The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Duan Xingyun’s expression became rather colorful after hearing Luo Linlang’s reply.

Yan Lingzhi found this strange. "What did they say?"

"Well..." Duan Xingyun found it hard to say.

He knew his disciple’s head was always filled with strange and peculiar ideas, so Duan Xingyun was hesitant to share the contents of Luo Linlang’s reply.

Yan Lingzhi, however, was growing impatient. "If you have something to say, just say it. What’s with all the hemming and hawing?"

Seeing Yan Lingzhi’s impatience, Duan Xingyun could only bite the bullet and say, "Lin Lang said that Cangming might have taken a fancy to Ye Zhiyao."

He paused, as if afraid Yan Lingzhi wouldn’t understand, and added Luo Linlang’s exact words. "She called it... forced love."

Yan Lingzhi: "..."

His silence was deafening.

’There were so many things he wanted to roast them about, he didn’t even know where to begin.’

’Should he mock Cangming for his terrible taste?’

’Or should he say that Luo Linlang has read too many trashy romance novels?’

’But then again, he couldn’t think of any other reason either.’

So after a long silence, he finally decided, "Forget it. I’ll try to contact Little Jiu first."

Duan Xingyun was taken aback, then his face lit up with joy. "You can contact Little Jiu?"

"I gave her a Magic Treasure last time. I’ve tried before, but she must be inside a powerful Barrier, so I couldn’t reach her."

"But I wasn’t using my full power then. Right now... let’s treat it as a desperate measure. I’ll use my full strength and see. Maybe we can get some important information from her."

"Guard me."

Lu Sangjiu felt that something was wrong. It was getting harder and harder to just sit there and wait obediently.

So, she finally gave in to her impatience and tried to escape. The result, of course, was that she was nearly injured by the backlash from the powerful Barrier.

She then tried calling for the people outside to come in, but no one responded.

Just as she was glumly wondering what to do, she suddenly felt a fluctuation of Spiritual Power from her storage space.

Startled, she hurriedly extended her Divine Sense inside and found the source of the Spiritual Power fluctuation.

"Yan Lingzhi!"

Lu Sangjiu’s eyes lit up, and joy immediately spread across her face.

Of course Lu Sangjiu remembered that the Bicolor Mirror Yan Lingzhi had given her could be used to contact him. Unfortunately, she had already tried it; because of the Barrier, no message could get out.

’But Yan Lingzhi is in the Body Integration Realm, after all. He’s much stronger than I am. He must have found a way to get a message in!’

Lu Sangjiu hurried back to her room and carefully took out the Bicolor Mirror, thinking that perhaps Yan Lingzhi was about to send her some crucial intelligence.

But after she took it out and saw Yan Lingzhi’s face appear in the mirror, he opened his mouth only to ask a single question. "I hear Cangming likes Ye Zhiyao?"

Lu Sangjiu: ???

The joy on her face gradually turned to suspicion.

’Wait, bro, did you go through all this trouble to send a message just to gossip with me???’

Seeing her staring blankly without a word, Yan Lingzhi frowned slightly. "I’m asking you a question. Why are you spacing out?"

Lu Sangjiu’s mouth twitched. Though she was speechless, she still answered obediently, "Not exactly. Initially, Cangming probably thought Ye Zhiyao looked like an old flame of his, so he wanted to keep her as a stand-in."

A look of surprise appeared on Yan Lingzhi’s face, and he couldn’t help but mutter to himself, "...Is this a case of reality being more melodramatic than fiction?"

’Just a moment ago I thought the whole "forced love" thing was too melodramatic, but it turns out to be the even more melodramatic "stand-in" trope!’

But Lu Sangjiu quickly continued, "However, Cangming later suspected that someone had sent Ye Zhiyao to him on purpose, so he just strung her up and beat her. She’s not dead yet, so you can rest assured for now."

Yan Lingzhi was even more shocked. "Isn’t the heart-wrenching ’stand-in’ trope enough? Now there’s physical abuse too? What kind of melodramatic plot is this..."

Lu Sangjiu was speechless. "...Supreme Elder, have you been reading too many novels?"

After a moment’s hesitation, she said with some uncertainty, "I don’t think it’s very likely they’ll develop any feelings for each other anymore... right?"

’She really wasn’t very confident. After all, Ye Zhiyao had her protagonist’s halo. Who knew if even a situation like this could be steered back on track?’

Fortunately, Yan Lingzhi didn’t gossip to the very end. He then remembered to ask something more important. "If that’s the case, then why is Cangming so adamant about not letting Ye Zhiyao go?"

Lu Sangjiu paused for a moment, a flicker of hesitation in her heart...

’If she didn’t say anything, and the Tribulation Crossing Ancestor really came to the rescue later, then whether that Tribulation Crossing Ancestor died, or Cangming died, or they just fought without any casualties—it would all be a good thing for her personally.’

’If they fought, it would mean she’d have a chance to escape in the chaos.’

’Besides, that Tribulation Crossing Ancestor is on Ye Zhiyao’s side, which makes him an enemy to her. She wants to kill Bai Heng and Ye Zhiyao, so she has to be wary of the old one in the background. If the old one died, her life would be much easier.’

’As for Cangming... there were past feelings, so of course she hesitated. But the fact was, he was a huge threat to her now, and it was highly likely he was connected to her past death.’

’For the sake of her own life, Lu Sangjiu shouldn’t be soft-hearted. It would be best to let them fight to the death.’

’But... alright.’ Lu Sangjiu thought of many reasons to hide the truth, but in the end, she couldn’t go against her own conscience.

’Looking at the bigger picture, if they started fighting, it would be the fuse for a war between Immortals and Demons. There would be widespread devastation, and countless people would die.’

’Although stopping them from fighting might just be treating the symptom and not the root cause, buying some time is better than nothing!’

So, steeling her heart, Lu Sangjiu told Yan Lingzhi everything Cangming had said before.

"Although I don’t know what trump cards he has, the fact that he came up with the idea of using Ye Zhiyao as bait to trap and kill a Transcendance Tribulation Stage expert means he must have some degree of confidence."

"So... as much as I hate to say it, you absolutely must not let the Ancestor make a move!"

After hearing Lu Sangjiu’s words, Yan Lingzhi wore a thoughtful expression. Duan Xingyun, who had overheard from the side, couldn’t help but push closer and ask anxiously, "But if the Ancestor doesn’t act, what will happen to you?"

’Lu Sangjiu thought that at a time like this, an upright person would probably say something about being willing to sacrifice themself for the greater good.’

’But she’d rather not be an upright person; she still wanted to struggle and try to save herself.’

"I may be trapped now, but as long as someone can hold Cangming off for two quarters of an hour, I’m confident I can escape on my own."

"So, Master, Supreme Elder, I’ll have to trouble you to find a way to buy me some time from the outside. I’m begging you!"

Yan Lingzhi’s Spiritual Power was massively depleted by now, and he really couldn’t hold on much longer. So he nodded and said, "We’ll figure something out. Wait for our news."

With that, the connection was completely severed.

Watching Yan Lingzhi’s image disappear from the mirror’s surface, Lu Sangjiu let out a long sigh and murmured, "The message is out. Now it’s really up to you guys!"

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