Little Alpaca – Chapter 33

Volume 1: Little Alpaca

Almost ready to be slaughtered.

It was very difficult for Yi Qiu to describe in words the sadness in her heart at this very moment.

Forget the fact that this bird woman¹ was strong; her expression also changed so quickly that it caused her to not even have time to make any reaction before she had already fallen off You Yan’s back.

The poor little alpaca, in the second its bottom hit the ground, failed to sit steady and fell backward again, landing on its back with an 「aiyo」, all four feet in the air.

Yi Qiu felt that her tear ducts had become much more developed after she became an alpaca. This fall directly caused a layer of mist to rise in her eyes, making her vision of You Yan blurry.

You Yan indifferently tidied her long hair that had been messed up by the little alpaca, presenting a noble and aloof appearance.

As soon as Jiang Yuyao and Luo Mingyuan were gone, this bird woman instantly revealed her true form. Those previous illusions of purity, cuteness, liveliness, and cheerfulness—shattering them was simply easier than destroying a flower in the mirror and moon in the water².

As expected, the little alpaca shouldn’t have trusted Ghost-Sees-Sorrow. What gentleness, what sense of security—it was all just bubbles!

Yi Qiu gritted her teeth, rolled over on the spot, and stood up with her white fur covered in mud and grass.

The night was dark, the wind was high, and the waning moon was faint. By the side of the cloud-and-mist-shrouded broken cliff, the little alpaca, covered in bits of grass and dirt, raised its head and glared resentfully at You Yan, who was currently arranging her clothes. In its small eyes was great displeasure.

You Yan lowered her eyes and saw this, and couldn’t help but let out a “pfft” of laughter, the indifference in her eyes fading a little.

Some people are fine when they don’t smile, but the moment they do, it makes one angry.

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but take two deep breaths.

She’s laughing at me, she’s laughing at me again—this bird woman is laughing at me at every single moment.

The bird woman beckoned to her. She gritted her teeth and remained motionless where she stood.

The bird woman gave her a look. She bared her teeth, still remaining motionless.

The bird woman said a sentence to her: “Let’s go, you little dirty ghost.”

Yi Qiu shook her fur, but didn’t shake off much dirt. She then walked her sore and weak little legs over to You Yan’s side, grunted twice, and twisted her neck to mutter at the air: “Master, from now on, I’ll take your surname.”

“Oh?” You Yan seemed to have become interested. “So, what was your original name?”

“Hiss—” Yi Qiu took two deep breaths, trying hard to maintain a smile. “Not important, not important at all… From now on, I’ll take your surname. Starting today, I’ll change my name to Youyuan³. This name especially fits my current alpaca life, I think…”

Before her voice fell, You Yan slapped the back of her head, making her let out a 「wu」 sound.

When she looked up again, You Yan was already running toward the two protagonists who had stopped in the distance to wait for them.

The little alpaca sniffled aggrievedly. Not daring to linger alone in this deep mountain and dark night, it hurriedly scampered after them.

Xianlu Sect wasn’t large, but it certainly wasn’t small either. With over two hundred disciples in the sect, there were still plenty of empty residences available. After some thought, Jiang Yuyao led You Yan to a relatively secluded dwelling.

The night was already deep, and most of the disciples had already rested. They didn’t run into anyone on the way and soon arrived at the resting place.

Jiang Yuyao said that this place was generally used to host guests, and disciples usually wouldn’t come this way, so it was much quieter than other places. Moreover, there was a well not far away, making it very convenient to fetch and use water.

As for meals, if she didn’t mind, she could eat together with everyone.

The Xianlu Sect had three pavilions: Changqing⁴, Liuxian⁵, and Huamo⁶. Each pavilion cultivated different techniques, so the disciples were also housed by pavilion. No matter which pavilion, there would be disciples responsible for cooking, who would prepare meals in advance every day at noon and at Hour of You⁷.

However, a visitor was a guest. If the guest preferred quiet, she could also say so, and when the time came, someone would come to deliver the meal.

After explaining all this, Jiang Yuyao took her leave.

Yi Qiu walked into the guest room with a weary face. She had been exhausted from the Hour of Shen⁸ until the middle of the third watch⁹, and she had long since run out of energy.

Right now, she just wanted to lie down and have a good sleep, but You Yan didn’t seem to be allowing her to sleep. As soon as she entered the room, she grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and lifted her off the ground.

