The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

The teacup landed on the table with a loud THUD. The sound was so abrupt that everyone fell silent, their eyes instinctively turning to Sword Bu Gui.

Sword Bu Gui, however, only looked at Bai Heng, his face filled with unconcealed contempt. ”White Sword Venerable, your persistent shamelessness is truly something to behold.”

Bai Heng had been quite satisfied with the effect of his speech, but he hadn’t expected Sword Bu Gui to stand up and disrupt things again.

His expression immediately darkened. ”Sword Bu Gui, what is the meaning of this?”

”A disciple of my Seven Emotions Sect is about to sacrifice herself for the greater good. Am I not even allowed to speak up on the matter?”

Lu Sangjiu almost gagged. This time, without waiting for Sword Bu Gui to say more, she spoke up herself. ”Master Bai, when did I ever say I was going to sacrifice myself?”

”You keep talking about how I must sacrifice myself for the greater good, but you haven’t asked my opinion even once. And now you’re acting as if this is all for my benefit... Am I supposed to be moved to tears with gratitude?”

’Her original plan had been to play the part of a frail girl and just get through this. But looking at all these shameless faces, if she kept acting like a pushover, she was afraid she’d pop a blood vessel from sheer anger.’

So this time, when Lu Sangjiu spoke, she was utterly blunt, giving Bai Heng no face whatsoever.

Sword Bu Gui shot Bai Heng a sidelong glance, a smirk playing on his lips. ”Did you hear that?”

Bai Heng’s expression was grim, but he couldn’t be bothered to engage in a war of words with Sword Bu Gui.

He simply stared coldly at Lu Sangjiu. ”Nephew Lu, what do you mean by that? Are you... unwilling to sacrifice yourself for the sake of peace in the Cultivation World and the well-being of others?”

”The Seven Emotions Sect took you in and taught you. Now, when it is time for you to do your part for the Cultivation World, you refuse? Is this how you repay the sect for its kindness?”

Lu Sangjiu sneered at Bai Heng’s spectacular attempt at moral grandstanding. ”It’s true that the Seven Emotions Sect took me in and taught me, but what does that have to do with you, Master Bai?”

”Does Master Bai believe he can speak for the entire Seven Emotions Sect? As I recall, you are not the Sect Leader, are you?”

Bai Heng was livid. Just as he was about to retort, Lu Sangjiu swept her gaze over the others and pressed on.

”That the peace of the Cultivation World can only be protected by sacrificing a lowly Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator like me... Don’t you all feel your faces burn with shame just hearing that?”

”A single Demon Artifact has you so frightened that you’re willing to sacrifice one of your own. If the Demon Cultivators were to launch a massive invasion someday, would you push all the Foundation Establishment Disciples onto the battlefield to die, just to buy yourselves a chance to escape?”

”The Demon Cultivators haven’t even made a move, yet you’re already so eager to turn your blades on your own people. Is this what you call righteousness and morality?”

Lu Sangjiu’s words were a thunderous wake-up call. There were reasonable people in the crowd, and her speech made their faces burn with shame. They felt that their own silence in the face of injustice made them no better than the villains.

Of course, while some were moved, others flew into a rage out of shame.

The Divinity Transformation Cultivator from the Beast Taming Sect slammed his hand on the table. ”What utter and preposterous nonsense!”

”We are all your seniors and elders! Is that any way to speak to us?”

”Furthermore, everyone sitting here personally fought on the Immortal Demon Battlefield centuries ago and made great contributions to the defense of the Cultivation World!”

”Who are you, an ignorant little girl, to presume to judge us?”

Bai Heng chimed in at the perfect moment. ”For the peace and happiness of the many, choices and sacrifices are inevitable. If it were anyone else in your position today, they would also choose to sacrifice themselves.”

”Lu Sangjiu, you are selfish and foolish, and you even maliciously question our intentions. I am truly disappointed in you!”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

’She was speechless. She was trying to reason with them, and in return, they were going on about how hard they had it on the battlefield and accusing her of disrespecting her elders? It was like talking about apples and they were talking about oranges. In a word: pointless.’

And just like that, swayed by the duo’s back-and-forth, the others perked up. The shame vanished from their faces, replaced by the look that said Lu Sangjiu’s sacrifice was only to be expected.

Fortunately, Sword Bu Gui remained rational and wasn’t led astray by the pair.

He sneered, ”You talk a good game, but you all know perfectly well what you’re really thinking.”

”Let’s stick to the facts. Is this situation really so dire that Lu Sangjiu must be sacrificed?”

”The domination map is a Demon Artifact, yes, but it can control its own Demonic Qi. As long as it isn’t intentionally used to harm anyone, neither its wielder nor those nearby will be injured by the Demonic Qi.”

”As long as Lu Sangjiu refrains from placing it in her Sea of Consciousness to nurture it, she won’t be driven mad by the erosion of its Demonic Qi.”

”In other words, as long as Lu Sangjiu keeps it in her storage bag, tells no one of its whereabouts, and never uses it, what real consequence is there to the domination map being her Lifebound Magical Treasure?”

The only issue was that a Lifebound Magical Treasure cannot be too far from its Cultivator, or it would have a significant negative effect on both. Otherwise, simply returning the domination map to the Sword Tomb would have been the most direct solution.

Everyone had been so focused on preventing a Demon Artifact from appearing in the world, and then so swept up in Bai Heng’s rhetoric, that they truly hadn’t considered such a possibility.

For a moment, everyone began to contemplate the feasibility of this method.

After all, besides Bai Heng and the cultivator from the Beast Taming Sect, no one else held a deep-seated grudge against Lu Sangjiu or was adamant that she had to be sacrificed.

But before they could fully process the idea, Bai Heng voiced his opposition again. ”This might seem like a solution, but the risks are far too great.”

He said, ”First, there is no guarantee that Lu Sangjiu will be obedient.”

”Second, what if she dies out in the world somewhere, or has an accident and loses her storage bag? The domination map would still fall into someone else’s hands.”

”Let’s take a step back. Even if it doesn’t immediately make its way to the Western Demon Realm, we would have to expend enormous manpower and resources to retrieve it. Who would be responsible for bearing that cost?”

Bai Heng’s final words struck a chord with the others, and he once again won the support of the majority.

”Indeed. The risk is too great, and there are too many variables. It’s not a viable plan!”

Sword Bu Gui slammed the table in fury. ”So, just because of the potential cost in manpower and resources, you’re going to sacrifice a living, breathing person as if it’s the most natural thing in the world?”

But the cultivator from the Beast Taming Sect sneered, ”Sword Bu Gui, don’t talk as if you’re the only one with lofty principles. If you’re so unconcerned with worldly possessions, why don’t you volunteer to pay for it?”

”Besides, it’s not that we’re stingy about resources. We simply cannot allow any possibility of the domination map being lost to the outside world.”

For a moment, Sword Bu Gui was at a loss for a rebuttal. His face ashen, he could only say, ”In any case, I do not agree!”

Bai Heng’s lips curled into a mocking sneer, confident that victory was already within his grasp.

Yet he still put on a pretense of fairness. ”Enough. Since we are divided in our opinions, there is no point in arguing further. Why don’t we settle it with a vote?”