Volume 1: Little Alpaca
She was not going to pay attention to You Yan anymore.
The little alpaca was becoming audacious.
She was relying on favor to act arrogant, she was going up on the roof and pulling off the tiles1; this fifty-jin-heavy2 big baby, under the circumstance of You Yan being completely unprepared, dragged her body of soaked-through fur and smashed onto You Yan’s leg.
Get down? Getting down was impossible!
She decided that if You Yan dared to hit her, she would, even at the risk of having favorability points deducted, spit a mouthful of saliva all over You Yan!
However, the milk-fierce3 little alpaca bared her teeth at her master for a long time, yet the expected pain did not arrive.
Yi Qiu suddenly chickened out.
She had thought that You Yan might directly give her a fierce kick, or might use Chuixue to entangle her, then backhand her away to somewhere else.
No matter what, she would probably be covered in mud, and then have no choice but to ‘drag her injuries’ back to the creek to bathe once more.
But these were all outcomes she could bear.
She told herself, in life, one doesn’t steam steamed buns but fights for a breath of dignity4; even if she was just an alpaca now, she must also have the moral integrity of a human.
But a person’s moral integrity always comes and goes in a hurry.
At this moment, You Yan neither kicked her nor flung her away, but was just furrowing her beautiful brows and quietly watching her, yet she suddenly panicked a batch5.
The little alpaca’s ferocious, twisted, and comical expression solidified on her face bit by bit, and finally, it calmed down bit by bit, until her eyes gradually revealed her fear. Only then did she slowly shrink her little neck.
Could this be the calm before the storm?
Yi Qiu unconsciously tensed her entire body, her two little front hooves tightly gripping the fabric of You Yan’s clothes below her waist. Although her eyes were filled with alarm, there still remained a trace of the stubbornness of a dead pig that doesn’t fear boiling water6.
You Yan suddenly raised her hand.
“Ahhh! I was wrong, I was wrong!” The little alpaca was instantly so scared that she buried her head in You Yan’s chest, her two front hooves naturally and unconsciously hugging that slender waist tightly.
“You…”
A sudden summer wind blew past the little alpaca’s shivering body.
After a long silence, You Yan took a deep breath, grabbed her sleeve with one hand, and held the back of the little alpaca’s neck with the other, and began to wipe back and forth on the little alpaca’s body in a manner that was not at all gentle.
“Hmm?” Yi Qiu hummed a trace of doubt from the tip of her nose, clearly finding everything that was happening at this moment to be unbelievable.
But the fact was that You Yan was drying her body. Spiritual power from her fingertips passed through the soft fabric, carrying a heat like a hair dryer, moving back and forth over her wet fur. Although it wasn’t gentle, it wasn’t to the point of hurting her.
Yi Qiu was terrified for a good while before she dared to raise her head from You Yan’s body and timidly look at that pair of slender eyes.
You Yan glared at her, and that sleeve instantly covered her head like a burlap sack being thrown over it, blocking her vision before a bout of frantic rubbing began.
How could Yi Qiu dare to have any temper at this moment? Being rubbed to the point of being a little breathless, she could only let out a couple of low hums in exchange for You Yan giving her a moment to catch her breath.
Just like that, she lay in You Yan’s arms for a long time, until You Yan had finally, bit by bit, completely dried all the fur on her body.
Finally, You Yan asked faintly, “Are you going to get down yourself, or do I have to kick you down?”
Hearing this, Yi Qiu immediately hopped down from You Yan’s body, her little head-melon drooping, not daring to let out a fart.
You Yan stood up, looked at her wet and wrinkled clothes, couldn’t help but frown, and with a shake of her body, changed into a new set of clothes. At the same time, she didn’t forget to give the little alpaca a slap on the back of the head.
“You Yan!” Yi Qiu gritted her teeth. “I’m going to be beaten stupid by you!”
“You?” You Yan lowered her gaze to look at the furry little alpaca by her side and chuckled lightly. “You’ve never been smart.”
