You might have noticed that I’ve left some terms in pinyin. I want to emphasize the difference between Tian Lan’s previous world and her current one, which if you’ve read it before, is somewhat like Coiling Dragon, while her own world had sword cultivators and masters up mountains a la Kakashi similar to stories like World of Cultivation, or I Shall Seal the Heavens, which are based more in eastern folklore/mythology.
It was something her shifu had taught her back on Mt. Yuehua. He"d rub her head if she was a good girl.
Tian Lan always tried very hard because she liked being praised by her shifu. Shifu said that martial cultivators didn"t shed tears but bled blood. Tears were a sign of weakness.
Tian Lan was obedient. She didn"t cry anymore. Tian Lan became strong like Shifu wanted, so that he would praise her.
Tian Lan would keep following Shifu"s words even if he wasn"t there anymore.
In her heart, Shifu was the strongest. He"d know whether she"d been good or not.
Auntie Lian looked at the peeved mother and child. She didn"t know whether to laugh or cry. She"d told the missus that the baby couldn"t understand her words, so why was she still talking to him!
"Missus, we can"t keep doing this. Let"s hire a wet nurse for him!" Although the madam had said not to hire more servants for the miss.
But it shouldn"t be a problem since it was for the little master! Maybe!
Feng Wu didn"t reply because she didn"t know what a nursemaid is. In Feng Wu"s heart, Auntie Lian already ranked as the second strongest person behind her shifu. She could cook, she could take care of babies. She could always tell when the baby was hungry or when he"s peed.
Feng Wu really respected her for this. She always watched Auntie Lian admiringly whenever she took care of the baby, and made Auntie Lian feel super embarra.s.sed.
Auntie Lian was very fast and hired a wet nurse from town the next day. But they had no choice but to fire her within half a day on the job.
It wasn"t the fault of the wet nurse, but because of the pickiness of the devil baby. He"d only drink the milk of his young mother and would rather starve until his stomach was crying and his face red than to feed from another woman.
Auntie Lian even tried hiring more wet nurses, but that devil baby wouldn"t drink if he wouldn"t drink. She had a headache.
She gave some silver to those wet nurses, then sat together with Feng Wu. They watched the breastfeeding baby awkwardly.
The brat sucked determinedly, trying to squeeze out breastmilk until his face was red from the effort. His eyes tore up and he might have even erupted if it weren"t for his young mother"s breast.
"Auntie Lian, what do we do?" Feng Wu gave the persevering baby a hard look. She turned to Auntie Lian trustingly.
"Uh…" Auntie Lian was embarra.s.sed by Feng Wu"s confidence in her.
"If the little young master won"t drink human milk, then we can try magical beast milk. But it"ll be difficult to get any since nursing mothers are typically guarded by their mates." Auntie Lian murmured to herself.
Feng Wu brightened. "Where can we find these magical beasts?" she asked eagerly.
"There are magical beasts dwelling on the nearby mountain peaks. They should be easier to catch since they"re low ranking." Auntie Lian was worrying over feeding the devil baby and missed the twinkle in the girl"s eyes.
Feng Wu looked at the crying kid. She decided to go find food for him.
She cared about him since he was an important member of her family like Shifu.
And since Feng Wu also hated hunger, she"d definitely find food for him.
The next day at dawn, Feng Wu left a note for Auntie Lian saying that she had gone to find food for the baby. She then picked up the sleeping baby and left the little compound that she"d stayed in for a month.
This was the first time she"d left home before. It was still dark, and the morning market hadn"t opened yet. There was n.o.body out on the streets.
Auntie Lian said that magical beasts lived on the nearby mountain peaks, so Feng Wu carefully sighted the nearby peaks.
Feng Wu quickly found her target. The tallest peak in the middle definitely must have magical beasts living on it.
So the young mother set off towards that mountain.
The baby would be hungry when he woke up, so she had to find milk quickly.
Soon Feng Wu arrived at the foot of the towering mountain. She continued on up without the slightest change in expression.
The difficult path up the mountain was no problem at all for Feng Wu.
Feng Wu wasn"t afraid of getting lost while climbing the unfamiliar mountain. If she didn"t know the way, she could ask the animals nearby. The animals were strange, unfamiliar to her.
But Feng Wu wasn"t bothered because it meant that she"d be making new friends.
All the animals back on Mt. Yuehua had been her friends.
Animals liked Tian Lan because she could understand them. That"s why she"d thought there"d be no problem with Auntie Lian"s proposal of obtaining magical beast milk to feed the baby..
Feng Wu didn"t understand what a magical beast was, but they must be animals since they were beasts. In Tian Lan"s mind, beast=animal, and animal=friend. That"s why Feng Wu wasn"t discouraged but positive.
"Mr. Doggy, do you know where to find magical beasts?" The child-carrying Feng Wu spotted an animal like a dog ambling by and sidled up to him instantly. He was on guard at first but relaxed a little after she spoke.
"Who are you?" The dog-like creature asked suspiciously. Why did he feel a strong sense of kinship to this odd girl and want to become closer?
"h.e.l.lo, Mr. Dog. My name is Tian Lan, but you can call me Xiao Lan. My baby is hungry so I came to ask the magical beasts to help feed him milk like Auntie Lian said." Feng Wu shows a rare smile to the dog on her serious face.
"I"m not Mr. Dog, I"m a Howling Moon Hound and I am a great magical beast. I"m not one of your domesticated dogs!" Howling Moon Hound looked at Feng Wu disdainfully. He felt insulted at being called a dog.
He knew in the human realm, there was an ordinary animal known as a dog. Although dogs were similar in some ways to Howling Moon Hounds, how could a proud magical beast accept comparisons to a muggle!
"Oh, then I"ll call you Little Moon." Feng Wu waited expectantly on the Howling Moon Hound.
Howling Moon Hound was fl.u.s.tered by her gaze and nodded his head. Fine, he"d let this human call him that since she wasn"t annoying like others.
Feng Wu was glad. She gazed at Howling Moon Hound hopefully, "Little Moon, if you"re a magical beast, then do you know any nursing magical beasts that I can ask to help breastfeed my baby?"
Little Moon thought about it and said, "I don"t think my tribe has any nursing mothers."
Many Howling Moon Hounds had recently become pregnant, but it would be quite a while before any gave birth. Magical beasts had long gestations. Periods of three, five, seven years, or even a decade weren"t uncommon. The longer the baby gestated, the greater their apt.i.tude after being born.
"Then what should I do, Little Moon? Auntie Lian said we needed to find a magical beast to feed the baby." Feng Wu"s eyes reddened. She looked at Little Moon woefully.
"Hey! Don"t cry!" Little Moon was fl.u.s.tered.
"I don"t cry. Shifu says that crying is a sign of weakness, so Tian Lan never cries." Feng Wu nodded seriously.
Feng Wu"s words were earnest and convincing.