The Female Lead Is A Supporting Female Character - Chapter 19

“I didn’t do it for you.”

“Hmm?” Fu shuang tilted her head slightly, a strand of black hair sliding from her temple to rest on her shoulder. She asked back indifferently, “Are you angry?”

“Why should I be angry?”

Ming Yuemian: “…”

She’s actually asking me why she should be angry with a straight face… Is she crazy, or is the world crazy???

“Isn’t it obvious!” Ignoring her exhaustion, Ming Yuemian practically teleported off the ground, jumping three feet high. “Your boyfriend…”

Realizing the cultivation world likely didn’t have that term, Ming Yuemian pivoted her phrasing: “Sister, didn’t you tell me back at the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion that you and Senior Brother are mutually in love?”

Fu shuang paused. “…Yes.”

Hearing the phrase “mutually in love,” Fu shuang’s eyes grew several degrees colder.

What an ironic phrase.

In her past life, she was a person trapped within the game, unable to see clearly. Feng Cheng had used something as ethereal and vague as “love” to easily bind her. Looking back now that she had extricated herself, where was the mutual love?

He only learned to cherish her once she left in disappointment, once he had lost her. On what grounds? Was she some object to be summoned and dismissed at his whim, to be toyed with as he pleased?

Unaware of Fu shuang’s true thoughts, Ming Yuemian said, “Since you two are… well, ‘mutually in love,'” Ming Yuemian uttered the phrase reluctantly, “then how can you not be angry when he’s acting so intimately with someone else?”

She was genuinely bewildered, her large, grape-like dark eyes filled with question marks.

Fu shuang replied, “But isn’t that just the kind of person he is?”

“Eh?” Ming Yuemian froze.

Wait, you KNOW he’s that kind of person?? You actually know??

If you know and you’re still following him, is this a classic case of “loving the scum while knowing he’s scum”?!

Seeing Ming Yuemian’s shock, her red lips parted wide enough to fit a duck egg. Fu shuang couldn’t help but let the corners of her mouth curl slightly. “Whether I am angry or not, what does it have to do with you? Why are you so concerned about this? What are your intentions?”

Naturally, she didn’t think Ming Yuemian was acting out of concern for her. Fu shuang’s logical deduction was that Ming Yuemian herself was overcome with jealousy and was desperate to find validation from her.

Even though they were rivals in love, a third party had appeared, breaking the balance of their opposition. As the saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Fu shuang assumed Ming Yuemian wanted to recruit her to form a temporary united front against the outsider.

She smirked and mocked coldly, “It’s just holding hands; there’s no need to make such a big deal of it. Miss Ming, you and your Senior Brother grew up together and have been companions for years, have you truly never held hands? If I were to get angry over something like this, wouldn’t I have died of rage many times over by now?”

Ming Yuemian: “…………”

Oh, right! She snapped back to reality, her heart sinking. She realized Fu shuang’s point made perfect sense!

The original owner of this body and Feng Cheng were childhood sweethearts. Given the bond of growing up together, holding hands was logically speaking something that almost certainly happened.

With Feng Cheng’s tender and flirtatious nature, he would go out of his way to comfort a girl like Xiao Ju, whom he’d only met a few times and barely knew, even going so far as to touch her. What more for his childhood younger martial sister?

Furthermore, the original owner loved Feng Cheng. To her, any intimacy from him would have been a dream come true; she certainly wouldn’t have refused and likely would have shyly reciprocated.

Ming Yuemian turned to stone. Her psyche collapsed, she shattered on the spot.

Originally, she had been quite pleased to transmigrate into the body of a radiant beauty, but now… this was a “blessing” she couldn’t stomach.

Heavens! Can I even keep this hand?? At the thought of Feng Cheng having touched it, she felt as disgusted as if she had eaten spoiled rice.

Aaaah, I can’t take it! I’m tainted! Get me a knife right now! Just chop this hand off, I don’t want it anymore, wahhh!

What did Feng Cheng ever do to deserve this?!

Ming Yuemian was originally just a girl who simply liked pretty older sisters, she didn’t have much of an opinion on men, mostly a sense of “it has nothing to do with me” indifference. But at this moment, she developed a deep seated fear of men.

Fu shuang couldn’t hear the wailing and roaring inside Ming Yuemian’s mind, she could only see the small face in front of her scrunched into a ball.

Fu shuang had said those words to retort, but she hadn’t expected Ming Yuemian to have such a huge reaction.

After a moment of processing, Ming Yuemian realized the focus had shifted too far. She tried to pull the topic back: “I didn’t…”

She didn’t mean it that way.

