When the Cannon Fodder Male Supporting Role Picks Up the Script - Chapter 143

Li Jianming said, “But only we arrived at the Wu Clan. All the other Wu Clan members…”

Not counting the Wu Clan member who died under Yun Zhuoran’s sword with his last breath and sent them away, the other four had forcibly released their Nascent Souls to self-destruct. They likely wouldn’t survive either. 

Li Jianming was puzzled. He could understand them wanting to take him to the Wu Clan—they probably intended to use him to threaten his master. But they went to such lengths to bring him here, only to all die themselves…

“And they even brought you here.” Li Jianming spread his hands. “Didn’t they die for nothing?”

Yun Zhuoran remained silent. With his strength, taking Li Jianming back would be no problem.

“But maybe the Wu Clan already sent people to guard this place and were waiting for me to be brought over.” Li Jianming wasn’t completely thoughtless about his own safety. He rubbed his nose and changed his mind. “Should we go back now?”

The Wu Clan’s territory was indeed as rumored—its spiritual energy was extremely thin, and it was too far from Jialan City. Yun Zhuoran would have difficulty sending a message to Lu Yu, and Lu Yu would have difficulty locating him. The distance also weakened Yun Zhuoran’s connection with his heart demon. 

Even without Li Jianming’s urging, Yun Zhuoran had already decided to leave first.

“Let’s go—”

Li Jianming knew Yun Zhuoran would think of a way to leave; Yun Zhuoran’s current strength gave him plenty of confidence. 

But Yun Zhuoran suddenly stopped speaking and looked behind them with alert eyes. He indeed saw a figure hiding in the darkness on the riverbank not far away. 

He was startled. “…A Wu Clan member?” 

Li Jianming’s voice startled the person. A flurry of movement followed, and the person turned and ran. 

Yun Zhuoran gave Li Jianming a quiet glance.

Li Jianming, embarrassed, covered his mouth, spun around, and chased after the person, urgently whispering, “Hurry and catch him! Don’t let him run back to get reinforcements!”

Yun Zhuoran didn’t rebuke him. With a single flash, he teleported a zhang ahead—much faster than Li Jianming. 

Li Jianming felt a gust of wind brush past his ear, then saw Yun Zhuoran’s white-clad figure appear far ahead. 

He grabbed his sword and ran after him, shouting, “Hey! Wait for me!”

—

Lu Yu had finally dealt with the aftermath caused by the four Wu Clan members who sacrificed their lives. The sinister aura around Changchun Pavilion faded, and the sky turned completely dark. 

Just as he was about to rest, a sharp streak of sword light appeared overhead. 

Yun Shaowei, who had thought everything was resolved and was walking toward the pavilion, immediately pulled Ji Ruo back and shouted, “Senior Lu, be careful!”

Lu Yu raised his hand, but upon seeing the white-clad figure landing beside him, he lowered it again.

“Wen Jiuchuan.”

The newcomers were Wen Jianxian and his eldest disciple, Pei Heng—not Wu Clan reinforcements. 

Yun Shaowei let out a breath and led Ji Ruo over. Just in time, he heard Wen Jianxian point at the several unnaturally aged corpses nearby and ask, “Wu Clan?”

“Yes.” Lu Yu replied casually. He took out his compass-like artifact, formed hand seals to gather spiritual power, and said leisurely, “Your disciple fell into a teleportation array. You’re too late.”

Upon hearing this, Pei Heng—whose cultivation was shallow—exclaimed, “Junior Brother is in danger?”

Even Wen Jianxian’s expression tightened upon hearing that his disciple was in trouble. But seeing Lu Yu close his eyes and focus on his artifact, his gaze shifted, and he motioned for Pei Heng not to interrupt. 

Yun Shaowei and Ji Ruo also arrived but did not dare approach due to the difference in cultivation.

A short while later, Lu Yu opened his eyes, looking puzzled, and put away his artifact. Everyone stared at him expectantly.

“He’s not in Jialan City.”

Yun Shaowei asked anxiously, “Then where is Ninth Uncle?” 

Earlier, Yun Zhuoran had pushed them aside, and in the chaos, they didn’t see clearly. They only knew Yun Zhuoran and Li Jianming had vanished in an instant. The little island master had also appeared briefly and left just as quickly, making them think something had happened. How could Yun Shaowei not be anxious?

“The Wu Clan,” Wen Jianxian said firmly. “The Wu Clan came to capture my disciple to threaten me. If he’s not in Jialan City, he was either sent to the Wu Clan or is being moved toward their territory.”

