The Passerby Female Supporting Character – Chapter 50
by Little PandaEarlobe
After hastily eating lunch in town, Song Linlin led Zhang San and Chi Qianning towards Donghuang Mountain.
The town residents rarely went up the mountain; traces of people were scarce along the way. The path up was merely a small trail trodden by a few herb gatherers, flanked on both sides by overgrown weeds.
The mountain was so quiet there wasn’t even the sound of birdsong, only the noise of Song Linlin hacking away at various plants with her sword. The weeds here were simply too thick; she had no choice but to clear a path with her blade.
Zhang San hid nervously behind Song Linlin. Chi Qianning walked at the very back. Looking at the surrounding weeds and shrubs taller than a person, Zhang San felt as if their group was already enveloped by plants. She couldn’t help but swallow hard, pinching the corner of Song Linlin’s clothing in front of her, and said very inappropriately, “This place… isn’t it a bit too eerie?”
“If we get ambushed here, I’m afraid we wouldn’t even be able to see where the enemy is.”
Song Linlin’s sword hand trembled. She wasn’t naturally brave, and had only just managed to brace herself to stand at the front, only for Zhang San to say something like that.
She flicked her sleeve, shaking off Zhang San’s fingers. First, she cautiously observed their surroundings, confirming there were no strange movements. Only then did she turn her head and speak fiercely to Zhang San, though her voice trembled, “Wh-what, what nonsense are you talking?”
“There… probably aren’t any weird things nearby… right?”
In the end, Song Linlin decided not to pretend to be strong anymore. She ran from the front of the group to the back, hiding behind Chi Qianning and grabbing tightly onto the corner of her clothes. Only then did she feel much more secure.
Seeing Song Linlin run to the back, leaving Zhang San alone at the front, she immediately dashed backwards too, like a wisp of smoke. “Waah, Song Linlin, wait for me!”
Then Zhang San hid behind Song Linlin again. Now Chi Qianning was standing at the very front. She looked at the two flustered individuals behind her, feeling momentarily speechless. According to her senses, there was nothing nearby at all.
Song Linlin met her gaze and smiled sheepishly, refusing to let go of the corner of her clothes. She handed the sword to Chi Qianning, saying very timidly, “You should walk in front.”
Taking the longsword, Chi Qianning didn’t expect the two behind her to be capable of much. She had no choice but to walk ahead and clear the path herself. Her sword strikes were much cleaner than Song Linlin’s, and the squad’s pace immediately quickened considerably. Soon, they emerged from the weedy area.
Looking at the forest before them, even though it was now the afternoon when the sun was strongest, Song Linlin still found the place gloomy and eerie. The tall trees reached over ten meters, their dense canopies blocking the sky, allowing only sparse rays of light to filter through the gaps in the leaves.
The air was filled with the smell of decaying leaves. Coupled with the gloomy environment, anyone with eyes could sense that something seemed off about this place.
Chi Qianning surveyed the surroundings. Although she didn’t know which direction the Moon Poison Scorpion was in, the environment inhabited by such venomous creatures would definitely be the area with the densest sinister Yin energy. Sensing the aura permeating the air, she began walking in one direction.
“Don’t just stand there stupidly, let’s go,” Chi Qianning said to Song Linlin and Zhang San behind her.
Seeing Chi Qianning already heading deeper into the forest, Song Linlin naturally didn’t dare linger. She immediately jogged to catch up with her figure. “Coming!”
Peeking at the scenery ahead, Song Linlin followed behind Chi Qianning and couldn’t resist linking her arm through the other’s, asking with a mix of curiosity and fear, “Does that scorpion live in this direction?”
“Mn.” Chi Qianning merely nodded lightly, offering no further explanation.
Zhang San walked at the very back, suspicious of everything1 along the way. She also held onto Song Linlin’s arm, moving forward quickly while occasionally glancing back, afraid some terrifying demonic beast would suddenly appear behind her.
The three maintained their linked posture, with only Chi Qianning walking calmly at the front. She was now starting to consider that perhaps she should have come alone from the start, leaving Song Linlin and Zhang San to wait at the foot of the mountain.
