The Little Peacock Raises a Snake (GL) Chapter 32

In Qu Linyan’s eyes, Qu Muqing was an almost perfect existence.
She was not only a gentle, beautiful elder sister. She was steady and firm. She held kindness in her heart, but she was not foolishly kind. She could tell right from wrong and understood what to choose and what to give up. No matter what she encountered, she knew what to do to get the result she wanted.
For many years after their father left, Qu Linyan grew up under Qu Muqing’s protection.
She knew that whether it was their father or the clanspeople, in the end, the only person they recognized from the heart was Qu Muqing.
She remembered that Qu Muqing had once told her that for thousands of years, the flood dragon clan had never produced anyone truly outstanding. They had only relied on the strength they were born with and acted tyrannically during the years when the demon realm was scattered and no one controlled it. Now that the demon realm was no longer loose sand and the flood dragon clan’s talents had withered, if they wanted to survive whole, they had to lower their heads to others.
In the end, no matter how strong the flood dragon clan was, they were still not dragons. If they truly compared bloodline power with the current ruler of the demon realm, they indeed could not compare.
Fu Xiaoba did not understand. “How can they not compare? There are no foxes in Wuyou Valley, but I have seen them in books. They should be about the same size as us peacocks. Your flood dragon clan members are all so big, so why…”
“Even among the same race, bloodlines are high and low, noble and common. Like your brother. Peacocks may be weak demons, but he was born extraordinary. The fox clan is the same. Foxes cultivate their tails all their lives. The more tails they have, the stronger they are. But ordinary foxes can at most cultivate six tails in their whole lives. For thousands of years, only the Yu bloodline of the fox clan can cultivate nine tails. Yet being able to cultivate them and actually succeeding are completely different things. Because of that, a fox born with nine tails is a great demon. Even gods and devils must show some respect. How could the present flood dragon clan afford to provoke such a person?”
“So it is like that…” Fu Xiaoba unconsciously bit her lip.
Seeing this, Qu Linyan gave a soft laugh and turned sideways to face Fu Xiaoba. “But I have never accepted it.”
Fu Xiaoba widened her eyes and looked seriously at Qu Linyan.
“In this world, there are gods and devils, humans and demons. If we speak by common sense, gods and devils cultivate more easily than demons, and demons cultivate more strongly than humans. Between every race, there has always been a chain of looking down on others. But over tens of millions of years, it is not as if humans capable of killing gods and destroying devils have never appeared.”
Races differed, and bloodlines were decided by heaven. But one’s skills were cultivated by oneself. Some people simply had shortcuts, and some people did not.
No one should be defined the moment they are born. If there are people born one in ten thousand, then there should also be people who can stand beside them through effort. It was like how the clanspeople once looked down on Qu Muqing because she was a woman, but later, could they not only live safely under the protection of a woman?
“Human bodies are so weak, yet experts still appear among them. My flood dragon clan is born powerful. Why can we not stand at the peak of the three realms?” As Qu Linyan spoke, determination showed in her eyes. “I am not as clever as her. There are many responsibilities I cannot carry. I admit that. But Father left both of us sisters in this world. It cannot be that she must do everything alone. I also have to do something. I also want to protect her, so she is not looked down on and no longer has to be mocked.”
So from the day their father left, Qu Linyan had cultivated with even more effort.
Others did not know, but she understood that what she did was not to surpass Qu Muqing, nor to seek anyone’s approval. She simply did not want to forever be the one protected, and she did not want Sister to always be so tired.
Back then, she often thought that one day, when she truly stood at the peak of the three realms, she could make everyone in heaven and earth never dare look down on Sister again. She could make the flood dragon clan no longer need to stay long in the small Soul-Wounding Valley, and no longer be insulted by other demons as long worms in a ditch.
As Qu Linyan spoke, she reached out and touched Fu Xiaoba’s cheek. Bitterly, she said, “But before I could reach that step, she left first.”
“Little Black…” Fu Xiaoba suddenly stretched out a finger and gently pressed it to Qu Linyan’s lips. “Do not think about these things anymore. I should not have asked you…”
Qu Linyan held the back of Fu Xiaoba’s hand and smiled. “There is no question you should not ask. Once you and I marry, there will be no difference between us. No matter what it is, I should tell you without holding anything back. When I speak of these things with you, I do not feel sad. Instead, I feel… relieved of a burden.”
Was it not exactly relief?
That thought once held in the bottom of her heart had slowly been worn down by time after Qu Muqing left.
Qu Linyan had once thought she would become all-powerful, but in the end, after risking life and death again and again, she slowly lost the hot blood of her youth and forgot why she had worked so hard in the beginning.
She had asked herself more than once: Where do you want to stand in the future?
The person she had once wanted to protect was already gone. Even if she gained more powerful strength, what would it matter?
She had thought she would remain so confused until she was exhausted. When Qu Muqing returned, or when Qu Linyan could no longer stand, she would fall down just like that.
Fortunately, Fu Xiaoba appeared.
Qu Linyan remembered her original wish. She remembered that all her effort in the past had been to let one person live well.
Before, it had been Qu Muqing. Now, it was Fu Xiaoba.
“Xiaoba, I am now more than two thousand seven hundred years old. If I cannot endure several heavenly tribulations, then I can count as having lived most of my life already. My past was all given to Sister. What I can leave for you now may not be much. But I swear, for the rest of my life, everything I work for will be for you, including… living.”
Fu Xiaoba did not know why, but her nose stung, and her vision blurred beneath a layer of mist.
