'In my previous life, me and Shen Ai became orphans because of this very event.'
Tian Yi glanced at Shen Ai before looking in front of him. They have arrived at a large, five story building with wide gates in front of them.
Tian Yi tilted his head upward, his gaze fell on a signboard made green as if it was still alive and young. On it were words inscribed 'Chamber of healing'.
The two guards at the door seemed to have noticed them and were aware of their identities, they bowed slightly in greetings as one of them then pulled out a square object made of unknown pitch black material. The object was palm sized, and had a circular dent at the center of its body.
The guard on the right who was holding the object said, "Young master, young miss, please show us proof of your identity so we could verify it as per protocol."
Shen Tian Yi nodded, then pulled out a palm sized circular jade pendant carved in the shape of a carp fish on the surface, with the words 'Tian Yi' inscribed in the middle.
Shen Ai seems to have recovered somewhat as she also produced a similar jade pendant, but she was inscribed with the word 'Ai' instead.
The guard took both pendants, gave one to the other guard who also produced an identical palm sized object made of unknown black material with a circular dent in the middle.
The two guards then channeled their Core Essence into the object while inserting the jade pendant into the dent at the same time. The object and the jade pendant fitted perfectly as if they were always one and the same object. A few seconds later, both the objects glowed soft blue in color as the guard counted for ten breaths before removing the pendant and giving it back to Shen Tian Yi and Shen Ai.
These were all standard protocols to verify one's identity through the use of a certain Meng can specialized, custom made jade pendant. It was to guard against spy and infiltrations. Children normally wouldn't have their own jade pendant until they were registered into the academy, officially becoming the clan's reserve military force.
One needs connections and status to get them early, those who have strong backings are even allowed into places official Meng cultivators who have graduated from the academy were unable to access.
'Just like the Chamber of Healing now, which was closed temporarily on the highest floor to keep guard over core elders such as uncle and aunt.' Tian Yi thought to himself.
Shen Tian Yi and Shen Ai were such people. With Shen Jin in power, they naturally received preferential treatments.
The two guards bowed slightly and made way for the two of them.
"Right this way young master and young miss."
Tian Yi nodded and pulled Shen Ai gently inside.
Not long after, the twins, Shen Luo and Shen Liu also arrived and presented their jade pendants for verification.
Tian Yi and Shen Ai were led by an assistant healing Meng cultivator up the floor where they needed to present their jade pendants for verification at every floor.
After a short while, they finally arrived at the highest floor where they were led into a vast private room.
There, they saw two people laying on separate beds, unconscious. One male and one female, Tian Yi and Shen Ai instantly recognized both of them as Shen Jin and Shen An. The beds were surrounded by many elders, even the clan leader was present.
Tian Yi looked around and noticed the numbers of elders are less than half of the elders present in the Awakening Ceremony.
'They must be the core elders of the clan, each one the leader of their factions.' Tian Yi thought inwardly as he memorized all the elders' faces.
He noticed the sword bearing man who he had met a few times in his memories. He was Shen Yan, Shen Jin trusted aid and good friend, also father of the twins Shen Luo and Shen Liu. Shen Huai Bo, Shen Gui Cheng were also present. Each of them had two or three people beside them, some young, some old.
'It seems like the relationship between the four factions are still cordial. They might compete in secret, but they would never harm each other openly, not yet. The clan is still united, which is a good environment for my cultivation, good.'
Contrary to Tian Yi who was analyzing the political situations calmly, Shen Ai's heart was in turmoil. Tears started streaming down her face as she rushed to her parents.
The healing Meng cultivator who was sweating while explaining the situation to the clan leader and clan elders was startled by this and was about to reflectively scold her when he noticed the clan leader's cold gaze.
He instantly shut his mouth and dare not scold the young girl, he could only pretend to have seen nothing and played dumb.
In truth, letting children under eighteen who haven't graduated from the academy or anyone on that matter unless they are an elder or above inside a patient operating room was a huge breach of protocol.
But he's just a small character, what can he do? Faced with the elders cold gaze, he could only bow his head and shut his mouth, much less the clan leader.
"Father! Mother! What happened to you two!?"
Shen Ai cried out as she looked desperately at the healing Meng cultivator.
No one could blame her reactions. In fact, they admired her for it. To have such self restraint when faced with her loved ones in such a state at this age was already admirable.
The elders all frown when looking at the state of Shen Jin and Shen An, some couldn't bear the gruesome scene and couldn't help but turn their heads away.
Tian Yi dazedly walked over and finally got a good look at the state his aunt and uncle were in. It was truly gruesome. Half their faces were gone, one could even see the muscles and bones, as if they were skinned by someone who was very proficient at it.
When looking down, one would also notice that their bodies were in a similar state, with barely any skins left, their muscles bare for all to see. Two noticeable wounds were on their chest and abdomen. The chest wound was that of a giant claw mark; one could see the two elders' beating hearts if they looked carefully. The abdominal wounds are even worse, it was a big, bloody hole one could see the internal organs.
The strange thing was, the place where their large intestine should be, there was only an empty, bloody space. Shen An was even missing one kidney while Shen Jin was missing both.
When faced with Shen Ai's question, the Healing Meng cultivator could only look at the clan leader and replied helplessly:
"Currently, we have treated most of the wounds on the two elders and used all the methods and Meng available to the clan. Normally, their wounds should heal by themselves within two days. The wounds would close and the missing skin and internal organs should grow anew under our intensive daily care, complete recovering is only a matter of time."
The Healing meng cultivator paused as he secretly glanced at the clan leader to gauge his expression. The clan leader stared back at him with piercing eyes, he could only turn his head back and continued:
"However… We could not identify the cause of their coma. Normally, with this level of healing, anyone should have regained consciousness by now, the clan leader even personally used a rank six healing Meng to treat them and yet…"
The Healing Meng cultivator's face was full of sweat in confusion. This situation was very bizarre to him. By all logic, the two patients should have regained consciousness by now, albeit weakly.
But instead they remain unconscious and worse of all, they conditions were constantly declining.
He felt like he was back in those time preparing for the certification exam of Healing Meng cultivators, only to have the questions being completely new and different from his studies.
"WHAt!? You are saying after all this and you still don't know the cause and how to stabilize their conditions!? How could the deputy head of Chamber of healing be so incompetent!"
Shen Yan's voice thundered across the room and he furiously scolded the healing Meng cultivator.
The healing Meng cultivator could only kept his mouth shut and endure this humilition.
Although he was the deputy head of the Chamber of healing, his influnce could not be compared to elites elders like Shen Yan who hold both power and status. Although he belongs to the clan leader faction, he was not a core meber nor was he an elder.
He could only endured again and again, saying, "It was due to my inadequate abilities, elder Shen Yan please quell your fury…"
Tian Yi pretended to appear as if in a daze, but in truth his mind gears were turning at lightning speed. The healing Meng cultivator did not know, but he does.
'This signs, I could never forget it, it was-'
"It was the work of a Ghost Dao cultivators."