Volume 1: Little Alpaca
To please me, you don’t need to go through so much trouble.
In the original text, although You Yan became acquainted with the male lead under the identity of Bai Jianyou, she did not get her wish and failed to successfully infiltrate the Xianlu Sect.
The reason for this was simple. Luo Mingyuan was a half-demon and was fundamentally unable to practice the orthodox techniques of the Xianlu Sect. His admission into the Xianlu Sect was nothing more than a moment of soft-heartedness from the Xianlu Sect’s Sect Leader, Jiang Xuan1. He took pity on the child with half-human blood, unable to bear killing him, yet fearing he would fall into the wrong path if left at the foot of the mountain. That was the only reason he was taken in.
In truth, while it was called “taking him in,” it was effectively just keeping him under watch.
To Jiang Xuan, as long as this child lived and did no evil, it was fine. It didn’t matter if he accomplished nothing in his life.
Such a good-for-nothing, not valued by his Shifu and deliberately ostracized by his martial brothers2, would only occasionally receive a bit of concern from the kinder female disciples in the sect. This concern would, in turn, cause the bullying from his martial brothers to intensify. His status was not much different from that of the ownerless stray cats and dogs on the mountain.
With such a status, if he were to bring an outsider into the sect without permission, it would inevitably lead to a torrent of criticism and punishment.
So in the end, the one who brought the great villain into the Xianlu Sect was not the male lead, but the female lead.
According to the timeline, a mysterious demonic evil that came and went without a trace would first commit a series of murders in Moshui City. The female lead would be ordered to descend the mountain to investigate. Before leaving, she would happen to see the male lead being bullied by his peers. Using the excuse of needing a helper, she would step in to rescue him and bring him down the mountain with her.
Later in the text, when You Yan’s identity was exposed, some earlier foreshadowing was revealed.
It was mentioned that during the process of getting to know the male lead and gaining his trust, You Yan had been closely monitoring his movements.
She played the role of a kind-hearted character who loathed evil, feigning a chance encounter with the two protagonists, then offering righteous assistance and fighting alongside them.
Later, You Yan found a demonic being and led the protagonists to it, allowing them to eliminate it. She used this opportunity to successfully gain the friendship and trust of both the male and female leads, smoothly following the female lead to become a guest in the high seat3 of the Xianlu Sect.
All of this was supposed to happen so naturally.
But the problem now was that Yi Qiu held the script for the entire drama, yet the 「actor」 beside her showed no awareness that she was about to make her entrance.
Speaking of which, it had already been three days since You Yan killed someone in the teahouse. For these three days, everyone in Moshui City had been living in fear, hoping day and night that the Xianlu Sect would send someone down the mountain to take care of things.
This very morning, just by leaning against the window of her guest room, Yi Qiu had heard people outside discussing the matter.
They were saying that the immortals on the mountain had already learned of the situation and would soon send people down to capture the demon, expel the evil, and eliminate demons and defend the Dao4.
This was supposed to be the key plot point for the villain to officially infiltrate the protagonist group. But what was the result? Right now, with the sun high in the sky, it was clearly noon, and the villain who was supposed to be 「closely monitoring」 the male lead was doing no proper business, instead focusing her entire mind on studying the human art of tea.
Like her, how could she meet the female lead?
Yi Qiu stared blankly at You Yan, her mind filled with the two words 「speechless」.
If she wasn’t supposed to reveal her thoughts and desires, she would have been tempted to run up, bite You Yan’s sleeve, and drag her all the way in front of the male and female leads!
“System, I want to know, if the villain doesn’t cause any trouble and just tours the human realm for a bit before returning to the Demon Realm, does that count as an HE5?”
【Main storyline is missing. Mission failed. The host’s existence will be erased.】
“Alright, got it, understood.” Yi Qiu gnashed her teeth in momentary hatred. “I may not be human, but you, this kengdie6 system, are a real dog!”