It wasn’t that she was hoping Fu shuang would get angry, she was just curious about what Fu shuang’s current attitude actually was.

She needed to know what Fu shuang was thinking so she could “prescribe the right medicine” and tailor her approach to determine the next step of her “conquest” plan.

Was she not angry because, as she said, such behavior was so common for a playboy like Feng Cheng that she didn’t care… or was it that Fu shuang didn’t actually love Feng Cheng as much as she imagined?

Ming Yuemian felt Fu shuang wasn’t that stupid.

But she couldn’t finish her sentence. Her voice stopped abruptly because the earth suddenly jolted. Unprepared, Ming Yuemian stumbled.

…An earthquake?

Ming Yuemian blinked, and before she could react, a white, slender hand hooked around her waist, swiftly pulling her to the side.

Everything happened so fast. In the blink of an eye, Ming Yuemian found herself pressed against Fu shuang’s chest.

The distance closed instantly, the scent of plum blossoms filled her senses.

Ming Yuemian was stunned.

She was snapping at me a second ago, and now she’s pulling me into her arms… Is there such a thing as good luck? Am I hallucinating?

She was thinking nonsensical thoughts.

But clearly, that wasn’t the case.

Ming Yuemian looked up blankly and saw something sweep past her side with a flash like snowy light. She turned her gaze and saw Fu shuang holding her waist with one hand while the other formed a spell gesture. A long sword unsheathed with a clear chime, severing a vine behind Ming Yuemian.

What a fast sword!

The vine had been a lush, emerald green, covered in small, fleshy leaves. But once severed by Fu shuang’s blade, the cut section withered at a speed visible to the naked eye. The leaves instantly turned yellow and brittle, crumbling into powder as they hit the ground.

Ming Yuemian: “…”

What… is that thing?

The other end of the vine was buried in the soil beneath their feet. Unlike the upright bamboo forest nearby, this thing had appeared out of nowhere.

Before it was cut, Ming Yuemian saw its tip coiled into a loop, like a lasso. Ming Yuemian wasn’t stupid; it wasn’t hard to see that the vine had been trying to slip that loop over her head.

Were they trying to strangle her to death?

It was glaringly obvious, if Fu shuang hadn’t yanked her away just now, she might be headless by now.

For a moment, Ming Yuemian couldn’t even focus on the joy of being pressed against Fu shuang. Her heart was filled only with the relief and lingering fear of a narrow escape. At the same time, she thought tearfully: Who exactly did I offend??

Running into these things at every turn, if this happened a few more times, she wouldn’t die at the hands of demons; she’d die of sheer fright.

The cultivation world is too terrifying, I want to go back to the modern era!

Small, helpless, and pitiful, Ming Yuemian had no choice but to cling tightly to the powerhouse that was Fu shuang. The long sword, radiating a cold silver light, flew back into Fu shuang’s hand. She didn’t push Ming Yuemian away, appearing not to notice, she kept her hand resting on the girl’s waist while holding her sword in the other.

Having missed its strike and been wounded by Fu shuang’s blade, the vine retreated underground as if the video were playing at several times the normal speed.

By the time Ming Yuemian looked down, the vine had vanished without a trace.

Still, she didn’t dare let go immediately, remaining pressed close to Fu shuang.

“Mediocre fighting skills, but top-tier at running away,” Fu shuang murmured coldly.

Fu shuang wasn’t usually one to mock others. Her previous comments calling Ming Yuemian “physically weak” and “delicate” were already unusual otherwise, she was always cold and polite. But that was toward people, toward these monsters and demons, it was different. There was no need for verbal courtesy.

As if provoked by her words, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble again. In an instant, centered on where they stood, hundreds of vines burst from the earth and shot toward the sky, forming a perimeter. These vines were different from the previous one, they were thick, writhing as they grew upward, encircling them so tightly not even a breeze could pass through.

Ming Yuemian: “…”

It feels like being besieged on all sides.

My dear sister, could you perhaps talk a little less? Is it really necessary to be this stubborn and confrontational???

Unfortunately, Fu shuang wouldn’t listen to her. Unfortunately, Fu shuang really was just that tough.

“Merely a cluster of low-level tree spirits and vine monsters, yet you dare to strike,” Fu shuang watched the rustling vines with indifference, utterly fearless and unmoved. “Is it a lack of self-awareness, or do you simply think your lives have been too long?”

The vine demon was enraged. The moment Fu shuang finished speaking, a vine lashed out directly at them, as sharp and fierce as a sword.

