When the Cannon Fodder Male Supporting Role Picks Up the Script - Chapter 136

The jealous heart demon lets out a muffled snort when Li Jianming walks over and turns his head away, refusing to look at him.

Li Jianming touches his forehead with a confused look and glances at Yun Zhuoran. “Did I offend the little island master?”

Yun Zhuoran shakes his head without speaking. How could he possibly tell Li Jianming that his heart demon is just jealous?

Now, Li Jianming begins to wonder if he has unknowingly offended all three of them. He asks cautiously, “Can I sit down?”

Yun Zhuoran says, “Up to you.”

Seeing this, Li Jianming secretly breathes a sigh of relief—at least he hasn’t offended Yun Zhuoran. He steadies himself on the chair and sits down, only to notice that the heart demon’s eyes keep darting toward the sachet in his hand. Instinctively, he wants to tuck it away, but then, deliberately open and forthright, he spreads his hand and shows it to them. “See? This is a gift from my junior martial sister. Jealous, aren’t you?”

The heart demon’s face is full of disdain. “Bragging.”

Li Jianming laughs, “How can you say that? This really is a gift from my junior sister.”

Yun Zhuoran can’t bear to watch any longer and kindly reminds him, “We all saw it.”

Li Jianming’s smile freezes. He rubs his nose, sets the sachet on the table, and says half-truthfully, “Fine, then. My junior martial sister gave this to you. She said she saw you in the Ten Thousand Beasts Forest and thought you had it rough. Now that the truth about Sect Master Gu’s fall has come to light and you’ve returned to the Sword Sect, she just wants to get to know you.”

From Li Jianming’s words, it seems that this junior martial sister of his, Rong, has no romantic interest in Yun Zhuoran.

The heart demon doesn’t believe it. “In storybooks, when a woman gives a man a sachet, it’s a sign that the man is in her heart.”

“Have you ever read that kind of storybook?” Li Jianming is immediately glared at by the heart demon and can’t laugh anymore. He has to tell the truth. “Junior Sister Rong does have that idea. Male and female disciples in our Sword Sect who like each other usually exchange sword tassels to show their feelings. Junior Sister Rong might be afraid you don’t understand the custom, so she gave you the sachet. But don’t worry, Junior Sister Rong knows Yun Zhuoran has someone in his heart, so she won’t bother him anymore. I’ll return the sachet to her later.”

After hearing Li Jianming’s explanation, the heart demon is finally satisfied and stops worrying.

Yun Zhuoran, the center of the conversation, sits calmly and makes no comment. After Li Jianming finishes speaking, he asks, “Wen Jianxian hasn’t come back yet?”

Li Jianming smiles. “How do you know?”

“You’ve been talking too much nonsense.”

Li Jianming’s eyes dim. “…Master and Senior Brother haven’t returned yet. I just send my foster father down the mountain and come to see you on the way.”

The heart demon looks outside at the sky—it is indeed getting late. He tugs at Yun Zhuoran’s sleeve and asks Li Jianming, “Then do you have any other business?”

Li Jianming shakes his head, but adds, “Why do I get the feeling that what you really mean is you want me gone?”

The heart demon doesn’t deny it. He hugs Yun Zhuoran’s arm and says, “My brother and I are going out later.”

Li Jianming wears a dejected expression, “I know.” He grabs the sachet and stands up. “Alright, I’ve greeted everyone. You can come and go through the mountain gate as you like. We won’t disturb you. I’ll go return the sachet if that’s okay.” Then he glares resentfully at Yun Zhuoran, “I’m so good to my junior sisters, why don’t they give me a sachet? Not even a sword tassel.”

Yun Zhuoran thinks for a moment, “Or you could try asking your junior brothers for a sword tassel.”

Li Jianming’s lips twitch, but he can’t find words to answer. Finally, he just waves his hand in resignation, clutching the sachet as he leaves the small building. He trudges slowly toward Lingxue Peak under the falling snow.

Who would’ve thought that quiet, reticent Yun Zhuoran is actually the most skilled at getting under people’s skin? Li Jianming sighs inwardly at his poor taste in friends.

He walks slowly to Lingxue Peak on the snowy night. As he reaches the foot of the mountain, he runs into a familiar figure.

“Senior Sister Su!”

The tall, slender female cultivator with a high ponytail turns at the voice. She stands still holding a long sword, waiting for Li Jianming to approach. Her heroic brows are serious. “It’s snowing heavily. Why are you running around?”

Li Jianming laughs and flicks off the falling snow from his body. With a smile, he asks, “I have something to do with Junior Sister Rong. Senior Sister Su just came down from Lingxue Peak. Have you seen Junior Sister Rong?”

