The Passerby Female Supporting Character – Chapter 15
by Little PandaCommanding the Battle
Song Linlin felt the kiss mark on her palm burning hot, and for a moment, she didn’t know what to do, making the atmosphere quite awkward.
If she were to wipe it off, it would seem somewhat heartless.
To make matters worse, Chi Qianning, after kissing her palm, remained silent and looked away, acting as if she hadn’t done anything at all.
Song Linlin stared at her, completely shocked, and couldn’t help but think to herself: Her excitement period after drinking blood is lasting way too long, isn’t it?
Previously, Song Linlin would never have imagined that Chi Qianning would do something like this – it was completely out of character.
“Someone’s coming,” Chi Qianning said suddenly, not responding to Song Linlin’s words as she looked in another direction.
Hearing this, Song Linlin forgot about what had just happened – it must be their contact arriving!
She quickly tugged at Chi Qianning’s sleeve, asking excitedly: “Really? How far away are they?”
“Half li [0.25 km or 0.1553428 miles],” Chi Qianning turned her head and replied flatly.
“That far? How do you know?”
After asking, Song Linlin felt a bit foolish – this was a world where cultivation existed after all, and powerful people could naturally sense others approaching. Still, she asked curiously: “Did you hear them coming?”
“Something like that.”
Finding it troublesome to explain, Chi Qianning anticipated that if she did, Song Linlin would surely follow up with countless questions, so she decided to keep her answer vague.
“Can you sense that person’s strength? Are they powerful?” Seeing Chi Qianning’s casual demeanor, Song Linlin edged closer to her and continued questioning.
“Not powerful.”
Chi Qianning replied with contempt, speaking carelessly: “Just early-stage Golden Core level, nothing but an empty shell. They forced their advancement using secret methods, making their foundation unstable. In a real fight, they probably couldn’t even defeat the strongest person among your group.”
When Song Linlin first heard “early-stage Golden Core,” she drew in a sharp breath, feeling nervous and afraid of losing. But after hearing the rest, she quietly sighed in relief.
It was good that they could defeat this person, but why did that last comment sound increasingly harsh? The mockery wasn’t directed at just one person.
Song Linlin hadn’t forgotten that she herself had barely reached Foundation Establishment by relying on medicinal pills, her foundation equally unstable.
Noticing Song Linlin’s reproachful gaze, Chi Qianning was confused for two seconds before realizing why she was being looked at that way, and added: “I wasn’t talking about you.”
“Oh…”
The air fell into silence afterward, neither speaking. With the enemy approaching, Song Linlin stopped talking to Chi Qianning and focused on monitoring the movements outside.
They waited a while longer, time passing second by second. The waiting was excruciating as Song Linlin sat beside Chi Qianning, holding her sword.
“They’re here,” Chi Qianning said flatly.
Sure enough, as soon as she spoke, light footsteps could be heard outside, shoes crushing fallen bamboo leaves, the dry leaves creating a rustling sound.
The footsteps grew closer, the sound becoming clearer, accompanied by slight metallic clinks, probably weapons hitting metal decorations on clothing.
Song Linlin’s heartbeat involuntarily quickened, and she quietly swallowed the saliva secreted from nervousness. Looking to the side, she saw Chi Qianning still maintaining that casual attitude, as if she were just there to watch a show.
The visitor stepped into the Mountain God Temple, and before their footsteps landed, their voice arrived first: “Strange, that kid Mu Tong is actually late.”
It was a deep, rough male voice, carrying more displeasure than confusion in its tone – clearly unhappy about Mu Tong arriving later than himself.
Hearing this voice, Song Linlin could imagine the speaker must be a burly, rough-looking villain.
As he walked into the temple, still clearly relaxed and unaware of anything amiss, Ye Tingran had already drawn her sword, waiting only for him to enter striking range before decisively making her move.
“Attack!”
Her sword flashed with a cold gleam as she struck, signaling Zhiyu and Liu Zhi who were hidden in the shadows. This strike caught him completely off guard, and in his panic, he had no time to draw his sword to defend. He could only quickly retreat toward a corner, where Liu Zhi, hidden in that direction, slashed his back with a sword.
“Ah!”
Blood sprayed everywhere, staining the long sword. This attack was completely unexpected, leaving a long gash across his back that burned with pain.
“Damn it!”
He cursed under his breath, only now realizing he was surrounded by three young people. These three looked very young, only in their teens. Being wounded by people so much younger than himself, Shen Jin [申缙 | shēn jìn] felt utterly humiliated.
Shen Jin had dominated this area for many years with his early-stage Golden Core strength. Except for that one person in the Luofeng Temple, he had always been the one cutting others down. He never expected to be ambushed like this today.
He looked around, identifying the young woman who had first attacked him as the group’s leader. As the saying goes, “To catch bandits, first catch their leader”, if he could deal with her first, the rest would be easier. He immediately drew his sword and charged at Ye Tingran.
Song Linlin, hiding in the corner, was secretly peeking out to observe the situation, but upon seeing the intense battle between the four people, she couldn’t help but shrink back.
All the excitement she had built up on the way here was doused like water thrown on a fire. She pulled her head back and looked at Chi Qianning, “Should I go out there? Their fighting looks too intense and dangerous.”
