The Great Hall, once bustling with the elite of the Western Province, was now a tomb of flickering candles and long shadows. The Mo and Shen families had been escorted to the Jade Willow Pavilions to rest, leaving only the two highest authorities of the Han Clan behind.
Han Xion stood by the empty pedestal, his fingers trembling as he touched the cold stone where the Stone of Rebirth had sat for centuries.
Han Xion: "Elder... my heart is uneasy. The Blood-Lock Array did not kill him. It did not even singe his clothes. That boy has lived in our stables for ten years. If he had Han blood, the testing stones would have glowed when he was a child. This is a crack in our very foundation."
Elder Han Mo stepped out of the darkness, his Peak Foundation aura dampening the sound of the wind outside. He looked at the Patriarch with eyes that were cold and pragmatic.
Elder Han Mo: "Patriarch, you must stop thinking like a judge and start thinking like a Sovereign. If the Mo Clan suspects our blood-array is failing, or that a 'trash' servant found a loophole, they will not marry into our family. They will invade us."
Han Xion: "But the truth—"
Elder Han Mo: "The truth is whatever we write in the clan records tomorrow morning." (He stepped closer, his voice a sharp whisper.) "The boy is a thief. He used a high-level concealment talisman provided by a rogue spy from a rival province. We have 'found' evidence of this in the servants' quarters. That is the story. That is the only story."
Han Xion: (His shoulders slumped) "And the other servants? You ordered a purge."
Elder Han Mo: "A necessary sacrifice. We will execute three senior footmen alongside the boy at dawn. It will look like a coordinated conspiracy. It satisfies the Mo family's need for blood and hides our shame beneath a pile of corpses."
Han Xion: "He was just a boy, Han Mo. He had those strange eyes... sometimes I wondered if—"
Elder Han Mo: "He is a dead man, Han Xion. Do not let a ghost ruin the future of the Han Clan. Go to your chambers and prepare for the wedding negotiations. I will oversee the 'interrogations' in the dungeon personally to ensure no other... truths... leak out."
Han Xion turned away, his silence a sign of his surrender. Elder Han Mo watched him leave, a cruel light in his eyes. He didn't care about the boy or the servants. He only cared that the Han Clan remained the tiger of the Western Province, even if that tiger was rotting from the inside.
Han Jun paced his room like a caged animal, his expensive silk robes soaked in cold sweat. Outside, the rhythmic clanging of armor signaled that the "purge" of the servants had begun.
A heavy, rhythmic knock sounded at the door. Before Han Jun could answer, it swung open.
Standing there was Mo Zhen, the Head of the Mo Clan. He was a man with a sharp, wolf-like beard and eyes that glittered with cold ambition. He didn't wait for an invitation; he stepped in and locked the door behind him with a flick of his sleeve, sealing the room with a privacy ward.
Mo Zhen: "You fool. You nearly ruined everything." (His voice was low, vibrating with the power of his Foundation Establishment cultivation.)
Han Jun: (Gasping, his face turning from pale to ghostly white) "Lord Mo Zhen! I... I didn't know! I followed the map you gave me. I waited until the guards rotated. But the moment I lifted the Stone of Rebirth, that cursed array ignited! No one told me there was an array on the pedestal!"
Mo Zhen: "Silence! If your Patriarch hadn't been so distracted by my presence, he would have realized a mortal servant couldn't even touch that pedestal without being turned to ash. You were careless."
Han Jun: "I had to act fast! I shoved the stone onto the white-haired brat, Han Ye. He's in the Black Water Dungeon now. Everyone believes he's the thief. But... Lord Mo Zhen, if they use soul-searching on him, or if the Patriarch thinks too hard about the blood-array..."
Mo Zhen: (He walked over to the window, looking out toward the dark silhouette of the dungeon.) "Then we must ensure the boy never sees the sunrise. My support for you as the next Head of the Han Clan depends on that stone being in my hands, not your father's."
Han Jun: "The stone... it's back in the Ancestry Hall. The guards took it from the brat immediately."
Mo Zhen: "Let it sit there for now. It is 'safe' under your family's guard. Once the boy is executed and the chaos settles, you will take it again. But first..." (Mo Zhen turned, his eyes narrowing.) "I will send one of my shadow guards to the dungeon tonight. We cannot risk the boy talking. A dead servant tells no tales, and a 'suicide' in the cell will end your father's investigation permanently."
Han Jun: (A cruel, relieved smile slowly spreading across his face) "Yes... a suicide. He couldn't handle the guilt of betraying the family that 'raised' him. It's perfect."