The Little Peacock Raises a Snake (GL) Chapter 30

The news that Qu Linyan had gone to Qixia Mountain to steal Coldwater and failed had long since spread back from the human realm. Everyone said Qu Linyan had fled badly injured, but no one knew where she had escaped to.
Some guessed the bird clan had secretly captured her but had not publicly dealt with her because they feared the flood dragon clan’s revenge. Others guessed she had not healed from her serious injuries and might have died in some forgotten corner.
Just like that, the great leader of the flood dragon clan had disappeared with her life or death unknown for a full half year. When she returned, she actually brought a little bird clan demon with low cultivation at her side.
Inside the deep underwater cave, smoky spiritual light flowed through the air, lighting the damp, cold stone walls and adding color to the stalactites of different lengths.
The white-clothed woman brought Qu Linyan to the barrier entrance of the meeting place. She looked at her with worry and said softly, “The clan elders seem somewhat emotional. You…”
“It is fine. I am emotional too.” Qu Linyan smiled and interrupted. “Thank you for taking Xiaoba back to my place to rest for a while.”
After saying this, she turned and stepped into the light gate before her.
…
The stone pillars in the cave were carved with lifelike coiled flood dragons. On the eastern wall, a high platform had been built of round stones. On the platform stood a chair of cold jade.
Below the platform, people were discussing heatedly.
“Xiangsi already offered the Dreamweaving Shuttle to the clan leader. The clan leader could easily hide her tracks. How could she be badly injured and missing for so long without sending back even a little news?”
“This time, the clan leader left the valley and angered the fox and bird clans, yet she did not bring back the spirit stone to save the former clan leader. Instead, she brought back a little bird clan demon. I fear she has become attached to the mortal world.”
“When will the clan leader understand priorities like the former clan leader did…”
The clan elders’ words left no face for her. Qu Linyan, who had once always been obedient and submissive, found this somewhat ironic. A mocking smile could not help curving her lips.
She quietly sat in the seat that had never truly belonged to her and looked coldly at those clanspeople who had always had the right to speak. She listened as they commented on her faults one sentence after another. Only after everyone had finished venting their dissatisfaction did she ask as if nothing had happened, “Are you done?”
Her tone was far too contemptuous and nothing like Qu Linyan’s usual manner. Hearing it, the clanspeople were briefly confused.
“You were also the ones who urged me to leave the valley this time. The bird clan has always been close with the fox clan. When you told me to go alone to steal their clan treasure, should you not have understood what consequences this act would bring?”
“Clan Leader, we do not mean to blame you for that.”
“Mm.” Qu Linyan answered casually, lazily yawned, and said, “No need to explain. I understand. After all these years, I truly have done nothing well. There is no need to deny that.”
When the elders heard this, they quickly gave Qu Linyan a way down. “Clan Leader need not belittle yourself. You are talented and clever. It is only that your temperament is lacking. As long as you calm your heart, your future achievements will certainly surpass the former clan leader’s.”
“No, no. I truly feel that relying on my strength alone will inevitably leave me powerless.” Qu Linyan said, “For example, this time when I left the valley. Since I was going to steal the bird clan treasure, then we must have already decided to offend the fox and bird clans, even the entire demon realm. So why did the elites of the clan not kill their way there with me? Why insist on sending me alone?”
“This…”
“It was like this five hundred years ago, and it is still like this five hundred years later. I fight alone, and I flee alone. This time, I was badly wounded and nearly died. Fortunately, that little wild demon saved me, and after endless hardship, I came back alive. Yet not one person cares about my injuries. All of you blame me for being useless when it matters.” As Qu Linyan spoke, her gaze turned cold and swept over every clan member before her. “You all call me clan leader, but who among you truly looks up to me?”
“A thousand years ago, Sister went to the human realm and never came back. Every one of you wants to save her. Every one of you wants me to save her. But has anyone thought about what happens if I cannot come back?” Qu Linyan smiled at herself. “If I cannot come back, I fear you all will start discussing who should take the clan leader’s seat next, right? After all, in your eyes, I am only a blade pointed wherever you tell it to strike. A puppet that should not have any thoughts of its own, yes?”
“Clan Leader, you cannot say such things carelessly!”
“No one would want to save me, would they?” Qu Linyan stood with her hands behind her back and said coldly, “My elder sister is mine to save. There is no need for others to urge me. And I have gone through life and death several times. I can count as having understood that I have never lived for myself in this life. From now on, I do not want to live for anyone else anymore.”