Su Pengpeng frowns slightly. “Junior Sister Rong has been staying indoors since she went back. I hear she’s in a bad mood.” She asks Li Jianming, “Why are you looking for her so anxiously? Did you offend Junior Sister?”

Li Jianming wears a wronged expression and quickly waves his hands. “No, no! I just came to return something!” He holds out the sachet, then hurriedly adds, “It wasn’t given to me! Just pretend Junior Sister Rong dropped it by accident. I’m only here to give it back.”

“What do you mean by ‘pretend she dropped it’?” Su Pengpeng seizes on those words, her gaze turning critical. “Do you realize how few female disciples we have in the sect? There are already so few women willing to devote themselves to sword cultivation, and even fewer who can pass the entrance exams. You men are always complaining about not finding a Dao companion, but you don’t treat my junior sister well. Don’t you deserve it?”

Li Jianming is scolded into shame, pinches his hot earlobe, bows his head, and says, “Yes. I know I’m wrong. Please help me return the sachet, and I’ll definitely treat my junior sister twice as well in the future.”

Even as he admits fault, he is groaning inwardly. His junior sister actually has eyes only for Yun Zhuoran, and the sachet is meant for Yun Zhuoran too. He is just suffering for someone else’s sake again. He really has paid too heavy a price for Yun Zhuoran and his junior sister.

After Li Jianming admits his mistake, Su Pengpeng can’t help laughing. “I’m just joking with you. I’ll find out what happens when Junior Sister Rong comes back.” She takes the sachet and sighs, “It’s just that the flowers have feelings but the water is ruthless—that’s the most common thing in the world. Junior brother, don’t worry. Junior Sister Rong won’t mind too much. If you don’t want the sachet, I’ll return it for you.”

Li Jianming feels pardoned and doesn’t forget to reiterate, “This sachet really isn’t for me.”

Su Pengpeng smiles again, pats his shoulder, and says, “Don’t be sad. Someone will prepare a sachet or sword tassel for you in the future.”

This makes Li Jianming feel a little comforted. “Thank you, senior sister. I’ll go first.”

“Wait!” When Su Pengpeng stops pretending to be serious, her beautiful and heroic face becomes lively. But when Li Jianming turns around, she shyly looks away and her voice softens, “Little junior brother, do you know when your senior brother will come back? Recently, I’ve been feeling uneasy, afraid something will happen to him outside.”

Li Jianming sees Su Pengpeng gently pinching the azure sword tassel on her shoulder and suddenly realizes. He teases, “Senior sister misses senior brother.”

Su Pengpeng glances at him. “Just tell me when my senior brother and the sect leader will come back.”

Li Jianming says, “It should be soon.”

Su Pengpeng’s eyebrows furrow with a little sadness. “Where did senior brother and the sect leader go?”

Li Jianming blinks and looks away. “I don’t know either, but the master said he would return soon. The eldest brother should have come back in the past few days.”

Su Pengpeng looks suspicious. “You really don’t know?”

Li Jianming shakes his head quickly, turns to look at the white snow at the foot of the mountain, and runs off, leaving only one sentence behind, “I have to go find a few guests in Penglai again. Senior sister, I’ll go first!”

“Junior brother!” Su Pengpeng chases after him for two steps, but sees him running fast and disappearing in a blink. She doesn’t chase any further, only holds the sword spike and sighs softly.

What the heart demon says about going out is indeed true, not just an excuse to drive others away.

After Li Jianming leaves, Yun Zhuoran and the heart demon prepare to go down the mountain to find food. In fact, the heart demon has long since finished off his demon cores and lately has been feeding on spirit stones, absorbing their spiritual energy to fill his belly.

No wonder Lu Yu finds him strange—his body contains both spiritual energy and demonic energy at the same time, and he can even turn both types of energy into tangible substance.

To the heart demon, spiritual energy is bland. Though it gives a sense of fullness, it is far inferior to the taste and satisfaction of demon cores or fiendish beings.

Since waiting idly in Kunwu Sword Sect is dull anyway, Yun Zhuoran has already promised him they will go out for fresh food. What Yun Zhuoran doesn’t expect is that Lu Yu joins them at the last moment.

On the way down the mountain, the heart demon wears a gloomy expression, clearly not welcoming Lu Yu.

But the more unhappy he is, the more interested Lu Yu seems, lingering around them even more.

Yun Zhuoran often feels uncomfortable whenever the heart demon interacts with Lu Yu because of Lu Yu’s strange gaze. So when Lu Yu is around, Yun Zhuoran avoids intimate behavior with the heart demon.

