The Passerby Female Supporting Character – Chapter 18
by Little PandaWound
Chi Qianning was unwilling to say more, and Song Linlin didn’t feel right asking further questions, so she could only temporarily suppress her curiosity, thinking she would find out once they returned to the inn.
The group walked silently along the road until they finally returned to the inn.
Song Linlin thought that at such a late hour, everyone else must have gone to bed, but as soon as they pushed open the inn’s main door and prepared to climb the stairs, they discovered several heads peering out from the railings.
There were still others in the inn, and it wasn’t convenient to speak loudly so late at night, but upon seeing Ye Tingran return, the person leaning over the railing immediately brightened up.
Ye Tingran made a gesture for silence towards them, then walked up the stairs. Upon reaching the second floor and seeing that basically everyone who had stayed behind was waiting there, she sighed and said softly, “Since nobody’s asleep, let’s discuss the next steps together.”
Chi Qianning had no interest in their group discussion and left for her room after a brief greeting, while Song Linlin followed the others into Ye Tingran’s room.
After closing the door, Ye Tingran cast a spell that prevented those outside from hearing the sounds within the room, then briefly explained the evening’s situation.
When they heard about Xing Jiu’s power level, everyone’s expressions became grave. If the enemy were merely at early Golden Core level, that would be one thing, and even if it were mid-Golden Core, they might have had a chance.
But now in their group, only Ye Tingran, Zhiyu, and Liu Zhi had reached late Foundation Establishment level, while most others were still at early Foundation Establishment. Going against Xing Jiu would leave them with no chance of victory; it would only lead to pointless death.
Ye Tingran looked around before finally turning to Zhiyu and saying, “Shimei Zhiyu, tomorrow morning I will head to Luofeng Observatory. Take everyone else and leave the city quickly with Shixiong Liu Zhi to protect everyone. Wait for me at Yunxin City for three days. If I win, I’ll naturally rejoin you as soon as possible.”
Yunxin City was a large city situated at the foot of Xuanyun Sect’s mountain, under their direct jurisdiction. No one there would deliberately cause trouble for Xuanyun Sect disciples.
At this point, Ye Tingran paused before continuing, “If I haven’t returned after three days, don’t wait any longer. This mission’s difficulty is too high, and moreover, our team leader hasn’t returned. The sect won’t blame you for failing to complete the training mission.”
The atmosphere became somber, and a young-looking girl couldn’t help speaking up: “Shijie Ye, can’t you not go? Let’s return to the sect together. At worst, we’ll receive some punishment for not completing the mission, but these punishments won’t be severe. It’s better than risking your life.”
Ye Tingran merely shook her head slowly, showing a faint smile, and said gently: “It’s alright, Shimei Jiang. This is my own choice. I, Ye Tingran, will never admit defeat without a fight. Even if I lose, it only means my skills weren’t good enough.”
“Besides, I don’t think I’ll necessarily lose.”
“Shimei Zhiyu, I’ll trouble you to be the team leader for the next few days and arrange the subsequent matters.”
Zhiyu sighed. Having spent the most time with Ye Tingran, she naturally knew that the other person was very determined and wouldn’t easily change her decisions once made, so she could only nod.
Seeing Zhiyu agree, Ye Tingran carefully looked over everyone once more. As she always did after arranging the next day’s tasks, she thoughtfully said: “Alright, it’s getting late. Everyone should return to their rooms to rest. Tomorrow morning we need to set out for Yunxin City. The journey is long, so we need to be well-rested tonight.”
Song Linlin followed the others out of Ye Tingran’s room, feeling a mix of complicated emotions. Their group was all in their teens, and encountering such a situation on their first training mission down the mountain, some people started crying as soon as they left the room.
“Why are you crying? It’s not like it’s a life-or-death farewell. Shijie Ye will definitely win. You’re not children anymore, what’s with all this crying?” Song Linlin said to the others.
The crying girl wiped her tears and looked at Song Linlin: “But Shijie Song, I remember you’re only about two years older than me.”
Being called out like that, Song Linlin indeed couldn’t refute, and could only cough twice before confidently saying: “Ahem, age doesn’t matter. Just trust me, Shijie Ye will definitely win!”
Song Linlin’s confident optimism infected the others, and those who were about to cry held back their tears. She continued: “Alright, alright, everyone go to sleep. We have to travel tomorrow.”