For a moment, the clanspeople all looked at one another.
“From now on, whether you obey me or not, I will only do what I want to do. No one has the right to force me again!” After Qu Linyan said this, her gaze was sharp and determined. Under the clanspeople’s surprised eyes, she slowly walked down from the high platform.
The clanspeople instinctively opened a path for her. For a time, no one made a sound.
Before Qu Linyan left, an elder suddenly said, “Clan Leader, there is one more matter… The fox clan sent people earlier and said… the clans of the demon realm are one body. Considering that the clan leader acted from urgency to save a person, there is reason to forgive you. They will not pursue the matter at Qixia Mountain.”
“The way those words are said, it sounds as if the flood dragon clan ever admitted the fox clan was honored above us in the demon realm. Am I supposed to thank the Fox King for raising his noble hand?” When Qu Linyan heard this, she looked back and smiled at that elder. “If you had not mentioned it, I would have forgotten. The flood dragon clan has made many enemies over the past thousand years, and every clan’s tolerance of us has grown lower and lower. I intend to rely on the devil clan. When you all have free time, weigh it in your hearts. If you do not agree, there is no need to tell me. Just leave on your own.”
“Clan Leader, this cannot be done. Gods and devils both look down on us demons. If we rely on devils, it is no different from living under another’s roof…”
“The demon realm has long stopped being the scattered sand it was two thousand years ago. No matter how strong one clan’s power is, there will eventually be a day when it must bow its head to the ruler of the demon realm. With that fox clan attitude, how long can we remain free?” Before Qu Linyan left, she said with some mockery, “Whose roof is not still a roof?”
If she insisted on keeping Fu Xiaoba by her side, then sooner or later, she would have to face the heavenly realm.
Even if the flood dragon clan relied on the fox clan like other clans, the fox clan would not fight the heavenly realm for her. Since it was reliance either way, the devil clan had given her a good enough promise. What reason did she have to look at the fox clan’s face?
Qu Linyan walked out of that oppressive place. Lowering her eyes, she saw Fu Xiaoba squatting by the wall nearby. When Fu Xiaoba heard her footsteps, she immediately lifted a pair of clear, bright eyes and blinked at her several times.
Qu Linyan crouched, took Fu Xiaoba’s hand, and asked softly, “Why are you squatting here? Did I not ask someone to take you back to rest first?”
Fu Xiaoba shook her head. “I wanted to wait for you and go back together.”
Qu Linyan’s brows immediately opened with a smile. The gloom in her heart seemed to be brushed away by this simple sentence. She gently pulled Fu Xiaoba up from the ground.
“Ah…” Fu Xiaoba had just stood when she unsteadily fell into Qu Linyan’s arms. She instinctively raised her head and showed a pair of innocent eyes, then pouted awkwardly. “My… legs went numb from squatting.”
“Do you want me to carry you back?” Qu Linyan asked.
“I can walk by myself!” Fu Xiaoba’s little face reddened. Half leaning against Qu Linyan, she reached down and rubbed her calves. But her feet were still so numb that she could barely feel them.
“I should carry you.” As Qu Linyan spoke, her arms used a little strength and lifted Fu Xiaoba. Then she turned and walked away.
The flood dragon clan’s bodies were always stronger than many other races. Great strength was natural to them. Qu Linyan had used blunt weapons like long maces since childhood. Carrying a thin woman was no problem at all.
Being carried by Qu Linyan like this, Fu Xiaoba’s entire body seemed to turn foolish. She stared blankly with wide eyes and instinctively hooked her arms around Qu Linyan’s neck.
“No one has ever carried me like this before.” She stared at Qu Linyan with wide eyes, her cheeks already bright red.
Hearing this, Qu Linyan raised her brow and said proudly, “Aside from me, if anyone dares carry you like this, I will take off their arms!”
At this point, Qu Linyan’s steps paused slightly. Her brows tightened for a moment, and she asked with strong jealousy, “When you were still a peacock, how did that fire turkey carry you?”
“By the neck,” Fu Xiaoba answered.
“Mm?” Qu Linyan froze. “I was only asking casually. I did not mean to do anything. You do not have to lie to me.”
“Why would I lie to you?” Fu Xiaoba did not know whether to laugh or cry. Being jealous of Fu Zhuochen was truly unnecessary.
Heaven knew how complicated Fu Xiaoba’s feelings were when Qu Linyan asked that question. It was not complicated because she cared about Brother’s arms, but because she could not help feeling sorry for her own neck.
