Little Alpaca – Chapter 196
by Little PandaVolume 5: Tribulation of All Beings
Am I Going to Die in This Place?
The distant night sky seemed to be shrouded in despair.
It was an anomaly invisible to ordinary humans. A Blood-colored Fusang tree stood tall enough to touch the heavens, wreathed in countless streams of Yin and Resentful Qi tainted with a demonic aura.
A massive vortex slowly gathered in mid-air. Its blackness was so deep it seemed bottomless, wrapping layer upon layer of oppressive, blood-colored smoke into the dark night. Around the vortex, a ghastly green spiritual light mixed with blood shrouded the entire world like a fog.
After the terrifying anomaly appeared in the distance, a sudden downpour arrived. The white deer subconsciously raised a barrier of spiritual light, protecting Yi Qiu within it.
Through the hazy curtain of rain, Yi Qiu could still make out a colossal, terrifying figure stepping out of that dreadful vortex. No matter how far away it was, it carried an oppressive aura heavy with despair.
That terrifying pressure made Yi Qiu gasp.
“The Fei!” Yue Zhuo cried out in alarm. “It’s it, that giant one-eyed ox!”
“The Resentful Qi can indeed be used by itβ¦ Wherever Resentful Qi gathers, it can rapidly heal itself,” Jian Li said softly, her voice full of worry.
“What’s that ugly ox acting so cocky for?” the little black dog said through gritted teeth. “Give me one more chance, and I’ll definitely burn it to ashes!”
She talked big, but the current Yue Zhuo couldn’t even manage her human form. She would be utterly unable to resist the powerful Resentful Qi wielded by the Fei. If not for this, You Yan wouldn’t have forbidden them from going along.
Just as the entire world in the distance seemed to be completely swallowed by that oppressive despair, the gloomy and terrifying night sky suddenly ignited with a dazzling blaze. The firelight climbed up the towering, blood-colored tree and swept across the dark clouds, illuminating the entire night in an instant.
In the original novel’s world-building, Heavenly Fire could burn away anything, and Yin and Resentful Qi were no exception.
In a flash, Yi Qiu saw a giant, golden-red bird beat its wings and rise from within the raging flames.
It spread its flame-wreathed wings and, with long tail feathers bathed in fire, circled the branches of the Blood-colored Fusang. As gorgeous as a god descending to the mortal world, it faced off against the ancient Ferocious Beast that was surrounded by Yin and Resentful Qi.
In that same instant, the Blood-colored Fusang actually sprouted new branches amidst the scorching Heavenly Fire. The leaves, no longer stained with blood, burned with layers of red flames. They spread out into a massive, fiery canopy that blotted out the sky and moon like a cloud. Amidst the storm, it bloomed into a soul-shaking spectacle of fire trees and silver flowers1, so brilliant that it made one feel that all the fireworks of the mortal world couldn’t compare to even a fraction of it.
The downpour lashed against the unquenchable Heavenly Fire. The Jinwu on the towering tree and the massive ancient Ferocious Beast suddenly exchanged blows of spiritual power, and the world trembled. Spiritual light exploded in an instant, so blinding that it was impossible to keep one’s eyes open.
Several days ago, the Fuzhu and the Huodou had both been gravely injured in their battle with the Fei, yet none of the people at the Xianlu Sect had been alerted.
But now, despite the immense distance, Yi Qiu could see everything with perfect clarity.
In fact, it wasn’t just Yi Qiu, nor was it just Yue Zhuo and Jian Li. A moment ago, the disciples who remained at the Xianlu Sect had all lit their lamps, dotting the dark mountain peak with candlelight.
On this night, every cultivator in Moshui City who could sense the spiritual energy of the world was awakened from their dreams by this world-shaking battle.
It made sense. All the Resentful Qi from across the Mortal Realm had been summoned to Moshui by Jiang Yuyao using the scattered Fusang branches. The Fei would surely use this power to strengthen itself. Even if it was severely injured, it could still put up the struggle of a cornered beast.2
The strength of a cornered beast was the most terrifying.
If this had been before, Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao probably wouldn’t have been able to stand against it at all. But after not seeing them for so long, their divine power had awakened to such an astonishing degree.
Yi Qiu slowly opened her eyes, staring blankly at the distant night sky that had been completely consumed by Heavenly Fire. The terrifying vortex was gone. All the colors of the world seemed to pale in comparison to the firelight that illuminated everything.
Within the flames, the figures of the Jinwu and the Fei had vanished, leaving only a towering tree of fire that kicked up layers of eye-obscuring white steam in the torrential rain.