This is precisely what frustrates the heart demon most.

The three of them go down the mountain through the main gate of the Sword Sect. The gatekeepers see them but don’t inform Ji Ruo or Yun Shaowei. They think the two are still resting in their rooms and nothing will happen—yet trouble still arises.

Yun Shaowei seems to have gained some insight when he visits the top of the mountain where the sword immortal passed their tribulation entering the Ascension period. After returning to his room, he closes his eyes and meditates.

Ji Ruo dares not disturb him and returns to his own room.

At midnight, while Ji Ruo is meditating out of boredom, he hears faint noises downstairs. Thinking it is Yun Zhuoran and the others, he pays no mind at first. But after a while, the sound of a heavy object falling echoes up, making it impossible for him to calm down. Irritated, he storms out and looks downstairs, only to see the front door ajar, with a dark shadow scrambling up outside. One glance at that figure tells him something is wrong.

“Who’s there?”

When Ji Ruo speaks, the shadow suddenly stops and then quickly slips out through the crack in the door.

Ji Ruo immediately knows this is not one of their own. He jumps down the stairs to the hall without hesitation and sees the exquisite ornaments Lu Yu has placed around the hall forming a prototype of a formation. The man in black must have activated this inconspicuous formation when breaking in.

Ji Ruo glances quickly and rushes to the door. When he pushes it open, he sees a series of footprints in the white snow outside, with a little bright red blood on the ground. He is shocked.

“The senior Lu Yun Zhuoran found is really good. A few random magic tools can be arranged into such a powerful formation…”

Since this thief dares to break in, the bored Demon Palace Young Master has no intention of letting him go.

Ji Ruo curls his lips and chases the footprints, which are about to be buried by wind and snow, out the door. He plans to catch this troublesome thief in the middle of the night and throw him in front of the annoying Li Jianming, then taunt them both.

It is snowing heavily late at night in Kunwu Sword Sect, and only a vast expanse of white fills the dark. Ji Ruo comes to Kunwu Sword Sect for the first time and doesn’t know the way. Before long, he realizes he has forgotten his route back. The footprints behind him are buried by wind and snow. He can only follow the remaining footprints ahead and keep walking.

After about a quarter of an hour, the footprints ahead and behind disappear. Ji Ruo stands alone in front of a forest, looking around blankly. He has lost the trail.

“What the hell is this place…”

Ahead is only a forest of bare branches. Ji Ruo notices a snow pile nearby and, looking closer, sees the tip of a stone tablet. As he steps forward to brush away the snow for a better look, he suddenly hears hurried footsteps behind him.

Ji Ruo immediately feels joy—someone is coming!

He looks back and sees more than a dozen sword sect disciples rushing toward him. They wear blue clothes and carry swords. But before he can wave, they run straight at him, draw their swords, and surround him.

Ji Ruo is confused by their strange behavior. “You…”

“You are trespassing in the forbidden area. Your behavior is suspicious!” a sword sect disciple shouts coldly, pointing a sword at Ji Ruo. “Seize this man!”

By dawn, the snowstorm subsides.

Yun Zhuoran and Weiran walk slowly toward the mountain gate of Kunwu Sword Sect, talking quietly. Lu Yu falls far behind, unnoticed.

“Brother is unhappy?”

Yun Zhuoran’s expression remains calm. “No.”

The Heart Demon blinks. “Yes, you are. Last night, when Lu Yu said you were carrying the Taiyin True Fire, which makes all demons afraid to come near, Brother became unhappy.”

Yun Zhuoran is stunned.

Indeed, last night’s hunt with the Heart Demon doesn’t go smoothly. At a place heavy with yin energy, he finds he still cannot properly control the Taiyin True Fire. Since ghostly entities fear it most, they all scatter before he can even approach.

After Lu Yu points it out, Yun Zhuoran has no choice but to stop following.

While Yun Zhuoran meditates on the spot, the Heart Demon chases after the fleeing evil spirits, with Lu Yu following behind.

This makes Yun Zhuoran a little unhappy.

But he has no choice. The Taiyin True Fire’s lethality is so strong that he cannot fully control it, and some of its energy leaks out. Following the Heart Demon would only make it difficult for him to find food.

If they were dealing with beasts or fiends not sensitive to the Taiyin True Fire, then it wouldn’t matter. Yun Zhuoran feels a bit unhappy about that and decides to ask about places with more monsters next time.

Yun Zhuoran says, “Not very unhappy.”

“So you were a little unhappy,” the Heart Demon catches the flaw in his wording, then decisively says, “Then I won’t eat those things anymore.”