After speaking, Song Linlin turned around gracefully, leaving everyone with only the sight of her back as she walked away with her hands behind her, looking quite impressive.
Returning to her door, Song Linlin pushed it open, and only after closing it again did she call out into the room: “I’m back.”
However, there was no response from within the room. Song Linlin turned to look inside but didn’t see Chi Qianning’s figure.
Had she gone to bed?
Considering that the other person had spent most of the past few days staying in bed, rarely moving around, Song Linlin continued walking further into the room.
On the large bed, the blankets remained exactly as they were before leaving. Song Linlin, being too lazy to make the bed, had left it just as it was when she crawled out of it earlier.
She lifted one side of the hanging bed curtain but still didn’t see Chi Qianning.
Strange, where had this person gone?
While Song Linlin was pondering this, suddenly the sound of water came from a corner of the room. Two sounds intermingled – water droplets falling and water rippling. Though not loud, in the quiet room, these sounds were crystal clear.
This sudden noise caught Song Linlin’s attention. She turned around and curiously walked toward the source of the sound. In this quiet atmosphere, she unconsciously made her footsteps very light.
As her steps drew closer to the privacy screen that concealed the bathing tub [沐浴桶 | mù yù tǒng | wooden bathing vessel], Song Linlin spotted clothes carelessly thrown in one corner on the floor.
Her footsteps halted for a moment as she carefully examined the clothes on the ground, confirming they were indeed what Chi Qianning had worn today.
Was Chi Qianning taking a bath?
Well, the place they had sat today could hardly be called clean, so taking a bath didn’t seem unreasonable.
Should I not walk over there?
Song Linlin fell into philosophical contemplation, but after less than three seconds of thought, she straightforwardly continued forward. After all, this was her room – why shouldn’t she go there?
Besides, Song Linlin clearly remembered that Chi Qianning had seen her before, so why shouldn’t she be able to look at Chi Qianning? Although due to the angle at that time, she probably hadn’t seen anything anyway.
Approaching the privacy screen, Song Linlin first poked her head around it, just in case there was something she shouldn’t see, so she could quickly pull her head back.
Behind the privacy screen, what first met the eye was a snow-white expanse. Silver-white long hair, its ends dampened by water, clung tightly to the skin of her back. The thick hair only allowed a faint glimpse of the nape of her neck and slightly protruding cervical vertebrae.
For a moment, Song Linlin couldn’t tell which was whiter – the person or their hair. Her gaze couldn’t travel lower as everything below the shoulders was concealed.
There was no steam rising – she was soaking in cold water.
Sensing the direct gaze from behind, the person leaning in the bathing tub turned her head. Several strands of long hair, wet with water, clung to her face. Red eyes met Song Linlin’s, and her tone remained characteristically cool, “Finished talking with them?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Song Linlin maintained her head-poking posture, fingers fidgeting with the edge of the privacy screen, looking very much like someone peeping. She nodded and asked curiously: “Are you soaking in cold water? Why not use hot water?”
“Just not used to it.”
Chi Qianning replied lightly, maintaining eye contact with Song Linlin for several seconds. Seeing that the other party showed no intention of leaving, she spoke with a teasing tone: “What, are you standing there waiting for me to invite you to join?”
“Uh… I’ll pass.”
Song Linlin imagined that scene – soaking in cold water was really not acceptable – and wisely withdrew her head. Just as she was about to leave, Chi Qianning’s voice came from behind the screen again.
“Come here.”
“Huh?”
Song Linlin was momentarily stunned, not understanding what the other meant. Surely she didn’t really want her to bathe together?
“That’s not really appropriate,” Song Linlin mumbled awkwardly.
Chi Qianning looked toward Song Linlin’s direction through the screen, her tone peculiar: “What are you thinking? I just want to cast the Cleansing Technique on you.”
“Oh…”
Song Linlin felt a bit embarrassed, but having experienced more embarrassing situations before, this level of awkwardness wasn’t much. She quickly adjusted her mindset and walked out from behind the screen naturally, moving slightly closer to Chi Qianning.
Her clothes were indeed far from clean, still spotted with several drops of blood that had splattered when Mu Tong died. After the Cleansing Technique was cast, her entire body became clean again, without a trace of dust to be found.
