"What’s that sound, let’s just go." At this moment, Xiaoxiao only wanted to leave and did not ponder Yang Ming’s words.
Yang Ming did not hurry the carriage but repeated himself, "Wife, I really did hear a sound."
"Did you?" This time Xiaoxiao perked up her ears and listened carefully.
The more she listened, the wider her eyes grew, "Husband, I think I hear a baby crying."
"Right, let’s get off." Yang Ming promptly jumped down from the carriage.
The two of them returned to the spot they had just passed, and this time they heard clearly—it was indeed the cry of a child, coming from the arms of that person.
Yang Ming quickly turned the person over and discovered that the dead individual was clutching a swaddled infant in their arms.
The infant’s eyes were closed, emitting a faint cry, "Wah! Wah!"
Yang Ming lifted the child out, "Wife, what should we do?"
"First, give the child to me." Xiaoxiao took the child, who was surprisingly light. She looked at the baby’s face, which was crying with closed eyes, a red and wrinkled skin, and slightly white eyebrows, obviously a newborn, not yet a month old.
Looking around, Xiaoxiao saw that the secluded road was still empty. She turned to Yang Ming with a pleading look, "Husband, let’s raise this child."
Feeling a pang in his heart at his wife’s reaction, Yang Ming knew she must be reminded of her own infertility again. Perhaps this child could spare her from that pain, "Okay, we will raise the child, but first let’s bury this person."
Xiaoxiao was somewhat puzzled and also very anxious. She rocked the child and said, "Husband, let’s hurry on, while there’s still nobody around."
Yang Ming shook his head, explaining, "Wife, do you want to keep this child forever, or just for a while?"
"Of course, forever. This is a gift from Heaven." Xiaoxiao, feeling that she was barren, thought that encountering this child was surely Heaven showing pity on her, a gift from above.
"Then let’s bury this person. Otherwise, the child’s family will soon be able to find us."
"..." Xiaoxiao had completely forgotten about that possibility. Would it be too cruel to prevent the child from recognizing their own kin?
Hastily, Xiaoxiao opened up the infant’s swaddling to see if there was anything to identify the child, but found nothing. "Husband, quickly check if there’s something on that person’s body that can prove the child’s identity."
It was only when Yang Ming examined the body that he found that the deceased was covered in injuries. "Wife, this person has many wounds."
"Are they from the recent fall?"
"They should be from before the fall."
"Could he have been beaten for stealing the child from someone?"
"I don’t think so, given how he was protecting the child as he fell from the horse, he must have been associated with this child."
"..." So does that mean, this person was being pursued while carrying the child? This could be bad.
The child could be a hot potato; keeping them might bring trouble. She wanted to live a peaceful life without inviting disaster. Should she leave the child behind? If she did, it would likely mean a certain death for the child.
What to do was a dilemma for Xiaoxiao. As she rocked the baby in her arms, she thought of solutions and then realized the baby had stopped crying in her embrace.
Xiaoxiao’s heart melted; the child really seemed to have taken a liking to her.