Little Alpaca – Chapter 104

Volume 3: Old Tales of Kunlun

Who Wants to Eat Grass!

You Yan’s abnormality made Yi Qiu furrow her brow. Her gaze couldn’t help but sweep up and down, trying to discern some clue.

The girl before her did indeed look exactly like You Yan, but upon closer inspection, one would find her features were more delicate and her eyes were entirely different from You Yan’s. She truly looked like a small, insecure child.

Yi Qiu had heard You Yan speak of her past before and had always kept it in her heart. The young You Yan had indeed been regarded as ominous and was ostracized everywhere she went.

In that instant, Yi Qiu collapsed onto the ground, her four feet facing the sky¹, and two possibilities suddenly appeared in her mind.

One: This was an illusion. The person before her was not You Yan, but a strange phantom generated by this bizarre place based on her memories.

Two: This was an illusion. The person before her both was and was not You Yan. To be precise, she might have been sucked into You Yan’s memories by that bead for some strange reason. The person she was seeing right now was the childhood You Yan, a You Yan who didn’t recognize this little alpaca at all.

Honestly, her emotions were a complicated mess. She both hoped it was the former and wished it was the latter.

She certainly didn’t want You Yan to face danger with her, yet she couldn’t help but wonder: if You Yan truly hadn’t abandoned her to leave alone that night, would she also have been sucked in by that strange bead, becoming this grimy girl before her? Then she would no longer be alone.

She was truly selfish, terrified of having to survive by herself in this strange place, waiting for a rescue that might never come.

After a brief silence, the little alpaca blinked timidly, wriggled its body, then raised its neck, widened its eyes, and asked in a hoarse voice, “Where… where is this?”

“This is Mount Kunlun.” You Yan said, tilting her head to look at the little alpaca that was still lying there, refusing to get up. She asked curiously, “Where did you come from? Mount Kunlun is so big, but I’ve never seen a little lamb like you.”

“I’m not a lamb…” Yi Qiu mumbled in a hoarse, low voice, thinking to herself—this really is Mount Kunlun, and this is You Yan’s childhood!

You Yan’s gaze went blank for a moment. “Hmm, you really don’t look much like a lamb… But if you’re not a lamb, what are you?”

Those familiar words sent Yi Qiu into a daze.

Once upon a time, You Yan had asked her the exact same question, only in a completely different tone from the one she was using now.

Yi Qiu pondered for a moment before giving a response similar to the one she had given back then. “As for what species I am, across the vast Three Realms, I am likely the only one who knows. Do you want to know?”

This was perhaps just a subconscious test; she didn’t even know what kind of answer she hoped to hear.

You Yan thought about it seriously, then nodded. “I do.”

Looking at the girl’s earnest gaze, Yi Qiu felt a bit dazed and only snapped back to her senses after You Yan urged her.

“I’m not an animal from around here. In my homeland, an animal like me is called—an alpaca,” Yi Qiu said softly, adding with reddened eyes, “I’m lost, and I don’t know how to get back.”

“A yang tuo? Which tuo?” You Yan’s eyes were blank.

“The tuo from luotuo!” Yi Qiu said.

“A camel? What’s that?” You Yan’s gaze grew even more vacant.

Jeez, the You Yan from the outside world had at least seen a camel before. The You Yan who grew up on Mount Kunlun didn’t even know what a camel was. How was she supposed to explain this?

Yi Qiu thought for a moment and said seriously, “A camel, a camel is an animal with two big humps on its back!”

Hearing this, You Yan was shocked. “Huh?! Did its chest grow onto its back? Will you also grow to be that strange when you’re older?”

Yi Qiu: “…”

Why would anyone think two big humps were a chest? And besides, why would anyone assume a chest had to be two big humps? Can’t a chest be flat!

Yi Qiu suddenly felt it was very difficult to have a normal conversation with this sheltered little girl.

The little alpaca fell silent, lying there like an old salted fish that had lost its dreams.²

You Yan circled her, examining her from top to bottom, front to back, for a long while. She couldn’t help but bite her finger and frown. “That would be too weird. You’d better not grow like that. You look better like this.”

With that, she brought the topic back to the previous question.

“You still haven’t told me why you kept calling my name in your sleep last night.” The girl’s gaze was resolute, as if to say—if you don’t make things clear today, you can forget about leaving.

Yi Qiu performed a tactical lean-back, her mind racing. In the end, she decided she couldn’t tell the truth.

Regardless of whether the You Yan before her was real or fake, if she blurted out the truth, she would definitely be tossed aside like a crazy sheep!

But just moments ago, she had shouted “You Yan” and rushed forward to hug her leg.

How could she explain this?

Got it!

“I, I don’t know how I got here, but ever since I arrived, I’ve been having a dream!”

“A dream?” You Yan couldn’t help but tilt her head.

The little alpaca nodded emphatically, its eyes shimmering with tears as it began to spin a plausible tale. “In the dream, I could always see you. You were very good to me, and you would protect me… This place is so scary, I was afraid I’d be eaten, so I kept looking for you, on and on…”

“I can protect you?” You Yan was stunned for a moment, then shook her head repeatedly. “You must be mistaken. I only bring harm to people…”

The little alpaca instantly did a donkey’s roll³, scrambling up from the ground and pouncing forward once more to hug You Yan’s ankle, wailing with a handful of snot and a handful of tears⁴, “It’s fate! Fate guided me to find you! Don’t leave me behind!”

