The Little Peacock Raises a Snake (GL) Chapter 66

Qu Linyan had a long dream.
In the dream, Fu Xiaoba had returned. Every day, she stayed by Qu Linyan’s side, holding her hand and calling her Little Black again and again.
From then on, no matter how much hardship she suffered outside or how many injuries she received, as long as she returned home and pushed open that door, she could see Fu Xiaoba come forward and ask what they would eat that night.
Her cooking was much better now than three hundred years ago. She could feed that little glutton Fu Xiaoba until she was fair and round.
She no longer had so many responsibilities she could not put down. At last, she could travel to the ends of the earth with Fu Xiaoba, just as they had said three hundred years ago, making the four seas their home and depending on each other.
If only all of this were not a dream…
Qu Linyan slowly opened her eyes. The corners of her eyes were sour and damp.
She looked around and felt everything was especially familiar.
This place was…
“Susu! Qu Linyan is awake!” The unfamiliar girl sitting by the table grinding medicine suddenly jumped up, ran to the door, and shouted outside.
Before Qu Linyan could understand her situation, a streak of spiritual light rushed before her. When the light scattered, Yun Su had already excitedly taken both her hands. “Little Black!”
This familiar room, this warm gaze, this name she had not heard in so long…
She understood.
“I must still be dreaming,” Qu Linyan said, then silently closed her eyes again.
Yun Su’s face darkened. She pinched Qu Linyan’s cheek hard and said angrily, “Qu Linyan! Wake up!”
Qu Linyan woke with a start, covering her face as she stared at Yun Su in surprise.
“What dream? See for yourself whether it hurts!” Yun Su spoke, then pinched a red mark on the back of Qu Linyan’s hand too.
So fierce, so painful. It seemed this was not a dream.
Qu Linyan was helped to sit up by Yun Su. The old and new wounds on her body still hurt faintly, but she could clearly feel a stream of spiritual power protecting her inside, warm and steady. Her condition was much better than she had expected.
She lifted her eyes and looked around. At last, she was sure of where she was.
She remembered. Unlucky as she was, she had run into her once-in-a-century heavenly tribulation while still badly injured.
At that time, she had wanted to send Yun Su away and endure the tribulation herself. But she discovered that in her injured state, she simply could not withstand the might of the heavenly tribulation. If Yun Su had not arrived, she would likely have become a handful of ash, washed away by rain to who knew where.
So Yun Su had endured the heavenly tribulation for her…
Qu Linyan rubbed her temples. “How are we here?”
“Who else is to blame but you? A mouth full of lies, making me get struck by heavenly lightning with you.” Yun Su’s words sounded unpleasant, but there was not the slightest blame in her tone. At the end, she added, “That night… Fu Zhuochen saved us.”
Qu Linyan was not surprised. If no one had helped, Yun Su would likely have been discovered by the heavenly realm that day. How could she be here now, waiting for Qu Linyan to wake?
She looked blankly toward Ciyin. “Who is she? Why is there an immortal here?”
Yun Su said, “This is Ciyin, my friend. She used a body double to carry her primordial spirit down to help us. She is the one who treated your wounds.”
Ciyin waved at Qu Linyan and laughed. “How is it? Do you feel better?”
Qu Linyan nodded. “Much better indeed.”
At this moment, although she still had little strength, the spiritual power flowing inside her was smoother than before she endured the tribulation. This person must have used some method to open the spiritual meridians that had been blocked for so long by her injuries.
With that, circulating power to heal would naturally work twice as well.
“Many strange flowers and rare herbs in the world have spirit. Used as medicine according to need, they can have wondrous effects.” Ciyin spoke with a little pride. “My mother is the heavenly realm’s Flower God and manages a hundred flowers. I am not bad either. In the future, I will surely inherit the Flower God’s position. In this world, except for rare species that need a thousand years to flower and bear fruit, there is no flower or grass I cannot grow.”
After speaking, she glanced at Yun Su, then looked at Qu Linyan. Hands on her hips, she threatened, “I helped you only for Susu’s sake. You cannot fail her. Otherwise, I will not spare you!”
Although it was a threat, her expression and stance carried a childish feeling, like a little girl asking someone to pinky promise. It drew them a little closer.
Qu Linyan curved her brows and smiled. “Thank you, little Flower God, for your righteous help.”
Ciyin felt very pleased and smiled. “You demon are rather polite. No wonder Susu likes you.”
Yun Su could not stop herself from rolling her eyes. “She knows politeness?”
“The little Flower God said I know politeness,” Qu Linyan said.
Yun Su felt as if she had heard the greatest joke under heaven. If Qu Linyan knew politeness, how could she give people random nicknames?
“I wonder who it was back then, calling me little mountain pheasant again and again so smoothly.” As Yun Su spoke, she turned her head away in a huff.
“That was so long ago. I will not dare anymore.” Qu Linyan gently held Yun Su’s little finger and begged softly.
Ciyin suddenly felt that standing there was terribly awkward. She coughed twice, stuffed the wooden mortar in her hand into Yun Su’s arms, clasped her hands behind her back, and said, “I… I just remembered I need to go report to Divine Lord Zhiming. You two talk. Talk…”
As her words fell, Ciyin vanished before them like smoke. Only a snow-white spiritual flower remained. Two petals and one leaf-like stamen, half open and half closed, drifted gently to the ground with a fading strand of spiritual light.