Help, can you stop persecuting alpacas?

Yi Qiu sniffled with a resentful face and turned her head to glare at You Yan—she had already brought saliva up to her throat, wanting to spit but not quite daring to.

You Yan: “You’re only allowed to sleep after you’re washed clean.”

Yi Qiu: “I’m so sleepy, can we do it tomorrow?”

If I wash now, this coat of fur probably won’t be dry until tomorrow morning. What kind of sleep would that be?

You Yan: “No, you can’t. I’ll go fetch water.”

As You Yan spoke, she turned and walked in the direction of the well.

Yi Qiu aggrievedly lay down on the floor again, craning her neck and staring into space.

So this is the Xianlu Sect. Does this count as entering the main storyline?

Ghost-Sees-Sorrow is going to be busy next, busy doing bad things. She probably won’t have the spare time to torment an alpaca, right?

In the novel’s setting, the Xianlu Sect was divided into three pavilions.

Among them, Changqing Pavilion was located in the center of the mountain peak, Liuxian Pavilion stood on the side of the northern cliff, and Huamo Pavilion was by the ice spring south of the sect gate.

The three pavilions respectively took the Xianlu Sect Leader, Sword Reverence¹⁰ Jiang Xuan¹¹, Zither Immortal¹² Chu Tinglan¹³, and Judge’s Brush¹⁴ Mu Qingshuang¹⁵ as their three revered elders and masters, cultivating the three types of spiritual instruments: sword, zither, and brush.

Jiang Yuyao was the only daughter of the Sword Reverence, so she naturally followed her father into sword cultivation¹⁶. At a young age, her cultivation was already accomplished.

Luo Mingyuan was also a disciple under Jiang Xuan, but because his half-demon body conflicted with immortal cultivation techniques, he was ignored and left to fend for himself for many years. To this day, he had achieved nothing and could only do odd jobs in Changqing Pavilion to get by. Everyone could order him around, and everyone looked down on him.

Speaking of which, besides the three revered elders and Jiang Yuyao, no one else in the sect knew of Luo Mingyuan’s half-demon identity.

Everyone just thought he was a natural-born piece of trash, so they would often mock him to his face, saying things like: “Luo-shidi¹⁷ acts like a sissy all day, can’t even hold a sword steady, and he’s still a disciple of Changqing Pavilion? Why not go to Liuxian Pavilion or Huamo Pavilion? Even if he can’t cultivate any techniques, he could still play the zither and paint. That would suit that little white face¹⁸ of his, wouldn’t it?”

A child growing up in this kind of environment would inevitably become sensitive and have low self-esteem. Over time, the dark side of his heart began to grow, drop by drop, and You Yan was the culprit who awakened that darkness and magnified it infinitely.

Most Xianxia novels follow the same trope: whenever the protagonist is so weak that everyone looks down on them, there is bound to be a martial tournament within the immortal sect to make everyone see them in a new light.

Little Bird Coo Coo¹⁹ never disappointed when it came to following tropes. She directly arranged a trial convention in the Xianlu Sect that was held once every four years. Disciples of the sect would draw lots to fight in pairs, and the final twenty would be gifted spiritual treasures and ordered to go down the mountain for two months of training.

Two months later, each would return with their achievements, and the top three in merit could cultivate the high-level techniques of the sect.

In the original text, after 「Bai Jianyou」 arrived at the Xianlu Sect, she went to Changqing Pavilion every day to find Luo Mingyuan to chat about everything under the sun. It wasn’t long before they reached a point where they could confide in each other.

As everyone knows, since ancient times, most scumbags have a common characteristic: they lack self-awareness. No matter how trashy they themselves are, as long as a beautiful woman praises them, they can instantly inflate all the way to the heavens.

When 「Bai Jianyou」 was at the Xianlu Sect, she both praised and encouraged Luo Mingyuan. It wasn’t long before she learned of Luo Mingyuan’s background and began to cook up poisonous chicken soup²⁰.

First, she said things like, a half-demon is both demon and human, and good and evil are separated by a single thought. As long as one holds onto their original heart and is determined to be good, even a half-demon would not be despised by others.

Then she said things like, if you can’t cultivate immortal sect techniques, then go cultivate what you can. Humans can use immortal arts to do evil, so why can’t demons use demonic power to do good?