The Heavenly Realm was really keeping its cool. With a fight like this going on in the Mortal Realm, not a single heavenly soldier or general had shown up to “break it up.”
Then again, the gods in this crappy world’s lore had always been like this, valuing the Heavenly Dao above all else. The Heavenly Dao emphasized that “all things in the universe have their own predetermined fate.” Thus, the Heavenly Realm had a rule: when gods and immortals undergo tribulations, they must not be aided or disturbed by divine power. When the Mortal Realm faces disaster, mortals should overcome it themselves. And so, before the protagonist fell to the demonic path, no one cared. Before the mortals were nearly wiped out by calamity, the Heavenly Realm truly did nothing.
When these gods were feeling petty, they couldn’t even tolerate a single Demon Embryo. But when they were feeling magnanimous, they could ignore the life and death of all mortals.
If you’re going to be like that, at least be consistent! What’s with the double standard!
If that Little Pig Trotter ever took over the Heavenly Realm, she would definitely grab Jiang Yuyao and nag her endlessly, making her get him to change all these stupid rules!
However, she had previously felt that the protagonist of γThin, Withered Branchesγ had no protagonist halo3 whatsoever. But now it seemed this protagonist halo was in no way inferior to that of a protagonist from a shuangwen.4
Thick-skinned and hard to kill in the early stages, quick to learn and grow in the mid-stages, able to casually subdue powerful Ferocious Beasts, and with a sufficiently powerful backerβwasn’t this much better than an alpaca like her who had accomplished nothing since transmigrating?
It truly made this alpaca enviousβ¦
Yi Qiu couldn’t help but think that no matter how powerful the Fei was, it had been severely wounded by the finishing blows from the Fuzhu, the Huodou, and He Xiuzhu. It was now just an arrow at the end of its flight, so it shouldn’t be a match for the protagonist halo, right?
Unfortunately, she was often like the King of Jinxes.5 It was better if she didn’t think about things, because the moment she did, the opposite would happen.
Everything happened in an instant.
A blinding bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, pierced through the scorching Heavenly Fire, and struck heavily upon the branches of the Fusang tree.
Within the fire, a blurry silhouette seemed to tremble. Then, one after another, bolts of lightning fell from the heavens.
“Fuck, what the hell is this!” Yi Qiu couldn’t hold back a curse.
Yue Zhuo tilted her head, her eyes full of confusion. But Jian Li began to tremble and whispered, “That’s a Heavenly Dao Thunder Tribulation!”6
Yi Qiu was stunned. “A Heavenly Dao Thunder Tribulation?”
Jian Li stared into the distance and said numbly, “Immortals and gods must all experience a Heavenly Dao Thunder Tribulation to undergo their tribulations and ascend⦔
“Is it sick in the head? Picking a time like this?” Yi Qiu gritted her teeth in anger. “It’s bad enough that the gods of the Heavenly Realm rigidly adhere to the Heavenly Dao and ignore the mortals’ plight, but for them to send down a tribulation at this moment, are they completely brainless?!”
“I’m afraid either the Goddess or the Jinwu has broken through the mortal realm’s limits, thus triggering the Heavenly Dao Thunder Tribulation⦔ Jian Li said with a frown. “Xun Chi said that the reason high gods don’t easily interfere in mortal affairs is because beyond the Heavenly Realm, there is the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao is what governs the order of all living things. The Heavenly Realm is only responsible for maintaining the normal operation of the Heavenly Dao and ensuring it isn’t disrupted by fate-defiers. Soβ¦ this tribulation doesn’t come from the Heavenly Realm, but from the Heavenly Dao itself. It’s completely beyond the Heavenly Realm’s control. Once it descends, it must be endured. It’s either life or death⦔
Hearing this, Yi Qiu’s teeth itched with rage.
Little Bird Coo Coo Fly, are you fucking kidding me?
A last-minute breakthrough at a critical momentβthat was clearly a shuangwen plot point. But this kind of breakthrough just had to trigger that damned Heavenly Dao Thunder Tribulation.
To be able to write such a dumbass setting, that dumbass author probably never intended to let the protagonist have a HE7 from the moment they wrote the outline, right?
She took back her earlier thought. The protagonist of this crappy novel was truly miserable. In all her years of reading novels, she had never seen a protagonist with such rotten luck.
As Yi Qiu was ranting furiously in her mind, the thick, blood-tinged Resentful Qi in the distance suddenly surged like a giant wave in a sea of fire. It leaped up high, then crashed down upon the Heavenly Fire that burned in the night.
