Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Sharp Eyes
Su Ming was being wronged.

Yu Zhao and Su Ming himself both knew this very clearly, but everyone else simply did not believe his explanation.

Zhou Jin Yue crossed her arms over her chest, her face as cold as ice, with an expression that clearly said, [Say whatever you want. Just see if I believe you.]

Su Ming felt that he could not explain himself even if he had a hundred mouths. He wished he could swear to the heavens to clear his name.

To untie the bell, one must still rely on the person who tied it. He cast a pleading look toward Yu Zhao: “Yu Zhao, you say it! When have I ever hit you?”

He might be a bit unreliable, but he was not someone who would hit a woman, much less his own junior sister.

He was not like Fifth Brother, whose head was full of muscles and who thought about fighting and killing all day long.

Everyone’s eyes instantly turned toward Yu Zhao.

Yu Zhao did not say anything. She only opened her palm, gently nodded in its direction with her chin, then looked at Su Ming with teasing in her eyes.

If he wanted her to open her mouth and explain, that was of course possible.

He just had to return what he owed her first.

If he did not return it?

That was fine. Young people had strong backs, so he could just keep carrying that blame on his back.

Besides, Su Ming was not completely innocent.

The reason Yu Zhao had reacted so strongly was naturally related to her experiences in her previous life.

As her relationship with Ye Cong Xin grew worse and worse, the five senior brothers also completely turned their backs on her. Their attitude toward her went from cold indifference to disgust, and in the end they even resorted to fists and kicks.

Su Ming had once used “guidance” as an excuse to kick and break three of her ribs.

So Yu Zhao did not feel any guilt about “setting up” Su Ming.

Su Ming was not stupid. He immediately realized that Yu Zhao clearly wanted to loot a burning house.

Emotionally, he wanted to stand his ground and reject Yu Zhao’s wishful thinking.

However, reason told him that if he did not find a way to shut Yu Zhao up today, Zhou Jin Yue definitely would not let the matter drop.

And Zhou Jin Yue was the current First Disciple of the Sect Master and the strongest candidate to become the next Sect Master. If he offended her, then even with Master Qing Yan protecting him, Su Ming’s days would not be easy.

Su Ming endured again and again and finally forced down the frustrated anger in his chest: “Senior Sister Zhou, I want to talk with Yu Zhao alone.”

Zhou Jin Yue frowned. She wanted to refuse on Yu Zhao’s behalf, but for many reasons she turned to look at Yu Zhao and asked for her opinion with her eyes.

Yu Zhao nodded without thinking: “All right.”

She had already guessed what Su Ming wanted to talk to her about.

She had come here for this very reason.

Su Ming shouted loudly: “Old Liu!”

Steward Liu bent his waist and hurried forward with a fawning smile: “Young Master Su.”

Su Ming said: “Help me take care of Senior Sister Zhou. I am going to have a good talk with my junior sister.”

When he said the last sentence, he put extra weight on his tone, sounding like he was gritting his teeth.

Yu Zhao did not take his childish threat seriously at all. After saying a word to Zhou Jin Yue, she went upstairs to the second floor with Su Ming.

“Young Master Su…”

The rogue cultivators still standing on the stairs did not want to offend Su Ming but also wanted to watch the show, so their legs stayed planted in place.

“Scram, scram, hurry up and scram!”

How could Su Ming indulge them? After he vented his anger and drove the rogue cultivators away, he entered a private room on the second floor with a dark face.

Yu Zhao followed right behind him.

As soon as they entered, Su Ming could not wait to attack Yu Zhao with words. He shouted: “Yu Zhao, how in the world did I offend you? Why are you harming me like this?”

He was truly angry and also truly confused.

Yu Zhao very much agreed with First Senior Brother’s view that a cultivator’s training should focus on oneself and rely less on Spirit Stones, pills, and other aids, so she did not care much about external things.

Every time he found an excuse to borrow Spirit Stones from Yu Zhao, he had never gone back empty-handed.

But today Yu Zhao acted as if she were possessed. She not only refused his request, but also came straight to Eight Treasures Pavilion to make him pay his debt.

