Little Alpaca – Chapter 35

Volume 1: Little Alpaca

Little Yi Qiu, have you ever thought, about cultivating into a human?

Yi Qiu always felt that there were many things in this world that she could not understand.

For example, Luo Mingyuan’s personality was not quite the same as described in the novel, and the reaction he had at the moment he heard the key lines was also completely different from the novel.

For another example, according to what was written in the novel, You Yan was supposed to have come to deceive Luo Mingyuan. But while she did come, she only said one sentence to Luo Mingyuan, and as soon as she finished speaking, she grabbed her own alpaca’s ear and left.

If she left, she left, but You Yan actually told her that she had come out looking for her, and had followed her spiritual aura all the way here.

That’s hilarious, how is that possible?!

The most crucial thing was, it was clearly she who had discovered You Yan was gone early in the morning and then came out to look for her.

Now this was great. She had waited for You Yan like standing by a stump for a rabbit¹, only to be falsely accused by You Yan, making it seem as if she had some kind of ulterior motive for secretly running out to find Luo Mingyuan!

Although, I guess I did have some, but I dare say that my little thoughts were definitely much purer than that bird woman, the great villain!

“What do you mean? I just came out to look for you! You don’t believe me, but I don’t believe you came out to look for me either!”

The little alpaca instantly straightened its neck, raising its head to meet You Yan’s gaze without the slightest bit of evasion.

It had the appearance of being bold and confident despite not being in the right. “It was clearly, clearly you who was gone as soon as I opened my eyes! I didn’t eat anything last night, and my stomach is still hungry. You didn’t even leave me anything to eat before you left, so of course I had to come out and find you!”

“Looking for me? If you really wanted to find me, how did you end up in front of Luo Mingyuan?” You Yan asked with a faint smile. “I’m rather curious, you’re quite concerned about him. At first, you wouldn’t let me kill him, saying something about how killing a person requires attacking the heart and mind² to be interesting…”

“Wasn’t that your own plan!” Yi Qiu hurriedly interrupted You Yan’s words, baring her teeth at her aggrievedly.

You Yan, however, turned a blind eye to it and continued, “I spared his life, thinking it wouldn’t be a problem to play with him slowly. But isn’t he my plaything?”

“I…”

“Why did you sneak out behind my back to 「play」 with him?” The question was as chilling as ice.

As her voice fell, You Yan lightly patted the little alpaca’s right cheek. Her slender eyes seemed to carry a kind of danger that one could neither see clearly nor comprehend.

Yi Qiu shivered unconsciously, but she did not give up defending herself, “I… I really did come out to find you…”

【You Yan Favorability -50】

It decreased again! The favorability decreased again! This is so annoying, just let it all be destroyed, everyone stop struggling!

Ghost-Sees-Sorrow, bird woman, why don’t you just give me a quick end and clear the favorability to zero!

You Yan said coldly, “Tell the truth…”

“What truth do you want me to tell? I’m not lying!” Yi Qiu suddenly felt as if she couldn’t defend herself if she had a hundred mouths³, becoming so anxious that she started speaking incoherently⁴. “I knew it, I just knew, I knew you would come here! You said it yourself, that guy is your plaything, so when I woke up this morning and couldn’t see you…

When I couldn’t see you, I thought you had come to find him! Look, see for yourself, I waited for you like waiting for a rabbit by a stump, and I really did end up waiting until you came!”

“Why don’t you believe me? I really did come to find you, why won’t you believe me!”

The more Yi Qiu spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, and for a moment she was so anxious that she started spinning in place and stomping her feet.

The next second, You Yan grasped the little alpaca’s two restless front legs with both hands.

The agitated little fellow instantly quieted down, staring blankly at the woman before her, whose calm expression revealed neither joy nor anger.

After a brief silence, You Yan asked softly, “Did you really come out to find me?”

Yi Qiu bit her teeth tightly, scraped the ground with her toes, and nodded with a displeased look on her face. Then she lowered her head, her entire body exuding an aura of being wronged.

The early morning sun had risen. Although it didn’t bring much warmth, it caused the thin fog in the woods to gradually disperse.

You Yan remained silent the whole time, seemingly lost in thought.

Yi Qiu didn’t know how much time had passed, only that her legs were sore from standing. But being held by You Yan like this, she wanted to move but dared not.

Suddenly, You Yan released her two little front legs and reached out to rub her head.

Is this… she’s not angry anymore?

Yi Qiu cautiously raised her eyes, just in time to meet You Yan’s gaze.

