Little Alpaca – Chapter 208
by Little PandaVolume 6: Bound by the Life Soul
You Yan——
When all five senses and six consciousnesses belonging to this body completely vanished, she saw the so-called Gate to the Real World for the first time.
It was like a river of stars suspended in the boundless universe, and at the end of that river was a dazzling halo of light, distant and mysterious.
She had asked the System countless times if she could stay, but it had never given her a clear answer.
In truth, the answer had always been clear. The System just hadn’t dared to tell her.
For a moment, she faintly felt her memories begin to drain away at a rapid pace. Everything she had just personally experienced was being stripped from her three hun and seven po souls1 by some unknown power.
She wanted to struggle, to scream, but found she didn’t have the strength. Or perhaps, all her struggles, all her cries, were utterly swallowed by the vast universe.
She floated in the void, her gaze vacant. Her somewhat dissipated soul was so minuscule here it wasn’t even worth mentioning.
She had neither the power nor the right to negotiate with the one who set the rules for this “universe,” and the System was merely an ordinary observer, completely unable to help her.
Everything was declaring one fact to her—when her last tear fell, she would lose everything she had once regarded as her life.
Was everything in this world truly about to have nothing to do with her anymore?
“Cough cough! Ah, cough… cough! Dammit, cough, cough, cough…”
When your luck is out, even drinking hot water is fucking choking you!
Yi Qiu pounded her chest, coughing for a good while before she recovered. With a trembling right hand, she placed the half-finished glass of water back on her computer desk. Her eyes were half-lidded, as if she were at death’s door. She reached out and fumbled for her phone beside the keyboard, then slumped into her computer chair in a perfect Ge You slouch.2 Annoyed, she opened the app for the novel she had just finished reading.
She thought she should write a long review for this novel she had been emotionally invested in for months, but it was getting late. She’d just leave a final rating for now and owe the rest.
The novel was titled 《Thin, Withered Branches》. The female lead was the Fusang Goddess from the Jade Sea, and the male lead was the Jinwu, son of the Heavenly Emperor.
In the story, the male lead committed a great crime and was punished with a mortal trial. The female lead followed him, becoming a mortal for a lifetime. As senior martial sister and junior martial brother, they fought side-by-side, supporting each other as they hunted down a Demon Seed of unknown origin that was committing murders, experiencing many hardships along the way. In their journey, they encountered the Lord of the Demon Realm, who was touring the Mortal Realm with her spirit pet; a pair of ancient Ferocious Beasts who were as incompatible as fire and water yet loved each other deeply; and they foiled the venomous plot of a paranoid villain who, having turned to the demonic path for love, sought to obtain the power of a heart-demon to take revenge on the Heavenly Realm. They witnessed the fall of her closest friend, the Wood God, and her final choice for love and freedom. In the end, they worked together to change many of the Heavenly Realm’s rotten rules.
She loved this story. Loved it so much… it was as if she had lived it herself.
But she didn’t identify with the female lead. She identified with the spirit pet of the supporting female character, the Demon Lord—that incredibly spoiled alpaca who needed to be fed by hand, who would find a corner to shut herself away in whenever she was sad, and who loved to spit whenever she got angry.
She always felt that alpaca was just like her. And, as if she were sick, she had become insanely infatuated with that Demon Lord from the alpaca’s point of view.
Can a brain really be detached at will? [Little Overlord][Fully Subscribed] Chapter 213 | 2 points
The story is over, and everyone is doing well. It would be even better if there were extras about You Yan. I can’t say why, she doesn’t have many scenes, but I just like her so much. It’s been a long time since I’ve liked a character in a novel this much. Confessing my love to the great author, I’ll come back to write a long review when I have time. May your brilliant brush bring flowers to life, here’s a Deep-water Torpedo3 as a reward!
After posting the comment, she refreshed the comment section over and over, interacting with every reader who was seriously analyzing the characters, still wanting more.
But for some reason, her vision gradually blurred with tears.
A voice suddenly rang in her ears, constantly saying something to her.
—It shouldn’t be like this. This story shouldn’t be like this!
—You promised you would never leave her!
—You said you would stay with her until she no longer needed you… She always needs you, she can’t live without you!
—It was so hard, so hard to get her to accept this world, how could you leave at a time like this… Without you, she’ll fall back into darkness!
—Yi Qiu…
Yi Qiu… My name?
She wiped away a tear and clutched her phone, her blurry gaze fixed on the words in the novel, which for some reason had begun to jump around chaotically.
It was as if they had suddenly come to life, like a series of complete painted scrolls, leaping into her eyes and crashing through the gates of her mind.
She rubbed her eyes and searched for every passage she loved in the text. Suddenly, every instance of the words “the alpaca” had transformed into her own name.
“I must be going crazy…”
A sharp pain suddenly bloomed in her chest. It surged from her heart to her head, then rushed to her limbs, as if to tear her apart, leaving no room to breathe.
She opened her eyes. She was still standing in front of the water dispenser, coughing violently. As she coughed, a powerful wave of nausea rose in her throat.
