Uncle Quan's pupils contracted into the most dangerous pinpoints in an instant.
Almost instinctively, he rushed to the side of the Third Elder, Zhuge Lie, in a single stride. He placed his hand on his pulse, and a stream of pure spiritual energy carefully probed into his body. A moment later, his face became incredibly ugly.
Meridians in disarray, internal organs burned!
The power of the pill furnace explosion just now was far beyond his imagination. Although the Third Elder was a strong practitioner at the late stage of the Spirit Condensation Realm, being completely unprepared and taking the hit at such a close distance, he had already suffered extremely severe internal injuries!
"Young Master! You..." Uncle Quan raised his head abruptly, looking at the young man who was still sitting cross-legged in front of the pill furnace. For the first time, his eyes showed horror and confusion.
What on earth was going on?
Why did the Young Master watch as the Third Elder broke in, and even at the most critical moment, detonate the pill furnace to severely injure him? Although the Third Elder was reckless, his love for the Young Master was witnessed by the entire clan!
However, Zhuge Xuan seemed not to have seen Uncle Quan's questioning gaze.
His eyes, still coldly fixed on Zhuge Lie who was struggling to get up from the ground, the strange smile on his lips not only did not disappear, but widened.
"Third Grandfather, do you find it... very strange?"
His voice echoed in the scorching quiet room, carrying a trace of playful cruelty. "You were clearly acting out of good intentions, wanting to stop your ignorant grandnephew from doing something foolish, but why... did you end up in such a state?"
Zhuge Lie clutched his chest, which was in excruciating pain, and another mouthful of blood welled up. He stared intently at Zhuge Xuan, his cloudy old eyes filled with shock, pain, and a bone-chilling coldness of being betrayed by his closest kin.
"You... you... plotted against me?" He squeezed these few words from between his teeth, each word as if it had exhausted all his strength.
"Plotted?" Zhuge Xuan shook his head gently, a look of compassion on his face. "No, how could I plot against you? I was just... making use of your cheap and foolish 'care'."
He slowly stood up. Due to excessive blood loss, his body swayed slightly, but he quickly steadied himself. He walked towards Zhuge Lie, step by step, each step as if treading on everyone's heart.
"Do you want to know why you are here?" He walked up to Zhuge Lie and looked down at him condescendingly, his voice as soft as a lover's whisper. "Because, someone needed you to be here. And I, also needed you to be here."
He stretched out his uninjured right hand and gently wiped the blood from the corner of Zhuge Lie's mouth, his movements as gentle as if he were handling a rare treasure.
"Did you know? Just as you were rushing over here in a rage to condemn me, what was that 'mindful of the bigger picture,' 'mature and prudent' Fifth Uncle in your eyes, Zhuge Ming, doing?"
A demonic light flickered in Zhuge Xuan's eyes.
"He was in his own study, leisurely sipping tea, waiting to hear the news of you, his elder, being 'accidentally' severely injured by me."
"What?!"
Not only Zhuge Lie, but even Uncle Quan at the side, was completely stunned.
"This... this is impossible!" Zhuge Lie subconsciously retorted. "Fifth Brother, he... why would he do that? He and I... although we have different political views, but... it wouldn't go so far as..."
"Wouldn't go so far?" Zhuge Xuan laughed, a laugh full of irony. "Third Grandfather, you are truly... adorably naive. You think he just has different political views from you? You think he really advocated bowing to the Wang family for the sake of the clan's survival?"
He slowly squatted down, meeting Zhuge Lie's shocked eyes, and word by word, spoke a cruel fact that was enough to subvert the entire Zhuge Clan's perception.
"Then guess again, at the Qingyang Banquet, why did my spiritual energy suddenly stagnate, allowing that waste Wang Teng to easily succeed? Was it really because my skills were inferior?"
Zhuge Lie's breathing suddenly stopped!
A terrifying thought, one he had never dared to think deeply about before, like a venomous snake, frantically bit at his sanity!
"It... it was him?!"