Yun Zhuoran raises an eyebrow. “What will you do if you’re hungry?”

“Spirit stones.” The Heart Demon pauses, then explains, “Last night, Lu Yu taught me how to absorb spiritual energy without swallowing spirit stones. I’ll try to fill my stomach that way.” After speaking, he notices Yun Zhuoran is silent again. He is stunned for a moment, then smiles with pursed lips. “Brother, are you jealous too?”

Yun Zhuoran thinks the Heart Demon might be able to practice martial arts, so maybe he can teach him some of Penglai’s Daoist arts. Caught off guard by the question, he is momentarily stunned.

Seeing that Yun Zhuoran doesn’t respond, the Heart Demon says more confidently, “I think you’re jealous. Lu Yu followed me all night, and you couldn’t follow.” He chuckles, grabs Yun Zhuoran’s hand tightly, and says, “Since you don’t like Lu Yu following me, then we won’t bring him along next time.”

Yun Zhuoran can’t help laughing. “Nonsense.”

That is a word Weiran learned just last night, and now it is being used on him.

The Heart Demon says with satisfaction, “Brother smiled.”

Yun Zhuoran subconsciously stops smiling but sees the Heart Demon staring at him eagerly.

The Heart Demon purses his lips. “Brother smiles beautifully. Can I kiss you often in the future?”

Yun Zhuoran doesn’t understand the connection between those words or why the Heart Demon suddenly brings this up. He glances at Lu Yu trailing far behind and whispers, “Let’s talk about this when no one is around.”

The Heart Demon’s face gradually flushes red, his eyes fixed on Yun Zhuoran’s lightly tinted lips.

“Every day, then?”

Yun Zhuoran purses his lips awkwardly. Seeing Lu Yu approaching quickly, he hurriedly lets go of the Heart Demon’s hand and nods perfunctorily, “Okay.”

The Heart Demon asks again, “Then now—”

At that moment, Lu Yu appears not far from Yun Zhuoran and comes into the Heart Demon’s sight.

The Heart Demon frowns immediately. “Why are you here?”

Lu Yu clicks his tongue and says in a faint tone, “I’ve been here all along, but you two were chatting so happily you completely ignored me.” He squints at the Heart Demon with contempt. “It’s just a kiss, and you’re so hesitant? That’s all you can do?”

The Heart Demon says, “None of your business.”

Lu Yu glances toward the mountain gate. “Just reminding you, there are people waiting out front.”

Yun Zhuoran clears his throat and looks up. Besides the gatekeepers, many Kunwu Sword Sect disciples gather at the gate. He recognizes Li Jianming immediately.

Li Jianming sees them and runs over with a sword in hand. “You’re finally back!”

Yun Zhuoran asks, “You were waiting for us?”

Li Jianming says anxiously, “Yes! Your nephew has been arrested. Come with me!”

Without waiting, Li Jianming turns and runs into the Sword Sect. Yun Zhuoran and the others have to follow.

On the way to the Law Enforcement Hall, Li Jianming tells them that Ji Ruo trespassed into the Sword Sect’s forbidden area last night and was caught by the night patrol disciples.

Yun Zhuoran realizes that the nephew Li Jianming mentions is Ji Ruo.

The three don’t look back but know well that the Sword Sect disciples who originally guarded the gate follow them. This means that in one night, they have gone from guests of Kunwu Sword Sect to companions of suspicious trespassers.

Their status plummets instantly.

Ji Ruo and Yun Shaowei are currently in the Law Enforcement Hall of Kunwu Sword Sect. Perhaps because Yun Zhuoran brought them, they are not locked up, but the Law Enforcement Elder’s face is clearly ugly, and his attitude is completely different from yesterday.

As soon as Yun Zhuoran enters, Ji Ruo, sitting opposite the Law Enforcement Elder with Yun Shaowei, stands up and shouts, “Why did you come back just now? It’s so cold here! Tell them quickly I didn’t trespass on purpose! I didn’t even know it was forbidden!”

The Demon Palace Young Master’s domineering attitude is unpleasant, but his words sound aggrieved.

Yun Zhuoran frowns slightly and follows Li Jianming to meet the Law Enforcement Elder.

The chief law enforcement officer of Kunwu Sword Sect, second only to Wen Jianxian, wears a stern expression but greets Yun Zhuoran with a smile. Then he says in a deep voice, “Young Island Master, when we went up the mountain yesterday, you never told me these two were the young masters of Demon Palace and Yun City.”

His words carry a trace of blame, and it is clear he harbors deep rejection toward Ji Ruo and Yun Shaowei.