The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Their party of two had naturally grown to four.

After searching around the vicinity, the four of them finally chose a cave to settle in for the night.

Lu Sangjiu took out some medicinal powder to repel snakes and insects and sprinkled it at the cave’s entrance.

Afterward, they started a fire and sat around it, chatting for a while.

”Junior Brother Lin, Liu Dao You, where are you two planning to go next?”

Although they had formed a temporary team, they didn’t know each other’s destinations yet. If their paths differed, they would have to part ways the next day.

Lin Ziye wasn’t Chi Yan’s direct junior brother from the same master, just from the same sect, and they happened to be acquainted.

So, he wasn’t clear on Chi Yan’s objective and hadn’t received any related quests. He had entered the realm purely to seek his own opportunities.

He was also a bit lost on where to go, so he simply asked back, ”What about you, Senior Brother? Where are you all headed?”

Chi Yan replied, ”The two of us are planning to go to the Secret Realm Center.”

Lin Ziye was immediately shocked. ”The Secret Realm Center? I heard it gets more dangerous the closer you get to the center. There are only two of you. Can you handle it?”

Before Chi Yan could speak, Lu Sangjiu replied with a smile, ”If it’s too dangerous, we’ll just turn back. We’re already here, so we have to at least give it a try.”

’She had absolutely no faith in Chi Yan’s discretion. She was afraid that if he let his guard down for even a second, he’d blurt out that they were looking for the sect’s treasure.’

’Although the treasure had nothing to do with her, she still had to guard against people targeting them because of it.’

Hearing her, Chi Yan caught her meaning. Although he didn’t think his own junior brother would be a problem, there was still someone from the Lingjian Sect present. So, he just chuckled good-naturedly and agreed, ”Right, right, we have to at least try!”

Lin Ziye nodded in understanding. He hesitated for a moment before saying, ”In that case, Senior Brother, I won’t go with you. With my level of strength, I’d just be a burden. I’ll stick to the outer areas and look for my own opportunities!”

Seeing that he had made up his mind, Chi Yan didn’t press the matter. He just said, ”Alright. What about you, Liu Dao You?”

Liu Xi, who always had a cold expression and a ’keep your distance’ air about her, now showed a rare hint of bashfulness.

”I... I don’t know where I’m going either. In any case, I have to find my senior brother first.”

’Tsk, just as expected of the ”vicious female supporting character” whose entire world revolves around Gu Jue.’

But Lu Sangjiu was actually delighted. Just having Chi Yan along had already caused this much trouble. If they brought two more people, would they ever have a moment’s peace on the road?

So, suppressing her inner joy, she voiced her ”regret”: ”Well, it seems we’ll have to part ways tomorrow. What a shame.”

Lin Ziye smiled. ”It’s alright. We can still grab a drink together after we get out of the Secret Realm!”

The group chatted for a little longer. Chi Yan volunteered for the first watch, so Lu Sangjiu and the others closed their eyes to meditate and rest.

In the middle of the night, Chi Yan’s voice suddenly startled the three of them awake.

”Come quick! What’s going on?”

Lu Sangjiu’s eyes snapped open, and she was the first to reach Chi Yan’s side.

Chi Yan was standing at the mouth of the cave, staring outside in utter astonishment.

The night was ink-black, and a light mist hung in the forest. However, Chi Yan had previously lit a Fire Talisman that now hovered in mid-air, illuminating the small area.

Lu Sangjiu could clearly see the scene before her. Countless snakes, insects, rats, and ants were scurrying and crawling about outside like headless chickens. The sheer number of them was enough to give anyone goosebumps.

However, because she had sprinkled the medicinal powder at the entrance earlier, none of them were heading their way. Otherwise, if so many had swarmed into the cave, they would have been disgusted to death, if not poisoned first.

The other two also came to the entrance. Seeing the sight, Lin Ziye couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, ”What’s happening?”

Liu Xi was so frightened that she took two steps back, her face pale.

Evidently, while these creatures might not be strong in combat, they were absolutely devastating to a Female Cultivator who was afraid of bugs.

Although Lu Sangjiu wasn’t scared, the sight was still unsettling. She looked away and said to Chi Yan, ”Do you have another Fire Talisman? Throw one farther out so we can see.”

Chi Yan immediately did as she asked. The others understood her intent—she wanted to see if this was only happening in their immediate vicinity or if it was the same elsewhere.

The Fire Talisman ignited further away, and everyone could see the situation there.

”It’s not just our area... So it doesn’t seem to be an ambush by someone controlling insects.”

Lu Sangjiu frowned slightly, then suddenly felt that something was wrong. ”The ground... why does it feel like it’s shaking?”

Chi Yan was startled. ”It’s not an earthquake, is it?!”

But Liu Xi’s expression changed drastically. ”No... it’s not an earthquake. It’s a beast tide!”

The moment the words ”beast tide” were spoken, the others were all shocked. But there was no need for further questions; they could already hear a rumbling sound that grew louder as it approached from the distance.

A commotion of this magnitude clearly couldn’t be caused by a single demon beast.

”Run!”

Lu Sangjiu made a split-second decision and was the first to bolt out.

The others reacted instantly, chasing after Lu Sangjiu and fleeing in the opposite direction of the sound.

After all, a beast tide wasn’t something one or two Cultivators could stand against. Right now, they had no choice but to run.

Flying was forbidden in the Secret Realm, so Lu Sangjiu could only use various Magic Treasures to increase her speed.

In addition to the Magic Boots on her feet, she also used the speed-enhancing function of the Six-sided Exquisite Dice.

Combined with some small speed-enhancing spells she had created herself and her movement technique, she was the fastest of the group of four.

The four of them ran at full speed, and it wasn’t long before they encountered other Cultivators fleeing in a panic.

This beast tide had completely shattered the tranquility of the forest.

Lu Sangjiu and her group fled from the middle of the night until dawn, and their party of escapees grew larger and larger.

She took a quick glance; there were at least twenty-odd Cultivators running with them now.

However, the demon beasts chasing them showed no signs of stopping. Lu Sangjiu had already used up more than half of her Spiritual Power. If this kept up, she was afraid she’d be done for.

’She recalled what was written in the book. Ye Zhiyao never experienced a beast tide, so this one probably wasn’t on a massive scale. At the very least, it wouldn’t affect the entire Secret Realm.’

’So, maybe there was a chance of survival if they could just escape this forest?’

Just as she had that thought, she heard a Cultivator running up ahead exclaim, ”We’re out! We’ve escaped the forest!”

Before Lu Sangjiu could get happy, another voice rang out, ”Stop! There’s a swamp full of poisonous gas ahead! We can’t cross!”

Lu Sangjiu: !!!

Her heart sank, but she quickly felt something was off. That voice sounded a little familiar...

Before she could think too hard about it, Liu Xi, beside her, provided the answer.

Lu Sangjiu had never heard such joy in Liu Xi’s voice throughout their entire journey. ”Senior Brother! I finally found you!”

It was only then that Lu Sangjiu realized—wasn’t that Gu Jue’s voice?

’In other words... they were saved?’

’After all, Gu Jue was the male lead. How could he possibly die in this godforsaken place?’

It was the first time Lu Sangjiu had ever been so happy to see the male lead. She couldn’t help but follow Liu Xi’s lead, frantically waving toward the front of the crowd where the voice had come from.

”Mr. Gu! Mr. Gu, your junior sister is over here!”