Little Alpaca – Chapter 195
by Little PandaVolume 5: Tribulation of All Beings
A Risky Move.
You Yan left the Xianlu Sect, but she didn’t take the heavily injured Fuzhu and Huodou with her.
Yi Qiu had thought You Yan actually believed in something like a pinky swear, the kind of thing only a child would trust. It turned out she had left people behind to supervise her after all.
Not long after You Yan’s departure, Jian Li and Yue Zhuo came to rest at Yi Qiu’s door.
The moment the deer and the dog lay down at her entrance, Yi Qiu knew they must have been entrusted by You Yan to guard her.
The Fuzhu and Huodou were ancient Ferocious Beasts. Even severely injured, they were more than capable of keeping watch over a single, low-cultivation alpaca demon.
“You don’t have to treat me like a prisoner, you know. I’m not the type to overestimate my own abilities⦔ Yi Qiu muttered to herself, propping her chin on her hands as she sat on the threshold, gazing at the white deer and the little black dog before her.
The little black dog turned its head to glance at Yi Qiu, its expression serious. “You are. How are you not?”
Yi Qiu frowned and retorted, “How am I?”
Yue Zhuo didn’t give her any face at all. Tilting up her small, glossy black head, she began, “That time in Wuzhou, who was it that clearly ran away, but then insisted on coming back whimpering to get herself killed?”
“I⦔
“If the Jinwu and the Fusang Goddess hadn’t turned back that day, your little life would have been long gone!” Yue Zhuo’s words were exceptionally earnest as she pressed, “Tell me, aren’t you overestimating your abilities?”
Yi Qiu was rendered speechless. Her mouth hung slightly open, and after a long moment of wanting to speak but holding back, she finally chose to shut it.
The Little Hot Dog was right. She really was an alpaca who overestimated her own abilities.
She had always despised those characters who weren’t very strong themselves but would always shout at critical moments, “If we go, we go together! I’ll live and die with you!” and then forcibly stay behind, only to drag everyone down.
But it wasn’t until she met You Yan that she realized a person often has no control over their own actions.
It was true she was very afraid of death, but if You Yan were gone from this world, then she would have no reason to remain in it either.
So, because of You Yan, she had become the very type of person she despised.
“But I’m not stupid, either,” Yi Qiu said in a low voice. “If even you two can’t go, what makes you think I can?”
She knew that if she hadn’t turned back in Wuzhou, Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao wouldn’t have either. Chao Yun wouldn’t have appeared, the Yi Bird wouldn’t have tricked the Huodou, and perhaps You Yan really would be gone from this world.
But this time was different. The Fei wasn’t a Huodou that could be tricked away in just a few words, and her friends fighting alongside her hadn’t turned and abandoned anyone.
She was the most useless one. If she insisted on going, someone would have to take time out to protect her, which would definitely cause a lot of trouble.
If this battle was lost, this Mortal Realm would become just like it was written in the novelβa second Demon Realm, cold and lightless, where the weak are prey for the strong, and everything is shrouded in death.
“I think I could have gone! Give me one more chance, I can burn that one-eyed ox to death!” Yue Zhuo said, baring her teeth in displeasure. “If I had known its weakness was that eye, Jian Li and I would never have lost to it!”
The little girl always liked to act tough. Even though she was on the losing side, she refused to admit defeat.
Seeing such an expression on that fluffy little black head, Yi Qiu wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. After all, a single sneeze from this Little Hot Dog could roast her to a crisp. How could she dare to provoke her?
But Yi Qiu had never been good at hiding her feelings. Though the smile in her eyes was fleeting, Yue Zhuo still caught it.
“What’s with that expression?” Yue Zhuo couldn’t help but ask. “Are you laughing at me?”
Hearing this, Yi Qiu immediately shook her head so fast it was like a pellet drum.1
Jian Li quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “It’s getting late. Yi Qiu, Yue Zhuo, what would you like to eat?”
Yi Qiu pouted and asked curiously, “In your condition, can you still cook?”
