Little Alpaca – Chapter 51

Volume 1: Little Alpaca

This is… what you called breaking his leg?

Just like this, the little alpaca scampered gleefully in the direction You Yan had pointed.

After running a certain distance, it would lower its head to sniff the ground, then raise its head to glance at You Yan, and You Yan would then put on a pretense¹ of pointing out a new direction.

One person and one alpaca, one singing and one harmonizing², soon arrived in front of a mountain cave with a sealed entrance.

The entrance of that mountain cave was firmly covered by crisscrossing vines. Normal vines could not grow like this; they were obviously forced to grow using magical techniques³.

Is this because she was afraid the little pig’s trotter with the broken leg would still have the strength to escape, so she added another layer of insurance at the cave entrance?

To have one is to say one⁴, this bird woman is truly thorough in her work. As expected of the great villain from the original novel who played everyone between her thigh and palm⁵.

“Jiang-guniang, look here.” You Yan turned to glance at Jiang Yuyao, then cast her gaze towards the sealed cave entrance, her brows slightly furrowed.

Yi Qiu pouted and secretly began to spit grooves⁶ in her heart: “Bird woman, your little expression is put on quite convincingly, making it seem as if you weren’t the one who sealed this place.”

Jiang Yuyao quickly caught up, gazed at the expanse of vines for two seconds, and then said with a frown, “My shidi⁷ is inside?”

“There should be no mistake,” You Yan said, lowering her eyes to look at Yi Qiu.

“Mhm—mhm!” Yi Qiu hurriedly nodded, very much giving her own master face⁸.

Hearing this, Jiang Yuyao reached out a hand to shield You Yan, taking half a step back. Then, her expression turned cold, and she drew her sword from its sheath.

Yi Qiu subconsciously shrank behind You Yan and peeked out with half her head. She saw the longsword in Jiang Yuyao’s hand suddenly gather a ray of spiritual light, which slowly wound around the blade like flowing water.

The next second, she waved her longsword, and in an instant, all the crisscrossing vines before her were cut down, clearing a path for people to enter and exit.

Jiang Yuyao was not old, and moreover had not waded deep into the world⁹. Although her cultivation was already outstanding among her peers, she would still be somewhat afraid when facing the unknown.

The sky had just brightened, but the inside of the cave was pitch-black. Although Jiang Yuyao did not say it outright, a hint of unease clearly flickered in the depths of her eyes.

Seeing this, You Yan knew that Jiang Yuyao was a little afraid in her heart and had intended to lead the way, but unexpectedly, Jiang Yuyao stopped her with an outstretched hand.

“Bai-guniang, I will walk in front.” Jiang Yuyao said, pressing her lips together. She tightened her grip on her longsword and stepped inside first.

You Yan was silent for a moment, then silently followed.

“Mhm—” In this desolate wilderness, how would the little alpaca dare to stay outside the cave alone? It naturally hurried to catch up and stay by You Yan’s side.

The mountain cave was very deep and extremely gloomy and cold inside. The two women, along with a trembling little alpaca, proceeded by the faint light from the spiritual sword. Fortunately, they had not gone far before they found the unconscious Luo Mingyuan around a bend.

Upon finding Luo Mingyuan, Jiang Yuyao hurriedly knelt down and urged the spiritual light on her sword to brighten.

Yi Qiu followed the soft white spiritual light to look at Luo Mingyuan, but unexpectedly, after just one glance, she could no longer bear to look.

This little pig’s trotter was truly injured quite heavily. It was not hard to see that You Yan had been very heavy-handed this time, completely unlike the light sketch and faint writing¹⁰ she had used to describe it.

At this moment, Luo Mingyuan’s face was as pale as paper. The torn clothes on his body were mostly soaked with fresh blood. On his right leg was a wound where the skin was broken and bone exposed, and the leg was abnormally twisted. There were even more wounds on his body, clearly inflicted by the sharp claws of birds or beasts.

The most severe wounds, aside from the one on his leg, were two claw marks on his left shoulder and lower abdomen, so deep that the bone was visible. Even though his half-demon body possessed extremely strong self-healing abilities, the bleeding still had not stopped.