“That makes sense,” Lu Yu said. He had been annoyed, but now understood. “Then I’ll go to the Wu Clan first and bring him back.” He turned to Wen Jianxian and asked, “Why are you here? Did you find Master Xu of Changchun Pavilion in your Kunwu Sword Sect?”

Lu Yu mainly wanted to verify whether his earlier calculations were correct. Whether Master Xu was still on the mountain wasn’t important. Why Wen Jianxian appeared here wasn’t surprising either.

But before he could finish, Wen Jianxian and Pei Heng both fell silent. 

Lu Yu raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t find him? That doesn’t make sense. My artifact worked fine last time.”

“The Wu Clan child was taken away.”

Hearing this, Lu Yu became interested. He looked at Wen Jianxian and said, “Oh? Taken right under your nose, and you didn’t stop him?”

Pei Heng looked ashamed and quickly explained, “Master is in seclusion recovering. The Wu Clan child was guarded by me and the elders. We set up an array and watched closely. We didn’t expect he would still be taken away secretly. The person must be very familiar with the Sword Sect to act without alarming anyone… Master reacted first, but that person escaped too fast…” His face paled slightly as he continued, “This person is probably from the Sword Sect.”

Lu Yu asked, “You think it was Su Pengpeng?”

Pei Heng’s guilt deepened, and he was about to kneel. “Master, I didn’t guard him properly—”

Wen Jianxian quickly used a burst of spiritual energy to stop him. His expression grew solemn, and he said quietly, “It wasn’t Su Pengpeng. It was Xu Zhichun.”

“What?” Everyone exclaimed at once.

“That Xu Zhichun is also from the Wu Clan? His capture was fake—pretending to disappear to create confusion, then rescuing the Wu Clan child in the chaos?” Ji Ruo blurted out, shocked.

This time, Yun Shaowei didn’t stop Ji Ruo. He was thinking the same thing.

Pei Heng was also stunned. “How could it be Master Xu? He’s Junior Brother’s adoptive father…” He wasn’t doubting Wen Jianxian—he was simply overwhelmed. Setting aside Changchun Pavilion’s longstanding alliance with the Sword Sect, just Xu Zhichun’s care for Li Jianming made it unthinkable that he would collude with the Wu Clan to kidnap his own adopted son. “When Master chased after them, did you confirm it was Master Xu?”

“It was indeed him.”

Wen Jianxian’s gaze deepened. He had noticed the Wu Clan child missing from the sleeping quarters, left seclusion immediately, and chased after the kidnapper. The person had worn a black robe to conceal their face, but Pei Heng could not mistake those unusually clear eyes. In an instant, the person escaped.

By the time Pei Heng and the others arrived, the person had already used a teleportation talisman to leave with the others.

Wen Jianxian’s tone was still calm. “When I heard Master Xu had disappeared, I sensed something was wrong and rushed here. But I was still a step too late.”

Lu Yu nodded. “If you’re that sure, then it must be him. So my calculations were right—he really was still on the mountain. But now that he’s been found out, he likely won’t return to Jialan City. He worked so hard to rescue that Wu Clan child; he’s probably from the Wu Clan. As for the one who kidnapped your disciple, I don’t know whether he’s an accomplice. Do you think he’ll harm your disciple?”

Wen Jianxian couldn’t answer. Just as he hadn’t expected Xu Zhichun to rescue the Wu Clan child, he couldn’t be certain what Xu Zhichun would do to his adopted son. His emotions interfered—his disciple had been kidnapped.

Lu Yu waited for an answer, didn’t receive one, and decided not to wait anymore. “I’m going to the Wu Clan. I have to bring Yun Zhuoran back. Otherwise, how will I face the Penglai Immortal who entrusted him to me?”

“I’ll go too!” Yun Shaowei said immediately.

Ji Ruo looked reluctant but said, “Then I’ll go help my cousin too.”

Lu Yu smiled and said, “I never said I was taking you. Whether it’s Yun Zhuoran or the little island master—who might not even be able to catch up to him—they’re both very strong. I’m not worried at all about the Wu Clan hurting them. I’m only worried they’ll go after the Fengtian Divine Palace behind my back. How could I, who came to assist, let that happen?”

“Isn’t this just a roundabout way of saying we’re too weak?” Yun Shaowei realized, feeling both disappointed and ashamed.

Ji Ruo blushed with anger. “Fine, I won’t go then!”

Lu Yu let out a short laugh, ignored the two children, and waved his hand. “Let’s go.”

“Senior Lu, please wait.”  This time it was Wen Jianxian. 

Lu Yu gave him enough face to stop and look at him in question. 