Yi Qiu still wanted to say something, but then she saw You Yan turn and leave. For a moment, she could only mutter quietly to herself a couple of times and quickly chased after her.
On the way back, You Yan didn’t use any fast-traveling magic techniques, but just walked slowly and leisurely.
Yi Qiu followed by her side, and for some reason, she was in a very good mood. While stepping on the mud on the ground, she started humming ‘Catching Loaches’7, which she had often heard in her childhood.
You Yan listened in silence for a long time. Seeing that the little alpaca by her side was singing just those few lines over and over, she couldn’t help but speak up, “What song is this that’s so awful to listen to? Change to another one…”
“How is it awful!” Yi Qiu retorted, stiffening her neck. “This is, in my hometown, a very famous child… children’s rhyme!”
“Change to another one…” You Yan’s tone brooked no argument.
“Do you think you’re some overbearing CEO8? Even if you are, I’m not a jukebox!” Yi Qiu grumbled in her heart, yet she didn’t dare to slight this big villain in the slightest. For a moment, she could only tilt her head and fall into deep thought.
Unfortunately, although she had heard many songs in her daily life, she could only remember the melodies and not many of the lyrics.
The little alpaca thought and thought, but was stunned that she couldn’t think of a single song she could sing completely from beginning to end. So, she let out a light “humph” from her nose and opened her mouth to sing another children’s song.
“Calabash Brother9—Calabash Brother—seven flowers on one vine——”
“Wind blows and rain hits—not afraid at all——la—lalala——”
“Ding dang dang long dong dang dang Calabash Brother——ding dang dang long dong dang dang skills are great——”
“La——lala—la, Calabash……”
“Awful. Change to another one.” You Yan poked the little alpaca’s head with her fingertip.
Yi Qiu stopped in her tracks and said with dissatisfaction, “Don’t you bully a sheep too much! It’s just these two songs, take it or leave it!”
You Yan also stopped, looked at Yi Qiu, and pondered for a moment. Suddenly, she raised her eyebrows in a smile and said, “Then change back to the previous one.”
Yi Qiu felt a burst of fury10, turned around, and walked ahead, twisting her hips huffily. As she walked, she said, “My good mood is all gone, I’m not singing anymore!”
You Yan quickly caught up, pinched the back of Yi Qiu’s neck, and said, “You really are getting more and more audacious.”
Yi Qiu retorted, “You have a problem with that?”
“I have a problem with it!” You Yan smilingly pinched Yi Qiu’s little ear, lifting her head up slightly.
“Ah, it hurts, it hurts, let go, let go, let go!”
Yi Qiu whimpered and begged for mercy for a good while before You Yan finally let go of her ear.
She walked with her head buried in grievance for a good while before she listlessly opened her mouth once again.
This time, it was a listless version of ‘Catching Loaches’.
The pond, upon hearing it, would want to dry up and crack; the rain, upon hearing it, would want to cry; in the thin mud by the field, the loaches, upon hearing it, would all want to pass away on the spot.
This time, however, You Yan didn’t tell her to stop. She just listened quietly by the side for a good while, and as she listened, she even followed along and hummed a couple of lines.
Yi Qiu couldn’t help but be astonished.
She closed her mouth, raised her head, and looked at You Yan seriously for a long time.
Finally, You Yan also lowered her gaze to look at her, a smile in her eyes, no longer as ice-cold as she was at the beginning.
In just an instant, it seemed to surpass the scenery of all four seasons.
—If I can, I’ll just stay here.
—Stay by this bird woman’s side, and don’t let her be alone anymore.
Suddenly, such a thought flashed through the bottom of Yi Qiu’s heart.
So strong, so impossible for one to ignore.
Yi Qiu: “You…”
You Yan: “Why did you stop singing?”
Yi Qiu calmed down a little and remembered the main storyline that she could not avoid.
These past two days, she had been so preoccupied with being happy about You Yan’s change that she had almost forgotten that there was still a ‘sword’ hanging over her head that could fall at any moment.
But, the current You Yan, would she still go and harm Luo Mingyuan’s relatives?