This was simply making things difficult for her. It wanted her to enter that torturous main storyline, yet it also wanted her to find a way to change the plot into an HE.
The most outrageous part was that the only person she could rely on right now was sitting in front of her, slacking off.
How could such a villain exist in this world?
What happened to making the Son of the Heavenly Emperor fall into demonhood and fight his own father to the death, then taking advantage of the situation to reap the fisherman’s profit7, revive the Demon Realm’s glory, and let the tens of thousands of demon citizens leave that dark place and regain the light?
Where is your ambition, villain? Did you embroider it away the day before yesterday?
The master isn’t working, and the little alpaca is dying of anxiety!
Watching the time tick by, second by second, Yi Qiu finally couldn’t hold back any longer. She got up, walked to You Yan’s feet, and began to anxiously circle around You Yan and the table in front of her.
As the little alpaca completed her fourth lap, You Yan finally put down the tea set in her hand and gently pressed the back of the alpaca’s head with the pad of her index finger.
Yi Qiu instantly froze, terrified that with a little force, You Yan would poke a hole straight through her skull.
Seeing Yi Qiu stop, You Yan released her finger and asked faintly, “Have something to say?”
Yi Qiu looked up and nodded, boldly starting her pre-prepared speech: “Master, do you still remember two days ago, the day we met that half-demon from the Xianlu Sect…”
As she spoke, she saw You Yan’s gaze turn a few shades colder and quickly shook her head. “I didn’t mean to bring that person up. I just wanted to say, that night, Master said you were going to give me a sachet.”
Yi Qiu looked at You Yan nervously, only to see You Yan’s gaze gradually soften, though a hint of doubt still lingered.
After a brief silence, You Yan stroked her head and asked, “It’s just a small trinket, are you in such a hurry to have it?”
“It’s not that much of a hurry! It’s been two days!” Yi Qiu said quickly. “That was the first time Master did embroidery. It has me and Master on it, it’s especially meaningful, and I really love it!”
“Master, don’t hide it anymore, please give it to me. I want to carry it with me always, in a place where I won’t lose it!”
You Yan studied the little alpaca before her carefully and asked thoughtfully, “Do you really like it?”
Yi Qiu said with certainty, “Of course!”
Hearing such a firm answer, You Yan’s gaze couldn’t help but fix on Yi Qiu for a long time.
Facing such a stare, Yi Qiu managed to suppress her guilt and look back. She tilted her little head slightly and blinked a couple of times, trying to get by on cuteness.
After a few seconds of eye contact, You Yan smiled faintly. She held out her right hand, and an empty sachet materialized in her palm. The side of the sachet facing up was precisely the one with the eye-searing, frizzy-haired alpaca.
Yi Qiu tried very hard to hold back the disgust in her eyes. She brought her little nose closer to sniff it and played dumb, “This isn’t fragrant at all!”
You Yan said, “I haven’t had the chance to buy spices yet.”
Yi Qiu, of course, knew this.
To make a sachet, one had to buy some spices. You Yan had barely left the inn these past few days, so she would definitely have to go out to buy them.
Her plan was to find a way to get You Yan out, then play it by ear and lead her to the male and female protagonists.
“Master! Let’s go buy some now!” Yi Qiu said, resting her little head on You Yan’s palm, gently pressing down on that ugly sachet. “We agreed to come to the human realm to have fun, but we haven’t done anything these past two days. I’m about to go stir-crazy. Just take me out for a walk and buy some spices along the way!”
“Alright…” You Yan said, reaching out to ruffle the fur on Yi Qiu’s neck, a barely perceptible trace of indulgence in her eyes.
The moment she successfully led You Yan out of the inn, Yi Qiu suddenly felt that she was simply too clever, clever enough to fool such a naturally suspicious great villain.
But just as she was pretending to look for a spice shop while seriously contemplating how to bring the villain and the protagonists together, she suddenly discovered a problem.
