Little Alpaca – Chapter 73

Volume 2: Fuzhu Huodou

I want to know something.

The rain in Xi City¹ that day continued until nightfall before stopping.

Not long after the rain stopped, Jiang Yuyao knocked on the door from outside, calling You Yan and Yi Qiu out for a simple dinner, after which they went their separate ways.

That night, the candlestick in the room was extinguished early by You Yan.

As usual, You Yan lay on the inner side of the bed against the wall, her eyes lightly closed and her breathing even and steady. She appeared to be asleep.

Yi Qiu sat cross-legged on her floor bedding, gazing at the index finger of her right hand and carrying out the most basic form of cultivation² according to the method You Yan had casually mentioned once or twice.

A soft white spiritual light, as faint as a dandelion, flickered at her slender fingertip.

The next second, the spiritual light moved gracefully, following the direction of Yi Qiu’s finger. It slowly drifted to You Yan’s side and, like a prank, gently teased the loose strands of hair at her temple.

You Yan’s brow twitched slightly. An invisible protective spiritual aura pulsed outwards from within her, and the faint spiritual light instantly dissipated without a trace.

Yi Qiu pouted, sheepishly turned her head away, and played dumb.

“Not sleeping yet?”

“It’s still early,” Yi Qiu said in a small voice, condensing another small “dandelion” at her fingertip. “I’m working hard on cultivating,” she said earnestly.

“No need to waste your energy,” You Yan said flatly, without even opening her eyes.

Yi Qiu let out a low “humph.”

She could tell that You Yan was looking down on her, saying without any subtlety that no matter how much she cultivated, it would be useless. The weak are just weak.

But she wouldn’t listen. Next to You Yan, as long as I cover my ears, there is no sadness!

“I have to have some ability to protect myself,” Yi Qiu said stubbornly.

“I will protect you in this life.” You Yan’s tone was very calm. It was clearly a heavy promise, but coming from her mouth, it sounded as commonplace as eating and drinking.

True, this bird woman was always this confident.

But when Yi Qiu decided to tear her down, she didn’t hold back either: “I wonder who it was that, while covering a retreat for someone, nearly cut off her own life.”

You Yan said, “If not for the Blood Coagulation Pearl consuming too much of my spiritual power, what’s a little fire dog?”

Even without any loss of spiritual power, could a three-thousand-year-old little birdie really beat a ten-thousand-year-old big doggy?

Yi Qiu pouted, only muttering silently in her heart: “I’ll just quietly watch you put on your act.”³

But she wouldn’t dare say this out loud. After all, the Blood Coagulation Pearl was still inside her body, and You Yan was injured because of it. She had an inescapable responsibility.

Fortunately, there was a scare but no danger⁴…

Yi Qiu pondered for a moment, suddenly remembering something. She couldn’t help but scoot closer to the bed. With one hand propped on the bed supporting her chin, she reached out with the other and gently poked the back of You Yan’s hand with her index finger.

You Yan opened her eyes and turned to look at her.

In the dim room, they gazed at each other quietly.

Yi Qiu felt that it shouldn’t be her imagination; the pair of slender eyes before her were gradually growing warmer, no longer as cold as they were at the beginning.

“You Yan, can I ask a question?”

“No,” You Yan replied flatly.

Yi Qiu frowned and fell silent for a few seconds before saying stubbornly, “…I’m going to ask anyway.”

Hearing this, You Yan couldn’t help but curve her eyes and let out a soft laugh.

The laugh was so light it was almost inaudible, but to the teased Yi Qiu, it was somewhat piercing.

As expected, you can’t believe a single word the bird woman says.

“From now on, I’ll take your words to mean the opposite,” Yi Qiu muttered in a low voice, then frowned and said, “I want to ask you, very seriously. In your heart, the me from before… what, what was I to you?”

“The you from before?” A trace of surprise flashed in You Yan’s eyes.

Yi Qiu thought for a moment, then nodded. “The me from before, just… um, it should be, before I opened my spiritual intelligence.”

You Yan couldn’t help but fall into a silence.

Yi Qiu waited for a long while but still didn’t get an answer. She grew anxious and urged, “Say it, go on and tell me.”

“Stupid, especially stupid.” You Yan said, pausing slightly before continuing, “A little dummy.”

Hearing the word “stupid” three times, Yi Qiu’s first reaction was anger.

But just a second before getting angry, she suddenly realized something—the little dummy You Yan was scolding wasn’t her.

However, just as she breathed a sigh of relief, she suddenly felt that the term “little dummy” was mysteriously intimate.

You Yan always liked to use nicknames for her that started with “little.”

Little stupid sheep, little one, little dull horse, little Yi Qiu…

And, if she remembered correctly, You Yan had also called her a little dummy a few times.

It seemed this bird woman was quite fond of that alpaca with an IQ of twenty.

Yi Qiu pouted and asked, “So, do you… do you think the me from before was better, or is the me now better?”

“Why ask this all of a sudden?”

“Just… curious!”

“Is there any difference?” You Yan asked in return.

Yi Qiu was momentarily speechless, staring with wide eyes and an open mouth. It took her a long time to force out a sentence: “You really think there’s no difference?”

You Yan: “What do you think?”

Yi Qiu: “I…”

You Yan: “I say you are judged as if two people⁵, what do you think?”

