The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Hearing Xiang Qian’s offer, Luo Linlang grabbed Lu Sangjiu and turned to leave. ”Do I look like I’m short thirty Mid-grade Spirit Stones? I’d rather pay more than let a swindler like you earn a single one!”

Seeing this, Xiang Qian hurriedly called out and stopped them. ”Fairy Luo, don’t be so hot-tempered! Prices are made through negotiation. It takes a little give-and-take to make a deal, doesn’t it?”

”Look, if you think it’s too expensive, I’ll grit my teeth... Seventy. Seventy has to be okay, right?”

Lu Sangjiu suddenly spoke up. ”Twenty.”

Xiang Qian was so startled he nearly jumped. ”Fairy Lu, that’s not playing fair! Who on earth haggles like that?”

She raised an eyebrow. ”If I’m not mistaken, you’re just exploiting a loophole. The registration slots aren’t full yet, but it’s too late to wait in line. So you’re taking the opportunity to make some money by selling a spot, right?”

”That means your little business is on a timer. Once all the slots are filled, you can’t make this money anymore.”

”After all, the number of registrants is fixed. If you sell spots for a lower price later on, the accounts won’t balance. If the sect investigates, it won’t end well for you.”

Xiang Qian was speechless.

He looked at Lu Sangjiu with a mixture of shock and admiration, his face scrunching up.

”Fairy Lu, you’re just too smart! How did you see right through me like that?”

’He’d thought they were just a couple of rich fools he could swindle again. He never expected them to learn so fast. Sigh... a miscalculation!’

But Lu Sangjiu was right. This business was on a deadline. If he started too early, most people would just queue up themselves. The few willing to pay extra wouldn’t pay much, making it not worth the effort.

And if he waited until all the slots were filled, he didn’t have the guts to brazenly steal business from the sect.

The deadline was almost up now. If he let Lu Sangjiu and her friend go and had to find someone else, they might not know him and wouldn’t necessarily trust him. He’d have to waste his breath explaining, and this last deal might just fall through.

So, with his face scrunched up in a difficult expression, Xiang Qian agonized for a moment before gritting his teeth. ”...Thirty, then!”

”After all, I’m not the one handling registration. I have to use this money to take care of some other people. You can’t expect me to earn nothing, can you?”

This time, Lu Sangjiu nodded decisively. ”Deal.”

Xiang Qian breathed a sigh of relief and took the Spirit Stones from Luo Linlang. ”Alright then! You two wait here a moment, I’ll go get your registration tokens!”

As Xiang Qian jogged away, Luo Linlang pouted. ”What a swindler. He even agreed to thirty Spirit Stones. To think he had the nerve to ask for eighty at first!”

Lu Sangjiu smiled. ”He’s definitely a swindler, but the man does have a talent for business.”

”For example, when we returned from Sky Curtain City, the sect surely had large Immortal Boats to take everyone back. But he borrowed a small Immortal Boat from someone else and deliberately waited two days before setting off.”

”He did it to pick up Cultivators like us along the way—people who didn’t want to spend a fortune on Teleportation Arrays or Immortal Boats—and make a hefty profit from them.”

’When it comes to making money, that guy is incredibly sharp.’

Luo Linlang had been scornful of Xiang Qian, but Lu Sangjiu’s words seemed to spark an idea. Her eyes lit up, and her mind began to race.

So when Xiang Qian returned, Luo Linlang’s attitude had done a complete one-eighty, and she suddenly became very friendly toward him.

”Oh, Senior Brother Xiang, you really got us the registration tokens! You truly are an honest and trustworthy man. I knew I wasn’t wrong about you!”

Her behavior made Xiang Qian shudder. He took two steps back, a look of terror on his face. ”Stop... Fairy Luo, please act normal! If you have something to say, just say it. Seduction is useless against a righteous Cultivator like me!”

Luo Linlang’s expression changed in an instant, and she cursed angrily, ”Seduce you, my ass!”

Only then did Xiang Qian let out a sigh of relief. ”Now *that’s* the Fairy Luo I know. You scared me half to death.”

Luo Linlang was speechless.

’What’s wrong with him? Does he like being yelled at?!’

Lu Sangjiu, watching from the side, was completely baffled. ”Senior Sister, what’s gotten into you?” she asked curiously.

Luo Linlang cleared her throat and stammered, ”It-it’s nothing. Don’t mind me. I have some other business with Xiang Qian. You should head back to the inn and rest. I’ll be back later!”

Without waiting for Lu Sangjiu to reply, she grabbed Xiang Qian and dragged him away.

Lu Sangjiu: ...?

’Senior Sister is being so strange.’

But since she didn’t want to talk about it, Lu Sangjiu wouldn’t press the issue, no matter how curious she was.

She glanced at the number token in her hand. Number 986.

’So Xiang Qian hadn’t been lying about that. The slots really were almost full.’

Putting the token away, Lu Sangjiu didn’t return to the inn. Instead, she headed for the administrative office at the foot of the Gold and Silver Gate’s mountain.

She still had the Artifact Refining Coupon for the Gold and Silver Gate that the Sect Leader had given her. It would let her have a Mid-grade Treasure refined for free, and she wasn’t about to let it go to waste.

When she arrived at the office, she went through the registration and appointment process. By the time she left, Lu Sangjiu had yet another token in her hand.

’Hmph... Even Artifact Refining at the Gold and Silver Gate requires queuing for an appointment. She was scheduled for the afternoon three days from now just to meet the Artifact Refining Master.’

Lu Sangjiu couldn’t help but recall the times she had visited the Gold and Silver Gate in the past. She never had to wait; she was always ushered inside immediately with the utmost politeness.

’Compared to now... Sigh. A different status truly affords a different view.’

As she walked from the foot of the mountain back toward town, she ran into two Cultivators heading up the mountain, deep in conversation.

”Who do you think that woman was? She’s got some nerve, picking a fight with a Gold and Silver Gate disciple right on their own turf.”

”Who knows? She was pretty, and looked so pitiful when she cried, but the moment she started fighting, she was vicious!”

Hearing that last part, Lu Sangjiu stopped in her tracks. ’Why does that sound a little like they’re talking about Luo Linlang?’

’It can’t be. Did she drag Xiang Qian away because she was still mad about him swindling her, and she decided to teach him a lesson?’

She sucked in a breath. ’Xiang Qian has a decent standing in the Gold and Silver Gate. I hope she hasn’t caused any real trouble!’

The thought made her anxious. She rushed to stop the two Cultivators. ”Excuse me,” she asked, ”the Female Cultivator you mentioned, was she wearing a blue robe, and was the disciple from the Gold and Silver Gate wearing a golden one?”

The two of them froze for a second, then nodded. ”Yeah. Do you know her?”

’It really is Senior Sister!’

Lu Sangjiu nodded quickly. ”Can you please tell me where you saw them?”

”In the woods over there.”

The Cultivator pointed to the dense forest on the right, adding, ”We were taking that trail up the mountain and saw them on the way.”

”Thank you!”

After thanking them, Lu Sangjiu hurried into the dense forest.

But after Lu Sangjiu had gone, the expressions on the two Cultivators’ faces slowly darkened.

One of them took out a Communication Talisman and whispered into it, ”The target has been lured over. Get ready to make your move.”

Lu Sangjiu followed the trail deeper into the woods. The farther she went, the more she felt that something was wrong... ’It’s too quiet here.’

Her pace gradually slowed. She replayed the two men’s conversation and appearance in her mind, and her expression suddenly changed.

’...This is bad. I’ve been tricked!’