Fu shuang let out a cold laugh. Even carrying a large human “pendant” like Ming Yuemian, she easily dodged the strike. Her expression remained casual, she didn’t even lift an eyebrow.

The vine demon, exasperated and determined to win, launched hundreds of vines simultaneously. They lunged from all directions, leaving nowhere to hide.

Ming Yuemian squeezed her eyes shut. She was terrified to the core, yet her body’s instinctive reaction was to step forward and shield Fu shuang behind her.

“…What are you doing?” A cold voice sounded in her ear. Ming Yuemian thought she heard a “tsk” as her entire body was yanked back by a force.

The expected pain never came.

Ming Yuemian stood rooted to the spot for a long while before opening her eyes a crack. She glimpsed the ground covered in vines, all sliced into perfectly even, short segments.

As Fu shuang had said, this vine demon wasn’t particularly powerful, it had simply overestimated itself. Fu shuang hadn’t been in the mood for a long struggle, losing her patience, she had simply diced the “ingredients” that served themselves up.

Ming Yuemian stared blankly at Fu shuang. Fu shuang was looking back at her, admiring her dazed expression.

The long sword had just been used like a kitchen knife. After chopping the vines, the blade was covered in thick, sticky plant sap. Fu shuang, who prized cleanliness, was using a handkerchief to wipe the blade. She said to Ming Yuemian: “What were you doing just now? With such poor cultivation, were you rushing to your death?”

“Do you also think your life is too long?”

“I…” Ming Yuemian thought to herself, I did it for you!

But she found herself strangely speechless. Watching Fu shuang habitually wipe her sword, she suddenly realized something…

Fu shuang was truly strong.

In the original novel, the story revolved primarily around the romance between the two leads. Even the parts about leveling up and fighting monsters served only as “flavor” for the emotional arc, they weren’t the focus. Furthermore, most of the ink was spent describing how powerful Feng Cheng was, he was, after all, the only one who eventually ascended to immortality.

Consequently, Ming Yuemian hadn’t been clear on Fu shuang’s combat prowess. She only knew her cultivation wasn’t bad, seeing it now with her own eyes, she realized just how formidable she was.

Clearly, her cultivation wasn’t lower than Feng Cheng’s, but for a female cultivator, that never seemed to be the point. People were always more concerned with whether she was beautiful or what kind of Daoist partner she had found.

It was truly unfair.

“Sister, thank you for saving me,” Ming Yuemian said. “You’ve saved me several times now.”

This time, she didn’t say any cheeky nonsense about “repaying her with her body.” She didn’t want to be flippant; she sincerely wanted to give thanks.

“No need to thank me,” Fu shuang said indifferently. “I didn’t do it for you.”

How blunt, Ming Yuemian grumbled internally, but she truly couldn’t find it in her heart to blame her. She wore a helpless expression.

She knew the subtext of those words: wasn’t she just saying that if she didn’t save her, she wouldn’t be able to explain it to Feng Cheng when he returned with the water?

But still, did she have to be so explicit? Couldn’t she leave a little room for narcissistic fantasies? How annoying.

Ming Yuemian decided to change the subject, not wanting to hear any more things she didn’t like. She said nonchalantly: “There sure have been a lot of monsters lately. Yesterday the boat was overturned by those two dragon-demons, and today we hit a vine demon… Why are we so unlucky? How do we happen to run into monsters every single time?”

She was just making a casual observation, but she didn’t expect Fu shuang to say: “It’s not a coincidence.”

“Not a coincidence?” Ming Yuemian was stunned.

“They are coming for me.” Fu shuang finished cleaning her sword and sheathed it. “So, I wasn’t saving you; I was only saving myself.”

This reason was different from what Ming Yuemian had imagined. So, it wasn’t about dealing with Feng Cheng? Ming Yuemian let out a confused “Huh?”

“But… why?” Ming Yuemian’s imagination began to run wild.

Why would Fu shuang attract monsters? Did monsters also prefer beautiful women? No, wait….monsters attack her to kill her, right? It’s not like they’re trying to kidnap her to be a “bandit queen” or something…

Is the meat of a beautiful woman tastier? What’s wrong with them? Shouldn’t beauties be the treasures of the world? How could they be treated so violently!

“Because,” Fu shuang looked up, pressing her hand to her chest, “I was born with an Exquisite Heart.”

She stared at Ming Yuemian without blinking, carefully observing the other’s reaction: “An Exquisite Heart has many uses. For instance, eating this heart can save one several hundred years of cultivation and vastly increase one’s spiritual power.”

“Or, for another example… it can completely cure that heart ailment you’ve had since you were in the womb.”