Jian Li shook her head and smiled. “We just need to go say a word at Huamo Pavilion.”
That was true. There were still a few disciples at Huamo Pavilion, and everyone in the Xianlu Sect knew that this deer and dog were “divine beasts” tamed by Jiang Yuyao. If they wanted something to eat, they just had to find any disciple and ask, so they wouldn’t go hungry.
With that, Jian Li led Yue Zhuo away, preventing the Little Hot Dog from getting to the bottom of such a trivial matter with Yi Qiu.
The two Ferocious Beasts were true to their word. Having promised You Yan they would guard Yi Qiu, they didn’t forget to set up a crude spiritual power blockade during their brief absence, even if they couldn’t stay by her side every single moment.
Yi Qiu stared at the knee-high line of fire surrounding the Guest House and felt the sudden surge of heat, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
They really didn’t need to guard her like this. She knew her own limitations.
Yi Qiu sighed softly, walked into the room, and began fanning herself with a small round fan. Whoosh, whoosh.
Before long, Jian Li and Yue Zhuo returned with food, dispelling the sweltering ring of fire outside.
The food containers had been brought back hanging from the white deer’s neck. They had returned quickly, clearly not having eaten first themselves.
Yi Qiu hurried forward to take the containers from both sides of the white deer’s neck. After taking out the bowls and chopsticks, she carefully divided the food into three portions and placed them before the two temporarily hand-less Ferocious Beasts.
During their stay on Ao’an Mountain, Yi Qiu had noticed that Jian Li preferred vegetarian food while Yue Zhuo liked meat. So, when dishing out the food, she gave Yue Zhuo a few more pieces of meat. The Little Hot Dog seemed quite satisfied upon seeing her plate.
As Yi Qiu ate her dinner, she gazed at the white deer and the little black dog beside her. She felt an urge to pet them but didn’t dare.
She didn’t know why she had such a thought.
Perhaps it was because her heart was filled with so much anxiety that she desperately needed a distraction.
The sky outside gradually darkened. Yi Qiu jumped onto the roof and quietly gazed in the direction You Yan had left, her heart pounding with unease.
Jian Li, with Yue Zhuo, leaped onto the roof and lay down beside Yi Qiu. After a few seconds of silence, she asked softly, “Can you sense it?”
Yi Qiu thought for a moment, then nodded. “Mhm.”
To an ordinary person, this night was undoubtedly silent. After all, common humans had no perception of the world’s spiritual energy. Even if demons and ghosts were fighting to the point of turning heaven and earth dark, their spiritual light blinding, ordinary humans wouldn’t see a thing.
All that untrained humans could perceive were violent winds and torrential rain, dark clouds and lightning, or perhaps the thick, rolling smoke that filled the sky after a great fire.
If Moshui managed to pass this night safely, then no matter what happened, in the eyes of its people, it would only have been a night of heavy rain.
But what ordinary people couldn’t sense, Yi Qiu could sense completely.
She knew that a bone-chilling Resentful Qi was continuously gathering, surging toward the Mass Grave north of Moshui City. This Resentful Qi came not just from Moshui City, but from all corners of the Mortal Realm.
That terrifying Resentful Qi caused the entirety of Moshui to be covered in dark clouds, including the Xianlu Sect, which was far to the south and separated from the northern Mass Grave.
“How can there be such powerful Resentful Qi? What on earth is the Demon Lord doing?” Yue Zhuo couldn’t help but ask curiously.
“Who can fathom the Demon Lord’s thoughts?” Jian Li said with a soft sigh.
Yi Qiu pouted, hugged her knees, and stared blankly into the distance, lost in thought.
And then, in the distant sky, a strange transformation suddenly occurred.
Yi Qiu involuntarily stood up.
From atop the high mountain, her line of sight was unobstructed. In the distant night sky, the Yin and Resentful Qi that had been continuously converging formed a massive, blood-colored cloud of gloom.
And beneath that gloomy cloud, blood-stained wood mixed with the Yin and Resentful Qi and climbed ever upward.
