Volume 3: Old Tales of Kunlun
Shadow.
That day, after breakfast, Yi Qiu followed beside You Yan, hopping and skipping about in the small courtyard as she urged You Yan to build a snowman for her.
However, the thing she wanted You Yan to build for her, while called a snowman, couldn’t quite be considered a “man”.
You Yan said a snowman wasn’t difficult, so she decided to give You Yan a big challenge.
She wanted an alpaca, and also a Qinyuan1.
Faced with such a request, You Yan couldn’t help but squat by the door and ponder for a long time before finally packing snow and getting to work.
The little alpaca didn’t have hands, after all. Sticking out her little hooves would only get in the way, so it was better to just stand to the side and act as You Yan’s little supervisor.
You Yan first built the alpaca—one that was lying on the ground.
The first thing to take shape was the alpaca’s body, but in Yi Qiu’s eyes, that body was just a long, big lump of snow—crooked and lopsided, full of pits and hollows, its shape not the least bit regular.
“It’s too skinny, how could I be that skinny… Hey, now it’s fat, it’s fat, I’m not that fat!”
“You Yan, you made my butt crooked! And, and my legs, how come the left one is so much thinner than the right one!”
“Do you even know how to do this? It’s so ugly!”
As You Yan packed snow to build the little alpaca, she listened to Yi Qiu picking three and choosing four2 from the side.
The corners of her mouth were constantly turned up in a very beautiful curve. Even on a cold winter day with heavy, swirling snow, it could still make one’s heart feel warm.
But Yi Qiu wasn’t wrong to shout. You Yan clearly didn’t have any art cells3. Don’t be fooled by how readily she agreed; in the end, it took a great deal of effort to painstakingly build a crooked snow alpaca.
On top of that, the neck even had to be reinforced with spiritual power; otherwise, its homely little head would have definitely fallen off that wobbly-looking, crooked neck.
Don’t ask. If you ask, the answer is: ugly.
But regardless of whether it was ugly or not, the general shape had indeed emerged, and one could, horse horse tiger tiger4, tell it was an alpaca—although it looked more like a mutated, long-necked doggy than an alpaca.
After finishing the alpaca, You Yan started building the Qinyuan next to it.
Time passed, minute by minute, second by second, and the snow alpaca and snow Qinyuan that Yi Qiu wanted finally took shape under You Yan’s efforts.
They were big and ugly. One was limp like rotten mud, the other flamboyant like a wild pheasant, and yet they leaned crookedly against each other in the very center of the small courtyard.
These two are really homely, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but think. Not only that, but it wasn’t hard to see at all that if they lost the support of You Yan’s spiritual power, they would definitely collapse on the spot.
“You Yan, I originally thought… that kitchen by the tree hollow, which looks like it could collapse at any moment, was already your limit.” Yi Qiu lay beside the snow alpaca, her fluffy little head raised upwards, looking straight at the little You Yan beside her, who was biting her own thumb.
You Yan pondered for a moment, then smiled with curved brows, a little embarrassed, and said, “They do seem a little ugly…”
“Be more confident. Please delete ‘seem’ and ‘a little’,” Yi Qiu said, stretching out languidly beside the snow alpaca. After standing up, she circled these two ugly fellows several times.
Finally, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
It had to be said, these two big guys could really give the bird woman’s embroidery a run for its money.
“Let’s go see Little Red Flower, we can build one for it too!” You Yan said, squatting down in front of Yi Qiu.
“Forget it! Who knows how ugly it would turn out!” the little alpaca said, jumping onto You Yan’s back.
A night of snowfall, accompanied by the sound of the wind, dyed Kunlun5 white.
The accumulated snow on the ground was very thick. You Yan activated her spiritual power to walk on the snow. Her body was already light enough, yet she still left a trail of footprints of varying depths.
That one dead, large tree was now also covered in snow on its branches. Hearing the sound, Little Red Flower crawled out from inside with a da da da.
The fist-sized spider had no weight to speak of, only leaving extremely faint little marks on the snow.
Yi Qiu was different. As soon as she was placed back on the ground by You Yan, her four hooves couldn’t help but sink gently into the snow, and every step required some effort.
Seeing this, You Yan quickly used her spiritual power to clear the snow around her, thus “rescuing” her from the deep snow.
“Wow!” Yi Qiu was stunned for a moment. She suddenly felt that stepping in the snow like that was actually quite fun. Now that the snow around her was cleared, she ran to a nearby spot that hadn’t been cleared to play.
Seeing this, You Yan couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle and quickly followed behind the little alpaca, also stepping also following6 and leaving her own footprints on the ground.
Big footprints, little hoof prints. They accompanied each other, crisscrossing in that ice sky and snow ground, as if to prove they had once been there.
But they both knew that after this heavy snow fell for a while longer, and another gust of wind blew through this place, these prints would vanish without a trace.
Snowy days are really cold.
Even though her fur was very thick, and even though she had spiritual power protecting her body from within, Yi Qiu was still just an alpaca with a low cultivation level.
After playing for a long time, once her enthusiasm dissipated and her body felt tired, she naturally began to feel a bit cold.
She subconsciously ran back to the kitchen by the tree hollow and huddled up, but it had no walls on any side and couldn’t block the cold wind at all.
Little Red Flower lay on You Yan’s shoulder, its gaze quietly watching the shivering Yi Qiu. It seemed to want to get closer, but in the end, it only stuck out a small leg and, as if giving a secret signal, tapped You Yan’s shoulder a few times.
You Yan quickly went forward and squatted down beside Yi Qiu. “Are you cold? Why don’t we go home?”
