Chapter 144: Chapter 131: Harem Infighting: The Alpaca Edition

Immediately, they lowered their heads again and continued to leisurely chew their cud. Soft gurgles rumbled in their throats, as if to say, "Don’t bother me, I’m resting."

Although alpacas are famous for spitting, they usually only do so to warn and drive away rivals when they feel threatened, nervous, angry, or are competing for resources.

Most of the time, especially when they were full, hydrated, and calm, they were actually quite docile, even somewhat timid and lazy animals.

Yang Qi stopped about two meters away from them, half-crouching to make himself appear as non-threatening as possible.

He immediately channeled his Magical Power, silently activating the Basic Spirit Communication Technique.

"Hello. Can we talk?"

As he spoke the friendly greeting, Yang Qi watched them with a calm gaze.

The two female alpacas paused their chewing for a moment, then, almost in unison, raised their heads again to look at Yang Qi.

This time, a clear flicker of humanlike surprise and confusion appeared in their large, previously placid and dopey-looking eyes.

One of the female alpacas, who seemed a bit bolder, even tilted her head slightly, letting out a soft, questioning "Hmm-ah?" from her throat.

’Two-legged Beast, are you talking to us?’

’How can you speak our language?’

The other female alpaca also looked at Yang Qi in surprise.

’You Two-legged Beasts are very different from the others, you know~’

"Thank you."

Yang Qi’s smile grew warmer. "I’m a staff member here," he said softly. "I wanted to ask you something. Why have you all been attacking the male alpaca, Dabing, for the past few days? Did he do something wrong?"

At the mention of Dabing’s name, the look in both female alpacas’ eyes changed almost instantly.

The curiosity vanished, replaced by a look of distaste...

No, it was more like rejection and resentment.

The bolder female alpaca even shot to her feet. Though she didn’t spit, she snorted indignantly, her hooves pawing restlessly at the ground. The words she sent were heavy with emotion.

’He’s being unreasonable! He’s only nice to Aili, not to us.’

’What does that mean?’

This sudden accusation left Yang Qi stunned.

He subconsciously pressed, "What do you mean, ’not nice to you’? Does ’nice’ mean... mating?"

Only after asking did he realize his own slowness. In the animal kingdom, especially during mating season.

The word "nice" often had a very direct meaning.

’Of course.’

The bolder, more "outspoken" female alpaca replied, her tone filled with an aggrieved and self-righteous sense of injustice.

’Why should he only be nice to Aili and not us?’

’We’re not so bad ourselves, you know.’

The other female alpaca chimed in quietly.

Yang Qi: "..."

He was speechless. Absolutely speechless.

A stifling feeling welled up in his chest—the urge to roast the situation, but he had no idea where to even begin.

’No wonder the system didn’t trigger a quest.’

’I thought the male alpaca must have some hidden illness or behavioral problem that was making the females rebel to protect the health of the herd.’

’And the real reason...’

’For fuck’s sake, it’s because they’re fighting for his favor?’

’And their approach is bizarre, too. They’re not attacking the "favored" one, Aili. Instead, they’ve ganged up on the "biased" male, Dabing?’

’That logic...’

’...actually kind of makes sense?’

’Get rid of the "source of the problem," and everyone gets a chance?’

"..."

Yang Qi fell silent, overwhelmed by a sense of absurdity that left him with no energy to even snark.

Seeing that he didn’t respond immediately, the bolder female alpaca seemed a little impatient and spoke again.

’Two-legged Beast, go talk to him. Tell him not to be so unreasonable.’

’He needs to be fair!’

"...Alright, alright."

Yang Qi took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the bizarre turmoil in his gut. "I’ll go talk to Dabing in a bit," he promised.

He paused, remembering his actual goal. "Right. Which one is Aili, the one you mentioned?"

’Her, over there.’

The bolder female alpaca turned slightly and jutted her chin toward a jet-black female quietly grazing in the distance. Her gaze was fixed, and her tone dripped with obvious jealousy.

’Why does he only like her?’

