The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

In truth, Lu Sangjiu didn’t want Ah Ming to know too much about the inner workings of the Demon Cultivator trade.

He was the Young Master of the Divine Tomb Sect, after all. If this incident made him completely lose trust in Immortal Cultivators and develop an indelible hostility toward them, she worried he might become bent on revenge.

’Of course, revenge is justified,’ she thought, ’but I’m afraid Ah Ming might act irrationally and choose indiscriminate retaliation, becoming hostile to all Immortal Cultivators.’

The fragile, "stable" peace between Immortal and Demon Cultivators was already on the verge of collapse. If the Demon Cultivators started indiscriminately slaughtering Immortal Cultivators in retaliation, it would only lead to a more severe conflict. A full-scale war would become completely unavoidable.

With this in mind, Lu Sangjiu shot Luo Linlang a meaningful look.

For once, Luo Linlang was quick on the uptake. She glanced at Lu Sangjiu, then at Ah Ming, and instantly understood.

Acting like they were the best of pals, she slung an arm over Ah Ming’s shoulder. "This is grown-up business, so stay out of it, kid. Come on, I’m curious about what you all went through last night. Come tell me all about it!"

Ah Ming scowled and shrugged off her hand. "Do I know you?"

By now, his hatred for Immortal Cultivators had grown so strong he could barely pretend otherwise. He was as prickly as a porcupine, and aside from showing Lu Sangjiu some respect, he could hardly control the urge to snap at everyone else.

Luo Linlang wasn’t one to coddle him. Her eyebrows shot up as she hooked an arm around his head in a headlock. "Hey, what’s with the attitude, kid? Get over here, or I won’t be so nice!"

And so, with Ah Ming cursing and grumbling, Luo Linlang dragged him away.

Lu Sangjiu raised a hand, creating a sound-isolating Barrier. Only then did she wake the two unconscious Immortal Alliance disciples.

The two slowly came to, and the events of the previous night came rushing back. They shot upright, only to see a group of people standing before them.

A chill ran down their spines. One of them demanded angrily, "Who... Who are you people?"

"You dare to cross the Immortal Alliance? Do you have a death wish?"

Lu Sangjiu offered him a pleasant smile. "Me? Offend the Immortal Alliance? I would never dare. It’s just... after inspecting your carriage, I think I might have stumbled upon a little secret of yours..."

Her suggestive words immediately made the color drain from their faces. They were panicking inside.

’Did... Did those Demon Cultivators tell them everything while we were unconscious?’

The thought sent a chill through them. If word of this got out, no one would be able to save them.

While they were panicking, Lu Sangjiu spoke again. "You’re afraid we’ll talk, aren’t you?"

They were terrified, of course. The two men stared at Lu Sangjiu, their faces pale, but they didn’t dare speak.

Lu Sangjiu wasn’t in any hurry. "We’re just here for the money," she said bluntly. "We’re not interested in playing hero."

"But since we’ve discovered a secret like this, it would be a real shame not to profit from it... Why don’t you tell me who your boss is? That way I can contact them and arrange a ransom. For a nice sum of Spirit Stones, of course."

The two of them were already terrified, but when they heard this, they realized there might be a way out. Their eyes lit up.

One of them composed himself a little and looked at Lu Sangjiu. "Are... Are you sure you’re only after money?"

"Of course. As long as the Spirit Stones are paid, I can even swear a Heart Demon Oath to keep your secret."

Lu Sangjiu deliberately put on a greedy act, which made her words more believable to the two men.

After a long moment of hesitation, one of them said, "But we only know our direct supervisor. We don’t know who’s above him... How about you let me contact our boss and we can go from there?"

Lu Sangjiu drew a Flying Sword, a cold sneer on her lips. "Do you think I’m negotiating with you? I don’t trust you. Give me the name and identity. Otherwise, I’ll just kill you both right here. I’d rather take a small loss than risk my safety!"

This combination of threat and promise made them wilt. Finally, one of them stammered out a name. "The one who sent us... he’s a Steward in the Immortal Alliance named Han Mingdong. Contact him. He’ll decide whether or not to pay."

Having gotten the name through her little ploy, Lu Sangjiu relaxed.

No longer caring about keeping up the pretense, she asked directly, "What were you going to do with these Demon Cultivators?"

At first, the two refused to answer. It took another round of threats from Lu Sangjiu before they finally came clean.

"A new Spirit Stone mine was discovered recently. It requires a lot of manpower to excavate... and, well... these people are cheaper. And we don’t have to worry about them."

Regular hired miners were just that—hired. These were slaves. It didn’t matter how they were exploited. And if they were worked to death, their preserved corpses could be sent back to the Fang Family in exchange for a few more Spirit Stones.

Lu Sangjiu now had a general idea of the situation. When she asked more questions, she found the two were just low-level lackeys who knew nothing else.

All she learned was that the Spirit Stone mine hadn’t been reported to the Immortal Alliance. Their Steward was secretly using people to excavate it. As for who was above him, they truly had no idea.

Ignoring their protests, Lu Sangjiu simply knocked them out and handed them back to Yan Zui. "Ms. Yan Zui, the Immortal Gate side of things is in your hands now. Contact me if anything comes up."

Yan Zui knew that their journey to return these Demon Cultivators home wouldn’t be through conventional means, so before they left, she added a word of caution. "Be careful on your journey. If things prove too difficult... don’t force it."

In her heart, Yan Zui still held reservations about Demon Cultivators. She didn’t think it was worth taking such huge risks just to help them get home, so she hinted that Lu Sangjiu and the others shouldn’t push themselves too hard.

Lu Sangjiu naturally felt differently, but she knew Yan Zui meant well and didn’t argue. She simply smiled, nodded, and bid her farewell.

With so many Demon Cultivators whose meridians were sealed, neither Sword Flight nor Teleportation Arrays were viable options. Thus, they could only continue their journey by carriage.

However, the carriage wasn’t very large. All the Demon Cultivators with sealed meridians were crammed inside, leaving just enough room on the driver’s bench for Li Qiancheng and Ye Zhiyao, whose cultivation was also sealed.

That left the remaining five—Lu Sangjiu, Luo Linlang, Feng Lin, Shen Yuzhao, and Ah Ming—to travel by Sword Flight.

Shen Yuzhao was originally going to take Ah Ming with him, but Ah Ming himself requested to ride on Lu Sangjiu’s Flying Sword.

Lu Sangjiu figured he probably had something to say to her, so she readily agreed.

Lu Sangjiu’s Flying Sword flew leisurely at the rear, hovering just above the carriage at a steady pace.

The others found it difficult to adapt their Sword Flight to the slow pace of the carriage, and with a SWOOSH, they flew off into the distance.

Before they disappeared, they heard Luo Linlang call out that they would scout ahead to the next town and see if they could buy a faster beast-drawn carriage.

With all the Immortal Gates gathered in Lu City, this area was likely safe, so Lu Sangjiu let them go on ahead.

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