Baby * Luotai

When the child was handed to the old doctor, his cries were so faint they were almost inaudible.

The old doctor took the swaddling clothes, immediately turned around and went into the inner room, instructing the apprentice to boil water without looking back.

Zhen and Enma were left in the outer room, the paper door half-open, and only the sound of rushing water and the old doctor's occasional low instructions could be heard from inside.

Zhen stood by the door, barefoot, the stains on her skirt already half-dry, clinging to her calves in patches.

She would occasionally tiptoe and peek through the crack in the door, but dared not get too close.

Enma took off his outer robe and draped it over her shoulders, then stood beside her in only his inner garment, arms crossed.

"Where did you find that child?" Enma asked in a low voice.

He explained the locations of the Cherry Blossom Grove and the artificial canal. When he heard the words "dark canal," Enma's brows furrowed noticeably.

The old doctor happened to lift the curtain and come out. Hearing this, he also looked up and glanced at Zhen.

" To Blackened Teeth Ditch," Enma said in a low voice.

She looked at him, puzzled. "Blackened Teeth Ditch? Is it called that because the water is black?"

"No," Enma shook her head, "It's because the older girls in Pleasure Quarter all dyed their teeth black there, and over time, that ditch became known as the Blackened Teeth Ditch."

Zhen's eyes widened. "Put that stinky stuff in your mouth? That stuff makes me want to vomit, I can't believe they put it on their teeth."

"Black teeth make your face look whiter," Enma pouted. "Everyone does it this way. How can you, a girl, not even know this?"

Zhen frowned. "Isn't this a habit only Pleasure Quarter has?"

"This isn't unique to Pleasure Quarter," the old doctor said, taking the dry cloth from the apprentice and slowly wiping his hands as he walked towards them. "The custom of blackening teeth is common among commoners, and noble circles take pride in having black teeth. Miss, you're Ninja, aren't you? It's natural that you wouldn't know this."

"Taking pride in blackened teeth?" Zhen's expression became even more complicated, as if she had heard something completely illogical. "Smearing that stuff on your teeth can actually bring glory?"

Enma also looked puzzled. "I don't understand either. What's so attractive about teeth that are all black?"

The old doctor chuckled. "It's just a trend. Let's not talk about that now, the child is saved."

Shin and Enma looked towards the inner room at the same time.

The young apprentice had already washed the child and wrapped him in a soft, old swaddling cloth.

The baby lay quietly in a bamboo basket lined with cotton cloth, its little eyes wide open. Although its skin was still a bit pale, it was much better than when it was first brought in.

Her little face was chubby, and her little mouth moved occasionally, as if she were chewing something in her dream.

It lay there round and plump, like a small, soft lump of rice cake.

Enma's heart itched to see it, and he couldn't resist reaching out his finger and gently poking the baby's cheek.

The child's face immediately scrunched up, his little mouth pouting, as if he was about to cry. Zhen, quick as a flash, slapped Enma's hand away.

"Don't make her cry!" he said, lowering his voice to scold him.

Enma awkwardly withdrew his hand and rubbed his fingertips, which had been slapped red.

The old doctor stood behind them, draped a dry cloth over his shoulder, and said calmly but bluntly, "Since you found this child in the Blackened Teeth Ditch, you should know that such a place is where the most abandoned infants are Pleasure Quarter."

"Eight out of ten children abandoned there were Courtesan."

The doctor looked at the baby and said, "You can say you saved him out of kindness, but if he wants to live, then you have to take responsibility."

"Either you raise it yourself, or you go ask the Yakuza if they'll take it in. Otherwise, the child won't survive the spring."

When the two came out of the clinic, it was already well into the day.

Enma paid the consultation fee and, following the old Doctor's instructions, bought some rice water for the baby and a few clean diapers from a nearby shop.

Zhen walked ahead, wearing a pair of Waraji given to her by the old Doctor, holding a baby wrapped up tightly in her arms, while Enma followed beside her, carrying some things.

The baby was sleeping soundly, his little face warmed by the morning light, no longer showing the distressing paleness he had just looked like.

Enma turned to look at Zhen and asked, "What are you planning to do next? We've saved the child, but we can't just keep holding him like this. After all, he's Courtesan's child, and he might have some illness. It would be very troublesome to take care of him."

Zhen turned to look at him, puzzled, and asked, "You're really a strange person. You know so much about Pleasure Quarter's affairs, yet you don't even understand how men and women have children."

Enma said matter-of-factly, "Isn't it true that once a man and a woman express their feelings for each other, the child will roll out of the woman's belly?"

Zhen's lips twitched slightly. "So... that's not wrong."

"That's it."

