The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Ye Zhiyao reacted quickly, but Lu Sangjiu reacted even faster. With that one tug, Lu Sangjiu appeared to lose her balance, stumbling and falling to the ground.

”Ah!” Lu Sangjiu cried out. Then, to Ye Zhiyao’s complete astonishment, she looked up with a wronged expression. ”Senior Sister Ye, you... you hurt me.”

Ye Zhiyao: ”...”

’Having grown up in a Cultivation Sect, she had truly never seen such a delicate and weak Female Cultivator... Did I really use that much force just now?’

While she was lost in self-doubt, Gu Jue and the others had already helped Lu Sangjiu to her feet.

Liu Xi then shot back rudely, ”Is there no end to you? We weren’t going to press the issue with you, and now you’re the one hitting people?”

”What, are you trying to stick up for your senior brother? My Senior Brother doesn’t even need to get involved. How about you and I have a go?”

Of course, Ye Zhiyao had no intention of fighting them. Snapping out of her daze, she waved her hands at Gu Jue to explain. ”That’s not it, Senior Brother Gu! I swear I didn’t use much force just now. I don’t know why Junior Sister Lu...”

Before she could finish, Liu Xi rudely cut her off, saying sarcastically, ”Oh, so you didn’t use any force? I suppose Lu Sangjiu just fell down on her own, then?”

”Are you suggesting we’re all ganging up to frame you? That we’re the bad guys, and you’re just some poor, innocent little flower?”

Ye Zhiyao was so angry she could have spit blood. She couldn’t stop herself from turning to Lu Sangjiu. ”Junior Sister Lu, aren’t you going to say something?”

Lu Sangjiu immediately adopted a panicked expression and waved her hands frantically. ”Please, don’t argue! If Senior Sister Ye said she didn’t use any force, then she must not have. Perhaps I’m just too weak and fell on my own... Please stop blaming Senior Sister Ye.”

Ye Zhiyao: ...???

’It seemed like Lu Sangjiu was speaking up for her, but at the same time, it felt like she wasn’t.’

Just then, Liu Xi shot Lu Sangjiu a glare. ”Wimp.”

Lu Sangjiu lowered her head, a wronged look on her face. Chi Yan quickly comforted her, ”Immortal, don’t listen to her. I know you’re just too kind-hearted.”

After speaking, he turned to Liu Xi. ”That’s enough. They’re the Immortal’s sect-mates. Being so aggressive will just put the Immortal in an awkward position later. Let’s go.”

Hearing them say they were leaving, Ye Zhiyao finally snapped back to reality. She had originally grabbed Lu Sangjiu to get her to put in a good word for her.

Then she could use it as an opportunity to travel with them and get closer to Gu Jue.

But now that things had become such a mess, she hadn’t even had the chance to say anything.

After being lambasted like that, she could no longer bring herself to shamelessly suggest traveling together. Her face went pale, her expression grim, and her mood hit rock bottom.

At the same time, a sliver of suspicion toward Lu Sangjiu crept into her heart. ’Could she be doing this on purpose, trying to keep me from getting close to Gu Jue?’

Just as she was thinking this, she heard Lu Sangjiu say, ”Senior Sister Ye, I’ve been thinking. I’m afraid that you and Senior Brother Qin might run into danger later on. Why don’t you travel with us?”

Ye Zhiyao’s heart leaped with joy at her words. ’Could I have misjudged her?’ she wondered.

But before she could agree, Liu Xi exploded. ”Lu Sangjiu, is there something wrong with you? She just threw you to the ground, and now you want to travel with her?”

”I don’t care! It’s either her or me! Senior Brother, what do you say?”

Gu Jue’s expression was impassive. ”You all can decide.”

Liu Xi immediately looked crestfallen. ”Senior Brother, what’s that supposed to mean! Don’t tell me you actually want to travel with that woman?”

Having been repeatedly berated by Liu Xi, Ye Zhiyao could no longer suppress her anger and finally spoke up.

”I don’t believe I’ve done anything to offend you. Why must every word out of your mouth be so barbed?”

Qin Yu, who had been silent for a long while, now said coldly, ”Junior Sister, why are you wasting your breath talking to them?”

”If they don’t want to travel with us, then I don’t want to travel with them! Let them go!”

Ye Zhiyao: ”...”

’Well, that’s just great.’ After Qin Yu’s outburst, traveling together was now completely out of the question.

Ye Zhiyao felt both angry and helpless, but in the end, she resigned herself to the situation, pressing her lips together and saying no more.

Since the other party had said they didn’t want to travel with them, Liu Xi immediately piped up, ”Great, great, a happy ending for everyone! Let’s get out of here!”

Lu Sangjiu lowered her gaze, and where no one could see, a small smile touched her lips. She had achieved her goal, leaving no trace of her involvement.

Although they were most likely all heading toward Qishan, since they didn’t want to travel together, they could simply take slightly different routes to avoid each other.

Because of Ye Zhiyao and her companion, the group had been delayed by several hours.

To make it to Qishan sooner, they traveled through the night without resting.

Just before dawn, they arrived at the foot of Qishan.

And then... they walked right into a trap.

Some vicious person had set up a killing array here.

The group walked right into it, none of them noticing. The killing array activated, and a barrage of attacks rained down on them from all sides.

But with a powerhouse like Gu Jue on their side, Lu Sangjiu didn’t even have to lift a finger. With a single sword, he stood before them, and in just a few flashes of his blade, he shattered the killing array.

Chi Yan gaped in astonishment. ”Brother Gu... you’re incredible!”

Liu Xi said proudly, ”My Senior Brother is the best!”

But the praise had barely faded when five ferocious-looking male cultivators leaped out.

Adhering to the principle of ”ruthless people don’t waste words,” they didn’t bother with pleasantries and attacked immediately.

And then, it was basically a repeat performance: Lu Sangjiu and the others cheered from the sidelines while Gu Jue, with a few flashes of his sword, dispatched all five men.

Afterward, he even collected the storage bags from the bodies and handed one to each of them.

’Lu Sangjiu was deeply moved. She felt a profound sense of shame for having been reluctant to travel with Gu Jue before.’

’How could she ever have been picky about a god-tier teammate like this? It would be great to just ride his coattails forever!’

Just as she was delightedly fantasizing about being able to coast to victory, she suddenly heard Chi Yan let out a ”Huh?” He then walked up to Lu Sangjiu, holding a pitch-black token.

”Immortal, take a look. Isn’t this the same as the item we found on that group who attacked my junior brother?”

Lu Sangjiu was surprised. She took it and saw that it indeed bore the same mark.

Liu Xi, who had also leaned in for a look, asked in surprise, ”These people... they’re also from that Qilin Sect?”

Chi Yan nodded. ”And I just checked the storage bags we took from the bodies of the attackers when we rescued Ye Zhiyao and her group. They have this mark, too.”

They had been too busy arguing with Ye Zhiyao’s group before to check the storage bags. It was only now that they realized something was amiss.

Hearing this, Gu Jue’s expression grew grim. ”Running into people from the Qilin Sect ambushing Cultivators three times in a row... something isn’t right.”

Lu Sangjiu stroked her chin. ”The most important question is, if they were planning to do something bad from the very beginning, why would they carry items that identify their sect?”