The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

’Especially Li Qiancheng. While accepting me, he also remembered to be considerate. He really is a reliable Senior Brother.’

Lu Sangjiu smiled at them. ”I’m just glad you don’t blame me for hiding this.”

Just then, Feng Lin, who had been silent, spoke up. She gave a slightly bitter smile. ”I finally understand why Mr. Xie told us that story about Senior Hua Jianzhi and Senior Sword Bu Gui.”

”But I’m glad we heard it.”

’That’s why she’d spent so much time thinking about it afterward, and she’d come to understand a great deal.’

’So now, while the truth about Lu Sangjiu was shocking, she found it wasn’t so hard to accept.’

’It wasn’t that Demon Cultivators themselves were terrifying. It was simply that their Demonic Qi naturally suppressed Immortal Cultivators, which was what made them seem so frightening.’

’But now that her own good friend practiced Immortal Demon Dual Cultivation, she realized it was truly just a different method of cultivation. Other than that, she was no different from anyone else.’

With that thought, Feng Lin looked at Lu Sangjiu seriously and said, ”Lu Sangjiu, I am grateful that you were willing to save me today, and I will never tell anyone else about this.”

”I, Feng Lin, always keep my word. You can trust me.”

Lu Sangjiu gave her a faint smile. ”I’ve always trusted you, Feng Dao You.”

’It was true. Compared to Chi Yan and Yan Zui, Lu Sangjiu really did trust Feng Lin more.’

’Chi Yan was too simple-minded. He might not mean to, but he could let the secret slip without even realizing it.’

’As for Yan Zui... she was a good person, but her sense of belonging to her master and her sect was too strong. If it came to a choice between her and the sect, Lu Sangjiu had no doubt Yan Zui would choose the sect.’

’But Feng Lin was different. Though she was a woman of few words with a somewhat aloof personality, her Dao heart was the most resolute of them all.’

’Her own convictions and beliefs trumped all else. Her sect was important to her, but if she believed that not betraying Lu Sangjiu was the right thing to do, then she would never reveal a single word, no matter how her master or her sect pressured her.’

’That was just the kind of person she was.’

So, when it came to Feng Lin’s promise, Lu Sangjiu was truly at ease.

”I absorbed the Demonic Qi that entered your body while I was treating you. There’s still a remnant of the Blood Evil Curse that I haven’t cleared out, so you’ll have to wait. I need to give everyone a first round of treatment before I can start the second.”

Feng Lin understood. The pain from the Blood Evil Curse and the invading Demonic Qi was excruciating. Even one round of treatment would provide immense relief, so of course it was best to treat everyone once as quickly as possible.

Lu Sangjiu’s Demonic Qi was completely depleted, yet there was no time to waste.

After all, according to Cangming, he would start killing people in three days. She had to heal them all and find a way for them to escape within that time.

This time, she didn’t have time to slowly absorb Demonic Qi to recover. She could only forcefully absorb the Demon Essence Stones and the surrounding Demonic Qi, ignoring the burden and pain it placed on her body, just to replenish her own reserves at the fastest possible speed.

Then she would administer the next treatment, and when that was done, she would recover again.

She repeated this cycle, saving one person after another, almost numb to the process.

「Divine Tomb Sect」

When Ah Ming returned to the sect, the first thing he did was go see his master.

”He Ming, so you’ve finally decided to come back!”

Fa Shan’s face was stern, trying his best to make his gentle features look as intimidating as possible.

’I have to teach this little brat a good lesson this time,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, he’ll never learn his place.’

However, the one who was supposed to play his part in this performance failed to do so. He Ming—also known as Ah Ming—was in no state to care about his master’s anger. He simply dropped to his knees, his face fraught with anxiety.

”Master, I’m begging you, please save Ms. Ajiu!”

Seeing his disciple immediately perform such a grand gesture of respect, Fa Shan was completely baffled. ’What is this all about?’

He faltered, the intimidating air he had just adopted already starting to crumble. ”...And who is this Ms. Ajiu?”

He Ming hastily explained the situation, adding at the end, ”Ms. Ajiu helped me so much. She’s a good person.”

”Now they’ve fallen into Cangming’s hands. I fear for their lives! Please, Master, you have to save her!”

Fa Shan fell silent. After a long moment, he let out a soft sigh. ”It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an Immortal Cultivator willing to help a Demon Cultivator.”

”This junior... is rather interesting.”

’But why would Cangming capture them?’ he wondered.

Fa Shan knew that anything requiring Cangming to act personally was no ordinary matter. The chances of rescuing them were slim to none.

However, with his disciple pleading so earnestly—and given that the girl had indeed done them a service—he couldn’t just do nothing, whether a rescue was possible or not.

”...Sigh. Very well. I’ll go and see Cangming.”

As he said this, Fa Shan felt a surge of complex emotions.

In truth, he hadn’t seen Cangming since the day he’d led his people away from the Moon Palace.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t see him; he didn’t want to.

So much time had passed that the resentment he held for Cangming seemed to have faded considerably.

At the very least, he could now calmly say that he would go and see him.

He wasn’t sure what to make of this feeling, but he couldn’t help but think of *her* again... In the deepest part of his heart, he faintly felt that going to see Cangming would be a betrayal to her memory.

He Ming was overjoyed to hear Fa Shan’s words, but then he noticed his master had fallen silent, seemingly lost in thought.

Afraid his master might change his mind, he quickly called out, ”Master? Master?”

Fa Shan snapped out of his daze with a soft ”Oh.” To cover up his emotions, he changed the subject before He Ming could speak. ”Right, that Ms. Ajiu of yours, what’s her full name?”

”If I’m going to save her, I’ll need to know her name.”

He Ming snapped to attention and quickly replied, ”Her name is Lu Sangjiu!”

He had only learned the name later by secretly asking Luo Linlang.

Lu Sangjiu had only ever told him to call her Ms. Ajiu, so that’s what he had always done. He had never paid much attention to her full name, and saying it now, it even felt a little unfamiliar.

But the instant Fa Shan heard the name, his eyes flew wide. The hand holding his teacup trembled, and he didn’t even seem to notice the scalding tea that splashed onto his skin.

The two words just kept repeating in his mind... and in a trance, he seemed to see a morning from many years ago.

Gu Huang smiled at him and said, ”I’m going to travel the mortal realm for a while. You’ll have to help me look after things here at the Moon Palace.”

”I’m going for full immersion this time, so I even gave myself an alias. It’s Lu Sangjiu. Hehe, it’s a play on the numbers six, three, and nine. Simple, easy to remember, and sounds nice, don’t you think?”

’Lu Sangjiu... It certainly was simple and easy to remember. So much so that even after several hundred years, he still clearly recalled the alias she had chosen for herself on a whim!’