The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Lu Sangjiu desperately clung to Xie Ningyuan, but she still couldn’t resist the suction from the small world’s entrance.

Despite their combined efforts, they couldn’t overcome the power of a small world, and soon, half of Xie Ningyuan’s body had been pulled inside.

At this point, Xie Ningyuan was still unaware that Lu Sangjiu’s earlier claim—that the realm could only accommodate one person—was a lie. From his perspective, if he entered, the small world would almost certainly collapse, putting everyone inside in mortal danger!

He knew he couldn’t escape, so he said to Lu Sangjiu without hesitation, ”Let go!”

Well... this was a rather major misunderstanding.

In Xie Ningyuan’s eyes, this was a moment of life-and-death parting. To Lu Sangjiu, however, it was simply about not letting Xie Ningyuan be alone with Ye Zhiyao.

So, when Xie Ningyuan selflessly cried ”Let go!”, Lu Sangjiu completely failed to grasp the weight of his words.

Her hands still clung tightly to him. ”I won’t... Even if we go in together, I can’t let you go by yourself!”

’Right, even if all three of us go in together, I absolutely cannot let Xie Ningyuan and Ye Zhiyao be alone!’

However, when Xie Ningyuan heard this, what he understood was: ’I won’t let you die alone. If worst comes to worst, we’ll die together!’

His heart suddenly lurched, and his gaze grew incredibly complex as he watched her grit her teeth, struggling to hold on.

”...What a fool.”

He murmured in a low voice. Then, his free hand, the one still outside, suddenly rose and gently rested on the top of her head.

The touch was warm. Lu Sangjiu froze for a moment and looked up at Xie Ningyuan with a completely baffled expression.

’What is he doing at a time like this? We should be figuring a way out of this, so why is he suddenly patting my head???’

As she stared in utter confusion, Xie Ningyuan gave her a soft smile.

”You said my life was important... but to me, yours is even more so.”

”Live on, Little Jiu.”

With that, he gave Lu Sangjiu a sudden, hard shove to the chest!

He controlled his strength so he wouldn’t hurt her, but the abrupt shove sent her flying backward, violently tearing her free from the pull of the Secret Realm’s entrance.

Lu Sangjiu’s eyes widened as she watched helplessly, Xie Ningyuan’s figure vanishing completely inside with a WHOOSH.

”Come back!”

She lunged forward to grab him, but her hand grasped at empty air. At the same time, she felt the pull from the small world’s entrance weaken significantly!

’Not good. It’s probably because Xie Ningyuan isn’t a true Golden Core Stage Cultivator, so his entry has had some effect on the small world’s stability.’

’To protect itself, the entrance to the small world is about to close!’

But with Xie Ningyuan already inside, Lu Sangjiu’s only option was to follow him. At least then she could keep an eye on things and reduce the chance of an accident.

So she charged toward the entrance without hesitation. But just as she was halfway inside, Gu Jue, who had just arrived, suddenly grabbed her!

For the first time, Lu Sangjiu lost her composure in front of Gu Jue, whirling around and shouting with raw emotion, ”Let go!”

Gu Jue’s expression was conflicted, but his tone was firm. ”I know Mr. Xie is important to you, but it’s too late. If you go in now, you’ll just be dying with him! Ms. Lu, get a grip!”

’Dying with him???’

Panicked as she was, she didn’t take a moment to properly consider the meaning of his words and just snapped angrily, ”What are you talking about, dying with him? I’m not going to die! Let go, the entrance is closing!”

Gu Jue’s expression was resolute. ”You don’t have to lie to me. Even if you end up hating me for this, I absolutely cannot let you go to your death!”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

Her silence was deafening.

But at that moment, she could clearly feel the pull from the entrance growing weaker and weaker... It was really about to close!

Seeing that Gu Jue refused to let go, she could only grit her teeth. ”...Then let’s go in together!”

’Screw it! So what if it’s a chaotic four-way mess with the male and female leads plus the two of us?’

’So what if the Heavenly Dao is on Ye Zhiyao’s side? There are three of us! I refuse to believe we can’t beat one Ye Zhiyao!’

The moment the words left her mouth, Lu Sangjiu circulated all her Spiritual Energy and, with a sudden burst of force, dragged Gu Jue with her as she slammed into the small world’s entrance.

A flicker of surprise showed in Gu Jue’s eyes... He truly hadn’t expected Lu Sangjiu to disregard his life and drag him in with her just to get inside.

But in truth, if he had wanted to, he still had time to let go.

But... Gu Jue didn’t.

’It wasn’t that he wanted to die with Lu Sangjiu. He figured that even if the small world collapsed and put everyone inside in danger, it wasn’t a completely hopeless situation.’

’If he went in with her, there might still be a chance.’

’If he stopped out of cowardice and Lu Sangjiu died in there because of it, he would never forgive himself!’

Well... Lu Sangjiu never would have imagined that the small lie she had told earlier could have caused such a massive misunderstanding.

But fortunately, once they were inside the small world, the misunderstanding would automatically resolve itself.

The moment Lu Sangjiu opened her eyes, she saw Xie Ningyuan staring at her, his face expressionless.

Before she could speak, she felt someone bump into her from behind. She stumbled and almost fell right into Xie Ningyuan’s arms.

Luckily, she managed to stop herself just in time, steadying herself on Xie Ningyuan’s arm.

Turning around, she saw Gu Jue staring at her with a dazed look on his face.

”...Ms. Lu, didn’t you say this place could only hold one person at the Golden Core Stage, or else the small world would collapse?”

Lu Sangjiu froze, and then it finally dawned on her why Gu Jue had acted the way he did outside... This was incredibly awkward.

What was even more awkward was that while she was still trying to figure out how to talk her way out of this with Gu Jue, she heard Xie Ningyuan give a cold laugh from behind her. ”Heh. I’d very much like to know as well.”

Lu Sangjiu: ”...”

’Oh.’ Another wave of realization hit her. ’So that’s why Xie Ningyuan was acting so weird earlier.’

’So what she saw as just a small, fixable mistake, they saw as a life-or-death moment?’

Thinking of Xie Ningyuan’s final words, and then of how Gu Jue hadn’t stopped at the last second but had followed her in without a second thought...

’She hadn’t thought it was a big deal at first, but now, seeing it from their perspective... At that moment, they must have both been resolved to die, right?’

Needless to say, she was touched, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel even more guilty.

She looked back at Xie Ningyuan, then turned to look at Gu Jue, and said with the utmost sincerity, ”Um... it seems there was a problem with the map I got. Not everything it said was true. I was tricked by it too!”

Xie Ningyuan: ”Heh.”

’Only a fool would believe her. Her every action just now proved she knew all along, which was why she wasn’t surprised in the slightest.’

Even Gu Jue, who was normally so easy to fool, could only look at her with a resigned expression.

”Ms. Lu... that excuse is a little too flimsy.”