The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Seeing her indecision, Jichen smiled gently. ”I only wish to stay at the Moon Palace for a while to see what real Demon Cultivators are like. It’s harmless to you, so there’s nothing to hesitate about.”

After a brief moment of internal conflict, Lu Sangjiu relented.

”Fine... five days at most!”

Jichen beamed and nodded. ”Agreed.”

Lu Sangjiu thought for a moment before adding, ”However, you have to make this clear with your sect. If they come looking for you and want to take you away, it won’t count as me breaking our deal.”

Jichen nodded again. ”Alright.”

Only then did Lu Sangjiu put the medicine bottle away.

Holding the medicine bottle, she glanced down. A simple Spirit Locking Array was carved on it to preserve the medicine’s efficacy... ’Why does this look a little familiar, too?’

’Forget it. The important thing is to get this to Bai Sheng right away!’

”Fa Shan, arrange a place for him to stay. Don’t restrict where he goes, but someone must follow him at all times. If anything happens, you’ll be responsible!”

Fa Shan immediately agreed. ”Don’t worry, Palace Master! This little monk is only at the Golden Core Stage. I guarantee I’ll watch him like a hawk!”

He had already reached Divinity Transformation. As long as he wasn’t careless, keeping an eye on a Golden Core Stage cultivator was a trivial matter.

After Lu Sangjiu left, Jichen calmly took out a Communication Talisman to contact his master.

”Master, your disciple is safe and sound at the Moon Palace. I am merely troubled by a question in my heart and must seek an answer. I will return to the sect once my business is concluded. Do not worry.”

A moment later, the Communication Talisman began to vibrate frantically.

Jichen activated it, and his master’s panicked voice instantly echoed through the hall.

”My disciple, what’s wrong with you, my disciple? How did you end up at the Moon Palace?”

”You haven’t been bewitched by some demoness, have you?”

”Snap out of it! You’re a Buddhist Practitioner! The moment you get close to a woman, your cultivation will be ruined!”

Jichen: ”...”

He fell silent for a moment, then decisively shut off the Communication Talisman. Ignoring its continuous vibrations, he shoved it into his storage bag.

Then, he looked up at Fa Shan with a smile, pretending nothing had happened. ”Where is my room?”

Fa Shan: ”...”

The corner of his mouth twitched... ’So, Buddhist Practitioners aren’t as dignified as I imagined?’

’They’re certainly not shy about discussing worldly matters, at least!’

Back in his room, Jichen took out the Communication Talisman again and patiently explained the situation to his master, repeatedly assuring him that he had not been bewitched by anyone.

When the Communication Talisman finally stopped vibrating, Jichen let out a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on his face.

’Neither the Moon Palace nor Venerable Gu Huang seems as terrifying as the rumors claim.’

’Perhaps you really do have to see things with your own eyes to know the truth.’

Lu Sangjiu left Jichen with Fa Shan and promptly put the matter out of her mind.

It wasn’t until she got up the next morning to water the flowers in her courtyard that she saw someone standing there the moment she stepped outside.

Seeing her emerge, Jichen smiled and greeted her, ”Venerable Gu Huang, good morning.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...What are you doing here?”

Jichen explained earnestly, ”I’m preparing to write an observation diary on Demon Cultivators, and I’m starting by observing you.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

She could feel a vein throbbing in her temple... from sheer anger.

”Do you think I’m some kind person just because I haven’t harmed you?”

”I am a dignified Integration Stage Cultivator! Am I someone you can just observe as you please? Get lost!”

Jichen looked at her with innocent eyes. ”But you used yourself as an example yesterday. So, naturally, I have to start my observations with you.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

’Is this what they call shooting yourself in the foot?’

Just as she was about to say something, Fa Shan ran in. ”Palace Master, this is bad...”

Lu Sangjiu’s headache only intensified.

”Can’t you ever learn a new line? Every day it’s ’this is bad.’ I’m starting to suspect I’ll be cursed to death by you!”

’...Huh? Why did I say that like I’m already dead?’

