The Passerby Female Supporting Character – Chapter 5
by Little PandaBitten by a Snake
After silently criticizing Chi Qianning several times in her heart, Song Linlin carefully lowered her arm, the smooth scales pressing against her skin, a sensation she found very uncomfortable.
But she couldn’t resist, so she could only endure it for now.
A strange burnt smell gradually spread. Song Linlin sniffed carefully, turning her head to trace the source of the smell, and saw in the distance that orange-red flames were burning in the depression in the ground, showing signs of intensifying.
“Holy!”
How did it catch fire? Was it Chi Qianning’s doing?
Song Linlin didn’t dare linger there, fearing more unexpected situations might arise, and immediately jogged toward the area outside the barrier.
The moment she walked out of the barrier screen, the space behind her automatically sealed itself. Song Linlin looked back but couldn’t see anything – only dense weeds and trees met her eyes.
How mysterious.
Burning those two fellows’ corpses was quite good – on one hand destroying the bodies and eliminating traces, on the other hand giving those two a free cremation.
Song Linlin stood alone in this remote wilderness. After frantically running out of the barrier, she felt lost. She turned her head to observe the surroundings.
But everything looked similar no matter where she looked, and there weren’t any obvious landmarks nearby. If she wanted to walk back to the city, which direction should she go?
She slightly raised her forearm, cleared her throat, and awkwardly spoke: “Uh… do you know which direction to go to reach the nearby town?”
After these words were spoken, the air fell silent. In the quiet night, there was only the occasional gust of wind, making the rustling sound of branches and leaves.
Well, I’m really stupid.
To actually expect a snake to answer me, even though it was a snake that could transform into a human.
The atmosphere remained quiet for two or three seconds. Song Linlin had given up hope and was planning to use her limited astronomical knowledge to determine direction, whether she could make it back depending purely on luck.
“East.”
The female voice echoed directly in Song Linlin’s mind, and probably fearing she couldn’t even distinguish east, added: “Right hand direction.”
“Alright, thank you!”
Song Linlin immediately started walking toward the right. After experiencing so many things this night, she now only wanted to return to her room at the inn and take a good bath, at least changing out of these filthy clothes.
As for why she had disappeared midway? Making up an excuse would do – her bedraggled appearance was the best evidence.
When Song Linlin finally saw the familiar city gate in the distance, she could barely hold back her tears of joy.
Heaven knows how long she had walked through that wilderness. Song Linlin only remembered that following Ye Tingran and that senior martial brother to gather information had already involved walking for a long time, at least ten li [approximately 500 meters] of mountain road.
And afterward, Song Linlin had fallen into that cave, and the barrier’s exit was really too far from town. By the time she reached the city gate, the sky had already turned fish-belly white [้ญ่็ฝ | yรบ dรน bรกi | dawn’s early light], and quite a few residents were already up.
Song Linlin finally understood why Chi Qianning had transformed into a snake and coiled around her forearm.
This fellow clearly knew the journey was long and, too lazy to walk herself, had coiled around her arm instead.
She had fallen several times, her spiritual power had been nearly drained by Chi Qianning, and she had walked on foot all night. Now her complexion was haggard and pale, like a walking corpse, and wearing dirty clothes covered in grass debris, this appearance was too eye-catching among the early-rising crowd.
Passersby generally gave Song Linlin a second look, but due to the long sword hanging at her waist, no one dared to block her path.
In this world, most people were ordinary folk who couldn’t cultivate, and cultivators held very high status. If a village produced a child who could cultivate…
It would be equivalent to a village producing a genius who got into Tsinghua or Peking University in the real world.
Song Linlin finally arrived at the inn where the sect’s team was staying. As soon as she entered, she discovered most of her fellow disciples gathered there, and her appearance immediately attracted everyone’s attention.
“Ah! Ye-shijie, Song Linlin is back!” A sharp-eyed female disciple spoke up first.
Everyone immediately gathered around. They were all teenagers without any ill intentions, and coming from the same sect to this unfamiliar place, they had been worried when Song Linlin had disappeared.
