Little Alpaca – Chapter 109

Volume 3: Old Tales of Kunlun

Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog.¹

Yi Qiu considered herself an extremely adaptable alpaca.

After all, she was once a genuine, 100% purebred human, but she turned into an alpaca overnight and got used to the feeling of being one not long after.

Tonight, her second night on Kunlun Mountain, she blended into the atmosphere with great speed. As soon as she finished eating, she began walking in slow little circles around You Yan, who was sitting outside the tree hollow in a daze.

You Yan’s gaze followed the little alpaca beside her, the smile in her eyes deepening with every circle she made.

Suddenly, she reached out an arm to block the little alpaca’s neck and asked with a laugh, “What on earth are you circling for?”

“To digest, of course. You always have to get some exercise after a meal,” Yi Qiu replied. “Wouldn’t it be awful to be so stuffed?”

“Then why don’t you circle the tree?” You Yan asked again.

Yi Qiu glanced up at the big tree, shook her head, and said, “No way, that’s too tiring.”

In truth, she was only circling You Yan because she felt like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what she could say.

Once the night grew darker, You Yan would have to go home again. She wanted to spend more time with You Yan, or perhaps, she wanted You Yan to spend more time with her.

As Yi Qiu was thinking this, she suddenly saw You Yan gently place a hand on her full, bulging stomach. The icy touch made her flinch instinctively, but she was afraid the tiny movement would be misunderstood and upset You Yan, so she quickly said, “It’s a little itchy!”

You Yan chuckled and gently rubbed the little alpaca’s belly. “Is that more comfortable?”

It was. It really was.

Her stomach, which had been feeling a bit too full, instantly felt much better after You Yan rubbed it a few times.

To think that You Yan even knew how to give massages.

“How do you know how to do everything?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but ask.

“I don’t. There are far too many things I don’t know,” You Yan said, rubbing the back of Yi Qiu’s neck. She looked up at the distant moon and said softly, “Most of the time, I just don’t know where to go or what to do, so I like to go to my father’s study and read the books he copied from the human realm. The human realm is truly a magical place. Human books record everything. They’re so interesting!”

My goodness, so little You Yan was a self-taught prodigy. No wonder it always felt like You Yan knew everything. She was truly worthy of being the bird-woman whose great thigh she had hugged².

A sense of pride that Yi Qiu herself hadn’t even noticed appeared in her eyes.

“Little alpaca, you’ve never been to the human realm, have you?” You Yan was clearly excited to bring this up, her eyes full of the desire to share. “If you haven’t, I can tell you some of the stories I’ve read in my books.”

“But I’m from the human realm,” Yi Qiu blurted out, instinctively dismantling the stage³. Seeing a flash of embarrassment in You Yan’s eyes, she quickly covered her mouth.

You Yan was awkward for a moment, blinking several times before she said blankly, “Then, can you tell me stories about the human realm?”

Little Red Flower seemed very interested in this as well, scrambling out and climbing up You Yan’s sleeve to her lantern braid. At first glance, it looked as if You Yan had pinned a flower to her braid.

The little alpaca couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

“What are you laughing at?” You Yan frowned. “Do you think I don’t know anything?”

“No, I just think you look very pretty with a little red flower in your hair,” Yi Qiu said. She thought for a moment, and her eyes suddenly lit up. She lay down, looked up, and said, “I have a new story that you’ve definitely never heard before. No matter how many books you read, you’ll never have seen it!”

“Tell me!” You Yan shifted her posture, sitting up as straight as a student listening to a lecture.

Yi Qiu cleared her throat and, in her still-hoarse voice, began to tell the story of Hou Yi Shooting the Suns, shaking her head as she spoke.

In the future, this story would be a household name, but right now, in the time period of this illusion, the Golden Crow⁴ had not yet started courting death⁵, and Hou Yi had not even been born. A story like this was absolutely brand new.

“…That day, Hou Yi chased the Golden Crow, shooting down nine suns along the way. He finally rushed to the Jade Sea and, under the Fusang Tree⁶, severed one of the Golden Crow’s legs. Just as he was about to take its life, he was stopped by the Heavenly Emperor⁷.”

As Yi Qiu’s story reached this point, Little Red Flower jumped onto You Yan’s shoulder and, raising its two little legs, gave a round of silent “applause.”

But You Yan tilted her head and said, “I feel like I’ve heard this story somewhere before.”

“Huh?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but pout. “Where?”

“I don’t remember. It wasn’t in a book, anyway,” You Yan said, unconsciously biting her thumb. She said seriously, “If I remember correctly, in this story, the Golden Crow was banished to the mortal realm to endure ten lifetimes of tribulations… I wonder if it succeeded in the end.”

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but nod as she looked at You Yan.

“But whoever made up this story is really brave. The three-legged Golden Crow is the beloved child of the Heavenly Emperor and the goddess Xihe. How could they dare to write something like that?” You Yan said, reaching out to rub Yi Qiu’s head with a frown. “Little alpaca, you must never tell this story to anyone else. Be careful, or you’ll lose your life!”

