Zhuge Yuan's footsteps, as heavy as a death knell, rang out one by one in the late-night corridor.
Behind him followed two rows of black-clothed guards holding sharp blades. These were the "Shadow Guards" of the Zhuge Clan, death warriors who obeyed only the Clan Head's orders. Each of their faces was covered with a dark iron mask, revealing only pairs of emotionless eyes. The biting killing intent emanating from them seemed to freeze the air along the way into ice.
When Zhuge Yuan pushed open the door of that quiet room, a thick smell of blood and burnt medicinal herbs assailed his nostrils, making his already somber face even uglier.
The first thing he saw was the Third Elder, Zhuge Lie, lying in a pool of blood, his breath faint.
The second thing he saw was his son, Zhuge Xuan, standing at the door, his face as pale as paper, his wrist still bleeding, yet his eyes were frighteningly bright.
Finally, his gaze fell on the wreckage of the pill furnace, which had been blown to pieces.
The entire scene was tragic and silent, like a solidified painting depicting betrayal and destruction.
Uncle Quan stood to the side, his head bowed low, without a word. He had already reported everything that had just happened to the Clan Head in the most concise language. Of course, what he said was the version that Zhuge Xuan had let him "see" — the Third Elder, anxious for his grandnephew, had recklessly broken in, causing the pill refining to fail, the pill furnace to explode, and both of them to be severely injured.
"Father," Zhuge Xuan's voice was very soft, yet exceptionally clear. "You're here."
Zhuge Yuan did not answer him immediately, but strode to Zhuge Lie's side, knelt down, and personally checked his injuries. A moment later, he stood up, his expression no longer describable as somber; it was the dead silence before a storm.
"Men," his voice was hoarse and cold. "Carry the Third Elder... back. Use the best medicine, at all costs, to keep him alive."
Two Shadow Guards immediately stepped forward, carefully lifted the already unconscious Zhuge Lie, and quickly left the scene.
Only then did Zhuge Yuan turn his eyes, which were burning with rage, to his own son.
"Is this the result you wanted?" he squeezed this sentence out from between his teeth.
"This is the best result," Zhuge Xuan's reply was so calm it was almost cruel. He met his father's murderous gaze without the slightest flinch. "To trade a severely injured me and a severely injured Third Elder for a legitimate opportunity to clean house, this is a very good bargain."
"Clean house?" Zhuge Yuan laughed in extreme anger. "Just based on your one-sided story? Just based on this self-directed play of inflicting injury on oneself to win trust? Xuan'er, do you think that your father is old and muddled, that I can let you fool around like this?!"
A majestic pressure erupted from his body, like a great mountain, pressing down fiercely on Zhuge Xuan.
However, facing this pressure that was enough to make an ordinary Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator unsteady, Zhuge Xuan's seemingly weak body only swayed slightly before standing straight again, like a spear that would rather break than bend.
A faint arc even curved up at the corner of his mouth.
"Father, you are angry, not because you don't believe what I said."
His voice, like a sharp scalpel, precisely dissected the conflict and struggle deep in Zhuge Yuan's heart.
"You are angry because... you have long suspected it, but have never found conclusive evidence, or rather, you have been subconsciously unwilling to believe this fact."
Zhuge Yuan's pupils shrank violently.
"You are unwilling to believe that the cousin who grew up with you and worked with you for decades would betray you, betray the entire clan. You are unwilling to believe that the inside of the Zhuge Clan has already rotted to such an extent. So, you need an excuse, an excuse that can make you determined to raise the butcher's knife. And I..."
Zhuge Xuan stretched out his blood-stained hand and gently pointed to his own chest.
"...am your best excuse."
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Zhuge Yuan stared intently at his son, his chest heaving violently. He wanted to retort, but found that he could not say a single word.
Because, everything Zhuge Xuan said was right.
As the head of a clan, how could he be unaware of Zhuge Ming's recent small movements? How could he be indifferent to the feigned compliance of those branch families?
It was just that maintaining the operation of a huge clan never required only thunderous methods; more often, it required compromise and balance. He had been waiting, waiting for an opportunity that would allow him to break this balance without causing violent turmoil in the clan.
He had thought that this opportunity was the rise of his son. He wanted to wait for Zhuge Xuan to grow up, to take over the position of Clan Head justifiably with his absolute talent and strength. At that time, he would slowly and gently reform and cleanse the clan.
