The Passerby Female Supporting Character – Chapter 14
by Little PandaAre You a Child?
“Let’s go, time to head out.”
Song Linlin specially changed into a black night-walking garment [夜行衣 | yè xíng yī | traditional dark clothing worn for stealth], and as she pushed open her room door, she happened to see Zhiyu, who lived nearby, also just leaving.
Not many people were going out tonight, counting Song Linlin it was only four people. Too many people would risk exposure, and if it weren’t for Song Linlin’s strong insistence on bringing herself along, Ye Tingran had originally planned to only take Zhiyu and Liu Zhi from before.
In the deep of night, the inn was completely quiet. Song Linlin, not wanting to make too much noise, merely waved at Zhiyu as a greeting.
The two walked downstairs together, and only after leaving the inn did Song Linlin discover Ye Tingran was already waiting at the entrance.
Seeing the two walk out together, Ye Tingran nodded and immediately said in a low voice: “Liu Zhi is currently watching Mu Tong. Since everyone’s here now, we should set out without delay.”
Neither Song Linlin nor Zhiyu had any objections. The three quickly headed toward the outskirts of the city. Along the way, Zhiyu noticed Song Linlin’s waist was completely empty, without any weapons.
Zhiyu’s eyes showed confusion as she asked: “Shimei, you didn’t bring your sword?”
“Uh…”
Song Linlin felt somewhat embarrassed. Despite being an inner disciple [內門弟子 | nèi mén dí zǐ | core student] of a major sect, her sword had been cut in half by someone else, and she didn’t even have a spare. It was truly laughable to speak of.
She rubbed her nose and said quietly: “That one… yesterday while fighting with Mu Tong, the blade was unfortunately broken, so I didn’t bring it…”
“I see…”
Zhiyu nodded, as the other’s words reminded her of witnessing that scene yesterday. However, at the time, she had been focused on quickly capturing Mu Tong and hadn’t paid much attention, gradually forgetting about it afterward.
She thought for a moment, then reached into a small cloth bag hanging at her waist. This was similar to a Qiankun Ring, a small spatial treasure. Like performing a magic trick, she pulled out a longsword and handed it to Song Linlin.
“Shimei, take this,” Zhiyu said gently, with a faint smile on her lips, and continued slowly:
“This is my former sword. I’ve switched to a new one now and don’t use this anymore, so you might as well use it for now. You can return it after we get back to the sect and find a replacement.”
Song Linlin was somewhat taken aback, mainly because with her cat’s paw level [三腳貓 | sān jiǎo māo | amateur level] of martial arts, having a sword didn’t make much difference. What if she accidentally broke this sword too…
She hastily refused, “No, no, no! Shijie Zhiyu, I couldn’t possibly! You should keep it yourself.”
“It’s fine.”
Zhiyu didn’t care what happened to the sword. She didn’t withdraw her hand, fearing another refusal, and explained: “Whatever the case, we’re about to face unknown enemies. You having this sword adds to our fighting power and gives you some self-protection ability, so we won’t have to divide our attention to protect you.”
“So Shimei, just take it for now. Don’t worry about breaking it; I have other swords.”
“Alright then.”
Song Linlin accepted the longsword from her hands. Since the other party had insisted so much, refusing further would seem ungrateful. She smiled thankfully at Zhiyu, “Thank you then, Shijie Zhiyu.”
“It’s nothing, we’re martial sisters of the same sect, we should naturally help each other,” Zhiyu responded with a gentle smile.
Song Linlin carefully examined the longsword in her hands. The scabbard was snow-white with fresh light blue at its base, appearing simple overall, but upon closer inspection, one could see the intricate carved patterns on the scabbard.
The sword handle was adorned with a snow-white sword tassel [劍穗 | jiàn suì | decorative tassel on traditional swords] strung with light blue beads. Song Linlin slightly drew the sword, exposing a section of the blade that gleamed with a cold light, its sharpness striking to the eye.
Looking more carefully, she noticed a uniquely styled pattern imprinted at the top of the blade. Song Linlin immediately recognized the significance of this pattern.
It was the mark of the Sword Inquiry Pavilion. This Sword Inquiry Pavilion was no small establishment – they were world-renowned for their sword-forging standards, producing only a limited number of swords each year, with even their most basic models being astonishingly expensive.