These two were dawdling; if they hadn’t been holding her back, Chi Qianning estimated she would have reached the Moon Poison Scorpion’s cave long ago.
In the end, the three blankly walked for over a shichen2 before approaching their destination. By now, the sun was gradually beginning to set, making the surroundings undoubtedly darker. The environment had also changed; there were no longer tall trees around. The air was damp, and as soon as dusk fell, numerous insects crawled out to become active.
They could even see some white skeletons along the path, remnants of certain large animals’ carcasses, and occasionally a few human bones.
The deeper Song Linlin went into this area, the more panicked she became. The various insects around were clearly increasing, and the smell in the air grew stranger and stranger.
Fortunately, it hadn’t reached the point where the air was filled with toxins, just that it smelled a bit odd.
The surroundings became extremely quiet; even the insects, which hadn’t stopped buzzing the entire way, disappeared. Song Linlin looked at a huge cave not far away, silently swallowed, leaned closer to Chi Qianning, and whispered, “Is that the Moon Poison Scorpion’s cave?”
Zhang San, behind her, was now hiding behind Song Linlin, completely afraid to speak, especially since it was already evening. The moon had long since hung in the sky, and visibility was low.
Chi Qianning nodded and instructed Song Linlin, “Prepare two torches.”
“Ah?” Song Linlin’s eyes widened as she looked at her.
It was dark now, and hiding here, they weren’t too conspicuous. But if they lit torches, it would be completely different—wouldn’t that be like bright lamps in the dark? Anyone not blind would spot them.
“Are you planning to go into that thing’s cave in the dark?”
Chi Qianning glanced at Song Linlin, saw the worry in her heart, shook her head, and said helplessly, “What are you afraid of? Just do as I say.”
“Alright.”
Song Linlin could only nod. Since they needed to gather the Purple Mist Leaves, they definitely had to enter the cave. Outside, they still had moonlight for illumination, but inside it would be pitch black; they really did need to make torches.
Making them wasn’t troublesome. Song Linlin quickly finished, and instantly, two bright points of fire lit up the dark environment, extremely conspicuous under the circumstances.
As the firelight flared, some strange noises emerged from the cave. A massive, pitch-black scorpion crawled out. Eight legs supported its body, its tail held high.
Even watching from a distance, Song Linlin was startled by this creature, unable to stop herself from sucking in a sharp breath3. She turned her head to look at Zhang San, only to find Zhang San clearly scared stiff.
Chi Qianning patted Song Linlin’s back, bringing her back from her shock. Even facing the enormous scorpion, Chi Qianning remained composed and calm, speaking faintly, “Go on, circle around behind it. There are no other living things in the cave.”
“Just… go straight over like this?” Song Linlin was still hesitant.
“Mn.” Chi Qianning nodded.
Song Linlin felt apprehensive but braced herself and nodded. She patted the nearby Zhang San back to her senses. “Stop spacing out, let’s go…”
“Ah?”
Zhang San wore an expression of clear reluctance. Song Linlin had no choice but to grab her arm and forcibly lead her forward. As they drew closer step by step, Song Linlin and Zhang San got nearer and nearer to the Moon Poison Scorpion. Looking at the behemoth up close, Song Linlin’s heart couldn’t help but race. Zhang San clung tightly to Song Linlin’s arm, unwilling to let go, completely mechanically being led forward by Song Linlin.
Originally, Song Linlin was extremely timid, but now, leading the even more timid Zhang San, she was forced to be strong. Though scared to death, she resiliently led Zhang San onward, silently comforting herself that Chi Qianning was right behind them, so surely nothing would go wrong.
In the end, the Moon Poison Scorpion indeed made no attempt to attack the two passing by, allowing Song Linlin to successfully pull Zhang San into the cave interior.
Once inside the cave, Song Linlin let out a sigh of relief. She quickly pulled her arm free from Zhang San’s grasp and urged, “Alright, alright, let’s get to work. We’ll leave early once we’re done collecting.”