She ran to the bathroom and knelt before the squat toilet,4 but she couldn’t throw anything up. She could only clutch her throat, feeling a deathly sense of suffocation.
In that instant, she heard a strange “ding” and a mechanical female voice that was both unfamiliar and familiar.
【System has been securely bound to Host.】
【Successfully received Host’s request—”Give me the pen, I can write it a hundred times better than that dumbass author!”】
【Current mission objective—Change the world-line of 《Thin, Withered Branches》 and guide the ending to a reasonable Happy Ending!】
Thin, Withered Branches… world-line… reasonable HE…
The dangerous silhouette that seemed to keep everyone at a distance when they first met in the Demon Realm.
The detestable villain who bullied, threatened, and mocked her endlessly when they first arrived in the Mortal Realm.
In the end, it was in Wuzhou, at Xianlu Sect, in a dreamscape, and in a land that gathered yin, that she had shielded her from everything.
She had never thought she, too, would carve someone so deep into her soul that she couldn’t bear to part with them.
Just as she had never thought she, too, was worthy of being protected in someone’s heart, cherished like a treasure.
You Yan, the person she was fated to meet, was still in that world, planning their future. She and her were supposed to have a grand wedding announced to all the realms, and a future where they would only part when life itself came to an end.
Not this—where she rewrote everyone’s ending, only to gaze at it from another world through cold, hard text, never to meet again.
【Warning—Warning—】
【System has detected an anomaly in the Host’s soul state! A power from another world is interfering with the Host’s return. System is searching for a solution. Host, do not panic!】
【Warning—Warning—】
【System has detected an extremely abnormal emotional state in the Host! Host, please calm down. Do not become overly agitated!】
【System has detected that the Host’s vital signs cannot be normally maintained! Host, please try to self-regulate. Do not resist the System’s assistance!】
“Baocai…”
【I’m here! Don’t be afraid, Host. I will bring you back to the Real World safely…】
“I said, if I have to die, I’ll die in the world where she is… I’ve lied to her so many times, but she still said she liked it when I lied to her… As long as I was willing, she could pretend not to notice. As long as I was happy, I could lie to her for a lifetime…”
【…】
“So, don’t save me.”
【…】
“This time, I don’t want to lie to her… Besides, she’s so smart. I really can’t fool her.”
Rather than let that Bird Woman discover her little alpaca had been swapped out, tie up the fake, and frantically interrogate it about her whereabouts, only to search the heavens and earth for a soul that could never return… she would rather just die in that world. At least this time, she wouldn’t be a liar, deceiving that Bird Woman’s feelings.
Yi Qiu awoke from a long, long dream. There was no pain anywhere in her body, not even any sensation. It was as if her soul was floating in a void, her body so light it might as well not exist.
She opened her eyes and found herself suspended in mid-air, wrapped in layers of an emerald-green spiritual light. Beyond the light were walls of bronze, sealing the surroundings completely, as if to imprison her in this dark, enclosed space.
She couldn’t feel any spiritual power left in her. She frowned and reached out a finger to touch the sealed bronze wall, but a burning sensation flared before she even made contact, startling her into snatching her hand back.
She tried to ask the System, only to find that the vast amounts of data that had taken root in her mind had vanished without a trace. The System’s “ding” that had sounded in her ear countless times was also silent.
What’s going on?
Am I… dead or alive?
The Underworld she’d seen didn’t look like this. So was this the Underworld of the Real World, or some prison belonging to that crappy World-Saving System?
Had she committed a serious violation, and was now to be imprisoned for life?
No way, no way! She was here to help those guys out. She didn’t even want the reward anymore; couldn’t she at least die freely?
A wave of grievance washed over her. She slumped down within the spiritual light, tears falling endlessly, though they too were just part of her intangible form.
Yi Qiu called out You Yan’s name in despair. After a while, a sudden, violent tremor shook the space, making her shrink back in fear. Before her mind could even process it, she was dragged by a powerful force toward an aperture of light.
It was hard to describe the feeling. She was like water being sucked out of a tiny opening.
A sliver of candlelight appeared in her dim vision.
She heard a familiar voice. Looking up, she saw a familiar face, an expression of profound worry and ecstatic joy upon it. For a moment, she couldn’t stop herself from opening her arms, crying out as she rushed forward to embrace her—and passed right through You Yan’s body.
Huh?
Yi Qiu froze. She turned to see You Yan sitting by the bed. On the bed lay an alpaca, completely still. It looked dead through and through, its limbs frozen in a terribly stiff posture.
What’s going on…
Did that “me” really die?
She stood there, stunned. Before she could even feel a pang of sorrow, she was seized by the spiritual power emanating from You Yan’s fingertips and, with almost violent force, stuffed back into the body lying on the bed.
In an instant, all five senses and six consciousnesses returned to her limbs.
Two words—it sucked!
This body had endured the excruciating pain of its soul being separated. It felt like it had been starved for days and frozen solid. It was cold and hungry, as if it had been completely hollowed out, leaving it utterly sore, weak, and powerless.