"Bingo!" Zhuge Xuan snapped his fingers, the smile on his face becoming brilliant and cold. "It seems you, my elder, are not too muddled after all. That's right, it was him. It was the Fifth Brother in your eyes who is 'mindful of the bigger picture' who personally planned all of this. It was he who bribed the guard by my side and gave me the 'Spirit Locking Powder.' It was also he who colluded with the Wang and Li families behind the scenes, all for the sake of completely stomping me, this so-called 'hope of the clan,' into the mud!"
"And his reason for doing so is also very simple." Zhuge Xuan's tone became haunting, full of temptation. "Because, as long as I am crippled, Father will be heartbroken and his spirit will surely be greatly diminished. And you, this hot-tempered, pro-war elder, were used by him as a weapon, came running to me, and were 'accidentally' severely injured by me... Tell me, at that time, in the entire Zhuge Clan's council of elders, who else... could contend with him?"
"At that time, he would only need to use a few more tricks, for example, to find evidence of Father's decision-making mistakes, and then unite with those branch families that were already wavering... Wouldn't the position of the Zhuge Clan Head become his for the taking?"
Boom!
Every sentence from Zhuge Xuan was like a clap of thunder, exploding in the minds of Zhuge Lie and Uncle Quan!
They were so stunned by this earth-shattering secret that they were dizzy and couldn't say a word for a long time.
They couldn't believe, nor could they accept, that the Fifth Elder, who usually seemed gentle and elegant and always thought for the clan, would be a traitor who harbored such ill intentions and was so sinister and vicious!
"No... I don't believe it... This is all your one-sided story!" Zhuge Lie panted heavily. He couldn't accept this fact; it was more painful than letting him die. "Evidence! Do you have evidence?!"
"Evidence?" Zhuge Xuan stood up, dusted off the non-existent dust on his sleeves, the smile on his face gradually fading, replaced by an absolute indifference.
"I never need evidence when I do things."
"I only need... a result."
He turned around, no longer looking at Zhuge Lie on the ground, but cast his gaze on the pill furnace that was now completely scrapped and still emitting wisps of green smoke.
"Now, we have a witness." He pointed at Zhuge Lie on the ground. "You are the best witness. A... poor elder who was anxious about his grandson, came to stop his grandson from doing something foolish, but was affected by the pill furnace explosion and was severely injured."
Then, he pointed to the still-bleeding wound on his own wrist, and the mess in the room.
"We also have physical evidence."
"A... desperate genius who did not hesitate to self-harm in order to reshape his meridians, but because of an outsider's intrusion, the pill refining failed, and all his efforts went down the drain."
His gaze finally fell on Uncle Quan's uncertain face.
"And you, Uncle Quan," his voice became exceptionally calm, "you will be the... witness to all of this."
Uncle Quan's heart sank. He finally understood. He finally understood what the Young Master's almost insane actions tonight were for!
This was a setup!
A net that had ensnared everyone from the very beginning!
Zhuge Xuan first deliberately released the news that he was going to refine the "Meridian Tempering Pill" to lure Zhuge Ming into borrowing a knife to kill someone.
Then, he used the Third Elder's uprightness and care, making him willingly step into this trap and become the "intruder."
Finally, he even used self-harm to detonate the pill furnace, creating the tragic scene of mutual destruction!
He used his and the Third Elder's "severe injuries" to perfectly create the image of a victim!
And all of this was to hand the sharpest butcher's knife, justifiably, into the hands of the Clan Head, Zhuge Yuan!
A traitor who colluded with foreign enemies, harmed the clan's qilin-child, and even went so far as to plot to severely injure a clan elder...
Faced with such a person, any clan head would make the most decisive, and also the most cruel, choice!
"Young Master... you... you want to..." Uncle Quan's voice was extremely dry. He was completely stunned by Zhuge Xuan's interlocking and extremely ruthless methods.
Zhuge Xuan did not answer him.
He just slowly walked to the door of the quiet room and pulled open the heavy stone door.
Outside the door, the night wind was slightly cool.
He raised his head, looked at the waning moon in the sky, and said softly in an almost chanting tone:
"Uncle Quan, go and invite Father over."
"Just say... the house needs a good cleaning."
"Some termites have been hiding for too long and have almost forgotten who the master of this house is."