I Really Like the Male Supporting Character (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 36

Seeing Li Jiaojiao striding toward her with an aggressive demeanour, Ah Luo’s first reaction was to look up at the sky. She half-suspected she’d run into a ghost in broad daylight.

When she lowered her gaze again, Li Jiaojiao was already in front of her. She had hands on her hips, and her eyes were blazing with anger. She demanded, “Lin Luoyin! Why aren’t you dead?!”

Ah Luo: ‘…’

She was tempted to ask the same question about Li Jiaojiao.

Before Ah Luo could say anything, Li Jiaojiao launched into an angry tirade. She ranted about how she’d been killed by the Daoist master and how, fortunately, her father had used some extraordinary method to bring her back. Now, she had come to settle the score with Ah Luo.

Finally, Li Jiaojiao demanded, “Tell me! Are you and Brother Xingjue together?!”

Li Jiaojiao spoke so quickly that Ah Luo was momentarily stunned. After a pause, she shook her head and said, “No.”

“I don’t believe you! Then who cured your scarlet lantern flower poisoning?” While her father had insisted that the Daoist master must have used an antidote to save Lin Luoyin, Li Jiaojiao was convinced otherwise. In her mind, Lin Luoyin—that wench, must have seduced  Brother Xingjue.

“It was…” Ah Luo started to answer instinctively but paused halfway and changed her response. “Anyway, it wasn’t Senior Brother Gu.”

Her vague response only deepened Li Jiaojiao’s suspicions, which led her to believe Ah Luo was deliberately lying.

“Don’t try to fool me. I’ve already looked into it. Many people have said they’ve seen you and Brother Xingjue together frequently over the past year. You’ve been training together, going on missions—do you think everyone is blind?”

Ah Luo looked utterly baffled and tried to explain, “It’s because my sister was there, too.”

Although Ah Luo had managed to secure the scarlet lantern flower ahead of time in the hidden realm, the feelings between the male and female protagonists had still deepened significantly during that experience. 

Lately, Gu Xingjue often sought out Lin Qingyun, Ah Luo’s elder sister. Since Lin Qingyun liked to bring Ah Luo along whenever she did anything, it created the impression that Ah Luo had a close relationship with Gu Xingjue as well. 

Ah Luo felt deeply wronged—clearly, she was the extra, unnecessary third wheel in this trio.

“I don’t care about your excuses. If I want the truth, I’ll find it myself!” Li Jiaojiao sneered and stepped forward swiftly. Taking advantage of Ah Luo’s momentary confusion, she grabbed Ah Luo’s hand and yanked up her sleeve, revealing the girl’s fair and slender arm.

Her delicate forearm was as smooth and flawless as a lotus root, without a single blemish.

“I knew it! Your maiden mark is gone!” Li Jiaojiao’s expression twisted as she cried out in shock. (2-20) 

Ah Luo snapped out of her daze. She yanked her arm back and pulled down her sleeve. Her face turned uncharacteristically cold as she asked, “What does this have to do with you?”

Li Jiaojiao, now in a puppet body, had specifically asked her father, Li Yu, to make her new body better than her old one. While her previous body had been at the early Foundation Establishment realm, this one carried the power of a mid-Golden Core realm cultivator.

The only drawback was that her puppet body couldn’t advance. If she remained in this body forever, she would be stuck in the Golden Core realm for life.

Li Jiaojiao naturally couldn’t accept her current circumstances. She planned to uncover the truth about Lin Luoyin’s situation. Once she confirmed that Brother Xingjue hadn’t slept with Lin Luoyin and taken her as his Dao companion, she intended to reincarnate and start anew. 

What she hadn’t expected was how much Lin Luoyin had improved. A glance was enough to see that Lin Luoyin had already reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm!

Fortunately, Li Jiaojiao was now in the Golden Core realm. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to deal with this ‘little wretch.’ Thinking this, Li Jiaojiao suddenly whipped out a beam of light that tightly bound Ah Luo.

