When the Cannon Fodder Male Supporting Role Picks Up the Script - Chapter 124

Before dark, the two brothers go to Yun Tianqing’s house for dinner. Yun Peiran has already reached Foundation Establishment, so he can rely on fasting pills, but Yun Zhuoran is still young and physically weak—he can’t be treated the same.

This is the second time Yun Zhuoran accompanies Yun Peiran to visit Yun Tianqing’s home, and only now does he realize that Yun Peiran truly has a good relationship with the Yun siblings.

After dinner, the two don’t bring lanterns when they return home. With the light of the moonstone in Yun Zhuoran’s hand, they can even see the small stones deep in the bushes clearly. Yun Peiran is too lazy to even light a candle.

It seems it is not a loss to risk offending Yun Tianfeng to take the moonstone.

After washing, Yun Peiran removes the gauze on Yun Zhuoran’s hand, frowns, and applies a thick layer of plaster on the bloody wounds that don’t seem to have changed at all, then wraps them up again.

Yun Zhuoran is very obedient. This Yun Peiran bears him no ill will, and he naturally feels a good impression and trust.

After the bandage is done, Yun Peiran puts the moonstone back into Yun Zhuoran’s hands on the bedside, picks up the small clothes the other changed out of from the shelf, and stands up.

“Sleep. I’m heading out for a bit.”

Yun Zhuoran asks, “To trace where the blood went?”

Yun Peiran stops and looks at him sideways. “When did you get so smart?”

Yun Zhuoran remains expressionless. Does this Yun Peiran think his younger brother is that dumb?

Yun Zhuoran hugs the moonstone with one hand, jumps off the bed, and says, “I’ll go too.”

Yun Peiran says, “No.”

Yun Zhuoran says, “Then I’ll go by myself.”

Yun Peiran looks at him and hesitates. “Why are you getting more and more disobedient… Okay, I can take you there, but you have to wait for me outside the wall.”

Yun Zhuoran is no longer the original owner of this sick body, Little Yun Weiran.

Yun Peiran looks at his stubborn eyes and realizes he can’t stop his brother from becoming strange, so he takes a step back.

After getting a small snow-colored cloak and putting it on Yun Zhuoran, Yun Peiran takes him out.

Yun Zhuoran follows behind, his steps a little hurried. His short legs are naturally much slower than Yun Peiran’s. He starts panting as soon as he walks into the yard. His body is too weak, and he’s panting after two steps.

Yun Peiran is the first person he meets here. Yun Zhuoran believes the key to leaving here is Yun Peiran, and it’s right to follow him.

However, Yun Zhuoran clearly underestimates Yun Peiran. Yun Peiran is about to abandon him as soon as they reach the courtyard. Wrapped in a nightgown, he pulls up his mask and points to the wall separating their small courtyard from the City Lord’s Mansion.

“You just wait here.”

Yun Zhuoran falls silent.

He’s sure Yun Peiran is just tricking a kid.

Under Yun Zhuoran’s silent, resentful gaze, Yun Peiran grins irritatingly before finally walking to the courtyard gate. “Come on, try not to get lost.”

Yun Zhuoran follows quickly with the moonstone in his arms, and the shadow follows closely behind him.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he steps outside the gate, a black-clad youth scoops him up effortlessly and slings him over one shoulder. Yun Zhuoran’s body tenses, his face goes stiff—and then he hears Yun Peiran’s hearty laughter from behind, as if startling him is the highlight of his night.

Sprawled awkwardly over his shoulder, Yun Zhuoran freezes in mute frustration.

Yun Peiran is really childish.

Under the cold moonlight, a black shadow disappears in a flash, vanishing under someone’s eaves in the blink of an eye.

The square opposite the City Lord’s Mansion has recently been surrounded, tightly wrapped with red cloth. People come and go from time to time, and no one knows what is being prepared.

Yun Peiran finds the side door of the City Lord’s Mansion near the forest and puts Yun Zhuoran down.

