Little Alpaca – Chapter 18

Volume 1: Little Alpaca

I’ll Watch Over You.

You Yan said that there was a demon in Moshui City, not elsewhere, but right within the Xianlu Sect.

If one were to speak in detail, she and that demon truly had some sort of connection.

Yi Qiu: “Connection?”

You Yan: “I know of him, but he does not know of me.”

After speaking, You Yan reached out, wanting to stroke Yi Qiu’s fur, but only touched a handful of dampness. She paused for half a second, then withdrew her hand without a change in expression.

Yi Qiu didn’t notice You Yan’s reaction and just feigned ignorance, continuing to play the role of the Demon Lord’s straight man¹: “Xianlu Sect… isn’t that a cultivation sect? Why would a cultivation sect take in a demon? And why would Master, who has long resided in the Demon Realm, know of this matter?”

You Yan stared at Yi Qiu for several seconds, then curved her brows and said, “Little foolish sheep, has anyone ever told you that those who know too much are easily silenced?”

Yi Qiu instantly lay down properly, her little head drooping to bury her mouth between her two legs, revealing only a pair of timid eyes that looked aggrievedly at You Yan.

In the past, when You Yan told stories, if she didn’t ask questions from the side, it would definitely cause You Yan’s displeasure.

Today was a fine turn of events; she was being so proactive, yet You Yan found her questions to be too many.

Playing an alpaca here with no days off, although I don’t have to worry about food and shelter, having to endure this temper every day is really worse than going back to being a corporate livestock.

You Yan looked back at this almost innocent, aggrieved gaze, and a trace of softness unconsciously flashed in her eyes.

After a long while, she turned her face away and said faintly, “Why am I telling you this? A little lamb that hasn’t even grown up yet, what would you understand…”

“I’m not little anymore!” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but retort in a small voice.

If she were back in her original world, she would be twenty-eight years old. Among the friends she knew from her school days, those who married, married; those who had kids, had kids. At the very least, they had been in love a few times. She was the only one who was still single from the womb.

This age, to say it was old wasn’t really old, but to say it was still young, it really couldn’t be considered that young anymore.

Yi Qiu considered herself an adult who had been polished by a round of society. Being looked down upon for her age by a villain from a novel, she was naturally unconvinced in her heart.

But You Yan had only kept her by her side for three years. When she arrived, she was just a tiny thing, clearly not long weaned. Now her frame had set, she had just gained spiritual intelligence, and she still sounded child-like when she spoke, yet she was clamoring that she wasn’t a little lamb. Who would believe that?

“How old are you? If you cultivated a human form, you would probably be a small child.” After speaking, You Yan saw Yi Qiu’s face full of defiance and casually comforted her with another sentence, “Don’t disbelieve it. At most, you’d be a sixteen or seventeen-year-old little girl.”

Yi Qiu bared her teeth and mumbled in a low voice, “How could I ever cultivate a human form…”

All the other attributes have met the standard, but this favorability score is like a roller coaster, going up and down, never getting close to the mark.

This favorability score of You Yan’s is a huge mystery. It doesn’t increase when I deliberately try to please her, but it shoots up when I unintentionally offend her. Just when I thought I had figured out the trick to increasing favorability, imitating the previous operation would unexpectedly cause a deduction of several dozen points.

Harder to serve than a boss is a master; harder to figure out than a protagonist is a villain.

Yi Qiu had reason to suspect that if 1000 favorability was a hard requirement, then in the near future, she would be repeatedly switching between human and alpaca forms, unable to stabilize.

You Yan didn’t know what Yi Qiu was thinking. She just raised her eyes, looking through the layers of green foliage at the evening clouds being scorched by the setting sun.

After a long while, she said faintly, “That’s fine too.”

After saying that, she spoke no more.

Yi Qiu lay on the side for a while, unable to hold back her curiosity, and asked, “What’s fine too?”

You Yan turned her head to glance at her and said, “It’s best you’re just a little sheep. When the day comes that I lose interest in you, I can just slaughter and eat you.”

