Little Alpaca – Chapter 84

Volume 2: Fuzhu Huodou

My little dumb sheep likes to listen to your music.

In the world of 《Thin, Withered Branch》, all living things possess their own unique spiritual breath¹, an innate quality that is difficult to change.

Those with high cultivation levels can mask their own spiritual breath to hide their identity, and they can also release it over great distances to inform others of their current location.

You Yan had survived in the Demon Realm for over two thousand years. The original novel once mentioned that the Demon Realm was a place where the weak are meat for the strong to eat to the extent that one could lose their life even while sleeping. Because of this, she was extremely sensitive to spiritual breath; even from a thousand miles away, she could sense abnormalities that others would find imperceptible.

Did You Yan suddenly change course and rush toward Moshui City because she sensed the presence of Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao?

But if she had merely sensed their presence, why would her expression be so grave right now?

No matter how you looked at it, this seemed like trouble.

“Baocai², could you please check if the protagonists are okay?”

【Jiang Yuyao: Emotional Index – Abnormal. Physical Status – Injuries unhealed.】

【Luo Mingyuan: Emotional Index – Abnormal. Physical Status – Injuries unhealed.】

Emotional index abnormal?

Something really had happened in Moshui City!

Fortunately, the physical status for both was just “injuries unhealed,” which had been the case before she left. As long as it didn’t say their injuries had worsened, it at least meant neither of them had been hurt a second time.

“Baocai, can you send the protagonists’ location?”

【They left Xi City last night and are currently en route to Moshui City. At full flight speed, their estimated time of arrival is the hour of Xu³ today.】

Well, I’ll be damned. This seemingly useless piece of junk system can actually locate the protagonists. I won’t have to worry about finding them in the future.

“Then what time will we arrive?”

【Estimated time of arrival is the hour of Xu today.】

Both at the hour of Xu. That would be around the time the sky was just about to turn dark.

The system just said “at full flight speed.” Did that mean, in order to rush back to Moshui City, that little pig trotter who had always loathed his half-demon identity didn’t even hesitate to reveal his half-demon form?

What on earth could be happening to make them rush back so urgently?

“Baocai, would it be convenient to tell me what the next plot point is?”

【This is an important plot point. The host is requested to explore it on her own.】

Yi Qiu: “…”

It was fine. She was used to it. This system only ever said that one line.

Thinking on the bright side, it wasn’t a complete non-answer. At least when she asked “what will happen next,” the system’s response was “important plot point.”

How important was “important”? Were there any usable clues in the already-derailed original novel?

Moshui City, Moshui City…

In the original novel, after Jiang Yuyao left Moshui City burdened with guilt, she wandered far and wide, too ashamed to return home.

Later, she did go back once, and only once.

Because that one time, Yi Bird Yu Su led the demon hordes of Snake Mountain to destroy the Cloud Bridge, slaughtering everyone from the Xianlu Sect until none remained, and put to the torch⁴.

On that day, Luo Mingyuan, who had long since thrown in his lot with demons, arrived a step too late. He failed to save a single person and was instead discovered by Jiang Yuyao, leaving him in a situation where a hundred mouths could not argue his case⁵.

And that great fire awakened the dormant power of Fusang within Jiang Yuyao’s body. Along with a heart full of hatred, it grew like a giant tree, erasing all the hope she held for Luo Mingyuan in her heart.

Back then, the comment section for that chapter had exploded.

–Big pig trotter, you didn’t believe her back then, and now she doesn’t believe you! Serves you right, go to the crematorium!

–Is there something wrong with this female lead’s brain? When she was misunderstood by the male lead, she was so heartbroken, complaining every day that he never tried to put his heart in her place⁶. Now that she’s the one misunderstanding him, isn’t she just like: “Stop talking! I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I won’t listen! I won’t believe a single word you say!” These two have zero trust in each other. They don’t deserve a HE. Just let it be a BE. Reading this makes my fire is rising three zhang high⁷!

