Little Alpaca – Chapter 96

Volume 2: Fuzhu Huodou

The Bird Woman’s Foresight.

What’s it like to not have to prepare a single thing before a long journey, to have your companions already waiting downstairs, and to be able to just wake up, eat a meal, and hit the road?

As the person in question, Yi Qiu would like to state that she was now feeling nervous and apprehensive. She even kept asking her conscience what she had possibly done to deserve such treatment.

After putting down her bowl and spoon, Yi Qiu followed closely by You Yan’s side downstairs. She had expected to see her three “teammates,” but only saw Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao. There was no sign of Chao Yun.

Was Ju Mang¹, the Wood God of the Jade Sea Trio from the original novel, about to leave the main party now? Why did it feel like she was always acting alone, appearing like a spirit and vanishing like a ghost²? You almost never saw her around, except when she was cleaning up a mess.

“You didn’t call for Chao Yun?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help herself, leaning in to whisper in You Yan’s ear.

“Didn’t see her.” As You Yan spoke, she subconsciously dodged slightly to the side. Then, as if nothing had happened, she extended her index and middle fingers, gently pinched Yi Qiu’s nose, and pushed the little head that was practically glued to her ear back a bit.

Yi Qiu frowned and slapped You Yan’s hand away. She ran a few steps over to Jiang Yuyao’s side, then lifted her chin to point at Luo Mingyuan next to them and teased, “Little pig trotter, are your injuries healed? Why don’t you just rest up? It’s enough to have your Shijie³ come with us.”

“I won’t hold you back!” Luo Mingyuan said earnestly. “I know Shijie isn’t afraid of the Huodou’s heavenly fire, but that fire doesn’t seem to hurt me much either. I can be of help!”

“I was just kidding, you know. How could you hold us back? The one who holds everyone back the most is me!” Yi Qiu said, turning to glance at You Yan. Seeing that she wasn’t standing there mocking her, she continued, “Right, where’s Chao Yun? Hasn’t she always been very concerned about the Huodou’s whereabouts? Now that Xun Chi has been captured, why isn’t she coming with us to rescue him?”

“When Miss You came to find us, Chao Yun wasn’t in her room. But we left a letter before we departed, which she’ll definitely see when she returns. As long as we leave some marks along the way, she’ll be able to follow them and find us,” Jiang Yuyao said, turning her gaze to You Yan. “Miss You, since we have news of the Huodou, let’s get moving!”

You Yan gave a soft “mm” and walked ahead to lead the way.

The Huodou had been gone for a whole night. If it had gotten too far away, hadn’t gotten into a fight, and wasn’t deliberately releasing its spiritual breath, then even You Yan, who was exceptionally sensitive to it, probably wouldn’t be able to find it, right?

However, You Yan had always had her own way of calculating things. From last night to this morning, she had been incredibly calm—so calm that she had even gone back to the inn for a peaceful night’s sleep, only calling for Jiang Yuyao and Luo Mingyuan to set out after daybreak. This clearly showed she had prepared long ago and, at this moment, already had bamboo in her chest⁴.

But the thought that You Yan knew everything while she herself knew nothing made Yi Qiu feel utterly defeated.

She was clearly the one who had transmigrated into the book. She should be the one familiar with this world’s settings, knowledgeable about the characters’ personalities, and aware of the plot’s direction.

Yet now, she had become a little accessory clinging to the side of a villain who was carrying a head full of useless draft manuscripts and was in a perpetual state of confusion every day, just waiting for You Yan to clear up her doubts.

There really was no rhyme or reason in this world.

Following behind You Yan, the more Yi Qiu thought about it, the more curious she became. She couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, “You Yan, do you know where the Huodou is hiding?”

“Mm,” You Yan replied faintly.

“I knew it…” Yi Qiu muttered to herself, then pressed on, “How did you know?”

“I had Xun Chi hide one of my spiritual feathers⁵ on his person,” You Yan said with a smile.

“When?” Yi Qiu was astonished.

“Over half a month ago, I guess.”

Over half a month ago? That would be the night of the incident at Xianlu Sect.

That night, everyone was more or less injured and utterly exhausted. The descent from the mountain had been chaotic, yet You Yan had still managed to remember something like this.

Yi Qiu took a deep breath, unable to stop herself from sighing with admiration in her heart.

This bird woman truly was the female demon lord from 《Thin, Withered Branch》 who threw the three realms into chaos with soldiers’ blades not stained with blood⁶. Even if she wasn’t doing much evil anymore, her mind was still as meticulous as ever, having predicted so early on that the Huodou might come back for Xun Chi.

And then there was her, worrying about this and that every day but unable to come up with a single way to solve the problem.

Sigh, forget it. Those two hundred IQ points in my character stats must be fake. From now on, I’d better stop taxing my brain. As long as I follow You Yan, all problems will split as they meet the blade⁷ anyway.

As Yi Qiu was lost in thought, You Yan’s arm suddenly wrapped around her waist. Before she could react, You Yan had carried her up into the sky.

“We’re still in the city!” Yi Qiu yelped almost instantly.

A bird demon appearing in Moshui City so soon after Xianlu Sect was burned down—what a sensational event this would be in the mortal realm!

This bird woman was way too high-profile!

Just as Yi Qiu was marveling at this, she turned her head and saw Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao, who had already spread their wings and caught up to them.

