Little Alpaca – Chapter 28
by Little PandaVolume 1: Little Alpaca
Yi Qiu did not know what madness had possessed You Yan; one moment she was talking about 「that person」, and the next she was obsessing over where a little alpaca like her was looking.
If she was not mistaken, the 「that person」 You Yan spoke of should be the second female lead from 《Thin, Withered Branch》, the Wood God, Goumang2.
Goumang, who presided over the growth of trees in the realms of heaven and man, and for thousands upon thousands of years, had also guarded the Fusang3 tree.
In the original text, she had been in love with the Golden Crow4 for four thousand years, yet because she and Fusang were the best of sisters, she never dared to proclaim the feelings in her heart.
The Heavenly Dao5 had decreed that when immortals6 and gods undergo tribulations7, no one in the heavenly realm8 may use their divine power to assist or interfere. Violators will be severely punished.
The Golden Crow’s tribulations in nine successive lifetimes all ended in failure. To help the Golden Crow pass his tribulations, Fusang followed him down to the mortal realm9.
Goumang could not rest assured, but she knew well that if she descended to the mortal realm through the Samsara Division10, both her divine power and memories would be sealed, and she would be unable to offer any real help. Therefore, she made a risky decision—
To seal her own divine power, secretly descend to the mortal realm, and assist from the sidelines under the guise of a human identity.
And Goumang’s identity in the human realm was Jiang Yuyao’s junior martial sister11, Luo Mingyuan’s senior martial sister12, and a disciple of the Xianlu Sect—Chao Yun13.
Wasn’t a 「person」 like this, who would constantly oppose You Yan in the future, more worthy of attention than a little alpaca like her?
In the world of the great villain, was there truly nothing more fun than bullying a weak, helpless, and pitiful little alpaca? Was that it?
Faced with You Yan’s verbal threat, Yi Qiu remained silent for a good while, her heart filled with dread. Finally, she gave a nervous laugh and used the 「forcefully change the subject」 grand technique14 on You Yan.
“Master, where are we going to find the demon race?” The little alpaca tilted her small head up, looking at You Yan with an obedient and exceptionally earnest expression.
Upon hearing this, You Yan’s gaze lingered on Yi Qiu for a long time. Then, she smiled, raised her eyes to the distant sky, and said lightly, “Ordinary members of the demon race would be stopped by the netherworld soldiers15 upon reaching the Underworld16. How could they ever reach the human realm?”
By You Yan’s logic, there would not be a second member of the demon race in Moshui City.
Then how exactly was You Yan going to find a member of the demon race, pretend to be no match for it, cause a commotion to attract the protagonist, and then join forces with the protagonist to execute it, thereby gaining their trust and becoming an honored guest17 of the Xianlu Sect Leader’s18 daughter, just as described in the novel?
Yi Qiu could not help but tilt her head, her small eyes filled with great confusion.
But at that very moment, You Yan opened her right palm. A dark green spiritual light flickered in her palm for a moment. When the light dissipated, an exquisite, small, cyan porcelain bottle had appeared in her hand.
It looked somewhat familiar.
After a brief moment of confusion, a line of small white text appeared in Yi Qiu’s mind.
—A Demon Seed, refined through a forbidden art, can cause a person to demonize, lose their sense of self, and never again enter the cycle of reincarnation.
Yes, she remembered correctly. This was the bottle You Yan used to hold the Demon Seed. The system had given her a notification about it on her first day here.
“Master, this is…”
“Whoever this object is planted on will become a demon. Unless they are a person of profound cultivation19, there is absolutely no way to resist it.”
As she spoke, You Yan glanced at Yi Qiu with a half-smile. “Finding an unlucky soul20 is quite easy, isn’t it?”
The little alpaca was momentarily speechless. After a while, she managed to say in a small voice, “Ma-Master… hurting an innocent, isn’t… isn’t that bad…”
As she said this, she saw You Yan’s expression darken and hurriedly, tremblingly, tried to backtrack. “I mean, I meant to say… this is the human realm! Master snuck in secretly. If your identity is exposed because of this and it attracts people from the heavenly realm, that would be troublesome!”
“You are right,” You Yan said. She stared quietly at Yi Qiu for a long time, then finally put away her cold expression, winked at Yi Qiu, and said with an innocent look, “Unfortunately, you said it too late. I already planted the Demon Seed during the day. Calculating the time, it should take effect tonight at the hour of Hai21.”
As her voice fell, You Yan’s lips curved into a smile. She turned and continued walking forward, saying as if nothing had happened, “Innocent? There are far too many innocent people in this world. How can every one of them live a peaceful life?”
With that, she laughed.
Within her laughter was a madness that seemed both there and not there.