Song Linlin couldn’t help but turn her head to look at Zhiyu in surprise, wanting to say just one thing:
Shijie Zhiyu, you’re really rich!
She couldn’t tell if breaking her own sword was a blessing or a curse now. After all, that was just an ordinary model, so it didn’t matter much that it broke. How rare it was for her to use such a high-end piece!
The three moved swiftly through the night. Except for a few night market streets, the city was quiet, with the surroundings growing increasingly desolate. Finally, they arrived at the planned time at the woodshed where Mu Tong was being held.
Liu Zhi, also dressed in night-walking clothes, was already waiting there. Mu Tong was bound tightly with special ropes, only his legs left free – after all, they still needed him to lead the way, and he couldn’t walk with bound legs.
Ye Tingran gave him a brief greeting. Liu Zhi nodded in response, looked at the three people before him, and said: “Since everyone’s here, let’s set out early.”
“Yes, we shouldn’t delay. Let’s go,” Ye Tingran agreed with his opinion.
Liu Zhi held the rope binding Mu Tong and prodded his back with the tip of his scabbard. His tone turned cold as he commanded emotionlessly: “Go on, you lead the way.”
Mu Tong had no complaints, giving a couple of sycophantic laughs as he said in a fawning voice: “Alright, the four of you needn’t hurry so much, we’re still early for the appointed time.”
“Hmph.” Liu Zhi gave a cold snort and rebuked threateningly: “Don’t try any tricks with me. I’m not as kind as my three shimei. If I notice anything amiss, I’ll separate your head from your body in an instant.”
These words, combined with Liu Zhi’s righteous bearing and unyielding character, carried real conviction. Mu Tong dared not say anything more.
Along the way, Mu Tong led at the front, with Liu Zhi and Ye Tingran following closely behind, making it convenient to watch for any suspicious movements from Mu Tong and to face any potential enemies head-on.
Zhiyu and Song Linlin walked at the very back, the safest position. Everyone tacitly maintained silence throughout the journey, with only the soft sound of footsteps breaking the quiet.
For Song Linlin, heading out late at night to advance the main plot would have been terrifying alone, but with this group together, she instead felt excited and expectant.
She followed beside Zhiyu, trying to keep her footsteps as light as possible as they gradually left the city gates and headed toward the outskirts.
Along the way, Song Linlin couldn’t help but marvel internally at how this small Yuanqing City was truly a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers [卧虎藏龍 | wò hǔ cáng lóng | idiom meaning hidden talents]. Originally, someone at the Foundation Establishment stage should have been able to dominate such a place, given that most people in this world were ordinary folks incapable of cultivation.
Yet this small town had consecutively produced Chi Qianning and those two thoroughly destroyed demon cultivator bosses, while behind the Luofeng Temple was a late Golden Core stage cultivator, just one step away from the Nascent Soul stage plot boss.
What gave Song Linlin the biggest headache was how their group could possibly defeat someone at the late Golden Core stage. According to the original book’s pattern, there would naturally be dead teammates, followed by the protagonist Ye Tingran breaking through to the Golden Core stage under these circumstances, barely managing to kill the enemy after giving it everything she had.
Unfortunately, Song Linlin felt she would definitely be among those dead teammates.
“Everyone, we’re almost there.”
Mu Tong’s voice interrupted Song Linlin’s thoughts. She had to temporarily set aside these extra concerns – the urgent matter now was capturing the contact person.
Song Linlin carefully observed the surrounding scenery and realized their group had unknowingly wound their way into a bamboo grove, with an abandoned temple ahead.
The temple’s deity statue was covered in dust, making it impossible to tell which immortal it originally enshrined. However, in the temple’s center, they could see the remains of an extinguished fire, suggesting someone had stayed overnight here in recent days.
Mu Tong explained: “This is an abandoned Mountain God Temple [山神廟 | shān shén miào | shrine dedicated to local mountain deities]. Occasionally, herb gatherers who venture deep into the mountains and can’t make it home before dark stay here overnight.”
“This is our agreed meeting spot. He should arrive shortly.”
Ye Tingran exchanged glances with the others. Since they were already here, they could only choose to trust Mu Tong’s words for now. She said to Liu Zhi: “First seal his mouth and tie him to the pillar behind the deity statue.”