“Stay here and don’t run around. I’ll go in and take a look. I’ll come back for you soon.”

Yun Zhuoran sits pressed against the locked small door, holding the moonstone with both hands.

“Don’t run around.” Yun Peiran keeps reminding him for a long time, draws a talisman on Yun Zhuoran’s palm, and slips into the wall of the City Lord’s Mansion.

It isn’t that Yun Zhuoran doesn’t want to keep up, but he can’t use his spiritual power or open his sea of consciousness. The only magical item he has is a shared-use defensive artifact hanging from his ear. If he wants to follow Yun Peiran, he’ll definitely be a burden.

Besides, Yun Peiran sneaks into the City Lord’s Mansion in the middle of the night. If Yun Zhuoran brings the moonstone, Yun Peiran will be exposed. If there is no light at all, his heart demon might disappear.

Yun Zhuoran has to stay, but that doesn’t mean he will obey.

As soon as Yun Peiran leaves, Yun Zhuoran follows the shadow and walks toward the fenced square not far away. He remembers there’s supposed to be an altar here, but now it’s blocked.

It’s late at night, and the square is empty. No one appears for a long time. The red silk cloth hanging on the wooden fence flutters silently in the evening breeze, giving a strange atmosphere.

There are guards in front of the wooden fence, and several teams patrol nearby. The fire soars into the sky, silently projecting huge black shadows on the red cloth, which from a distance look like some kind of beast.

The shadow floats out and circles near a place with light, then floats back and takes Yun Zhuoran with it, going around in a large arc to another corner.

Yun Zhuoran purses his pale lips tightly, careful not to let his breath leak out. When he catches up with the shadow, the back of his clothes is soaked with sweat.

Yun Zhuoran wipes his sweat and looks in the direction the shadow points.

It’s still the dark red silk cloth hanging on the wooden fence, completely blocking the outside view. The shadow squats and points to the corner of the red cloth dragged on the ground. Yun Zhuoran opens his mouth slightly, takes a deep breath, and lifts the corner of the red cloth as the shadow indicates.

The gap in the wooden fence is two feet wide, and Yun Zhuoran’s thin body can definitely fit. No one guards nearby, and the patrol hasn’t come yet.

Yun Zhuoran follows the shadow into the wooden fence without hesitation and sees a huge stone statue in front of him — a mythical beast, with an altar already built beneath it.

The carved grooves on the ground look fresh, clearly made not long ago.

Yun Zhuoran walks toward the stone statue with the shadow. Perhaps because his body is smaller now, the statue, which he has to look up at, seems several times larger than he remembers, making him look even smaller.

Several stone statues of mythical beasts surround the altar, positioned exactly as he recalls.

However, this altar is newly built, and everything around it is pristine. The formation pattern engraved on the ground is naturally complete.

What Yun Zhuoran recorded before is only a fragment of the formation, but now he can see the entire design.

The City Lord’s Mansion guards only patrol outside the fence and rarely come inside.

Yun Zhuoran takes the opportunity to approach the altar and finds that the array base here matches the incomplete formation he recorded before, missing only a few key strokes. Even though it was damaged, it didn’t hinder anything at that time.

He circles around twice. Without any magic weapon or spiritual power on him, he can only choose to leave for now.

The Heart Demon leads the way again and finds the gap where the patrol team just passed. Yun Zhuoran quickly slips out through another gap in the fence. Outside is a dark forest, with only a few faint rays of light coming from the moonstones inside Yun Zhuoran’s sleeves.

The patrol team is not far ahead. Yun Zhuoran holds his breath, ready to take the chance to leave.

Suddenly, a suppressed voice comes from behind the fence, separated by red cloth: “Something’s wrong. This blood is all wrong.”

Yun Zhuoran looks back and sees a figure shadowed against the red cloth, flickering in the firelight inside.

The voice sounds annoyed: “The blood sent by the high priest is useless. Do we really need to stay here?”

High priest?

