Volume 4: Immeasurable
The Future is Long.1
In the original text of 《Thin, Withered Branches》, both Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao only recalled their pasts after falling into despair and transforming into demons, the power of their heart devils2 shattering the limits of their mortal shells.
According to that logic, Luo Mingyuan should have been completely unable to access the memories of his first nine lives unless he either became a demon or was restored to his divine status.
And yet, he had dreamed of them.
Since this memory didn’t belong to him, it must have been forced upon him by someone else.
The one who had trapped him in the dream was the Yi Bird. Therefore, this memory could only have been granted to him by the Yi Bird through that spell formation.
The Yi Bird knew what Luo Mingyuan had experienced in his first nine lives. Surely, she hadn’t just been bored out of her mind and decided to spy on him for nine straight lifetimes, right?
If I count the time I spent in the dream, I’ve been in this world for at least a year now. A year was long enough for a person to forget many of the finer details of a novel.
But even though it had been a while, Yi Qiu still remembered a key plot point that the crappy author of that crappy novel had mentioned multiple times: the Golden Crow3 was fated to undergo ten reincarnations, and the first nine would all end in failure.
However, the original text never mentioned any details related to those first nine lives. It only described how, in his final life, he once again fell step by step into that hopeless abyss.
Thinking about it now, tribulations were meant to forge the hearts of gods and immortals. To be given ten chances and fail nine times… unless someone was maliciously interfering, just how stubborn would a heart have to be to achieve such a record?
Setting the original novel aside, the Luo Mingyuan of this tenth life was clearly no longer the Three-legged Golden Crow4 who had committed that grave error thousands of years ago. Although he was only a seventeen-year-old boy, his resolve was already stronger than that of countless adults. He could endure hardship and withstand suffering. Even when faced with the cruelest of farewells, he hadn’t lost himself as he did in the original story.
This alone was proof that his first nine lives had not been, as the novel described, a complete waste of effort, like drawing water with a bamboo basket.
The Golden Crow failed his tribulations for nine lifetimes, and the Yi Bird just so happened to know the details of all nine.
Was it that the Golden Crow was truly beyond saving, or had the Yi Bird been sabotaging him all along? The answer was obvious.
You Yan could see it, and Chao Yun must have seen it too. It was even possible that Chao Yun had seen the Yi Bird in the dream.
That explained the shock in Chao Yun’s eyes at that moment—the astonishment, and even a hint of panicked helplessness.
She had probably never imagined that the Yi Bird had already descended this far into madness.
“So, Luo Mingyuan’s failures in his past nine lives really were the Yi Bird’s doing…”
“You once suspected me,” You Yan said faintly.
Yi Qiu gasped and quickly raised her hands, waving them back and forth like windshield wipers. “Can we please not talk about that?”
“You used to misunderstand me quite deeply,” You Yan continued.
“Well, you can’t blame me for that! It’s how the novel was written. What was I supposed to do?” Yi Qiu said, quickly grabbing You Yan’s arm and giving it a few shakes as she pleaded, “Demon Lord, my lady, can’t you be the bigger person? The big bird doesn’t hold a grudge against the little camel’s mistake5. Let’s not dredge up the past, okay?”
“True. After all, I’m the villain. The kind who eats brains,” You Yan said, the corner of her mouth twitching into a smile.
Yi Qiu’s eye twitched. She raised an eyebrow and shot back, “If we’re going to dig up old scores, you kicked me out of bed before!”
“There’s no need to rehash old matters.”
“And why not?” Yi Qiu was suddenly fired up. “You also wrapped my ankle with your whip and dragged me all over the place! What kind of person does that!”
When it came to holding a grudge, she had never lost to anyone.
However, in the next second, she saw the warning in You Yan’s eyes.
A single look was enough to shut her up.
Only the magistrate is allowed to set fires, but the common people are not allowed to light lamps6… The bird woman really lives up to her name.
Yi Qiu lowered her head and bit her lip, a flicker of grievance in her eyes.
When she looked up again, You Yan was already strolling toward the distance.
“Where are you going?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but hurry after her, her eyes, full of curiosity, fixed on You Yan.
“Just for a walk,” You Yan replied, then very naturally reached out and gently took hold of Yi Qiu’s slender wrist. You Yan added that she couldn’t be bothered to spare the messy business behind them a second glance, unless absolutely necessary.
Yi Qiu listened and nodded in agreement.
All the chaotic plotlines and relationship drama in this dumpster fire of a novel had given her a massive headache back then. If she hadn’t transmigrated into this world, she would have, at most, cursed it out for a few days before finding a new favorite and getting her own life back on track.
But she had been chosen by that system, the one calling itself a Spacetime Regulator7. She had come to this world, arrived at You Yan’s side, and shouldered the responsibility of changing the protagonist’s fate.
Fortunately, she wasn’t walking this path alone.
Fortunately, none of the stories were developing in the awful direction she remembered.
No matter how much Chao Yun wanted to save the Yi Bird, she would never hurt the people she was determined to protect to do so.
Chao Yun would help Jiang Yuyao, and Jiang Yuyao would surely be able to awaken Luo Mingyuan.
This confidence had nothing to do with a protagonist halo8. It came from having seen You Yan, from having seen Huodou.
She understood better than anyone that for those whom the world deemed beyond saving, there was always one person who could save them.
It all depended on whether that one person took a step forward or a step back.
Thousands of years ago, Jian Li had taken just one step back, and because of it, Yue Zhuo had brought about a great catastrophe.
