The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Fa Shan was probably afraid that Lu Sangjiu had been bewitched by his good looks. After a moment’s thought, he made a point to add, ”I just heard from the brothers you brought back. His status isn’t low—it seems he’s the Buddha Son of the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect.”

”The Buddha Son?” Lu Sangjiu raised an eyebrow, a little surprised.

She had heard that the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect selected a Buddha Son once every thousand years, and each one possessed an extremely strong talent for the Buddhist Path.

The Buddha Son held a very high status in the sect. He didn’t need to manage its internal affairs; his sole purpose was to focus on cultivation, achieve the supreme Great Dao, and bring blessings to the world.

’So now... I’ve gone and kidnapped the Buddha Son. Isn’t this going to be trouble?’

Lu Sangjiu was mortified. She had already made an enemy of the Beast Taming Sect, one of the Five Great Sects. Now she’d also abducted the Buddha Son of the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect, another of the Five Great Sects... Her feud with the orthodox Cultivation World was getting seriously out of hand.

After a moment of silence, Lu Sangjiu cleared her throat, breaking the quiet.

”Um... so, you’re the Buddha Son of the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect, right? What’s your name?”

The sound of chanting sutras paused, and the young monk slowly opened his eyes.

Only then did Lu Sangjiu realize that his eyes weren’t just beautiful—his gaze was also exceptionally clear, like a pool of pristine spring water that one wouldn’t dare defile.

He looked at Lu Sangjiu, his gaze calm. ”This humble monk’s Buddhist name is Jichen.”

”Jichen?” Lu Sangjiu paused, then, as if on a strange impulse, she pressed, ”Uh, you don’t have a given name? A name, not a Buddhist title.”

For some reason, she felt that he ought to have a proper name.

Jichen, however, shook his head. ”My master brought me to the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect just after I was born. I was never given a secular name.”

After a pause, he added, ”But I did hear my master mention once that my father’s surname was Xie.”

Xie? Lu Sangjiu couldn’t help but press a hand to her forehead... ’So familiar. I think I know someone with the surname Xie, too? Xie who, again?’

Seeing her reaction, Jichen asked curiously, ”What’s wrong?”

”N-nothing.” Lu Sangjiu waved her hand dismissively, grumbling to herself. ’Have I lived so long that my brain is starting to go?’

’But this isn’t the time to dwell on that. I’d better figure out what to do with this young monk.’

”Jichen, right? Look, even though your sect was the one to surround my people first...”

”We weren’t surrounding them,” Jichen interrupted her, stating very seriously, ”We were simply spreading the Buddhist Law, hoping they would repent and see the light.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

She was a little speechless. ”What do you mean, ’repent and see the light’? We’re Demon Cultivators, true, but who says Demon Cultivators are necessarily evil?”

”At the end of the day, the only difference between Demon Cultivators and you Cultivators is our method of cultivation. What does that have to do with whether a person is good or bad?”

Jichen paused, thought about it carefully for a moment, then said, ”But many Demon Cultivators, in their pursuit of rapid progress, will practice Evil Techniques and harm living beings.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”You said ’many,’ not ’all.’ Why are you lumping everyone together?”

With that, she pointed to herself and said confidently, ”Take me, for example. Have you seen me do anything evil?”

Jichen hesitated, then nodded. ”They said you launched a night raid on the Beast Taming Sect, injured countless disciples, and destroyed more than half of their buildings.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

Her mouth twitched. That... was mostly true, and she couldn’t really argue with it.

She gave a slightly guilty cough, then resorted to sophistry. ”I asked if *you* saw it, not what you *heard*.”

”Don’t you know that hearing is deceptive, but seeing is believing?”

Jichen contemplated this for a moment, then nodded honestly. ”You have a point.”

Lu Sangjiu: ’Phew. Good thing this little monk is so gullible.’

’But... wasn’t I supposed to be figuring out what to do with this little monk? How did I end up debating with him?’

She hurriedly got back to the point. ”What I was trying to say is, even though you were in the wrong first, I am a magnanimous person and don’t want to bicker with a bunch of smelly monks.”

”I brought you back here by mistake, but I haven’t done anything to you. I’ll have someone send you back in a bit, so don’t you go bad-mouthing me!”

Jichen’s gaze was clear. ”A monk does not tell lies. Benefactress, you only stared at my face for a long time and did nothing else. I will not speak carelessly.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

Her mouth twitched violently. ”Wh-what do you mean I *only* stared at your face for a long time? Why do you make me sound so creepy!”

Jichen faltered, then stated matter-of-factly, ”But you did indeed look at me for a long time just now. I did not misspeak.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

Defeated by Jichen’s earnestness, she couldn’t help but mutter.

”’He’s acting so pure now, but won’t he just be full of wicked ideas later... hmm?’”

She trailed off, stunned. ’Uh... why would I think this little monk would be full of wicked ideas in the future?’

’Hiss... my head is starting to hurt again. This brain of mine is getting more and more useless.’

”Forget it, forget it. Say whatever you want. It’s not like I have a good reputation in the eyes of you Cultivators anyway, thanks to all the stories you’ve made up.”

Lu Sangjiu waved her hand in annoyance. ”Fa Shan, send him back.”

Fa Shan had just acknowledged the order when Jichen spoke up. ”But I don’t want to go back yet.”

Huh???

For a moment, Lu Sangjiu suspected she had misheard.

’He doesn’t want to go back? Now that’s a first. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of a Cultivator not wanting to leave the Moon Palace.’

Looking at Jichen with a baffled expression, Lu Sangjiu asked quizzically, ”Why don’t you want to leave? Did you decide that being a Demon Cultivator isn’t so bad and plan to switch over to my Moon Palace?”

Jichen shook his head honestly. ”No. I just think what you said before was right. Seeing is believing... I have not seen you do anything evil, so I should see it with my own eyes.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

’Are all of you from the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect out of your minds???’

She was so angry she had to laugh. ”You think this place is an inn? You can just stay because you feel like it?”

Hearing this, Jichen seemed pensive. He then took out a bag of Spirit Stones and said, ”There are one thousand top-grade spirit stones here. Can you let me stay for a few days?”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

’He really is treating this place like an inn!’

’But... with that many Spirit Stones, that would be highway robbery even for an inn.’

Lu Sangjiu was shocked to find herself wavering over a mere one thousand top-grade spirit stones!

’My brain must be broken,’ she thought, increasingly certain. ’With my current wealth, would I be short on this little bit of money?’

’Besides... I’m clearly a Demon Cultivator, not a Cultivator. Why am I getting so excited over Spirit Stones?’

Lu Sangjiu felt that her temptation was utterly humiliating, so she refused righteously, ”No!”

A trace of disappointment appeared in Jichen’s eyes. Then, as if he suddenly thought of something, he took a medicine bottle out of his storage bag.

”I heard that the disciple from the Beast Taming Sect you took has already become a Demon Cultivator. However, the transition from a Cultivator to a Demon Cultivator causes great damage to the body. This Fifth Grade Mixed Element Pill isn’t particularly valuable, but its strength lies in being the perfect remedy. I imagine she will need it.”

A Mixed Element Pill! Lu Sangjiu’s eyes lit up.

The young monk was right about everything. In fact, she had already ordered her people to search for one.

Although the Mixed Element Pill was only fifth-grade, very few people needed it, making its cost-effectiveness low. As a result, very few people knew how to refine it.

Now that someone had delivered one right to her doorstep, it was truly hard for Lu Sangjiu not to be tempted...