Staying in such a dark cave didn’t feel good; Song Linlin, at least, didn’t want to linger.
She took out two bamboo baskets from her Qiankun Ring, handing one to Zhang San to facilitate her collection of Purple Mist Leaves. The two slung the baskets onto their backs. With just a simple look around, they saw plenty of Purple Mist Leaves growing within the area illuminated by the firelight.
Zhang San was also somewhat shocked, “There are so many here?!”
Song Linlin nodded, seeing nothing but money before her eyes. “Those herb gatherers don’t dare come in, so they just kept growing more and more, I guess…”
“Purple Mist Leaves are poisonous, don’t pick them with your bare hands.” Zhang San knew this plant well and tossed a pair of special gloves to Song Linlin. “Wear these, they can resist the poison.”
Song Linlin naturally put them on immediately. The two began picking the Purple Mist Leaves growing on the cave walls from different directions.
The cave was extremely quiet, with only the sounds of Song Linlin and Zhang San gathering herbs. Song Linlin occasionally turned her head to glance towards the cave entrance, afraid the scorpion would suddenly run back. At the same time, she was also very curious about the situation outside.
She had assumed that after she and Zhang San entered the cave, sounds of fighting would surely erupt outside. But now, not a single sound came from outside the cave; it was utterly silent, making Song Linlin very curious.
Song Linlin couldn’t help but speed up her picking. Besides the Purple Mist Leaves, there were some other plants growing here that Song Linlin didn’t recognize. She didn’t care what they were; anything growing in this kind of environment was surely not ordinary. She picked them all into her basket.
By the time the basket was full, there were still many herbs left uncollected. Song Linlin couldn’t be bothered with the extra herbs anymore. Once Zhang San had filled her basket, they headed towards the cave entrance.
Upon exiting the cave, Song Linlin had expected the outside world to be a complete mess, littered with signs of battle. But when she looked around, the outside was exactly the same as when she had entered the cave.
Chi Qianning had found a large rock near the cave entrance and was sitting on it boredly. The longsword was stuck in the nearby soil, its blade gleaming white, without any trace of blood.
Noticing the movement at the cave entrance, Chi Qianning turned her head and looked at Song Linlin, “Finished picking?”
“Mn.”
Song Linlin nodded, somewhat stunned. She approached Chi Qianning, pulled the sword out of the ground, and examined it carefully. Apart from some dirt and a bit of green juice left from cutting weeds earlier, there were no other marks on the blade.
Sheathing the sword, she couldn’t help but look up, curiously watching Chi Qianning, and asked, “Where’s the Moon Poison Scorpion?”
Logically speaking, even if it had been killed silently, there should definitely be a corpse left behind. But now, Song Linlin looked around and found no suspicious traces whatsoever.
“It ran away.” Chi Qianning’s expression didn’t change as she answered faintly.
“Ran… ran away?”
Song Linlin was stunned for a moment, only reacting after a few seconds. It must have been that Chi Qianning hadn’t even made a move, and the creature had been scared off. That’s why the outside world had sounded so quiet when she was inside the cave.
Since the Moon Poison Scorpion had retreated on its own initiative, Song Linlin figured Chi Qianning must have been too lazy to pursue it, simply letting the scorpion escape.
Song Linlin nodded, indicating she understood.
By now, the sky had completely darkened. Looking up, one could see the stars. Song Linlin frowned, “Are we going down the mountain now?”
Just coming up had taken a lot of time. In this pitch-black darkness, going down would probably take even longer. They would likely reach the town late at night.
This small town wasn’t like a big city such as Yunxin City; once it got dark, every household closed its doors, and they hadn’t rented an inn room either.
Chi Qianning squinted, looking around. This was the Moon Poison Scorpion’s territory; no other demonic beasts on the entire mountain dared to venture into this area. Now that the scorpion had fled, only the three of them remained.
After a couple of seconds of silence, Chi Qianning said, “Let’s pitch a tent here. We’ll spend the night on the mountain.”