Song Linlin couldn’t help but think that Chi Qianning was more convenient than a washing machine – at least with her around, there was no need to wash clothes.
“Done. Go wait for me on the bed,” the other person finished casting the spell and turned her head back, leaving only this light instruction.
These words were difficult not to overthink.
Fortunately, Song Linlin wasn’t some proper gentleman, so she naturally did overthink it internally, though outwardly she remained composed: “Alright.”
Song Linlin lay on the bed, listening to the occasional sounds of water, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, fingers twirling a strand of hair as her mind wandered aimlessly.
How exactly did dual cultivation work?
The other person wouldn’t tell her, and Song Linlin didn’t know what she should do now.
The water sounds grew louder, seemingly indicating the other person was about to come out. Hearing this, Song Linlin suddenly sat up from her lying position.
Shortly after, Chi Qianning emerged from behind the screen, wearing different clothes, though it was unclear where these clothes came from.
Besides the snake-shaped ring on her right middle finger, Song Linlin had never seen her with any spatial magical treasures like the Qiankun Ring.
However, instinct told her that the snake-shaped ring looked dangerous and didn’t seem like something meant for storage.
Chi Qianning wore a light purple gauze dress, the fabric appearing thin and soft, perfect for sleeping. Her previously wet hair had dried, with one side of her long silver hair tucked behind her ear.
Seeing Song Linlin sitting obediently on the bed, she climbed onto the bed and sat in her usual spot against the inner wall.
Song Linlin looked at her expectantly and asked: “Are we going to start dual cultivation now?”
Chi Qianning cast a sidelong glance at her, pushing the blanket between them into the corner, and spoke coolly: “What’s the hurry? Before that, we need to resolve your unstable foundation issue.”
“This can be resolved?” Song Linlin was shocked.
As is commonly known, the most important aspect of cultivation is avoiding hastiness and building a solid foundation, because once the early foundation is unstable, no matter how much one cultivates later, they will always be weaker than others or find it difficult to advance further.
And an unstable foundation was difficult to fix.
“In your case, naturally it can be.”
Under Song Linlin’s curious gaze, Chi Qianning extended her right hand and gently removed the ring from her middle finger. This snake-shaped ring was entirely silver, and upon closer inspection, each scale was carved lifelike, with a small red gemstone in place of the snake’s eye, quite similar to Chi Qianning’s own eyes.
The next moment, it transformed into a short dagger in Chi Qianning’s hand. The blade was also silver, and even from a distance, Song Linlin could sense its sharpness and malevolent qi.
So that ring was actually a weapon – no wonder Chi Qianning wore it every day.
Chi Qianning gripped the silver handle and looked at Song Linlin, slowly explaining: “You have a Pure Yin Constitution. Since we’re going to fix your unstable foundation, we naturally need something containing concentrated yin qi [陰氣 | yīn qì | feminine/negative energy] to fill these gaps.”
“Though looking at you, you obviously don’t have anything like that.”
Song Linlin laughed awkwardly, looking at Chi Qianning with anticipation.
“Don’t look at me like that. If I had any, I would have used it myself,” Chi Qianning mercilessly shattered Song Linlin’s fantasy.
“Huh?” Song Linlin was dumbfounded, stammering: “Then… then how do we fix the unstable foundation?”
“Naturally, we’ll use something else as a substitute.”
Chi Qianning lifted one sleeve, revealing a fair forearm. She raised the short dagger, pointing the blade at her own skin. Following her movement, the sharp edge lightly cut into her skin, leaving a bright red mark.
While holding the dagger, she continued: “You humans have one saying that’s correct – no two different kinds of people can sleep in the same bed. In a sense, we indeed count as the same kind.”
“You have a Pure Yin Constitution, while I am a being born from the convergence of this world’s pure yin and evil qi. Therefore, my essence blood naturally counts as the highest grade supplement.”
Chi Qianning stopped her one-handed knife movement. A substantial wound had appeared on her forearm, from which blood slowly emerged, its bright red mixed with a faint trace of gold.
The short dagger had already transformed back into a thin silver snake, crawling up to her middle finger and coiling into a ring. Chi Qianning extended her bleeding arm toward Song Linlin and said:
“Lick it clean.”
Watch this girl turn into a dragon by the end of this book
DAMNNNNNN