Volume 3: Old Tales of Kunlun
Are You Doraemon?1
They say a person has many, many dreams at night, but some dreams are not retained in memory.
But some dreams are as clear as if they were experienced firsthand.
On the third day of arriving in this strange illusory realm, Yi Qiu awoke from a terrible nightmare.
She had dreamed of the day she was separated from You Yan.
Behind her was the five-colored spiritual light that was about to devour her; before her was You Yan, who was unwilling to let her go.
A certain consciousness told her that if some things weren’t made clear at this moment, there might never be another chance to say them.
For the first time, she mustered her courage, crying and shouting as she told You Yan all the deceptions from along their journey.
But at this moment, the time left to her was so short, she didn’t even have time to explain her own changes, only able to say one final sentence——I’m sorry, I lied to you.
In the next second, she saw the bewilderment, fury, and bottomless grief that flashed through You Yan’s eyes.
“Don’t worry about me anymore,” she said. “It’s not worth it.”
It was exactly the same as the last time, outside that stone cavern in Wuzhou, when she had told a certain truth to Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao, trying hard to cut open her own despicable self, hoping with all her heart that the other party could abandon her with a clear conscience.
This was clearly the result she had hoped for and could have anticipated.
After all, only a fool would choose to live and die together. She knew she was a fool, but You Yan wasn’t a fool, was she?
But even though she had anticipated everything, the moment You Yan truly let go of her hand, she still suddenly felt a sense of loneliness, of “being abandoned by the entire world,” that was like a flood and fierce beast2, drowning and gnawing at her… That despair was so real, so real that when she struggled awake from the dream, the fur around her eyes was completely soaked.
Little Red Flower was crouched in front of her, tilting its head, which was so small that the tilt wasn’t very obvious, and not the least bit cute.
Through the thin layer of watery mist, Yi Qiu could see the curiosity and worry in its eyes, but she was still startled by the close-up stare and subconsciously jumped up from the pile of hay, trembling.
Little Red Flower immediately turned its back, facing Yi Qiu with the small flower on its back instead.
“S-Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” Yi Qiu hurriedly explained. “It was just, just a little sud-sudden…”
Waking up from a dream to see a giant spider right in front of you, with your mind still immersed in sorrow and not yet recovered—who wouldn’t find that sudden?
——What’s wrong with you?
Little Red Flower wrote to ask.
“N-Nothing…”
——You were calling You Yan’s name again.
Calling it again… What’s there to call about? It was just a dream. I’m really so pathetic.
She didn’t know when it started, but every night without You Yan by her side, she either couldn’t sleep or slept restlessly.
It made her feel like a little fart child3 who had just been made to sleep in a separate room from their old mother.
Actually, that wasn’t quite right. After all, her greatest wish as a child was to have her own bedroom. At night, she could lock the door and chat, scroll through videos, binge-watch dramas, or read novels, and no one could bother her.
Therefore, she couldn’t even describe this inexplicable dependence.
She only knew that such dependence was normal for an alpaca, but for a human, it probably wasn’t a good thing.
“Don’t tell her,” Yi Qiu said softly, raising her head to look outside the tree hollow.
She had slept early last night, so she woke up early today. At this moment, the sky outside the hollow was on the verge of brightening but not yet bright, still shrouded in a layer of mountain mist. Everything in the distance appeared hazy.
The little alpaca stood up and shook the hay off her body. Seeing that she couldn’t shake it all off, she walked to the edge of the hay pile and hopped forcefully a few times. Finally, in a very difficult posture, she used her hooves to scrape off the remaining bits of hay from her body, piece by piece.
Even if I’m an alpaca, I’m an alpaca that loves being clean.
Thinking this, she stretched her four limbs and slowly walked out of the hollow.
The trees here were sparse, so the line of sight was tolerably open. She raised her head and gazed into the distance, inevitably falling into a bout of deep thought.
Before my consciousness dissipated, was the five-colored spiritual light that shone from the bead the power of the Yi Bird4?
What exactly is that bead? Who was it prepared for? Why could it drag both me and You Yan into a piece of the past from over two thousand five hundred years ago?
And this past belongs to You Yan. So, was this past hidden within the bead, or does the bead awaken the past of the person who enters it, then traps them inside to be repeatedly tormented?
If it’s the former, then the one the Yi Bird wanted to deal with was You Yan. If it’s the latter, then You Yan and I accidentally stumbled into a trap meant for Jinwu Fusang5.
If only the system were still here. It would be good to be able to ask it some questions, even if it would most likely only give me some nonsense.
Thinking of this, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but pull up the attribute panel for another look.
At first, she could still see the favorability rating. Yesterday, only stamina and health were left. Today was even better—everything had turned into question marks.
“Baocai6?” Yi Qiu tried to call the system, but what she got was a completely unfamiliar notification tone.
【System is upgrading diligently. Please wait patiently, Host.】
It seemed this illusory realm was really blocking the system completely, to the point where it needed to “upgrade diligently” just to deal with it.
She didn’t know how long this Baocai would need to upgrade. Although she always said it was useless, now that it was completely unusable, she felt that it was, to some extent, a tiny bit useful after all—at the very least, it was a portable encyclopedia that could tell her what that damn bead was and what the hell was going on right now. That way, she wouldn’t be so much in a head full of fog7.
When a person stares blankly in one direction, time always passes quickly.
