The Side Character Who Wins by Doing Nothing

Chapter 98: Chapter 98: The Heroine Arrives, Though Late

The Sword Immortal finally realized he’d been played.

But it was too late. Just as Xie Ningyuan had said, the last of his power was completely drained. Even if he wanted to stop them, he no longer had the means.

Xie Ningyuan walked up to the statue and performed a seal with his fingers, effortlessly breaking the final layer of defense on the wine gourd.

A flash of light flared, and the gourd shattered into two halves. A storage ring fell out from within.

Just as Xie Ningyuan was about to grab it, a sudden noise came from behind them. The next moment, two people appeared in the stone chamber.

Lu Sangjiu’s gaze instantly sharpened... It was Ye Zhiyao and Qin Yu.

’The female lead may have been late, but she still managed to arrive at the crucial moment.’

Conditioned by past betrayals, Lu Sangjiu immediately shouted, "Xie Ningyuan, grab it!"

In truth, Lu Sangjiu didn’t even need to say anything. The moment Xie Ningyuan noticed the newcomers, he was already bending down to pick it up.

But at that exact moment, Ye Zhiyao suddenly attacked. An icy Sword Qi coalesced and shot toward Xie Ningyuan.

Xie Ningyuan frowned slightly but didn’t falter. As he picked up the ring, a Buddha Seal formed in front of him, blocking Ye Zhiyao’s Sword Qi.

He then rose to his feet, his gaze falling coldly on Ye Zhiyao.

Without a single word, he launched an attack infused with Buddha Light straight at her.

Ye Zhiyao immediately raised her sword to defend but was almost instantly overwhelmed.

Of course, the female lead had a rather impressive Defense Treasure on her. Sensing the attack, it activated on its own to protect Ye Zhiyao.

Even so, the force of the blow knocked her back two steps, and she clutched her chest in pain.

When she looked at Xie Ningyuan again, a flicker of fear appeared in her eyes, and she couldn’t help but hide behind Qin Yu.

Qin Yu was startled by the sudden turn of events. When he came to his senses, he hurriedly checked on Ye Zhiyao, breathing a sigh of relief only after confirming she was unharmed.

He then looked at Lu Sangjiu, then at Xie Ningyuan, but he couldn’t bring himself to utter any words of blame.

After all... he had seen it clearly. Ye Zhiyao had attacked first.

The counterattack wasn’t meant to be lethal, which could already be considered merciful. frёewebnoѵēl.com

So, he could only turn to Ye Zhiyao and ask, "Junior Sister, what are you doing?"

Ye Zhiyao’s voice was full of grievance. "Senior Brother, the Sword Immortal just sent me a message. He said these two are robbers and asked me to help get his things back."

’What she didn’t say was that the Sword Immortal had also promised that the item would be hers if she retrieved it, and that he would teach her a sword technique.’

The voice had appeared so suddenly in her mind that she had acted subconsciously, without time to think.

Now that her attack had failed and she had suffered for it, she could only explain herself to Qin Yu, insisting she was on the side of justice and that the others were the real robbers.

Hearing this, Xie Ningyuan sneered. "Robbers? Heh, then as a robber, it would be perfectly normal for me to kill one or two people, wouldn’t it?"

His gaze on Ye Zhiyao was bone-chilling, and he didn’t look like he was joking in the slightest.

Qin Yu was extremely embarrassed. Privately, he felt what Ye Zhiyao had done was out of line.

’Some senior Sword Immortal? Who knows if he’s good or bad? Anyone would be angry if someone just attacked them without figuring out the situation first.’

But he also felt that Ye Zhiyao was just too naive and hadn’t thought things through; she hadn’t intentionally tried to kill anyone.

Besides, Xie Ningyuan had already struck back. At this point, he naturally had to speak up for Ye Zhiyao.

"My apologies, Mr. Xie. My junior sister was just being reckless. I hope that for the sake of our past acquaintance, you won’t hold it against her."

But Xie Ningyuan wasn’t buying it. "How about I strike you with my sword, and you can choose not to hold it against me for the sake of our past acquaintance?"

Qin Yu couldn’t help but say, "But you just struck back..."

Xie Ningyuan replied, "You said it yourself—that was striking *back*. I’m talking about striking you *again*."

Choking on his words, he couldn’t help but look toward Lu Sangjiu.

But Lu Sangjiu put on an innocent expression. "Don’t look at me. I don’t know him that well."

Qin Yu was speechless.

’If you don’t know him well, why are you together? And why did you just call his name so familiarly?’

He was rendered speechless by Lu Sangjiu’s excuse, but because of what happened before, he still felt he owed her.

So even though he knew she was lying through her teeth, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything more.

He could only look away, no longer pinning his hopes on her.

"Mr. Xie, must we really fight to the death over such a small matter?"

He was still trying to smooth things over, but Ye Zhiyao, behind him, couldn’t hold back any longer.

"Senior Brother, they forcibly stole that senior’s belongings! They’re the ones in the wrong, so why are you trying to reason with them?"

Qin Yu frowned. "Junior Sister, everyone comes to a Secret Realm to compete for opportunities. There’s no such thing as ’stealing’ in this context."

"Besides, whatever that ’senior’ of yours said might not even be the truth. Stop making a scene."

It was rare for Lu Sangjiu to see Qin Yu use his brain in front of Ye Zhiyao, and she couldn’t help but wonder, ’Is Qin Yu’s head finally clearing up?’

But what surprised her even more was Xie Ningyuan.

In the past, her struggles with Ye Zhiyao for opportunities had always been life-and-death situations. But... it seemed that every time Xie Ningyuan made a move, it was always with complete ease.

Like that time at Luoya Mountain, he had calmly taken the Ten Thousand Yang Pill without anyone noticing.

This time, he took the storage ring just as easily, as if the Heavenly Dao hadn’t hindered him in the slightest.

’What... what’s with that? Could it be that Xie Ningyuan is the Heavenly Dao’s favorite son or something?’

Lu Sangjiu felt a surge of indignation, but there was no one she could complain to.

Meanwhile, Ye Zhiyao’s eyes were turning red. Not only had Qin Yu not taken her side, he had even scolded her.

"Senior Brother, I’m not making a scene! The Sword Immortal wouldn’t lie to me!"

The moment she saw that storage ring, she had a gut feeling... that it was meant to be hers.

That’s why she hadn’t doubted the voice for a second, convinced that they had plundered it by force!

Lu Sangjiu, meanwhile, walked over to Xie Ningyuan’s side, positioning herself to shield the still-dazed Shen Yuzhao behind her.

At the same time, she sent a telepathic message to Xie Ningyuan. "Don’t be afraid. I’m on your side."

Xie Ningyuan raised a slight eyebrow and glanced at her. "You seem to harbor a lot of animosity toward this senior sister of yours."

He had been following Lu Sangjiu for a while now and had seen everything.

Most of the time, she was good-tempered and easy to get along with.

But toward Ye Zhiyao, she seemed to have a natural hostility, one she couldn’t hide no matter how hard she tried.

Lu Sangjiu was noncommittal, only asking in return, "What, you like her or something?"

Xie Ningyuan did not go against his conscience and answered honestly, "I do not."

’The woman is far too calculating and two-faced. Truly unlikable.’

That satisfied Lu Sangjiu. ’Good, then we’re on the same side.’

"Then help me protect my Third Senior Brother. If they get the inheritance, the situation will only become more disadvantageous for us."