The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Cangming didn’t make a move right away, simply telling Lu Sangjiu to take out the Domination Map and show it to him.

It was strange, but it clearly meant there was still room for negotiation. This allowed Lu Sangjiu to breathe a small sigh of relief.

Behind her, Li Qiancheng couldn’t help but cry out, "Little Junior Sister, you can’t give it to him! The Demon Blade must not fall into his hands!"

At that moment, Li Qiancheng wasn’t thinking about his own safety, but the safety of the entire Cultivation World.

Cangming was already immensely powerful and notoriously vicious. If he got his hands on that Demon Artifact, what then? He would probably bathe the entire Cultivation World in blood!

Feng Lin, who was also behind Lu Sangjiu, hadn’t known about the Demon Blade before, but she was able to piece things together from their conversation.

She declared without hesitation, "Mr. Lu, we’re facing certain death anyway. The least we can do... is not let him get what he wants!"

Luo Linlang and Shen Yuzhao didn’t offer any grand platitudes, but they choked back their fear and added, "...Little Junior Sister, don’t worry about us!"

The entire group looked as if they were ready for a heroic sacrifice. From his high seat, Cangming watched with great interest, showing no intention of stopping them.

Only when they fell silent did his gaze return to Lu Sangjiu. "Your friends aren’t the type to cling to life, are they? So, what about you?"

Lu Sangjiu’s expression remained unchanged. "Does it matter what I think? Senior, if you’re dead set on having it, you can just kill me and take it anyway. The moment we were dragged into the Western Demon Realm, the choice was never in our hands, was it?"

Her words made the others realize... ’She’s right. If he really wants it, he can just kill us and take it. What can we do?’

The change in their expressions seemed to amuse Cangming, and he suddenly burst out laughing. "Finally, one who isn’t completely stupid. So, what are you waiting for? Surely you don’t expect me to come down there and take it myself?"

As he spoke the last sentence, he leaned his head on one hand in a lazy posture, but his eyes narrowed, and a palpable killing intent filled the air.

Cangming was too powerful. Compounded by the natural suppression Demon Cultivators exerted, everyone present broke out in a cold sweat, unable to utter a single word.

Everyone, that is, except for Lu Sangjiu.

She wasn’t afraid of Demonic Qi, and her Divine Sense was formidable enough that she could still move freely under the sliver of pressure Cangming had intentionally released.

She didn’t immediately produce the Domination Map Blade. Instead, she looked at Cangming and asked, "Senior Cangming, you want the Domination Map?"

Cangming fell silent for a moment before answering evasively, "...At the very least, you are not worthy of possessing it."

Lu Sangjiu didn’t dwell on the question of her worthiness. Taking his words as confirmation that he wanted it, she nodded. "In that case, can I trade it for my friends’ freedom?"

"Hah... Are you trying to bargain with me?"

He straightened up slightly. "Do you have any idea... how much I despise it when people try to bargain with me?"

He raised his hand, and a wave of powerful energy shot toward Lu Sangjiu and her friends. As she was standing in front, the blow struck her squarely in the abdomen.

Lu Sangjiu didn’t even have time to raise a defense. The blow sent her flying more than ten feet away. She collapsed to the ground and violently coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Little Junior Sister!"

"Mr. Lu!"

Driven by a surge of anger and worry, her friends managed to break through the crushing pressure and rush to her side.

Pain wracked Lu Sangjiu’s body. It felt as if her entire skeleton had been shattered.

She sucked in a sharp breath, a bitter thought crossing her mind. ’What goes around really does come around. The boy who used to follow me around like a shadow can now kill me with a flick of his finger.’

Of course, Cangming had held back, so Lu Sangjiu wasn’t dead. She was still clinging to life.

Cangming stared at her coldly. "Now, will you hand over the Domination Map Blade?"

Lu Sangjiu gritted her teeth, refusing to yield. "The Domination Map is my Lifebound Magical Treasure. If I die, even if I can’t destroy it completely, I can still cripple it."

"I doubt you went to all this trouble just to end up with a damaged blade, did you, Senior Cangming?"

She clutched her chest, her determined gaze now tinged with a fierce light. "...Let my friends go, or I’ll take you down with me!"

Tears streamed down Luo Linlang’s face. "Little Junior Sister, stop talking! *Sob*... I’m not leaving! If we’re going to die, we’ll die together!"

Cangming watched her, his face impassive, but his mind drifted... ’Their faces are worlds apart, yet her expression, her eyes...’ For a moment, he was lost in an illusion.

He seemed to see an afternoon from many, many years ago. Someone else had stood before him just like this, telling a Great Demon Cultivator who wanted to kill them for their treasure to let him go, or they would take them down with them.

The memory was so distant that he himself hadn’t recalled it in a very long time.

An inexplicable tightness formed in his chest. He looked at Lu Sangjiu again. His fingers twitched, but in the end, he decided to spare what was left of her life.

He raised a hand to his temple, finally relenting.

"Letting them go is out of the question. What if you go back on your word?"

He continued, "Let’s do this. I’ll give you three days to think it over. After those three days, for every day you refuse to hand over the Domination Map, I will kill one of your friends."

"Including you, there are five of you in total... which means you have eight days, all told. You’d better think it over carefully."

With that, he waved his hand. Li Qiancheng and the other three grunted in unison.

A gash appeared on each of their arms. It was no ordinary wound, of course. Lu Sangjiu recognized it at a glance as an injury inflicted by a weapon bearing the Blood Evil Curse.

The wounds weren’t large, but they would never heal and would be accompanied by unbearable pain.

The four of them were clearly in agony, but they all bit their lips to keep from crying out. Their pale faces, however, betrayed their condition.

Lu Sangjiu’s heart ached, but there was no more room for negotiation. It was a stroke of sheer luck that Cangming hadn’t just killed them all right then and there.

Cangming’s subordinates led the group to a prison cell. Perhaps because Lu Sangjiu was gravely wounded and the others were afflicted by the Blood Evil Curse, the cell contained no other instruments of torture.

Aside from being dark and damp, it had no other major drawbacks.

Perhaps it was due to Cangming’s arrogance, or because he was certain they couldn’t escape, but their Spiritual Power was, surprisingly, not sealed.

However, the prison was protected by a Barrier, so no messages could get out.

The guards locked them inside and left. Aside from the sentries posted outside, no one paid them any particular attention.

This made it slightly easier for them to move and speak, but Lu Sangjiu didn’t say much. She immediately consumed a healing Elixir Pill, then took out a Spirit Stone and began to meditate and recover.

Meanwhile, Cangming returned to his personal courtyard.

As he reached the door of the guest room next to his own bedroom, he paused. The face of Ye Zhiyao surfaced in his mind.

He instinctively took a step toward the room, but then he froze. To his surprise, Lu Sangjiu’s face had now appeared in his mind...

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