He thought Wen Jianxian meant to stop him—after all, the Sword Sect already had plans regarding the Wu Clan. 

Unexpectedly, Wen Jianxian said, “I just returned from the Wu Clan and know a hidden route to Wu City. If Senior Lu doesn’t mind, I’d like to go with you to rescue Ming’er.”

Lu Yu curved his lips in a faint smile, thought for a moment, and said, “I’m looking for Yun Zhuoran, you’re rescuing your disciple—no conflict. Since you know the way, follow us.”

While they were discussing when to infiltrate Wu City, none of them expected that Yun Zhuoran and Li Jianming had not been sent there at all. Perhaps the Wu Clan members were pressed for time and failed to perfect the formation. Yun Zhuoran and Li Jianming were only teleported to the banks of the Black Moon River, and by now they had already caught up with the figure they saw earlier.

Li Jianming was slower, and by the time he found Yun Zhuoran, the man was standing on the riverbank. Behind him boiled the pitch-black riverwater, and faint dark-green miasma drifted in the dimness. Against such a sinister backdrop, his snow-white robes seemed completely out of place. 

Li Jianming was long used to his appearance and didn’t waste time marveling at his ethereal beauty. His gaze quickly shifted to the hemp-clad boy lying on the ground, groaning in pain.

“Who’s this?” Li Jianming approached cautiously. 

In the dim light, he could barely make out a tall, thin boy of about fifteen or sixteen, dark-skinned, wearing a dark-blue coarse-hemp short outfit with a round collar and knotted buttons, his head full of small braids. His appearance clearly marked him as Wu Clan.

“There are no ambushes nearby.” Yun Zhuoran released his divine sense to check the surrounding ten miles, then glanced at the boy rolling on the ground. “This place is still far from Wu City. It’s strange he’s here.”

The boy sat up at once, clutching his elbow and gasping. “It’s strange you two are here in the middle of the night, outsiders!”

“Oh? You even speak better than the other Wu Clan members—no strange accent.” Knowing there were no ambushes, Li Jianming relaxed. After giving a casual compliment, he pointed at the boy. “Did you hit him?”

Otherwise, why would he be lying on the ground crying in pain?

Yun Zhuoran said, “He fell on his own.”

The Wu Clan youth also seemed ashamed that he’d fallen before anyone touched him. He endured the pain in his elbows and knees, brushed off his clothes, and sprang to his feet, eyeing the two warily. “Hey, outsiders, where are you from? Let me tell you, Wu City doesn’t welcome outsiders. Leave now, or if the people of Fengtian Divine Palace find out, you’re done for.”

“Sounds like you’re from Wu City.” Li Jianming suddenly leaned in, startling the boy into jumping backward. He laughed. “Other Wu Clan people all try to kill us, but you’re amusing—you’re actually warning us to leave. Hey, what do they call you? Are you also a believer of the Fengtian Divine Palace?”

Yun Zhuoran stood quietly while Li Jianming chatted. With Yun Zhuoran there, Li Jianming naturally felt at ease. 

Yun Zhuoran hadn’t attacked for two reasons: first, the youth showed no hostility; second, the boy was far too weak—likely still in the Body Tempering stage, not yet able to draw in Qi.

In the Wu Clan, where spiritual energy was scarce and every child was born cursed, constantly tormented by pain, those who survived long enough to successfully draw in Qi were exceedingly rare.

Yet just to capture Li Jianming, these Wu Clan people had crippled five Nascent Soul cultivators without hesitation—proof of how ruthless they were, toward others and toward themselves.

At Li Jianming’s words, the youth wrinkled his nose with disdain. “You two aren’t believers of the Fengtian Divine Palace, are you? Did you come to Wu City to look for them?”

Li Jianming played along. “Yes, so we’re family.”

“Bah! Who’s family with you!” The youth retreated and scoffed. “I don’t believe in any Fengtian Divine Palace. We Wu Clan people are descendants of the Witch God. If we believe anything, we believe in the Witch God!”

A Wu Clan member who didn’t believe in Fengtian Divine Palace?

Li Jianming exchanged a meaningful look with Yun Zhuoran. 

Yun Zhuoran said nothing, but he too was surprised. 

Li Jianming thought for a moment and asked with a smile, “But I heard the Wu Clan is closely tied to the Fengtian Divine Palace, their most devout believers. Otherwise, why would the Palace be built in Wu City?”

“Those are other Wu Clan people.” The youth proudly pressed a fist to his chest and looked up. “I am a descendant of the Witch God. I only worship the Witch God. Those foolish Wu Clan people really think the Palace can break the curse? I don’t believe it. Even the Great Wuzhu couldn’t do it—how could the Palace’s so-called Holy Maiden?”