–You Yan and Yu Su are disgusting. When are they going to die?

–TMD!⁸ Where’s my forty-meter-long saber?

Overall, there were those who supported the female lead’s blackening⁹ and looked forward to the male lead chasing his wife to the crematorium¹⁰; there were those who cursed the female lead for not using her brain and hoped the two would never get a happy ending; and of course, there was no shortage of people cursing the villains, as well as a bunch of people brandishing long sabers.

Undoubtedly, this plot point should have occurred much later in the original novel.

It couldn’t possibly be happening now, right?

As Yi Qiu thought this, she couldn’t help but ask You Yan, “You Yan, did something happen in Moshui City?”

“The Huodou went to Moshui City,” You Yan replied.

“The Huodou?” Yi Qiu exclaimed in shock. “Why would it go to Moshui City?”

It wasn’t Yi Bird, but the Huodou? Then it seemed the plot point of the Xianlu Sect’s destruction hadn’t arrived yet…

That made sense. There were no longer any messy misunderstandings between Jiang Yuyao and Luo Mingyuan, so what was the point of this plot point even existing? It had probably vanished along with the changes to the storyline.

But… what was the Huodou doing in Moshui City? Was it going to burn the city down?

Yi Qiu’s mind went blank.

She suddenly remembered the Snake Mountain in Jian Li’s memory, a barren wasteland after a great fire…

Moshui City wasn’t exactly prosperous, but it was home to so many ordinary humans. She had stayed at an inn there, eaten at its restaurants. There were children who would chase after her to pet her fur, and there was the kind-hearted doctor at the medical hall…

“You Yan!” She unconsciously gripped You Yan’s sleeve.

She was suddenly terrified, afraid that by the time she arrived, she would only see a Moshui City swallowed by a sea of flames.

Seeing Yi Qiu’s anxious expression, You Yan couldn’t help but comfort her, “I’m here. Don’t be afraid.”

“Mm…” Yi Qiu nodded, her brow furrowed.

That day, You Yan flew incredibly fast, so fast that Jian Li and Xun Chi were left far behind.

As the evening sun sank below the horizon, Yi Qiu saw a column of thick smoke in the distance, and her heart clenched. “Moshui City… is it gone?”

“No,” You Yan said, frowning. “That’s the mountain peak. It’s the Xianlu Sect.”

“The Xianlu Sect?!” Yi Qiu’s heart skipped a beat. Only then did she dare to believe that the plotline from the later stages of the original novel had truly been moved up.

Only this time, the perpetrator wasn’t the vicious third female lead, but a fierce beast, the Huodou, who had never even appeared in the original novel.

The Huodou wouldn’t attack the Xianlu Sect for no reason. That day, Yi Bird had lured the Huodou away from Wuzhou; they must have struck some kind of deal for the Huodou to come here and do Yi Bird’s bidding.

If that was the case, then this plot point wasn’t too different from the original’s trajectory. Both were initiated by Yi Bird, and both involved setting a mountain on fire.

This Yi Bird was a real crazy psycho¹¹. Back then, the Huodou burned her mountain, so now she was going to burn someone else’s. It was exactly as written in the original novel—vicious beyond redemption!

At You Yan’s speed, it didn’t take long to fly from the first sight of smoke to the Xianlu Sect. Fearing that Yi Qiu would be burned by the heatwave from the Heavenly Fire, she used her magical arts to place the dark red feather cloak¹² directly onto Yi Qiu.

The moment the feather cloak settled on her, Yi Qiu clearly felt the surrounding heatwaves were no longer so fatally scorching.

Yi Qiu suddenly worried that You Yan would be injured again because of this. “You Yan, you gave this to me, what about you…”

You Yan cut her off. “Wear it properly if you don’t want to be cooked. This fire is much bigger than the one in Wuzhou.”

Hearing this, Yi Qiu swallowed nervously and quickly clutched the collar of the cloak—in this world, there was absolutely no alpaca who wanted to be roasted by a big black dog.