"But women don't give birth immediately! Haven't you ever seen a pregnant woman? They carry the baby for ten months, their bellies growing Tenten, before finally giving birth. Why do you think I could meet a man yesterday and have a baby today?"

Enma thought for a moment, then frowned and said, "Because they don't love their husbands. Their husbands are rarely home and don't reciprocate their feelings, so their children are born slowly. If they truly loved each other, they would have children immediately."

He was stunned, then finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Her shoulders shook with laughter, startling the baby in her arms who let out a soft "uh." She quickly softened her movements and gently soothed the baby.

Enma was puzzled by her laughter and frowned, asking, "What are you laughing at? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no." She finally managed to stop laughing, her eyes still crinkling. "I just think you're as innocent as a blank sheet of paper. Any girl who marries you will be very happy."

Enma Zhen took it as a compliment, raised her chin, and said with a hint of smugness, "Of course. Wait a minute, you still haven't answered my question. What are you planning to do with this child?"

Enma Zhen thought that a girl who looked so gentle and kind would probably follow the old Doctor's advice and find a good family for the child, or send him directly to Hiroyama and let the Yakuza help settle him in.

Ultimately, one was a passerby from the Land of Whirlpools, and the other was a runaway princess from the Tsuchigumo Clan; neither of them could truly raise this child by their side.

But unexpectedly, when he actually held the child, he frowned and said, "I need to find the Courtesan who abandoned this child."

Enma thought he had misheard.

He stopped and turned to look at her. "Do you really understand what you're doing? Courtesan can't have children. If they have children, they can't take customers, they can't earn money, and if they can't earn money, neither she nor the child can survive. If you go back to her with the child now, you'll only make her abandon the child again."

She raised her eyes, unyielding. "Then I don't believe a mother could be so heartless as to abandon her child in such a place!"

"The Blackened Teeth Ditch the water are so smelly and deep, the bottom is full of garbage. What's the difference between throwing a child there and killing him? I want to ask her face-to-face why she did this!"

She walked around Enma and continued on her way.

Enma opened her mouth, wanting to say that not all mothers in this world are like what you imagine, but looking into Zhen's stubborn eyes, she ultimately didn't say anything.

He sighed, but in the end, he followed.

He couldn't tell whether he thought she was too naive or was curious about her naivety.

The two, carrying the child, turned out of the alley and headed towards Pleasure Quarter.

On the way, Zhen suddenly asked him, "Speaking of which, how old are you?"

"Seventeen," Enma said.

"That's two years older than me." Zhen nodded. "I thought you were about my age."

Enma ignored her words and continued trying to persuade her, "You really don't need to go looking for that Courtesan. If she can throw her away once, she can throw her away a second time. Even if you find her, what can you change?"

She looked at him with genuine doubt, "Are you really seventeen?"

"What's wrong now?"

"You're a strange person. You can talk about the rules of the Pleasure Quarter with great knowledge, but you don't even know how a child is born."

Enma awkwardly turned her face away and muttered, "My family all say that as long as a man and woman truly love each other, children will naturally come. Nobody has ever explained anything more detailed to me."

She didn't laugh at him, but just sighed, "But in this world, if it were really as you say, true love would lead to children, and those children wouldn't be abandoned in places like that."

"At least I could be like Momotaro, floating down in a clean river and being picked up by kind in-laws. But that place is dark and dirty; throwing someone in there is a deliberate attempt to prevent them from being discovered."

"I don't believe that it can be explained by the words 'there's no way.' Maybe..." she said, her voice lowering, "Maybe this child is being desperately searched for by his own mother right now. If I just hand him over to someone else, wouldn't I be harming them both?"

She had barely finished speaking when a person suddenly emerged from around the corner of the alley. With her head down, she didn't have time to pull back and bumped into him, nearly dropping the swaddled baby in her arms.

The man was also knocked back by her, and hurriedly apologized in a low voice, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." He then tried to walk around them and leave.

Enma recognized the man's face and blurted out, "Luotai?!"

Luotai froze, turned around, and was surprised to see Enma's striking red hair. "Enma?! What are you doing here?"

"Why can't I be here?" Enma replied instinctively.

Luotai glanced around, a slightly unnatural look on his face.

Enma followed his gaze and discovered that both sides of the alley were lined with gambling den signs.

Shinya belatedly realized where he was, turned around and glared at Enma, his eyes saying, "What kind of path did you lead us to?"

Enma abruptly looked away, pretending not to see anything.

Luotai looked at him with disdain. "You actually brought a woman with a child to a place like this."

Enma glared at Luotai angrily. "Shut up! I didn't intend to come either! And what are you doing in a place like this?"