Yang Qi followed her "directions" and looked over.

He saw a female alpaca with a coat of pure black fur that shone with a healthy gloss in the sunlight. She had a well-proportioned build, but other than her unique color, there seemed to be nothing particularly special about her.

’Of course, it’s hard for humans to understand aesthetics, especially animal aesthetics.’

’Maybe the male alpaca, Dabing, just has unique taste and a special thing for this "black pearl."’

"Alright, I see."

Yang Qi looked away from the black alpaca and back to the ones before him. "You all wait here. I’ll go talk with Dabing right now."

’Thank you, Two-legged Beast.’

The bold female alpaca said gratefully.

"Don’t mention it."

Yang Qi managed a somewhat stiff smile.

He bid farewell to the female alpacas, turned, and walked out of the grassy enclosure with steady steps that belied his inner turmoil.

The moment he stepped out of the enclosure, Cheng Yao, the zookeepers, and the others who had been waiting anxiously swarmed him, their faces alight with eagerness and curiosity.

"So? What’s the story? Did you find out the reason?" Cheng Yao asked first, her eyes sparkling.

"Umm..."

Yang Qi hesitated, momentarily unsure how to phrase the utterly bizarre explanation.

’Should I just come out and say it? That the ’harem is in an uproar because the emperor isn’t distributing his ’favors’ evenly?’

"Just spit it out!"

Seeing his hesitation, Cheng Yao grew even more impatient, practically dying of curiosity.

The zookeeper also said bluntly, "Brother Qi, just say whatever it is. We’re dying to know."

The other staff members, along with a few tourists who hadn’t left and were clearly straining to hear, all stared at Yang Qi with wide, expectant eyes, waiting for the big reveal.

"Alright, I’m just going to say it then?"

Yang Qi cleared his throat, trying to look a little more serious.

"Hurry up!"

Several people said it almost in unison.

"Because..."

Yang Qi paused, fighting the urge to smirk, and managed to utter a single word in a deadpan tone.

"Favoritism."

?

"What does that mean?"

"Because of what?"

Everyone, including the tourists, was stunned. A uniform expression of baffled confusion spread across their faces.

"What Yang Qi means is..."

A gentle female voice suddenly spoke up from the side, offering a clearer explanation for him. "What Yang Qi means is that the female alpacas are ganging up on the male because he only ’favors’ one specific female, which has caused resentment and a united rebellion among the others. Isn’t that right, Yang Qi?"

Everyone instinctively turned toward the voice. They saw an elderly woman with mostly white hair, wearing thin-rimmed glasses. She was about five-foot-three, dressed in simple but immaculate clothes, and had appeared at the edge of the crowd at some point without anyone noticing.

The woman had a kindly face and a gentle yet wise gaze. She exuded a serene aura, the kind unique to scholars or people who have spent their lives communing with knowledge and nature.

Cheng Xiaoou stood respectfully by her side.

"Yes, that’s it."

Yang Qi looked at the old woman and nodded in confirmation. "The male alpaca, Dabing, seems to particularly favor the black female alpaca, Aili, and has been neglecting the others."

"The other females weren’t happy about it. They felt it was unfair, so they banded together to protest by attacking Dabing."

"What? That’s a thing?"

"Holy crap, you learn something new every day!"

"Is this... is this a real-life version of some kind of ’harem drama’?"

"..."

As the reality of the situation sank in, the staff and tourists let out gasps of amazement. Their faces were a picture, a mix of absurdity and amusement, all tinged with the feeling of having learned something truly new.

A few of the women couldn’t help but blush, tutting, "These animals, I swear..."

Yang Qi did not join in the crowd’s amazement and discussion.

His gaze fell discreetly on the kind elderly woman who had just spoken, his mind working.

’The woman has an extraordinary air about her. Even Cheng Xiaoou is by her side, acting so respectfully.’

’Her analysis of their behavior was spot-on. She clearly has a deep understanding of animal psychology and social structures...’

’So, is this woman the "Supreme Elder" the system mentioned?’