Qu Linyan gently wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes and asked in panic, “Did I say something wrong…”
Fu Xiaoba quickly shook her head. She pulled her hand back to rub her eyes, sniffed, swallowed, and said, “Then it is agreed. You have to live a long time. I will only give you this one lifetime’s chance. Brother said he has a way to make me forget you. If you die one day, I will go back to Wuyou Valley, forget you completely, and then… then I will go pass my tribulation. After passing it, after passing it, I will go back to the sky and be an immortal…”
Qu Linyan was both angry and amused. For once, she used some strength and heavily pinched Fu Xiaoba’s cheek.
“Ah! It hurts!”
“You little peacock, how are you so hard to raise into loyalty? I treat you so well, yet between you and me, we only deserve one lifetime of fate?”
Fu Xiaoba shook her head after hearing this. “Little Black, if there is a next life, you will not be you, and I will not be me. I like you, but if you leave, I will not search for your next life. That person will not be you after all. Clinging on would be unfair to you, to me, and even to her. Is that not why you and Xiangsi have kept A-Qing’s soul and body all this time? If you were willing to let her become another person, why sacrifice so much to hold her soul and refuse to let go for over a thousand years?”
Seeing Qu Linyan’s gaze turn distant, Fu Xiaoba continued, “Little Black, if I were A-Qing, I would probably not want you and Xiangsi to sacrifice so much to save me. Every living being in the world has its own life and death. Not being able to let go only adds pain. Being able to meet you already makes me very content, because I believe you will protect me. In the years to come, whether one year, one month, one day, or even one minute and one second, I will be happy. I am not greedy. This life does not need to last forever. I only ask that I did not give my heart wrongly.”
She said, “When this life ends, we will let each other go. Neither of us should do foolish things for the other, all right?”
Qu Linyan froze when she heard this.
People said that if someone could not see through anything or let anything go, that was the mortal heart causing trouble. Those whose mortal hearts were too heavy were fated to have no immortal destiny.
Qu Linyan was exactly someone whose mortal heart was too heavy.
A thousand years ago, she could not let go of Qu Muqing. A thousand years later, she was attached to a little immortal demon who had descended to pass tribulation. And at this moment, she was being enlightened by this little fool who had failed to ascend through tribulation.
“Are you teaching me to let go?”
“No.” Fu Xiaoba frowned slightly and reached out to grab Qu Linyan’s wrist. “I am only afraid you are too harsh on yourself. I do not want you to live too tired and too bitter for me. But you promised me that for the rest of your life, you would hold tightly to me. I will not allow you to break your word.”
Qu Linyan was silent for a long time. Suddenly, she smiled as if relieved. “You are right. Obsession is suffering… Just this life. This life, you are mine, and no one can take you away. If I leave, you will forget me, return to the sky, and happily be your immortal. You are not allowed to do foolish things for me.”
“It is agreed. Whoever lies is a puppy!” Fu Xiaoba childishly stretched out one little finger.
Qu Linyan smiled and hooked that slender finger. “It is agreed.”
After hooking fingers as an oath, Fu Xiaoba reached out and hugged Qu Linyan, carefully avoiding her wounds as much as she could. She rubbed lightly against Qu Linyan’s chest.
After a few seconds, she looked up and saw that Qu Linyan had not cried out in pain, so she gently draped her leg over Qu Linyan’s waist too.
Qu Linyan felt the wound be touched, but she only silently moved spiritual power to ease the pain, then gently drew Fu Xiaoba into her arms with one hand.
Once, in the dream, she had shared a bed with Fu Xiaoba for a long time. Every time Fu Xiaoba slept deeply, she put her arms and legs all over Qu Linyan. Luckily, Qu Linyan in the dream had been a child’s size. Sleeping with another person like that was awkward, but it did not seem improper.
Later, after leaving the dream, she took Fu Xiaoba to the human world. The night Fu Xiaoba formed a human body, she slept with Qu Linyan.
At that time, Qu Linyan could not sleep no matter what. When her heart moved, she peeped into Fu Xiaoba’s dream. If she had not looked, she would not have known that this wretched girl was actually bathing with her in the dream. That made her both ashamed and angry for a while, and after leaving the dream, she could not sleep for a long time.
Back then, her thoughts were already a mess. Who knew that Fu Xiaoba would become restless in her sleep, reach out, and pull Qu Linyan into her arms? It was as if they had returned to that long dream. Qu Linyan felt that now, sleeping with Fu Xiaoba like this was not very suitable.
The next day, she had asked for a separate room for Fu Xiaoba. Who knew that when night came, Fu Xiaoba would creep over quietly and say without any shyness that she wanted to sleep with her?
At the time, the little girl scratched her messy hair, widened a pair of harmless-looking beautiful eyes, and said with a clear gaze, “I do not know why either. Before, I always slept alone in the peacock nest Brother made for me and did not feel unable to sleep. But ever since I changed into human form, if I do not hug something at night, I cannot sleep comfortably…”
At that time, Qu Linyan had blushed and wanted to shut her outside the door. But after closing the door for only a moment, she raised her eyes and saw the lonely, slender figure outside. In the end, her heart softened.
From that day on, no matter where they were, whether staying in a house or sleeping in the wild, she let this little girl press her arms and legs over her like this.
Only back then, Qu Linyan had not yet known that with her violent temperament, being able to tolerate one person like this was already an unspoken stirring of love.
“Xiaoba.”
“Mm?”
“By common sense, only men and women marry…”
“Is that so…”
“But in the three realms, there have also been women marrying women. The bird clan leader and the fox clan princess are like that. Although people have talked about them from the day of their wedding until now, I believe they never cared.” As Qu Linyan spoke, her fingers stroked Fu Xiaoba’s hair. After hesitating for half a second, she continued, “I hate following rules most of all, and I do not care about worldly eyes. If you are also unafraid, then…”
“Then?” Fu Xiaoba raised her eyes, light shining in them.
Qu Linyan moved a little closer and touched her forehead to Fu Xiaoba’s. Softly, she asked, “May I marry you?”