Ye Tingran came over to support the exhausted Song Linlin. As the oldest and strongest in this small team, she was responsible for taking care of her junior martial brothers and sisters.
Song Linlin had disappeared not far from her sight, so naturally she was the most worried, immediately asking: “Shimei, what exactly happened? How did you end up in such a sorry state?”
“Shijie…”
Song Linlin was weak and breathless, fortunately, a thoughtful shimei poured her a cup of water. She took the teacup and drank the clear water in one gulp, which helped relieve her dry throat considerably.
Waving at Ye Tingran, Song Linlin said weakly: “Too many eyes here, let’s go upstairs to talk.”
“Alright.”
Ye Tingran addressed the others: “Everyone else should return to their rooms to rest. None of you have slept since late night, you must be tired.”
“Zhiyu-shimei, please go to the back hall and tell the waiter to heat up some water. Song-shimei is in quite a state and needs to wash up.”
“Zhang-shidi [junior brother], please go find Liu-shixiong who’s still searching in the outskirts – he doesn’t know Song-shimei has returned.”
Ye Tingran arranged everything methodically, and everyone trusted her without exception. The crowd gradually dispersed.
Truly worthy of being this book’s female protagonist! Such strong personal charisma, naturally making people feel trustworthy and reliable.
Song Linlin hadn’t had much interaction with Ye Tingran before, and especially after so many things happening tonight, returning to the inn to find people concerned about her.
She couldn’t help but say emotionally: “Ye-shijie, you’re really a good person!”
Unlike a certain evil snake who bit her – if she hadn’t nearly drained Song Linlin’s spiritual power, she wouldn’t be this exhausted.
Ye Tingran supported her upstairs to Song Linlin’s room. Song Linlin sat in a wooden chair, her whole body slumped, not wanting to move.
“Shimei, what exactly did you encounter?” Ye Tingran sat opposite her, asking with concerned furrowed brows.
“Uh… well, it’s a long story…”
Song Linlin felt very awkward – she couldn’t exactly say her escape attempt had failed, could she?
She organized her thoughts before speaking: “After separating from you, I really did plan to relieve myself and then quickly catch up with shijie and Liu-shixiong.”
“Who knew that just as I was about to look for you, I unexpectedly encountered someone else. That person had their face covered, I couldn’t see their appearance, and we ended up fighting…”
Song Linlin continued: “Shijie, you know my strength. When I realized I couldn’t win against them, I tried to run away. As a result, I fell into a cave while escaping. The attacker couldn’t find me and disappeared, and I finally made it back after experiencing countless hardships!”
After finishing such a long explanation, Song Linlin poured herself a cup of water, having become thirsty from speaking.
Moreover, strictly speaking, she had told half the truth, right? She really did fall into a cave, and had nearly lost her life before returning here.
“Is that so?”
Ye Tingran didn’t suspect Song Linlin of lying. Her furrowed brows showed a grave expression as she muttered softly: “It seems that place isn’t as simple as we imagined…”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Song Linlin nodded quickly, agreeing: “The information we received must be wrong!”
Previously she couldn’t blatantly tell Ye Tingran the situation, so she could only think of escaping. Now there was a breakthrough, and Song Linlin spoke with genuine feeling: “Shijie, we must be cautious about our target!”
“This time I was probably lucky to save my little life, but who knows if I’ll be so fortunate next time. The sect’s mission definitely isn’t as simple as it appears on the surface.”
“Mm.” Ye Tingran nodded, speaking with responsibility and fighting spirit: “I was indeed careless this time. Thinking carefully, the process of obtaining information seemed too easy.”
“Indeed, the sect wouldn’t set such simple tasks like other sects do. We thought too simply about it. Shimei, you rest well these next few days, and I’ll investigate the situation with the others!”
Song Linlin wanted to say: Shijie, actually everyone else’s tasks are really simple, only ours is hell-level difficulty.
In the end, she held back and said nothing. Ye Tingran stood up, preparing to leave, but her eyes noticed a red mark on Song Linlin’s neck, two puncture wounds particularly noticeable.