Yun Zhuoran gestures to the heart demon to wait, calming himself to listen to the conversation inside the fence.

But there is no more sound. He looks up and sees the figure on the red cloth has disappeared. His eyes widen, his expression grows serious, and he runs into the woods.

“Still want to run?” The voice comes from behind him.

Yun Zhuoran freezes and sees a man wrapped in a black cloak suddenly appear in front of him.

He has forgotten that the other party is a cultivator. Even if he doesn’t breathe or move, the other can still sense his presence from such a short distance.

Yun Zhuoran purses his lips, takes two steps back with the moonstone in his pocket. His breathing quickens, chest rising and falling heavily, causing slight suffocation. He takes a deep breath and raises his hand to touch his earlobe.

The artifact named Lingxi is still there. It’s a dual-use defensive magic tool for Dao companions. It doesn’t identify its master by dripping blood, and though Yun Zhuoran has shrunk upon arriving here, the artifact has followed him. He doesn’t know if it will still be of any use.

If Gu Shenshu’s resentment incarnation has lied to him, this artifact might not protect him at all.

Yun Zhuoran’s face is solemn as he frantically considers how to escape.

The black-robed man approaches step by step as Yun Zhuoran retreats.

“It’s so late, and there are still children wandering around. You’re very brave.” The black-robed man smiles with sparkling eyes. “Since you’re here, don’t go back. The High Priest’s formation base isn’t complete yet—you’ll make a good foundation.”

Yun Zhuoran clenches the moonstone in his hand.

The black-robed man doesn’t hesitate and reaches out to touch Yun Zhuoran’s shoulder, but the little figure in white quickly dodges. His movements are extremely fast, unlike an ordinary untrained child.

While the black-robed man is stunned—

Yun Zhuoran bites his fingertip and quickly draws a few strokes over the spot where Yun Peiran left a protective talisman on his hand. A burst of spiritual light flares—revealing the talisman—and it instantly transforms into a cluster of thunderfire!

After modifying the talisman, Yun Zhuoran uses up all his energy. His legs nearly give out beneath him, but he manages to steady himself in time and hurriedly raises a hand to cover his mouth.

A strong smell of blood surged up his throat, and he barely managed to swallow it down.

The black-robed man hadn’t expected such a small child to be capable of drawing a talisman—let alone one so powerful. He quickly tried to block it, but the impact startled him, and he staggered back.

Although the injury wasn’t serious, the black-robed man was impressed. When he looked at the pale, weak child again, his smile deepened with interest.

“So you’ve trained after all?”

He waved a hand, and the burns on his hands from the lightning and fire vanished instantly.

“It seems I really underestimated Yun City. There are indeed many capable people hidden here.”

Yun Zhuoran was already at his limit. When he modified the talisman into a thunderfire charm, he had completely relied on the spiritual energy Yun Peiran had infused into it. All he did was amplify it, multiplying its strength severalfold. Without Yun Peiran’s energy, he had no power to fight back.

By now, Yun Zhuoran couldn’t help but feel resentful toward that strange Taiyin True Fire.

Why send him here only to leave him so weak?

But suddenly, something unexpected happened—

A black shadow appeared at the black-robed man’s feet. He didn’t notice at first, but when his shadow was swallowed, he paused. His hands clutched his clothes tightly, and his expression twisted grotesquely.

Yun Zhuoran didn’t understand what was happening, but he saw the black-robed man fall to his knees, shaking violently, teeth chattering, and then collapse.

Within moments, he was lying flat on his back, bleeding from all seven orifices—dead.

How did he die?

Was there a third person here?!

Yun Zhuoran tensed.

The shadow beside the black-robed man stirred and crept toward him.

Yun Zhuoran instinctively backed away, then stopped, staring cautiously at the shadow on the ground.

“…Is that you, Weiran?” His childish voice was hoarse, and he noticed—the black-robed man had no shadow.

“Don’t be afraid, brother, it’s okay.”

That familiar, gently comforting voice echoed right in his ears.

