Volume 1: Little Alpaca
Where is Your Home?
You Yan, leading the little alpaca who was sulking behind her, slowly walked all the way back into the city.
After entering the city, she continuously strolled idly back and forth on the streets. She went everywhere, but just did not return to the medical hall.
Yi Qiu had figured it out; You Yan was too lazy to go back and disturb the private world of the tree woman and the bird man, and planned to just wander around aimlessly outside, dragging it out for as late as she could.
Although she was having a fit of pique with You Yan, when it came to mealtime, she still had to eat something after all.
A person can refuse to bend the waist for five pecks of rice1, but she was not a person right now, just an alpaca, and an alpaca could not manage to not bend the waist for a meal.
Therefore, the little alpaca’s determination was not worth mentioning at all, just like the add chapter flags2 of certain pigeon authors3; just set up during the day, it could fall by night.
However, Yi Qiu was not without a bit of a temper. In order not to let You Yan think she was too easy to coax, while eating the food You Yan fed into her mouth, she was also furiously rolling her eyes at You Yan.
In the end, after You Yan finished wiping her mouth for her, she turned her head with a humph and a grunt and ran off.
By the time You Yan finished paying for the meal and walked out of the eating house4, her little alpaca was already surrounded by three children under the age of ten.
They were not even as tall as the little alpaca, yet they surrounded her, jumping and laughing, waving grass they had plucked from somewhere unknown by her mouth, while reaching out to touch the fur on her body, joyfully saying words like so soft, so comfortable, so cute.
Yi Qiu was feeling a bit embarrassed from being petted by these three little ones, and seeing You Yan walk out of the eating house, she hurriedly cast a pleading gaze in her direction.
You Yan walked to Yi Qiu’s side and said lightly: “Let’s go……”
Seeing the 「little sheep’s」 owner had arrived, the children subconsciously cleared a path. Seeing this, Yi Qiu hurriedly followed after You Yan’s footsteps.
The three children came chasing after them, skipping and jumping, and looked up at You Yan, their smiles full of childlike innocence.
“Jiejie! You are so beautiful!”
“You are also very cute.”
“Jiejie, jiejie, is this a big sheep?”
“It’s a little alpaca.”
“I’ve grown so big and never seen one! It’s so cute!”
“She is very stupid.”
“Jiejie, can we pet it some more?”
“Her temper is quite bad. When she’s unhappy, she will spit saliva at people.”
“Ah! It looks not very happy right now, is it about to spit at us?”
“Hard to say.”
I don’t know when it started, but You Yan, this bird woman, actually had the patience to talk with little butt children5 she didn’t know from the roadside.
Fine, talk all you want, but why do you have to keep picking on me, one moment saying I’m stupid, the next saying my temper is bad……
The former……
The former had a factual basis, and it wasn’t that she wouldn’t admit it, but the latter was absolute slander!
Yi Qiu swore to the heavens that she was definitely the best-tempered alpaca in the world. From a young age, she had received ideological and moral education about speaking with civility and establishing new customs6. Although she possessed a unique racial advantage, the number of times she had spat saliva was absolutely few enough to be counted on one’s fingers!
Thinking of this, the little alpaca couldn’t help but suppress her dissatisfaction and furiously grind her teeth.
Fortunately, the sky gradually darkened, and those three children did not follow beside You Yan for too long before they each ran back home.
Pedestrians on the road came and went in a hurry, as if everyone only had the fate7 of brushing past one another.
Yi Qiu followed continuously behind You Yan, as if by following forever like this, their fate would not be broken.
She saw You Yan walking ahead, but she suddenly stopped her steps, turned, and entered a rather clean inn8.
In the end, You Yan still didn’t plan on going back. After all, that medical hall only had two spare rooms for lodging, and the bird woman never liked to sleep with others.
Never mind people, even alpacas weren’t allowed……
How else could one say this bird woman was strange? She clearly only slept on half the bed, yet she insisted on making the little alpaca sleep on the floor.
