(GL) The Supporting Female Character Strategy Manual - Chapter 18

“Senior Sister,” a girl with roast chicken broth all over her head stomped her foot in frustration. “You cunning fox demon, where do you think you’re going!”

A gray figure zipped past right under their noses. It was so fast that only a few strands of fur and a tattered loincloth it failed to grab were left floating in the air.

“Xiao Chou, run!”

Jian Tongyao suddenly felt like she was at the scene of a gangster brawl, where a group of street thugs fighting with knives just ran into patrolling police and shouted to each other, “The cops are here, run!”

Those who were slow, like her, were caught red-handed.

Seeing the target character’s fingers tremble as a yellow talisman floated out from her sleeve, Jian Tongyao desperately shot out a curled leaf tip to wrap it delicately around the other’s fair wrist. The contrast of green against white made her target’s skin look even more tender.

Jian Tongyao subconsciously gave it a caress.

Qian Wanyu’s hand paused for a moment when the cool leaf touched her wrist, causing her to miss the best moment to pursue. Her captivating, sharp eyes stared at the troublemaking vine demon, and the sword in her hand moved a fraction closer.

The sharp tip was almost pressed against Jian Tongyao’s face.

The target character has a really bad temper, and she’s a demon hunter on top of that. This is going to be the death of me.

Jian Tongyao immediately raised her two curled leaves, trembling, in surrender. Her other leaves curled into a ball, making her look just like a caterpillar with two antennae on its head.

“Don’t chase them, it might be a trap.”

“Senior Sister, you have to get justice for me! Once you catch that demon, I’ll skin it, pull out its tendons, and make it into a fur coat.”

Jiang Qin, covered in filth, was on the verge of tears. After her harsh words, her fiery gaze turned to the impeccably well-behaved Jian Tongyao.

“This demon must be with that fox demon. Fine, I’ll snap your vines one by one first, then set you on fire.”

What a cruel woman.

Jian Tongyao quickly shrank into a small ball, trying to minimize her presence.

A trace of surprise flashed in Qian Wanyu’s eyes. She untied the demon-sealing bag from her waist and placed the excessively timid vine demon directly inside. “Alright, go wash up. We have more important things to do.”

Jian Tongyao, now trapped in a small dark room, was completely baffled and didn’t even have time to protest. The demon-sealing bag looked no bigger than a palm, but the inside was a world of its own, like a small universe.

At first, she hopped and jumped, stretching her leaves to their maximum length, but she couldn’t reach the opening at the top. It seemed close at a glance, but in reality, it was hopelessly far. Exhausted from jumping, she weakly called out to the system.

“This world’s mission is too hard. Why don’t we switch to a new one?”

“If the Host fails the mission, the primary penalty is a threefold increase in difficulty for the next world.”

“Then, my dear Love-You-to-Death System, hurry up and give me a cheat. At least tell me how to get out of this place. Am I supposed to just stay locked up? I can’t even see the target character, so how am I supposed to complete the mission?”

Ever since discovering she had turned from a perfectly fine human into a vine demon, Jian Tongyao had wanted to roar at the system. Now that she had vented, she felt satisfied and her mind calmed down. She looked at the happiness progress bar floating above her head and the glittering name on it, Qian Wanyu.

Qian Wanyu was an orphan raised by her master on Shenji Mountain since childhood. Her parents and sisters were all killed by demons, so she vowed to capture every demon in the world. However, while searching for the true culprit who killed her parents, she accidentally discovered that people from her own sect were colluding with demons. She failed to expose them and was framed instead, carrying a notorious reputation that would last for ages.

Happiness value: thirty.

“The storage pack contains a tool that will help the Host leave.”

Jian Tongyao opened the storage pack and saw a magnificent long whip. The tip had a hook, and the body shimmered with a mercury-like light.

“Are you sure this isn’t some kind of S and M toy?”

As she said this, Jian Tongyao paused. A familiar-sounding tone surfaced in her mind. This subtle feeling flashed by and was difficult to grasp.

Have I forgotten something?

With this doubt, the long whip in her hands looked increasingly familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.

How strange.

At this moment, Qian Wanyu was sitting in a teahouse, sipping tea. Every movement was breathtakingly beautiful. Dressed in ethereal white, she looked like a celestial being who had descended to the mortal realm, attracting the gazes of many men and women. Yet, no one dared to approach her.

She exuded a coldness, and even her gaze was chilly, like a beautiful flower growing on a frozen mountain, only to be admired from a distance.

“Senior Sister, I’m all clean now. But that damned fox demon got away. How are we going to catch it?”

“We’ll stay the night.”

They took two upper rooms at the best inn in Xianyao Town. As they went to their respective rooms, Qian Wanyu gave a special instruction. “Don’t sleep too soundly tonight.”

Jiang Qin understood immediately. “Yes, Senior Sister.”

After returning to her room, Qian Wanyu first set down her sword, then untied the constantly jumping demon-sealing bag from her waist. The moment the bag was placed on the table, it was as if it grew two legs and started hopping forward. Each time the bag was about to jump off the edge of the table, she would hook it and pull it back from the brink.

She repeated this patiently, playing with it for a long time. It wasn’t until the third watch of the night that she blew out the lamp and climbed into bed, tucking the energetic demon-sealing bag into her arms. However, the bag continued its relentless jumping.

