Little Alpaca – Chapter 206
by Little PandaVolume 6: Bound by the Life Soul
These Three Realms… They Shouldn’t Be Like This.
Yi Qiu still remembered how twisted the night sky over Snake Mountain had been the last time she saw the Yi Bird.
Five-colored Spiritual Light was rare in the world, typically appearing only on immortal mountains isolated from mortal affairs. It should have symbolized sanctity and beauty, but back then, it had taken on a form that seemed to want to warp heaven and earth, all because the Demon Heart born within the Yi Bird had completely lost control in that instant.
Today, that same spiritual light appeared once more. It was still tainted with Demonic Qi, yet it had lost the terrifying, bizarre quality it possessed on Snake Mountain that night.
A five-colored bird flew in from the distance. Its gentle, non-dazzling spiritual light illuminated the entire dim world with its arrival.
Yi Qiu stood frozen in place. The wariness in her heart had barely flickered before it was extinguished, scattered by the sight of a familiar figure seated on the Yi Bird’s back.
Under Luo Mingyuan’s vigilant gaze, the enormous five-colored bird folded its wings around its body and transformed into a human. Bathed in spiritual light, it descended slowly to the ground along with the person on its back.
If this weren’t the Earthly Realm, and if Yi Qiu didn’t know them, she might have mistaken the scene for a goddess descending to the mortal world, not the appearance of a fallen demon who had fled into the Demon Realm.
The woman walking in front was undoubtedly the person she had once been acquainted with, Chao Yun. Or rather, she was the Wood God, Goumang, who had betrayed the Heavenly Realm.
The Chao Yun of today had already undone the seal on her divine power. She had shed her mortal shell and returned to her former appearance. If Yi Qiu hadn’t seen that face before in the Painted Realm and in dreams, she might not have recognized her.
Yi Qiu had assumed that seeing the Wood God again would be like something out of a novel—a puppet who had trampled herself into the mud for love, willing to do anything against her conscience for the one in her heart, cowardly and helpless in her inner struggle, with not a single spark of light left in her eyes.
But that was not the person she saw now.
Chao Yun had appeared, following the spiritual power the Fusang had released into the distance, and now stood before them all. Her gaze was incredibly firm, as if she had long understood what she was about to face and had already made some kind of resolution.
And at Chao Yun’s side was Yusu, the Yi Bird who had once been so obsessed she’d become frenzied, nearly slaughtering every living creature on Snake Mountain.
This was the first time Yi Qiu had seen this woman so up close outside the Painted Realm.
In the original novel, Yusu was an obsessive and malicious character. For her own selfish desires, she could harm thousands upon thousands of innocent beings. To be with the one she loved, she wouldn’t hesitate to drag them from the clouds into a bottomless abyss, to be forever mired in dust and dirt. The heinous crimes she had committed were unforgivable even by a thousand deaths, and she herself showed no remorse, making it impossible for anyone to feel a shred of pity for her. Back then, the novel’s comment section was filled with people wishing for her swift demise every second of every day.
Yet now, Yi Qiu found the person before her to be incredibly quiet, so quiet she seemed to lack any trace of aggression. This Yusu was just like the little bird who had once brought small gifts to the Wood God every day in the Jade Sea—docile and well-behaved. It was as if the malicious person who had constantly schemed against the protagonists, planting demon seeds, tricking a dog into burning down a mountain, and trying to trap people in a fatal nightmare had never existed.
But how could she have never existed?
Those who had been hurt would not forget the past.
Yi Qiu could clearly sense the hatred in Luo Mingyuan’s eyes, a hatred he was forced to suppress with all his might. In this moment, his personal grudges were insignificant compared to the survival of the Mortal Realm. And in the end, the Wood God Goumang, who would protect the Yi Bird, was the Mortal Realm’s only hope.
Remembering the resolute look in the boy’s eyes long ago, when he was covered in wounds and gritted his teeth, vowing to avenge his parents, Yi Qiu found herself at a loss for how to comfort him.
Just then, the Fusang tree that towered to the sky suddenly manifested a soul. The soul then transformed all its branches and wood into spiritual power, absorbing it all into its body.
The moment the giant tree vanished in a flash of spiritual light, Jiang Yuyao walked out from within that slowly dissipating glow.
Just as she had every time she had protected her shidi in the past, Jiang Yuyao immediately stood before the Luo Mingyuan who no longer needed her protection. She took his right hand, which was clenched into a tight fist, as if to calm the fury in his heart.
She quietly gazed at the familiar face before her—at least, in the memories belonging to Fusang, this face was incredibly familiar to her.
Yi Qiu didn’t understand why old acquaintances always had to stare at each other for so long when they reunited, as if certain lines couldn’t be spoken until they had thoroughly sized the other person up.
Fortunately, this staring contest didn’t last too long. Chao Yun was the first to speak.
