"Smack," Chang Jianyi slammed a stack of documents onto the desk. She had been furious upon hearing about the assassination attempt on her children, and now she could no longer contain her anger.
"How did these damned fellows appear outside Yuzhou City? Did no one know of their movements? This time, it was several disciples who risked their lives. Otherwise, all three children would have been killed. The three youths who died, all sacrificed themselves for our children!" Chang Jianyi said angrily.
Lin Yue quickly replied, "At this moment, the eldest young master is still lying in the hospital, and Luo Hui is also seriously injured. Fortunately, Wang Xiran awakened her abilities at the critical moment, saving Luo Hui. Otherwise, the number of youths who died would have been five! The survivors who were captured are currently being interrogated. Perhaps in another day, we will know what their plan is."
"One day is too long. This matter is due to your incompetence. You were clearly tasked with gathering intelligence, yet the enemy has already reached the outskirts of our city, and you still haven't received any intel. This is your dereliction of duty! I give you three hours to ascertain the enemy's complete background. If there are any remaining remnants, capture them all immediately!" Chang Jianyi said coldly.
"No problem, I will extract all the information within three hours!" Lin Yue could only give a positive reply upon hearing such criticism. After all, the young masters and ladies had faced mortal danger and were almost killed by assassins. As the head of the intelligence team, he could not shirk his responsibility.
Li Keyi had also arrived at the office. After Lin Yue left, she quickly asked, "Do we need to call Shen Feng back now? He doesn't seem to have anything important to do outside. Since something has happened at home, it's not unreasonable to have him return to handle it!"
"No, the suggestion you made absolutely cannot be implemented. Shen Feng must have his own important matters to attend to outside. We can only support him, not call him back at every turn. If we truly do that, it would be a sign of our incompetence and would also tell others that Yuzhou has only Shen Feng to rely on! The current situation has not yet reached a point where it cannot be resolved. We can handle this assassination incident ourselves!" Chang Jianyi immediately rejected Li Keyi's suggestion.
Li Keyi asked helplessly, "Although the three children are unharmed, Shen Feng's three disciples are dead. If we don't inform him about this, it doesn't seem appropriate."
"I will call him to inform him about this. In the meantime, you also help deal with these assassins. You are now Yuzhou's strongest ability user, and the upcoming battle depends on you!" Chang Jianyi said calmly.
Chu Chaoyan had already rushed to the hospital. Upon learning about the assassination attempt on her children, especially that Du Fansheng was unconscious, she became even more worried. After all, Du Xinshi had entrusted her with the care of both children before she was frozen. Now that Xiao Long was in danger, she could not remain at the City Lord's Mansion with peace of mind.
Li Keyi was preparing for battle, while Chu Chaoyan had already rushed into the hospital. Upon seeing Shen Yishi and Shen Xingzhi sitting on chairs, she immediately walked over.
"Mom!" Shen Yishi, seeing Chu Chaoyan appear, pounced on her and then couldn't stop crying.
Shen Yishi was still just a young child. When faced with danger, she always liked to find her family to cry to. Now that her mother had finally appeared, she cried out again.
Chu Chaoyan hugged her daughter and comforted her a few words, then asked Shen Xingzhi, "Why did you go outside the city? We clearly told you before not to leave the city, not to leave the city, and even not to leave Fengshen Palace! Why did you still go out?"
Shen Xingzhi lowered his head, not daring to answer.
Just then, the doctor walked over and said to Chu Chaoyan, "Madam, the eldest young master is merely unconscious due to excessive exhaustion. According to our analysis, he awakened his abilities during the assassination attempt. However, due to the overuse of his abilities, he seems to have fallen into a coma. He will naturally wake up after some time."
Chu Chaoyan nodded upon hearing this and said, "As long as the child is alright, that's good. By the way, how is Luo Hui now?"
"Luo Hui is being cared for by Miss Wang Xiran, but... he may never be able to stand up again!" the doctor said in a heavy tone.
"How can this be? He's only 13 years old, how can he not be able to stand up?" Chu Chaoyan could not accept this answer. Luo Hui was a very obedient child. Now that he could no longer stand up, what did this mean?
The doctor said helplessly, "When Luo Hui was sent to the hospital, both his legs were cut off. His legs below the knees cannot be reattached now!"
"Don't joke around now. Fingers that are broken can be reattached, so why can't broken legs be?" Chu Chaoyan continued to question.
"This is because when fingers or toes are broken, the cells have not yet died, and there is still hope for reattachment. However, Luo Hui's situation is different. After Luo Hui's legs were cut off, flames burned around him. He struggled to escape the sea of fire, but his legs were already burned to charcoal," the doctor explained patiently.