Behind him was a long trail of blood; presumably, he had struggled all the way here. The blood had not yet coagulated or dried, so he must have lost consciousness only a short while ago.

“Shidi…” Jiang Yuyao hesitated, wanting to help him up, but did not know where to start, afraid that touching his wounds would wake him with pain.

Yi Qiu could not help but hold her breath and look up at You Yan.

The cave was dim, with only the light of the spiritual sword illuminating the heavily injured person. The little alpaca could not clearly see her master’s expression, but she vaguely sensed that in that pair of slender eyes, an expression she could not discern flashed past.

With her brows tightly furrowed, You Yan knelt down and used her spiritual power to probe Luo Mingyuan’s injuries, then said, “He can still hold on. Take him to a doctor; the wounds must be treated as soon as possible.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yuyao hurriedly reached out to help Luo Mingyuan up, but she was not very strong, after all, and struggled somewhat.

You Yan hesitated for a moment, then went forward to lend a hand.

Yi Qiu chased after the two of them with steps like she was rushing to be reincarnated, all the way to a medical hall in Moshui City.

The doctor at the medical hall saw that the injured person was covered in blood and extremely heavily wounded. He was exceptionally astonished for a moment and hurriedly called his young apprentice over to help treat the wounds.

Jiang Yuyao kept watch by his side the entire time, her brow tightly furrowed, not leaving him for even an inch.

You Yan, however, watched from the side for only a short while before walking over to an old tree in the medical hall’s backyard and sitting down.

It was already high noon, the bright sun was high in the sky, and there was no one around.

Yi Qiu slowly walked to You Yan’s side, stood still, and quietly gazed at her.

Her white clothes were stained with blood, but she seemed completely unaware. She simply leaned against the tree, sitting with her knees bent, one hand propped on the ground and the other resting lightly on her knee.

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but You Yan was so quiet today.

She raised her eyes to look at the sun, her gaze unfocused, her thoughts having drifted who knows where.

The little alpaca couldn’t resist following her gaze to look at the sky for a while. When she lowered her head, she felt extremely dazzled; the whole world was in patches of red, yellow, blue, and green, with spots of light of every color.

She hung her head and recovered for a good while before finally raising it once more to look at You Yan.

“This is… what you called breaking his leg?” the little alpaca asked softly, her tone devoid of blame.

She was just curious, curious as to why You Yan would do such a thing.

For You Yan, killing Luo Mingyuan was as easy as turning over her palm. If she truly harbored some resentment, she could have just killed him directly. There was absolutely no need to consider a pet’s feelings; it made no sense for her to agree to help on one hand, while striking such a ruthless blow behind her back on the other.

“Do you now think that I am truly a demon with cruel methods?” You Yan said faintly, suddenly closing her eyes. She said softly, “If I say it wasn’t me, would you believe it?”

“Not you? Then…”

“You don’t believe me…” You Yan’s tone became a few degrees colder.

Yi Qiu hurriedly placed her dirty hoof on the back of You Yan’s hand and said in a panic, “I believe you! If you say it, I believe it!”

In that instant, she seemed to feel the hand she was touching tremble slightly.

【You Yan Favorability +10】

Yi Qiu could not help but blink.

After a brief silence, You Yan opened her eyes as if nothing had happened and said in a deep voice, “From the time I captured him to the time I rushed back to Xianlu Sect, how much time was there in total? It was already good enough that I could find a place to dump him. How would I have had time to bother with anything else?”

“Ah…”

“Of the injuries on his body, I only claim one. I was quite ruthless, but that was only to prevent him from being able to go back.”

As You Yan spoke to this point, she could not help but frown. “The vines at the cave entrance were also not my doing. I don’t cultivate wood-element magical techniques. If I wanted to seal the cave, I would have directly smashed the entrance.”

“Then, then…”

“The timing is too coincidental. I’m afraid he was targeted long ago…” You Yan said seriously.