Luotai rubbed the back of his neck. "After Masato was executed, Hiroyama Boss asked me to come and help collect the shops and land deeds. I used to work for Masato, so I understand these intricacies."

"Wait a minute," Enma raised his hand to stop him. He thought for a moment and then looked at Luotai, "Isn't Masato your boss?"

"Um."

"I remember Hiroyama is your boss's mortal enemy, right?"

"Um."

"Then why are you working for the Hiroyama Family now?"

Luotai said "Oh," as if he had just remembered that Enma knew nothing, and quickly explained, "After we finished talking yesterday afternoon, I originally wanted to arrange a ship for you so that you could leave here for the Land of Fire first thing tomorrow morning."

"It's not that I didn't want to help you, but given the situation, I really couldn't give you a definite answer. As a result, that guy Masato thought I was being soft-hearted towards you and wanted to kill me."

Enma was about to say it was nothing and she could understand, but when she heard the word "kill," her eyes widened suddenly. "Why would your boss want to kill you just because you saw me off?"

Luotai glanced around and lowered his voice, "Because he's a spy from the Land of Lightning."

"Spy?!"

"Yes, he established himself in the Land of Hot Water to act as an inside agent for the Land of Lightning. You're from the Land of Whirlpools, and he was afraid that if I got too close to you, it would leak information and ruin his plans. So he wanted to get rid of me. I had no choice but to run away with my mother."

So you ran away?

"Yes." Luotai nodded, his expression somewhat complicated. "Actually, I didn't escape very far. I went home to find my mother, wanting to take her with me, but then the assassins from the Masato Sect caught up with us. I thought I was going to die, but then that guy suddenly missed, and I stabbed him through the heart with a backhand strike."

"Was that assassin Samurai?"

"No, judging from his appearance, he should be a Ninja."

Enma looked at him, and although Luotai stared for a long time before finally managing to utter, "... You're amazing."

"Just luck, just luck," Luotai waved his hand. "After killing him, my legs were so weak I could barely walk. As my mother helped me out of the alley, we ran into the Hiroyama patrol team. I figured I couldn't run far, so I ran to seek refuge with the Hiroyama Boss."

"It's a wonder you weren't beaten out." Enma clicked his tongue in amazement. "If I saw a spy's subordinate come to surrender, I would definitely break his legs and interrogate him for details."

"That's what I think too." Luotai smiled wryly, but quickly cheered himself up. "Anyway, I've turned over a new leaf now, this is a fresh start! Who cares about skin color! The Land of Lightning isn't necessarily that great! I'm determined to make a name for myself in the Land of Land of Hot Water and give my mother a good life!"

Zhen, standing to the side, seemed lost in thought. "I never imagined something like this would happen yesterday afternoon..."

Luotai then realized he didn't recognize the young lady and asked, "You are...?"

Holding the child, Makoto nodded slightly to him. "My name is Makoto, Tsuchigumo Makoto. Hello, Mr. Luotai."

Luotai looked at Enma, "How old is she?"

Fifteen years old.

"So young and already has a child?!"

His face flushed red instantly. "What nonsense are you spouting!"

Enma explained, "That's the child we found in Blackened Teeth Ditch. Shin said she wanted to find her mother so she could explain why she abandoned the child."

Luotai was taken aback.

Enma hesitated for a moment, then whispered in his ear, "I tried to persuade her, saying that the child was found by the Pleasure Quarter and was most likely abandoned by Courtesan. But she wouldn't listen, saying things like 'no mother would treat her own child like that,' and insisted on finding the person who abandoned the child to get to the bottom of it. I couldn't argue with her, so since you're here, why don't you try to persuade her too?"

Zhen hugged the swaddled baby tightly, frowning as he looked at Enma, as if afraid that Luotai would also start talking about Courtesan like him.

Her lips were pressed tightly together, and she unconsciously took half a step back.

Luotai looked at her, suddenly smiled, and said, "This is a good thing."

Enma was taken aback. "Huh?"

"Miss Zhen did the right thing. No mother in this world would willingly abandon her child in a place like that," Luotai said. "Going back to look for her is better than pretending you didn't see anything. I support you in doing this."

Zhen's eyes lit up. "Really!"

"Hmm." Luotai nodded. "I'm almost done with things here. I'll go with you guys to look for it later; I know this area of Yuhara quite well."

"Thank you so much!" Zhen bowed to him, and the baby in her arms moved slightly at her movement, making two soft nasal sounds.

Enma looked at Luotai with disbelief. "No, how could a black man like you be so familiar with Pleasure Quarter's affairs...?"

Luotai grinned at him. "Because I am the child of Courtesan."

"... ah?"