Was this still his meek, timid Sixth Junior Sister who never had any opinions of her own?

The more he looked, the more suspicious he felt. A shocking thought suddenly popped into his head: “Could it be that Yu Zhao was body-seized by that stingy Old Fiend?”

However, facing Su Ming’s questioning, Yu Zhao still answered with only two words: “Pay up.”

Principal and interest.

It would be best if he paid it off in one go.

Su Ming’s thoughts were cut off. He held it in for a long time, and his face almost turned red before he finally blurted out: “I have no money.”

He really had no money.

He did have the status of an Imperial Clan member, but the Imperial Clan was worth nothing in the cultivation world. The gold that was used in the mortal realm was nothing more than a pile of scrap metal here.

Yu Zhao said: “First, give back the ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones you took from the Hall of Merits today.”

“No way.” Su Ming rejected her right away and said with full confidence: “Those Spirit Stones are to buy an entrance gift for Junior Sister. They already have a use, so I cannot use them.”

Yu Zhao almost laughed from anger at Su Ming.

He wanted to use her Spirit Stones to buy a gift for Ye Cong Xin?

Su Ming really was good at giving away another person’s flowers as his own offering to the Buddha.

Luckily, Yu Zhao had already expected this. She gave a meaningful look at the Storage Ring on Su Ming’s finger: “If you have no money, you can use things to pay the debt.”

Her real goal had never been to get back the Spirit Stones he had borrowed, but the things inside Su Ming’s Storage Ring.

Since she had an extra lifetime of memories compared to others, she had to make good use of them so that she would not waste this chance.

When Su Ming heard Yu Zhao’s demand, he froze for a moment, and reluctance showed in his eyes at once.

The things in his Storage Ring, other than what the sect and his Master had given him, were all kinds of strange items he had gathered over the years.

Some were valuable and some were not, but what was rare was the effort he had spent and the feelings he had poured into them.

“Yu Xiao Zhao…” Su Ming tried one last struggle.

Yu Zhao bent her fingers and tapped the table twice, her expression faintly unhappy: “Third Senior Brother, Senior Sister Zhou is still waiting for me downstairs.”

So stop wasting words.

Su Ming’s face turned a mix of green and pale. In the end, when Yu Zhao’s impatience clearly showed and she started to get up to leave, he nodded in humiliation and agreed.

He took out half of his treasured collection and laid them one by one in front of Yu Zhao. In a tone like he was going to his death, he said: “Choose one.”

“One?” The corners of Yu Zhao’s lips lifted, but there was no smile in her eyes: “Third Senior Brother, I just want to ask you one thing. Which one of these can pay for six hundred and ninety eight Mid-grade Spirit Stones?”

Su Ming stammered twice and then fell silent again.

Seeing him quiet down, Yu Zhao finally began seriously looking over the things Su Ming had put on display.

She had to admit that Su Ming had good taste. Each of the items he had collected had its own bright point, more or less.

Among them, a brightly colored feather caught Yu Zhao’s attention.

Su Ming had bought this feather at a high price. It was untouched by water and fire and could not be stained by dust.

Even used only for viewing, it made a person feel that it was worth quite a bit.

But only Yu Zhao knew that this feather actually had a great origin.

In her previous life, it had been with this feather that Su Ming gained the friendship of the White Peacock Clan of Spirit Mountain and got for Ye Cong Xin the White Peacock Feather needed for Artifact Forging.

There was also a small dark turtle shell in the lower right corner, only as big as a palm. It had actually been made by a Grand Adept skilled in divination a thousand years ago.

And so on.

As she recognized several famous heavy treasures from her previous life in a row, Yu Zhao’s face stayed calm, but inside her heart great waves were already surging.

Only now did she truly see Su Ming’s amazing eye and fortune.

As the famous golden thigh of Five Elements Market City, Su Ming had looked through tens of thousands of items, yet he could pick out valuable treasures from a pile of trash and put them into his own pocket.

No wonder the Magical Artifacts Ye Cong Xin carried on her person had been endless and she had gained the title of “Treasure Beauty”. Su Ming had done quite a lot behind the scenes for that.