"I didn't expect something like this to happen. Hurry and take me to see him!" Chu Chaoyan said quickly.
Afterward, the doctor led Chu Chaoyan to a ward. Here, Luo Hui, though weak, had opened his eyes. Many of his wounds had healed, which were the benefits of Wang Xiran's awakened abilities, allowing for rapid healing of injuries. However, Luo Hui had nothing below his knees. The once lively youth now looked particularly pitiful.
"Shimu, you're here!" Luo Hui struggled to get up upon seeing Chu Chaoyan appear.
Chu Chaoyan quickly said, "Lie down quickly. Your body is very weak now, so don't stand up... don't sit up!"
"Brother Luo Hui, your legs are broken. I'm sorry, it's all my fault. If I hadn't been so unruly, you wouldn't have become like this!" Shen Yishi cried upon seeing Luo Hui, who had played with her since childhood, had his legs broken.
Luo Hui quickly comforted her, "It's okay, Eldest Miss. At worst, I can get prosthetic legs in the future and still walk. It's just not as flexible as ordinary people, but it's not a big deal, I'm not crippled!"
Chu Chaoyan also said helplessly, "It's all thanks to your selfless protection that the three children returned safely this time, especially Wang Xiran. I heard you had stopped breathing at the time. Thank you for your hard work. I will definitely compensate you both later!"
Wang Xiran quickly waved her hand and said, "Shimu, please don't say that. It was only when we encountered danger that my abilities finally erupted. Otherwise, I might not have learned to use my abilities for another ten years! This can be considered a blessing in disguise."
Wang Xiran's awakened ability was the rarest healing type. Although the principle of this ability was not yet known, judging by its performance, she could accelerate wound healing and stop bleeding, which was already remarkable. Luo Hui was still alive after his legs were severed because of Wang Xiran's abilities.
Chu Chaoyan said earnestly, "You must accept the rewards I give you, otherwise I cannot face the other disciples. You almost paid with your lives to protect my children, how can I not give you any reward?"
Wang Xiran and Luo Hui then did not refuse.
Chu Chaoyan remembered another matter and quickly asked, "I almost forgot to ask you, do you know what Xiao Long's ability is?"
Luo Hui was not present at the time, so he could not answer this question. Only Wang Xiran knew the answer. Wang Xiran then said, "It seems to be lightning. When we were being pursued, electric sparks appeared on the eldest young master. After the lightning appeared, it instantly electrocuted all the surrounding enemies, causing them to convulse and unable to pursue us further."
"Lightning? That's a very good skill. In the future, if you want to learn how to use skills, you can also find Jin Zijue. It's also a blessing in disguise, but it's a pity about the three deceased youths!" Chu Chaoyan thought to herself.
Soon, Lin Yue had finished interrogating the enemy. To extract important information from a group of desperate criminals, one had to use methods. In his early years, he had heard of the Ten Great Tortures, and now he applied all ten to the desperadoes, causing the assassins to cry out in agony. Finally, they revealed the truth: this group indeed had remnants hiding within Yuzhou.
Upon learning this news, Yuzhou took action. Lin Yue led the intelligence team, Lu Xian led the army to search for the assassins, and Li Keyi remained unseen, used as a surprise force. Yuzhou launched a fierce retaliation against the assassins.
"Both of you will be confined to your rooms for three months. You are not allowed to leave your rooms. Food will be delivered to your rooms daily. During this time, you will both diligently study books," Chang Jianyi said to Shen Xingzhi and Shen Yishi after returning home.
Shen Xingzhi seemed to understand something and silently agreed to his mother's arrangement.
However, Shen Yishi was still a cause for concern. Upon hearing that she was to be confined, she immediately began to cry, seemingly trying to gain sympathy by acting pitiful.
Unfortunately, this method, which had always worked before, was no longer effective. Chu Chaoyan also said sternly, "In the past, I spoiled you too much, which is why you have always been so presumptuous. Now, you need to learn what it feels like to be disciplined. Stay in your room honestly. If you dare to go out casually again, I will spank your hands!"
"That's right, three of your senior brothers were killed because of you. It's because you didn't listen and ran around everywhere. We clearly warned you not to go out! Yet you went out privately and caused the deaths of three senior brothers. You must learn your lesson! Know the consequences of being willful!" Chang Jianyi also reprimanded.
Shen Yishi could only lower her head aggrievedly. Thinking of the three deceased senior brothers, she also felt bad and could only silently accept her mother's arrangement and return to her room.