She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but in that instant, You Yan’s eyes held a hint of apology, and her expression was so gentle it was unreal.

It’s probably an illusion. Recently, she’d often had this kind of illusion, naively thinking that if the favorability was high, You Yan would treat her better and better.

“I did indeed come looking for you,” You Yan suddenly said faintly. “You say I don’t believe you, but do you believe me?”

“Uh…” A bit of confusion appeared in Yi Qiu’s eyes.

You Yan didn’t explain further, only patting the back of Yi Qiu’s head before getting up and saying, “Let’s go back. Breakfast is getting cold.”

Breakfast…

Yi Qiu didn’t dare say more, only following closely behind You Yan all the way back to the residence Jiang Yuyao had arranged for them.

The moment she entered the room, she saw the breakfast laid out on the round wooden table inside.

Steamed buns⁵, eggs, and millet porridge⁶. A short while ago they must have been scalding hot, but now they were no longer steaming.

“These are…”

“I took the time to go to the Huamo Pavilion, and when I came back, you were gone,” You Yan said, closing the door behind her with a wave of her sleeve and walking a few steps to the table to sit down.

Last night, Jiang Yuyao had said that the Huamo Pavilion was the closest to this place, and the pavilion was mostly filled with female disciples. If they were hungry, going there was the most convenient.

Could it be that You Yan really just went out to get her breakfast?

So, the real situation was—You Yan came back after getting breakfast, discovered her little spirit pet was missing, couldn’t rest assured, and so followed the spiritual aura all the way to Luo Mingyuan’s location, which then led to a misunderstanding, causing her to be displeased?

If you said this out loud, would anyone actually believe it?

The great villain running to the male lead early in the morning, just to catch her own little alpaca and take it back to eat breakfast—who wouldn’t call that outrageous after hearing it?

But as outrageous as it was, it seemed to have really happened.

A perfectly good great villain, ignoring the male lead she was supposed to be deceiving, and instead forcefully shifting all her attention onto a grass mud horse.

Could this be the power of favorability?

But isn’t the favorability score currently plummeting?

“Guu—”

That protest, drumming from her little belly, almost instantly dragged Yi Qiu’s thoughts back to reality.

She couldn’t help but swallow her saliva, and with her head hanging, she slowly walked to You Yan’s side and obediently stretched out her neck.

You Yan raised her hand and used her spiritual power to warm the cooled food on the table. Just like usual, she fed it to Yi Qiu bit by bit, tirelessly.

The more Yi Qiu ate this meal, the more guilty she felt.

That’s right, she had run so far so early in the morning to find You Yan; she hadn’t lied about that.

But when she discovered that You Yan wasn’t with Luo Mingyuan, she had indeed said some things to Luo Mingyuan that she shouldn’t have.

For example, she had sounded out Luo Mingyuan in advance.

And for another example, she had said the lines that You Yan was supposed to say to Luo Mingyuan in the future.

You Yan didn’t know about these small actions, and these subtle changes might affect You Yan’s plan…

Yi Qiu knew that she was here to obstruct You Yan from harming the protagonist in the first place, so it was inevitable that she would do things secretly behind her back. There was nothing to be conflicted about.

But now, as You Yan treated her better and better, she felt more and more unsure of what to do.

The villain is a person who is always harming the protagonist. If the protagonist really succeeds in getting a HE in the end, then what will happen to the villain?

If this question were posed in the past, she would definitely have felt that 「whether the bird woman lives or dies has nothing to do with me」.

But now, she didn’t quite dare to think about it.

The moment the little alpaca swallowed the last spoonful of porridge in the bowl, she had her head randomly rubbed by the great villain.

The great villain really likes to pet me. If I become a person in the future and I’m not soft to pet anymore, maybe the great villain won’t like me anymore.

If she doesn’t like me, she won’t be good to me.

If she isn’t good to me, maybe I won’t have to care about what kind of changes will happen to the ending, right?

As Yi Qiu was thinking these chaotic thoughts in her heart, her chin was suddenly pinched by You Yan, and her heart instantly filled with panic.

Did my eyes betray something again?

She looked at You Yan in astonishment, only to see You Yan take out a silk handkerchief, wipe her mouth, and then toss it aside in disgust.

Since when did wiping my mouth require pinching my chin…

This kind of move that only an overbearing CEO in an old-fashioned story would do, can we please skip it?

“What’s with that look in your eyes?” You Yan released the little alpaca’s chin.

Yi Qiu’s gaze flickered away, and then she mumbled in a small voice, “Can you not pinch my chin…”

You Yan couldn’t help but let out a light laugh, but she didn’t respond.

