Little Alpaca – Chapter 179

Volume 5: Tribulation of All Beings

This is So Embarrassing!

Another morning, Yi Qiu woke from her dreams. Her eyes were still half-closed as she instinctively opened her mouth and let out a huge yawn.

You Yan always woke up earlier than she did. Whether it was because birds were naturally energetic, or because You Yan was used to sleeping less, Yi Qiu wasn’t sure. In any case, whenever she woke up, You Yan was definitely not beside her.

            

The little alpaca drilled its way out from under the covers, rubbing its drowsy eyes against the draped bed curtains. It stood up and hopped lightly off the bed—the whole sequence was as smooth as flowing clouds and running water​¹, so practiced it was as if she truly were an alpaca.

It was funny, really. Since the day she had arrived in this world, she had spent far more days as an alpaca than as a human.

But before, it had been out of necessity. This time, it was for the sake of cultivation.

            

Although, she always felt like You Yan was being deliberate with this method of training. But even if it was deliberate, there was a certain logic to it.

The main storyline of the original work had long since collapsed. No one knew what would happen next. She had to seize every moment to cultivate properly, to at least be able to protect herself when danger arose. She couldn’t let You Yan get distracted for her sake anymore.

At this thought, Yi Qiu unconsciously stood frozen by the bed, closing her eyes to focus for a moment.

            

She could feel spiritual power flowing slowly through the spiritual veins​² in her body, but every time she tried to influence its course, she felt completely drained of strength.

As expected, an animal’s body is impossible to control as well as a human’s. I really have to take it slow.

Yi Qiu sighed softly, then began to wander around the room with lazy steps.

            

You Yan wasn’t in the room, nor was she in the courtyard.

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but think that You Yan had probably gone to get her breakfast. If she ran off now, You Yan would worry when she came back and couldn’t find her.

With that, Yi Qiu pouted and walked over to the door, plopping down at the entrance, guarding it like a Door God.

            

Gusts of cool wind blew across the mountain peak, making Yi Qiu curl up into a ball. Anyone looking from a distance might have thought someone had piled a large clump of cotton by the door.

When You Yan returned, she couldn’t help but pause. The familiar scene seemed to have traveled through layers of time, trekking from night until morning, finally arriving to disturb her eyes and enter her heart.

Carrying a food container, she quickened her pace and ran forward. Frowning, she herded the little alpaca, who had run out to catch the morning breeze, back into the house.

            

“It’s so cold on the mountain peak. Aren’t you afraid of catching a chill?”

“I’m not cold!” Yi Qiu said in a small voice. “I just saw you weren’t here, so I thought I’d wait for you outside… Besides, I’m not afraid of the cold anymore.”

The moment she finished speaking, You Yan was pushing gently at the back of her neck, nudging her all the way to the table.

            

As she stood still by the table, she couldn’t help but sigh with emotion in her heart.

You Yan has really changed so much.

If this had been the past, You Yan would have probably grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her to the table, not been as gentle as she was now.

            

It was strange. The same place, the same scene, the same two of them, yet the feeling was completely different.

“What are you thinking about now?” As You Yan’s voice fell, she had already taken out all the food from the container and placed it on the table.

“Nothing. I was just thinking that you’ve really changed a lot, You Yan,” Yi Qiu remarked casually.

            

She leaned two steps forward, resting her head on the tabletop, her gaze sweeping over today’s breakfast.

You Yan stroked her head and smiled. “You’ve also changed quite a bit.”

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but look up, her eyes filled with surprise. “How? Have I changed?”

            

“If this were the past, and you woke up to find me gone, you would have most likely run all over the place,” You Yan said, sitting down at the table. She picked up a small wooden spoon, scooped up some rice porridge, and blew on it lightly by her lips.

“I… I was just… afraid you’d abandoned me…” Yi Qiu muttered under her breath.

“You’re not afraid anymore?” You Yan asked back with a smile.

            

“I’m not afraid,” Yi Qiu said, craning her neck and opening her mouth toward You Yan.

She had once again become that alpaca who had someone to wait on her for every meal. But the way she and You Yan interacted now was just like it had been in the dreamscape, on that Kunlun​³ with the little sweet bird.

Back then, when You Yan was good to her, it had felt particularly unreal.

            

But this time, with You Yan being good to her, she felt incredibly secure. So secure that even if someone told her that heaven would collapse and the earth would split apart tomorrow, she wouldn’t feel very afraid.

After breakfast was usually You Yan’s time for self-healing. Yi Qiu wanted her to recover quickly, so she never disturbed her too much.

Just like before, she would lie down by the window where the sun shone, basking in the light while closing her eyes to focus, trying to control the spiritual power darting around inside her body.

            

You Yan had said that to shapeshift freely, one needed to gather spiritual power at the heart-meridian​⁴, then guide it with one’s will.

But no matter how she tried, she couldn’t gather that spiritual power, let alone manipulate it.

“Baocai…” ​⁵

            

【I’m here.】

“Is there any way for me to quickly understand what You Yan is saying?” Yi Qiu asked, a headache coming on. “Am I really that stupid? I could manipulate spiritual power when I was human, but now that I’m an alpaca, I can’t… Aren’t the methods for channeling spiritual energy the same for both?”

【This is a matter of familiarity. You are certainly more familiar with a human body than an alpaca’s body. For a cultivator, gathering spiritual power in the body is either for defense or for offense. Whether in human form or demon body​⁶, while the principle of channeling spiritual energy is the same, the method of gathering it is different.】

            

“Put that in plain English…” She really didn’t want to listen to all this winding and twisting​⁷ talk.

【Since the Host is an alpaca, finding the feeling of gathering spiritual power by using an alpaca’s methods of attack and defense will definitely be the fastest way.】

An alpaca’s methods of attack and defense—isn’t that just spitting?

