Little Alpaca – Chapter 123

Volume 3: Old Tales of Kunlun

Go Away! Leave Me Alone!

The fingertip that had pierced the skin trembled slightly at that moment.

A hint of hesitation seemed to surface within the young girl’s cold eyes.

She gazed quietly at the frail alpaca at her feet. After a long silence, she frowned and asked warily, “I’ve always been curious—what exactly are you? Why did you come here, and why do you approach me?”

“I won’t hurt you. I’m here to keep you company,” the little alpaca said softly to You Yan¹, “You might not believe me, but I came to this world for the sole purpose of being with you.”

Words like these—let alone You Yan, even the Yi Qiu² of the past wouldn’t have believed them.

Yet, in this moment, she spoke every word with utmost seriousness, despite how frivolous the statement might have sounded.

You Yan was a person of absolute rationality. That was why, the instant she entered, she was able to split herself in two—to keep herself company and protect herself, thereby resisting the harm caused by the Floating Dream Pearl’s³ illusion.

Yet, all of this was merely a delaying tactic⁴; what was destined to come would eventually arrive.

Fortunately, amidst all of this, there was an anomaly.

Just as she had accidentally arrived in this world back then, she had now accidentally stumbled into You Yan’s dream.

She believed that such an accident was an inevitability destined by fate. She was here to be with You Yan—it was true then, and it remained true now.

“You Yan, do you remember anything?” The little alpaca looked up, gazing expectantly at the person before her.

But she found not a trace of familiarity in You Yan’s gaze; it was filled only with suspicion—deep, profound suspicion.

It seemed You Yan still hadn’t woken up. She had merely been forced out of a sweet dream within the dream. And the culprit who shattered that sweet dream was none other than the little alpaca whose skull she was currently digging her fingers into.

This was undoubtedly a terrible situation.

Fortunately, You Yan eventually calmed down. The anger in her eyes dissipated bit by bit, and reason returned to the depths of her heart.

After a brief silence, You Yan released the hand that was tightly pressing down on the little alpaca’s head.

“I will give you one chance. Tell me the truth,” You Yan said indifferently. The tone was familiar, yet somehow slightly different.

Yi Qiu dazed out for a moment. A gust of cold wind blew past, and she couldn’t help but close her eyes and let out a massive sneeze.

You Yan frowned, raised her hand, and with a wave of her sleeve, instantly shut the doors and windows.

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but hang her little head, engaging in an internal struggle.

The System had said that forcibly waking someone from a dream could easily cause mental damage.

If she told You Yan right now that this was just a dream and that everything here was fake, would it hurt her?

Thinking of this, the little alpaca sniffled and looked up timidly at You Yan.

Then again, this little bird had just undergone a huge shock, and she seemed fine right now.

The System only said it could easily cause damage, not that it definitely would.

You Yan wasn’t that fragile. In this hellish illusion, she even had the ability to protect herself, so she probably wouldn’t be so triggered by the truth that she couldn’t handle it, right?

Thinking this way, Yi Qiu exhaled and asked You Yan quietly but seriously, “If I tell you, will you believe me?”

You Yan lowered her gaze to meet the little alpaca’s sincere eyes. After a brief contemplation, she replied indifferently, “Speak.”

Hearing this, Yi Qiu breathed a sigh of relief. She sniffled hard, lowered her head, raised a front hoof, and used her leg fur to wipe her tear-filled eyes.

Then, she cleared her throat.

“This is going to sound a bit ridiculous, but I swear every word I say is true. If I’m lying to you, may the Heavens strike me down with lightning-ning-ning-ning-ning!”

“Get to the point,” You Yan urged with a frown.

This somewhat familiar tone made Yi Qiu pout.

She realized she was a glutton for punishment. Before, the easy-going Little You Yan had spoiled her daily, wishing she could spoil her to the heavens, yet she kept missing the Bird Woman who often ignored her.

Now that the person in front of her had that “Bird Woman” vibe, she started missing the easy-going Little You Yan again.

“I… I told you before that I had a dream where I knew you,” the little alpaca said, tilting her head and asking timidly. “Do you still remember?”

“So?” You Yan countered.

Yi Qiu took a deep breath. “Actually, that wasn’t a dream… You might not believe me, but the fact is, that ‘dream’ I talked about is reality. And right now, this place we are in—this is the empty dream!”

You Yan knit her brows but didn’t interrupt the little alpaca.

Seeing this, Yi Qiu hurriedly continued.

“In this dream, you are five hundred years old and about to face some not-so… not-so-good things. These things will have a huge impact on you, but you eventually survive them all… and so, you become the ‘you’ outside the dream…”

“The ‘me’ outside the dream?”

“Yes, the you outside the dream is also the you from more than two thousand five hundred years later! By that time, you’ve become the Lord of the Demon Realm. You’re super strong, super powerful, and super successful!”