The bird woman was a great demon lord, so it was one thing if she didn’t understand the rules of the mortal realm. But why were these two from an immortal sect being so willful?

Yi Qiu frowned in confusion and subconsciously glanced down. Only then did she realize that the bustling crowds in the city below hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

You Yan must have used some kind of concealment spell⁸, protecting Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao as well, so that not a single person had discovered them.

She just didn’t know how much of You Yan’s spiritual power this would consume… hopefully, it was just a common, simple spell.

With this in mind, Yi Qiu subconsciously tightened her arms around You Yan, as if hugging her tighter could somehow help You Yan conserve a little spiritual power—which, of course, was impossible.

You Yan flew southwest. Along the way, Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao would occasionally land on the ground to find a conspicuous boulder or tree and leave a mark or two for Chao Yun to find them later.

As they traveled, the air around them gradually grew hotter and drier, just like that day they went to Wuzhou. The neighboring towns and villages clearly weren’t that hot, but that one place was particularly special.

Thinking back now, the heat she felt upon seeing the Huodou last night wasn’t a delusion. That little hot dog really did make it hot wherever it went; it was basically a walking, blackened sun.

In the blink of an eye, it was afternoon. The autumn sun was high in the sky, so bright that Yi Qiu couldn’t open her eyes and simply decided to keep them closed.

But it wasn’t long before You Yan descended from the sky and landed back on the ground. The moment her feet touched the earth, the pair of dark red wings behind her dissipated.

After landing, Yi Qiu opened her eyes, slipped out of You Yan’s embrace, and looked around, tilting her head and turning in a circle.

They were in a dense, remote mountain forest. The thick canopy of trees provided layers of shade from the scorching sun, and a crystal-clear stream flowed slowly down from the mountainside. It should have been a cool and refreshing place by all accounts, but because of that little hot dog, it had become incredibly muggy.

Luo Mingyuan and Jiang Yuyao followed them down. When they landed, Jiang Yuyao’s cheeks were noticeably flushed.

Yi Qiu saw at a glance that something was off and couldn’t help but look at Jiang Yuyao with a knowing smile.

Jiang Yuyao met Yi Qiu’s scrutinizing gaze and frowned in a fluster, her eyes darting away. “I—I can’t sense the Huodou’s demonic aura, but the temperature here is getting higher and higher… What about you guys?”

Luo Mingyuan scratched behind his ear. “It, it really is…”

“She’s in these mountains. There should be a barrier around. Everyone be careful,” You Yan said, walking slowly forward.

“I’m really scared she’s going to burn this whole place down with a single fire…” Yi Qiu muttered, quickly catching up to You Yan. “You Yan, when we find the little hot dog later, it’d be best if we can talk things out. Let’s not fight if we can help it. There are way too many flammable things here. If a fire really starts, I’m afraid it’ll be just like Snake Mountain two thousand years ago—gone in an instant…”

“Two thousand years ago, Snake Mountain?” Jiang Yuyao couldn’t help asking curiously. “Yi Qiu, the Snake Mountain you’re talking about, is that the place where the Yi bird lives? The… the one that injured my Shidi⁹?”

Yi Qiu nodded. “Yeah. Two thousand years ago, the Huodou burned that place down. It committed a great crime, you know.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yuyao frowned. “If the Huodou once burned down Snake Mountain, why would it be used by the Yi bird? Shouldn’t there be a grudge between them?”

“From what I can tell, that Yi bird doesn’t care one bit about the grudge from back then. After all, if it weren’t for that fire, she never would have met…” Yi Qiu’s words trailed off as she suddenly realized that saying this would be very disadvantageous for Chao Yun. She hesitated for a long while before finally continuing under the curious gazes of Jiang Yuyao and Luo Mingyuan, “Anyway, without that great fire, she never would have become the Goddess of Snake Mountain she is today.”

“What do you mean?” Luo Mingyuan asked, confused.

“Well, because the Yi bird lost her home, she lived in the Heavenly Realm’s Jade Sea for a few hundred years and got stained with a bit of divine power. So when she returned to Snake Mountain, the mountain’s spirits and demons regarded her as a goddess…”

As Yi Qiu spoke, You Yan, who had been silent for a long time, unconsciously turned her gaze toward her.

“Jade Sea?” The confusion in Luo Mingyuan’s eyes deepened.

Yi Qiu pouted and waved her hand. “Stop asking, stop asking. It’s nothing important anyway. Whether there’s a grudge between the Yi bird and the Huodou or not, the Huodou was used by the Yi bird! It’s useless for us to worry about that now. We should hurry up and find the Huodou and rescue Xun Chi and Fuzhu.”

As she spoke, she suddenly saw You Yan stop and raise a hand to shield her.

“What’s wrong?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help but tense up.

She looked up and saw that all the plants, mountains, and water before her were gradually distorting and blurring.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Yuyao drew her sword, her gaze instantly becoming vigilant.

“A barrier,” You Yan said. After a moment of thought, she added, “It’s not the Huodou. It’s Xun Chi.”

Hearing this, Yi Qiu let out a breath of relief.

No wonder this feeling was somewhat familiar. It turned out this was no longer the original mountain forest, but a realm within a painting.

Realizing this, Yi Qiu quickly stopped Jiang Yuyao, who was about to break the barrier.

“Xun Chi won’t hurt anyone. He’s trying to tell us something!”

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