Fa Shan said aggrievedly, ”No... Palace Master, the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect is here to demand someone back!”

Hearing this, Lu Sangjiu was instantly delighted. ”Demanding someone back? Great! Then hurry up and send him out!”

’Just get him out of here! Even looking at him gives me a headache!’

”But...” Fa Shan frowned. ”But they’ve captured Cangming.”

Lu Sangjiu’s expression immediately turned grim, all traces of her earlier nonchalance gone. ”Let’s go. We’ll take a look.”

After taking two steps, she stopped and turned back. ”Tie this kid up and bring him with us!”

At that moment, Jichen’s eyes were filled with confusion.

’He’d clearly spent so long explaining everything to his master yesterday. Why would they still capture someone from the Moon Palace to demand his return?’

He didn’t understand, but he could read the look in Lu Sangjiu’s eyes... She blamed him for this, and she was angry.

Jichen remained silent, not resisting as Fa Shan tied him up and followed behind Lu Sangjiu.

Lu Sangjiu was also incredibly frustrated. Things had been far from peaceful lately. It was just one thing after another, enough to drive a person mad.

”Palace Master... Palace Master, save me!”

The moment Lu Sangjiu appeared, she heard Cangming’s voice.

Like Fa Shan, Cangming was also a Hall Master of the Moon Palace.

Lu Sangjiu was a rather casual Palace Master, so the two of them managed most of the affairs below her. They were, so to speak, her right and left hands.

Moreover, Cangming was an expert at the Divinity Transformation Stage. He couldn’t possibly have been captured alive unless the enemy had deployed several Divinity Transformation experts to surround him, or an Integration Stage cultivator had directly intervened.

Ignoring Cangming’s pleas for help, Lu Sangjiu’s gaze swept quickly across the opposing group, finally landing on an old monk.

’...Late-stage Integration. So they really did send an Integration Stage cultivator.’

One look at this bald old monk and she knew, without a doubt, that he must be from the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect, here to rescue Jichen.

’Tsk, this Buddha Son really is a menace. I shouldn’t have been tempted by such a paltry gain yesterday.’

Sure enough, when the old monk saw Jichen, his expression darkened. ”Demon, release the Buddha Son of my Ten Thousand Buddha Sect at once!”

Lu Sangjiu snorted coldly. ”You release Cangming first, and I’ll release him.”

The old monk was unmoved. ”What credibility could a Female Demon like you possibly have? I don’t trust you. You release him first, or I’ll kill him!”

Jichen, standing behind Lu Sangjiu, suddenly spoke before she could. ”Master Ting Chan, I wasn’t captured by them. I am staying here of my own free will.”

”This is all a misunderstanding. Master, you should let him go.”

Ting Chan froze for a second, then his brow furrowed deeply. ”Silence! What nonsense are you spouting?”

”Look at the ropes on you, and you still claim you’re staying here voluntarily?”

”Uh...” Jichen looked at Lu Sangjiu. ”How about... you untie me first?”

Lu Sangjiu gave him a look as if he were an idiot. ”Are you kidding me?”

’If I untie him now and he runs, what about Cangming? I’m not an idiot!’

Jichen: ”...”

’Now, it seems, this really can’t be explained clearly.’

He said helplessly, ”Master Ting Chan, I’m truly not deceiving you. I already explained it to my master. If you don’t believe me, you can ask him.”

Ting Chan replied, ”Your master said you were bewitched by a demoness, and I didn’t believe him. But now I see... is it her?”

Lu Sangjiu: ???

’How did I get dragged into this and made the scapegoat?’

She scoffed, ”Don’t you go spouting slander. Would I really lower myself to bewitch a little Golden Core Stage monk?”

Hearing this, the anger on Ting Chan’s face intensified. ”Are you looking down on the Buddha Son of my Ten Thousand Buddha Sect?”

Lu Sangjiu sneered. ”So what if I am? If you’ve got the guts, stop playing these despicable hostage-taking games and fight me fair and square!”