The Passerby Female Supporting Character – Chapter 16

Mix-up

Song Linlin excitedly continued to strike according to Chi Qianning’s commands, and gradually, the wounds on Shen Jin’s body accumulated more and more.

…

            

Behind the deity statue, Mu Tong finally cut through the troublesome ropes on his body. His movements had to be quick – outside was chaos, and he needed to escape while no one was watching him.

This was Mu Tong’s last chance. If he missed this opportunity, his value had already been fully exploited, and death would certainly await him.

He broke free from the already severed ropes, and couldn’t help but think resentfully: “It’s all that detestable Zhang San’s fault, otherwise how could I have fallen to this state?”

            

“A gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years [君子報仇，十年不晚 | jūn zǐ bào chóu, shí nián bù wǎn | a traditional proverb meaning revenge can be carried out at any time]. Once I explain the situation to Luofeng Temple, you lot will face the consequences!”

Mu Tong stood up and nervously looked around. No one had noticed he had regained his freedom yet; everyone’s attention was focused on the battle outside.

Perfect timing! Slipping out through the mountain temple’s back door would be completely undetectable!

            

Just as Mu Tong turned to flee, his peripheral vision caught a familiar figure. His steps suddenly halted, and upon closer inspection, wasn’t that figure Zhang San?!

At this moment, Song Linlin was standing at some distance from the others. Due to constant sneak attacks, Shen Jin was now very agitated, frantically slashing around, making it unsuitable to approach.

A thought flashed through Mu Tong’s mind, and he decided not to run yet. He now had a short blade in hand, and Zhang San was alone on the periphery, completely unaware that he was free.

            

This was a perfect opportunity to strike!

He immediately lightened his footsteps, crouching as he stealthily approached Song Linlin, reaching an advantageous position in just a second or two.

Chi Qianning naturally noticed footsteps approaching Song Linlin. Her brows furrowed as she immediately warned: “Dodge! Watch behind you!”

            

However, this command, different from before, made Song Linlin pause for a moment, instinctively turning her head to look behind her.

As she turned, she saw a cold-gleaming dagger rapidly thrusting towards her, the blade already within a chi [咫尺 | zhǐ chǐ | very close distance, literally “eight inches”], about to pierce her heart in the next moment.

She frantically retreated backwards, but her footsteps weren’t faster than the dagger’s speed. Unable to dodge in time, she could only fearfully close her eyes.

            

At this moment, Mu Tong’s eyes were filled with madness, his mind already imagining the scene of blood spraying when the dagger would pierce the heart. After dealing with this Zhang San, he would immediately flee the scene.

However, in the next moment, a sense of danger struck, accompanied by a strong whooshing sound approaching him. A black shadow flashed by, and before Mu Tong could make out what it was, he felt something hit him.

Blood suddenly sprayed in front of him, and Mu Tong’s movements froze. He looked down at his body, only then discovering his heart area was a bloody mess.

            

Not far away, a blood-stained small stone lay quietly on the ground.

Song Linlin felt several drops of warm liquid splash onto her face, but the expected pain never came. She slowly opened her eyes.

She saw Mu Tong still maintaining his arm-thrusting posture, but his chest area was completely hollow, and one could even see the scenery behind through that hole.

            

Song Linlin was stunned, not knowing what had happened, when Chi Qianning’s grim voice echoed in her mind:

“Cut off his head.”

Song Linlin: !!!

            

She finally understood what Mu Tong had just experienced. Her speed certainly couldn’t dodge Mu Tong’s dagger, but Chi Qianning was faster, ending Mu Tong’s life before the blade could fall.

The blood-stained stone on the ground was proof – though only the size of a fingernail, in Chi Qianning’s hands, it could exert tremendous force, directly piercing through Mu Tong’s chest.

Song Linlin dared not delay, thrusting her sword towards Mu Tong’s empty chest area. She had to destroy the traces left by Chi Qianning on the corpse before others noticed the commotion here.

            

Otherwise, she would have no way to explain why there was a circular wound on Mu Tong’s corpse.

With one sword thrust, the circular wound expanded. Song Linlin, suppressing her discomfort, delivered several more strikes. Only then did Mu Tong’s body slowly fall backward, collapsing to the ground, blood spreading and flowing across the surface.

The sound of the falling body attracted others’ attention. Though busy with battle, they still noticed through their peripheral vision Mu Tong’s corpse on the ground and Song Linlin’s long sword dripping with bright red blood.

            

Shen Jin had the strongest reaction – he had come specifically to meet Mu Tong, but upon arriving was surrounded by three attackers, and now when he finally saw Mu Tong, it was just a corpse.

“Useless thing!” he cursed under his breath.

Ye Tingran, while blocking an angry strike from Shen Jin, asked: “Shimei, are you alright?”

            

“I’m… I’m fine.”

Song Linlin, still shaken, breathed slightly heavily. Destroying Mu Tong’s wound was pure quick thinking, an instinctive action, and only now was she gradually calming down.

She had no mind to think of ways to continue entangling with Shen Jin. Her hand holding the sword still trembled slightly as she turned to look in Chi Qianning’s direction.

            

She felt incredibly fortunate that she had asked Chi Qianning to come along – otherwise, Mu Tong’s strike would definitely have taken her life.

She couldn’t help but sigh: The cultivation world was truly too dangerous!

She really wanted to return to the sect quickly. Once back at the sect, she’d be safe, and then she could be a salted fish [鹹魚 | xián yú | Chinese slang for someone who has given up striving].