There was probably no brother in the world more excessive than Fu Zhuochen. Usually, if he was not grabbing her neck, he was using a bamboo pole to poke her wings and drive her in some direction. He had never held her even once.
Qu Linyan really was the first person in this world to hold her and the only person who had held her. But saying such words seemed very mushy, so Fu Xiaoba was too embarrassed to speak.
She quietly gazed at Qu Linyan’s long, narrow eyes and suddenly narrowed her own, unable to hide the joy in her heart.
“Why keep looking at me?” Qu Linyan asked with a smile, her tone carrying some self-love.
Fu Xiaoba only turned her head to look elsewhere and did not answer. She had only looked at her twice. Look how pleased it made her.
Seeing Fu Xiaoba ignore her, Qu Linyan stopped asking. She only carried her toward home.
Fu Xiaoba could not bear the silence. Seeing that Qu Linyan truly was not speaking to her, she quickly tightened her arms around Qu Linyan’s neck. Only when Qu Linyan’s gaze fell on her again did she ask softly, “When I saw you come out earlier, your face did not look good… Did the clanspeople criticize you again?”
Qu Linyan was silent for a long time. Then she pulled out a smile for Fu Xiaoba and said as if it did not matter, “Xiaoba, do not worry. My mind is made up. From now on, I will live another way. As long as you stay by my side, other people’s criticism will no longer count for much to me.”
Fu Xiaoba blinked as if she half understood. She rested her head lightly on Qu Linyan’s thin shoulder and said softly, “As long as you are all right.”
Qu Linyan lowered her eyes to Fu Xiaoba in her arms and could not help asking, “Shall I take you to see A-Qing?”
“Mm!” Fu Xiaoba gently nodded.
*
Behind the stone wall at the deepest part of the underwater flood dragon cave, there was a place hidden behind layers of barriers.
Qu Linyan formed seals with both hands and cast a spell to open a small entrance. Then she turned, took Fu Xiaoba’s hand, and walked inside with her.
It was a cave covered in cold ice. The four walls were ice blue, and cold air flowed through the air like smoke, making it seem somewhat dreamlike.
At the center of the cave was a bed made of black ice. On the bed quietly lay a woman who had already lost all signs of life.
Led by Qu Linyan, Fu Xiaoba walked to the black ice bed and saw the woman’s face clearly. Her nose stung at once, and tears disobediently surged into her reddened eyes.
This was A-Qing, the woman in the dream who had protected her and Qu Linyan everywhere.
This woman named Qu Muqing had originally been such a gentle person. Every frown and smile had been like a banished immortal, worthy of every good thing in the world.
But such a person, before Fu Xiaoba even had time to truly meet her once, had already closed her eyes in long sleep, her face pale as paper.
Fu Xiaoba raised her tear-blurred eyes and looked seriously at Qu Linyan. “Little Black, I can see the day she wakes, right?”
“You will.” Qu Linyan gently touched her cheek and smiled. “I told you, she will definitely like you very much, just like in the dream.”
“Mm!” Fu Xiaoba nodded heavily. She bent down and lay at the side of that cold bed. After gazing at Qu Muqing’s cheek for a moment, she curved her brows and said, “A-Qing, Little Black and I are both waiting for you to wake up. You must wake up…”
Her tone was childish and full of expectation, as if she were waiting for a long-separated old friend to meet her again.
After speaking, she stood and tugged Qu Linyan’s sleeve. The two walked out of that icy cave together.
But the moment they walked out of the concealing barrier, Fu Xiaoba opened her eyes and saw the white-clothed woman from earlier.
She saw disbelief appear in that woman’s somewhat gloomy gaze. It seemed to question them, yet she did not say a word.
Fu Xiaoba turned blankly to look at Qu Linyan, her eyes full of not knowing what to do.
Qu Linyan gently squeezed the back of Fu Xiaoba’s hand, telling her not to be afraid. She raised one hand, and in the next second, the Dreamweaving Shuttle had appeared in her palm.
She took two steps forward and handed the Dreamweaving Shuttle to the woman in white. Then she raised her eyes and, as if nothing had happened, glanced at the stone wall behind her. “I have not come back for a long time. I missed her a little.”
The woman took the Dreamweaving Shuttle and frowned slightly. “A-Yan, you brought an outsider into the clan forbidden ground.”
“Xiangsi, Xiaoba is not an outsider.” Qu Linyan said seriously, “She will be my wife, the person I hold in my palm for my whole life and treat as a treasure.”
