Little Alpaca – Chapter 191
by Little PandaVolume 5: Tribulation of All Beings
Bad News.
Late last autumn, Xun Chi returned to the Heavenly Realm alone to receive his punishment.
First, he had repeatedly deceived the Heavenly Realm regarding the Fuzhu and the Huodou. Then, he had interfered in the tribulation of an immortal god. He had even failed to stop the Wood God, who was intent on defecting from the Heavenly Realm.
However, looking at the final outcome, the two great Ferocious Beasts, Fuzhu and Huodou, were now truly under the Heavenly Realm’s authority. Although the Jinwu’s tribulation was disrupted by Xun Chi’s divine power, Xun Chi had also thwarted the plans of the one who fell to the demonic path and had informed the Heavenly Court of the Wood God’s betrayal. In any case, his merits and demerits could be said to cancel each other out.
But the heavenly rules and regulations had always been strict. The death penalty could be avoided, but punishment was hard to escape.1
It had been a long time, and Xun Chi’s injuries were still clearly severe. He must have been worried about the calamity in the Mortal Realm, returning as soon as he had recovered enough to stand and move.
After hearing You Yan’s plan to use the Fusang Branches to attract yin and eliminate the Fei, Xun Chi immediately offered to help.
This reunion was entirely devoid of pleasantries. They met and parted on the same day, not even sharing a single meal before setting off on their separate journeys for the same goal.
Xun Chi took some of the Spiritual Seeds left by Jiang Yuyao and went to other places in the Mortal Realm where the Fusang Branches had yet to be planted.
Hope, like the Fusang Branches, was sown bit by bit across the entire Mortal Realm.
The people who saw the Fusang Branches gradually began to believe the prophecy that had spread from who-knows-when, believing that when despair arrived, hope would descend upon the world.
And those who had not seen the Fusang Branches began to search everywhere, looking for a touch of spring in this season.
Some discovered the newly planted sprouts, while others saw the “gods” who had sown the seeds.
Some said they saw a divine bird with golden-red wings, while others claimed to have seen a celestial maiden of otherworldly beauty. But no matter how many versions of the story were now circulating, the only trees capable of growing in this land today were real.
They grew in more and more places, bringing hope to more and more people mired in despair.
As hope filled the Mortal Realm, the imperial court suddenly reduced this year’s taxes and put pressure on merchants everywhere, forbidding them from unscrupulously inflating grain prices.
This undoubtedly brought even more hope to the common people.
“The gods won’t abandon us, and neither will the court!”
“In the past, whenever there was a famine, the court would open its granaries nearby to distribute food. Even if the local reserves weren’t enough, they’d transport grain from neighboring areas. No matter what, as long as the court takes action, we can definitely hold out until next year’s autumn harvest!”
“Next year, next year’s spring will definitely be better…”
When hope appeared, despair no longer shrouded the entire Mortal Realm. Although some people still struggled in agony, the Resentful Qi born from that suffering was carried away from all corners of the land by the sprouting Fusang Branches, converging on the “Demon-Extermination Ground” outside Moshui City, where a barrier and a Killing Formation had been set up.
Everything seemed to be developing in a positive direction. But the bad news that no one could have expected also chose this moment to quietly descend.
Something major seemed to have happened in the distant Moshui City.
When the news traveled from a thousand li away, Yi Qiu was sitting with You Yan in an ordinary eatery.
Everything here was so peaceful. People discussed the vanished spring and their household grain stores. The storyteller in the teahouse across the street was even recounting the recent, popular tale of the golden-red divine bird carrying a branch of divine wood to save the world.
But the System’s voice suddenly rang out.
【Warning, abnormal spiritual power fluctuations detected in Moshui City. The ancient Ferocious Beast “Fei” has been successfully revived! If it is not slain, the Mortal Realm will suffer a devastating blow similar to the original novel and will be reduced to a Demonic Land!】
【Host, you must help the protagonist protect the Mortal Realm, change the world-line of 《Thin, Withered Branches》, and guide the story to a reasonable Happy Ending!】
“What’s going on? Be more specific!”
