Little Alpaca – Chapter 81

Volume 2: Fuzhu Huodou

There Is a Way.

It had to be said, the heavens were truly unfair to all living beings.

Some people were born powerful, some were born intelligent, some were born beautiful, and beyond them, there was an outrageous type of person who was born having taken all the good things, as if they wanted to crush the people of the world from all directions¹.

Undoubtedly, You Yan was just such a person.

Just a moment ago, when Yi Qiu saw Snake Mountain being incinerated and saw Gou Mang appear before Fuzhu after rescuing the Yi Bird, she felt her mind go completely blank.

Her head was clearly filled with so much information from 《Thin, Withered Branch》, yet she only felt as if she had touched upon the very edges and corners of the truth. Her entire mind was a chaotic mess, making it impossible to calm down and sort through her thoughts.

You Yan, on the other hand, had only seen Gou Mang and suddenly declared that she understood.

Yi Qiu was overcome with curiosity and quickly chased after You Yan, pestering her for a long time, but in the end, she only got a single sentence out of her.

You Yan: “On that day in the Wuzhou stone cavern, who was it that saved us?”

It was obvious from the intonation that this was not a question, but an answer—You Yan knew who had saved them that day, but she just wouldn’t say.

What kind of pass was she selling²!

“You Yan, if you’ve thought of something, just say it! Don’t make me guess, my brain doesn’t work well, and it’s not like this is the first day you’ve known that…” Yi Qiu grabbed You Yan’s wrist and shook it forcefully a few times, the three big words “desire for knowledge” written all over her eyes.

If she remembered correctly, 《Thin, Withered Branch》 had never mentioned Snake Mountain experiencing a devastating fire. Not only that, but the Snake Mountain in the original text was described as being full of life. How could it look like it had been through a heavenly fire?

A place burned by heavenly fire should be like Wuzhou, almost completely devoid of vegetation, right?

So, in the original setting that Little Bird Coo Coo Fly never got to write, what kind of role did the story of Fuzhu and Huodou play?

And what had You Yan suddenly understood? How was this understanding connected to the original novel?

The more Yi Qiu thought about these questions, the more her head ached.

So she made a decision. She didn’t want her face³ anymore. She admitted she was dumb. She wasn’t afraid of being laughed at by You Yan.

At this moment, she had no desire to think independently. She just wanted to copy the ready-made answer from You Yan.

But just as You Yan opened her mouth, seemingly about to voice the speculations in her heart, the scene within Xun Chi’s painting suddenly dispersed before their eyes like thick ink meeting water, like smoke and mist.

A strong light flashed, and Yi Qiu instinctively closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she and You Yan were back beside the Divine Deer Pond on Mount Ao’an.

The elegant and pure white deer stood up from the edge of the pond. A spiritual light, as soft and white as the moon, suddenly enveloped it. As the light gradually faded, a woman in white robes walked out from within it. Her features were refined and beautiful, her demeanor as gentle as the moon reflected in water. It was the same person from Xun Chi’s painting, the one who had gifted Yue Zhuo with years of tenderness.

“Later, she kept following my trail. I didn’t dare to meet her, so I could only hide everywhere. But I never expected that to force me to appear, she would first bring disaster to the mortal realm, and then set fire to Snake Mountain…” When Jian Li reached this point, she let out a bitter sigh, her eyes suppressing an unknown amount of guilt. She said, “In the end, we were the ones who sealed Yue Zhuo with our own hands… I fought with her at Wuzhou for a long time and was finally able to defeat her. Only then, with Xun Chi’s help, did I extract her Life Soul⁴ and seal her away for a long time.”

It was true. Everything was as You Yan had predicted. Two thousand years ago, the one who sealed Yue Zhuo in Wuzhou was not some stranger, but the very same Jian Li who had once held Yue Zhuo in the palm of her hand and cherished her.

And from then on, after that great battle, Wuzhou, which held Yue Zhuo’s seal, remained barren for two thousand years, gradually becoming the legendary land of misfortune scorched by heavenly fire.

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but frown. “Why didn’t you bring her back? Did you also feel her crimes were unforgivable?”

Before she finished speaking, she already knew she had asked a very stupid question.

Back then, Xun Chi had gone against the pressure from all the gods of the Celestial Realm to forcefully spare Huodou’s life. It wasn’t that gods couldn’t take in malevolent beasts, but not only had he failed to bind her with a blood-pact for control, but he also allowed her to break the seal within her body several hundred years later, shatter the Ao’an barrier, and return to the mortal realm once more.

Such a great crime was not something he could easily bear.

Jian Li said, “If there had been any other choice, we would not have done this.”

Xun Chi couldn’t bear to treat Yue Zhuo this way, and Jian Li couldn’t bear it even more.

But even if they hadn’t, the Celestial Realm would not have let Huodou go.

The incident back then had directly alarmed the Four Symbols Divine Beasts⁵ of the Celestial Realm. The moment Xun Chi received the news, he knew that if they wanted to save Yue Zhuo’s life, he and Jian Li would have to be the ones to go and “wear their crimes to establish merit⁶.”

He had hidden so much over the years; this one more time wouldn’t make a difference.

“At that time, I used half of my cultivation as a catalyst to allow Yue Zhuo’s Life Soul to leave her body safely. Xun Chi and I sealed that wisp of Life Soul in the Wuzhou stone cavern and set up a barrier to conceal its spiritual aura. If anyone were to wander in by mistake, they wouldn’t discover what was hidden inside…” As Jian Li spoke, a hint of exhaustion appeared in her eyes. “Although her Life Soul is sealed, Yue Zhuo is still alive. As long as the Life Soul is not destroyed, she will not die. It’s just… she has lost her memories and most of her magical power, and she cannot travel far from the place of her seal.”

