Little Alpaca – Chapter 106

Volume 3: Old Tales of Kunlun

I Feel Like I’ve Seen You Somewhere Before.

After You Yan left, Yi Qiu huddled deeper into the tree hollow.

The tree hollow was large, and the summer wind would blow in from outside. Just by opening her eyes, she could see the nightscape.

Kunlun Mountain was beautiful, to be sure, with many rare and exotic plants growing on it, and fireflies dancing through the mountains at night, but this was not the least bit romantic. It was like sleeping in the living room at night only to have someone tear down the front door, leaving one with no sense of security at all.

It wasn’t as if Yi Qiu had never slept in the wilderness before. This tree hollow at least provided cover overhead and on all sides, which was much better than just finding a random spot, setting up a campfire, and sleeping against a tree.

But the prerequisite for all of that had been having You Yan by her side.

As long as You Yan was there, she would dare to sleep even if she were in the sky, with her feet not touching the ground and no place to lie down.

As Yi Qiu’s thoughts reached this point, she finally realized something.

She hadn’t been away from You Yan for a very, very, very long time.

It turned out that one person’s reliance on another could truly run that deep.

And to think, back when she moved out of her family home and into a rental, she had wholeheartedly believed that once people grew up, they wouldn’t be particularly dependent on anyone anymore…

This tree hollow was special. It had once been a very, very large tree, and many thick, massive roots were still exposed outside of it.

For a tree to grow so large, its roots must have spread an unknown distance underground. Perhaps because of this, the nearby trees didn’t grow good roots, which was why the area seemed relatively sparse and, to some extent, desolate.

The soil inside the hollow was dirty and hard. The only good thing was the lack of mosquitoes and other insects—perhaps because Little Red Flower was here.

The little alpaca leaned against the cool wall of the hollow, lying quietly with her two hooves tucked under her. Her eyes closed and opened, opened and closed, over and over for a long time, yet she couldn’t muster the slightest hint of sleepiness.

After an unknown amount of time, Yi Qiu suddenly lifted her head, twisted her neck to look at her own filthy fur, and then lowered her head to the ground, feeling wronged.

The gap between the illusion and reality was just too great.

She was now a masterless, wild alpaca. Her former owner was right in front of her but treated her like a stray cat or dog found on the roadside—someone to be fed daily, but not someone to be taken home.

Then again, given Little You Yan’s current state, even if she did take her home, she probably couldn’t give her the good life she had outside the illusion, could she?

After all, the childhood You Yan seemed quite scruffy. In contrast, when had that bird woman from outside the illusion ever allowed herself to look so disheveled? Forget allowing herself to look disheveled; if even the little alpaca by her side got dirty, she would be tossed directly into a creek, river, or bathtub.

As the little alpaca was lost in thought, a small red flower suddenly scurried over in her peripheral vision.

It circled the little alpaca twice, then wrote a line of words on the ground.

——Can’t you sleep?

“A little…”

——I can’t sleep either.

“Why not?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but wonder. She felt the environment was too poor and lacked security, but this little red flower had been living here for a long time. Surely it wouldn’t still dislike its own little nest?

——Can I spin a web in the corner?

——It won’t be big.

Yi Qiu was momentarily speechless.

So Little Red Flower couldn’t sleep because it didn’t have a web…

Then this was indeed her fault.

This dead tree had originally been Little Red Flower’s nest. Now that she, a little alpaca, had been brought back by You Yan, it felt a bit like the turtledove has occupied the magpie’s nest¹.

Yi Qiu thought for a moment, then said, “Go ahead and spin it. I just won’t look that way.”

Little Red Flower shook the petals on its back and happily ran back to the corner.

This little spider has a surprisingly good temper…

As Yi Qiu thought this, she couldn’t help but recall the timid and meek Little You Yan from the daytime.

An alpaca was clearly a very weak spirit beast. Forget You Yan, who possessed great power from birth; even Little Red Flower, happily spinning its web in the corner, could probably kill her in an instant if it truly released the toxins in its body. Yet, she was still treated with great respect and kindness.

