When she returned home, the Traveler was waiting. He greeted her warmly. “I am so glad you have come to no harm. Your husband was quite worried.”

“Thank you for your concern,” Yin Su bowed slightly as she said it. “But I fear that what looks to be concern for me is only fear of losing stature in the community because of my actions.”

“Please forgive my bold words,” she added.

The Traveler said no more, but went into the courtyard to gather his belongings. His journey would continue the following morning. 

It was as if she never left. Everything was as before. She went to the birthing hut. The bowl with the now dried placenta lay in the corner. She buried it without ceremony. She went into the kitchen, lit a fire and fixed a simple meal of millet gruel. She did not add spices or vegetables. There was a trance-like quality to her actions. She did not think. She did not wonder. She did not talk. Her Husband and the Traveler ate in silence.

She arranged a pallet beside her sleeping mat for her daughter. The child suckled happily and went into a peaceful sleep. An exhausted Yin Su drifted off. Her Husband and the Traveler also slept. The animals slept. The house was quiet.

As the sun began to rise, Yin Su awoke. She reached to her side to wake and cuddle with her child. She found only empty space. Suddenly wide awake and realizing what was happening, Yin Su scanned the room for her daughter. Neither her daughter nor her husband were to be found.

Yin Su gathered all her strength and ran out of the house, headed for the familiar path up the mountainside. Clouds hampered the sunlight and in the low light Yin Su stumbled several times and lost her footing. Her injured hand began to bleed. Branches swatted her face. Her feet would not move fast enough. She lost a sandal and kept going. There were no morning spider webs on the path. Someone or something had already cleared them. Her Husband was ahead of her. With her daughter.

She had never told her Husband that she had found the ledge where he had left their previous female children. She did not hesitate at forks on the pathway. She knew which ones to take. As she approached the ledge, she slowed down. She could hear her Husband, and her daughter crying from the rough handling and unfamiliar hands.

She had run all this way without thinking what she would do once she found her Husband. He was climbing up on the ledge with the child held close. He rocked the child in his arms and quieted its cries. Yin Su stared at the spectacle of her Husband comforting the child. She slipped behind a large rock to watch.

Her Husband held the child for a few moments, then abruptly laid her on the ledge next to the other four piles of stone. The cold shocked her and she began to howl. Her Husband paused, then reached down and encircled his hand about the child’s neck.

“Nooooo….” Yin Su jumped from her hiding place. Startled, her Husband released the child and turned to confront her.

“Stay back. You should not be here,” he said.

Yin Su flung her body against him. “Leave my child.”

He easily deflected her advance. With flailing hands, she hit him repeatedly while beseeching him, “Leave my child.”

He calmly blocked her feeble blows. “It must be done. A girl-child brings no honor to a family.” He clasped the child about the neck and stopped the life flow.

“Nooooo…..” It was a cry from the depths of Yin Su’s soul. She collapsed on the ground crying. Sobs shook her. She looked up at the ledge with the four piles of stone and now one limp body. Her cries echoed. Forest creatures became silent. Birds did not sing. Animals were stilled by the sound. Only the wind continued, fluttering through the trees and carrying Yin Su’s cries down the mountainside and up into the heavens.

Even her Husband was momentarily silent. He stood, helpless, as his wife cried, unsure what do to. He picked up a rock and then another and carried them to the ledge. He began to create a pile around the small corpse. He had to walk further and further to find suitable rocks, By the armload, he carried them and created the cairn.

In her grief Yin Su went inward. Exhaustion took hold and her crying ceased. She looked up to see her Husband place the final few stones on the pile. Rage found new strength. This time with cunning. She reached into the folds of her garment and found the ever-present herb-cutting knife. Its blade was sharp, for many herbs grew from strong plants and a clean cut was essential. She did not rise from her place on the ground.

Her Husband walked past her and said simply, “Come.”

She rose, knife in hand. Not as she usually used it, with blade pointing outward from her hand for easy cutting of plants. But rather, with blade held pointing inward to better stab. Her husband was a few steps ahead of her on the path. Anger surged in her body. She ran and jumped on his back. Her left arm came around his neck. She squeezed tightly to hang on. Her right hand with the knife came around to stab him in the chest. He straightened and deflected her right hand. Yin Su instinctively brought her hand back close to his face. She cut off a piece of his right ear. Blood flowed. Now it was her husband’s turn to howl. But a very different kind of howl. Anger now filled him. Yin Su clung to his back, attempting to reach his heart with her knife. He again deflected her hand. The knife fell to the ground. He grabbed Yin Su’s arms to remove her from his back. She held on.

He backed up sharply against a tree. The force winded Yin Su and she fell to the ground. Her husband stepped away and turned to face her. She leapt at him in rage. He held his hands out defensively and pushed Yin Su aside. “Stop it, Wife. I mean you no harm.”

What? No harm? Realization came to Yin Su. She was only a vessel for him to gain a son. She must be kept healthy to have a healthy son. She would be treated with kindness so she did not refuse his lust in bed. The knowledge brought new rage and anger. She screamed and lunged at him once again. He anticipated and pushed her to the side where she fell hitting her head on a jagged rock. She did not get up. She made no sound. Blood flowed.

It took a few moments for her husband to realize what had happened. When it did, he carefully picked up her body and carried it to the ledge with all her children. He placed her in a fetal position and began to gather stones.

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