            

Chi Qianning was also looking at her now, their eyes meeting. Song Linlin could see that Chi Qianning wasn’t in a good mood, her gaze had grown colder, carrying hints of anger, though it softened somewhat when meeting her eyes.

“Was he the one chasing and trying to cut you yesterday?” Chi Qianning’s voice appeared in her mind, tone icy.

Song Linlin nodded, avoiding looking at Mu Tong’s corpse and too lazy to sneak attack Shen Jin anymore, silently walking towards the back of the deity statue, taking a long detour to return to her original hiding spot.

            

After sitting back in her original spot, Song Linlin tossed aside the blood-stained sword, propped herself up with both hands behind her, and took several deep breaths, her voice floating:

“That scared me to death! I thought I was done for, didn’t even have time to think of last words.”

At this point, Song Linlin didn’t want to move at all, just wanting to hide in place and rest well, calming her emotions after this brush with death.

            

Noticing that Chi Qianning beside her hadn’t spoken, Song Linlin turned her head to look at her, only to find her brows slightly furrowed, lost in thought about something unknown.

“Thank you for saving me!” Song Linlin said sincerely.

If possible, she would have kowtowed [磕頭 | kē tóu | traditional Chinese gesture of deep respect] twice to Chi Qianning, but with others present, Song Linlin couldn’t bring herself to do it.

            

Chi Qianning took several seconds before turning to look at Song Linlin. She slightly pursed her lips before speaking mercilessly: “You’re too weak. If I hadn’t been here, you’d be dead now.”

“Huh?”

Song Linlin didn’t understand what she meant – she had already admitted she was truly weak…

            

After thinking for a moment, Song Linlin tilted her head uncertainly and said: “Uh… should I thank you sincerely again?”

“No need.”

Chi Qianning looked her up and down, as if making some decision, and stared at Song Linlin, saying in a tone that brooked no refusal: “I should help you increase your strength.”

            

While Song Linlin wore an expression full of question marks, she continued making the decision for her, “Hmm… we’ll start tonight.”

“Huh? How are we going to increase it?” Song Linlin was very curious herself.

However, Chi Qianning didn’t answer, only vaguely saying: “You’ll know when the time comes.”

            

“Alright.”

Song Linlin had no objections – even if she did, the other party probably wouldn’t listen anyway, so she might as well accept it willingly. Besides, she couldn’t resist.

Moreover, helping increase her strength wasn’t a bad thing.

            

The two stayed quietly in this corner while the battle outside grew more intense. However, Song Linlin wasn’t particularly worried – under the siege of three people, Shen Jin was clearly struggling, now merely making his last desperate struggle.

After waiting a while longer, following Shen Jin’s unwilling roar of anger, Ye Tingran and the others successfully defeated him, bound his hands, and looked down at him.

Seeing they had finished fighting, Song Linlin stood up from her spot and went over to participate in the questioning.

            

When Ye Tingran saw Song Linlin approach, she naturally also saw Mu Tong’s corpse nearby, and said seriously with furrowed brows: “Who would have thought he had hidden a dagger on his person, which we hadn’t discovered. He craftily waited until we were busy dealing with enemies to attempt escape.”

“I underestimated him before. Fortunately, Shimei, you’re alright. After breaking free from his bonds, instead of escaping, this Mu Tong tried to assassinate you, but was killed by Shimei instead – he got what he deserved.”

“It was just luck. Let’s question this person first,” Song Linlin didn’t dare boast.

            

Moreover, what was said was true – she was indeed fortunate to have brought Chi Qianning along, otherwise what others would see lying on the ground now would be her own corpse.

Ye Tingran nodded. Having experienced Mu Tong being able to hide things despite being bound, Ye Tingran was much more cautious this time. Liu Zhi thoroughly searched him before firmly binding Shen Jin.

“What’s your name? What position do you hold at Luofeng Temple?” Ye Tingran asked.

            

“Hmph!”

Shen Jin merely let out an arrogant snort, not answering her questions, clearly showing defiance.

This time Ye Tingran didn’t hesitate, decisively swinging her sword down to cut off one of his fingers, saying sternly: “Speak! What are your objectives with those people at Luofeng Temple? If you don’t answer, next will be your hand, and after that, your head!”

            

“You!”

Shen Jin’s face flushed red from pain, veins throbbing on his forehead. He first glared angrily at Ye Tingran, then his gaze gradually grew bewildered as he uncertainly asked: “You… are you trying to deal with those people in Luofeng Temple?”

“Naturally,” Ye Tingran responded righteously.

            

“Then we didn’t need to fight!”

Shen Jin said resentfully: “I was originally the leader of a small gang in this area, but that hateful Xing Jiu [邢九 | xíng jiǔ] appeared from who knows where, imprisoned my entire family, and forced me to work for him, threatening to kill everyone in our gang otherwise!”

“I couldn’t defeat him. For my family’s safety and my brothers’ lives, I could only obey Xing Jiu, working humiliatingly under him.”

            

Song Linlin looked at him with a strange expression.

So this person took a beating and lost a finger, only to discover in the end that they were actually on the same side?

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The author has something to say:

            

Next chapter will help increase Little Song’s strength, look forward to it

I’m so diligent! The rankings required 15,000 words, but I’ve already written almost 25,000. Going forward, I really need to consider controlling the word count, I can’t stop writing once I start TT (As usual, asking for comments, favorites, asking for everything, thank you)

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LP: Oh man, that finger

            

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