“Mhm…” Yi Qiu said, sniffling.
Playing in the snow was very fun, but it seemed she had played herself into catching a cold.
The moment You Yan squatted down, Little Red Flower also jumped from her shoulder to the ground. After waving its flower at Yi Qiu in farewell, it quickly retreated into its spider hole.
On the way home, the little alpaca, who had already caught a chill, was made dizzy by the cold wind kicked up by You Yan running at full speed, and for a moment, she couldn’t stop sneezing.
Hearing this, You Yan grew a little flustered and couldn’t help but stop, frowning in thought for a moment.
“It’s nothing, just a cold, it’s very normal…” Before Yi Qiu could finish her words, a red garment was draped over her body.
In that instant, the cold wind seemed to be completely blocked out, and warmth surged from the bottom of her heart into her four limbs and hundred bones7.
This clothing—she was familiar with it.
Once upon a time, You Yan had also used this clothing to shield her from the wind and ward off the cold, or to protect her completely amidst raging flames.
But she also remembered that You Yan had said the strange old dad at home didn’t like to see this garment. It seemed to be because he didn’t like the color red, and didn’t like the red feathers You Yan was born with, which were different from her clansmen.
Because of this, this little girl would rather wear tattered rags than change into the clothes transformed from her own spiritual feathers.
The little alpaca had only sneezed a few times, yet it had actually made You Yan take this garment out…
“You Yan, if your daddy8 sees this, he’ll get angry, right…”
“It’s already cold in the mountains! You’re already sneezing, you can’t be blown by the wind anymore!”
You Yan said, running quickly towards home.
As she pushed open the courtyard gate, she looked at the closed door of the room on the left with a guilty expression. Seeing no reaction from inside, she then darted past the two “ugly freaks”9 made of snow in the courtyard and, like a puff of smoke, rushed into her own room. She placed the little alpaca with her wet little hooves back on the bed while quickly lighting a brazier and carrying it to the bedside.
The little alpaca, wrapped in that incredibly warm red garment, gradually stopped shivering so much, but she still couldn’t stop sneezing.
From childhood to adulthood, she had read so many novels and had never seen a yaojing10 catch a cold. She had thought yaojing had such strong constitutions, but after all this, they weren’t much better than humans. Just from playing in the snow a little, she had actually gone and caught a cold just like that.
“I’s sorry, I didn’t know you were afraid of the cold…” You Yan sat beside Yi Qiu, gently stroking her fluffy head, her eyes filled with guilt, as if the little one before her had gotten sick all because of her.
Seeing this, Yi Qiu quickly shook her head. “Actually, I didn’t feel that cold either. I just suddenly got tired from playing, and then after lying down for a while, I don’t know how but I started feeling chilly… I was perfectly fine this morning.”
As she spoke, afraid that You Yan would continue to feel guilty, she quickly changed the subject. “It’s already noon, I’m so hungry. What are we eating today?”
“I’ll go make it for you!” You Yan said, quickly standing up and turning to run to the kitchen.
Yi Qiu huddled on the bed, her aching little head hanging low. She unconsciously rubbed against the feathered garment draped over her, and a sense of longing welled up in her heart.
She knew that the little You Yan in the illusion and the bird woman from her memories were the same person, but she just couldn’t help but miss that bird woman.
It was strange, speaking of it. If one were to discuss who was better or worse, it was definitely this five-hundred-year-old little bird who was better to her. And not just a little bit better, but countless times better than that bird woman.
But she always felt that this kindness was particularly unreal—so unreal that on one hand, she couldn’t help but be moved, while on the other, she didn’t dare to fully immerse herself in it.
Recently, she had been thinking of ways and devising methods11 to evoke You Yan’s memories, but she hadn’t seen any results.
She could see many shadows of that bird woman in the little You Yan—sometimes in a look in her eyes, sometimes in one frown and one smile12, sometimes in some extremely minor habits.
But those shadows were, after all, just shadows. She didn’t know how to grasp them, nor did she know how to awaken the real You Yan through them.
She only knew that with each day that passed, she had one day less.
Harboring this common anxiety, Yi Qiu finished the lunch You Yan had made, sneezing all the while.
After lunch, You Yan sat by her side and accompanied Yi Qiu for a while. Seeing Yi Qiu sniffling and shedding tears on the bed, she couldn’t bear it in her heart13 and, standing up, walked to the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to find some medicinal herbs for you!” You Yan said, and vanished like a puff of smoke.
Yi Qiu waited for a long time, but You Yan didn’t return. Unable to resist, she jumped down from the bed and, wearing the garment that dragged on the floor, walked to the door as if sent by ghosts and commissioned by gods14. She used her little hoof to gently scratch open a crack in the door and, tilting her head, peered outside through the crack.
She had only intended to take a casual look, but unexpectedly saw that the door that was usually tightly shut had, at some unknown time, opened a crack.
You Yan had left in a hurry today, not even having time to wash the bowls and chopsticks. Now, white snow had already accumulated in the empty bowls outside the door.
At that moment, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but hold her breath and concentrate her spirit, staring intently at that crack in the door.
Suddenly, a tiny red shadow darted out from behind the two “ugly freaks” in the courtyard. In just an instant, it was hugging the ground again as it shot back into the room at high speed, silently closing the door and making it impossible for anyone to get a clear look.
Yi Qiu also quickly closed the crack in the door and subconsciously swallowed hard.
It probably wasn’t a trick of the eyes. That red shadow… it seemed to be only the size of a fist…
The author has something to say:
Little Question Mark, do you have many friends?15
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