Ah Luo was caught off guard and found herself unable to move.

“Li Jiaojiao, what are you doing!?” 

They were at the foot of Wandao Peak, and Li Jiaojiao didn’t want anyone overhearing the commotion. She decided to drag Ah Luo to her own territory first. At Ah Luo’s question, she sneered and said, “What am I doing? You’ll find out soon enough.”

Before long, Li Jiaojiao had dragged her captive back to her cave on Dan Peak. After setting up a restriction at the entrance, she threw Ah Luo onto the ground.

“This time, no one can save you! The Daoist master is in seclusion, Lin Qingyun is out training, and Brother Xingjue isn’t in the sect, either. Let’s settle our new and old grudges together!”

Ah Luo’s hands and feet were bound. She glared up at Li Jiaojiao and said, “I already told you, I have nothing to do with Senior Brother Gu!”

Li Jiaojiao raised a disdainful eyebrow and said coldly, “Whatever your relationship was before, it doesn’t matter now. You caused me to die once—did you think I’d let you walk out of here alive?”

With that, Li Jiaojiao raised a hand. A beam of light lashed out from her palm and struck the girl on the ground.

Snap!

A bloody welt appeared instantly. Pain shot through Ah Luo’s chest, and she let out a muffled groan.

“Ha! Lin Luoyin, didn’t think you’d ever see a day like this, huh?” 

Li Jiaojiao cackled as she continued whipping. Each strike she sent down was heavier than the last.

The light whip carried Li Jiaojiao’s spiritual energy, which was fire-based. It was a fire-attribute spiritual treasure her father, Li Yu, had specially found for her. Each strike left behind scorching fire energy in the wounds, causing its victim a sensation like being burned alive.

Ah Luo gritted her teeth as she glared at her captor. Her body trembled violently under the relentless pain, and her clothing quickly became soaked with blood. Her once pink robes turned a deep red.

Through the agony, she weakly muttered, “Li Jiaojiao, you… you won’t have a good end… Someone will… will save me… ah!”

Another lash landed, this time across her pale face. Her soft cheek split open, and blood flowed freely from it.

“Who’s going to save you? Brother Xingjue?” 

Li Jiaojiao revelled in the moment. She took delight in seeing someone she loathed so utterly at her mercy. The sight of Lin Luoyin struggling, with her life hanging by a thread, filled her with a twisted excitement. 

She giggled and said, “You must have used this innocent little face to seduce Brother Xingjue, huh? How pitiful… too bad Brother Xingjue isn’t here to see you now!”

Snap!

Another whip fell on Ah Luo’s exposed neck and left a bloody gash on it.

Snap!

A strike to her hands snapped her slender, delicate fingers like brittle twigs.

Snap! Snap!

The lashes rained down like an endless storm, each bringing a new wave of unbearable pain. The torment felt eternal, and in that moment, Ah Luo saw no hope of reprieve.

At first, Ah Luo struggled. However, as the relentless assault continued, her body grew numb and rigid under the searing pain and fiery burns. Her clothes were soaked in blood, and her consciousness began to fade. Her breath turned shallow as her strength was slipping away like water through her fingers.

Her vision blurred. She wasn’t sure if the wetness clouding her eyes was tears or her life ebbing away.

Even Li Jiaojiao’s frenzied voice seemed to drift farther and farther away, muffled as if separated by a thin veil.

“Master…”

The girl, battered and broken, lay trembling on the ground. Her lips moved in a silent plea.

So much pain. So cold. So hot.

Master, Master… Please save Ah Luo…

“What are you mumbling about?”

Li Jiaojiao noticed the faint movement of Lin Luoyin’s lips and paused her whip mid-air. It wasn’t out of mercy—she simply found no satisfaction in hitting someone who had already lost half their life and could no longer react.

Li Jiaojiao thrived on causing pain, especially the kind that tormented a person’s soul. The ultimate thrill came to her when she was seeing someone trapped between life and death, and consumed by despair.