It was just as she thought. Little You Yan’s mind retained, to some extent, some memories from the bird-woman. These memories were very vague, but they could very well be the key to awakening her.

“Are you listening to me?” You Yan asked, anxiously fiddling with the little alpaca’s ear.

Yi Qiu quickly snapped back to her senses and shook her head instinctively, then, under You Yan’s huffy gaze, quickly nodded.

“I know, I won’t tell anyone else from now on.”

“Little Red Flower, you have to keep it a secret, too!” You Yan turned her head to look at Little Red Flower, who was standing dazedly on her shoulder.

Little Red Flower nodded, and as if afraid You Yan couldn’t see clearly, it shook the petals on its back.

Only then did You Yan relax, letting out a sigh of relief.

Finally, she looked up at the moon and said softly, “I have to go home.”

“Huh?” Yi Qiu stood up blankly and stared at You Yan, hesitating for a long while before she finally couldn’t resist asking, “You Yan, do you… do you have to go back every day?”

“Hmm?” You Yan tilted her head, seeming not to quite understand what the little alpaca meant.

Yi Qiu lowered her white eyelashes and said in a small voice, “I just wanted to ask, if you didn’t go back at night, would your father be angry?”

The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

What was wrong with her? Was she really that unable to leave this bird-girl?

“What’s wrong?” You Yan couldn’t help but ask in return. “Little alpaca, are you not used to living here?”

Little Red Flower immediately jumped to the ground and wrote a line of words with a shoo, shoo.

—Qiuqiu was calling your name in her dreams last night!

You Yan bent down to look, let out an “ah,” and then looked at Yi Qiu, surprised and deeply moved. “So you can’t bear to leave me that much!”

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

What?! She had called out You Yan’s name in her dream again last night, and Little Red Flower heard it?

This was too humiliating!

Heaven could bear witness, she had become completely independent the second year after graduating from college. She was definitely not someone who couldn’t live without someone else!

Although, at this very moment, she was indeed an alpaca who couldn’t live without You Yan, it wasn’t to the point of calling out You Yan’s name in her sleep…

This wasn’t being inseparable, not at all. This was just… just being frantic with worry!

She was just afraid something would happen to You Yan!

“So, do you want me to stay and keep you company?” You Yan continued to ask.

The little alpaca shook her head again and again, every strand of fur fluttering in the wind screaming—I’m not, I didn’t, you’ve misunderstood!

After shaking her head for a long time, Yi Qiu suddenly felt a little dizzy and finally stopped. She spouted nonsense, “I, I just, I just think the ground is dirty and hard, so I, I want you to…”

“Want me to?”

“Want you to help me make this place a little softer…” Yi Qiu said, lowering her little head.

Thankfully, after stammering for so long, she had finally thought of a passable excuse.

She kept muttering You Yan’s name in her dreams because she was uncomfortable sleeping and wanted to sleep in a softer place. Thinking about it carefully, that made sense, right?

You Yan pondered for a moment, then said, “Then, wait a moment!”

“Huh?” Before Yi Qiu could react, You Yan’s figure had vanished from her sight.

She stared blankly at Little Red Flower, who also tilted its head at her in confusion.

Accompanied by Little Red Flower, Yi Qiu waited at the entrance of the tree hollow for a good while before she finally saw You Yan running back with a large pile of hay.

She ran into the tree hollow, spread the hay evenly on the ground, and lay down on it herself to test it out. Then she sat up from the pile, casually patting off a few stray strands of hay from her clothes and hair, and said to Yi Qiu, “Little alpaca, come and try it. Is this much softer?”

Yi Qiu was speechless for a moment, but she couldn’t bring herself to refuse You Yan’s gesture. She could only walk over slowly and, under You Yan’s expectant gaze, lie down on the pile of hay.

To be fair, it was a little softer.

“How is it?” You Yan asked.

“It’s more comfortable,” Yi Qiu replied.

You Yan giggled, rubbed Yi Qiu’s fluffy head, said goodbye, and disappeared in a flash.

She left in such a hurry…

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but sigh softly. Her gaze swept to the side and happened to see Little Red Flower huddled nearby, staring at her with its tiny eyes.

“What is it?”

—You just don’t want her to go.

“Of course not.”

Yi Qiu replied and closed her eyes.

She thought that when she woke up tomorrow morning, she would definitely be covered in grass.

Life as a little alpaca was really getting tougher and tougher.

Before, she couldn’t sleep on a bed. Now, she didn’t even deserve a pallet made of bedding and could only sleep on a pile of hay gathered from who-knows-where.

This difference in treatment made Yi Qiu think of a proverb—marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog.

Although You Yan was neither a chicken nor a dog, just a bird with a prickly butt and mouth, and she would never marry You Yan.

But the fact was, if You Yan lived well, she lived well. If You Yan didn’t live well, she didn’t live well either.

It seemed that between an alpaca and a bird, they truly did share in glory together, and share in loss together⁸.

However, she had nothing to complain about. After all, no matter how poorly that little girl was living, she still offered up everything she could find to her.

And she was just a small, useless alpaca.

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The author has something to say:

“Although she would never marry You Yan.”

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