Yi Qiu stood frozen on the spot, her mouth agape, unable to utter a single word or a fragment of speech. She only felt a chill spread through her entire body.
So this was how the cannon fodder demon, whose identity was never mentioned in the text, came to be…
“Are you not going to keep up?” You Yan glanced back coldly at Yi Qiu.
【You Yan’s Favorability -200】
Yi Qiu: “…”
Yi Qiu could not help but take a deep breath, trying hard to calm her emotions.
You’re just in a novel.
The one you’re facing was a villain with the heart of a snake and scorpion22* to begin with. Don’t use the logic of an ordinary human to measure her.*
For a villain to do these things, that’s what makes her a normal villain.
Keep up, hurry and keep up. I can’t anger her over this, or the days ahead will be difficult.
Thinking this, Yi Qiu forcefully suppressed the fear in her heart and quickly chased after You Yan.
That afternoon, the little alpaca silently followed behind her master, walking aimlessly through Moshui City.
She walked with her head lowered, yet her eyes were fixed on the hem of You Yan’s skirt, following her step for step.
The pedestrians on the street hurried on their own ways, as if no one had anything to do with anyone else.
No one knew that tonight in the city, someone would die as a demon, at the hands of those on the path of righteousness23.
The thought was very ironic, yet Yi Qiu still convinced herself to accept it all.
After all, she had no choice.
When night fell, You Yan took Yi Qiu to eat dinner, and then, without a word, tied her up in the backyard of that eatery and left by herself.
Before leaving, You Yan paid the shopkeeper a considerable fee to look after her. The shopkeeper, having taken the money, did his job. He would come to the backyard from time to to time to take care of her. Seeing her low spirits, he would even feed her some small snacks, coaxing her as if she were a puppy.
The night grew deeper. From outside the small eatery came the sound of the night watchman’s call24 announcing the hour of Hai.
Dong dong! Dong dong!
The sound beat against Yi Qiu’s heart, making her heart vexed and her mind chaotic.
She could not say why her mood at this moment was so complicated.
She clearly knew that You Yan was a vicious villain with a ruthless heart and spicy hands25, who was cold-blooded and without feeling, yet when truly faced with this cruelty, she still felt an unspeakable disappointment.
Perhaps, it was because she still held a sliver of hope for that person.
She thought that person might truly be a little different from how she was written in the novel.
The wait was always long. When the night watchman’s calls reached the third watch26, the eatery extinguished all its lights. Before going to sleep, the shopkeeper left the little alpaca some food and drink.
That night, Yi Qiu did not see You Yan return for her.
Before sleeping, she was having all sorts of wild thoughts, wondering if she had been abandoned by You Yan, wondering if she still had time to forsake the darkness and turn to the light27, and wondered if she could get the female protagonist to take her in by acting cute.
As she thought and thought, she drifted into that night’s dreamland, accompanied by her thoughts that were as tangled as hemp28.
By a quiet stream that was unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar, Jiang Yuyao was bathing the dirty little alpaca. Every frown and every smile, even the slightest movement, was so gentle.
The little alpaca playfully spat at her new master, but the master did not get angry. She only laughed and told her to stop messing around, while calling Luo Mingyuan over to help.
Just then, she saw You Yan standing in the distance, looking at her with an icy gaze.
A few seconds later, she turned and left.
She was stunned for a moment, then quickly hopped ashore. Dragging her soaking wet fur, she stumbled and staggered as she chased in the direction You Yan had left.
“Master, Master!”
“You Yan! Wait for me!”
“You Vexation! Stop right there! Are you abandoning me?!”
She did not know what the hell she was even chasing.29
That female devil bullied her and scared her every day. As a master, she would neither carry nor hold her own little pet. When it was time for a bath, she would always just toss her into the water and sit to one side in a daze.
She was usually fierce to her, but when facing the big pig’s trotter30, she would be all smiles and chatter, as if she were three thousand years younger.
What was there to chase about a master like that, who was also a villain who had committed every evil imaginable…
But she just could not stop.
It was as if a voice was telling her that if she did not catch up to this annoying person, she might truly never have the chance to stand by her side again.
She pulled up her feet and ran madly through the mountains. The wind rushed past her ears, carrying with it indistinct chatter from an unknown source.
Yi Qiu’s eyelids trembled slightly.
So noisy…
It’s so noisy.
Can’t you let a person sleep properly?!
Huh, wasn’t I chasing that Vexation? How did it turn into sleeping?
Her eyes slowly opened.
The little alpaca squinted, looking around in a daze.
This was the backyard of the eatery from last night. In front of her were four large bowls: one with plain water, one with soy milk, one with sliced apples, and another with a meat bun torn into small pieces.