“Shimei, what happened to those wounds on your neck?” Ye Tingran asked curiously.
Song Linlin touched her neck. The spot still ached faintly when touched by fingers, making her involuntarily recall the scene from earlier.
Whether it was the pain of teeth lightly piercing her skin, or the tickle of being repeatedly licked by a tongue, or the scorching breath between respirations – all of it was both unbearable and irresistible.
Strange sensations intertwined and lingered.
Song Linlin felt her face growing hot, quickly drinking a cup of water to calm down. Meeting Ye Tingran’s concerned gaze, she awkwardly spoke: “Oh, it’s really nothing…”
“Just got bitten by a snake after falling into the cave.”
“Bitten by a snake?” Ye Tingran was also shocked – being bitten by a snake on the vulnerable neck, how careless! She hurriedly asked: “Was the snake venomous? Are you alright now?”
“Quite venomous…” Song Linlin replied unconsciously while drinking tea.
Then immediately regretted her words – had Chi Qianning sucked out her brain stem too?
That fellow was currently coiled around her arm, yet she dared to speak like this…
Song Linlin quickly corrected herself: “No, no, no, Shijie, actually there was no venom, and no snake bite either. Please just forget about it!”
“I’m planning to rest now. Shijie, you haven’t slept all night either, you should go get some good rest too. There’s still lots to deal with later!”
“Alright…”
Ye Tingran couldn’t understand what Song Linlin was thinking, but since she was being shown out, she couldn’t press further. She could only advise: “If you need antidote pills, you can find Zhiyu. She specifically brought many different medicinal pills when coming down the mountain.”
“Okay, thank you, Shijie, but I’m really fine.”
Song Linlin emphasized one more time.
After Ye Tingran left the room, Song Linlin immediately closed the door and locked it.
She walked deeper into the room, crouched by the bedside, and raised her forearm that was wrapped in cool scales, gently placing it on the bed.
“There’s no one else in the room now.”
Song Linlin spoke to the small snake coiled in her sleeve, reminding it that it could come out now, no need to stay hidden in her sleeve.
Otherwise her arm felt oddly cool – the snake had been coiled around her all night, its body never warming up.
As for why she placed it on the bed, Song Linlin had considered putting it on the table but felt that would be strange – this wasn’t serving a dish, after all.
After she finished speaking, the small snake coiled around her showed no reaction. Song Linlin then realized that throughout the journey, the snake’s body hadn’t moved at all.
She had been too busy hurrying back to notice, but thinking about it now seemed strange.
It couldn’t be dead, could it?
With this ice-cold feeling, plus no movement all night, Song Linlin couldn’t help but lift her sleeve.
As the sleeve gradually lifted, a silver-white scaled snake body slowly appeared. Under the daylight, its scales sparkled with rainbow light, its eyes tightly closed.
Song Linlin suddenly found herself unable to describe what she saw. She had certainly seen pictures of snakes back on Earth, but Chi Qianning’s scales were different from those ordinary creatures, and Song Linlin’s limited vocabulary couldn’t properly describe it.
Her initial fear gradually disappeared, that unique beauty diluting the terror it brought.
Was it sleeping?
Even with the sleeve lifted, there was still no response.
Human nature is both self-destructive and appreciative, and seeing no signs of awakening, Song Linlin extended her finger, boldly wanting to poke the small snake’s body on her arm.
Her fingertip gradually approached, touching those unique silver scales. The feeling was peculiar – cool and refreshing, surely comfortable to touch in summer.
However, before her finger could slide down, the silver-white snake had already opened its eyes, crimson pupils quietly observing Song Linlin.
Song Linlin’s movement instantly froze. Her finger left the other’s body, moving near the snake’s head as her face showed a somewhat eager smile:
“Good morning, another beautiful day.”
“Are you hungry? I’m willing to offer my blood free of charge.”
Chi Qianning: …
LP:
Shijie โ Senior Sister
Shimei โ Junior Sister
Shixiong โ Senior Brother
Shidi โ Junior Brother
One must pet. Whatever animal it is.
Same, my first thout was to pet the snek