Little Red Flower had said that besides You Yan, no one else in the mountains was good to it.

You Yan had also once said that everyone in Kunlun Mountain detested her, constantly ostracizing and isolating her.

Was it because of this that You Yan and Little Red Flower had such low self-esteem and tried so hard to be good to everyone who didn’t shun them?

If everything here, aside from her as an alpaca, had truly existed, then what on earth could have happened to turn such a pure and kind You Yan into the person she later became?

And what about Little Red Flower?

Where did You Yan’s once-best friend go? Why was it never mentioned by You Yan again…

That night, Yi Qiu thought about many things, but she couldn’t figure out a single one.

As she thought, she somehow began to feel sleepy, little by little, to the sound of the nearby cicadas’ chirping.

The next day, she awoke from her dreams, her eyes squinted as she let out a big yawn.

When she opened her eyes, You Yan was squatting in front of her, staring at her with a pair of beautiful willow-leaf eyes, her head tilted.

Little Red Flower, its body mostly hidden by a single red blossom, was perched on You Yan’s shoulder. The flower on its back was tilted, so its head was probably tilted too.

Yi Qiu, a bit dazed, raised her neck, copied You Yan and Little Red Flower by tilting her head, and hummed a questioning sound from her nose: “Hm?”

“You’re finally awake!” You Yan said, materializing two egg pancakes in her hand and muttering under her breath, “They’ve gotten cold!”

“It’s fine, cold is cold!” Yi Qiu said. She moved her nose closer to sniff them and was about to open her mouth to eat when she saw You Yan pull the hand holding the pancakes back, leaving her momentarily confused.

“Let’s heat them up. They taste better warm,” You Yan said, channeling her spiritual energy to warm the two pancakes.

In that instant, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but recall the days when she and You Yan were guests at Xianlu Sect.

She remembered one morning when she went looking for Little Pig Trotter, only to be dragged back to the guest house by You Yan. The breakfast prepared on the table had already gone cold.

She also remembered one evening when You Yan watched the sunset with her, and then, because of a suggestion she made, ran off alone to register Little Pig Trotter for the trial tournament. When she returned, she brought back two cold sesame seed cakes.

No matter which time it was, You Yan had always used her spiritual energy to reheat the food for her before feeding it to her, bite by bite.

“Are you really You Yan?” she couldn’t help but ask in a daze.

“Hm?” You Yan blinked blankly, looking like she didn’t understand. She tore off a small piece of the pancake and brought it to Yi Qiu’s mouth. “Hurry and eat.”

Yi Qiu came back to her senses and quickly began to eat the breakfast You Yan offered.

After breakfast, the little alpaca flopped down outside the hollow and lazily sunbathed.

Little You Yan didn’t seem to have anything to do either, so she squatted next to the little alpaca, endlessly rubbing the soft, fluffy fur on its body. She petted it over and over from head to back, even tugging its short little tail a couple of times midway through, which earned her a protest from Yi Qiu.

It wasn’t hard to see that You Yan really liked petting the alpaca’s fur.

——What a little kid.

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but think to herself.

Little kids all like fluffy things, and they don’t know how to restrain the fondness in their hearts at all.

The grown-up You Yan, though she also liked to find any opportunity to knead her, would never have such unconcealed delight in her eyes.

Looked at this way, the bird girl was much cuter than the bird woman.

If only I could be a little cleaner. Being this filthy, it probably doesn’t even feel good for You Yan to pet me.

“Mmm…”

“What’s wrong?” You Yan heard the little alpaca’s whimper.

“I want to take a bath,” Yi Qiu said quietly. “I’m a little dirty, and I’m not comfortable…”

You Yan “oh”-ed in sudden understanding, rubbed the back of Yi Qiu’s head, and stood up with a smile. “Then follow me. I’ll take you to a more secluded place!”

“Okay!” Yi Qiu responded, getting up from the ground.

She subconsciously glanced back at the little red flower in the hollow and asked curiously, “Isn’t Little Red Flower coming with us?”

