When the Cannon Fodder Male Supporting Role Picks Up the Script - Chapter 128

The moonstone that rolls silently to the ground illuminates this dim corner.

Seeing that the high priest has stopped, Yun Zhuoran coughs softly and steps forward to pick it up. The shadow returns to his feet, seemingly unaffected by the backlash from devouring the wish-power attack. Even the voice of the heart demon, though full of worry, is steady and strong.

“Brother, be careful.”

Yun Zhuoran calmly pours a few pills into his palm in front of the High Priest and swallows them slowly.

“Yun Tianfeng’s berserk state—was that your doing?” the high priest raises an eyebrow. “He has already succumbed to inner demons and often loses his senses. On the contrary, little one, do you know your body is very weak? Are you sure you still want to fight me like this?”

“Perhaps Yun Tianfeng already had problems, and you merely fanned the flames. Now that your formation is nearly complete, your plan will destroy the entire Yun City—Yun Tianfeng included.” Yun Zhuoran takes a breath, his childish voice hoarse. “Yun Tianfeng is no longer of use to you, so after I seriously injured him, you decisively abandoned him.”

The high priest is a little surprised. “You even know about the formation? I suppose you also killed my men?”

Yun Zhuoran doesn’t deny it and asks again, “Is the formation designed for me?”

After hearing his questions in succession, the high priest looks at him with amazement. “A few months ago, I found out there wasn’t just Yun Peiran, who’s extremely talented in Yun City, but also his younger brother, who carries a rare treasure. The formation’s purpose is to force out the things inside your body and offer them to the gods. This is your honor. If it can be drawn out successfully, you might yet survive.”

Yun Zhuoran says, “I see.”

The high priest chuckles. “Alright, I’ve given you enough time to breathe. Little guy, you can’t beat me. Although I like you very much now—even more than I appreciate your brother—I must obey the will of the gods. Do you choose to surrender to me willingly, or fight me to the end?”

Yun Zhuoran admits he is stalling for time, and part of him wants to solve the puzzle. Hearing the high priest’s words, he lowers his eyes to look at the shadow, nods slightly, and raises one hand to reach into his sleeve pocket.

“Let’s continue.”

The high priest shakes his head, laughing. “You’re not still planning to defeat me with your talisman, are you?”

Yun Zhuoran says nothing and pulls out a talisman paper. With a loud bang, the paper turns into thunder and fire and strikes the high priest directly. But when the thunder and fire fall, the high priest’s figure vanishes.

Yun Zhuoran turns without surprise, grabs something with one hand, and faces the high priest who suddenly appears behind him.

The high priest assumes this talisman is another thunder and fire talisman, so he doesn’t dodge but reaches out to grab it. A layer of glaze light appears on his hand, as if wrapped in mysterious wish power. But after clearly seeing what Yun Zhuoran holds, his entire body pauses.

Seizing the moment, the lurking shadow darts forward and presses itself against the High Priest’s shadow.

The high priest’s shadow fades slightly, and he feels a tingling pain in his scalp. Then he reacts, moving away from Yun Zhuoran and his strange shadow with incredible speed.

The heart demon does not pursue the advantage but returns to Yun Zhuoran. It knows opportunities to distract the high priest are rare, and it is a pity it only absorbs a little soul and can’t swallow more.

Yun Zhuoran says with satisfaction, “Well done.”

The shadow trembles and grows excited again.

Only now does the High Priest truly understand the agony Yun Tianfeng has been enduring when he cursed so shamelessly earlier. Compared to Yun Tianfeng, his own soul suffers only superficial damage, but now there is still a dull pain in his sea of consciousness.

When he looks at Yun Zhuoran again, the smile disappears from his face, replaced by an extremely cold expression. “The statue in your hand… you’ve been in my secret room.”

Yun Zhuoran raises the wooden sculpture in his hand knowingly. “Are you talking about this?”

The high priest looks at him with deep dissatisfaction and warns sharply, “Little thing, this is not your toy. If you return it now, the gods will spare your life.”

“Are you angry?” Yun Zhuoran looks at the wooden sculpture in his hand—a barely discernible human figure—and a slight smile appears on his eyebrows. “If I don’t return it, will the high priest kill me?”

The high priest’s elegant and gentle appearance reveals a flaw as he says coldly, “I say it again, this is not something you can take.”

The angrier he becomes, the happier Yun Zhuoran grows.

“You carved these wood carvings yourself. I have to admire the high priest’s unmatched piety to the gods. Let me guess—the high priest must want to send these carvings directly to the gods, but the gods are too far away. So, is the high priest planning to burn them after carving?”

The high priest says coldly, “Give the statue back.”

Yun Zhuoran presses the statue to his chest. “If you want it, why don’t you come and grab it yourself?”