“It’s the Goddess!” Yue Zhuo exclaimed in astonishment. “That’s the Fusang tree!”
It was the Fusang, a blood-colored Fusang. In an instant, it had pierced through the clouds, transforming into a colossal, sky-reaching tree that attracted Yin and summoned resentment.
Jian Li couldn’t help but murmur, “What is she doing?!”
Yi Qiu frowned, suddenly remembering something.
The reason the original novel was titled γThin, Withered Branchesγ was because of the female lead’s final ending. For the sake of a curse, she willingly gave up her freedom and reincarnation to remain in the Mortal Realm as an Earthbound Spirit, becoming a blood-colored withered tree surrounded by Resentful Qi, forever enduring the torment of an eternal, un-living existence.
Legend had it that the divine Fusang tree’s branches could ascend to the heavens, and its roots could descend to connect with the netherworld.2
Whether it was divine power or demonic power, it could gather them with ease.
It was for this reason that the Jiang Yuyao of the original novel could gather all the world’s Yin and Resentful Qi at any cost, using it as a curse to ensure that Luo Mingyuan’s remaining years would be a life worse than death.
If that blood-colored Fusang that reached from heaven to earth were to fully grow, Jiang Yuyao could use it to absorb all the Yin and Resentful Qi in the Mortal Realm. Having lost this source of power, the Fei’s injuries would surely be difficult to heal. If it didn’t want to live in constant fear, hiding from the pursuit of various factions, it would have to do everything in its power to stop the blood-colored Fusang before it finished growing.
You Yan had said she had a way to make the Fei leave Moshui City. So this was itβsuch an extreme and risky method.
Yi Qiu knew that You Yan had always dared to act and dared to gamble, capable of using anything to her advantage.
But by doing this, You Yan would inevitably cause Jiang Yuyao to be affected by the Yin and Resentful Qi. If Jiang Yuyao’s will wasn’t strong enough, it would be extremely easy for a Heart Devil to arise.
Moreover, the Mass Grave at this very moment must be a nexus of Resentful Qi, making it, without a doubt, the Fei’s ideal battlefield. All of this must have been within You Yan’s calculations.
In truth, if everyone had been willing, they could have taken advantage of the dispersed Resentful Qi in the city and chosen to fight the Fei directly within Moshui City.
Whether gods or demons, to them, Moshui was just one city in the Mortal Realm. If it was destroyed, it was destroyed. For the sake of the world’s common people, for the sake of more lives, they would only be sacrificing a pile of cold numbers.
You Yan had always been a clear-headed person. She knew all too well that being unwilling to sacrifice the whole of Moshui City would make the hunt countless times harder.
Despite this, You Yan still presented this plan to Jiang Yuyao and Luo Mingyuan.
She gave them a choice, a choice that could potentially preserve Moshui’s peace but was extremely risky. With this choice, if they failed, every single one of them would pay a heavy price.
It could even be said that even if they succeeded, they might still pay a considerable price.
Yet they truly chose it, as if without a moment’s hesitation.
The heavenly gods had learned compassion in the Mortal Realm. The “ant-like,” fragile humans had finally become lives worthy of respect and protection in their eyesβperhaps this was their Righteous Attainment.3
Then what about You Yan?
Did she brave this danger with them because she too now possessed the kindness and compassion she once scorned, or was it merely so that the always-sentimental alpaca wouldn’t have to see a place she was once so familiar with turn into a desolate city?
Regardless, she hoped that after tonight, everyone would come back safe and sound.
Footnotes
- A pellet drum, or bolanggu, is a traditional Chinese toy drum with two pellets attached by strings. When the handle is twisted, the pellets swing and strike the drumhead. The idiom describes shaking oneβs head back and forth very rapidly.
- The Fusang is a divine tree in Chinese mythology. Its branches are said to reach the heavens, and its roots can connect to the underworld, making it a powerful conduit between realms.
- Literally βrighteous fruit.β A term borrowed from Buddhism that refers to achieving enlightenment or a higher state of spiritual attainment through oneβs trials and cultivation.
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