【The ancient Ferocious Beast “Fei” has been successfully revived. Moshui City has already fallen!】
Fallen? That was a terrifying word to use…
Yi Qiu’s brow furrowed instantly. She gritted her teeth and asked, “What about Fuzhu and Huodou? How are they?”
They were both there. They had set up a Killing Formation within You Yan’s barrier. How could they have been defeated so easily?
【My deepest apologies. As they are not the protagonist, I am unable to lock onto them in any way.】
“…” Yi Qiu sucked in a sharp breath and looked up at You Yan, her voice urgent. “Something’s happened in Moshui. The System told me!”
You Yan had noticed the sudden change in Yi Qiu’s expression immediately. Seeing her so anxious now, she didn’t panic, but asked calmly, “What did it say?”
“It said the Fei has been revived, and Moshui City has fallen.” As Yi Qiu spoke, a hint of panic was evident in her eyes. “I asked where Fuzhu and Huodou are, but it couldn’t give me an answer…”
The moment her words fell, You Yan pulled her up from her seat. Before Yi Qiu could even react, she was already leaping out the window with You Yan.
In that instant, Yi Qiu only heard the sound of wings unfurling and beating behind her before she found herself soaring into the sky with You Yan amidst the shocked cries of countless humans.
The dark red wings existed in the mortals’ eyes for only a brief moment before You Yan quickly concealed their figures with spiritual power.
Yi Qiu: “You Yan! People saw us just now!”
You Yan: “A small accident, but it’s fine.”
“That’s fine?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but be astonished.
“It’s fine,” You Yan said faintly. “They will deceive themselves.”
“Huh?”
What did she mean, they would deceive themselves?
While Yi Qiu was still confused, she heard the people’s self-deception begin.
“Just, just now… was that a demon!”
“What demon? That was clearly a goddess!”
“A goddess?”
“Haven’t you heard? The day before yesterday, someone discovered a new branch of the divine tree a hundred li from here. The divine bird must have come to our city! That figure just now was clearly a woman. Isn’t the divine bird a woman in the legends!”
“But… but isn’t the divine bird golden?”
“Jin-Chi, Jin-Chi! The ‘Chi’ is for crimson, not the ‘Chi’ for wings! Weren’t the goddess’s wings crimson just now!”2
“She didn’t hurt anyone! She’s a goddess!”
In an instant, the pedestrians on the street, the patrons in the eatery, and the people drinking tea and listening to stories in the teahouse all began to pray to the sky where the “goddess” had vanished, praying for all their hardships to disappear soon.
“It… it can work like that…?” Yi Qiu suddenly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“It’s not surprising,” You Yan said softly, beating her wings and leaving the place, flying in the direction of Moshui City.
The Mortal Realm was now filled with countless versions of the legend of the divine bird. Some people would cry “divine bird” at the sight of a small golden or red bird, let alone a woman who appeared with wings and then suddenly vanished.
That Little Pig Trotter probably never imagined that after half a spring, in the hearts of the common people, he had already become a graceful goddess.
If this had happened any day before today, Yi Qiu would have definitely planned to tease him thoroughly when they next met. But with the disaster in Moshui, she was no longer in the mood.
“You Yan…”
“No matter what happened, we’ll go back and see first,” You Yan said placidly. “Worrying now is useless.”
You Yan’s tone was always so unhurried. No matter how helpless others were, she would never lose her composure.
Her calm reaction put Yi Qiu’s heart at ease.
She thought that no matter what happened, as long as You Yan was here, everything would be resolved.
In order to travel at full speed, You Yan, after a moment of consideration, finally transformed into her enormous demon’s true form.
Yi Qiu once again sat on the back of the Qinyuan Bird,3 her hands unconsciously stroking the soft red feathers on its neck to soothe her own immense anxiety.
This time, You Yan didn’t show the slightest hint of displeasure as she had before, simply allowing Yi Qiu to stroke her quietly.
“Last time I touched you like this, you weren’t happy about it,” Yi Qiu said, trying to find some joy in her bitterness. She lay on the Qinyuan’s back and wrapped her arms gently around the giant bird’s neck. “How come you have no reaction at all today?”