The high priest clenches his fists but doesn’t move. He just grits his teeth and stares at the wooden carving in Yun Zhuoran’s hand.

“If you won’t make a move, then I will.”

Under the High Priest’s furious stare, Yun Zhuoran grips the carving with one hand and slaps a talisman onto it. In that split-second of crackling light, the High Priest’s fists tighten then loosen, and in the end he can’t hold back—he reaches out to stop him.

“Wait!”

Yun Zhuoran doesn’t know what psychological process the high priest goes through in such a short time. The high priest’s face turns pale as he nervously stares at the wooden carving in his hand, a drop of sweat hanging on his forehead.

Yun Zhuoran’s eyes flash with a gleam of light.

The high priest finally takes his eyes off the wood carving and looks at Yun Zhuoran, but when their eyes meet, his gaze is extremely cold, completely lacking the previous warmth or liking for him—there is even a hint of resentment.

“I’ll let you go.” The high priest grits his teeth and says, “Give me back the statue.”

Yun Zhuoran can’t help but smile. “Do you keep your word?”

The High Priest’s expression grows darker. “Of course.”

Seeming afraid Yun Zhuoran will not believe him and might destroy the statue, the high priest turns and walks out first. “I’ll escort you out, but once you’re outside, you must return the statue.”

After saying that, the high priest glances coldly at Yun Zhuoran, signaling him to hurry up.

Perhaps because he has offended the High Priest, the man’s pace is brisk this time. He strides far ahead without the slightest intention of waiting for him.

Yun Zhuoran looks down at the heart demon, now in shadow form, then tucks the carving away and follows at an unhurried pace.

He guesses the high priest will never allow others to touch his wood carvings—he is obsessed with his gods. These carvings are not only for the gods but also represent his sincere efforts under their watchful eyes.

From the bamboo slips that the high priest offers to the gods, to the wood carvings carved for them, the high priest’s dedication to the gods is obvious.

Yun Zhuoran and Weiran can’t understand this obsession but know it might be the high priest’s only weakness.

Seeing that the high priest really backs down, Yun Zhuoran finally feels at ease.

He has won the bet again.

When Yun Zhuoran walks slowly to the front yard, the high priest is already waiting by the door with a cold expression. The moment he sees Yun Zhuoran, his gaze drops to the wood carving in his hand, and he frowns.

“Leave the statue to me, and you can go.”

Yun Zhuoran glances outside the door.

It is just past five o’clock. The sky is still dim, but the fire in the city lord’s mansion still burns bright.

He looks back at the high priest and, for the first time, shows a soft, sweet smile unlike his usual expression. Then he hands over the wood carving.

Just as he reaches the threshold, the high priest suddenly makes a move!

Yun Zhuoran is caught off guard. A white shadow flashes past him, snatching the wood carving away, and his thin body staggers.

The high priest takes back the wood carving, turns, and blocks the door. He holds the carving carefully, inspecting it multiple times to make sure it is unharmed. Only then does he turn his attention to Yun Zhuoran.

Yun Zhuoran steadies himself and looks up to meet the high priest’s cold, knife-like eyes.

The high priest carefully places the wood carving into a storage magic tool, then fixes his gaze on the moonstone in Yun Zhuoran’s hand, which emits a faint but bright spiritual light.

“Your shadow is powerful, but if you had no shadow, who would you ask for help?”

As his voice falls, the sky suddenly changes. Dark clouds rapidly cover the faint light above.

The fire in the city lord’s mansion abruptly goes out.

Yun Zhuoran looks up in amazement. Although he knows the high priest’s strength might rival Yun Peiran at his peak, he is still shocked to see the high priest blot out the sky with his own power.

The moonstone becomes the only light in the darkness.

Realizing this, Yun Zhuoran takes a small step back, shielding the moonstone.

The high priest notices this clearly and smiles with satisfaction.

“I told you, you can’t escape from my palm. Little guy, don’t think you can threaten me with a statue. By doing this, you’ve only offended our god. And our god wants you dead.”

It is obvious the one who truly wants him dead is the high priest.

Yun Zhuoran stops retreating and looks up calmly at the high priest. As the other approaches, Yun Zhuoran quietly takes a wooden sculpture from his sleeve.

The high priest’s feet freeze. Shock and anger widen his eyes.

“You!”

Yun Zhuoran admits, “I took all the boxes.”

The high priest’s breathing quickens. After a few deep breaths, he slowly calms down. His angry eyes stare coldly down at the daring child before him, then he suddenly raises his hand and waves.

“Then I’ll see how much you can hide on your body!”

A white shadow instantly appears before him. Yun Zhuoran braces himself, holding the moonstone in his arms and the wooden sculpture ready to meet the high priest’s willpower attack.