Song Linlin nodded, trusting the other’s judgment. She put down her basket and went to figure out how to set up the tent with Zhang San. Naturally, she wouldn’t dare trouble Chi Qianning with such a task.
Fortunately, Song Linlin had come fully prepared this time after leaving the Sect, considering the possibility of spending the night outdoors. She had brought a large tent. She had seen Ye Tingran use one during her practical training down the mountain before. She and Zhang San puzzled over it for quite a while. Although the process was rather difficult, they finally managed to set up the tent.
Zhang San learned that the Moon Poison Scorpion had fled and that they would be spending the night on the mountain. She found it very novel and inexplicably started getting excited.
Song Linlin built a bonfire. The bonfire illuminated a much larger area than the torches, lighting up a wide patch of the surroundings, dispelling the darkness, and bringing considerable peace of mind.
It was just a pity there were no small animals nearby. Being in the Moon Poison Scorpion’s habitat, weaker animals would instinctively stay far away from this area.
Song Linlin could only use some dry rations she had brought to cook a pot of dinner. The taste was ordinary, barely enough to fill their stomachs.
After dinner, Song Linlin took out quilts inside the tent and started making the beds. Zhang San didn’t mind sleeping together with Song Linlin and Chi Qianning.
Because they hadn’t brought enough quilts, Zhang San slept under one quilt alone, while Song Linlin shared a quilt with Chi Qianning. Having seen Song Linlin and Chi Qianning being so close together so often these past few days, Zhang San didn’t voice any objections.
Outside the tent, it was exceptionally quiet, with only the occasional crisp crackle from the burning bonfire. Inside the tent, Song Linlin lay between the other two. She glanced at Chi Qianning, then at Zhang San, feeling an indescribable strangeness, like a little kid4 had been added to the adults’ bed, making sleep uncomfortable.
Just last night, Song Linlin had slept hugging Chi Qianning. But tonight, with the addition of Zhang San, Song Linlin felt too embarrassed to make any extra movements. She could only lie with her eyes open, staring at the tent ceiling. In this environment, she suffered from insomnia.
Zhang San wasn’t affected by the environment. Before long, Song Linlin heard steady breathing coming from her side; she had probably fallen asleep.
This made Song Linlin start to feel tempted again. Since Zhang San was asleep, surely it was okay to hug Chi Qianning now?
Song Linlin turned her head to look at Chi Qianning. The other lay flat beside her, eyes closed, breathing shallowly. Song Linlin couldn’t tell if she was asleep or not, only feeling that Chi Qianning was excessively beautiful even with her eyes closed.
Gently turning her body, Song Linlin shifted to lie on her side, looking at Chi Qianning up close. At the same time, she couldn’t resist reaching out, wanting to stroke the face of the person beside her.
Before her warm fingers could get completely close, Chi Qianning opened her eyes first. She turned her head, looking with questioning eyes at Song Linlin, who was reaching towards her.
Her fingers hadn’t even touched the other person before her intention was discovered by Chi Qianning. This made Song Linlin’s outstretched hand pause for a moment, and a touch of embarrassment surfaced in her heart.
However, having been embarrassed many times, Song Linlin had adapted. This bit of embarrassment was nothing much. Her fingers finally rested on the other’s face, sliding from the side of her face to the cartilage of her ear, then to the earlobe. Song Linlin couldn’t resist giving it a slightly forceful pinch.
The author has something to say:
Feels like a family of three sleeping with their child.
Footnotes
- 疑神疑鬼 | yí shén yí guǐ | Lit. “suspect gods and suspect ghosts”; To be overly suspicious or paranoid.
- 時辰 | shíchén | A traditional Chinese time unit equal to two modern hours. “一個多時辰” means slightly more than one shichen, hence over two hours.
- 倒吸了一口涼氣 | dào xī le yī kǒu liáng qì | Lit. “sucked in a mouthful of cold air”; An expression of shock, fear, or surprise.
- 小屁孩 | xiǎo pì hái | Lit. “little fart child”; An informal, sometimes slightly derogatory but often affectionate, term for a young child or brat.
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