Forget it, it’s fine once I get used to it. Anyway……
Anyway, there isn’t much time left.
Thinking like this, Yi Qiu drooped her head and followed You Yan into the inn.
That night, Yi Qiu didn’t say much, just hugged a pillow in low spirits, lying prone on her little floor bed.
She didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, only that when she woke up, the scented sachet she had taken off while bathing yesterday was once again back around her neck.
The scented sachet had been refilled with new spices; the fragrance was clear, quiet, and pleasant, not stuffy at all.
Yi Qiu raised her head and at a glance saw two porcelain bowls placed under the round table opposite the bed. Pressed beneath the bowls was a thin sheet of Xuan paper9.
Yi Qiu released the pillow she was hugging, gave her four little legs a good stretch, stood up, and walked toward the two porcelain bowls.
The porcelain bowl on the left held torn pieces of baked flatbread, and the porcelain bowl on the right was filled with milk.
On the paper pressed under the bowls, two lines of characters were written.
——I am going to see them. Come over after you finish eating.
Without even thinking, 「they」 had to be Jiang Yuyao and Luo Mingyuan.
The times have really changed; the big villain even knows to care about the male and female protagonists. If this were seen by those readers in the comment section who cry to the heavens and shout to the earth, I don’t know what they would think.
Yi Qiu lowered her head to drink a mouthful of milk. When she looked up, she couldn’t help but read You Yan’s note one more time, and the corners of her mouth suddenly and uncontrollably began to turn upward.
This bird woman, in the past, would always leave whenever she pleased, never caring if her little pet would be worried or afraid.
Now she actually knows to leave a note explaining her whereabouts.
“I’ll count you as having a conscience. Today, I’ll… temporarily not be angry with you, I guess.” Yi Qiu muttered in a low voice, burying her head to eat her breakfast.
Inside Ye’s Medical Hall, Doctor Ye was in the middle of a consultation with a patient, while a young apprentice at his side filled a prescription.
All of a sudden, a fluffy little alpaca rushed in impetuously from outside as if it were its own home, and dashed toward the rear courtyard in a flash.
As soon as Yi Qiu ran into the rear courtyard, she saw You Yan sitting at the stone table in the courtyard, drinking tea by herself.
You Yan noticed her gaze and also raised her eyes to look back at her.
Yi Qiu raised a smile and bounced waddlingly to You Yan’s side. Just as she was about to open her mouth to say hello, You Yan reached out and pressed down on the back of her neck.
“What are you doing, mmph……”
“I don’t feed you for one meal, and you get food all over your mouth!” You Yan’s brows knitted slightly as she took a clean silk handkerchief and began to wipe the little alpaca’s mouth.
The little alpaca frowned, her eyes wide as she glared at You Yan, her gaze filled with grievance.
Only after You Yan had used tea to wipe her little furry mouth clean did she secretly let out a 「humph」 and say: “I’m an alpaca, not a person. I don’t have hands!”
Hearing this, You Yan smiled and rubbed her fluffy head.
Yi Qiu pouted, glanced at the tightly shut door of Luo Mingyuan’s room, and asked in a low voice: “How is he? Is that little pig’s trotter any better?”
You Yan didn’t answer, merely asking in return: “Why do you always call him little pig’s trotter?”
“Big pig’s trotter, where I’m from, is a general term for unreliable, unfaithful men.” Yi Qiu said with a serious expression, “The big one is called big pig’s trotter, so the small one is naturally called little pig’s trotter.”
You Yan was silent for a long time before saying: “Where is your home?”
Yi Qiu was startled and only came back to her senses after a good while, saying in a low voice: “Why are you asking this?”
You Yan said lightly: “In case one day you especially want to go back, I can consider whether or not to accompany you.”
Yi Qiu shook her head and said: “You won’t be able to find it, and I can’t find it either……”
“In these Three Realms, there is no place I cannot go.”
“There definitely is.” Give me a break, you bird woman. In those domineering CEO novels, not a single one of the male domineering CEOs who said such things dared to enter the women’s restroom.
