84: Chapter 84 Chen Jingrao's True Purpose

"You..."

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao stared with wide, astonished eyes.

"I actually lost at the hands of someone like you?"

A look of disbelief was plastered on his face.

Xia Shaoxin stabbed Senior Brother Chen Jingrao with his sword, then quickly retreated.

His intention was for the two Senior Brothers to deliver the finishing blow.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran, however, shouted in shock: "Little Xia, you, do you really intend to kill him?"

Senior Brother Shao Junwei slapped him from behind: "Wake up! This Chen fellow has been trying to kill us all along!"

"Ah!" Senior Brother Liang Ruoran snapped back to reality.

Scratching his head, he said: "I didn't think about killing him, really. I thought capturing him and handing him over to the Elder to deal with would be enough."

"Can you control him?" Senior Brother Shao Junwei demanded.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran glanced at Senior Brother Chen Jingrao, looking completely lost.

Having Cultivated for so many years, he had never engaged in a life-or-death struggle with anyone. On one side was the Sect's rules, on the other, a test of life and death.

It indeed required some time to adapt to this shift in mindset.

"Little Xia, you did the right thing. This kind of person didn't intend to let us go just now; we cannot be soft-hearted!" Senior Brother Shao Junwei encouraged Xia Shaoxin.

These two Senior Brothers had never killed an enemy before. They had been quite brave during the fight, but now that the enemy had temporarily lost his ability to attack, they were standing there like fools, debating whether he should be killed.

Although Senior Brother Chen Jingrao had been stabbed in the chest, he was still dangerous.

Xia Shaoxin sighed inwardly. Forget it, I'll do all the dirty work myself!

He stepped forward again, thrusting his sword tip toward Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's heart.

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao twisted his body, causing the thrust to miss and strike his stomach instead.

Roar—

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao reached out and struck. His entire belly of fury was concentrated in that palm, which hit Xia Shaoxin and instantly sent him flying several feet away.

The two Senior Brothers were dumbfounded, their eyes wide as they looked at Xia Shaoxin, then at Senior Brother Chen Jingrao.

They seemed unable to understand why Xia Shaoxin was still attacking.

Nor did they understand why Senior Brother Chen Jingrao was still so strong.

The two Elder brothers' combat experience was zero.

A large amount of blood flowed from under Senior Brother Chen Jingrao. He had been wounded in a vital spot and wouldn't live long; finally, a look of terror appeared in his eyes.

"Do you really intend to kill me?"

Xia Shaoxin had been hit quite hard, but fortunately, Senior Brother Chen Jingrao was severely injured and his strength greatly reduced; otherwise, he would have truly been killed by that strike.

"Isn't it you who wanted to kill the three of us?"

"Ah..."

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's eyes grew unfocused, and he was left speechless.

Xia Shaoxin climbed up. His sword was near Senior Brother Chen Jingrao. He walked over to Senior Brother Shao Junwei and retrieved his longsword.

"What are you doing?" Senior Brother Shao Junwei asked foolishly.

Xia Shaoxin acted as if he hadn't heard, walking step by step toward Senior Brother Chen Jingrao.

"You really intend to kill me!" Senior Brother Chen Jingrao was somewhat startled.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran suddenly spoke up: "How about we tie him up and hand him over to Elder Qian?"

Xia Shaoxin's sword tip pressed against Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's heart.

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao no longer had the strength to dodge.

"You are being this deranged for no simple reason. Your true motive is to hoard the poison essence root grass, right?"

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao glared angrily, shaking his head with difficulty.

Just as Senior Brother Chen Jingrao didn't believe Xia Shaoxin hadn't obtained the poison essence root grass, Xia Shaoxin didn't believe that someone could act so crazily merely for the Elder's ethereal reward.

The two Senior Brothers, Shao and Liang, had come to the Forbidden Ground with no intention of looking for the poison essence root grass at all; they only wanted to find the Pavilion and stay in the safe zone.

Exposed mercilessly, Senior Brother Chen Jingrao said miserably: "That's right, you saw through it."

"How did you hide it?" Xia Shaoxin was curious.

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao looked at the two large wounds on his body, knowing he was finished.

