Volume 3: Old Tales of Kunlun
You touch my belly.
“Why would I deceive you?” Yi Qiu responded subconsciously. As soon as her voice fell, she suddenly realized she had inexplicably gained another new nickname.
Spit sheep? What kind of nickname is this!
She was an alpaca, that was true, and it was true that normal alpacas loved to spit, but she was a civilized alpaca. The saliva she spat in a whole year wasn’t even as much as a normal alpaca spat in a single day.
How did she become the “spit sheep” in You Yan’s mouth?
Thinking this, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but furrow her brows. She glared at You Yan angrily and asked seriously, “Also, what do you mean by spit sheep? I’ve only spat on you once, right?”
You Yan raised her eyebrows slightly. Her fingers fiddled with the “spit sheep’s” pointy little ears as she said carelessly, “Twice.”
“Bullshit!” Yi Qiu gritted her teeth, arguing for herself. “Just once, today was the first time!”
After speaking, she seriously recalled it in the bottom of her heart, confirming once again that she absolutely had not spat on Little You Yan in the dreamscape.
Little You Yan was so good to her; how could she possibly spit on Little You Yan?
“Are you sure?” You Yan pinched the small ear at her fingertips.
“Sure!” The little alpaca shook her head unhappily, her eyes full of stubbornness.
“Wanna bet?” You Yan asked with keen interest.
“Bet on what!” The little alpaca wasn’t panicked in the slightest.
You Yan rested her chin on one hand, considered seriously for a moment, and said, “Never mind, there is nothing worth betting on. If I lose, I can give you anything. If you lose, what can you give me?”
Yi Qiu’s eyes went wide for a moment. The corners of her eyes twitched, her small mouth opened and closed, and she stopped herself from speaking for a long time, trying to express the speechlessness in her heart.
Was this bad bird this confident since childhood?
If not for the young girl’s voice still carrying a hint of immaturity, she would have thought that bird woman she was familiar with had returned.
But Yi Qiu knew the bird woman hadn’t returned, because although the bird woman also loved to bully her, she had long been reluctant to let her suffer even a bit of grievance.
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but bare her teeth, saying indignantly, “Don’t look down on people!”
“You are a person?”
“…” Heart tired, choked up.
Yi Qiu fell silent for a good while. Originally, she didn’t want to pay attention to You Yan anymore, but in the end, she couldn’t hold back and squeezed a sentence out through the gaps in her teeth: “I can transform into human form!”
As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something. She hurriedly raised her head to look at You Yan, letting out an enlightened “Ah.”
A trace of curiosity flashed in the depths of You Yan’s eyes.
Yi Qiu instantly bounced up from the ground. For a moment, it was as if she had lost the language ability of humans, screaming “Ah ah” as she jumped two laps around the fire, finally hopping back to You Yan’s side.
She thought she had organized her words properly.
“You Yan, I really came from outside the dream, and this place really is a dream. I know how to prove to you that I didn’t lie!”
As Yi Qiu spoke, she leaned in close to You Yan. Under You Yan’s astonished gaze, she performed a one-hundred-eighty-degree roll right on the spot, looking like she was acting shamelessly. She lay on the ground with all four legs facing the sky, twisting her body to bump against You Yan’s crossed legs.
The little alpaca craned her neck to look at the increasingly bewildered You Yan and shouted loudly, “You Yan, touch my belly!”
You Yan couldn’t help but frown: “There is no need to fawn over me.”
“There is no need to be narcissistic!” Yi Qiu couldn’t hold back and rolled a massive white eye1 at You Yan, saying grumpily, “There is a Blood Coagulation Pearl inside my belly. It was refined using your blood and spiritual power. I cannot take it out. Look for it yourself; once you find it, you will naturally be able to distinguish true from false!”
Hearing this, You Yan hesitantly placed her hand onto the little alpaca’s white and soft belly.
While she felt around, she listened to the little alpaca chattering on the ground.
The little alpaca said, “This Blood Coagulation Pearl was something you specially refined to give to me. At that time, you gave it to me, and I was then able to transform into human form.”
The little alpaca also said, “But this Blood Coagulation Pearl is ultimately your power and is controlled by your consciousness. So, coming to this place, since you forgot me, I reverted to this alpaca appearance…”
The little alpaca added, “You, ah, if you can find it, it would be best to show some mercy and turn me into a human. That way, I’ll have hands and feet of my own and won’t need to trouble you so much. You can also enjoy some peace and quiet, right?”
You Yan couldn’t hold back and pressed down hard on the little alpaca’s belly.
“Ouch!”
After a startled scream, Yi Qiu instinctively sucked in her belly, her two front hooves subconsciously covering her stomach. However, You Yan slapped her little hooves aside in one go.
Yi Qiu lifted her head with difficulty, staring at You Yan and protesting loudly, “What are you doing!”
You Yan hooked the corners of her lips. Those fingertips, which suddenly seemed to grow longer, gently scraped across the little alpaca’s belly.
Yi Qiu unconsciously shivered, feeling a chill surge up to her heart.
“Inside here, there really is the Blood Coagulation Pearl I refined?”
“Can… can you not sense it yourself…” Yi Qiu’s voice was trembling somewhat.
“I cannot sense it,” You Yan said, her fingertips once again scraping that trembling little belly, speaking eerily, “How about this? I will cut you open first, look carefully inside, and once I find it, I will sew you back up.”
Yi Qiu shook violently with fright: “Don’t, don’t don’t…”
Cut open and sew back up? What kind of trouble was this? Was she asking for a C-section?
