The Little Peacock Raises a Snake (GL) Chapter 26

It hurt so much, as if her organs were about to be burned to ash by fierce fire…
She was so tired. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and escape the whole world…
In a blur, someone seemed to bend down and rub her small head. That person’s brows curved, and her gaze was as gentle as a faraway dream.
“A-Yan, if something makes you too tired, then do not do it anymore. You do not need to be so harsh on yourself because of anyone’s gaze.”
Was that so…
She raised her eyes and looked at that white figure growing more and more blurred. Her eyes could not help reddening.
“But is what I care about really other people’s gazes?”
“The one I care about, the one I risk my life for, has always been you!”
She ran forward, almost crazed as she tried to catch up to that figure drifting farther away. But the hand she stretched out could only ever grab a blur of years long gone.
“Sister, why… why did you leave…”
In this world, aside from you, no one has ever given me the right to choose.
Actually, even if they let me choose, I would still risk everything to bring you back. But why did no one let me choose? They truly demanded too much of me. They clearly never trusted me, yet insisted on throwing every responsibility onto me.
Why, every time I came back defeated and covered in wounds, did no one ask whether I suffered, whether I was tired? They only cared about when I could bring you back.
Everyone cares about you.
What about me?
Aside from you, does anyone truly care about me?
I am so tired. Truly so tired.
Can you take me with you…
The white figure in the distance suddenly stopped. She turned back to look at the child she had left far behind and gently shook her head.
“Do you truly have no attachments left?”
If a person closes her eyes, can she not let go of everything?
“How hopeless must such a person feel toward this world?”
Could a person, someone so tired she closed her eyes, truly have no attachments anymore?
“Little Black…”
In a haze, a familiar voice seemed to call from far away, calling that familiar yet ugly name.
In this world, there was still someone who respected her choices and cared about her feelings…
That person was the little fool she had brought to her side with the most selfish and wicked thoughts, coaxed over with only a few simple sentences.
In the end, that little fool became the person in this world who cared about her the most.
Only, when that unbearable first purpose lost layer after layer of its protective colors, would the little fool who learned the whole truth still forgive her…
Sorry…
“Xiaoba, sorry…”
“Little Black!”
“Sorry…”
“Little Black!”
“It hurts!” Qu Linyan gritted her teeth and opened her eyes a crack.
Fu Xiaoba was shaking her body with both hands, looking excited and worried. Although her movements were very light, they still hurt enough for Qu Linyan to suck in a cold breath.
“Stop shaking. Stop shaking first…” Qu Linyan interrupted Fu Xiaoba’s murderous behavior with a terrible headache. She covered her chest and fell into blank thought.
This seemed to be a human inn. There was even some noise from the market outside the window.
What was going on…
She had clearly destroyed her inner core. When a demon lost her inner core, according to reason, her soul should soon scatter and never enter reincarnation again. Yet why had she opened her eyes now? Not only that, she could still sense that the inner core inside her body remained, and her cultivation had not been destroyed either. The reason she was extremely weak was only because her heavy injuries had not healed.
How could this be…
“Little Black, you finally woke up!” Fu Xiaoba drew back her hands. Her eyes were red as she sat sideways by the bed.
She had been resting nearby, but she suddenly heard Qu Linyan, who had been unconscious for so long, murmuring something. When she leaned closer to listen, she discovered it was “sorry.”
Sorry for what? She understood it all.
“I do not need you to say sorry. As long as you are all right, that is enough.”
“Xiaoba, I…”
“I know everything. No matter what you thought in the beginning, you changed your mind later, right?” Fu Xiaoba sniffed. She lifted the corner of her mouth and smiled through tears. “You said that if I was willing, then for the days to come, you would always protect me. I believed it. You have already lied to me once. If you still have a little conscience, you are not allowed to break your word again…”
“I…”
“This life of mine was always meant to pass through a love tribulation. Before, I did not understand why some people could be so foolish that they would wound themselves all over for one relationship. Now I understand a little…” As Fu Xiaoba spoke, tears fell one after another. “Before, Brother always said I had no heart and no lungs, and that aside from myself, I cared about nothing. If someone like me went through a love tribulation, I would probably become someone else’s tribulation. The one hurt and in pain could only be someone else… But I happened to meet you.”
“From the start, I wanted to live simply with you in the valley. In the dream, I could not resist teasing you… In the end, I did not want you to go through life and death alone. I did not want there to be no one to listen when you were sad. And I could not stand seeing you covered in wounds for me, almost dying…”
For a moment, Qu Linyan did not know how to respond. She only quietly looked back at Fu Xiaoba.
“Do you know? When you said you lied to me, when you said you had originally wanted to trade me for A-Qing’s life, I was so sad… I had never imagined that someone who was so good to me had only treated me as a sacrifice. I felt that I trusted you so much, so how could you lie to me like that?” Fu Xiaoba lightly bit her lip and smiled at herself. “But when I saw your soul scattering, I finally knew that every bit of joy and unwillingness in my heart was tied to you… If you were gone, then everything was gone.”
“At that moment, I finally discovered that some things truly are more important than life.”
Qu Linyan frowned in surprise. She suddenly noticed that Fu Xiaoba’s face looked very poor. Her heart tightened, and an uneasy thought rose. She gripped Fu Xiaoba’s hands hard. “You… what did you do? Why am I fine?”
Fu Xiaoba shook her head. Her eyes were red, and she did not speak.
Qu Linyan hesitated for a moment. While Fu Xiaoba was not paying attention, she reached out and pulled open the front of Fu Xiaoba’s robe.
Fu Xiaoba almost instantly retreated several steps. She hurriedly clutched the loosened front of her robe, her eyes avoiding Qu Linyan a little.