“What reaction do you want me to have?” You Yan couldn’t help but ask back. “Throw you off?”
Yi Qiu pouted. “You don’t have to go that far. It’s so high up here, and I don’t have wings. I’d definitely be smashed to death.”
Hearing this, You Yan let out a soft chuckle. “You don’t even get scared when you hear things like that anymore.”
Yi Qiu smoothed the feathers on You Yan’s neck and smiled. “I don’t believe you’d throw me off.”
In the past, she was always afraid of this and that. A casual threat from You Yan would have her trembling in fear. But now, having gone through life and death together, she refused to believe You Yan would cast her aside so easily.
On the way to Moshui, Yi Qiu saw from afar the Fusang Branches she and You Yan had planted on their way here.
Previously, these branches had been constantly absorbing Resentful Qi, transmitting all of it back to Moshui. But at this moment, the Resentful Qi was stagnant, lingering around the branches, refusing to disperse.
You Yan said that something must have gone wrong with the Yin-Attracting Formation. The main branch outside Moshui City might have suffered some degree of damage, causing the Resentful Qi gathered by the spiritual power to stagnate beside the Fusang Branches everywhere.
“If that’s the case, then the branches are surrounded by Resentful Qi. If people get close…” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but worry.
“The Fusang Branches contain the power of the divine tree, so they can naturally suppress the Resentful Qi. While it’s not a long-term solution, nothing will happen in the short term.” The answer You Yan gave wasn’t too bad.
You Yan rushed toward Moshui without a moment’s rest. By the time she arrived, it was deep in the night two days later.
Moshui at night was always quiet.
But today’s quiet was different from usual.
In Moshui City, almost every household had Talisman Paper4 pasted on their doors and windows. These talismans contained a faint spiritual power and were likely the work of the Xianlu Sect cultivators. Although they couldn’t fend off powerful Resentful Qi, they could barely guard against some low-level Evil Spirits.
The supposedly quiet night was faintly filled with the sound of heavy coughing and soft, shallow sobs.
Clearly, not everyone could sleep peacefully tonight.
Lying on the Qinyuan Bird’s back, Yi Qiu saw from afar that the river in the city had already run dry. Under the moonlight, an extremely dense aura of yin and resentment swirled ceaselessly around the Fusang Branches that the citizens had transplanted into every corner of the city.
The Resentful Qi from all over the Mortal Realm had been gathered in Moshui. Once the Yin-Attracting Formation was broken, Moshui would naturally bear the brunt of it.
If not for the divine power within these Fusang Branches suppressing the Resentful Qi, its sheer concentration would have likely turned this place into a ghost town overnight.
Yi Qiu followed You Yan to the Mass Grave on the barren mountain north of the city, only to discover that aside from the blood-red Fusang that feared no Heavenly Fire, everything else had been turned to scorched earth—the aftermath of being burned by Heavenly Fire.
What on earth happened here…
Just as Yi Qiu was reeling in shock, the sound of heavy footsteps suddenly came from behind her.
Yi Qiu vigilantly channeled her spiritual power, but You Yan gently pressed the back of her hand.
“Miss You, Miss Yi, you’re finally here…”
Hearing the voice, Yi Qiu turned around. She saw a somewhat familiar figure standing alone under the dim moonlight.
Footnotes
- A Chinese proverb (死罪可免，活罪难逃, sǐzuì kě miǎn, huózuì nán táo) meaning that while one may escape the worst punishment, some form of consequence is unavoidable.
- The speaker is clarifying the name of the divine bird, “Jīnchì” (金赤 – Golden-Red). The character “chì” (赤 – crimson/red) has the same pronunciation as “chì” (翅 – wing). The speaker emphasizes that the name refers to the color red, not wings, explaining why the “goddess” (You Yan) has red wings.
- The Qinyuan Bird (钦原鸟, Qīnyuán niǎo) is a mythological creature from the Chinese classic “The Classic of Mountains and Seas.”
- Talisman paper (符纸, fúzhǐ) refers to paper strips with magical symbols or calligraphy, used for protection or exorcism in Chinese folk religion and fiction.
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