It engulfed the flames completely like thick smoke and fog. The towering tree twisted and withered within the smoke-wreathed blaze, losing its vitality inch by inch.
Before Yi Qiu could even react, the little black dog who had been talking big beside her suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood and shrank against the white deer next to her.
Yi Qiu subconsciously looked at Jian Li and saw that her expression was also one of pain, as if she were enduring some kind of heart-drilling, bone-piercing agony.
The spiritual power above her head that had been blocking the rain suddenly dissipated. Fat raindrops pelted Yi Qiu’s body, each one seeming to carry a thick, resentful aura.
The rain hurt, but Yi Qiu had no time to care.
Those bound by a Blood Contract did not control their own fate.
Jian Li and Yue Zhuo were now Jiang Yuyao’s spiritual beasts; their lives were completely tied to hers. For them, if the master lives, the spiritual beast lives; if the master dies, the spiritual beast dies. Since they were suffering such pain, Jiang Yuyao must be grievously injured right now!
“You two⦔ Yi Qiu crouched down, not knowing what to do. She saw the Demonic Qi in the distance surge violently, as a ghastly, bone-chilling green spiritual light mixed with blood swept across the firelit night sky.
And the thunderclaps still struck down from the heavens, as if trying to rip the scorched sky apart. The ensuing booms were like explosions right next to her ears, making Yi Qiu shiver involuntarily.
She didn’t know how to describe what she was seeing. It felt like the apocalypse had arrived; even the heavens collapsing and the earth splitting would be no different.
Oppression, endless oppression, made it almost impossible for her to breathe.
When Yi Qiu endured the oppressive feeling and looked down again, she saw that Jian Li and Yue Zhuo beside her had both closed their eyes, seemingly unconscious.
Yi Qiu’s heart sank. She frantically reached out to check their breathing and only let out a huge sigh of relief when she found they were still alive.
But for some reason, a sharp pain erupted from her own heart, spreading through her entire body in an instant.
She frowned deeply, clutching her chest and curling up in the heavy rain.
What’s going on? We’re so far away, can this rain really be this powerful?
Yi Qiu gritted her teeth hard and tried to circulate her spiritual power to protect herself, but she found that she didn’t have a shred of strength left.
If this rain could injure people, then Jian Li and Yue Zhuo would dieβ¦ No matter what, she had to get everyone back inside the house firstβ¦
With this thought, Yi Qiu looked at the white deer and fretted for a moment. She finally decided to save what was within her ability first. With immense effort, she picked up the little black dog that had fainted on the white deer. Her legs, so weak they couldn’t stop trembling, slipped. She instantly fell from the roof to the ground, and the intensifying pain completely robbed her of the strength to struggle.
As her consciousness faded, she protected the little black dog in her arms and fell into a brief moment of contemplation.
Strange, this is so strangeβ¦ Am I going to die in this place? A place that’s 108,000 li8 away from the boss?
I choked to death on water in my original world, and now I’m going to be rained to death in this world. Am I really that delicate?
This rainwater is so terrifying, I wonder if it’s even safe inside the house.
If it’s not safe, the people of Moshui City will probably all die tonightβ¦
Wait, why is someone running over here from the distance?
That figure looks so familiarβ¦
Not even using an umbrella. They really aren’t afraid of death.
γDingβγ
γWarningβWarningβγ
γSystem has detected an abnormality in the Host’s soul state!γ
The author has something to say:
(Β°_Β°) There were so few comments on the last chapter, it didn’t even break three digits. Please save this poor soul with OCD, don’t let a two-digit number appear in a sea of three-digit ones QAQ.
Footnotes
- An idiom, literally βfire trees and silver flowers,β used to describe a spectacular display of lights like fireworks or lanterns.
- An idiom, literally βthe struggle of a cornered beast,β referring to a final, desperate fight.
- Literally βprotagonist halo,β a meta-commentary term for plot armor, where the main character is protected from harm by narrative convenience.
- Literally βcool novel,β a genre of web fiction focused on wish fulfillment, where the protagonist is often overpowered and easily overcomes challenges.
- Literally βking of poisonous milk.β A popular internet slang term for a jinx, someone whose praise or positive predictions have the opposite effect.
- Heavenly Dao Thunder Tribulation. A trial of lightning sent by the Heavenly Dao that cultivators must endure to ascend to a higher realm or when they achieve a major breakthrough.
- Abbreviation for βHappy Ending,β a common term in fandom and literary discussion.
- 108,000 li is a vast, almost mythical distance, famously the distance Sun Wukong could travel in a single somersault in the classic novel βJourney to the Westβ.
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