Little Alpaca – Chapter 75

Volume 2: Fuzhu Huodou

Farewell. Don’t miss me.

Everything You Yan had said never appeared in the original text of 《Thin, Withered Branch》.

Also never appearing were the seal in Wuzhou and that terrifying, big black dog, the Huodou.

Yi Qiu felt more and more that as everything written in the novel was subverted bit by bit, this world was slowly becoming clearer before her eyes.

The text had mentioned that Goumang had saved You Yan three thousand years ago, but it never mentioned why.

You Yan should have died on the day she was born, but a deity saved her, which happened to fit this three-thousand-year timeline.

Goumang was the deity who bestowed upon You Yan the first sliver of hope and kindness, a fact You Yan always kept in her heart. That was why in the later plot, none of her plans ever harmed Goumang.

You Yan wasn’t cruel and heartless; it was just that no one in this world had ever treated her with kindness.

If there ever was any, it must have been that sliver of a seal and that one word of comfort from Goumang.

In truth, for the immensely powerful god of wood, it was merely a trivial, effortless act, yet You Yan held it in her heart and remembered it for a lifetime.

Unfortunately, such kindness was too scarce, not enough to redeem a heart that had been chilled to the bone.

You Yan had no grievance or enmity with the Golden Crow, but she detested the Heavenly Realm and its immortals and gods. That was why she had formulated such a cruel plan in her heart, sparing no effort to lure him step by step into the abyss and force him into a desperate situation.

She watched Fusang give up eternal reincarnation to become an earth-bound vengeful spirit¹, cursing the one she wrongly loved amidst endless suffering.

She watched the Golden Crow fall to the demonic path to save Fusang, not hesitating to make an enemy of his own father and ally himself with the ancient fierce beast, Fei², to slaughter the living beings of the world.

In an instant, the son of the Heavenly Emperor had become a demon. Those immortals and gods who once wished they could hunt down and exterminate all demons suddenly remembered the meaning of “duhua”³.

And all of this perfectly matched the question You Yan had thrown back at Yu Su in the text—”Don’t you think this is very interesting?”

This wasn’t interesting; it was revenge.

It was the revenge enacted upon this world by a desperate person who, after failing to obtain what she sought, found that her heart had no place to rest.

Perhaps this was the motive that most original readers, including Yi Qiu herself, could never figure out.

All of this was because, in a place untouched by words, the characters had quietly gained their own souls.

And she, holding onto her prejudice, had approached this soul step by step.

Only to finally discover the gentleness and loneliness from the depths of that soul.

—I don’t just like you that little bit.

How she wished she could tell her that she had truly… truly thought about giving up on going back, just staying here, always by her side.

But she had too many worries, so many that she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

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After a period of quiet recuperation, You Yan had recovered thirty to forty percent of her injuries, but there was still no news of the Huodou.

Then one day, Yi Qiu was gently patted awake from her floor mat by You Yan.

She cracked open an eyelid, gazing blearily at You Yan who was squatting beside her. She let out a few unconscious hums from her nose, as if asking what was happening.

“Get up. We’re leaving.”

“Hm? Leave… leave for where?” Yi Qiu tried her best to open her eyes, only then realizing it was still pitch black all around.

Clearly, she hadn’t been asleep for long, because the sky outside wasn’t even light yet.

“Eh?” She shot up from her pillow, her tired eyes filled with confusion.

“Leaving,” was the answer You Yan gave her.

How could she dare to disobey what You Yan said? She immediately rubbed her eyes, put on her outer shirt, shoes, and socks, tidied her messy hair with a bit of spiritual energy, and followed grumpily behind You Yan.

Because she was too sleepy, she even bumped into You Yan’s back.

You Yan: “…”

Yi Qiu: “Sorry!”

You Yan extended her index finger and tapped lightly on Yi Qiu’s temple. A surge of spiritual energy flowed in, and Yi Qiu instantly felt much more awake.

She followed You Yan out of the small courtyard. As they left, a waning crescent moon was still hanging in the sky, gradually slanting westward.

They left without a sound, not disturbing a single person still in their dreams.

Yi Qiu looked back blankly at the small courtyard in the distance where they had lived for some time and couldn’t help but frown and ask, “Are we just leaving like this? Without even saying goodbye to everyone…”

“I left a letter,” You Yan said.

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but be surprised for a moment, and this flicker of surprise did not escape You Yan’s gaze.

You Yan asked, “What kind of look is that?”

Yi Qiu pouted and said, “Just, just simple surprise is all… You actually know how to leave a letter for people?”

You Yan retorted, “Didn’t I leave one for you too?”

“Mhm, mhm.” Yi Qiu nodded her head for several seconds before looking up at You Yan with a smile. “So, what did you write?”

“Farewell. Don’t miss me,” You Yan said flatly.

“…” Is there any difference between that and not leaving one at all?

Yi Qiu let out a breath and said, “You really do cherish words like gold⁴.”

“What else?”

“We’ve been together for a while now. Before leaving, you should at least say where you plan to go, right?” Yi Qiu said, letting out a soft sigh. “Besides, we all released the Huodou together. Now that we’ve recovered from our injuries and are just leaving without any reason, I don’t know what they’ll think.”

“Why should I care what they think?” You Yan asked, perfectly self-righteous.

“Since you don’t care what they think, why couldn’t we leave during the day? And why couldn’t we say a proper goodbye before leaving?” Yi Qiu asked stubbornly.