As Yi Qiu spoke, she couldn’t help but observe You Yan’s facial expression.

Honestly, she had deliberately emphasized every “super” very heavily, just to let You Yan know that her future self was incredibly badass, hoping it would make it easier for her to accept the fact that this place was just a dream.

However, You Yan’s gaze remained inscrutable, no matter how hard she looked.

No wonder she had always felt the previous Little You Yan seemed unreal, because rivers and mountains are easy to change, but a person’s nature is hard to move⁵; the real Little You Yan couldn’t possibly be that different from the Bird Woman.

See? Even their scowls were identical.

Whatever. While this sour-faced bird was still willing to listen, she had to finish her story quickly.

And so, sneezing and sniffling, the little alpaca rambled on, speaking as thoughts came to her. She recounted everything they had experienced outside the dream and the reasons for their entry into it.

By the time she finished, the sky outside had grown dark, and You Yan had fallen into a long, deep contemplation.

After her contemplation, she unconsciously kneaded the little alpaca’s ear, then withdrew her hand and sneered, “Absolute nonsense.”

Yi Qiu choked with anger. It took her a good while to squeeze out, “You don’t believe me!”

You Yan: “Utterly ridiculous.”

Yi Qiu’s four little hooves stiffened involuntarily—she wanted to kick the bird, but she didn’t dare.

After a moment of indignation, she gritted her teeth and argued, “Didn’t you say that if I told you, you’d believe me?”

“I never said that,” You Yan replied, standing up.

She dusted off her dress, pushed open the door, and stepped out alone into the silvery, snowy night.

The little alpaca also stood up, sniffled, and chased after her into the biting wind.

Only then did she realize that everything in the “home” had become dilapidated, as if no one had lived there for a very, very long time.

It turned out that ever since she was abandoned, You Yan had never had a home again.

“You Yan! Where are you going?!”

The little alpaca chased after the girl, but the night was so cold and the snow so heavy. Every step she took sank deep into the snow, making running exceptionally difficult.

You Yan walked fast, making it impossible for her to catch up no matter how hard she tried. She could only pant heavily, shouting as she chased, not daring to stop for even a moment.

“You Yan, wait for me… I can’t run anymore, really… I can’t…”

This is killing me. I’m a patient! I have a little hole poked in my head! Why do I have to chase a bird in a snowy night?!

The little alpaca thought this resentfully, yet her feet didn’t stop for a second.

She was afraid that if she stopped, she would lose You Yan. As long as she kept that in mind, the vast expanse of snow couldn’t hold her back.

Besides, she firmly believed that You Yan didn’t truly want to shake her off. Otherwise, with You Yan’s usual speed, she wouldn’t be able to keep up even if she ran her legs off.

Just then, You Yan finally stopped.

She turned around, frowned, and walked back to the little alpaca. “You’re still following me?”

“If I don’t follow you, who am I supposed to follow?” Yi Qiu panted as she spoke, her tone so delicate it sounded like she was about to start whimpering any second.

“Stop panting.”

“…” The little alpaca tried hard to hold her breath, but couldn’t last more than a few seconds before she started gasping for air again. “It’s… it’s not like… not like I want to pant,” she said aggrievedly. “I… I’m really, really… tired…” As she spoke, she began to choke up.

What kind of person is this? She’s even worse than the Bird Woman!

This bird has been bad since childhood—truly rotten from the start!

She felt so wronged. She had spent the whole afternoon telling stories to this bird until her mouth was dry and her stomach empty. In the end, she had run all this way for nothing, and now even her breathing was considered a mistake!

Ever since that wretched affection score went over a thousand, when had she ever suffered such mistreatment?

She couldn’t take it anymore. If she couldn’t take it, she wouldn’t!

“You… you won’t wait for me… I can’t run anymore, it’s freezing, and I’m… achoo… I’m sick again, and you…”

At this point, the more the little alpaca thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. She simply flopped down onto the snow and shouted, “IF YOU WON’T LET ME FOLLOW, THEN I WON’T! GO ON, LEAVE ME ALONE! YOU DON’T REMEMBER ME, YOU DON’T BELIEVE ME… I… I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO YOU ANYMORE EITHER!”

A flicker of surprise flashed through You Yan’s eyes.

She fell silent for a moment. Subconsciously, she moved to comfort her, but just as she crouched down, the alpaca in front of her spat right in her face.

“GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!” In that instant, the little alpaca bared her teeth, looking incredibly fierce.

“…”

Just now… who was the one chasing whom all this way?

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The author has something to say:

Everyone probably caught the obvious fluff, but you might have missed the hidden sweetness.

A friendly tip: You Yan didn’t tie her hair up when she was a child. However, in the “sweet dream,” Little You Yan’s hairstyle is exactly the same as Yi Qiu’s. So, even though she lost her sense of self, the girl being “protected” by the split-off Little Red Flower still took the form of Yi Qiu!

Ship it! Everyone ship it!

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