When Xiangsi heard this, she could not help feeling surprised. Her eyes looked at Fu Xiaoba for a long time before she slowly said, “Only because she saved you?”
“She did more than save me.” As Qu Linyan spoke, she turned to look at Fu Xiaoba. The gentleness in her eyes at that moment seemed able to melt ice and snow.
Fu Xiaoba tilted her head and stared blankly at Qu Linyan. After a long while, she heard her say, “If I had not met her, I would almost have forgotten what living feels like.”
In that instant, Fu Xiaoba felt the corners of her eyes sting. It was as if sweet rain had dropped into her heart, welcoming a season of spring flowers.
When she looked back, she saw Xiangsi lower her brows and silently brush past the two of them. With a flash of clean white spiritual light, she disappeared into the damp, cold stone wall behind them.
On the way back, Fu Xiaoba tightly held Qu Linyan’s wrist and asked worriedly, “Does Miss Xiangsi not welcome me?”
“How could that be? She is the only person in the whole flood dragon clan who has cared about me all these years…” As Qu Linyan spoke, she hooked a finger and scratched Fu Xiaoba’s nose bridge. She smiled. “She is a very good person. She simply is not very good at expressing what she thinks. Once you two grow familiar, she will not be like just now.”
Fu Xiaoba nodded seriously. After thinking for a moment, she asked, “I can sense that Xiangsi is not of the flood dragon clan, but my cultivation is too low, so I cannot sense what race she is.”
“Flower clan,” Qu Linyan said. “She was once a Tearstain flower growing on the cliff of Soul-Wounding Valley. One day, who knows what person lost their life while passing through tribulation? Demon blood watered the stone wall where she was rooted, letting her gain intelligence and cultivate into her current form.”
“Tearstain?” Fu Xiaoba was a little confused. “What kind of flower is that? Why have I never heard of it?”
“Tearstain is an extremely rare devil flower in the earth realm. It only grows on sheer cliffs. It is white as snow and elegant like a night-blooming flower. It is poisonous. Though it does not hurt the body, it is stronger than every poison in the world.”
Fu Xiaoba asked curiously, “Since its poison does not hurt people, why is it stronger than every poison in the world?”
“The poison of Tearstain is not in the body, but in the spirit,” Qu Linyan said. “Legend says this flower can awaken the pain buried deepest in a person’s heart, the pain they are most unwilling to remember. It is like needles and knives, cutting open the heart inch by inch until the person hurts so badly they wish to die, their mind breaks down, and they perish.”
Qu Linyan said that no matter how beautiful such a devil flower was, people did not dare approach it.
At first, after that Tearstain cultivated a human form, she wandered through Soul-Wounding Valley. Anyone who saw her avoided her in fear. Only Qu Muqing did not avoid her.
Qu Muqing said that every living thing in the world had a spirit. Once it gained intelligence, good and evil depended only on the heart. Even snakes and scorpions could set their hearts on goodness, let alone a soft flower demon.
Later, Qu Muqing brought that Tearstain back into the clan.
“Then why is she called Xiangsi?”
Qu Linyan could not help falling silent. Her thoughts drifted with her unfocused gaze, who knew where.
After a long time, she returned to herself and said, “She chose that name for herself. At first, no one knew why. Only after Sister left did I understand… It turned out to be a longing hidden deep in her heart, one that did not fade with time.”
“A thousand years ago, she spent half her cultivation to keep Sister’s soul and spirit in this world. For a thousand years after that, she has constantly used her own spiritual power to preserve Sister’s body from decay, all for one extremely tiny hope… even though she and I both know this is too difficult.”
Even if the soul and spirit still existed and the body had not decayed, it was still very hard to revive someone who had been dead for a thousand years.
“But all these years, whenever I grew so tired I almost gave up, as long as I turned back and saw that she was still using every bit of her strength to guard that icy little place, a new thread of hope would light in my heart.”
Even though every ray of sky they had glimpsed in this past thousand years was so far out of reach, no matter how often they narrowly escaped death or how covered in wounds they became, as long as Xiangsi had not given up, Qu Linyan did not want to give up.
To Qu Linyan, both Xiangsi and the clanspeople hoped she would save Qu Muqing. But what Xiangsi gave her did not feel like pressure. It felt more like relying on each other.
Because she knew that what the flood dragon clan wanted was only a good clan leader. As long as the flood dragon clan could improve, anyone would do. It did not have to be Qu Muqing.
She knew that in the whole flood dragon clan, only she and Xiangsi were the ones who truly cared about Qu Muqing.
Only they would give everything for this.