The beautiful woman babbled a bunch of nonsense, fooling the little pig trotter²¹ until he couldn’t even find his north. He actually signed up for the quadrennial trial convention, secretly used demonic power during the convention, and defeated the senior martial brothers who usually looked down on him, obtaining a spot to go down the mountain for training.

This success made Luo Mingyuan have the thought of making a name for himself and no longer being bullied by others. It was also precisely this success that caused this very filial little pig trotter to lose his adoptive parents, causing the seeds of blackening to take root and sprout in his heart, ultimately leading to the BE of the entire text.

“Does the male lead have to go down the mountain for training? What if I can stop him from participating in the competition…”

【”Going down the mountain for training, relatives die tragically.” is an unavoidable plot point. If the main storyline cannot proceed smoothly, will be oblitera…】

“Alright, stop!” Yi Qiu sighed heavily. What the hell, this broken system’s restrictions are too much, how is a person supposed to get a HE?

Silence. After a short silence, the system spoke once again.

【Kill the host’s existence.】

Grass!²²

I already told it to stop, yet it’s so stubborn about finishing its sentence. What is it trying to do?

Why, why?

It’s one thing to be bullied by You Yan on a daily basis, but now this invisible, intangible system has to anger me too!

Yi Qiu lay on the cold floor, getting angrier the more she thought about it. Unable to hold back for a moment, she bared her teeth and let out two dry roars at the air.

And the closed room door, at this very moment, was kicked open by the tip of You Yan’s foot.

Just like that, the master holding a basin of hot water and her own ferocious-looking little alpaca stared at each other awkwardly for several seconds.

Several seconds later, Yi Qiu came back to her senses. As if asking for new year’s money²³, she instantly slammed her forehead onto the floor, emitting a crisp 「Bang」 sound.

You Yan put down the water bucket, closed the door with a backhand, walked over to Yi Qiu, and set down the water basin.

This sound made Yi Qiu’s already drooping ears tremble lightly.

You Yan: “Wash up, little Yi Qiu.”

Her tone was neither salty nor bland²⁴, as if she didn’t take that previous scene to heart.

Eh, wait…

She called me little Yi Qiu?

Didn’t she say, didn’t she say she forgot?

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but look up at You Yan, her gaze filled with confusion and an inexplicable joy.

【You Yan’s favorability +50】

The next second, You Yan curved her brows and smiled, reaching out a finger to gently rub the little alpaca’s forehead where it had just knocked against the ground. Then, a handkerchief materialized in her palm. After soaking it in the water, she began to wash its body, bit by bit, with patience and care.

Yi Qiu stared blankly at You Yan, shifting her body from time to time to cooperate with You Yan to a certain degree.

This was the first time You Yan hadn’t thrown her whole body into the water, but just squatted to the side, washing away every bit of mud from her fur without getting her completely wet.

This way, her body would dry faster, and she could sleep earlier.

Does such a great villain really exist?

Yi Qiu was momentarily lost in a daze.

Time passed, minute by minute. By the time the little alpaca was wiped clean, the water in the basin was also dirty.

Yi Qiu thought the washing was over, but You Yan suddenly took her left front hoof and swished it in the water basin a couple of times.

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

You Yan gave her a faint glance, said nothing, and lowered her eyes to continue wiping the little alpaca’s toes.

“You Yan, are you in a particularly good mood today?” Yi Qiu probed in a small voice.

You Yan asked in return: “What did you call me?”

Yi Qiu hurriedly buried her head, and even the toes of her held hoof couldn’t help but curl: “Ma… Master…”

After a short silence, You Yan couldn’t help but let out a light laugh: “Whatever you like is fine.”

Yi Qiu: “Really?”

You Yan: “Mmm…”

Yi Qiu: “Ghost-Sees-Sorrow!”

You Yan: “…”

After their eyes met for a moment, You Yan narrowed her eyes and said faintly: “You’ve really gotten a lot fatter recently.”

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment, tilting her neck to show her confusion.

What, is it not enough to watch my weight as a human, I have to maintain my figure as an alpaca too?

Just as Yi Qiu was feeling confused, You Yan used her other hand to grip her foreleg, as if feeling its thickness.

Finally, she said faintly: “Almost ready to be slaughtered.”

Although she knew this was most likely a joke, the little alpaca’s eyes still went wide, and its body began to tremble involuntarily.

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