This was what You Yan had instructed before she left. She had said that her little lamb was delicate and needed her food broken into pieces for her to eat properly.
Yi Qiu bit her lip for a moment, forcefully holding back the stinging sensation in the corners of her eyes and the tip of her nose.
Inside the eatery, customers suddenly began to loudly discuss a topic that sounded quite sensational.
Yi Qiu, while eating her breakfast, pricked up her ears to listen to the gossip from beyond the door curtain.
“Have you heard? That Chen Popi31 from the south of the city died last night!”
“That local ruffian and hooligan32 with connections?”
“More than just a local ruffian and hooligan, he was a human trafficker. He could trick and sell off a little girl as small as this table. When the family found out and went to him to ask for their child back, they would disappear, never to be seen again.”
“The mountain bandits on West Mountain protected him. So many people wanted to swallow him whole and peel him alive33, but even the authorities didn’t dare to touch him.”
“That thing who committed numerous evils is finally dead, truly worse than a pig or a dog34!”
“I heard that Chen Popi wasn’t even human.”
“That’s right, an immortal from the Xianlu Sect dealt with him. They say he was a demon, a demon wearing human skin. Once the skin was peeled off, the sight was terrifying!”
“He also killed Young Master Wu. I heard it was because he was in the way of his business.”
“How terrifying, a beast in human form…”
“Thank goodness for the immortals!”
“It’s a pity the innocent people harmed by that beast couldn’t live to see this day.”
—Ma-Master… hurting an innocent, isn’t… isn’t that bad…
—Innocent? There are far too many innocent people in this world. How can every one of them live a peaceful life?
The little alpaca could not help but sniffle, falling into deep thought as she held a small piece of apple in her mouth.
After a long while, as if biting a person, she chewed heavily on that piece of apple.
Truly a vexation.
You clearly know I’m not very bright. Would it kill you to explain a little?
Footnotes
- 鬼見愁 | guǐ jiàn chóu | Literally “ghosts see and worry.” An expression used to describe someone or something that is extremely troublesome, fierce, or difficult to deal with, to the point that even ghosts would be scared of them. It implies a level of vexatiousness that is supernatural.
- 句芒 | Gōumáng | A deity in Chinese mythology, specifically the god of wood and spring. Goumang is often depicted as an assistant to the supreme deity Fuxi and is responsible for the growth of trees and plants.
- 扶桑 | Fúsāng | A divine tree in Chinese mythology, located in the East Sea. It is said to be the place where the ten suns (often depicted as three-legged crows) would rest. The name is also historically used by the Chinese to refer to Japan.
- 金烏 | Jīn Wū | Literally “Golden Crow.” A mythological three-legged crow that represents the sun. In ancient Chinese myths, there were originally ten suns (ten Golden Crows) that took turns crossing the sky.
- 天道 | Tiān Dào | Literally “Way of Heaven.” A fundamental concept in Chinese philosophy, particularly Taoism. It refers to the natural order of the universe, an impersonal and absolute law that governs all things. To defy the Heavenly Dao is to invite disaster.
- 仙 | xiān | A being from Chinese mythology and Xianxia fiction who has achieved immortality or great spiritual power through cultivation. They are not equivalent to Western concepts of gods or angels, but rather beings who have transcended mortal limitations.
- 歷劫 | lì jié | Literally “to experience a calamity or tribulation.” In Xianxia (immortal hero) and cultivation genres, this is a crucial trial or series of trials that a cultivator or deity must pass to ascend to a higher level of power or existence. These tribulations are often ordained by heaven and can be life-threatening.
- 天界 | tiān jiè | Literally “heavenly realm” or “heavenly world.” In Chinese cosmology, this is the abode of gods, immortals, and other celestial beings, existing separately from the human realm and the underworld.
- 人界 | rén jiè | Literally “human realm” or “human world.” The mortal plane of existence, distinct from the heavenly realm (天界) and the demonic or nether realms.
- 輪回司 | Lúnhuí Sī | Literally “Samsara Department/Division.” Samsara (輪回, lúnhuí) is the Buddhist concept of the cycle of death and rebirth. The Samsara Division is a fictional bureaucratic body in the celestial or infernal government that manages the process of reincarnation.
- 師妹 | shīmèi | Literally “teacher’s younger sister.” A term used to address a younger female fellow student or disciple who shares the same master/teacher. It denotes a close, familial-like relationship within a martial arts sect, school, or apprenticeship.
- 師姐 | shījiě | Literally “teacher’s older sister.” A term used to address an older female fellow student or disciple who shares the same master/teacher. It implies seniority and a degree of authority or responsibility over junior members.
