Hope spent her days in a constant cycle of eating and sleeping. Inside the dark cave, she couldn't tell day from night.
She knew that they were living in a natural mountain cave. The furnishings were simple, all made from nearby trees. Even though her bedding was thick, it still felt hard as stone.
Sometimes the noise gave her a headache — her brothers were always coming in to visit her, proudly showing off bird eggs they had found, or boasting about catching wild chickens. Whether she wanted to listen or not, they chattered away without caring if they woke her.
Hope knew they went hunting with her strong, capable father. She envied them — they could run around outside and see the world, while she could only lie there like a helpless baby. Every day was the same: eat, sleep, and lie still, her tiny body wrapped tightly so she couldn't move her hands or feet.
For the first month, she couldn't even see faces clearly, but eventually, she started to make out who was who.
After her mother's month of recovery, Hazel didn't stay with her all the time anymore. Sometimes she had to go out, and a village woman named Aunt Zhang was left to look after Hope.
But Aunt Zhang was rough and unpleasant. Whenever Hazel wasn't around, Hope could hear her muttering nasty things to herself —
> "A useless girl like this, what's so special about her?"
"Why treat a money-losing girl like treasure?"
"Why dress her so nicely?"
"Why keep her so clean?"
Hope had heard those insults so many times she was numb to them. If only she could move, she would have given that woman a few good slaps.
That day, to celebrate Hope's one-month milestone, her father Tanner went hunting and actually brought back a wild boar.
The whole village gathered for a feast up on the mountain. Aunt Zhang went too, leaving Hope alone in the cave.
A little while later, Seventh Brother came in, followed by Eighth Brother, both carrying bowls of wild boar meat.
"Little sister, let's eat some meat!" they said eagerly.
Such loving brothers — always wanting to share their food with her. Seventh Brother held up a chunk of fatty meat and stuffed it toward her mouth. She spat it right out.
"Hey! Little sister, why are you wasting food?" he said, frowning.
Hope rolled her eyes internally. I'm only one month old! Do you think I can eat pork fat?
Even she, who had never raised a baby before, knew that feeding greasy meat to a newborn was insane. Are you trying to kill me?!
Seventh Brother, annoyed, popped the chewed piece into his own mouth.
Then Eighth Brother took his turn. He didn't force the meat into her mouth — instead, he dabbed her lips with it to "let her taste the flavor."
Hope rolled her eyes again. This one's not any better. Are you teasing me on purpose?
She knew adults sometimes let a baby "taste" a bit of food during celebrations, saying it meant "welcoming new life." But this wasn't that — Eighth Brother was clearly just toying with her.
Wide awake now, Hope ignored them and focused her mind on entering her mysterious inner space. She found herself in a two-square-meter area with a single bowl of shimmering water — the spiritual spring.
She took a tiny sip. It tasted sweet and warm. She was about to drink more when the space suddenly ejected her back into her body!
Back in the real world, she felt her brothers' fingers pinching her cheeks — her face hurt!
"Waaah! Waaaah!" she cried loudly. Seventh Brother, Eighth Brother — this means war! Just wait until I grow up!
The two panicked.
"Oh no! We're in trouble! She's crying! We're gonna get beaten! Run!" shouted Seventh Brother, grabbing his bowl and bolting.
Eighth Brother hesitated. Seeing her face red and tear-streaked, he felt guilty. He wiped her mouth gently with a handkerchief and tried to comfort her.
"Don't cry, don't cry, little sister! I won't tease you anymore. Here, you can have the meat!"
Hope immediately spat it back out.
But Eighth Brother stubbornly shoved another chunk right into her mouth!
Hope wanted to curse out loud, but when she let out a cry — "Waaah!" — the meat got stuck in her throat!
Eighth Brother froze, terrified by her choking face. Bursting into tears, he ran out screaming for help.
Hope's tiny body convulsed. The chunk of meat was wedged in her throat — she could barely breathe and almost choked to death.
In desperation, she thought of her inner space. Her consciousness pulled her inside instantly, where she shouted for her spirit guardian.
A small girl appeared before her — about three or four years old, with mechanical features like a little robot. In her hand was a pair of tongs. She quickly reached out and pulled the greasy lump from Hope's throat.
Hope's face was pale and tinged with purple. Fearing for her life, the spirit girl gave her a sip of spiritual spring water, which immediately restored her strength.
Having narrowly escaped death, Hope was exhausted. Her little body had spent all its energy crying and thrashing about. As soon as she returned to her physical body, she fell into a deep sleep.
While she slept, dark, foul-smelling impurities began seeping from her pores.
Then came the sound of hurried footsteps — thud, thud, thud! A crowd burst into the cave: her parents, Tanner and Hazel; her two guilty little brothers, Seventh and Eighth; the other six brothers; and a few men from the mountain. The small cave was packed full of people, all worried about the baby's safety.
At first, everyone was anxious. But when they saw Hope lying peacefully, her face calm and healthy, they relaxed a little.
Her cheeks, which had been red from earlier, were now smooth and fair again — thanks to the spiritual water. The fatty meat that caused the trouble was nowhere to be found.
Then someone wrinkled their nose.
"What's that smell? It's awful!"
Everyone covered their noses at once. Assuming the baby had dirtied her diaper, they exchanged glances, silently pushing the responsibility onto each other.
Soon, some of the villagers who couldn't stand the smell left the cave, leaving only her parents and eight brothers.
Hazel picked up her daughter and checked her diaper. There was no mess, only black residue, thick and sticky like sweat. Some had even stained her clothes.
Hazel frowned.
"Did any of you put something disgusting on your sister?"
Surprisingly, it wasn't Hazel but Tanner who spoke first — and his tone was furious.
He looked at his once-fair little girl, now smeared with black goo, and his temper snapped.
Before the boys could defend themselves, he smacked each one on the backside — eight times in total!
The first six brothers yelped in protest, claiming innocence. Seventh and Eighth, however, avoided their father's eyes, guilt written all over their faces.
Eighth Brother stammered through tears,
"I didn't do anything bad! I just gave her a piece of fatty meat! That's all! Ask Seventh Brother!"
The older brothers immediately rounded on the two youngest.
"Oh, so it was you two! Because of you, we got hit too! You'll pay for this later!"
First Brother scolded, and the rest — Second through Sixth — agreed in unison. They dragged the two culprits outside for some "brotherly punishment."
Meanwhile, Hazel sighed and told Tanner,
"Go ask Aunt Zhang to boil some hot water. Our little girl needs a proper bath. She's only ever been wiped clean since birth."
She then added, "I found some herbal leaves up the mountain today — we'll use those for her bathwater."
( End of chapter)
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