The sky all around brightened bit by bit, and the mist also seemed to gradually dissipate.
The sun slowly rose in the distance, but the moon did not quickly set.
This was the first time Yi Qiu had seen the sunrise in the Kunlun Mountains, and it was also the first time she had seen the sun and moon shining together8 since coming to this world.
If only You Yan were here—although that bird woman has lived for so long, a sight like this, which isn’t considered rare, must be something You Yan has seen countless times. She’d probably take one look and give me a “boring.”
Just as she was thinking this in her heart, her hindneck was suddenly rubbed.
The unexpected touch didn’t startle her; instead, it brought her a trace of joy.
Cool fingertips, a gentle touch—it had always belonged to You Yan.
The little alpaca shrank her neck and turned around. The person behind her, as if playing a joke, half-cupped her hindneck with both hands and spun in circles with her.
She could hear the soft patter of footsteps behind her, could hear the girl trying hard to suppress her laughter, and could even see the patched, worn hem of her clothes, yet she could never quite see the girl who was playing with her.
Yi Qiu didn’t know how many circles she had spun, but finally, just as her little head was starting to get dizzy, she saw the red-haired girl who, for today at least, was still reasonably clean.
You Yan clasped her hands behind her back, leaned her body forward slightly, and looked at the dumbfounded little alpaca before her, asking with curved eyebrows, “What were you looking at just now!”
“The sun and the moon are both in the sky,” Yi Qiu wasn’t angry, only raising her head to look at the sky again.
“It’s like this every so often.” As You Yan spoke, she followed Yi Qiu’s gaze. She didn’t say anything like “boring” or “common.” Instead, a warmth bloomed at the corners of her mouth as she said softly, “You think it’s beautiful too, right?”
The Kunlun Mountains were beautiful. Whether at sunrise or sunset, day or night, they had their own unique scenery.
But alas, this girl who had also once lived in the light had, in the end, walked on thorns, step by step, from the immortal mountain to the demonic domain.
For a fleeting moment, Yi Qiu seemed to see a very familiar expression in the young You Yan’s somewhat dazed eyes.
That feeling was as if the bird woman who was sometimes very good, and sometimes very annoying, had returned.
But that momentary daze was gone in a flash. You Yan came back to her senses and lowered her head to stroke the fur on the little alpaca’s back. “Look what I brought you!”
As she spoke, she quickly ran over to the pile of hay inside the tree hollow. With a flash of spiritual light in her palm, she conjured a “bedsheet.”
Perhaps it could be called a bedsheet.
It was truly too tattered and too irregular. One look and you could tell it was the product of some ragged clothes and fabric of unknown purpose, pieced together from here and there9 and sewn into one piece.
You Yan spread it over the pile of hay, turned around, and patted the hindneck of the little alpaca who had followed behind her, saying, “After I went back, I thought about it. This hay might poke you, so I made this for you!”
Yi Qiu’s mouth opened. Before she had a chance to be moved, she saw You Yan conjure a bowl of hot meat congee and two baozi10.
For a moment, Yi Qiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The tears she had just managed to suppress surged up again.
“Are your eyes bothering you again?” You Yan frowned, the worry in her eyes impossible to hide as she asked, “Could it be that my poison has affected you…”
Hearing this, Yi Qiu quickly pretended to let out a huge yawn and said, “No, I’m always like this right after I wake up!”
You Yan let out a sigh of relief and sat down cross-legged on the hay pile covered with the bedsheet. “Come on, let’s eat.”
The little alpaca nodded, walked to the girl’s side, and obediently lay down. Her gaze was fixed on You Yan’s fingers as she tore the baozi, and for a moment she couldn’t help but ask, “Are you Doraemon?”
“Huh?” You Yan’s hand, which was tearing the skin of the baozi, suddenly paused. “What, what-A-mon?”
“He’s a blue, bald, big-faced cat. He has a small pocket on his chest, and no matter what Daxiong11 wants, he can conjure it for him.”
“I’m a Qinyuan12, a bird, not a cat.” You Yan clearly didn’t understand what nonsense the little alpaca in front of her was spouting, but there wasn’t a trace of impatience in her eyes. Instead, she smiled with great delight. “Aren’t you an alpaca? Why did you mention a big bear?”
As the girl spoke, she thought seriously for a moment and unconsciously ate the piece of baozi skin she had just torn off. “But, a cat and a bear being friends is pretty interesting, just like… just like me and Little Red Flower, and you, you… what was your name again?”
“Yi Qiu.”
“Right, and you, Yi Qiu.” You Yan scratched the back of her ear in embarrassment and continued, “I’m not that whatever-mon, and I can’t conjure that many things. But you can tell me whatever you want, and I’ll do my best to make it happen. If I don’t know how… then I’ll go learn.”
“You Yan,” Yi Qiu hesitated for a moment, then asked softly, “why are you so good to me?”
“Hm?”
“How long have we known each other?”
You Yan thought for a moment and said in surprise, “That’s right, today is only the third day!”
“It’s so strange, I always feel like I’ve known you for a very long time.” As she spoke, she squinted her eyes into a smile, saying sheepishly, “If I said that I felt like we were old friends at the first meeting13, would you laugh at me?”
“I wouldn’t.”
I’m just glad that even without your memories, your soul can still recognize me.
And I, finally, get to see the truest you, with all your disguises removed.
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