The Devil of Scarlet Rain

Chapter 7 - Remembering Her Smile and Tears

The sky was clear, and the air was breezy. Meng Yu slowly opened her eyes. She was lying leisurely against the solid tree trunk, with one of her legs hanging lazily in the air. She looked down from one the tallest trees in the courtyard and saw that no one else was around. It was no surprise since the servants will only come here in the morning to sweep and clean. After that, no one would dare to enter this courtyard, especially when the master of the mansion is not around. Meng Yu actually liked it better since she preferred solitary. After she had gotten tired from copying the medical books, she would come out here to take a nap on the tallest tree in the courtyard.

With such a perfect weather on hand, she decided to take a short nap before going back to work. Closing her eyes, she tried to go back to sleep. Suddenly, her ears twitched. She heard a noticeably light footsteps walking towards her tree. Her eyes remained close, pretending to be asleep. The steps were clumsy and light, so it must be someone light weight, a young child about Xiao Yun's size with no martial art base. She sighed slightly, feeling resigned to her fate.

Here comes the chatterbox again...

Suddenly, her eyes flung open, and her right hand instinctively flew up swiftly, catching a palm size rock aimed at her.

What?

Meng Yu sat up straight and glared at the child standing under her tree. It was not Xiao Yun, but a fragile young boy, around eight to nine years old that met her gaze head on. He wore a plain white robe and was hugging a pile of rocks in his arms. He seemed a bit pale, and was coughing weakly, but he was glowering at her hostilely.

Not very friendly, eh?

Another stone flew at her again, and she swiftly moved her body to the side to dodge the attack.

What is wrong with this little boy!?

Instinctively, she gripped firmly onto the rock in her palm, and aimed to strike back in full force at the rude little midget. However, her hand had yet to throw out the stone when a familiar gentle voice flashed through her mind.

Promise me that you will not hurt innocent people.

With her hands hanging in midair, Meng Yu gritted her teeth in anger.

Damn it, I made a promise.

She knew that if she countered back with her current strength, the weak little boy that looked like a strong gush of wind could topple him would get seriously hurt. She was not going to go soft in her attack, no, she never had. Every attack she had ever struck in her life was meant to kill someone.

The little boy was relentless as he continued to throw another stone at Meng Yu but she dodged it effortlessly. Her eyes hardened resolutely as she came to a final decision. With one fluid movement, she swung herself down the branch with her right arm and landed lightly on another lower branch. She took one steady step, and another, before throwing herself down from the tree straight at the little boy who gasped in shock.

The little boy was stunned silly and dropped the pile of rocks in his arms. Everything happened in a split second. She grabbed him tightly in her embrace but made a slight turn with her body so that her back would be the first to land onto the hard pavement.

"Ahhh!" The boy screamed his lungs out, while being trapped in her embrace.

Together, they rolled into the bushes nearby due to the strong impact. Her slender arms protected the little boy in a tight hug and cushioned most of the falling impact for him.

WHAM!

Leaves and grasses scattered messily all over the place. They had finally rolled to a stop in one of the well-kept bushes lining outside the study room.

Meng Yu sighed exhaustedly in the midst of the bushes. She was lying on her back while still holding him tightly against her body, like a mother hen protecting its baby chick.

Now that should have scared him enough.

She wondered to herself. Just then, she could feel the tiny body in her embrace trembling like a leaf in the wind.

Sob, sob...

Meng Yu furrowed her brows. Something was not right. No, correction. Something was definitely WRONG. She felt something damp on her chest. She released her embrace a little and raised her head slightly to look at the boy in her arms.

"Hic, hic... WAHHHHHHH...." He cried like a little baby, as if a dam had broken open.

Meng Yu widened her eyes in shock.

What? First you dare to throw stone at me, and now you cry like a baby? Who is the real victim here? Who!?

He clung tightly onto her robe with his tiny fist and sobbed onto her chest. Meng Yu immediately fell into a panic. Her mind was in chaos and she did not know what to do.

"You, you, you! Stop crying!" she stuttered anxiously, still lying on the ground with the little boy on top of her. A crying child. She did not like this. She had never dealt with the likes of them, never ever dealt with them in her life before. Her mind was a blank piece of paper. She was just trying to scare him a little. Just a little. He was not even the one who suffered most of the impact, but now he was acting like he had been mistreated unjustly. Abused, even.

"You better stop crying now, or I will hang you on the tree!" Running out of ideas, Meng Yu raised her voice as she glared threateningly at the little boy. He stopped. His little red swollen eyes stared into hers unblinkingly.

It actually worked?

One, two, three....

"WAHHHH, WAHHHHH, WAHHHHH!" He wailed even louder than before, deafening her ears.

It was so loud that even the entire courtyard echoed with his cries. Meng Yu stared in dismayed. She threw her head back down on the ground, completely, utterly defeated. Lying on the ground, she rolled her eyes as she let the little boy cried his heart out. Suddenly, a hazy memory of a little girl crying sadly flashed through her mind.

In a garden full of purple azaleas, the little girl buried her face in the bosom of a beautiful young lady dressed in white. The lady patted her back tenderly, ignoring the fact that the little girl is sobbing into her expensive silk dress. Her embrace was so warm and comforting. She whispered gently into her ear, even singing at times to pacify the little girl. Her voice was so gentle and soothing. Slowly the little girl's cries soften.

How long had it been? Meng Yu looked up at the bright blue sky above her. White puffy clouds drifted slowly across the ocean blue landscape.

Yang Yi ah... the weather that day was similar to today too.

It was a very warm memory, yet it felt so foreign at the same time. It was something that she had locked away deep in her mind many, many years ago. She slowly raised her hand and patted the back of the little boy. It felt really awkward at first, but she tried again.

One pat followed by another. And another. It was clumsy at first, but she soon got used to the repeated motion.

The little boy quietened down slightly in her embrace. Meng Yu sighed, as she repeated the movement, patting him gently again and again. At the same time, she felt a twinge of pain in her heart, as she remembered how someone had done the exact same thing for her in the past.

This feeling, it is bitter and sweet at the same time.

Meng Yu closed her eyes, lost in thought.

My dear Yang Yi...

If you knew that one day, I will be the one who crushed your hope and ruined your life, will you still extend your hands to me? Will you still hold me like this, and sing gently into my ears? I have made you cried too many times that I can no longer remember your beautiful smile. What I owed you in this lifetime, I will never have the chance to repay you anymore.

You will always be the only regret in my life.