“You’ve come,” she said.
As if she’d heard some kind of joke, Jiang Yuyao couldn’t help but laugh self-deprecatingly twice before replying, “Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?”
Her eyes held a measure of accusation and resentment.
She didn’t understand. Or rather, she did understand, but she found it hard to accept.
Goumang had always been her guardian deity. This was true long before the Jinwu existed, not long after Pangu had first split the heavens and the earth.1 For the thousands and thousands of years she had been trapped in the Jade Sea by her own roots and branches, Goumang had always been with her.
In this life, Goumang had come to the Mortal Realm for her, becoming her shimei, Chao Yun, and had treated her like family since childhood.
Whether as Goumang or as Chao Yun, she was a friend Jiang Yuyao cared for deeply. It was hard for her to accept that a friend she had once cherished so much would one day betray the Heavenly Realm, abandon the Mortal Realm, and even leave her, all for someone who had hurt both her and Luo Mingyuan.
Jiang Yuyao understood the nature of love in this world. Anyone could have the selfish impulse to abandon everything for one person. The final choice was always born from a single thought, and blame was useless.
But Jiang Yuyao just wanted to see Chao Yun in person one more time to ask her a question.
“Goumang, will you no longer protect Fusang?”
“In truth, Fusang has long had no need of Goumang’s protection, has it not?”
“You are the Wood God of the Heavenly Realm, in charge of the budding of all life in the Heavenly and Mortal Realms every spring. Your willfulness has plunged the Mortal Realm into calamity, do you know that?”
“I expected as much.”
“Chao Yun, should I still call you that? You once told me that right and wrong, good and evil, stem from one’s own heart. Power used for protection is good; power used for destruction is evil. I have always remembered that… Your power was innate, a power meant to protect the world.” Jiang Yuyao’s eyes reddened slightly. She took two steps forward, her brow furrowed, and pressed on, “To let the common people suffer because of your departure—do you truly feel no remorse?”
Yi Qiu was startled. She had always thought those words were Jiang Yuyao’s own ideas; only today did she learn that Chao Yun had been the one to say them.
How could a god who could speak such words commit such a sin for one person?
“I do,” Chao Yun said. Under Yusu’s somewhat crestfallen gaze, she smiled softly. “I regret that my decision came too late, leading to today’s disaster.” As she spoke, she took Yusu’s hand. “I should have made a choice from the very beginning, instead of blindly running away and trying to prevent everything from happening.”
“And your choice is to disregard all living beings for one person?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but question her, but in that instant, You Yan squeezed her shoulder. One second she was fuming, and the next she quickly shrank back, turning to look at her with a start. “You Yan…”
You Yan shook her head but said nothing. Her eyes, however, clearly told Yi Qiu to stand aside, watch quietly, and keep her mouth shut.
Yi Qiu pressed her lips together, frowned, and said no more.
Hearing the question, Chao Yun didn’t get angry. She simply held the hand of the frowning Yusu beside her and said calmly, “If a Fuzhu were to develop a Demon Heart, the Mortal Realm would suffer endless floods. If a Huodou were to develop a Demon Heart, the Mortal Realm would become a sea of fire. I am guiding the one I love, simply so she may find her way back before she causes a great catastrophe. I know what I am doing.”
Luo Mingyuan asked, “Do you really know what you’re doing?”
“I have always been a coward. My heart clearly knew its direction, yet I was indecisive. A long time ago, I went against everyone’s wishes and saved someone. Though no one knew it was me, I blamed myself for a long time, terrified that a moment of soft-heartedness that day would eventually lead to disaster, that she would become a demon lord feared by all… But a long time later, I saw her again.” As she spoke, Chao Yun turned her gaze to You Yan, the corners of her lips lifting in a slight smile. She continued, “She was just as I had thought back then, not as wicked as others claimed.”
Chao Yun said that person had endured so much suffering and was nearly rejected by the entire world. Perhaps she had indeed walked over a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood to reach the pinnacle of power, but she still retained a sliver of kindness toward the world.
That kindness, she thought, perhaps came from the little girl who was always by that person’s side, no matter when or where. That girl was all the good in her heart, just as the Fuzhu was to the Huodou—all the light and kindness in the world.
She had personally witnessed someone who had suffered so much, experienced so much helplessness, and finally gained the power for revenge, return to the light and embrace the world’s kindness. How, then, could she give up on someone who had simply lost her way—especially when that person was the one she loved?
She said she had always been thinking, if she hadn’t chosen to run away from the very beginning, maybe nothing would have turned out the way it had today.
Fortunately, with her meager power, she had managed to obstruct or make up for some of the mistakes. Whether it was the great fire at Xianlu Sect, the Jinwu’s nine lifetimes of nightmares, or the unfinished soul-absorbing forbidden art during the fall to demonhood on Snake Mountain, she had never let Yusu cause a true catastrophe.