“It would be quite dangerous for you.”
Chi Qianning patted Song Linlin’s shoulder to help her relax, saying casually: “If you’re scared, just sit here. The three of them can handle that person.”
“That won’t do.” Although Song Linlin was afraid, she felt embarrassed about hiding here the whole time, especially since she had volunteered to come. Holding her sword, she said, “I can’t just come here to be a soy sauce carrier [打醬油 | dǎ jiàng yóu | Chinese idiom meaning to be useless or just for show].”
“Besides, everyone else is fighting while I hide here alone. That’s not right.”
As she spoke, Song Linlin gathered her courage and started to stand up, but Chi Qianning grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back down, making her land right back where she had been sitting.
Song Linlin turned her head and looked at her in confusion, “Why did you pull me back?”
“Don’t go yet.” Chi Qianning lifted her chin, gesturing for her to watch the scene outside, saying somewhat helplessly: “Look, they’ve just begun engaging in combat, everyone’s fighting at full strength. If you go now, you won’t be able to help much.”
“He’s fighting three against one. With his fighting style, he’ll definitely tire later. Wait until they’ve fought for a while, then strike when he’s vulnerable.”
After hearing her analysis, Song Linlin quickly nodded, refusing to act rashly, “Alright!”
Chi Qianning looked at Song Linlin for a few extra seconds, “What exactly did you learn at the Xuanyun Sect?”
She couldn’t even see something so obvious.
Song Linlin didn’t feel embarrassed, responding honestly and righteously: “Of course I didn’t learn anything! Just some basic stuff. Why else do you think I’m so weak?”
Chi Qianning was speechless, opening her mouth several times to say something but not knowing how to respond.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I’m being completely honest with you!” Song Linlin felt looked down upon and argued her case: “You said it yourself before, with my constitution, practicing these orthodox cultivation methods is very difficult. Being able to become an inner disciple is already quite an achievement.”
“Fine.”
Chi Qianning decided to ask something else, “How many forms of the Lingyun Sword Technique have you learned?”
The Lingyun Sword Technique was Xuanyun Sect’s exclusive move, only teachable to inner disciples. The deeper one learned it, the more powerful it naturally became.
Song Linlin thought for a moment – as an inner disciple she could certainly learn it, and although it was originally learned by this body’s previous owner, she could still use it.
“I can barely manage the first form.”
She suddenly felt embarrassed, because other fellow disciples had already learned the second form, while she was still struggling with the first.
Chi Qianning hadn’t expected her to learn much anyway, and nodded: “Being able to use it at all is good enough.”
“When you go out there, don’t get too close. I’ll direct you, and you just look for opportunities to land a couple of sword strikes on him.”
“Alright!” Song Linlin nodded immediately, but thinking about her skill level, she couldn’t help but worry, “Will this work?”
Afraid of being misunderstood, Song Linlin added: “I’m not doubting your abilities, I’m just worried I won’t be able to keep up with your directions.”
Chi Qianning was confident, “Expecting you to kill him would be a daydream, unless you’d mastered the first four forms of the Lingyun Sword Technique. But landing a few wounds on him when the opportunity arises shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Alright then.”
Song Linlin decided to trust her, after all, her battle intelligence was zero – it couldn’t get any worse.
The two sat there for a while longer until Chi Qianning saw the right moment had come, and patted Song Linlin, “You can go now.”
“Th-then I’m going.”
Song Linlin drew her sword, dropping the scabbard where she stood, and stepped out from behind cover. Truth be told, her heart was still somewhat panicked – after all, that man had been fighting with the other three for quite a while now, showing no signs of losing…
Shen Jin’s peripheral vision certainly noticed Song Linlin’s appearance, but seeing her nervous demeanor and reluctance to approach, plus her mere Foundation Establishment level strength, far inferior to the three before him, he chose to ignore her.
The enemy indeed matched Song Linlin’s imagination – muscular, tall, with a face that could only belong to someone who had killed many.
Her palm grew sweaty on the sword grip as Song Linlin only dared to circle the edges of their battle.
“Don’t be afraid, this fellow is just for show,” Chi Qianning’s voice appeared directly in Song Linlin’s mind, maintaining that casual tone, clearly not taking the man seriously.
Hearing her words, Song Linlin inexplicably felt much calmer, adjusting her sword grip with notably more determination in her eyes.
“Use the first move, left chest at the ribs, slash diagonally.”
As soon as her voice fell, Song Linlin’s sharp eyes noticed the man raising his arm, busy defending against Ye Tingran’s attacking technique.
An opening!
Song Linlin immediately raised her sword and executed the first move of the first form, accurately delivering a diagonal slash from below. Shen Jin clearly hadn’t expected Song Linlin to suddenly attack, and being locked in a defensive position, couldn’t counter, taking the hit directly.
Song Linlin immediately retreated after landing the hit. Shen Jin grunted, his left chest bearing a deep wound from Song Linlin’s slash, though due to insufficient force, it hadn’t broken his ribs – a blessing in misfortune.
Seeing the blood splattered on the ground, Song Linlin was shocked, looking at the sword in her hand in disbelief, amazed that she had actually done it.
So awesome!!!
So the snek is going to be her mentor.