The high priest pauses briefly before turning to strike at other parts of Yun Zhuoran’s body. Yun Zhuoran takes the chance to swipe back, while the shadow at his feet rushes toward the high priest.

At that moment, as the entire City Lord’s Mansion lies in darkness, Yun Peiran, Yun Tianqing, Yun Fushuang, and others are still with Yun Tianfeng.

Yun Tianfeng has completely gone berserk, and no one in the mansion can stop him now.

Yun Peiran doesn’t want to fight his brother to the death—he just wants to save as many people as possible. But after hearing Yun Tianqing say his brother is with the high priest, he stops caring about anything else and turns to run.

When he arrives at the high priest’s courtyard, Yun Zhuoran and the high priest have already been fighting for some time.

With the help of the shadow and the solid protective barrier of the artifact-level magic weapon Lingxi, the high priest finds it difficult to catch Yun Zhuoran. Yun Zhuoran also holds a wooden statue that makes him hesitant to act rashly.

The two are in a stalemate, and the high priest’s anger grows. He has reached his limit and no longer cares about anything else.

As Yun Peiran steps into the courtyard, the first thing he sees is the high priest waving his hand to knock down a small figure on the bridge. Even though the child in white has a spherical sky-blue barrier light up in time to protect him, he is still blown away by the air wave and is about to fall into the lotus pond.

Without hesitation, Yun Peiran flies forward.

After catching the child steadily, Yun Peiran habitually carries him on his shoulders and turns to run.

Yun Zhuoran thinks he is about to fall into the pool, but instead he is lifted up by someone. Seeing the black cloth, he feels a deep familiarity in his bones and immediately knows it is Yun Peiran. Still, lying on his stomach like this is uncomfortable, so he reaches out and pats Yun Peiran on the back.

Yun Peiran scolds in a low voice, “Stop it!”

Yun Zhuoran only wants him to put him down. When he looks up, he no longer sees the high priest, but his shadow hasn’t caught up yet. Seeing the shadow still far behind, Yun Zhuoran waves to it.

Yun Peiran seems to have a special talent for running. He reaches the yard gate in the blink of an eye.

Yun Zhuoran is almost thrown off his shoulders.

Fortunately, the shadow catches up quickly and climbs onto Yun Peiran’s back along his finger.

But just as they are about to leave the high priest’s residence, Yun Peiran suddenly veers away from the door, and a dazzling light flashes in front of it.

The ground shakes violently, and the gate collapses!

The high priest slowly descends from above, blocking Yun Peiran with fury.

Yun Peiran has no choice but to put Yun Zhuoran down, speaking in a low, hoarse tone filled with both admiration and anger. “I’ve never seen the high priest this angry. You’re really something.”

After Yun Zhuoran stands firm, he asks, “Where’s Yun Tianfeng?”

Yun Peiran snorts and ignores him, then steps forward to block Yun Zhuoran and says to the high priest, “Why be so harsh on a child? He’s still young and ignorant. If he upset you, you can ask me to handle it.”

“You can’t make the decisions here,” the high priest replies coldly.

Yun Peiran glances at Yun Zhuoran. “How did he offend the high priest?”

The high priest sneers, says nothing, and flashes toward Yun Zhuoran.

Yun Peiran is shocked. The high priest is so angry he doesn’t even give him face.

Without hesitation, Yun Peiran spreads his arms to block the high priest. “Then I won’t waste words. If you want to touch my brother, step over my body first!”

The high priest, furious over the statue being defiled, spares Yun Peiran no respect. He raises his hand and slaps out. Fortunately, Yun Peiran reacts in time, dodges with mysterious, powerful skill, and summons a spiritual sword with a flick of his wrist to counterattack.

Yun Zhuoran stares at Yun Peiran’s not-so-tall back. After a moment, he quickly pastes a talisman onto the wooden sculpture in his hand. The spiritual talisman on his fingertips glows briefly and hides beneath the wood.

Then he throws the wooden sculpture out. “Yun Peiran! Catch it!”

Yun Peiran is busy fighting. As a foundation-level cultivator, he can’t afford distraction and doesn’t even glance back. But the high priest is very capable. Seeing Yun Zhuoran lose the wood carving, he shows a trace of joy, waves Yun Peiran away, and flies toward the sculpture.

Yun Peiran is knocked down by a seemingly light palm but almost falls hard.

The high priest grabs the wood carving, turns to look at Yun Zhuoran—perhaps to gloat—but sees Yun Zhuoran’s face is calm, even smiling. His expression freezes, and suddenly a faint rustling sound comes. White vines emerge from the wood carving, quickly wrapping tightly around the high priest’s hands.

Yun Peiran is also surprised. Just as he is about to turn, Yun Zhuoran runs to him with a shadow, jumps up, and grabs his hand.