Startled, Yun Zhuoran crouched in front of the shadow, pressing his aching chest. “Weiran, can you speak?”

His eyes lit up, making his pale, delicate face look radiant.

The shadow crawling toward Yun Zhuoran’s foot paused. Then he heard that voice again, surprised:

“Brother can finally hear me speak!”

Hearing the heart demon again stirred mixed emotions in Yun Zhuoran’s heart, but also brought a sense of calm. He let out a long sigh of relief and sat down right there.

The heart demon’s voice grew urgent. “Brother! Where are you hurt?”

Yun Zhuoran did feel uncomfortable. First, it was this body’s original illness—headache and cold limbs. Second, modifying the talisman had drained him, and the backlash had weakened him. His chest and hands throbbed with pain.

Normally, no matter how badly hurt he was, Yun Zhuoran wouldn’t say anything. But after not hearing the heart demon for two days, he suddenly didn’t want to keep pretending.

“Weiran, my body hurts.”

The shadow crept up from Yun Zhuoran’s hand on the cold ground and covered the fingertip he had just bitten. The heart demon’s voice was a little suppressed, but clearly anxious. Yun Zhuoran thought he even heard a hint of grievance in the voice.

The heart demon said with genuine concern, “Don’t be afraid, brother. I’ll find a way to get us out of here soon.”

Yun Zhuoran lowered his eyes to the shadow coiled around his wrist. He felt limp and didn’t want to move his fingers.

He pursed his lips, as if about to say something, when suddenly someone ran toward him. As soon as Yun Zhuoran heard the voice, the heart demon swiftly returned to his side, once again posing as a silent shadow.

“Don’t be afraid, brother. It’s Brother Peiran.”

It seemed only Yun Zhuoran could hear the heart demon’s voice, because Yun Peiran was already rushing over, stepping over the black-robed man’s corpse. Clearly, he hadn’t heard anything. He crouched down carefully.

“What happened? Are you badly hurt?”

Just when Yun Zhuoran had finally reconnected with his heart demon, he was interrupted by Yun Peiran. He couldn’t help frowning slightly, then bent down to pick up the moonstone from the ground.

“I’m fine…”

As Yun Zhuoran tried to stand, Yun Peiran grabbed his small shoulder, lifted him up, brushed off the dust from his clothes, and checked him over carefully. When he saw only a bloody wound on his middle finger, he finally relaxed and stood up with Yun Zhuoran in his arms.

“It’s good that you’re okay…”

Yun Peiran gave the black-robed corpse a suspicious look, then walked over and nudged his cloak with his foot. Under the glow of the moonstone in Yun Zhuoran’s hand, he saw a small wooden carving—a human figure—hanging from the man’s waist.

“A follower of the High Priest.”

With the moonstone’s light, the carving was clearly visible.

Yun Zhuoran silently searched for his shadow, then calmly met Yun Peiran’s gaze.

The patrolling team was close. Footsteps echoed faintly. Yun Peiran’s ears twitched slightly. Not wanting to delay, he turned and left with Yun Zhuoran in his arms.

By the time the patrol team discovered the black-robed man’s body, Yun Peiran had already returned to the small courtyard tucked in a corner of the City Lord’s Mansion, separated by a wall.

Just as Yun Zhuoran was set down, a blaze lit up behind the wall, bright as daylight. Yun Peiran looked up, his expression grave.

Yun Zhuoran rested for a moment; the pain in his chest had eased, and the sword wounds on his hands from Shen Lingshu no longer throbbed as sharply.

Seeing Yun Peiran standing still in silence, Yun Zhuoran stopped searching for his shadow and looked curiously at his back.

“Forget it.” Yun Peiran sighed and pushed open the door. “Come in. I’ll bandage you.”

Again with the bandaging.

Yun Zhuoran glanced at the thick gauze already wrapped around his hands, only his fingers exposed. Quietly, he hooked a finger toward the shadow on the floor, then slowly walked inside.