In curiosity, she squatted down and leaned closer to listen. After a while, she made out the faint murmur—Lin Luoyin was calling for her master. Even at death’s door, her lips uttered ‘Master’ over and over again, as though he was her final, unyielding obsession.

“Master? You’re still hoping for him to save you? The Daoist master is in seclusion to prepare to transcend a tribulation. He won’t be out for another ten years at least. Stop dreaming!”

Her words dripped with schadenfreude, but Lin Luoyin couldn’t hear them. Otherwise, seeing her sink further into despair would have been an unparalleled delight.

Just as Li Jiaojiao finished speaking, a fierce gust of wind tore through the cave. It carried the biting chill of the farthest northern reaches and froze the entire cave in an instant. Thick frost enshrouded everything and painted the surroundings in shimmering white.

Li Jiaojiao was caught mid-laugh and frozen in place. She was transformed into a lifelike ice sculpture. Since her body was a puppet, she wasn’t truly dead. While trapped in her immobile shell, she could only watch helplessly, with her eyes widened in terror.

A suffocating, all-encompassing pressure descended. It was an overwhelmingly familiar presence, one so powerful it made her soul tremble with dread.

How? This… This couldn’t be!

She screamed internally. Disbelief flooded her every thought.

Deliberate and unhurried footsteps echoed behind her. Each step carried an unbearable weight as the person drew closer and closer.

From the corner of her eye, Li Jiaojiao glimpsed the edge of a pure white robe. Its hem dragged through the frost-covered floor and was indistinguishable from the snow in its starkness and chill. The figure passed her by without a glance.

The person stopped in front of Lin Luoyin’s battered body. He knelt gracefully and extended a flawless, snow-pale hand towards her. His long, elegant fingers brushed gently across the girl’s bloodied and bruised face.

Lin Luoyin’s long lashes quivered, but her gaze was unfocused.

“Master…” she continued to murmur faintly. Her voice was a fragile thread of sound. She remained oblivious to the presence she had longed for so desperately.

“…Luoyin, Master is here.”

The deep male voice resonated through the cave. It was hoarse and strained and stripped of its usual detached calm.

The girl remained quiet.

The pale hand moved slightly, and the bindings around her fell away as if dissolved by an unseen force. The gruesome wounds on her body began to heal rapidly. The gashes knit together with miraculous speed.

Only the bloodstains on her tattered clothes remained as silent testaments to her suffering.

In the darkness of her fading consciousness, Ah Luo felt as though she was sinking into an endless void. The abyss tugged at her and pulled her deeper and deeper. She struggled feebly, but her strength was utterly spent.

Then, suddenly, a beam of blinding white light pierced through the darkness. 

Snowflakes, cold and crystalline, drifted down from above and fell softly onto her body. The unbearable heat in her veins dissipated as the ice enveloped her.

The darkness melted away, and her vision gradually returned.

Ah Luo blinked slowly. Her gaze settled on the man clad entirely in white in front of her. Her voice trembled as she said uncertainly, “…Master?”

The man before her had her master’s face, which was unchanged and familiar. However, his jet-black hair had turned completely white, as if bleached by an eternity of frost.

“Mm,” he responded softly. His tone was the same as she remembered.

Ah Luo blinked again. Before she could say anything else, Lu Cang lowered his gaze and leaned forward, then lifted her into his arms effortlessly.

The icy scent she knew so well filled her senses, and realisation dawned on her.

“Master, why… how are you here…”

Lu Cang didn’t answer. While holding her securely with one arm, he raised his free hand and pressed it calmly to the crown of Li Jiaojiao’s frozen head.

In an instant, her puppet body cracked and crumbled. It shattered into countless fragments across the ground.

Then, as if grasping something invisible, he clenched his hand into a fist and crushed it.

A piercing scream echoed within the cave—a last, desperate cry that then vanished into nothingness.

Throughout it all, Lu Cang’s expression remained unchanged. His eyes also remained as calm and indifferent as always.