"Don’t spout nonsense!" the leader snapped.
"He’s not lying." Xi ger was helped out of the house by the leader's a-die, followed by Brother Hua, limping and supported by Yao ger.
The leader's a-die, seeing the person in the leader’s arms, lost control of his breathing. He stepped forward and slapped the leader hard across the face, his voice thick with fury and hatred. "Why are you still holding him?! He killed A-Yu!"
His eyes burned with hatred as he stared at Yue ger, as if he wanted to strangle him with his own hands.
The leader dodged, jostling the person in his arms, who groaned in pain, his face twisting.
"A-Yue…" The leader’s heart ached as he held the ger gently, calling his name. But the ger remained unconscious, only whimpering instinctively from the pain.
Xi ger glanced at Yue ger. His face was covered in bloody gashes, so mangled he was nearly unrecognizable—only the outline of his features gave him away.
His clothes were in tatters, his arms hung limply at his sides, several fingers bitten off, with one or two barely hanging on by threads of flesh. A long, deep gash ran across his wrist—a wound from a blade. Though it had been treated and was no longer bleeding, his lower body was almost completely ruined, hidden only by the blanket the leader had wrapped around him.
Xi ger’s eyes flickered with a trace of pity before being replaced by something more complicated.
"Reaping what he sowed…" he murmured bitterly, then turned his head away, refusing to look anymore.
Leaning against the doorframe, he stepped forward—only then did everyone see that he had lost a foot.
The leader's a-die hurried to support him. Xi ger said weakly, "Jin ger was truly framed. Yu ger died from Heart-Severing Poison… That poison was originally given to A-Yue—to Yue ger for self-defense. I gave it to him a long time ago…"
"Impossible!" The leader stared in shock at the fragile, delicate figure in his arms. How could someone so weak… so frail, possibly be a murderer?
Xi ger said, "Believe it or not, not only was Yu ger poisoned, but the food originally prepared for A-jin was also laced with poison. Yue ger’s plan was to kill Wang Jin. On top of that, his illness was fake. His weakness came from deliberately taking Heart-Severing poison, all to deceive you, leader, to deceive Uncle... to trick you into asking Brother Heng to find medicine for him, just to send Brother Heng away... so he could target A-jin."
"!" The crowd was stunned, then broke into hushed whispers.
"That banquet was supposed to clear up misunderstandings with Jin ger! Turns out it was all a setup for Yue ger to kill him!"
"No wonder Jin ger refused to come back then, he must’ve known Yue ger had it out for him!"
"Yue ger was like this all along? But he was always so kind to us, giving out meat and fruit..."
"Was it all an act...?"
"Then he’s truly terrifying..."
The crowd stared at Yue ger as if he were some kind of monster, backing away. Before, even when he was severely injured, some had been afraid but none had avoided him in disgust. Now, they shrank from him like he was a savage beast—even though he hadn’t even woken up yet.
They avoided Yue ger, and by extension, the leader who was holding him...
For a moment, the leader stood isolated, cut off from everyone, looking utterly helpless...
The leader's a-die watched, grinding his teeth in fury!
He never should have agreed to this marriage, it had ruined his son!
After this, how could his son still command any respect?
Not only had he ruined his eldest son, but he had also lost his Yu ger...
All because of this Yue ger, all because of him!!
The leader's a-die burned with hatred, his eyes gleaming with malice.
"!" The leader stared down at the person in his arms, murmuring in disbelief, "He’s so kind-hearted, he wouldn’t..."
"Enough!" The leader's a-die couldn’t take it anymore. He stepped forward and roared, "Open your eyes! Did I raise you to be this blind?!"
Pointing at Yue ger, he spat, "Kind-hearted? If he were kind-hearted, would he have used raw meat to lure a beast just to kill someone? So reckless! Even if it hurt innocent people, he didn’t care! Did he even think of you when he did this?" The leader's a-die accused bitterly, "Kind-hearted? Ha! If he were kind-hearted, would he have killed A-Yu?!"
"A-die, there must be some misunderstanding. How could A-Yue have killed A-Yu? He clearly—"
"Shut your mouth!" The leader's a-die roared, pointing at the leader like he was hopeless. "He argued with A-Yu countless times at home, and you turned a blind eye! He withheld food from A-Yu, and you turned a blind eye! He took A-Yu’s blankets, his ornaments, bullied him—and you still turned a blind eye! Now, he’s killed A-Yu. Are you going to keep pretending not to see?!"
"No, A-die, it’s not like that..." The leader shook his head. "A-Yue did all that for Xiao Yu’s sake. Xiao Yu was too plump, many beastmen didn’t dare pursue him. At least A-Yue helped him slim down..."
"Help? That was deprivation! He took those things and distributed them to other gers in the tribe to buy their loyalty!" The leader's a-die snapped, then glanced at the other gers’ expressions and abruptly cut himself off, as if he’d said too much.
The leader insisted, "No... A-Yue wouldn’t do this."
His gaze sharpened as he turned to Xi ger. "Xi ger, are you certain of what you saw?!"
"I saw it clearly. My only regret... is not having the courage to expose him sooner." Xi ger looked at the unconscious Yue ger, his eyes flickering with remorse.
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