Hearing the reverence in his tone when he mentioned the Great Wuzhu, Yun Zhuoran said, “If the Great Wuzhu can’t break the curse, it’s because he’s incompetent. Otherwise he wouldn’t have gone begging the Fengtian Divine Palace.”

“You’re spouting nonsense!” The youth flushed angrily. “The Great Wu Pries has tried his best! If not for the Wu Clan, he wouldn’t have exhausted all his cultivation. He just needs time to recover and find a way to break the curse. As for that Fengtian Divine Palace, they tricked him! Don’t think I don’t know—everyone who enters their temple comes out with a disgusting stench. They’re definitely not good people! When the Great Wu Pries returns, I’ll tell him the truth and make him drive them out!”

This amounted to admitting the Great Wuzhu’s ties to Fengtian Divine Palace. It seemed Lu Yu’s plan to win him over was pointless. 

Yun Zhuoran and Li Jianming exchanged a glance.

Yun Zhuoran said, “In my opinion, your Great Wuzhu and the Palace are simply colluding. You trust him that easily?”

The boy abruptly calmed, eyes narrowing as he stared at them. A smug smile appeared. “You’re not from the Fengtian Divine Palace at all. Their believers can’t tolerate a single slanderous word. Outsiders—what are you here for?”

Li Jianming silently spread his hands at Yun Zhuoran. See? Exposed.

Yun Zhuoran remained calm. With a flick of his finger, Li Jianming’s spirit sword trembled, shot from its sheath, and flew straight toward the youth’s eye. 

The boy screamed and fell backward. Even Li Jianming jumped, then looked speechlessly at Yun Zhuoran.

“Ahhh! Don’t come any closer!” The youth was pale with terror.

Yun Zhuoran said coolly, “Since you saw through me, I can’t let you run off to report to the Palace. I’ll have to kill you.”

“You exposed yourself!” The boy nearly collapsed, terrified and indignant at the handsome, immortal-looking man whose expression was darker than a king of hell. “I’m not a believer of the Palace! If you hate them, go after them—it has nothing to do with me!”

Yun Zhuoran said, “You greatly admire the Great Wuzhu, and the Great Wuzhu is inextricably linked to the Fengtian Divine Palace. If you consider this carefully, it’s hard to guarantee you’re not related to the Fengtian Divine Palace.”

The boy’s face showed an expression of insult, and he roared, “I said no, and that’s final! I hate the Fengtian Divine Palace the most! Those foolish Wu clans believe in them, but I don’t believe it!”

Yun Zhuoran said coldly, “Really? I don’t believe it. Unless you take us into Wu City.”

Li Jianming, who had originally thought Yun Zhuoran was going to kill him to silence him and had tried to stop him, silently retreated upon hearing this. He was also somewhat surprised and turned his head to ask in a low voice, “Are you really going into Wu City? Aren’t you going back?”

Yun Zhuoran glanced at him. “Since we’re already here, what harm is there in taking a look at the Fengtian Divine Palace first?”

Li Jianming nodded. He also wanted to enter Wu City to see if he could find his adoptive father.
The Wu youth was taken aback by Yun Zhuoran’s request, looking at them suspiciously. “I’ll take you into Wu City, and you’ll let me go?”

Yun Zhuoran said, “Don’t you hate the Fengtian Divine Palace? Let’s overthrow it together.”

Li Jianming’s lips twitched slightly. He felt Yun Zhuoran was just teasing him.

“Are you joking this time?”

Yun Zhuoran remained calmly silent.

The young man actually hesitated upon hearing this. He glanced at the spirit sword pressed against his face, then looked at Yun Zhuoran with a hint of fear in his eyes. “I… I agree to take you into Wu City, but…”

Hearing the “but,” and just as Yun Zhuoran’s dark eyes looked over, the young man hurriedly said, “I have things to do! I need to go to the Black Moon Tribe to find Lan Lan first!”

With a sword practically at his neck, he still dared to negotiate with Yun Zhuoran?

Li Jianming asked curiously, “Who is Lanlan?”

The boy blushed and said, “She’s… she’s the girl I like… I came to deliver a letter to her tonight, if it weren’t for you guys…”

Yun Zhuoran immediately lost interest.

Li Jianming sighed. “You’re really lucky.”

The boy thought to himself that his luck was terrible. 

Afraid the other party wouldn’t agree, he hurriedly took out a sealed bamboo tube from his robes and held it up high.

“I’ll put this in the river, and she’ll catch it downstream soon!”