It slipped out of her embrace bit by bit, then moved upward…

Qian Wanyu’s heart was originally as calm as still water, but the constant jumping made her quite annoyed. She grabbed it firmly and warned, “If you keep making trouble, I’ll tie you up, you ungrateful little demon. It’s time to rest.”

Inside the demon-sealing bag, Jian Tongyao was already exhausted. In a way, Qian Wanyu’s words were prophetic. How could a vine demon use a whip? It was a tangled mess she couldn’t sort out, with vines and the whip twisted together.

She carefully avoided the lightning crackling from the whip. She kept shrinking back until she finally freed herself. Then, she diligently started swinging the whip again. It was much better than before. Every time she saw the whip carve a scratch inside the demon-sealing bag, she was filled with an endless fighting spirit.

As a little demon with trash-tier fighting power, I must get out of this demon-sealing bag.

After Qian Wanyu’s warning, the demon-sealing bag behaved. She tucked it back into her arms and held it down with one hand. Unexpectedly, before the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the bag started acting up again, hopping even faster and more violently than before. Before she could discipline it, she detected a strange, enchanting fragrance that could make one lose all sense of direction with just a single whiff.

Creak.

The wooden window was pushed open a crack. A furry head peeked into the dark room first, then a nimble figure quickly darted inside, heading straight for the demon-sealing bag in the person’s hands on the bed.

The little white fox waved its paw at Qian Wanyu. Seeing no reaction, it began to pull hard at the demon-sealing bag. Unfortunately, the bag was held down by one hand, and the drawstring was tied around the person’s wrist. It scratched its ears and cheeks for a moment, then transformed into a human to painstakingly untie the knot.

Before it could take the demon-sealing bag, the person who had been motionless suddenly raised a hand and accurately seized its paw.

“Such a bold little demon. Did you think you could knock me out with a bit of incense? What a joke.”

“Why aren’t you unconscious!”

Hearing the commotion, Jiang Qin from the next room also pushed the door open. Seeing Qian Wanyu easily capture the cunning little white fox, she said smugly, “My Senior Sister has been immune to all poisons since childhood and has been tested with a hundred types of sedatives. How could a little demon’s incense possibly affect her?”

The little white fox hung its head, its tail probably drooping if it had one. It glanced resentfully at the nearby demon-sealing bag.

Just as Jiang Qin was rubbing her hands together, ready to avenge being drenched in roast chicken broth earlier that day, the demon-sealing bag in Qian Wanyu’s hand suddenly flew out of her grasp. As if having a seizure, it zipped over to the table, trembled a few times, then zipped again and rolled onto the windowsill.

“Senior Sister, what’s wrong with the demon-sealing bag?”

“Close the door and window, don’t let it escape.”

The little white fox tilted its head and then bit down hard on the hand holding its paw. Qian Wanyu cried out in pain and loosened her grip. The cunning little white fox instantly turned into a shadow and shot towards the window. “Xiao Chou, run this way!”

The longsword in Jiang Qin’s hand flew from its sheath, speeding towards the little white fox. “Where do you think you’re going, little demon!”

Just as the sword was about to pierce the little white fox, which was crouching on the windowsill waiting for the demon-sealing bag to fall into its arms, snap! A shimmering silver whip tore through the demon-sealing bag and, with the force of a thunderbolt, struck the sword, snapping it in the middle.

Clatter.

It fell to the floor in two pieces.

Jiang Qin, “…”

Qian Wanyu, “…”

The two of them threw out five yellow talismans almost simultaneously.

Jian Tongyao struggled to wrap her leaves around the whip’s handle. The long whip was almost slipping from her grasp. As she swung it wildly, she not only shattered the yellow talismans but also destroyed the room’s furnishings, reducing them to dust. Jian Tongyao saw the restrained fire reflected in Qian Wanyu’s cold eyes. She grabbed the astonished little white fox and bolted, transforming into two blurry shadows that quickly vanished into the night.

“Lipei.”

Jiang Qin hugged her sword and cried aggrievedly.

“Senior Sister, my Lipei is broken.”

Qian Wanyu responded faintly and picked up the shattered pieces of the demon-sealing bag from the floor. The bag was in fragments, impossible to piece back together. “This little demon is unusual.”

Jiang Qin gritted her teeth in anger, wishing she could tear the two little demons to shreds on the spot.

“Senior Sister, these two little demons have very weak demonic energy. Why were they able to break your demon-sealing bag and snap my Lipei?”

A flicker of doubt crossed Qian Wanyu’s eyes.

“Let’s go back and rest for now. We’ll discuss everything tomorrow.”

———-

“Xiao Chou, you were so mighty today.”

The “mighty” Jian Tongyao retrieved the whip that was about to fly away into her storage pack halfway up the mountain. After confirming they weren’t being followed, she wilted into a nearly withered vine demon, leaning lazily against a tree trunk for support.

As she rested, her curled leaves rustled and fell, like autumn leaves being swept away. The ground was littered with yellowed leaves, creating a particularly desolate scene.

But, it was just the beginning of spring.

Jian Tongyao suspected she was going bald.

The little white fox gathered her fallen leaves with its paw, separating them into two piles by color, yellow in one and half-yellow, half-green in another.

“Xiao Chou, you dropped a green leaf.”

“…”

What’s so surprising about that? I’m definitely going bald.

The little white fox happily put the green curled leaf in its mouth and chewed. Then, it flopped onto the ground. Its limbs twitched, its eyes rolled back, and soon, it stopped moving.

Jian Tongyao, “…”

Could it be… that I’m poisonous?