltrated his personal space . However, a greater part of him was glad. Glad ,that he now had someone he could care for and that was a child that sincerely thought of him.
He always believed that children and animals where the only trustworthy creatures in the world. There was no malice and calculation in them. They were a blank piece of canvas. If you teach them to be good they in turn will be good. If you darken their world with hate and selfishness they will repay in kind. Therefore, Xieren decided that if he was to raise this child, Cheng Ming ,he would try his best to paint a wonderful canvas . A canvas rich with arrays of colour and one that did not reflect his own darkness.
This whole situation of transporting to different worlds and performing various missions was rather bizarre to him. He was rather pleased to simply live again in such a glorious world. Cheng Ming as his family was an unexpected bonus.
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Long, curly eyelashes fluttered and Cheng Ming pouted making his chubby cheeks even more tempting. Xieren ,had to hold back his urge to pinch at his cousin's cheeks.
" Gege..."Cheng Ming greeted sleepily.
" Morning, Xiao Ming."
Cheng Ming who was still dreaming about meat steam buns was startled out of his dreams by Xieren's greeting.It currently was not a pleasant voice. It was hoarse and slightly grating from all the years of disuse.
Wide,shocked , watery eyes stated at Cheng Rong in disbelief . The shocked toddler abruptly sat up stuttered out a question before grabbing Xieren's hand as if afraid this experience was nothing but a dream.
"Ge..Gege...can...talk?"
" Yes, Xiao Ming, Gege recovered."
Perhaps yesterday,Cheng Ming was too tired to notice that 'Cheng Rong' had recovered from his muteness or it maybe that he didn't hear Cheng Rong's voice over the pounding of the rain.However, today in the morning light the little bun couldn't contain his excitement and joy.After much coddling and promises to play soon the little guy settled down and Xieren started planning for their future life .
Xieren had concluded that his best option to make a living was the land . Farming and gathering wild vegetables in the mountains was the way to go. With Dixie's molecular analyzer , Xieren was sure he would be able to find edible plants as well as medicinal plants . He himself had also an interest in botany while the original Cheng Rong had been exposed to ancient medical texts from a young age.
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The Village that Cheng Ming and Cheng Rong currently resided was aptly named Three Mountains Village. To the North, East and West was surrounded by mountains and to the south was the sea. There was a small fishing village just 40 Li away.
Most of the villagers made use of the east and west mountains made use of the East and West Mountains. However, the west mountain had been abandoned since the mudslide a month ago.The tragedy had killed 7 people of the village and injured 20 more.Including the original Cheng Rong's Grandmother who was working as a midewife on the west side of the village.
" Have you heard Granny Cheng's Family's Gers have come out of the house?I heard that they are headed to the East Mountains."A women with a wash basin asked while washing her clothes.
Next to her , a women wipes her sweat off her forehead with her sleeve before commenting.
"They must have gone to gather wild vegetables since they don't have any land ."
"Such a shame " A middle aged Ger muttered before another women praised Granny Cheng.
" Awwh!Granny Cheng was such a good woman ! All the difficult births were handled by her. What are we going to do without her? Doctors are too expensive!"
" Such a tragedy! The eldest Ger isn't of marriageable age yet and he still has to raise a baby."
" Such horrible Luck !I'm such he's born under a star of disaster!"
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Xieren was completely unaware of the gossiping back in the village and probably wouldn't care if he didn't. People will always gossip so it was better to live your own life rather than waste time caring about what others think.
He was currently enthralled with the world . The blue sky and the wonderful, unpolluted fresh air were just some of the things that we're downright amazing. Along the way to East Mountain the huge trees and newly, sprouted plants caught his attention.
Xieren and Cheng Ming walked hand in hand up the mountain. Xieren carries a basket on his back as his cloth shoes become damp with mud from the ground.
" Gege, where are we going?" Cheng Ming asked curiously walking around. His tiny legs trying to keep up pace with Cheng Ming.
" I'm not sure, Xiao Ming. Don't worry, Gege will make you something delicious tonight."
+++
As they reached half way up the mountain they came across some women , children and Gers harvesting some wild vegetables. Some wild radishes ,spinach and variant of sweet potatoes were being dug up. Pigweed and grasses were being gathered for livestock.
Further away some men and Gers chopped firewood while some older children gathered some dried up branches into bundles.
Ignoring some inquisitive glances as well as gazes full of pity Xieren walked over to quieter area . He didn't want to put on a spectacle for anybody so he crouched down and out his basket on the ground. While scanning for vegetables Dixie's voice appeared in his mind.
[ Dixie: Master! There are some sweet potatoes variant crops there! It's edible and has a sweet taste. It's rich in fibre and quite filling. Contains minerals like iron, calcium and selenium. An added bonus is that it is a good source of vitamin B and C!(^O^)]
After Dixie's scan of the area as well as his enthusiastic introduction to the plant Xieren and his little tail started digging. They were having a hard time with sticks so Xieren took over to prevent the little bun from getting too dirty and tired from the beginning.
Soon he heard some one approaching them. It was a girl maybe around thirteen years old with a flowers in behind her two braids. She wore coarse clothes like them but you could tell they were newer. She was pretty with a nice smile, gentle eyebrows and phoneix eyes .
" Hello, I'm An Qing. " The girl waved at him before waving to Cheng Ming.
She then continued speaking without waiting for a reply.
" I live across from you. It's the first time you've been on the mountain so I can show you all the gathering spots."
Xieren observed her and concluded that she didn't have no ulterior motive before nodding.
" Thank you ,for your help. I'm Cheng Rong and this is my brother ,Cheng Ming."
To the outside world Cheng Rong and Cheng Ming we're brothers whose parents died at the hands of bandits. Their poor, elderly grandmother who was a mid- wife and and some medical skills supported them. Unfortunately, their previous Village was about to be raided by Barbarians at the border hence they moved to Three Mountains Village.
The girl's eyes widened before she grinned hearing his raspy, hoarse voice.
" So you can talk! Your grandmother mentioned that you were mute because of a severe shock you experienced when were young...."
An Qing seemed to struggle for words before sincerely looking at him and offered her condolences.
" Your Grandmother ,was a good woman and it was a shame that she passed on so soon. Let's go to the brushes behind the stream. There are some edible berries."
Xieren liked that An Qing was a straightforward person that could emphasized with you . He couldn't stand fake people who pretended to feel your lose but was just putting on theatrics.Even worse were those who took pleasure in your misery.
Cheng Ming and Xieren with a small stash of sweet potatoes in his basket followed the An Qing further into the mountain.