The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

It had to be said, Gu Jue knew Sword Bu Gui very well.

That was why he wasn’t fooled by Lu Sangjiu’s claim that she had begged Sword Bu Gui to protect them. Instead, he immediately grasped the heart of the matter.

Of course, Lu Sangjiu couldn’t tell him about the Fengming Sword Scabbard. With Gu Jue’s personality, he would never sit idly by if he knew the truth, letting her take all the risks by herself.

So she just bluffed, ”Sword Master Bu Gui appreciates my senior sister’s strength and potential. He feels that making a small investment in her now is sure to pay off in the future.”

”It’s a good thing, too. Otherwise, with nothing to my name, I really wouldn’t have had anything to offer to convince him.”

Gu Jue had been skeptical, but Lu Sangjiu’s explanation actually convinced him.

After all, he couldn’t imagine what Lu Sangjiu could have possibly offered to get his master to agree.

So, he didn’t dwell on the matter any longer. He just said to Lu Sangjiu, ”In that case, please make yourselves at home here.”

”My master always keeps his promises. Now that he’s agreed, he won’t go back on his word.”

Lu Sangjiu nodded. ”Then we’ll be in your care for the next few days.”

After this polite exchange, Lu Sangjiu remembered something else.

”By the way, Mr. Gu, I promised before that I would help you look for Liu Xi after the Sword Seizing Conference, but now...”

She said apologetically, ”Something important and very urgent has come up, so I don’t think I can keep my promise.”

The Qilin Sect had only given her a month. The Sword Seizing Conference was already taking up nearly half of that time, and she had no idea what she would face when she got to Qingyun State. She had to leave herself a sufficient buffer.

So, as sorry as she was, she truly couldn’t help Gu Jue with his situation.

Gu Jue froze for a moment, a flicker of disappointment in his eyes, but then he just said, ”It’s fine. I’m grateful you were willing to help at all. Your matter is more important. Don’t worry about me.”

Lu Sangjiu nodded. ”Thank you for understanding, Mr. Gu.”

Gu Jue seemed to want to say something but held back. Finally, he couldn’t help but ask, ”You... why have you gone back to calling me Mr. Gu?”

Lu Sangjiu hadn’t even noticed. She paused for a second before explaining, ”Sorry, I guess I’m still not used to it. Sometimes I call you Mr. Gu without thinking.”

”But we’re friends, right? We can call each other whatever we want. It’s not like a name will change that, is it?”

Gu Jue immediately looked ashamed. ”You’re very clear-sighted, Mr. Lu. It is I who was getting hung up on trivial things.”

The two spoke for a little longer before Lu Sangjiu, using her concern for Luo Linlang as an excuse, returned to the room to look after the patient.

Gu Jue turned and headed back to his own courtyard. The moment he stepped inside, he saw his master drinking tea at the stone table.

Seeing him enter, the Sword Master raised an eyebrow. ”You’re willing to come back so soon?”

Being teased like this, the tips of Gu Jue’s ears immediately turned red. ”...Master, please don’t say such things.”

Sword Bu Gui snorted. ”You’re grinning from ear to ear. Am I the one spouting nonsense?”

Gu Jue subconsciously touched the corner of his mouth, only to realize that it had indeed been turned up in a slight smile.

His face instantly grew hot. ”I...”

Sword Bu Gui raised a hand. ”Enough. No need to explain.”

”I won’t meddle in the affairs of you younger ones. I just want to remind you that the young lady doesn’t seem to have any romantic feelings for you. If you dive in headfirst like this, you’ll only be hurting yourself in the end.”

Gu Jue was taken aback for a moment, but then he simply bowed calmly to Sword Bu Gui. ”I understand, Master. Thank you for the reminder.”

Seeing Gu Jue’s reaction, Sword Bu Gui was quite satisfied. ’It seems that while he’s entangled in emotion, he hasn’t lost himself to it.’

’In that case, he had nothing to worry about. Young people, after all... as long as they don’t obsess over it, having a few more experiences isn’t a bad thing.’

’Who hasn’t been young and reckless at some point?’

After Gu Jue left, Sword Bu Gui gazed eastward. His eyes grew distant, as if seeing the figure of someone from his past. Counting the days, he realized it had been a hundred years since he last set foot in Qingyun State.

’In the future, there might be a second hundred years, and a third. If nothing unexpected happened, they would likely never meet again in this lifetime.’

Closing his eyes, Sword Bu Gui rose, flicked his sleeves, and departed.

Luo Linlang woke up at noon the next day.

Lu Sangjiu, who had been keeping watch by her side, rushed to the bed the moment she saw her awaken. ”Senior Sister, are you feeling any better?” she asked with concern. ”Does anything still hurt?”

Luo Linlang’s face was still deathly pale, but upon seeing Lu Sangjiu, she subconsciously managed to force a smile. ”I’m fine.”

Lu Sangjiu could see that although she was weak, her breathing was steady. Knowing that her condition was stable, she finally relaxed.

So she deliberately put on a stern face and said irritably, ”You’re fine? You almost died, you know that?”

’She understood Luo Linlang’s feelings at the time. She also knew that part of Luo Linlang’s rage toward Ye Zhiyao that day had been on her behalf.’

’But the thought that Luo Linlang had paid such a heavy price just to teach Ye Zhiyao a lesson made her feel it simply wasn’t worth it!’

’Things were fine for now, with Sword Master Bu Gui looking after them. But once the secret of her Word Spirit Skill spread throughout the Cultivation World, how could she ever hope to live a peaceful life?’

Luo Linlang herself felt a little guilty and couldn’t help but mutter under her breath, ”...But I didn’t die, did I?”

But Lu Sangjiu remained serious. ”Senior Sister, I’m not joking with you. What you used that day... was that the legendary Word Spirit Technique?”

A flicker of surprise crossed Luo Linlang’s eyes. She clearly hadn’t expected Lu Sangjiu to know about it.

But she had already used it. With so many Divinity Transformation Cultivators present that day, she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide it for long.

So, after her brief surprise, she admitted it readily. ”Yes.”

Luo Linlang expected Lu Sangjiu to press for details and was already thinking about how to explain her past, but to her surprise, Lu Sangjiu didn’t ask any further.

She just said, ”If even I could recognize it, then there’s no question those Divinity Transformation Cultivators did too. Senior Sister, you must know what kind of trouble you’ve brought on yourself because of a moment’s anger.”

Lu Sangjiu’s words threw Luo Linlang off. She paused for a second, then laughed freely. ”Little Junior Sister, don’t look so grim. I’m not dead yet.”

”Besides, no matter how powerful the Word Spirit Skill is, what’s the difference between having it and not if I’m too afraid to ever use it? I can’t keep it hidden forever, can I?”

”It’s better this way. I don’t have to live in constant fear of being discovered. I actually feel a bit more at ease.”

”As for anyone else who might covet it... the Word Spirit Technique is a talent in my bloodline. They could drink every last drop of my blood and still not be able to learn it. So, the worst that can happen is I die, but at least I won’t be making it easy for them. When I think of it that way, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Lu Sangjiu was speechless.

’Luo Linlang truly was unbelievably carefree.’

’But since things had already come to this, being optimistic was better than being filled with regret and fear.’