Yun Zhuoran had already suffered once for carelessness today, and upon hearing this, immediately said, “No.”

The boy pleaded, “Just for a second!”

Yun Zhuoran raised a finger, and the suspended spirit sword was placed against the boy’s neck.

“I’ll send it next time.”

Li Jianming burst out laughing. “You’re so heartless.”

Yun Zhuoran didn’t intend to take the bamboo tube from the boy’s hand to check it, lest it contain some hidden trap. He only urged, “Now, to Wu City.”

The boy stared longingly at the Black Moon River behind them, clutching the bamboo tube tightly.

A moment later, the three set off.

The boy was listlessly led forward by the spirit sword, still clutching the sealed bamboo tube in his arms. Not being able to send a message to his beloved girl was a huge blow to him. 

He walked slowly, muttering sadly, “Lanlan will be very angry. She’ll ignore me for a long time. You’ve gone too far. You’re breaking up a loving couple.”

Yun Zhuoran selectively ignored these murmurs, remaining as composed as ever.

Li Jianming chuckled. “You even know about breaking up couples? I almost forgot to ask — what’s your name?”

“Meng Zhou.”

Li Jianming nodded. “Your surname is Meng. I thought all the Wu tribe members were surnamed Yan.”

“Yan and Lan are common surnames in the tribe…” Meng Zhou instinctively started to say, then realized his mistake and pursed his lips, correcting himself. “It’s quite far from Wu City, almost a whole night’s walk. I originally planned to go downstream along the Black Moon River to find Lanlan, but who knew I’d encounter outsiders like you halfway…”

Having inadvertently revealed some information, Meng Zhou shut his mouth in annoyance.

Li Jianming smiled and tried to trick Meng Zhou with a few more questions, but Meng Zhou didn’t fall for it again. 

Frustrated, Li Jianming shrugged at Yun Zhuoran, seemingly giving up, and casually sighed, “It’s rumored that your Great Wuzhu is a benevolent person, but now he’s colluding with the Fengtian Divine Palace, allowing the Wu Clan to harm other races. Doesn’t the Great Wuzhu know they’re courting their own destruction?”

Meng Zhou hesitated, but couldn’t help retorting, “The Great Wuzhu isn’t even in the clan. Everything is done by the clan leader, who now dotes on that Holy Maiden. They do whatever the Fengtian Divine Palace tells them to do. If the Great Wuzhu were to return, he definitely wouldn’t let the Wu Clan continue like this. Of course, it would be even better if the Great Wuzhu stopped being their High Priest…”

Hearing this, Yun Zhuoran — who had been walking behind them and engrossed in examining the small magical artifact shared by Dao companion on her ear — finally reacted.

“The Great Wuzhu is a High Priest?”

“Yes.” Meng Zhou looked at them strangely, as if surprised they didn’t know.

Li Jianming was also somewhat surprised. “Who exactly is this Great Wuzhu of yours? He’s actually a high priest of the Fengtian Divine Palace… Hey, what does he look like? What’s his name? Where is he?”

Meng Zhou became wary again. “Why are you asking this? Do you want to harm the Great Wuzhu?”

Yun Zhuoran said, “If he’s a good person, we’ll ask him to help eliminate the Fengtian Divine Palace.”

Perhaps Yun Zhuoran’s cold demeanor was more convincing, and Meng Zhou actually wavered, looking at him with suspicion. Yun Zhuoran, however, remained calm, letting him look quietly.

Meng Zhou hesitated for a long time before slowly saying, “The Great Wuzhu is a good person. His name is Xu Zhichun. He’s from another tribe, but he’s very, very good. He’s especially good to our Wu Clan; he’s a Wu god in the hearts of many Wu people.”

Upon hearing this name, Yun Zhuoran immediately turned to look at Li Jianming. 

The latter’s smile froze, and his expression instantly turned deathly pale.

Xu Zhichun, indeed, was the Great Wuzhu — and also a high priest of the Fengtian Divine Palace.

Meanwhile, Xu Zhichun, whom they spoke of, was leading the Wu child he had brought from the Kunwu Sword Sect, standing before a vast city built of countless stones in the wilderness.

There were no city walls, no gates, no vegetation — only fine sand swirling in the cold wind — yet it was the safest place for the entire Wu Clan.

“Brother Wu Doctor.”

Xu Zhichun stood motionless before the city, his eyes shining with a familiar yet unfamiliar light.

Hearing the soft, trusting voice of the child, he looked down at the bewildered boy he was leading, a gentle warmth slowly spreading across his pale face.

“Yes, we’re back in Wu City.”