This time, You Yan didn’t kick the little alpaca away. Instead, after a brief silence, she bent down and stroked its head.

So soft, so comfortable.

Another stroke.

Its neck was soft too. She followed it down, stroking some more.

As You Yan stroked, she couldn’t help but start gently patting away the weeds and dirt clinging to the alpaca’s fleece.

—Am I too dirty?

As the little alpaca thought this, it suddenly stood up and vigorously shook the dirt from its body.

You Yan instantly retracted her grimy little hand, looking as if she’d been startled by the furiously shaking alpaca.

After a short silence, the little alpaca stopped its frantic shaking. Only then did You Yan cautiously extend a finger again to gently touch its ear.

Finally, she looked at the giant tree hollow, seeming to remember something. She frowned and asked, “Why did you spit Little Red Flower saliva?”

Yi Qiu: “…”

Little Red Flower, that fist-sized, red-haired spider, was named Little Red Flower?

As Yi Qiu thought this, she subconsciously glanced at the tree hollow behind her. Seeing that the “Little Red Flower” she had spat on was now hanging upside down at the entrance, no more than two meters away, she was so frightened she threw herself at You Yan and began to shriek incoherently, as if her language system had crashed.

You Yan said that Little Red Flower was her only friend. It had gained spiritual consciousness⁵, was already a yaojing⁶, and could control the poison in its body, so it wouldn’t harm people easily.

This tree hollow was a secret little home she had built for Little Red Flower. Little Red Flower lived here, and she would visit from time to time.

As You Yan spoke, she dragged Yi Qiu into the tree hollow.

Gazing at the surrounding spiderwebs, and the Little Red Flowers hanging on them, Yi Qiu was instantly overcome with a feeling that life was not as good as death.⁷

Her whole body trembled uncontrollably, the frequency so fast and the shaking so violent that even You Yan couldn’t bear to watch.

“You don’t have to be so scared. Little Red Flower is very cute. In terms of toxicity, it’s far less poisonous than I am.”

Hearing this, Little Red Flower seemed to want to prove the point. It dropped to the ground with a plop, and after landing with its eight feet facing the sky, it quickly flipped over and used a foreleg to scratch a line of small words on the ground.

—My name is Little Red Flower, and I am two hundred and seven years old!

Seeing this, You Yan looked at Yi Qiu and said, “I’m five hundred years old, an adult. What about you?”

“I, I… My name is Yi Qiu, the ‘Yi’ from ‘to walk a step and follow a step,’⁸ and the ‘Qiu’ from autumn… I am, two, two… twenty-eight this year.” As Yi Qiu spoke, she couldn’t help but fall into deep thought—is twenty-eight too young in the eyes of a yaojing?

“You’re so young!” You Yan exclaimed.

As expected, twenty-eight was young. So young that even the fist-sized Little Red Flower wrote a large character for “small” on the ground.

Yi Qiu pouted her alpaca lips. Just as she was about to say something, she saw Little Red Flower approaching and couldn’t help but start trembling again.

Little Red Flower was silent for a moment, then quietly retreated.

“S-sorry, I’ll try to get over it…” As Yi Qiu spoke, her stomach let out a “Guuu~~” sound.

Little Red Flower looked up, and You Yan also froze for a second.

After a moment of awkwardness, You Yan asked, “Are you hungry?”

“A little…” Yi Qiu said, lowering her head.

“I brought you something to eat!” You Yan said earnestly.

Yi Qiu was instantly moved to tears.

Heavens, You Yan was too good to her. You Yan was practically her guiding light!

Even in an illusion, even if You Yan had forgotten who she was, she still brought her back from the wilderness to… well, to a home that looked a little creepy.

And even though she was just some unknown creature picked up off the ground, You Yan had still prepared food for her!

The little alpaca’s eyes lit up. “What kind of delicious food is there!”

“It should all be things you like,” You Yan said seriously.

“Things I like!” Yi Qiu was even more moved.

Could it be that even in this illusion, You Yan still had a sliver of residual memory, remembering what dishes she liked to eat!

If that was true, then the person before her was undoubtedly You Yan. She had to find a way to restore her memory so they could escape together.

As Yi Qiu was thinking this, she saw You Yan tap the ground lightly with her grimy index finger.

A flash of faint green spiritual light passed, and a large pile of assorted eco-friendly and healthy “delicacies” appeared before the little alpaca.

There was green grass, hay, tree leaves, stalks…

“Little Red Flower said that all sheep like to eat grass.” The girl spoke earnestly, reaching out to smooth the fur on the back of the little alpaca’s neck. “Look, there are four different flavors. If you like it, eat more. Don’t be shy, I have plenty more!”

The little alpaca couldn’t help but bare its teeth, its previously docile expression twisting bit by bit.

Who wants to eat grass!

Grass is something that even dogs wouldn’t eat!⁹

---

---