Seemingly having made up his mind, he chuckled.

"I have a small Magical Artifact called a Fish Gut Pouch. I can put the poison essence root grass inside it and swallow it into my stomach. I thought, Elder Qian would never be able to find it, right?"

The two Senior Brothers, Shao and Liang, were even more shocked. So that was it! No wonder this guy was so deranged, insisting on killing the three of them; it was truly to hide the treasure.

"Where is the Fish Gut Pouch? Is it a Magical Artifact?" Senior Brother Shao Junwei was very interested.

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao tremblingly pulled an object from his bosom. Before they could see it clearly, they saw his hand tremble, and a powerful burst of Qi erupted from his palm, shattering the Fish Gut Pouch.

"Heh heh, I won't give it to you."

A victorious smile appeared on Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's face.

Xia Shaoxin laughed out loud: "You guessed wrong. I really didn't find the poison essence root grass?"

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao looked disdainful: "Right, right, right..."

"Believe it or not."

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's cheek twitched, and he glared at Xia Shaoxin with resentment: "You can't take it away. In fact, I had already privately reminded Elder Qian to search you when leaving the Forbidden Ground!"

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran sighed: "You are so insidious. The Elder surely wouldn't have paid attention to you regarding the suggestion you made, not knowing you had a method to hoard the poison essence root grass!"

"The plan was perfect, but my luck was bad," Senior Brother Chen Jingrao said with a mournful face.

"This is your fate," Xia Shaoxin said.

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's eyes sharpened, and he muttered: "Fate?"

"If it is meant to be yours, you will eventually have it; humph, if it is not meant to be yours, do not force it."

A few tears rolled from Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's eyes, and his lips trembled: "Bullshit! What fate, what destiny, it's all bullshit!"

Xia Shaoxin didn't want to waste any more words. Senior Brother Chen Jingrao had seen him dig up the poison essence root grass, but he would never have guessed that it had been sacrificed.

If he were really escorted before the Elder, it would be impossible to explain.

"Do it. Falling into the Elder's hands is also death."

Xia Shaoxin did not hesitate; he thrust the sword tip forward, piercing his chest.

Ah, ah ah...

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao cried out a few times, rolled his eyes back, and died.

Senior Brother Shao Junwei stared blankly, and Senior Brother Liang Ruoran stared blankly as well.

"You... sigh, I forgot, before you came to the Chiyan Sect, you had already killed many people." Senior Brother Shao Junwei sighed.

"You have also killed people in the Chiyan Sect," Senior Brother Liang Ruoran added.

"I have never killed innocent people," Xia Shaoxin said calmly. "Those I killed were all people who wanted to kill me."

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran muttered: "Even so, you are too ruthless. I have never killed anyone."

"Neither have I," Senior Brother Shao Junwei lamented.

"Because you both come from good families, when would you have the chance to kill anyone? You haven't even had the chance to kill a pig."

Xia Shaoxin emptied Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's belongings.

There were no Spirit Talismans, no Magical Artifacts, just an empty Storage Pouch—a low-grade item equivalent to five burlap sacks.

It seems Senior Brother Chen's Spirit Stones were all spent on Cultivating; his home was bare.

Senior Brother Shao Junwei stepped forward and retrieved his sword.

Seeing the blood on the blade, he said with disgust: "This sword has seen blood for the first time, but it wasn't me who caused it."

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran was somewhat panicked, pointing at Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's corpse and asking: "What do we do with this?"

"I have never had to dispose of a corpse for someone I killed," Xia Shaoxin said indifferently.

Leaving the corpse in the wilderness is the greatest respect for an enemy.

Besides, this is the Forbidden Ground; truly, heaven doesn't know, and earth doesn't know.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran sighed; after all, he was a fellow disciple, so they should bury him.

Suddenly, rustling sounds came from all around, as if something was rushing toward them.

The three looked up and saw a swarm of insects with many legs—not Hundred-Legged Centipedes, but another kind, surging toward them like a tide.

Their scalps went numb instantly, and without caring about Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's corpse, they took to their heels and ran.

Those insects crawled all over Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's body and quickly devoured it clean, helping them destroy the evidence of the crime for free.