Yi Qiu couldn’t help but think of the little black dog sleeping so peacefully in the stone cavern.

So that was Yue Zhuo without her Life Soul. She had forgotten everything. She was alive all this time, yet unable to leave that place.

“How is imprisoning her like this any different from killing her?” You Yan asked coldly.

“Perhaps it’s my selfishness. It was clearly me who gravely injured her every time, yet every time, I couldn’t bear to take her life,” Jian Li said with a bitter smile. “I have been searching for a way, a way to break the eternally incompatible fate between us, a way that would let me be with her forever… If I can find it, I will bring her home…”

Yi Qiu considered this seriously for a moment, then asked curiously, “You were able to sacrifice half of your cultivation for her, so you can’t just give up all of your power? If neither of you had your powers, wouldn’t you no longer be…”

You Yan interrupted her flatly, “A demon beast will die if it loses all of its power.”

Yi Qiu: “Sorry, pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Jian Li didn’t get angry, merely shaking her head with a smile. “It’s not that I’m unwilling to sacrifice for her. If she could be well, if she could stay here peacefully, never mind me leaving, I would be fine with dying. But, I was wrong in the end. I didn’t know…”

As she spoke, her eyes couldn’t help but turn red.

She didn’t know, and she had never imagined, that the Yue Zhuo who had finally become so lively and adorable would, upon losing her, revert to being the malevolent beast Huodou that brought chaos to the world.

If she had known this earlier, she would not have run away two thousand years ago.

“The me of today may not be a match for Yue Zhuo,” Jian Li said softly, a miserable smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “However, in the final analysis, I am the cause of all this. I will take responsibility to the very end… If, and I mean if, Yue Zhuo is defeated one day, I hope that the Demon Venerable⁷ will spare her life.”

You Yan fell silent for a moment.

“You Yan…” Yi Qiu gently tugged on the Demon Venerable’s sleeve, her eyes filled with pleading.

“What good would sparing her life do? You should know that besides you, no one can control that little dog,” You Yan said slowly, in no rush. “You cannot stay by her side. When her injuries heal, she will still bring disaster to the mortal realm. It makes no difference to me; the life and death of mortals have never had anything to do with me. If she truly startles the Four Symbols Divine Beasts, I wouldn’t mind watching from afar to see the legendary Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise.”

“…” Jian Li was at a loss for words, the light in her eyes dimming considerably.

Yi Qiu began to rack her brain, thinking back on the contents of the original novel, as if trying to find something in those million words of angst for the sake of angst, even if it could only help Jian Li a little.

But the original novel contained no information about Fuzhu and Huodou at all. It was likely that the plotline for these two malevolent beasts had been unceremoniously cut by Little Bird Coo Coo Fly not long after she opened the pit⁸.

Trying to help using the novel’s content was probably a lost cause. In that case, using chemistry knowledge, could there be a way to make water and fire compatible?

Yi Qiu suddenly grew frustrated.

Other people who transmigrate get to change the world using their knowledge from the future, but she could only sit here scratching her head, regretting not studying harder—how could she be so useless?!

“System…”

【I’m here.】

“Can water and fire really not be compatible?”

【Not necessarily.】

Eh?!

Yi Qiu’s eyes lit up. “Tell me more!”

【《Thin, Withered Branch》 is a xuanhuan⁹ world. In a xuanhuan world, there are too many settings that defy the laws of nature. Anything is possible.】

That’s right! Just cultivating immortality is already anti-Newtonian, so why can’t water and fire be compatible?

“Then is there a way that…”

【This is an important plot point. Host, please explore it on your own.】

“…” Yi Qiu took a deep breath and said, “I’m warning you, if you anger me to death, there will be no one to help you change the world. You, you have to give me another hint, just a little one, it won’t hurt!”

【The Golden Crow is of fire, the Fusang is of wood, yet the Golden Crow has never scorched the Fusang.】

“What does that mean?”

【Wuwu, I really can’t say any more QAQ】

Unbelievable. This treasure of a system was far too principled.

Why suddenly bring up the Golden Crow and the Fusang? They were the main characters; the author had put a stamp on it¹⁰ that they were a couple. Of course they wouldn’t have a destructive relationship. What did that have to do with Fuzhu and Huodou?

Yi Qiu scratched her head in confusion.

Seeing that she had messed up her hair, You Yan couldn’t help but reach out and tidy it for her.

Yi Qiu: “…”

There are too many things I can’t figure out. I’ll think about them slowly later. For now, I should solve the problem at hand.

Yi Qiu cleared her throat and straightened her posture.

However, the atmosphere had already become awkward.

After a long while, Jian Li sighed with a small laugh, looked up, and said, “Very well. The Demon Venerable need not spare her life. If there comes a day she must die, I only hope the Demon Venerable can send me on my way one step ahead of her.”

A trace of hesitation flashed in You Yan’s eyes. Just as she was about to speak, Yi Qiu cut in.

“That’s not a given. I have a way!” Yi Qiu said, raising a single finger.

Suddenly, three pairs of distinctly different gazes fell upon her in unison.

Xun Chi asked, “What way?”

“Uh…” Yi Qiu swallowed instinctively and stammered, “A way, there is a way, it’s just, it’s just rather troublesome… Let’s not talk about it first, let’s not talk about it, okay? Anyway, anyway there’s a way, don’t be so pessimistic… There’s a way, yes!”

The little alpaca demon said, cold sweat beading on her forehead.

According to the system’s hint, there should be a way, but relying solely on her intelligence, which was scorned by You Yan daily…

She didn’t know if she could figure it out.

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The author has something to say:

Honestly, are you all like Yi Qiu, feeling like your brains aren’t enough? It’s okay, take it slow and everything will become clear.

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