Yi Qiu: “Huh? I…”

What did she think? Of course, she was starting to panic.

She swore to the heavens, she just wanted to ask You Yan if she liked the current her more than the old her, she didn’t mean to ask anything else!

First, I need to find a way to smooth this over…

“Uh, well… I think, after opening my spiritual intelligence, I really did change a lot. For example, I feel… I’ve become smarter. I really despise the old me that was so stupid and only knew how to eat grass.” Yi Qiu grinned, her face clearly written with the four big characters for “talking nonsense from eight directions.”⁶

However, You Yan just looked at her silently for a few seconds and smiled. “No, you’ve always been stupid.”

“…” What’s with this sudden urge to spit at her?

“If we’re talking about changes…” You Yan mused for a moment, then smiled faintly. “It should be that your temper is getting worse, your nerve is getting bolder, and your words and actions are becoming more and more presumptuous.”

“I…” Didn’t this bird woman realize at all that the little alpaca’s temper was getting worse entirely because she was provoking her?

“But it doesn’t matter. I can handle you,” You Yan added.

“Yes, yes, you’re the most amazing,” Yi Qiu was completely speechless.

This bird woman really didn’t leave the little alpaca any face at all!

After a brief moment of feeling down, Yi Qiu bit her lip and retreated back under the bed.

“I get it, you hate me,” she mumbled under her breath.

You Yan didn’t reply, simply closing her eyes.

Yi Qiu lay down, aggrieved. She reached out to pull over the thin blanket crumpled in the corner, turned her back to You Yan, and closed her eyes.

But just as she was about to fall asleep, You Yan’s voice suddenly came from behind her.

“You’re noisy and troublesome, foolish and stupid, but I don’t hate you.”

“…” After all that, only half a sentence was kind.

Yi Qiu pressed her lips together. The more she thought about it, the more she felt she couldn’t just keep giving in. So she grit her teeth and mumbled, “You’re not much better. You take yourself to be correct⁷, you’re fierce and mean, you’re overcast and clear, unfixed⁸, and your words are especially hurtful!”

After she finished, she waited for a moment. Hearing no movement from behind, she began to worry.

Normally, the bird woman would be threatening her with some passive-aggressive remarks by now, right?

Why is she so quiet today?

People say, the more someone cares about you, the greater the impact your words and actions have on them.

Could those words have broken the bird woman’s defenses⁹?

Sure enough, when friends bicker, one shouldn’t use the method of using a tooth to return a tooth…

Yi Qiu fretted for a while, but finally relented. “But don’t be sad. Although you, this ‘thing that ghosts worry to see’¹⁰, are really annoying, I… don’t hate you either.”

As soon as Yi Qiu’s words fell, she heard You Yan let out an extremely soft and short laugh.

It didn’t sound like her defenses were broken…

“What… what are you laughing at?”

“I can’t sleep.” You Yan didn’t answer her question, simply asking, “Sing a song for me.”

“Only ‘Catching Loaches’,” Yi Qiu thought to herself. Because the bird woman always bullies the little alpaca, she only deserves to hear this.

You Yan thought for a moment and said, “That’s not impossible.”

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but be surprised. “You don’t find it unpleasant anymore?”

You Yan: “Are you singing or not?”

Yi Qiu: “I can sing, but not for free.”

You Yan: “Sing first. When you’re done, just tell me what you want.”

Yi Qiu: “You said it.”

You Yan gave a soft “mm.”

Yi Qiu changed her position, lying flat on her back, and began to softly sing the children’s song from another world.

The young woman’s voice was as crisp as a wind chime, and the song’s melody was simple and light. It was late at night, and she was lying down, so her voice couldn’t fully open up, making it even gentler than usual.

After singing it once, she looked towards You Yan. “How was it?”

“One more time,” You Yan said softly, not in her usual commanding tone.

Yi Qiu thought for a moment, sat up, and muttered, “Not for free, okay,” before singing it again.

At the end, You Yan was silent for two seconds, then turned on her side and asked, “Speak. What do you want?”

Yi Qiu sat on the ground and raised the price¹¹. “I sang twice, you have to grant me two requests.”

“You really know how to use an abacus¹²,” You Yan said, not angry, just quietly gazing at the little demon before her.

Yi Qiu hugged her knees and rocked back and forth, contemplating for a long time before finally speaking, “I haven’t decided yet. I’ll tell you later.”

You Yan: “Past the time, I won’t wait.”¹³

Yi Qiu: “Hey! That’s too much!”

You Yan smiled. “You think you’re the only one who knows how to use an abacus?”

Yi Qiu pouted, resting her chin on her hands and thinking for a long while. Only then did she turn to You Yan and ask seriously, “Will you agree to whatever I say?”

“Mm.”

“Then… I want to know something,” Yi Qiu said in a small voice.

“What is it?”

“I want to know, between you and the Heavenly Realm… is there some kind of grudge?”

“What grudge could there be?” You Yan’s tone had clearly turned colder.

“Really none?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but ask again. “You can’t just brush off something you’ve promised. If there is one but you say there isn’t, you’re just placating me.”

You Yan fell into a long silence.

Yi Qiu waited for a while, and seeing that You Yan really didn’t want to answer, she couldn’t help but sigh. “Forget it if you don’t want to say it.”

“…There is.”

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