By the time You Yan neared the mountain peak, the Xianlu Sect was already engulfed in a great fire. The Heavenly Fire was difficult to extinguish, and the sect members had all given up on trying to douse it with water.

Looking down from above, the enormous Huodou was currently sprawled across the trial platform of the Xiyun Pool in Changqing Pavilion, looking as if it were sleeping as it let out a fiery yawn.

The Xiyun Pool, originally shrouded in cold mist, had now been completely evaporated by the Heavenly Fire.

The surrounding buildings and vegetation had been burned to ashes, yet the flames on the ground had not died out. Just like that day in the stone cavern in Wuzhou, even though there was nothing left to burn, a sea of fire still raged.

The power of the Heavenly Fire was astonishing. Forget extinguishing it, for mortals, even stopping its spread was a vain hope.

For a time, the Three Revered Ones¹³ had no choice but to lead the sect disciples in a retreat toward the Cloud Bridge.

But the Cloud Bridge was, in the end, broken. The two ends of the cliff were too far apart; even the best qinggong¹⁴ was useless.

Their path to survival, just as written in the novel, was cut off on this very bridge built by the Xianlu Sect’s founder—ahead lay a bottomless chasm, and behind them, the encroaching sea of fire. Although they were spared the slaughter by Snake Mountain’s demons, they were still trapped with nowhere to run.

The setting sun disappeared, taking the evening glow with it, yet the world remained blindingly bright with firelight.

The disciples of the Xianlu Sect with lower cultivation levels couldn’t withstand the power of the Heavenly Fire at all. Now, only the Three Revered Ones and a few disciples with higher cultivation could struggle to maintain a precarious defensive line in the sea of fire for the people behind them.

Suddenly, someone spotted You Yan.

“A bird demon! It’s a bird demon!”

They screamed in terror, their voices filled with despair, yet their survival instincts made them tighten their grips on their magical artifacts.

You Yan snorted coldly, her eyes filled with disdain. She erected a spiritual power barrier and swooped down toward the panicked members of the Xianlu Sect.

Jiang Xuan, who was using his sword qi to hold back the fire, couldn’t help but frown. He turned to fight her to the death, but before he could even make a move, a blast of energy knocked the spirit sword from his hand.

In the next second, You Yan’s toes tapped the ground. She gathered spiritual power in her right hand, raised it, and then pressed down. A dark green spiritual light instantly pulsed in all directions, and the raging inferno was pushed back several meters in an instant.

After a brief silence, someone came to their senses and called out a name.

“Bai Jianyou!”

“She’s the Miss Bai that Jiang-shijie brought back!”

They remained terrified and helpless, unable to tell if the “demon” who had temporarily pushed back the fire was friend or foe.

Yi Qiu jumped down from You Yan’s back and said, “Everyone, don’t be afraid! We are Jiang…”

“Quiet.” You Yan interrupted Yi Qiu’s unfinished sentence, turned, and walked to the side of Chu Tinglan, stating flatly, “I can save you.”

“…You Yan?” Yi Qiu was taken aback.

The music from Chu Tinglan’s fingertips faltered. After a short pause, he couldn’t help but ask, “What do you mean?”

“The Heavenly Fire is incinerating the mountain; I am powerless to stop it. The Cloud Bridge is now broken, and this place will soon be lost. Time is limited, not enough for me to make multiple trips.” As You Yan spoke, she glanced around before continuing, “I can save you, and you may also choose five others to leave with you.”

Conflict filled the chosen one’s eyes. He fell silent for a long time before asking with a frown, “Why me…”

“My little dumb sheep likes to listen to your music.”

Amidst the Heavenly Fire, You Yan stated a fact that sounded utterly absurd, yet her tone was as if she were speaking of a commonplace matter.

It was as if the lives and deaths of everyone else, when compared to this insignificant “liking,” were nothing more than a speck of ash after the great fire burned out.

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