You Yan fell into a momentary contemplation.

Yi Qiu watched You Yan think for a moment, then said, “You Yan, you just don’t know how to say goodbye to them, do you?”

“…”

“That day in the stone cave in Wuzhou, they heard your voice, saw your spiritual energy, and knew you were the bird demon who set the fire and hurt people… Actually, they could have left, but they still came back…” Yi Qiu said softly, chasing after You Yan’s side. “These past few days, they’ve been badly injured themselves, but they’ve been taking care of us, and… they never asked where we came from, nor did they care if we were human or demon.”

“…”

“You Yan, they see us as friends. You can’t possibly not know that,” Yi Qiu said, reaching out to tug on You Yan’s sleeve.

You Yan was silent for a moment, then said, “Treating everyone you meet as a friend, isn’t that foolish?”

Yi Qiu shrugged. “But there’s a saying in this world, ‘a fool has a fool’s fortune’!”

“Little Yi Qiu, you don’t understand.” You Yan’s eyelashes lowered slightly. She took a deep breath and shook her head. “Some people can’t be friends.”

“Why?”

“I told you that kid is a Three-legged Golden Crow, but I forgot to tell you that the girl with the surname Jiang is no ordinary person either—she is the heart-soul born of the divine Fusang tree. After one lifetime of tribulation, she will also return to the Jade Sea⁵ as a god.”

As she spoke, she reached out and messily ruffled the bangs on Yi Qiu’s forehead. “And me, a scourge hunted by the Heavenly Realm all the way to the Demon Realm… how could I possibly climb so high?”

Yi Qiu casually smoothed her ruffled hair, bit her lip, and said with dissatisfaction, “That’s not it at all!”

You Yan couldn’t help but glance down at Yi Qiu, a hint of surprise flickering in her eyes.

Yi Qiu gripped You Yan’s sleeve tightly, her expression serious as she frowned and corrected her, “The phrase ‘climb so high’ isn’t meant to be used here! Even if you’re going to have your mouth say one thing and your heart another⁶, you have to put it another way. Let me teach you—”

At this point, she cleared her throat, lowered her voice, and imitated You Yan’s tone, saying, “And I, as the venerable one of the Demon Realm who has been a headache for the Heavenly Realm for thousands of years, simply look down on those two little gods!”

You Yan couldn’t help but chuckle.

Seeing her laugh, Yi Qiu’s eyebrows also lifted. “How was that? Does it sound like something you would say?”

“You little silly sheep,” You Yan said, gently pinching Yi Qiu’s small face with her fingers.

“Hey!” Yi Qiu turned her face away, frowning fiercely. “I’m a person now, stop being so handsy all the time!”

Instead of listening, You Yan stopped in her tracks, turned to face Yi Qiu, and reached out with her other hand to pinch both cheeks at once.

The young girl’s skin was delicate, and her slightly baby-fatted face was cool and soft to the touch. As she pinched, the girl would grit her teeth, frown, and pout her little mouth, looking utterly adorable.

“Stop pinching! You’re gonna stretch my face out!” Yi Qiu grabbed You Yan’s wrists.

You Yan laughed, released her hands, and turned to continue walking forward.

Yi Qiu quickly caught up and asked curiously, “So where are we going now?”

“Back to the Demon Realm,” You Yan said.

“Ah?!” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but be astonished.

Going back to the Demon Realm now? What’s going on?

Is the main villain, who is supposed to be present throughout the entire story, really going to exit the stage early and retire from the Three Realms?

Then what’s going to happen to the main plotline?

Without her and You Yan’s participation, can the two protagonists defeat the vicious third female lead with just their protagonist’s halo⁷?

No, wait, the original was a BE novel. The protagonists were either being tormented or on their way to be tormented. What freaking protagonist’s halo could they possibly have!

If she didn’t keep a close eye on them, she really couldn’t rest easy…

“You… You Yan.” Yi Qiu looked up, only then realizing she had wrinkled You Yan’s sleeve from gripping it so tightly. “Are we really going back to the Demon Realm just like this?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a light laugh by her ear.

It was the kind of laugh the little alpaca was very familiar with, the kind the bird woman often made, as if to say, “You’re so stupid it’s cute.”

This bird woman was really bullying her at every possible moment.

“They are still mortals for now. Traveling with mortals is inconvenient, and if we run into danger again, I won’t be able to look after them,” You Yan said, then smiled at Yi Qiu. “When facing a difficult opponent, having one little burden like you by my side is already enough. I can’t have any more.”

“You mean… we’re going to look for the Huodou now?”

“I can’t be bothered with the Huodou’s affairs, but that person behind the scenes, who dared to plot against me like this…” As You Yan spoke, a hint of anger appeared in her eyes. “I will definitely drag him out.”

Yi Qiu looked up at her, her eyes curving into a smile.

The bird woman, she thought, was starting to have her mouth say one thing and her heart another again. She clearly wanted to help but was too embarrassed to say it directly.

Oh well, let her pretend. I won’t expose her this time.

“So You Yan, have you thought about where to look for the Huodou next?”

“Ao’an Mountain.”⁸

“Ao’an Mountain?” Yi Qiu’s eyes were full of astonishment.

What kind of place was this?

Why had she never heard of it?

Little Bird Coo Coo Fly, when you freaking⁹ created this world, just how many plot holes did you dig and not fill!

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The author has something to say:

Little Bird Coo Coo Fly: Just… a hundred million bits¹⁰? (A little uncertain.)

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