You Yan said as she walked ahead to lead the way, “Little Red Flower is a bit sensitive to light. It spends most of the daytime resting in the hollow.”

“I see,” Yi Qiu replied, following behind You Yan while looking back every few steps. She had been hesitating about whether to say something to Little Red Flower when she suddenly saw it wave the petals on its back at her as if waving goodbye. She immediately called out in a raspy voice, “Wait for us to come back!”

As her voice fell, Little Red Flower curled up again.

Yi Qiu turned and caught up to You Yan’s side, saying, “What does Little Red Flower like to eat? Let’s bring some back for it later!”

You Yan: “Insects. It’ll go catch them itself when it’s hungry. Are you going to help it catch them too?”

Yi Qiu: “…”

Never mind, she thought. There’s no way I’d dare to catch insects.

Seeing the little alpaca’s gaze suddenly turn cowardly, You Yan couldn’t help but laugh out loud and run ahead, skipping and hopping in a mysteriously girlish way.

It had to be said, Kunlun Mountain was truly huge.

Yi Qiu ran after You Yan for a long way. Aside from some ordinary birds and beasts, she also encountered several bizarrely-shaped creatures along the path.

But all those creatures gave You Yan a wide berth, running away as if they had seen a plague god², their eyes filled with disgust.

You Yan’s speed was very fast. After chasing her for a while, Yi Qiu couldn’t stop panting and kept shouting, “You Yan, wait up, wait for me…”

Hearing this, You Yan obediently stopped and stood in place to wait for a bit.

Yi Qiu caught up, and before she could even catch a few breaths, she couldn’t help but ask, “How much farther is it?”

You Yan said seriously, “We’re almost there.”

The little alpaca couldn’t help but collapse on the ground. “I’m so tired. I’m going to rest for a bit…”

She subconsciously glanced at the system. The affinity value in her status bar had turned into “???” just like her other stats, but her stamina and health values were still there.

At this moment, her stamina was already down to just thirty.

Based on past experience, she would pass out when her stamina hit bottom.

“It’s… it’s really not my fault for being delicate. This place of yours is just too far. When we left, the sun was still in the east, and now it’s almost directly overhead…” Yi Qiu said, half-dead. “I really can’t run anymore…”

“I’m sorry…” You Yan said apologetically in a small voice. “No one likes me, so I rarely go to the places where everyone else bathes or gets water… That place is a bit remote, but if it weren’t, it would be hard for me to go there…”

Yi Qiu was speechless for a moment. Gazing into You Yan’s guilty eyes, she didn’t know how to respond for a long time.

After a moment of awkwardness, You Yan suddenly squatted down in front of her, presenting her back to the little alpaca behind her. She turned her head and said earnestly, “If… if you don’t mind, let me carry you!”

“Ah…” Yi Qiu was stunned.

Whoa, she thought. The You Yan of the past would offer to carry an alpaca on her back?

Seeing the little alpaca hesitate, a trace of disappointment flashed in You Yan’s eyes. “If you’re scared, I’ll just rest here with you for a while…”

Yi Qiu knew at once that You Yan had misunderstood.

Without much thought, she leaped onto You Yan’s slender back, lightly wrapped her two hooves around You Yan’s neck, and rested her head on top of You Yan’s.

“What would I have to be scared of!”

“…”

“Why would you think I was worried about that?”

“…Because, other than Little Red Flower, no one is willing to touch me. They all say that getting too close to me will get you killed.”

Yi Qiu was silent for a moment, then said, “They’re talking nonsense.”

As she spoke, she nuzzled You Yan’s messy hair with her chin and said in a low voice, “I was just thinking, if you had said earlier that you could carry me, I wouldn’t have had to run so far!”

As her voice fell, she thought she heard a girl’s light laugh.

After a brief silence, You Yan couldn’t help but say, “You’re so strange.”

“How am I strange?”

“Everything about you is strange. None of the heavenly spirits or beast spirits in the mountains are like you. But…”

“But what?”

“But… I just feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

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The author has something to say:

No going back to the past, no time loop, no previous encounter.

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