But he had never thought that this opportunity would eventually arrive in such a tragic and extreme way.
And the one who pushed all of this was the one before him, the one who should have been the most important piece on his chessboard, but who had now, in turn, made him a chess piece... his own son.
"Uncle Quan," after a long time, Zhuge Yuan finally spoke slowly, his voice full of weariness. "You may leave first. Seal this entire courtyard. I don't want a fifth person to know what happened tonight."
"Yes, Clan Head," Uncle Quan bowed and retreated silently, gently closing the door of the quiet room from the outside.
Only the father and son were left in the room.
"Do you have any idea how much risk you are taking by doing this?" Zhuge Yuan's voice finally regained a trace of calmness, but under that calmness, there was a turbulent undercurrent. "Once any single link goes wrong, you will be beyond redemption! Not only you, the entire Zhuge Clan will be dragged into the abyss by you!"
"I know," Zhuge Xuan's answer was still as light as a cloud. "Wealth is sought in danger. To bring a dead game to life, one must take risky moves. Being indecisive and timid will only lead to us being boiled like a frog in warm water, dying silently."
He walked up to his father, raised his head, and the flickering candlelight was reflected in his clear and deep eyes.
"Father, the times have changed. What our Zhuge Clan needs is no longer a monarch who maintains the status quo, but a... hegemon who can expand our territory."
"I ask myself, I cannot be that monarch who maintains the status quo."
"So, I can only choose... to become a hegemon."
Looking at the undisguised ambition and sharpness in his son's eyes, Zhuge Yuan's heart was filled with mixed feelings. There was gratification, there was pride, but more than that, there was a kind of... apprehension that even he himself couldn't describe.
He suddenly realized that his son, after walking through the gates of hell, seemed to have been completely reborn. His mind, his strategy, his ruthlessness, had all far exceeded his control.
This made him feel a trace of fear from being out of control.
"After tonight, what do you plan to do?" he asked in a deep voice. This question was equivalent to tacitly approving Zhuge Xuan's plan.
Zhuge Xuan's gaze tightened, the light catching in his eyes like the edge of a drawn blade.
"Very simple."
"First step, announce this matter to the public on the grounds that 'the Third Elder was visiting the Young Master but was unfortunately severely injured by an out-of-control pill furnace'. In this way, the pro-war elders and deacons of the Third Elder's faction will surely be filled with righteous indignation. And their anger needs an outlet."
"Second step, you will personally order a thorough investigation of the medicine pantry. Say that there was a problem with the medicinal materials provided by the medicine pantry, which led to the failure of the pill refining. I want this fire to start burning from the bottom."
"Third step, and the most crucial step," Zhuge Xuan's voice was extremely low, like the whisper of a demon. "You must 'inadvertently' learn a 'shocking' piece of news from the mouth of the medicine pantry's manager—it turns out that the mastermind behind all of this is actually... the Fifth Elder, Zhuge Ming!"
"Because he coveted the position of Clan Head, he colluded with foreign enemies. First, he secretly harmed me, and now, he wants to use the matter of the medicinal materials to kill two birds with one stone, to get rid of me and the Third Elder, the two biggest obstacles at the same time!"
Zhuge Yuan's breathing suddenly stopped.
What a move of turning the tables and framing someone!
This plan was vicious! Insidious! But... it was also flawless!
Because this was precisely what Zhuge Ming was most likely to do! It was consistent with Zhuge Ming's usual logic of action!
As long as it was handled properly, Zhuge Ming would not be able to wash this dirty water off himself!
"At that time, the evidence will be conclusive, and both human and material evidence will be present. The anger of the Third Elder's faction will have a clear target. You can then go with the flow and, as the Clan Head, order the arrest of the traitor..."
A cold arc formed at the corner of Zhuge Xuan's mouth.
"Father, tell me, at that time, even if he, Zhuge Ming, had three heads and six arms, could he still escape from your grasp?"
Zhuge Yuan was silent.
He looked at his son before him, who was talking eloquently, playing with people's hearts and conspiracies in the palm of his hand, and a deep sense of powerlessness suddenly surged in his heart.
He knew that starting from tonight, the sky of this Zhuge Clan was really going to change.
And the one leading this change was not him, the Clan Head.
But the one before him, only 15 years old, yet possessed a monstrous heart that was colder than thousand-year-old ice and deeper than a ten-thousand-zhang abyss.
After a long time, he finally forced two words from the depths of his throat.
"Approved."