Last time, she had hesitated and regretted. But this time, she was more certain than ever that she was right.
She had awakened the Yusu who was controlled by her inner demons, and Yusu was willing to respect her choice this time.
“What about the people who died because of this? How innocent the people harmed by the demon seeds were!” Jiang Yuyao asked through gritted teeth. “Chao Yun, there were only the three of us in the Jade Sea. Even if we don’t talk about the past, Mingyuan is your shidi in this life. How could you just…”
“That was indeed Yusu’s fault, but it all started because of me. I am willing to bear all of it. Since I have brought Yusu here, I intend to pay this blood debt.” Chao Yun took a frank step forward. “Shidi… or perhaps, I should call you Jinwu. Yusu harmed your adoptive parents in this life. Today, I have brought her here for you to punish as you see fit. I will bear all punishments alongside her. Even if it’s our lives, say the word, and we will have no complaints.”
“What use is your life to me!” Luo Mingyuan said. After a few seconds of tense standoff, he finally suppressed the unwillingness in his heart and conceded in a low voice, “If you want to atone, go back to the Heavenly Realm and accept your punishment. From now on…”
“Go back to the Heavenly Realm? Will the Heavenly Realm let her go?” Chao Yun asked softly, gripping Yusu’s hand tightly. She answered her own question, “No, they won’t. The Heavenly Realm will only keep me, letting me live to atone for the mistakes I’ve made.”
“I can plead for her…”
“You don’t know your father. The Heavenly Emperor will not allow a god to be defiled by a demon. For tens of thousands of years, too many yao and demon spirits have died by the laws of the Heavenly Realm… I told Yusu, from now on, I am willing to live and die with her. If she dies, I will not live alone.”
“You’re not willing to go back?” A trace of shock flashed in Luo Mingyuan’s eyes.
“I will not go back,” Chao Yun said firmly.
Such a reply was infuriating and alarming, but in the end, all that remained was a deep sense of helplessness.
Yi Qiu couldn’t help but think that when faced with love, hate, and the greater good, no one had the right to make a choice for someone else, especially when they had once been the closest of friends.
Although, being the selfish, lazy fish she was, she always hoped a hero would step up at the critical moment to save the world, so she could then be moved to tears by their sacrifice.
But she knew that if someone told You Yan right now that killing her would save all living things, You Yan would surely just offer them a cold sneer. If You Yan had ever surfed the internet, she might even add, “Are you thinking about eating farts?”2
Then what about her? What if the System told her that sacrificing You Yan would save this broken world created by Little Bird Coo Coo Fly, and that otherwise, all life would be plunged into despair… If this had been back when she first arrived, maybe she really could have made the choice without a second thought. But now, she didn’t dare face such a dilemma.
She would be afraid to choose, afraid of losing the one she loved for the greater good, and even more afraid of living a life of guilt for the sake of her love.
Because of this, she didn’t even dare to say anything, only lowering her eyes and silently observing everything before her.
“You said you were guiding one person only to prevent her from causing a great catastrophe. But what do you consider a great catastrophe? Is it only the cruel slaughter by Ferocious Beasts and demons? If the Mortal Realm were to one day fall into famine, where people resort to exchanging their children for food and corpses litter the fields outside the cities, would you, who made this choice for her, not have caused a great catastrophe…?” Jiang Yuyao’s voice grew quieter and quieter. Although she wasn’t the one who had to make the final decision, her own confidence was beginning to waver. “I… I know. I understand, and I comprehend your choice, but… but Goumang, the Mortal Realm cannot lose you…”
Jiang Yuyao bit her lower lip, clenching her fists and falling silent, as if undergoing some kind of internal struggle.
Perhaps now that she was a god, she should force the person before her to submit for the sake of the world. She had a thousand ways to speak from a moral high ground and make her waver, but her tone was almost pleading.
“What the Mortal Realm needs is for all things to grow and for the four seasons to turn. It does not need the Wood God Goumang. I promised Yusu that I would never leave her again, but I will not evade my responsibilities either,” Chao Yun said. “Fusang, the exit from the Earthly Realm is being guarded by immortals and gods waiting to capture me and take me back. I don’t want to see them. I only wanted to see you… I’ve been waiting for you. I knew you would come.”
“…” A hint of confusion appeared in Jiang Yuyao’s eyes, as if she couldn’t understand what Chao Yun was saying.
But Chao Yun just smiled faintly. “Heaven and earth gave birth to me, so I should live for them. But grasses and trees can move, mountains and stones can shift. I am not an inanimate object. How can I be without feelings and desires, and let my life and death be decided by others?”
