The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Lu Sangjiu had a sudden realization. ”Oh, so that’s what it was.”

’Damn it, I was totally overthinking things,’ she cursed herself inwardly, forcing a smile to hide her embarrassment. ”No problem! I’m great at chatting. Mr. Gu, please don’t feel like you have to be polite with me!”

Gu Jue said they would chat, and they really did just chat.

The two sat atop the mountain peak, talking about the beautiful scenery, the sunrises and sunsets, the things they had seen and heard, and stories from their pasts.

Now that Lu Sangjiu’s identity had been revealed to the world, there was no need to hide anything, so she told him many stories from her past.

Gu Jue spent most of the time listening, just watching her, his eyes filled with an endless tenderness.

When the sun set behind the western mountains, he lit a lamp, illuminating the area around them.

Because of that brief misunderstanding, Lu Sangjiu still felt a little guilty. She put extra effort into their conversation, hoping that something she said might trigger an epiphany for Gu Jue. That way, her trip wouldn’t have been for nothing.

As she was talking, a gust of wind blew past. Lu Sangjiu paused, looking up in surprise. ”Gu Jue, look! It’s snowing!”

Her face lit up with delight as she said happily, ”I was just talking about the snow I saw in the mortal realm. I can’t believe it’s snowing here, too. What perfect timing.”

She tilted her head back, her eyes sparkling and her smile radiant. ”Not only did we get to see the sunset today, but we also got to see it snow. Mr. Gu, we’re really lucky.”

Gu Jue watched the snowflakes fall into her hair and suddenly recalled a saying he had heard when he once wandered the mortal world.

If we let the snow fall on us together, we can count it as growing old together in this life.

At the time he heard it, he only found it sappy. Now, thinking back, he realized it was filled with a person’s endless regret.

Watching more and more snowflakes settle in her hair, Gu Jue gave a faint smile. ”Yes... We are very lucky.”

”Little Jiu,” he said suddenly.

Lu Sangjiu froze, looking at him in confusion.

But for some reason, she couldn’t help but feel that something was off... After a moment’s thought, she realized this was probably the first time Gu Jue had ever called her that.

In the past, Gu Jue had told her it was fine to just call him by his name.

But he himself had always abided by etiquette and called her Mr. Lu.

But Lu Sangjiu didn’t know how many times those two short words had swirled in Gu Jue’s heart, only to be swallowed back down.

Only once, in the Illusion Realm, when he and Lu Sangjiu had been husband and wife for a day, had he called her ”Little Jiu” without any reservation.

After leaving the Illusion Realm, he could no longer bring himself to say it.

’Today... I’ll allow myself this one last indulgence.’

As Lu Sangjiu watched him, puzzled, Gu Jue raised his hand slightly, but in the end, only pointed to his own hair. ”You have a fallen leaf right here.”

”Oh,” Lu Sangjiu said, hurriedly raising her hand to brush the leaf away.

For some reason, she suddenly felt a little flustered and awkward.

After a moment of silence, she finally said, ”So, where was I?”

But Gu Jue suddenly stood up, smiled at her, and said, ”It’s getting late. You should go back and rest. I’ve prepared a guest room for you.”

Lu Sangjiu said ”Oh” as if a great weight had been lifted. ”Thanks, then!”

’The atmosphere feels so strange. It’s better to go back!’

For Cultivators, such a short distance was covered in an instant, and the two of them arrived at the door of the guest room arranged for Lu Sangjiu.

Lu Sangjiu thought for a moment before asking expectantly, ”I said so much today. Was it... helpful to you?”

Gu Jue nodded. ”Very helpful. Thank you.”

Lu Sangjiu immediately brightened up. ”That’s great! So tomorrow, do I still need to...”

”There’s no need.”

Gu Jue said, ”Tomorrow... bring Mr. Xie with you. Both of you, come find me in my room. I have something to tell you.”

”Huh?” Lu Sangjiu was even more confused by Gu Jue’s intentions, but she nodded anyway. ”Alright, see you tomorrow morning then!”

’Whatever he’s planning, I’ll find out tomorrow anyway.’

Gu Jue watched Lu Sangjiu turn and go into her room. He remained standing at the door until it closed and the light inside flickered on.

After a long while, he lowered his gaze, gave a soft chuckle, and turned to leave.

On the day he passed the Divinity Transformation Thunder Tribulation, the memories that had been sealed by the Heavenly Dao came flooding back as if a dam had burst.

He remembered... He had promised the Heavenly Dao he would succeed her as the new Heavenly Dao and protect this world.

After his memories were unlocked, he was given three days to say goodbye to his friends and family.

After three days... his emotions and desires would be purged by the last wisp of the Heavenly Dao Yuan Xin’s remnant soul, which resided in the Phoenix Cry Sword’s scabbard.

In the first two days, he had already said his proper goodbyes to his master and fellow sect members.

He had saved this final day for Mr. Lu.

Once today was over, he would take hold of the Heavenly Dao Authority and become a passionless, desireless Heavenly Dao, severed from all emotion and love.

Yuan Xin had him succeed her as the Heavenly Dao originally to help Lu Sangjiu fight against Ye Zhiyao.

But now Ye Zhiyao was dead, and he didn’t know if that person from the Upper Realm had other plans... Otherwise, with their influence over this world, they should have been able to protect a single Ye Zhiyao.

That person had been plotting for many years and would never give up so easily. So perhaps an even greater conspiracy awaited them.

Gu Jue was actually quite glad that he could ascend to the Divinity Transformation Stage and become the new Heavenly Dao at a time like this.

’I should be able to help them, right?’

’At the very least, I should be able to help them root out He Guang and restore peace to the Spirit Void Realm.’

’It’s really... for the best.’

Lu Sangjiu barely slept all night, feeling as if something was about to happen.

She wanted to tell Xie Ningyuan, but she didn’t know what to say.

And it wasn’t appropriate to summon Xie Ningyuan so late at night, so she could only toss and turn until dawn.

As soon as the sun rose, she couldn’t wait any longer and sent a message to Xie Ningyuan.

”Come to the Lingjian Sect! Quickly!”

When Xie Ningyuan arrived, Lu Sangjiu was waiting in front of the main gate, pacing back and forth.

When she saw him, she rushed to meet him. ”You’re finally here! Quick, let’s go find Mr. Gu!”

Seeing how anxious she was, Xie Ningyuan felt a flicker of doubt. ’Things... don’t seem to be going as I expected?’

”Don’t rush. First, tell me what happened.”

Lu Sangjiu gave Xie Ningyuan a rough summary of what had happened the day before, then said worriedly, ”I just have this feeling that something’s off with Mr. Gu. I’m worried something might have happened to him. We need to hurry over there and see!”

Xie Ningyuan’s brow furrowed slightly as well.

’From what Lu Sangjiu said... the first part is pretty much what I guessed. Gu Jue did indeed seek her out for personal reasons.’

’All that talk about discussing the Dao was just to fool her.’

’But... in the end, he didn’t confess his feelings. Instead, he told the two of them to find him together today.’

’Gu Jue, what on earth are you thinking?’