Yi Qiu’s eyes couldn’t help but twitch twice as she began to complain wildly in her heart.

“Damn it, even though I know you’ve always seen me as reserve food stock, you don’t have to be so blunt about it to my face, do you?”

“Don’t you know what a huge psychological shadow such words, which make one feel they might not live to see the next day, can cast on a weak little alpaca?”

Seeing Yi Qiu starting to zone out again, You Yan couldn’t help but tug on the Chuxue leash tied to her ankle.

Yi Qiu came back to her senses, turned her head away, and said in a muffled voice, “I’m not a sheep.”

You Yan let out an “en” and sat up straight, looking Yi Qiu up and down with great interest. “You really don’t look much like a sheep. But if you’re not a sheep, what are you?”

Seeing You Yan’s curious expression, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but feel smug in her heart.

“So there comes a day when the female demon lord’s curiosity can be piqued.” Yi Qiu secretly mused.

【Humans are not grass or trees, after all; they have feelings.】

The system that suddenly popped up gave her a fright. When she came to her senses, she realized she was supposed to answer the great villain’s question.

Thus, the little alpaca cleared its throat pretentiously, tilted its head, and said cheekily, “What species I am, in these vast Three Realms, probably only I alone know. Master, do you want to know?”

The next second, You Yan’s fingertip, sharp as a blade, rested lightly against her neck. She curved her lips into a smile, “I don’t particularly want to know. You don’t have to say.”

Yi Qiu tremblingly raised her own damp little hoof and carefully placed it on You Yan’s wrist, saying with an apologetic smile, “I am completely loyal to Master. Whatever Master wants to know, I will surely say everything I know without reservation…”

You Yan: “Then say it.”

Yi Qiu: “I’m not a small animal from here. In my hometown, an animal like me is called—a yangtuo.”

You Yan: “Yang tuo? Which tuo?”

Yi Qiu: “The ‘tuo’ from ‘luotuo’ (camel)!”

You Yan pondered for a moment, then withdrew the finger resting on Yi Qiu’s neck and asked doubtfully, “So are you a sheep or a camel?”

“Neither, just an alpaca! There’s another name, it’s called, it’s called…” Yi Qiu spoke without restraint, but when the words reached her lips, she suddenly didn’t dare to continue.

“Straighten your tongue,” You Yan urged.

“It’s called, called a Grass Mud Horse²!” After saying it, Yi Qiu subconsciously took a deep breath, her heart leaping into her throat.

Hearing this, You Yan’s eyes looked towards Yi Qiu, sizing her up and down for a long time before she finally stretched out her hand.

“Ah ah, I was wrong, I was wrong! Don’t hit me!” Yi Qiu instantly shrank her neck back.

This over-the-top reaction made You Yan pause. The hand hovering in the air, after a half-second of hesitation, was finally placed gently on Yi Qiu’s little head, kneading it a couple of times.

You Yan: “Who said I was going to hit you?”

Yi Qiu’s neck stretched forward a little, and she looked up to blink at You Yan.

There wasn’t a trace of anger in You Yan’s gaze; it seemed she hadn’t gotten the modern society homophone joke at all.

She couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, her little ears drooping down, letting You Yan stroke her.

“The Three Realms are vast, truly full of strange and wondrous things.” You Yan couldn’t help but sigh. “So weak, yet it can be called a ‘horse.’ How is anyone supposed to ride this?”

Yi Qiu: “It’s not a horse…”

You Yan: “Can you grow any bigger? If one day you can truly be my mount, I won’t eat you.”

Yi Qiu: “…”

From food ingredient to mount, this is truly… making a little alpaca feel greatly honored.

Yi Qiu pouted and turned her head to the side.

The setting sun descended, and a cool breeze swept through the mountains, exceptionally refreshing.

The sky gradually darkened, but You Yan just lay against the not-so-thick tree, showing no intention of leaving.

Yi Qiu couldn’t afford to provoke the temperamental You Yan, so during the times when You Yan didn’t actively speak to her, she always lay quietly to the side.