But in that brief instant, Qu Linyan saw the bandage under Fu Xiaoba’s clothes, faintly stained red.
It was extremely close to the heart.
“What foolish thing did you do!” Qu Linyan wanted to get up and go to her, but the moment she moved, she began coughing heavily. It pulled at her organs and hurt so badly she nearly fell from the bed.
Fu Xiaoba was frightened and quickly stepped forward to support Qu Linyan. But in that instant, Qu Linyan tightly grabbed her wrist.
“What foolish thing did you do!”
It was still the same question, but beneath the anger, there was more worry and heartache.
Fu Xiaoba raised her eyes and saw that Qu Linyan’s eyes were bloodshot. When Fu Xiaoba lowered her gaze, she felt that the hands gripping her wrist seemed to be trembling slightly.
“I am fine,” Fu Xiaoba said timidly. “I only… only felt a little pain. After that, I fainted. When I woke, Miss Shen had been taking care of us…”
“If something happened to you, what would I do?” Qu Linyan gritted out. “I risked my life to save you, not so you could give your life back to me!”
“I really am fine…” Fu Xiaoba said softly. “Look, am I not perfectly all right?”
“What if?” Qu Linyan frowned at Fu Xiaoba.
This fool had truly dug out heart blood for her.
In heaven and earth, all things balanced gain and loss. Life was so heavy. How could it be exchanged so easily?
She suddenly felt afraid. Afraid that Fu Xiaoba was only holding on with one last breath to say goodbye. Afraid that if she loosened her hand, Fu Xiaoba would vanish before her eyes.
After a moment of panic, Qu Linyan used spiritual power to check Fu Xiaoba’s spiritual aura. Aside from being a little weak, everything was normal. Only then did the huge stone in her heart barely fall.
She raised her head and stared blankly at Fu Xiaoba for a long time. She could not help asking, “If it truly meant trading your life for mine, would it be worth it?”
“What about you?” Fu Xiaoba asked. “When you destroyed your inner core, what were you thinking?”
“I did not think much… I saw you running toward me. I saw you were hurt…”
“I was the same.” Fu Xiaoba narrowed her eyes and smiled. “I did not think much. There was only one thought in my heart: you could not die. Even if I had to use my life to trade, I had to bring you back.”
Qu Linyan choked up. Enduring the pain, she pulled Fu Xiaoba into her arms and held her for a long time, unwilling to let go.
“Xiaoba, I am sorry. I lied to you at the start… But I regretted it. I am selfish and cruel. I do not care about sacrificing anyone, yet only you, I cannot bear to hurt…”
“Even if you lied to me, I was willing.” Fu Xiaoba gently stroked her back. “This life of mine was always meant to pass through tribulation. If you truly are my tribulation, then I cannot escape it. I only have this one life anyway. So what if I give it to you?”
Qu Linyan let Fu Xiaoba go and gently held her shoulders. Like a stubborn child, she shook her head. “What do you mean, cannot escape? I do not want your life. I only want you to stay by my side!”
“What if the tribulation is decided by heaven?”
“Immortals and gods cannot manage the fate of demons and devils. Even if they could…” Qu Linyan answered with complete firmness. “I do not care what love tribulation or killing tribulation it is. Since you followed me, I will not let you suffer that tribulation!”
When Fu Xiaoba heard this, her face lit up with a smile. “Then I will not become an immortal. I will follow you and be a demon!”
After saying this, she suddenly saw Qu Linyan slowly lean closer without being able to stop herself. Fu Xiaoba’s cheeks heated at once. She instinctively closed her eyes and leaned forward a little to cooperate.
That warm breath came closer and closer, making her own breathing turn quick.
Suddenly, the door creaked.
Fu Xiaoba quickly sat upright and turned with a bright red face to look behind her. Miss Shen stood at the door, holding wound medicine and clean bandages, her expression awkward.
“It seems I came at the wrong time?” Miss Shen said. She entered, placed the wooden tray in her hands down, and turned to leave.
Qu Linyan returned to herself and hurriedly said, “Miss Shen, you came at just the right time. There is something I do not understand, and I want to ask you.”
Miss Shen hesitated and looked back at the two behind her. Then she turned and sat by the table. “What is it?”
“What happened after I fainted that day?”
“Xiaoba saved you.” As Miss Shen spoke, she glanced at Fu Xiaoba and smiled faintly. “The phoenix clan bloodline is truly mysterious.”
Her smile was somewhat pale, and her gaze was full of exhaustion.
Qu Linyan thought for a moment. “But you should know that returning the dead to life goes against heaven. Gain and loss in the world have fixed measures. If it is not a life for a life, even phoenix clan blood cannot save…”
“That day, you were only badly injured. You were not dead. Naturally, Xiaoba did not need to drain all the blood from her heart,” Miss Shen said.
Qu Linyan was confused. “But my inner core had clearly shattered.”
Miss Shen said, “Was it not stuck back together in time by Xiaoba?”
“This… this can be stuck back together?”
“What else? Are the two of you not both fine?” Miss Shen asked back. “Surely you do not think that aside from Xiaoba, some incredible immortal or god came to save you?”
That was impossible.
Five hundred years ago, Qu Linyan had broken into the heavenly court. Five hundred years later, she had also abducted the phoenix clan fairy who had descended to pass through tribulation. Between her and the heavenly realm, there was certainly old hatred and new resentment. Even if there truly was some immortal better at saving people than the phoenix clan bloodline, they would not save her. They would not even be able to stab her again fast enough.
Qu Linyan was full of confusion and turned to look at Fu Xiaoba.
Fu Xiaoba’s eyes were even more blank than hers. “Do not ask me. I do not know anything…”
That day, she had only stabbed herself, and then… it seemed she hurt so much she fainted.
After that, what exactly happened? She truly did not know.