            

“Ah!” Yi Qiu had a sudden realization.

Around noon, a disciple from Huamo Pavilion who delivered fresh ingredients daily knocked on the door.

So as not to wake You Yan, Yi Qiu instantly jumped up from the ground, ran to the door in a few steps, and used her two front hooves to quickly paw open a crack. “Come in.”

            

The visitor looked down, their gaze freezing for a moment.

“Just put it on the side,” Yi Qiu said, moving her butt to make way, clearing the space by the door.

The person quickly recovered, nodding as she placed everything by the entrance. Before leaving, she couldn’t resist calling out to the alpaca before her, “Miss Yi?”

            

“Is there anything else?” Yi Qiu asked in return.

“No, nothing. It’s just, why have you become like this?” the person couldn’t help but ask. “Master once said that when a demon reveals its original form, it’s most likely badly injured. Are… are you hurt?”

Nowadays, the people of the Xianlu Sect were no longer as hostile towards demons as they once were. When Jiang Yuyao brought the two of them back, she hadn’t concealed their identities at all.

            

In truth, everyone knew that You Yan and Yi Qiu weren’t human. But knowing was one thing; the younger ones had never seen demons or monsters before. Now, seeing a perfectly normal-looking young lady turn into a talking sheep, they were bound to be a little curious.

Faced with the person’s concern, Yi Qiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and shook her head. “I’m not hurt, I’m not hurt. I’m cultivating.”

“Oh… Well, if either of you needs anything, you must let me know. Senior Sister Jiang Yuyao said that as long as you ask, and as long as we have it, we must do our best to provide it,” the disciple said, then turned and left.

            

Jiang Yuyao really did arrange everything perfectly before she left.

Now, her words were like an imperial edict​⁸ from the Emperor himself in the eyes of these junior martial brothers and sisters, not to be disobeyed in the slightest. It was precisely because of this that she, a demon, and You Yan, a demon lord, could live here so peacefully.

After watching the little junior martial sister from Huamo Pavilion walk away, Yi Qiu subconsciously turned and kicked the door shut with her hind leg.

            

The moment she looked up, her eyes met You Yan’s.

“Aren’t you going to rest a little longer?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help asking.

“You certainly have a lot of little girls who care about you,” You Yan replied coolly, deflecting the question. As she spoke, she squatted down to look at the fresh ingredients for the day.

            

“You’re not going to get jealous over this, are you?” Yi Qiu scooted closer and said, with the confidence of someone who knows they are in the right, “I’m just very likable! Even little children flock over to pet me when I walk down the street. You’re getting jealous over everyone; aren’t you drowning in vinegar?”

“Let’s throw you outside, not feed you or wash you for a few days, and see who still wants to pet you then,” You Yan said with a light laugh. “Aren’t you only so clean and white because I take care of you?”

“I can’t argue with you!” Yi Qiu said, craning her neck to look at the vegetable basket by the door, asking curiously, “What are we eating today?”

            

“Whatever there is. I’ll go cook for you,” You Yan said. With one hand, she picked up the basket, and with the other, she ruffled Yi Qiu’s fluffy little head before turning towards the kitchen.

Yi Qiu pouted and quickly trotted after her.

“You Yan!”

            

“Hm?”

“I think I have an idea of how to use spiritual power in my demon body now!”

“Is that so?” You Yan responded casually.

            

She placed the vegetables in clean water and began washing them, piece by piece.

The little alpaca behind her circled to her side in a few steps, tilting up its fluffy little head, its ears perked high, its eyes filled with eagerness.

“My comprehension is very strong!”

            

“Let me see?”

Hearing this, Yi Qiu took two steps back. Under You Yan’s watchful gaze, she took a deep breath.

In an instant, the little alpaca’s eyes grew wider and wider, an emerald-green spiritual light—You Yan’s light—shimmering within them.

            

A trace of surprise flashed in You Yan’s eyes. It seemed she hadn’t expected this little one’s comprehension to be so strong, that in just one morning, she could already channel her spiritual power to this extent.

When she came back to her senses, she saw the spiritual light on Yi Qiu’s body growing stronger and quickly gave guidance, “Gather it at your heart-meridian. Feel it and control it with your will. Now, think what you want to think, and you’ll be able to…”

In the next second, before You Yan could finish, the little alpaca’s expression changed. It twisted its body with lightning speed, leaped to the doorway, and with its not-so-large mouth, sprayed a fountain-like torrent of saliva outside the kitchen—so much that it would be excessive even for watering flowers.

            

In that single moment, the ground outside the kitchen became as wet as if it had just rained.

Staring at the puddle of saliva, You Yan froze on the spot, her fingers still washing vegetables, now stiff.

“I can’t, I can’t hold it in!” Yi Qiu turned back, collapsing onto the ground in exhaustion, her two little ears drooping.

            

You Yan: “…”

Yi Qiu: “…whimper.”

You Yan frowned. “I told you to gather spiritual power at your heart-meridian, not to turn it into saliva and spit it out…”

            

Yi Qiu bit her lip, aggrieved. “I… I wanted to, but as soon as I gathered it, it just… it couldn’t help but come out of my mouth…”

Yi Qiu couldn’t help thinking You Yan was probably disgusted by her. But she swore to the heavens that she was absolutely a civilized, model alpaca for the new era; she truly had no intention of spitting on the ground.

She had only wanted to use that method to gather her spiritual power. She had tried it a few times that morning, and it had worked. Who knew that if she gathered too much, she wouldn’t be able to hold it in?

            

This is so embarrassing!

“You…”

“I was wrong!” Yi Qiu instantly pressed her head to the ground and whispered, “I’ll clean the outside right away!”

            

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