This place was secluded. Apart from the chirping of birds and insects, there was only the sound of the wind blowing through the grass and trees.

Yi Qiu waited and waited, until her fleece was almost dry, before she couldn’t resist letting out a yawn.

Just then, You Yan’s gaze suddenly shifted to her.

Yi Qiu’s first reaction was to think about whether she had done anything wrong. Her second reaction was to wonder if the yawn just now had been too loud, disturbing the villain’s peace?

However, in the next second, You Yan simply summoned it to her side and began to stroke its soft fur, one stroke after another.

Yi Qiu was bewildered by her stroking but also found it very comfortable. She thought, since there’s no way to resist anyway, she might as well rest her head obediently on You Yan’s lap and close her eyes in comfort.

“Xiao Yi Qiu,” You Yan called the little alpaca’s name.

“En?” Yi Qiu hummed in a small voice.

“Will you grow up?” You Yan asked.

Yi Qiu shook her head and grumbled unhappily, “An alpaca can’t grow to a size you can ride…”

Hearing this, You Yan couldn’t help but chuckle.

She stroked the little alpaca’s fluffy back and asked softly, “Do you know what I am?”

Yi Qiu replied perfunctorily, “You are Master, the Demon Lord.”

You Yan shook her head and said seriously, “I am a Qinyuan… you’ve surely never seen one.”

You Yan said that the Qinyuan clan once lived on Kunlun Mountain³ in the Heaven Realm, divine beasts under the protection and jurisdiction of the Queen Mother of the West⁴.

Their bodies were like bees, yet they had wings like birds. Although they looked beautiful, they were born with a terrifying poison—if they stung grass or trees, the plants would wither; if they stung birds or beasts, the creatures would die.

She said, with such powerful divine beasts on Kunlun Mountain, how could the Queen Mother of the West possibly manage them all?

The Qinyuan birds were only the size of mandarin ducks⁵. They were so dangerous, yet so weak, and were unwelcome wherever they went.

So she told herself, she didn’t want the protection of the gods. She only wanted to grow up, to grow bigger than the legendary Peng bird⁶ that could blot out the sky, then she wouldn’t have to be afraid of anything.

“And then?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but ask.

“And then…” You Yan hesitated for a moment, then squeezed Yi Qiu’s neck hard.

Yi Qiu tensed up all over in pain, only to hear You Yan let out a light laugh and swallow the rest of her unfinished words back into her stomach.

You Yan: “Why am I telling you all this…”

Yi Qiu: “…”

You ask me, who am I supposed to ask?

You Yan: “Actually, I just wanted to tell you that if you cultivate diligently, you have a chance to be my mount.”

Yi Qiu: “…”

Pardon me, but I’m really not the least bit interested in being your mount.

Seeing the little alpaca not responding, You Yan couldn’t help but fall silent for a few seconds.

After the silence, she lowered her gaze and said faintly, “Actually, it’s fine if you don’t grow up. I’ll watch over you.”

Yi Qiu looked up and met You Yan’s eyes. For some reason, a bit of softness was added to a certain place in her heart. It was as if she truly believed this bad woman would protect her forever.

An illusion. That unrealistic illusion is back again.

“I almost believed you,” she mumbled in a small voice. “Just a moment ago, you said that on the day you find me boring, you’ll slaughter and eat me.”

“En, so…” You Yan’s words paused here for half a second, and then, she said faintly, “you’d better… always be interesting.”

Damn it, this villain is really toxic.

These kinds of overbearing CEO⁷ lines, can you please not say them to a Grass Mud Horse?

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The author has something to say:

《Classic of Mountains and Seas, “Classic of the Western Mountains”》⁸ states: “Four hundred li to the southwest is the Hill of Kunlun. There is a bird there, its form is like a bee, as large as a mandarin duck. Its name is the Qinyuan. If it stings a bird or beast, it will die; if it stings a tree, it will wither.”

You Yan’s original form is a giant, poisonous hummingbird. It might be hard to imagine, but I have commissioned an artist to help draw her beast form. I’ll show it to my little angels when it’s done.

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