“Ah, this…”

“There was no spiritual power remaining on his body. Presumably, the cultivation level of the demon that injured him is not low, enough to hide its spiritual aura from me.”

As she spoke, You Yan could not help but give a cold laugh. “To be targeted by something like this, that kid can be considered to have a long life for having survived until now.”

Yi Qiu suddenly felt like her brain couldn’t keep up. She stood blankly beside You Yan, stammering “this this, that that” for a long time before finally managing to say, “So what is that thing? Since it’s so powerful, why didn’t it kill him directly?”

You Yan asked in return, “What do you say?”

Yi Qiu blinked, tilted her head, and said, “I’m asking you because I don’t know!”

You Yan asked again, “Then why would I know?”

Yi Qiu was speechless for a moment and closed her own little stupid mouth.

“Let’s wait for that kid to wake up and ask him,” You Yan said, reaching out to pull the little alpaca into an embrace by its neck. She kneaded and rubbed it randomly a few times, then tilted her head slightly and rested it lightly on top of the little alpaca’s head.

Yi Qiu hesitated for a moment, then obediently lay down and closed her eyes in You Yan’s embrace.

After running from the mountaintop to the foot of the mountain and then rushing all the way into the city, she had not closed her eyes for a day and a night and was indeed very tired. Leaning in You Yan’s embrace at this moment, it was as if she had unloaded all her burdens. Fatigue instantly swept over her entire body, and she could not even be bothered that she was hungry, only wanting to have a good sleep.

The fragrance of the scented sachet by her neck was already very faint, but it was just enough to cover the smell of blood on You Yan.

Yi Qiu slept very soundly. By the time she was fully awake, it was already dusk.

The little alpaca lazily stretched her limbs, got up to shake her fur, and hurriedly followed You Yan’s steps.

The wounds on Luo Mingyuan’s body had all been treated. He had now been moved to a patient’s room to rest but had not yet woken up.

The medical hall’s doctor was currently in the pharmacy taking inventory of common medicines, and the young apprentice was also helping at the side, with no time for anything else.

You Yan stood at the door of Luo Mingyuan’s room and pondered for two seconds, but ultimately did not go in, simply turning and walking back to the courtyard.

Jiang Yuyao was just returning from outside with food and a change of clothes. As soon as she entered the backyard and saw You Yan, she hurriedly came forward and offered the clothes in her hands to her.

“Bai-guniang, this time it was all thanks to you.”

You Yan hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take them. “Jiang-guniang, there is no need to be polite.”

“These clothes, I don’t know if they will fit… I had wanted to ask you, Bai-guniang, but I saw you were asleep and didn’t have the heart to disturb you.”

As she spoke, a helpless smile appeared on Jiang Yuyao’s lips. “I thought that our figures seem to be about the same, so I went ahead and bought them in my size. It’s already late today and many shops have closed. Bai-guniang, you can wear them for now. If they don’t fit, we can exchange them tomorrow.”

“Mhm…” You Yan’s tone was faint; she was clearly in no mood for role-playing.

Jiang Yuyao was not good at socializing. Having given the clothes only to receive such a response, she fell silent for a moment.

Yi Qiu could not watch any longer and went forward to nudge the food box in Jiang Yuyao’s hand with her nose.

“Ah, right.” Jiang Yuyao quickly came back to her senses. “Neither of you has eaten. I brought some extra; the little lamb has a share too.”

As she spoke, she reached out to rub Yi Qiu’s head, a trace of warmth appearing in the corners of her eyes.

You Yan gave a light cough and took the food box. “Jiang-guniang has troubled herself.”

“It’s no trouble…” After speaking, Jiang Yuyao turned and walked towards the room where Luo Mingyuan was resting.

Yi Qiu stayed by You Yan’s side and ate her first meal of the day. She was completely satisfied for the moment and felt that her brain was working much better.

She could not help but recall her brief conversation with the System.

Now that everything was developing in a good direction, she felt that if she just let nature take its course, there would be a good ending.

But the System told her it was not like that.

Before, she could not understand, but now she seemed to understand a little.

The villains in this world were not limited to just You Yan.

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