The Killing

"Junior Brother, why are you so quiet? Calculate how many spirit stones I need to pay," Miao Qian said with a smile.

He took all the talismans that were on display. "You really have a lot, don't you? Four Fire Talismans and six Spirit Concentration Talismans. How much would that be?"

"One Fire talisman is worth 3 spirit stones, and one Spirit Concentration Talismans is worth 5 spirit stones. The total would be 42 spirit stones, but you can have them for 40 spirit stones, Senior Brother," said Jiang Hao politely.

"40 spirit stones? Junior Brother is really generous." Miao Qian nodded his head.

However, when the time came to pay the spirit stones, he pretended to be surprised. "It's really unfortunate that I didn't bring so many spirit stones with me today! How about this? I will bring the spirit stones and pay you tomorrow? Or if you are worried about me not paying, you can follow me to the Heavenly Joy Pavilion."

Jiang Hao lowered his head and sighed inwardly. What was the difference between him committing suicide and willingly walking up to the Heavenly Joy Pavilion?

"What do you think, Junior Brother? Why Don't you come with me to the Heavenly Joy Pavilion?" said Miao Qian with a smirk.

"It's alright, Senior Brother. I will wait for you here tomorrow," he said.

"Okay." Miao Qian put away the talismans. "You must wait here tomorrow. Otherwise, if I don't find you here and pay you, you will say that I was bullying my junior."

"Of course not," said Jiang Hao.

He watched Miao Qian leave. He packed up and left the market. The people around saw and heard everything, but no one wanted to get involved. Because something like this was normal.

...

At night, on his way to the Heavenly Joy Pavilion, Miao Qian walked with his Junior Brother with a broad smile.

"Today's harvest was quite bountiful," he said. "I just happened to meet a person who provoked the master and taught him a lesson."

"Senior Brother's luck is really good. I also want to become as strong as you in the future," said the young man. He was still in the ninth level of Lifeblood Refinement Realm.

"Ha ha, I'll give you a spirit stone for that." Said Miao Qian with a smug look on his face. He had sold all the talismans and earned 30 spirit stones.

"Are you planning to go tomorrow too, Senior Brother?" asked the young man.

"Yes, not only tomorrow, but I'll go every day after that." Miao Qian's voice was low and slightly sinister. "I am going to tell other Senior Brothers and Sisters to go too and make him spit out all the spirit stones he has collected."

The Junior disciple still in the Lifeblood Refinement Realm didn't dare say anything. He knew that his Senior Brother had secretly adored Yun Ruo and was peeved because of her death. That disciple from the Cliff of Broken Hearts was hated by many people.

When the Junior disciple saw that Miao Qian didn't look so angry anymore, he wanted to say something. But before he could, he was suddenly hit by something on the back of his head, and he fainted.

The sudden movement startled Miao Qian. He immediately turned back. "Who is it?" he asked.

A dagger stabbed into his neck. The sudden attack made him panic. When he pulled away, fresh blood gushed out. Miao Qian held his neck, trying to block the flow of blood.

"Senior, there must be some misunderstanding," Miao Qian stammered with difficulty.

A long sword pierced his body. There was someone else behind him who had stabbed him with a sword.

"Senior, please…spare my life," Miao Qian pleaded.

Another long sword appeared in front of him and stabbed him. Several swords then pierced him from every direction. The last long spear nailed him to a tree.

As Miao Qian bled almost to death, he saw a black shadow approach. It eased his storage bag open.

"You… why?"

The black shadow said softly, "I will take these spirit stones."

 Miao Qian's pupils contracted. He was angry. He was in the Middle Foundation Establishment Stage. How could he die so easily?

After confirming that Miao Qian was dead, the black shadow disappeared from the spot. After a long while, the Junior disciple still in the Lifeblood Refinement Realm came to his senses. When he saw Miao Qian's dead body, he was so scared that he ran up the mountain in fear.

…

Jiang Hao sat in his house and counted the spirit stones in front of him. He frowned.

'Only sixty? How can a Middle Foundation Establishment Stage disciple be so poor?'

As an inner sect disciple, Jiang Hao had more than a hundred spirit stones when he was in his Lifeblood Refinement Realm. This Senior Brother in the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment Stage had only 30 spirit stones. And that too because he had sold the talismans, he had cheated Jiang Hao out of.

"Forget it, I've made a profit today." Jiang Hao shook his head. He had used those spirit swords on purpose. He had deliberately left them there. He had too many of them, after all.

There was no need to kill that Junior in the Lifeblood Refinement Realm. Everyone had seen what happened today. If the Heavenly Joy Pavilion had already decided to suspend him, one more person wouldn't make a difference.

Theoretically, no one would accuse him because his cultivation was low. People only saw that he was in the early stage of Foundation Establishment Stage because his purple lifeblood hid his cultivation level. So it would have been impossible for him to defeat Miao Qian who was already at the middle stage.

However, that theory was useless. It wasn't as though that would matter to Heavenly Joy Pavilion. They already targeted him because of Yun Ruo's death.

"It all depends on Liu Xingchen. Let's see what he says about this."

Jiang Hao realized that as an inner disciple, if Liu Xingchen didn't have any evidence, Jiang Hao could ask for compensation if accused unjustly. As long as Liu Xingchen was biased, nothing would happen to him. He could find out if Liu Xingchen had told him the truth or if he was targeting Jiang Hao.

Of course, Jiang Hao was terrified of evidence being found against him.

The next morning, when Jiang Hao stepped out of his door, he saw Liu Xingchen standing outside. 'As expected, he is here,' thought Jiang Hao.

"Junior Brother, we meet again." Liu Xingchen said. "Let's talk inside."