She pondered for a moment, then suddenly blinked at You Yan, tilted her head, and, though extremely conflicted, asked with incomparable seriousness, “Master, your demon seed…”
“Threw it away,” You Yan interrupted.
“Ah…” Yi Qiu was instantly dumbfounded. “Threw… threw it where?”
You Yan said faintly, “I forgot. I found a cliff at the Xianlu Sect and just threw it away casually.”
“You, you…”
“What? You want to have a taste?” You Yan asked with a half-smile.
Yi Qiu shook her head repeatedly.
After a brief moment of awkwardness, she lowered her head and said in a small voice, “It’s good that you threw it away.”
It’s good that it was thrown away. Anyway, she didn’t want to see that scene from the original text at all; she didn’t at all hope for You Yan to change back into that cruel and heartless big villain who regarded everyone as a plaything in her palm.
But, but without the demon seed, can this plot still proceed?
If so, when the time comes, she will be erased by the system, right?
So, after she disappears, will the story of this world continue to develop freely, or will it be reset by the system back to the very beginning, to be rewritten from the start by a new transmigrator?
She couldn’t say, nor could she figure it out.
She clearly felt quite sad, yet she no longer had that much desire to struggle.
This was the second time she didn’t want to struggle.
This time, she just wanted to know roughly how much time she had left to live.
But the system just kept telling her, 【Host should not be so negative. There is hope everywhere, please do not give up searching!】
Hope? Where is there any hope?
The demon seed is gone!
That was the key item for triggering an important plot point!
Does this mean I have to reveal everything and have You Yan refine two more for me on the spot?
But she didn’t want to do that.
You Yan had already completely broken free from the shackles of the main storyline. She didn’t want to send You Yan back into that wretched main storyline just for the sake of her own life.
Furthermore, she didn’t feel that this one life of hers was worth the lives and deaths of two innocent human beings, and all the suffering the protagonist would endure afterwards.
Then let it be…
The end hasn’t arrived yet, and I can still live for now. It’s better to live each day as if it were the last; striving to be happy is good enough.
As Yi Qiu thought this, she couldn’t help but draw closer to You Yan’s side, her little head rubbing against the back of her hand with some reluctance.
You Yan didn’t say much, just like usual, she turned her hand over and rubbed the soft fur on her head, seeming very satisfied with the reaction the little alpaca was making at this moment.
【You Yan favorability +10】
Nine hundred and sixty…
Yi Qiu: “Hey!”
You Yan: “Is that how you address your master?”
“Mhm!” Yi Qiu hummed, raising her head to ask, “Can’t you just like me a little more?”
Hearing this, You Yan couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “And what would count as liking you a little more?”
“I don’t know how to say it. I want you… to like me a little more. It doesn’t need to be a lot, just a little more would be good.”
As Yi Qiu spoke, her gaze couldn’t help but become vacant. “Anyway, it’s just… it’s just short by a little. Not much more, not much less, just short by a little…”
She was about to leave, and she still hadn’t been able to stand before this bird woman as a person for even a single second.
From their first meeting to their separation, it was only ever the relationship between a master and a pet.
Just thinking about it feels so regrettable.
But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. At least if this world continues to exist after I leave, You Yan will only think that this alpaca suddenly became stupid, and won’t feel that she has lost a friend who she relied on and accompanied.
“Forget it, I’m not going to bicker with you about this,” Yi Qiu sniffled, turning her head to look elsewhere. “Anyway… anyway, I’ll always be obedient. If one day I’m suddenly not obedient, you can just go ahead and slaughter me.”
“I don’t need you to remind me.”
“You…”
Forget it, forget it. Looking at this bird woman’s attitude, even if I kick the bucket tomorrow, she wouldn’t shed a single tear.
Thinking this, Yi Qiu fiercely ‘flung’ her head out from under You Yan’s hand and walked away with the swagger of someone who disowns their own family11, her face a picture of anger.
The little alpaca made a decision—she was not going to pay attention to You Yan anymore.
At least not today.
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