“What flower is this?” Qu Linyan asked curiously.
“Snow Jade Vine. This is the flower that blooms from Ciyin’s true body. It cannot be seen in the lower realm.” Yun Su stepped forward, picked it up, and gently placed it on the table. “She used some methods to make this flower a medium, allowing her primordial spirit to move freely between the heavenly and human realms.”
Qu Linyan said, “If anything happens to her true body, the consequences will be unimaginable.”
Yun Su answered lightly, “Zhiming is guarding it. Nothing will happen.”
Qu Linyan casually teased, “You trust him quite a lot.”
Afraid Qu Linyan would misunderstand, Yun Su quickly explained, “My marriage with Zhiming… was arranged by my elder sister.”
“Elder sister?”
“When my sister left, I was not yet a thousand years old. I only knew that year she descended to the lower realm for a tribulation and never returned…” Yun Su lowered her head to look at the Snow Jade Vine flower and sighed softly. “When she left, she entrusted me to Zhiming. Zhiming treats me well only because of my sister’s request before she left. You do not need to think too much.”
Hearing this, Qu Linyan lifted the corner of her mouth slightly. “Why are you explaining this to me?”
“I am not explaining!” When Yun Su turned back, she met Qu Linyan’s gentle gaze. In her heart, she felt as if she had been seen through. “You, why are you looking at me like that?”
Qu Linyan said, “Before I lost consciousness, I think I saw you.”
Yun Su squeezed the pestle in her hand hard. “Have I not always been by your side?”
“I think I saw you.” Qu Linyan stubbornly repeated what she had just said. She lifted her eyes and gazed at Yun Su, her eyes shining with tears as she tested softly, “Xiaoba, is it you?”
Yun Su bit her lower lip. After a long silence, she answered softly, “Mm…”
Qu Linyan suddenly seemed to release a heavy burden. One tear slid down in silence.
“You remembered?”
“It was something I should never have forgotten in the first place.” Yun Su sat beside Qu Linyan, her eyes full of regret. “I am sorry, Little Black… I should not have forgotten you. No matter how much pain there was, I should have remembered you…”
“It is enough that you came back.” Qu Linyan’s fingers gently brushed the tear tracks on Yun Su’s face. Everything in the past, and the caution that had once filled her eyes, finally scattered with it.
Everything seemed to return to three hundred years ago.
Her Xiaoba had returned. She no longer had to live in fear, worrying over gains and losses.
Enduring her pain, Qu Linyan reached out and pulled Yun Su into her arms. “Back then, I came back too late.”
Yun Su could feel how tight that embrace was, as if Qu Linyan wanted to press her into her heart so no one could ever tear them apart again.
“I will not leave again, Little Black.” Yun Su lifted both hands and returned her embrace. “From now on, no matter what we face, you have to tell me. Do not leave me outside of it alone… Like last time, sending me away to face danger by yourself must never happen again!”
“I am sorry. I was too afraid you would be taken away again…”
“As long as you are alive, no one can take me from your side. If you die, I will follow you.” Yun Su leaned close to Qu Linyan’s ear. “I stayed for you. So I do not allow you to move yourself with some life-or-death sacrifice. Do you understand?”
“Mm.” Qu Linyan closed her eyes and said no more, only reaching to loosen Yun Su’s clothes.
Sensing Qu Linyan’s intention, Yun Su quickly pushed her away with a flushed face and stood, wanting to leave.
“Mm?” Qu Linyan smoothly pulled Yun Su, who had just risen, back. She kissed the space between Yun Su’s brows and asked in a low voice, “What is wrong?”
Her voice was a little weak, but it still made Yun Su’s heart itch.
“Do not let anyone see…” Yun Su said softly.
“Did your friend not leave?”
“She could come back at any time!”
“Then we throw the flower outside, close the doors and windows, and set up a barrier… Anyone who understands will understand. Even if she returns, she will not come in.”
As Qu Linyan spoke, she waved her hand and truly sent the spiritual flower on the table into the icy snow outside, then shut every door and window.
Yun Su stared, dumbfounded, and shook her head. “This… this is someone else’s place. You are lying on someone else’s bed. This is not very good!”
Qu Linyan still refused to let go of Yun Su. “He is Brother now. Family. We can clean up later. He definitely will not mind…”
Back then, these two had been as opposed to each other as anyone could be. Now Qu Linyan was calling him Brother?
Yun Su froze for a moment. In the end, she still gently pushed Qu Linyan away and stood. “You are still injured. Restrain yourself.”
Qu Linyan blinked at Yun Su. “Are you saying I cannot do it anymore?”
Yun Su quickly said, “I never said that!”
Qu Linyan pressed her lips together, losing interest. “Fine. Once my wounds heal, come back with me to our little bamboo forest.”
“I fear that little bamboo forest of yours has already been burned clean by the devil clan,” Yun Su said, ruining the mood.
Qu Linyan smiled. “It does not matter. The flood dragon clan spiritual cave is empty now. No one will disturb us there either. We can anytime…”
Hearing this, Yun Su could not help letting a smile rise at the corner of her mouth.
But soon, she remembered something.
“Little Black, tell me honestly. Once your wounds heal… are you definitely going to the devil realm?”