“I had thought that once Yusu felt remorse, I would take her back to the Heavenly Realm to atone. Even if there was only a one in a million chance, I was willing to bear everything for her, just to beg the Heavenly Realm to spare her life and let her stay by my side… But I grew more and more afraid. Afraid that taking her back, that spending a lifetime with her, was just a lie. Afraid that because she trusted me, she would suffer all the punishments of the Heavenly Realm and never see me again. Even more afraid that our parting would be an eternal farewell that even I could not change…”
She turned and looked up at the starless, moonless sky.
“I once thought that when it came to protecting all living things, I had never wavered in the slightest. But often, wavering happens in a single instant… So, I became more and more certain. I can die with her, but I cannot be separated from her.” At this point, Chao Yun turned back and smiled. “But it’s alright. I said I would not evade my responsibilities.”
“You…” Jiang Yuyao frowned. For some reason, her breathing unconsciously grew heavier.
“The Yao and Demon Realms have many forbidden arts that are despised by others. But power has always been about the choice between good and evil, has it not?” As Chao Yun spoke, a sense of release flashed in her eyes. “Shijie, if I call you that, can you just pretend that in this life, I was just a mortal living for myself… Mortals are allowed to be a little willful, aren’t they?”
“Chao Yun!”
“The Earthly Realm has no stars or moon, nor does it have the myriad plants and flowers of the Mortal Realm, because some powers are gathered entirely in the hands of the Heavenly Realm’s immortals and gods. But if the peace of the Three Realms can truly be so easily decided by one person’s will, then the so-called guardians could also, on any given day, suddenly become destroyers…” Chao Yun murmured softly, “These Three Realms… they shouldn’t be like this…”
“…”
“I am powerless to change anything. I hope that one day, you all can change everything.”
It wasn’t a trick of the eye. Yi Qiu saw a trace of resolve in Chao Yun’s eyes that had never appeared in those gentle eyes before.
The next second, spiritual light suddenly erupted all around, instantly illuminating the dark and cold Demonic Land.
Perhaps during their conversation, Chao Yun and Yusu had silently, while no one was paying attention, laid down a massive and incredibly unfamiliar formation.
You Yan, at her side, remained unmoved. Yi Qiu subconsciously circulated her spiritual energy to protect herself, only to find that the formation had no offensive power at all.
She stared, then turned to look at You Yan again, only to realize that countless new sprouts of grass and trees had sprung up all around them without her noticing, as if the spring of the Mortal Realm had come to the sunless Demon Realm.
Within the formation, the Demonic Qi was astonishingly dense, yet not a single shred of it was meant to harm anyone.
It all happened too suddenly. The Yi Bird abruptly transformed back into her avian form, circling in the air, using her five-colored spiritual light to draw the boundless Netherworld Power to gather slowly at this spot.
And Chao Yun, too, unfurled her wings. A dazzling light enveloped her body, as if she were immolating herself to catalyze the growth of every plant within the formation.
“Chao Yun, Chao Yun, what are you doing!” Jiang Yuyao instinctively took a step forward, only to find her lower body bound by vines that had sprouted from the ground.
The new sprouts and vines grew ceaselessly, and in just a moment, they had formed a prison, completely engulfing her. In a few short moments, she was forced back into her original form, a giant tree.
But the vines did not let her go. Like thousands of spiritual snakes, they slithered up the wood, wrapping around her in layer after layer.
Luo Mingyuan wanted to intervene, but he was stopped by You Yan, who flew forward to block him. “Kid, this isn’t a killing formation, can’t you tell?”
“I…” Luo Mingyuan froze for a moment, then forced himself to be patient. “What in the world is this?”
“Judging by the shape of this formation, it should be the reverse application of the Yao Realm’s forbidden art, the ‘Spirit-Gathering Formation’.”
“What does that mean?” Yi Qiu asked when she didn’t understand.
“A Spirit-Gathering Formation, as the name implies, gathers spiritual power into oneself. It’s usually used to strip others of their cultivation base,” You Yan said with a frown. “A reverse application would do the opposite.”
“She… they…” Yi Qiu’s eyes widened, filled with utter disbelief.
The author has something to say:
A little angel put it well: “To flake when you say you’ll flake is also a kind of not flaking—a flaker’s virtue.”3
But, this chapter is almost two chapters’ worth of words, so I didn’t really flake, right!
Footnotes
- Pángǔ (盘古) is the primordial being and creator god in some versions of Chinese mythology, who separated the sky (yang) from the earth (yin).
- Original: 你在想屁吃 (nǐ zài xiǎng pì chī). A vulgar internet slang phrase used to dismiss an idea as absurd or wishful thinking. It’s a cruder, more dismissive version of ‘in your dreams.’
- This is a pun. The word for ‘to flake’ or ‘stand someone up’ is ‘gē’ (鸽), which is a homophone for ‘pigeon.’ The author is humorously justifying being late by saying that being consistently late is its own form of consistency.
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