The great villain, who was supposed to be unfamiliar with Moshui City, was now moving with a remarkably clear sense of direction. After walking through streets and alleys for a while, every path she took was a secluded one. Soon, they had gone from the south of the city to the west. One could even say she was as familiar with this place as the back of her hand.
Yi Qiu followed closely behind You Yan, the shock in her eyes growing heavier and heavier.
The west of the city, the west of Moshui City…
Isn’t that where the teahouse where the incident happened is located? Isn’t that the place where the protagonist and the villain are supposed to meet for the second time?
Finally, unable to hold back, she asked cautiously in an empty alley, “Master, a little further ahead, are we getting to that teahouse from before?”
Hearing this, You Yan didn’t stop walking. She just glanced faintly at Yi Qiu and said, “Do you really just want to buy some spices?”
Yi Qiu was momentarily choked up. After a brief hesitation, her survival instinct prompted her to lie, “Yes, yes…”
“Oh?” You Yan stopped and looked at Yi Qiu with a half-smile. “If that’s really the case, there’s a shop in the south of the city, very close to the inn. We don’t need to walk this far. We can just go straight back.”
Seeing You Yan turn to leave, Yi Qiu couldn’t help but stop following.
You Yan turned back to look at her and asked faintly, “Why aren’t you following?”
Yi Qiu subconsciously shivered.
You Yan was testing her. This great villain was testing her again.
She felt her confidence crumbling along with her courage—it seemed she wasn’t clever at all, but rather a bit stupid.
Otherwise, how could she not hide any of her thoughts from You Yan?
“Speak. Why did you ask me to come out?” You Yan said, squatting down. She reached out with both hands to cup the back of Yi Qiu’s neck, looking directly into the little alpaca’s round eyes, and said playfully, “Don’t try to fool me. Whatever you’re thinking in your heart, you can’t escape my eyes.”
Hearing this, Yi Qiu’s legs went weak.
She subconsciously wanted to collapse to the ground, but with her neck held in You Yan’s hands, she was so nervous that she swallowed frantically. After taking several deep breaths, she said with a stiff neck, “I, I heard that the Xianlu Sect sent people down the mountain to deal with the evil spirit. I was thinking, wasn’t Master going to deal with that half-demon?
This matter, if we help the Xianlu Sect, perhaps we can gain their appreciation and be able to infiltrate them…”
Hearing this, You Yan’s dangerous gaze softened slightly.
Yi Qiu didn’t dare to relax and quickly added, “Master is so good to me, I also want Master to be happy. Master hates that person, so I wanted to help Master teach him a lesson… But I didn’t know how to say it, and I was afraid Master would think I was being meddlesome…”
You Yan stared at Yi Qiu for a few seconds before finally withdrawing her hands, saying thoughtfully, “So that’s what you were really thinking…”
Yi Qiu knew at once that she had been tricked into talking and felt incredibly wronged. “Didn’t you say, didn’t you say… that nothing can escape your eyes?!”
“I don’t have mind-reading powers,” You Yan said, then lightly flicked Yi Qiu on the forehead.
Yi Qiu: “…”
You Yan: “I’ve said it before, if you have something to say, you don’t need to beat around the bush. Just say it directly.”
Yi Qiu: “…”
You Yan: “If even you can think of this matter, do you think I couldn’t? It’s just that the time is not yet right, so there’s no need to rush onto the stage.”
Yi Qiu exhaled a frustrated puff of air from her nose.
Fine, so she was the eunuch worrying when the emperor wasn’t8. It seems the great villain does have some ambition after all.
“Let’s go. Since we’re out, let’s find a place to sit for a while.” You Yan said, then lowered her gaze to look at Yi Qiu, whose little head was drooping beside her. She couldn’t help but reach out and flick her little ear, smiling. “You weren’t that smart to begin with, no need to burn out that little brain of yours for me. Actually, to please me, you don’t need to go through so much trouble.”
Yi Qiu couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
Her blood pressure, suddenly, was rising.
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