Little Alpaca – Chapter 127

Volume 3: Old Tales of Kunlun

I Want to Remember You.

The small wooden hut, with doors and windows tightly closed, was undoubtedly dark. The only light in the room was the ghostly green spiritual power¹ You Yan used to block out the cold energy—so faint it was almost invisible.

Yet, Yi Qiu still borrowed this wisp of dim light to gaze earnestly at You Yan beside her.

She saw that You Yan’s eyes were full of confusion—a confusion regarding the future.

Comparing heart to heart², if she had also grown up possessing nothing, and if one day someone came before her and said her future would be this way or that way—and in that future, she possessed many, many things, yet remained so lonely that she had only one person for company—perhaps, she would also think: What use do I have for this future?

But all of this was not as terrible as You Yan thought.

The little alpaca considered for a moment, then finally summoned the courage to lean closer to You Yan.

She could feel that the instant she drew near, You Yan’s body unconsciously trembled slightly. Yet, in the end, because of those memories of relying on each other in the past, You Yan did not push her away directly.

She used her soft white fur to gently touch You Yan’s body, whispering earnestly, “It is not like that, You Yan. Your future is not as terrible as you imagine. On the contrary, it is beautiful, just like the future you—it makes one’s heart give birth to yearning.”

“Perhaps, before I arrived, you truly were always all alone. But this wasn’t because others feared or loathed you, nor because no one needed you. It was only because you instinctively resisted being approached by others, instinctively dodging the beauty of the world.” As Yi Qiu spoke, her small head gently rubbed against You Yan’s forehead.

You Yan frowned and dodged, only to hear the little alpaca let out a burst of light laughter from the side.

“You see, just like now.” Yi Qiu said, tilting her head. Her gentle gaze seemed to carry a hint of unbearable tenderness. “You Yan, in this world, there is no lightless long night. In my hometown, there is a saying called the Polar Night³. The Polar Night has no daytime, but there will be Auroras⁴.”

“Aurora?”

“En, you definitely haven’t heard of it!” The little alpaca proudly raised her fluffy head. “That is a kind of light that appears in the night sky. It is especially beautiful. It is just like, just like…”

“Just like what?”

Yi Qiu thought hard, then continued, “Just like your spiritual power, scattered across the night sky—resembling smoke, resembling mist…”

You Yan’s gaze dimmed a few degrees. “That is not beautiful, either.”

Yi Qiu furrowed her brows, arguing, “It is clearly very beautiful!”

“My spiritual power is ominous. You also said that the future me… is a mo⁵.”

“So what!” Yi Qiu shook her head, speaking with deep sincerity. “I have a friend who once told me: the world’s yao⁶ spirits can all cultivate immortality, and the immortals and gods in the heavens can also fall to become mo. All right and wrong, good and evil, have always been only in the heart, not for others to easily judge! Power is the same; it is not about being strong or weak, but only about where it is used—used to protect, it is good; used to destroy, it is evil.”

As she spoke, she shoved her fluffy head right in front of You Yan’s face, staring with a pair of round eyes, and said seriously, “That friend is not just my friend, she is also your friend!”

“My friend? I…”

“That’s right, you also have friends. Her name is Jiang Yuyao. However, that is her name in the mortal realm. Her true identity is the Divine Tree Fusang⁷ of the Jade Sea, a Goddess of the Heavenly Realm.” The little alpaca said, “She knows you are a mo, yet she has never detested you. Not only has she never detested you, but she has also experienced life and death together with us. No matter how great the danger we faced, she never easily abandoned us.”

“Not just her, we have other friends too!” Yi Qiu said, climbing up from the bed to a sitting position. She stretched her limbs and continued speaking.

She mentioned that big pig trotter⁸ whom she had spat on and whose leg You Yan had broken. She mentioned the High God and the White Deer in Ao’an Mountain⁹. She mentioned everyone facing the Black Dog Huodou¹⁰ together and saving the people of the Xianlu Sect.

She spoke with deep emotion and color. You Yan unconsciously sat up as well, listening with great interest from the side.

The moment the little alpaca finished telling all the stories, a trace of yearning finally appeared in the young girl’s eyes.

She hugged her knees and pondered for a long time, unable to resist asking, “Are these things you said all true?”

“Of course they are true!” Yi Qiu said, suddenly hopping off the bed. She ran a few steps to the door, pushed it open, jumped out into the wind and snow, and turned back to shout at You Yan, “Come out and look!”

You Yan could not help but freeze for a few seconds. Seeing that little alpaca standing in the wind, trembling while stubbornly urging her loudly, she feared the little creature would catch a cold again. Only then did she hurriedly chase out with bare feet.

She bent down and hugged the little alpaca, a look of displeasure hanging on her face, her mind set on dragging it back into the house.

However, in the next second, she followed the little alpaca’s gaze and looked toward the snow-covered distance.

The heavy snow of Kunlun Mountain¹¹ was still drifting down. Yet, on the horizon of this night, a silvery-white moon hung high.

The snow-color filling the mountains reflected that bright moonlight. Clearly, it was night, yet it was as bright as dawn. Heaven and earth were all the color of moon-white.

In that instant, her mind and spirit were shaken.

In this world, is it true that there is no lightless long night?

