Watching the slightly excited look in Zhou Xuan's eyes, the elder in black knew that Zhou Xuan had obviously guessed what he wanted to say. He just wasn't sure about his conjecture yet! Since that was the case, he would be the one to reassure Zhou Xuan.
"Are what you said all true?"
Zhou Xuan, still reeling from Zhuge Qingfeng's previous words, took a deep breath after a long while. He slowly suppressed the excitement in his heart. He couldn't be blamed for losing his composure! The surprise Zhuge Qingfeng brought him was simply too immense. After all, ever since the incident that befell the Zhou family ten years ago, and after he was taken away by his master, Zhou Xuan had never heard any news about his relatives. For years, Zhou Xuan had believed that his family had all perished in that incident ten years ago. However, Zhuge Qingfeng's arrival today brought him a different answer.
"Yes!" he affirmed. "Since no one ever found their bodies, why should I assume they are definitely dead? Luo Changying did say he smelled blood at the ruins of the Zhou family! But what does that prove? Does the smell of blood necessarily mean death?" Zhou Xuan stood where he was, questioning himself. All this time, his vision had been clouded by the information and clues from his surroundings. But now, with Zhuge Qingfeng's enlightenment, after careful recollection, Zhou Xuan realized that there wasn't a single clue that definitively stated his relatives had perished! It was all just his preconceived notion. Who said his relatives were definitely dead? As the old saying goes, "If they are alive, you see them; if they are dead, you see their bodies." With no bodies found, the situation logically could only be defined as missing! It could not be defined as them being dead!
"You're asking me now if what I said is true or false! I apologize, but I cannot give you a precise answer to this question! Because even though their bodies haven't been found, no one has truly seen them again in these past ten-plus years either! So, I can only provide you with a clue! If you want to ask me about the accuracy of this clue, you are indeed making things difficult for me! However, I can also tell you that the Qin family was indeed involved in the Zhou family's affairs back then! If you want to know the answers to everything, you will probably need to find a breakthrough from them! How about it? Are you satisfied with my intelligence, young friend? If you are satisfied, perhaps you could let my niece go?"
After speaking, Zhuge Qingfeng stroked his beard with a smile. He had made his stance clear to Zhou Xuan. If Zhou Xuan was still not satisfied, then he had no other option but to resort to force. The reason he spoke so courteously to Zhou Xuan was not because he feared him. It was purely because he naturally preferred to study various peculiar medicinal formulas and disliked fighting. Most importantly, their Zhuge family had no existing enmity with Zhou Xuan. Instead of exchanging harsh words and creating a formidable enemy with prodigious talent, it would be better to let the other party deal with the Qin family. He didn't have a good impression of the Qin family anyway. Even though Zhuge Qing'er and Qin Wan'er were good friends, it didn't mean the Zhuge family had a good relationship with the Qin family. On the contrary, the five great families were always engaged in various open and covert struggles, manifesting as "you hit me today, I beat him tomorrow, and he hammers you the day after!" Thus, the five great families only maintained a balance, and there was no such thing as one family having a very good relationship with another. Because they were in a competitive relationship. If a family truly had a very good relationship with another, there would only be one possibility: one of the families had already been annexed by another, becoming a subordinate entity. Otherwise, this situation would never happen!
"What are you talking about, Senior Qingfeng!" Zhou Xuan pondered with a frown for a moment after hearing Zhuge Qingfeng's question. "Of course, I'm satisfied with your intelligence! You can take her away! But Senior, please remember what you promised me! Don't go back on your word! Otherwise, even though Zhou Xuan is young, he is not someone to be trifled with!" Finally, he decided to let her go. His thoughts were not much different from Zhuge Qingfeng's. He was already at odds with the Qin family, and if he were to fall out with another family with similar power at this moment, his situation would truly be precarious! Since the other party had shown sufficient goodwill and had no intention of clashing with him, Zhou Xuan was naturally happy to go with the flow. However, he had truly offended the Qin family badly today, so he naturally had to remind them of the important matters.
"Haha!" Zhou Xuan nodded with satisfaction upon hearing Zhuge Qingfeng's words. He immediately retrieved the medicinal pill he had just given to Zhuge Qing'er and offered a cupped-fist apology to her. "You can rest assured about this, young friend! I am willing to stake my life on it! Qing'er is by no means someone who doesn't know what's good for her! She knows what should be said and what shouldn't be said! So it is very good! Miss Qing'er, I apologize! I apologize for my rash actions just now!"
"Heh," Zhuge Qing'er said, clearly not appeased after being forced to consume the Soul Devouring Pill. She interrupted Zhou Xuan's apology with a cold snort. "Save it, I dare not accept your apology! Can I leave now?"
"Haha, of course, you can!" Seeing Zhuge Qing'er's demeanor, Zhou Xuan was not annoyed. He responded with a cheerful laugh. "Hmph!" Upon hearing Zhou Xuan's affirmative reply, Zhuge Qing'er snorted coldly again. She then helped up Qin Wan'er, who had been unconscious for a long time, and quickly walked back to Zhuge Qingfeng's side.
"Heh," Zhuge Qingfeng said. "Since everything has been cleared up, I won't overstay my welcome! If you have time to visit Shangjing in the future, young friend, you can come directly to the Zhuge family to find me! I will definitely prepare good tea and entertain you well!" Seeing that Zhuge Qing'er had returned to his side, Zhuge Qingfeng knew that Zhou Xuan had other matters to attend to. After exchanging a few pleasantries with Zhou Xuan, he directly channeled his inner energy, grabbed Lin Hui, who was still lying on the ground not far away, and then the group quickly left the Li family's manor under Zhou Xuan's watch.
"Alright!" Zhou Xuan let out a soft breath after the figures of Zhuge Qingfeng and his group had completely disappeared from the Li family courtyard. He then slowly turned around. Looking at Li Zicheng, who hadn't spoken for a long time, he revealed a slightly devilish smile.
Kuaishu Ge