From childhood to adulthood, she had never been beaten. That bead wasn’t her cub; why should she suffer this kind of pain for a bead!
In that moment, she was extremely terrified, so scared that her pleading voice went off-key. However, the next second, she once again heard that familiar laughter.
Good, very good. She had been teased again.
The little alpaca was indignant for a moment. She abruptly rolled over, stood up from the ground, and glared furiously at You Yan.
Before the angry little alpaca could launch an attack, You Yan spoke a step ahead: “Inside your body, there is indeed a stream of spiritual power extremely similar to the cultivation method I practice. I am starting to believe your words a little.”
This sentence made Yi Qiu’s anger vanish instantly. She couldn’t help but say excitedly, “Then can you make me turn…”
You Yan answered crisply, “I cannot.”
Yi Qiu: “Wu…”
It seemed Little You Yan’s power had been sealed along with her memory.
Thinking of this, Yi Qiu instantly deflated, lying back down by the fire listlessly.
After a brief silence, You Yan couldn’t help but call out, “Spit sheep.”
“What do you want?” Yi Qiu responded grumpily.
“You spat on me twice,” You Yan said. Before Yi Qiu could refute, she continued, “The first day I picked you up, the moment you opened your eyes, you were so scared you spat all over me.”
“…” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her eye. “Does… does Little Red Flower also count?”
“Otherwise?” You Yan asked back.
Yi Qiu subconsciously shrank her neck, muttering softly, “Good thing I didn’t bet…”
A faint smile rose on You Yan’s face. She reached out and rubbed the fur on the back of the little alpaca’s neck, asking, “There is one thing I am very curious about.”
“What is it?” Yi Qiu asked in a small voice, lacking confidence.
“Have you always wanted to leave here?” You Yan asked softly. “You said the… the ‘me’ outside often bullies you. But here, I have always been good to you. Have you never thought about staying in this place?”
Such a question left Yi Qiu unsure how to answer for a moment.
She stared blankly at You Yan, seemingly wanting to see some clue in those narrow, long eyes, but she could see nothing.
So, was this little bad bird eating her own vinegar2?
Thinking this, Yi Qiu suddenly let out a puchi and laughed out loud.
Seeing this, You Yan couldn’t help but frown.
Yi Qiu was afraid she would get angry, so she hurriedly explained, “To be honest, I… I am very happy. Every day here, I have lived very happily.”
“You Yan, I like this life, and I am also very grateful that you gave me such a life. Even if I know this is just a dream… I am working very hard to cherish and feel this dream.” She spoke, paused for a moment, and then continued, “But I know that dreams will not last long. If you stay here continuously, you will definitely receive harm, and I don’t want you to be hurt.”
Actually, she really did miss that clear-headed bird woman.
But she knew You Yan’s possessiveness was incredibly strong. When she went crazy, she would eat the vinegar of anyone. If this little bad bird knew she was thinking about that big bad bird from two thousand five hundred years later in her heart, there was no guarantee what kind of temper she would unleash.
In short, one sentence: She had to let this little bad bird know, “I am doing this for your own good!”
You Yan was silent for a moment, then asked in a low voice, “If… if everything you said is true, then shortly in the future, what exactly will I face? Why… will I leave here? Why will I go to the Demon Realm?”
“You ask me, who do I ask?” Yi Qiu said, pouting her lips. She lifted her eyes to look at You Yan for a long time, then couldn’t help but ask, “You… have you seen any mirror?”
“Mirror?” You Yan frowned. “I don’t use that kind of thing.”
“No, not a regular mirror!” The little alpaca shook her head. That little head, already dizzy from illness, nearly crashed after being shaken like that. Fortunately, she unconsciously hummed twice and quickly recovered, continuing her words, “It’s like this. You once told me about some things that happened to you on Kunlun Mountain back then, but you didn’t explain too clearly.”
“I remember you mentioned a mirror. You said… you said on the day of the Queen Mother of the West’s birthday, those immortals and gods sentenced you to death just because of a mirror.” Yi Qiu explained seriously, “So you could only flee. You escaped this place with nine deaths and one life3. Later, you went all the way to the Demon Realm. You ate a lot… a lot of bitterness.” Or perhaps, those things You Yan experienced simply could not be easily described by the word “bitterness.”
After listening, You Yan couldn’t help but fall into a bout of contemplation. What appeared in the depths of her eyes was full of bewilderment.
Yi Qiu looked at You Yan curiously, patiently waiting for her response.
After a moment of silence, You Yan shook her head. “I have never seen, nor have I heard of any mirror.”
Yi Qiu considered this for a moment and hurriedly pressed, “Then… then do you know when the Queen Mother of the West’s birthday is?”
You Yan thought for a bit and said, “It should be in one month.”
Hearing this, the little alpaca lay on the ground and began to mutter softly, “Meaning to say, we still have one month’s time. If you can wake up before this, we can successfully avoid this injury.”
“Wake up?”
“En, wake up!”
“Avoid?”
“En, avoid!”
You Yan smiled indifferently.
She said she was very sober right now, even if this place was just a dreamscape.
Furthermore, if this really was a dreamscape, even if she could avoid the harm in the dream, the things that had already happened in the past would not change.
Hearing this, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but grit her teeth.
This stubborn-hearted little girl, could she not be so filled with old spirit and autumn air4!
She didn’t even know how to continue the conversation!
The author has something to say:
Some birds are topic terminators5 from childhood to adulthood.
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