“The first day I came here, I felt that the nights here were very beautiful…” Yi Qiu said softly. “The stars here are especially numerous and especially bright; the rivers here are like a galaxy, seemingly carrying shimmering light at night; there are also glowing butterflies here, flying amidst the flower clusters at night, even more beautiful than the mountains full of fireflies in the mortal world.”

“And this snowy night, do you think it looks good?” The little alpaca asked, twisting her neck to look at You Yan, who was bending over to hold her from behind.

Unfortunately, as the cold wind blew, her nose soured. Unable to hold it back, she sneezed loudly right at You Yan.

Pffft!

You Yan instantly closed her eyes, splattered by the sneeze spray.

“So-sorry…” The little alpaca wanted to reach out to help wipe it off, but her body was being held by You Yan, leaving her unable to move for a moment. She could only use the fur on her head to rub randomly against You Yan’s face.

“You…”

“Presumptuous, presumptuous… I have overstepped!”¹² Yi Qiu hurriedly retracted her head, looking at You Yan with a face full of begging for mercy.

Amidst the heavy snow, the young girl held the alpaca, maintaining a very awkward posture.

Unknown how much time passed, the frown on You Yan’s brow gradually smoothed out. She suddenly let out a laugh, sat down squarely in the snow, and tightly hugged the little alpaca in her arms.

Seeing this, Yi Qiu heaved a fierce sigh of relief and laughed along with her.

But she didn’t get to laugh for long before she was dragged back into the room by You Yan.

“If you are sick, blow less wind,” You Yan said, closing the door.

Yi Qiu sniffled and obediently jumped back onto the bed.

The next second, something covered her eyes. She struggled to burrow out from underneath it, only to discover that what was draped over her was the outer robe You Yan had taken off.

“Won’t… won’t you be cold like this?” The little alpaca said, looking with concern at You Yan, who was wearing only a set of thin inner garments.

“I have spiritual power to protect my body.” You Yan said, turning around and gently pressing herself against the ice-cold wall.

Yi Qiu thought for a moment and said softly, “You can lean on me, just like before… I am quite warm, more comfortable than sticking to the wall.”

“I am not accustomed to it.” You Yan said, closing her eyes.

Yi Qiu spoke no more, only sighing lightly and shrinking her body into the warm robe.

She closed her eyes, brewing sleepiness, but suddenly felt the young girl beside her move.

Soon, she was scooped into an embrace by a hand.

Sigh, some birds, ah, their mouths say they aren’t accustomed, but the result is an instant face-slapping¹³…

“Saliva Sheep.” You Yan placed her hand on the little alpaca’s back, stroking gently as she asked, “How did you and I know each other?”

Why ask this all of a sudden?

“How should I say this?” Yi Qiu thought seriously, then pouted. “It is a bit like us right now.”

“Us right now? What does that mean?” You Yan’s gaze brightened slightly, seemingly suddenly interested.

“It means, I originally did not belong here, but suddenly one day, I was sent to your side by a strange power and became your spirit pet.” Yi Qiu said, shaking her head involuntarily. “Speaking of it brings tears. I never thought I would come to your side. That was an accident, but I could not go back, so I could only rely on you.”

“Why would I take you in?”

“Perhaps it is because I look unique.” Yi Qiu said, recalling the original text in her mind to ensure her answer wasn’t wrong. “You don’t have alpacas here, so I am very special. Because I am very special, I was captured and taken to the Demon Realm. After passing through several hands, I became a small gift used by others to curry favor with you… Just like that, I became your pet.”

“Then why would I treat you so well?”

“Maybe, maybe it is… I am very special…” Yi Qiu said uncertainly.

You Yan shook her head. “I am also very special, yet no one treats me well.”

Yi Qiu: “…”

You Yan said again, “In these Three Realms, there are too many special living beings. Just like those you mentioned just now—the Jinwu¹⁴ and Fusang, the Fuzhu¹⁵ and Huodou—all are unique… Why would I treat you well?”

Yi Qiu: “…”

Incredible, the topic circled back.

“I am still curious.”

“You can just simply say I am unworthy and be done with it.”

“No, I want to know why… why, when you are clearly so weak, so ordinary, yet as long as I am with you, I feel…” You Yan paused at this point, then continued, “As long as I am with you, I feel… very happy.”

Yi Qiu pondered for a moment, then said, “Perhaps it is the memories outside the dream at work.” She mumbled another sentence in a low voice, “You also weren’t good to me from the start. When I first met you, you treated me terribly.”

“How terribly?”

“Especially terribly!” Mentioning this, Yi Qiu was full of grievance. “At that time, you scared me every day! The first time I saw you, you used poison to scare me. You picked at my forehead. You put seasoning in my foot-soaking water! You also, you also used a whip to drag me off the bed, used your foot to kick me off the bed. Such a long, far road, you insisted I walk it myself. If you weren’t willing to carry or hold me, that would be fine, but you still had to mock me for being unworthy!”

As the little alpaca spoke like this, she angrily turned her head to the side, leaving only a white, fluffy back of the head for You Yan.

“Yi Qiu.” You Yan softly called her name.

“…” The little alpaca was immersed in the grievance at the bottom of her heart and gave no response.

“Yi Qiu?”

“Doing what…” The little alpaca muttered softly.

After a brief silence, the person behind her suddenly hugged her a bit tighter.

She leaned close to the little alpaca’s pointed ear and called out in a low voice once more: “Yi Qiu…”

Before Yi Qiu could respond, she had already spoken that final sentence.

“I want to remember you.”

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