Tonight, Yun Peiran’s expression was especially serious. He silently unwrapped the dusty bandages from Yun Zhuoran’s hands—but his hands trembled slightly.

“…Much better.”

Prompted, Yun Zhuoran looked down. The wounds on his hands had indeed started to scab over.

Now that he could hear the heart demon’s voice again, his wounds were healing faster. And since the heart demon could speak again, it must have consumed the black-robed man’s shadow…

Yun Zhuoran soon confirmed this.

Yun Peiran thought the wound medicine from Yun Fushuang was finally working, and his expression softened. “What happened earlier? That man must have been one of the High Priest’s people. How did he die?”

Yun Peiran looked at Yun Zhuoran and said, “He died so suddenly. The High Priest will definitely investigate. If he traces it back to us…”

Yun Zhuoran understood. “You think I killed him? His death was very strange.”

Yun Peiran had seen the body. “He had no shadow. Blood came out from all seven orifices, and even his soul was scattered. Who could do that?”

Yun Zhuoran only said, “It can’t be traced to us.”

Yun Peiran looked into Yun Zhuoran’s clear eyes, then after a pause, lowered his head and applied the medicine. “I hope so.”

Once the bandaging was done, Yun Peiran helped him change clothes and put him to bed. He stayed by the bedside, making it difficult for Yun Zhuoran to speak freely with the heart demon. After quietly listening to the heart demon’s voice for a while, Yun Zhuoran soon fell asleep.

This body was extremely weak. After suffering fright and internal injuries that night, and now without spiritual energy to sustain him, Yun Zhuoran could barely endure it.

But Yun Peiran didn’t sleep at all. He stayed by his brother’s side all night, deeply unsettled.

The next morning, when he heard that the City Lord’s Mansion still hadn’t found the murderer of the High Priest’s subordinate—and were beginning to suspect that a powerful demonic cultivator had infiltrated from outside—he finally started to relax.

When Yun Zhuoran woke, Yun Peiran sent him to Yun Tianqing’s house early.

Thinking it was just another meal, Yun Zhuoran brought the moonstone and followed him out.

Unexpectedly, Yun Peiran was going out with Yun Tianqing and asked Yun Fushuang to watch over him instead.

Yun Fushuang was quiet. Maybe Yun Peiran had told her Yun Zhuoran didn’t talk, so she didn’t disturb him. She took a hoe and planted flowers in the courtyard. She casually explained that the seeds were brought by Yun Yan from the end of the street, and she was helping plant them to see if they would grow.

Hearing the name Yun Yan, Yun Zhuoran, still fixated on the shadow on the ground, slowly looked up.

“Udumbara?”

Yun Fushuang chuckled. “How does little Weiran know that? Did your brother tell you?”

Yun Zhuoran quietly shook his head, neither admitting nor denying. It seemed even Tongye had appeared in this illusion already.

It wasn’t until nightfall that Yun Peiran and Yun Tianqing returned, both looking unusually grim.

Yun Zhuoran guessed they must have heard something from outside.

After dinner, on their way back, Yun Peiran suddenly asked, “Brother, do you want to leave Yun City?”

Both Yun Zhuoran and the heart demon froze. He looked at Yun Peiran, puzzled.

Yun Peiran sighed. “I traced the blood sample from last night—it was taken to the High Priest. The children sent to the City Lord’s Mansion were also taken to him, but none of them ever came back. I’m afraid they’re in danger.”

Yun Peiran’s handsome face looked tired. “Today, Yun Duo came to see me. She said the High Priest wants to kill everyone in Yun City.”

Yun Zhuoran’s brows furrowed sharply. It felt like the moment had finally arrived—as if he’d waited so long for this turning point.

Yun Peiran looked conflicted. “She told us to find a chance to escape, but if we leave, so many people here might not survive. If we stay, we might die too. Should we go or not?”

Yun Zhuoran didn’t respond immediately.

He didn’t know if this question was the key to escaping this place—and for a moment, he couldn’t decide.