Yi Qiu sniffed and said again, “Also, can you not pull my ears, grab my neck, or wrap your whip around me…”

After she said it, she thought, this will definitely get my favorability deducted, right?

You Yan’s affection for a little alpaca was just that fragile. If it weren’t, the original text wouldn’t have described her raising it for a while and then suddenly slaughtering it for a meal.

Thinking of it this way, betraying her is merely being prepared for the future because I know what will happen. It’s not such an excessive thing…

You Yan raised an eyebrow and asked in return, “You have an opinion?”

Yi Qiu raised her eyes and glared at You Yan, “I have an opinion!”

“Hmm?” A trace of astonishment flashed in You Yan’s eyes.

Yi Qiu gritted her teeth, thinking to herself that this damn favorability could be deducted for all she cared. She didn’t want to play this trashy strategy game at all anymore.

She didn’t know what was wrong with this deceptive⁷ system. For no good reason, it wanted her to raise a villain’s favorability so high, and then use that attribute to become a person, only to burn the bridge after crossing it⁸ and stab her in the back…

Is that interesting? It’s not interesting at all!

She might as well start from now, letting You Yan slowly grow to hate her, preferably to the point of hitting and scolding her. That way, when she pulls her little tricks behind her back, she won’t feel so much guilt.

As for whether she could become a person, was that so important?

She was the chosen grass mud horse who had thoroughly read the original text! She knew the direction of the entire plot. Could it be that just because she lacked a human form, she couldn’t succeed?

Thinking of this, Yi Qiu took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, “A very big opinion!”

Hearing this, You Yan propped her cheek up with the back of her hand, leaning back in her chair with great interest, and smiled, “Let’s hear it.”

“I’m really fed up! You’re always bullying me, laughing at me, and you even scare me for no reason!”

Yi Qiu started yelling loudly at You Yan, “Don’t you think you’re being excessive!”

“For example?” You Yan asked in return.

“For example, for example…” Yi Qiu gritted her teeth, trying hard to search her brain.

Soon, the little alpaca began to weep and complain about every time the great villain had bullied her, from something as small as a smile that was untimely for her, to something as big as… the biggest thing was just that kick that sent her off the bed.

In short, after all was said and done, the core point was—every time I finally start to like you a little, you make me feel disgusted again!

Her words were a mix of truth and lies, lies and truth, to the point where she herself couldn’t quite distinguish fact from fiction. Yet she cried while she spoke, and trembled while she spoke.

To say she was aggrieved wasn’t truly being aggrieved. It was more fear—fear that after these hurtful words were said, the favorability would drop to a very low point, and in the future, You Yan really wouldn’t be good to her anymore and would only treat her as a tool alpaca—even though this was the result she wanted.

After all, she really didn’t want to deceive anyone’s feelings, at least not the feelings of someone who was good to her—even if this person was probably not a good person.

Just like that, You Yan quietly watched the little alpaca roar at her in a childish voice for a long time.

At the end, Yi Qiu glared at You Yan with red eyes, her gaze unusually resolute. “Don’t think that just because I’m an alpaca, you can bully me however you want. I have a temper too!”

“Quite brave, you’re yelling pretty loudly,” You Yan said faintly.

“You have to respect me!” Yi Qiu’s tone was audacious, just short of tearing the roof off.

Come on, I’m ready. How much are you going to deduct this time? Give it to me straight!

【You Yan Favorability +300】

Heh, bird woman, you’re truly ruthless. Despite us being together day and night, you deduct three hundred in one go!

Although everything was within her expectations, and it was indeed the result Yi Qiu wanted, when the moment truly arrived, she still couldn’t help but feel a chill in her heart.

To be honest, she really had started to like You Yan a little bit. It’s just that the relationship between them was too fragile; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was precarious from one moment to the next⁹.

Forget it, forget it.

Yi Qiu, from now on, focus on your career. This bird woman isn’t worth your sorr…

Eh?

Wait a minute!

The little alpaca’s stunned head couldn’t help but tilt slightly, her small eyes filled with great confusion.

She glanced at the system attributes.

You Yan Favorability: 900

That three hundred just now, it actually used a plus sign, not a minus sign!

“You, you you, you…”

Yi Qiu stared dumbly and said 「you」 for a long time, but couldn’t get another word out.

At that moment, her heart filled with bewilderment, she watched as You Yan leaned down towards her, and with her cool forehead, lightly touched her own furry one.

Her voice was low and gentle as she asked her a question.

“Little Yi Qiu, have you ever thought, about cultivating into a human?”

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