Thousands of years later, Jian Li no longer ran from her, and the two of them instead cultivated a virtuous outcome.
And it was the same for her and You Yan.
The You Yan in the novel had never met her, and so she had single-mindedly sought to throw the Three Realms9 into chaos, determined to drag the Golden Crow down into Boundless Purgatory10 with her, no matter the cost.
But the You Yan of today had also changed immensely because of her.
Perhaps You Yan was right. She was by no means a good person. She had been malicious, and her hands had been stained with blood.
But in the eyes of immortals, demons, gods, and devils, all of mortal life was like ants. Humans don’t necessarily feel pity when they step on an ant. For beings like them, the line between good and evil was never so easily drawn.
This world was, by design, set in a chaotic era where the Three Realms were still in turmoil. For all living things, a single thought could make one a god, and a single thought could make one a demon.
Who gets to decide who is beyond saving?
As Yi Qiu pondered this, she found a large tree and clambered up it like a monkey.
A demon’s body was far more agile and powerful than a human’s. If she were still in her old body—the homebody who did nothing but commute to and from work—she wouldn’t just have been unable to climb this tree; she would have been whining from exhaustion after just a short walk in the mountains.
“What are you climbing so high for?” You Yan stood beneath the tree, looking up at Yi Qiu, who was now settling herself on a branch.
“For the view, of course,” Yi Qiu said, scooting over and patting the empty space beside her.
The next second, with a flash of spiritual light, You Yan was sitting right next to her.
Yi Qiu couldn’t help but pout. “You have to teach me that trick later.”
You Yan gave a faint smile. “The future is long. I will teach you whatever you wish to learn.”
Yi Qiu said, “There’s a lot I want to learn.”
You Yan: “For example?”
Yi Qiu: “Embroidery!”
You Yan: “…”
After a moment of awkward silence, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but grin.
She had said it on purpose.
She looked at You Yan, her eyebrows curved in a teasing arc. “Weren’t you the one who said you could teach me anything?”
You Yan was silent for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “It’s not impossible.”
Yi Qiu thought for a moment, then rummaged through her Spirit Pouch11 and pulled out the sachet she hadn’t worn in a long time. She held it out at arm’s length, turning it over to examine it.
You Yan watched with her for a while, then suddenly lost her composure, snatching it from Yi Qiu’s hand.
“What are you doing?” Yi Qiu froze.
“It’s ugly. I’m destroying it.” You Yan was about to gather her spiritual energy when Yi Qiu gripped her wrist tightly.
“That’s my thing! Who said you could destroy it?” Yi Qiu frowned and lunged for it.
Her movement was too large, and she lost her balance, nearly tumbling out of the tree.
Luckily, You Yan was quick. She wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into an embrace. The hold was strong as she steadied Yi Qiu, only letting go once she was sitting securely again.
In the midst of the scuffle, Yi Qiu had managed to snatch the sachet back.
You Yan frowned. “What is all this nonsense? If you had fallen…”
“I’m not human anymore. You think a fall from this height would kill me?” Yi Qiu said, rolling her eyes. She bit her lower lip unconsciously, clutching the sachet to her chest.
“It would hurt,” You Yan said softly.
“I’m not afraid of pain… I mean, you’ve already split my head open before. You really think I’m scared of a little fall?” Though her words were prickly, a warmth spread through Yi Qiu’s heart.
After a moment of silence, You Yan’s gaze fell on the sachet Yi Qiu was protecting. “That one is ugly,” she said faintly. “There’s no need to treasure it so. I can make you another one.”
Hearing this, Yi Qiu stole a glance at You Yan, then looked away. “Didn’t you say before that embroidery was harder than killing someone, that it tested your patience too much and you’d never bother with it again?”
You Yan replied, “That was then.”
Yi Qiu thought about it, but ultimately shook her head. “You don’t have to.”
“Why not?”
“It was the first gift you ever gave me.” Yi Qiu bit her lip, her eyes downcast. “You might not know this, but in the human world, when a woman gives an embroidered item, it’s a way… a way to express her love. It might be ugly, but no matter what, it’s still what you gave me… my…”
“Hm?”
“Token of love?”12 Yi Qiu said, her voice laced with uncertainty. She looked up, her eyes filled with a girlish shyness.
You Yan was stunned for a moment.
After her initial surprise, she blinked, a light seeming to dance in her eyes. Her voice was exceptionally gentle as she chuckled. “As I recall, tokens of love need to be exchanged, do they not?”
“You—you wait until I’ve learned how to make one before you say that!” Yi Qiu frowned, flustered. “It’s an IOU! For now!”
“And when will you learn?”
“I’ll learn! I’ll learn when I have time!”
On that day, the Little Alpaca Demon13 emitted a sound much like a cooing pigeon.
She cooed loudly, “Once all this trouble is over, I promise I’ll make you a beautiful one! Ten times more beautiful than this one you gave me. You’ll be the one who’s embarrassed then!”
You Yan listened and chuckled softly. “I’ll be waiting.”
Yi Qiu bit her lip and gazed into the distance.
Protagonist or side character, she hoped all the suffering in this world would end soon. Yet at the same time, she couldn’t help but fear that end.
You Yan had said the future is long. But when that day finally came, would she really be able to stay?
The author has something to say:
Don’t forget the comments on the last chapter! Caring for those with OCD is everyone’s responsibility. I’m off to bed. Goodnight, everyone.
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