- 朝雲 | Cháo Yún | A given name. 朝 (cháo) means “morning,” and 雲 (yún) means “cloud.” The name evokes the image of “morning clouds.”
- 大法 | dàfǎ | Literally “great method” or “great law.” In modern slang, it is often used humorously or ironically to refer to a particularly effective or ultimate technique, strategy, or solution to a problem.
- 阴兵 | yīnbīng | Literally “yin soldiers” or “netherworld soldiers.” Ghostly troops or the army of the underworld that serve the deities of the Míngfǔ. They are responsible for capturing and escorting souls to the underworld.
- 冥府 | Míngfǔ | Literally “Underworld Mansion” or “Dark Palace.” The realm of the dead in Chinese mythology, equivalent to the underworld or hell. It is often depicted as a vast bureaucracy that judges souls and administers punishments before reincarnation.
- 座上宾 | zuò shàng bīn | Literally “guest on the high seat.” An idiom for a distinguished or honored guest who is given the best seat as a sign of respect.
- 掌门 | zhǎngmén | Literally “head of the gate/sect.” The title for the leader or master of a martial arts sect, school, or other similar organization.
- 道行 | dàohéng | Literally “Dao practice/conduct.” A term referring to the level of one’s spiritual cultivation, magical power, or mastery of the Dao. A person with “profound daohéng” is a highly powerful and experienced cultivator.
- 倒黴鬼 | dǎoméi guǐ | Literally “unlucky ghost.” A common colloquial term for an unlucky person, a poor soul, or someone who suffers misfortune.
- 亥时 | hài shí | The Hour of Hai. In the traditional Chinese timekeeping system of twelve double-hours (Earthly Branches), Hai is the last branch, corresponding to the hours of 9 PM to 11 PM. It is the time when night is deep.
- 蛇蠍心腸 | shé xiē xīn cháng | An idiom literally meaning “snake and scorpion heart-intestines.” It describes a person who is extremely venomous, cruel, and malicious.
- 正道 | zhèng dào | Literally “the righteous path.” A term used in Wuxia and Xianxia genres to refer to the collective of orthodox, morally upright sects and individuals who uphold justice and fight against evil (the 魔道, módào, or “demonic path”).
- 打更聲 | dǎ gēng shēng | The sound of the night watchman. 打更 (dǎ gēng) means “to beat the watch,” the practice in ancient China where a watchman would patrol the streets at night, beating a gong or clapper to announce the time, which was divided into five watches (更, gēng).
- 心狠手辣 | xīn hěn shǒu là | An idiom literally meaning “heart ruthless, hands spicy/vicious.” It describes a person who is cruel, merciless, and willing to use any means to achieve their goals.
- 三更 | sān gēng | The third watch of the night. The traditional Chinese system of night watches (更, gēng) divided the night into five two-hour periods. The third watch corresponds to the period from 11 PM to 1 AM, the middle of the night.
- 弃暗投明 | qì àn tóu míng | A four-character idiom that literally means “to abandon the dark and cast oneself towards the light.” It means to renounce a bad path or evil association and turn to a righteous one.
- 亂如麻 | luàn rú má | An idiom that literally means “chaotic like hemp fibers.” It is used to describe a state of extreme confusion, disorder, or a very complicated situation.
- 追个屁 | zhuī ge pì | A vulgar and colloquial expression. 屁 (pì) literally means “fart” and is used here as an intensifier to express frustration, dismissal, or pointlessness, similar to “what the hell” or “like hell” in English. The phrase means “what the hell am I chasing?” or “chasing for nothing.”
- 大猪蹄子 | dà zhū tízi | Literally “big pig’s trotter.” A popular modern Chinese internet slang term used by women to complain about men. It can mean that a man is insensitive, clueless about romance, unfaithful, or simply annoying. It’s often used in a teasing or exasperated way.
- 陈泼皮 | Chén Pōpí | Chen is a common surname. 泼皮 (pōpí) means “rascal,” “ruffian,” or “hooligan.” It’s a derogatory term for a lawless and shameless person. Here, it’s used as a nickname.
- 地痞流氓 | dìpǐ liúmáng | A compound term. 地痞 (dìpǐ) refers to a local bully or ruffian who tyrannizes a specific area. 流氓 (liúmáng) means hooligan, gangster, or scoundrel. Together, they describe a lawless thug with no regard for social order.
- 生吞活剥 | shēng tūn huó bō | An idiom that literally means “to swallow whole and peel alive.” It is used to express extreme hatred and a desire for brutal revenge.
- 猪狗不如 | zhū gǒu bù rú | A four-character idiom that literally means “not even as good as a pig or a dog.” It is a strong insult used to describe someone who is utterly immoral, despicable, and devoid of basic human decency.
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