It was all so sudden, but she couldn’t suppress the ecstasy in her heart. She struggled to sit up, whimpering as she nuzzled against You Yan.
“Wuu…”
“Were you trying to leave?”
You Yan squeezed the little alpaca’s left fore-hoof. She didn’t use much force, but the alpaca’s body was so weak it felt like a strong breeze could knock it over. The pain made tears instantly well up in Yi Qiu’s eyes.
Yi Qiu sniffled, feeling wronged. “Heaven and earth be my witness, how could I possibly want to leave? I wasn’t even afraid of death, I fought with everything I had to come back, and that’s the first thing you ask me?”
But when she opened her mouth, the sound that came out was: “Mmm! Mmm-hmm~ Mmm-hmm-hmm… Mmm?”
Help me! She swore to the heavens, not a single one of those “mmms” was sincere!
“I told you, you must stay by my side for the rest of your life, right here, without leaving for a single step!” You Yan said, tightening her grip on a small, round bronze bell in her other hand. “If you try to leave, I will shatter your body, seize your soul, find a personal belonging, and imprison it by my side so you can never go anywhere!”
“Mmm?!” Yi Qiu seriously suspected this Bird Woman might have tortured this alpaca while she was gone.
“I almost… I almost…”
“Mmm~~~?” Almost what? Almost really tore the little alpaca to shreds? But you couldn’t bear to in the end?
“I almost couldn’t keep you…”
As You Yan spoke, she pulled the limp alpaca on the bed into a tight embrace, her tone carrying an unfamiliar, choked quality.
She said she had never been so afraid in her entire life.
That half-strand of Life Soul, influenced by some unknown power, had begun to separate from Yi Qiu’s three hun and seven po, heralding the fact that she was about to lose Yi Qiu.
In that moment, she felt she was about to go mad.
She had fought desperately to keep her, not hesitating to use the Soul-Binding Bell5 to trap the soul that she had bound so tightly, yet was still being pulled away. She had set up layer upon layer of spells and barriers.
She didn’t care which unknown world that soul came from, nor how powerful the force controlling this world was. As long as her own Life Soul was still firmly linked to it, she would never allow any unknown power to take Yi Qiu away.
“You are mine… I won’t let you go. You promised me… I took it seriously. It’s no use regretting it now. I won’t let you go…”
“Mmm…”
Yes, she had promised her.
She didn’t regret any of her promises. She only regretted that, in the end, she had selfishly hidden everything from You Yan. If she had just told her sooner, maybe You Yan wouldn’t have had to suffer such fear and anxiety…
Only now did she realize that You Yan had been prepared all along.
That half-strand of Life Soul wasn’t just to protect her; it was also to bind her.
Without the tether of that Life Soul, she might have departed without a sound, letting a high-intelligence AI take her place for a lifetime. A long time later, You Yan might have found out, or she might not have. But whether she discovered it or not, there would have been no more connection between them.
Thankfully, You Yan had always known her alpaca was a liar, so she had taken precautions long ago.
She liked being lied to by her. As long as she didn’t leave, anything was fine.
Who could she blame but herself, for having such an absurd life, for having so inexplicably and irrevocably chosen this little alpaca?
In the past, she couldn’t protect the things she cherished. Now, whatever she managed to grasp, she would absolutely, absolutely, absolutely—never let go.
After all, she still needed to hear that little fool chasing after her, calling her name for a lifetime.
Just like in the Soul-Binding Bell a moment ago, when she heard that familiar voice, full of dependence on her.
“You Yan—”
With that single call, she knew. Her Yi Qiu had come back.
The author has something to say:
End of main text. The extras will be finished before next Wednesday.
The next book is 《Little Cotton》, a modern story about spirits/fairies. The one after that is 《Rose of the Abyss》, an attempt at a post-apocalyptic wasteland theme. If you’re interested, please add them to your collection.
See you in the merchandise-related extras.
Footnotes
- In traditional Chinese belief, the soul is composed of multiple parts. The three ‘hún’ (三魂) are the ethereal, yang-aspected souls that govern the spirit and consciousness, which depart the body after death. The seven ‘pò’ (七魄) are the corporeal, yin-aspected souls tied to the physical body and its senses, which remain with the corpse.
- ‘Ge You slouch’ (Gě Yōu tān) is a popular Chinese internet meme referring to a specific slumped, lethargic posture, originating from a still of actor Ge You in the 1993 sitcom ‘I Love My Family.’ It embodies a sense of listlessness or being burnt out.
- A ‘Deep-water Torpedo’ (shēnshuǐ yúlèi) is a type of large virtual gift that readers can purchase to send to authors on Chinese webnovel platforms like JJWXC. It represents a significant monetary donation and a high form of praise.
- A toilet positioned at floor level that the user squats over rather than sits on. They are common in many parts of the world.
- A ‘fùhún líng’ (缚魂铃) is a magical artifact designed to bind or tether a soul, preventing it from being dispersed or taken away by external forces.
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