Otherwise, when the person they were waiting for arrived, this fellow would surely shout and alert them, scaring them away. Binding him was also to prevent Mu Tong from escaping during the inevitable fight and warning others.
“Alright!”
Liu Zhi led Mu Tong to a pillar and bound him there securely, then forcefully made him swallow something unknown. After swallowing it, Mu Tong truly couldn’t make a sound.
“Let’s find places to hide. When that person arrives, we’ll wait for the right moment and catch them by surprise together,” Ye Tingran said calmly as she observed the temple’s interior, arranging their next moves.
Seeing others finding hiding spots, Song Linlin also concealed herself behind a tall pile of miscellaneous items. She was some distance from the others, after all, they were the main force for the upcoming action, so they naturally chose positions closer to the entrance for convenience.
Seeing that no one could see what she was doing from this angle, Song Linlin shifted further inside and sat down to check on Chi Qianning. There hadn’t been any movement from her during their entire journey here.
Slowly lifting her sleeve, Song Linlin was dumbfounded. The silver-white small snake coiled around her arm had its head nestled against her arm, eyes closed.
What the hell?!
I’m right in the middle of experiencing an intense main plot storyline, why are you sleeping???
Song Linlin couldn’t help but reach out her finger to poke the small snake’s head. Only after being suddenly poked twice did the silver-scaled small snake finally show some movement.
She raised her head, opening her crimson eyes to find Song Linlin pointing her finger at her.
“How can you be sleeping?!” Song Linlin mouthed without making any sound.
The next moment, the small snake on her arm vanished, and Chi Qianning suddenly appeared beside Song Linlin. Without any concern for cleanliness, she casually sat on the straw spread across the ground.
Chi Qianning yawned, turned her head to look around, surveying the surroundings, then looked at Song Linlin, her voice still somewhat drowsy: “We’re here already? This is the place?”
“Shh!”
Song Linlin hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand, looking at her in shock, then quickly peeked outside, fearing that the strange sound would bring everyone rushing toward them.
Fortunately, after peering out for several seconds, there was no movement anywhere, as if Song Linlin had just imagined the sound.
Song Linlin pulled her head back to find Chi Qianning staring at her, her palm still firmly covering the other’s mouth.
Feeling the soft sensation against her palm, Song Linlin silently withdrew her hand, only to see Chi Qianning give her an expressive eye roll. The other sighed, her tone somewhere between speechless and resigned: “The others can’t hear anything from over here.”
“Oh.”
Having been given an eye roll, Song Linlin couldn’t really argue back openly and could only softly respond with an “oh.” Feeling the slight moisture on her palm, she habitually wiped it on her clothes.
Chi Qianning naturally noticed Song Linlin’s action and furrowed her brows.
“Hmph.”
“What?” Having been inexplicably “hmphed” at, Song Linlin looked at the other person strangely.
Chi Qianning grabbed her hand, “What? You find me disgusting? Yet this morning you were clinging to me, not wanting to leave.”
“Huh?” Song Linlin really couldn’t understand her thought process and could only follow along: “I don’t find you disgusting.”
“Really?” Chi Qianning looked at Song Linlin through narrowed eyes.
Song Linlin, her wrist still in the other’s grip, replied resignedly: “What reason would I have to lie?”
“Then I’ll kiss it back.”
After saying this, Chi Qianning lifted Song Linlin’s palm and lowered her head to place a gentle kiss in the center.
Feeling the warm sensation on her palm, seeing the silver-haired beauty with slightly lowered eyes before her, Song Linlin froze completely the moment those lips touched her palm, not daring to move at all.
Only when those lips left her skin and those downcast crimson eyes lifted to stare directly at her did Song Linlin come back to her senses.
Chi Qianning released her grip on the wrist. The cool sensation on her wrist and the warmth in her palm – two different feelings from the same person.
“Wow! You… you…”
Song Linlin stared at Chi Qianning in shock, her lips moving slightly but unable to form words, her mind completely blank, at a loss for words.
After several seconds of silence, Song Linlin looked at her palm, then at Chi Qianning, and couldn’t help but burst out: “Are you a child?!”
The author has something to say:
Xiaosong, reflect on this – why are you two secretly having a romantic moment in the corner while everyone else is going through an intense main plot storyline?
Thanks for the chapter!