“There is not……” You Yan was very certain.
Yi Qiu couldn’t help but roll her eyes: “Fine, fine, fine, if you say there isn’t, there isn’t! But I really don’t remember where it is, and I came here inexplicably anyway……”
You Yan pondered for a moment, then said: “You can tell me when you remember.”
“Mm……” Yi Qiu nodded perfunctorily.
Just then, Jiang Yuyao walked out of Luo Mingyuan’s room carrying a tray of blood-soaked medicinal cloths.
The little alpaca instantly went up to her: “Jiang-guniang10, that little… is your shidi11 alright?”
“He’s doing well, he’s recovering very quickly.” Jiang Yuyao said, giving Yi Qiu a faint smile. “Luo-shidi told me that although you are a demon, you have followed Bai-guniang since you were young, are good-natured and kind, and never harm people. You are so clever; if you cultivate well, you will surely be able to achieve something in the future.”
“You don’t seem to have any prejudice against demons,” Yi Qiu said, looking up.
“You know, my shidi, he…” Jiang Yuyao lowered her gaze for a moment, then suddenly raised the corners of her lips and asked in return, “The Three Realms are vast. Of human, ghost, immortal, demon, god, and devil, what is good, and what is evil?”
“Demons and devils are evil, immortals and gods are good.” You Yan said in an ice-cold tone, “Haven’t the people of the world already divided good and evil perfectly clearly long ago?”
Hearing this, Jiang Yuyao shook her head. She said: “Demon spirits of the mortal dust12 can all cultivate to become immortals, and the immortals and gods in the heavens can also fall into demonhood. Right and wrong, good and evil, have only ever been in one’s heart. It is like the power in a person’s hands; when used to protect, it is good, and when used to destroy, it is evil.”
Yi Qiu subconsciously glanced at You Yan, only to see her with her eyes lowered, appearing perfectly calm. Not a single ripple of emotion could be seen on her face.
This time, however, You Yan did not respond to Jiang Yuyao.
After a brief silence, Jiang Yuyao prepared to leave with the wooden tray in her hands, but You Yan suddenly raised her eyes and asked: “When do you plan to send Luo Mingyuan back to the mountain?”
Jiang Yuyao’s steps faltered. After a moment of consideration, she turned back and said: “That bird demon’s whereabouts are still unknown, and no one in the sect cares whether Luo-shidi lives or dies. I will not send him back… When his injuries are healed, he will go out to gain experience with me.”
“He doesn’t have any skills to speak of.” You Yan said, taking a sip of tea as if it were nothing.
Jiang Yuyao turned back to look at You Yan, a hint of anger evident in her eyes, but it gradually faded after a brief silence.
She suddenly smiled and said with determination, “I am his shijie13. Shifu14 looks down on him, but I look up to him. Shifu won’t teach him, so I will. Everyone says he is useless, but I know he isn’t. He just… doesn’t want to become someone that everyone fears.”
You Yan closed her eyes, slowly took a long breath, and said no more.
Jiang Yuyao left quickly. When she returned, she didn’t give You Yan so much as a glance before walking straight into her own room, clearly not very happy.
After she had finished angering the person, You Yan still unhurriedly finished the tea in the pot.
Finally, she stood up and said lightly: “Let’s go. We are no longer needed here.”
“Are we going back to the Demon Realm?” Yi Qiu asked.
“You want to go back?” You Yan asked in return.
Yi Qiu thought for a moment, then tilted her head and replied: “Whatever you want……”
Anyway, the plot can’t proceed. Waiting for death here is the same as waiting for death anywhere else; there’s no difference.
You Yan thought for a moment, then said: “Then we won’t go back.”
“Eh?” A trace of surprise flashed in the little alpaca’s eyes. “Is there still something else to do?”
“The human realm is quite nice.” You Yan said, squinting her eyes as she looked at the sun.
I believe you, my foot! You definitely still want to stir up trouble!
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