As they ran down the palace hallways, they came across another naked, headless corpse. This one was female and had a gaping hole in her chest that went straight through her back.
Elder Shi unleashed another pulse of spiritual energy.
"It's Chen Ai," she said as she continued running.
It wasn't long before they found another set of bodies. Both naked. Both missing their heads. Two different sets of bloody footprints marked the ground. One slender and humanoid... the other... something with talons.
A pulse of spiritual energy confirmed what they already suspected.
"Chen Yi and Chen Lisha," Elder Shi said.
"And still no sign of Kanev?" Headmaster Siluvius asked.
"Only that he came this way," Elder Shi said as she moved toward the tunnel down to the final chamber.
She could answer their questions about the dead Chen children if she spared a moment to study them closer with her abilities... but Jie was still alone with Kanev up ahead.
What did it matter who or what had killed the Chen family's spawn? Such questions could be answered later.
Headmaster Siluvius grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop and she turned on him with a snarl.
"I understand your feelings... but something is deeply wrong here," Headmaster Siluvius said, "we must proceed with caution."
Elder Shi gritted her teeth.
"I know you fear for your student but let me take the lead. Try to sense for a trap if you can. Things are not what they seem, and we must be on guard. For all we know, this is a hive plot and Ithilix's words were meant to lure us here. Perhaps the creature you sense with a signature similar to Jie's is some assassin designed to imitate her and lure you deeper in without thinking," Headmaster Siluvius said.
Elder Shi looked away as frustration and impatience gnawed at her. But... she had to admit he had a point. She knew Jie's aura well and the creature she sensed... it wasn't quite right. Its rank was too high. Its body was taller and inhuman... but if it could mimic an aura so closely... how could it fail to cover up the more obvious inconsistencies?
He was right... something was wrong here... they had to be cautious.
"Alright," she said.
He released her arm and took the lead, moving with irritating slowness and caution as they moved into the tunnel.
"Use your mask. If this is a trap, I'd rather you be a surprise we can spring upon our enemies," Headmaster Siluvius said.
Elder Shi nodded though he was facing away from her. She pulled her fox mask down over her face. Its powers activated and her aura seemed to vanish. With a thought, she cycled her dream shroud skill. Purple qi swallowed her, and she disappeared from sight as well.
She crept silently behind him as he moved deeper into the tunnel with agonizing slowness.
He flexed his metal hand as they pressed forward and cycled his qi. She felt his spirit sense scanning their surroundings as she followed in his wake.
As they approached the tunnel exit, Elder Shi sensed two auras. And not the kinds of auras she'd been dreading.
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One was a second star Elementalist. The other was at the fifth star of the Expert rank.
She recognized that fifth star Expert and the other aura... was the one similar to Jie's but slightly different.
Where was Kanev? Where was Pan Tian? None of it made sense...
They stepped into the cavernous space and Headmaster Siluvius stopped in his tracks. A moment later, Elder Shi froze beside him.
Ithilix had said that Jie was fighting Kanev... the words had blinded Elder Shi with emotion, and she'd not truly considered what Ithilix might've meant.
A ferocious battle had taken place here. And she had a suspicion that the large, headless, charred corpse on the ground belonged to Elder Kanev. Yet, even so, even with her blind foolish hopes... Elder Shi found herself stunned by the sight in front of her.
Jie sat near the base of the step pyramid with Xue sitting beside her. She held Pan Tian's body close to her chest with blood-stained hands as she cried. Her clothes were badly torn and her bare feet were stained red.
Headmaster Siluvius took a careful step forward, his spirit sense still active and scanning everything thoroughly. But Elder Shi rushed ahead of him, shedding her invisibility as she peeled off her fox mask.
She reached Jie in the blink of an eye and reached out toward the girl.
Jie recoiled away from her, pulling Pan Tian's lifeless body tighter against her chest. Elder Shi froze and pulled back slightly.
She recognized the overwhelming emotion and the feral look in Jie's eyes all too well...
"I'm sorry..." Elder Shi said softly.
Jie said nothing. She held the dead girl tighter as though that might somehow bring her back.
Headmaster Siluvius appeared beside Elder Shi, his spirit sense still scanning their surroundings for any hint of a trap.
"I know you two were good friends..." Elder Shi said.
"I wish we hadn't been," Jie mumbled, "I wish I'd never met her. Then, she'd still be alive."
"Her family has been their enemy for generations. They didn't do this because of you... this is just... what the Chen family does," Elder Shi said.
"I was supposed to protect her," Jie said, "I promised her I'd never let anything happen to her... what kind of friend breaks their promise?"
"You did the best you could," Elder Shi said, "and you avenged her... you fought a cultivator far beyond you and won... what more could anyone ask of you?"
"It wasn't good enough," Jie said, "she was my friend... and I failed her... I could do it better... I know what to do now. I wouldn't make the same mistakes..."
"I wish it worked that way, "Elder Shi said, "but you can't torment yourself with such thoughts. You did the best you could... and now all you can do is move forward.
Yet, her words sounded hollow and useless even to herself.
Jie said nothing for a long moment.
She looked up at Elder Shi, her intense blue eyes were filled with tears that spilled down her blood-speckled cheeks.
"What..." Jie began but her voice broke, and she swallowed hard, "What do I tell Pan Zhanshi?" Jie asked.
"I don't know," Elder Shi said as she wiped away some of Jie's tears with her sleeve, "I don't think anyone ever knows."
"She died trying to save me," Jie said, "he's going to hate me, isn't he? I already do."
Elder Shi wanted to tell her that wasn't true... that he wouldn't hate her for this...
But grief did strange things to people and as two-faced as she often was... she found she didn't want to lie. Not now.
Elder Shi sat beside Jie and put her arm around her.
Instead of recoiling, this time Jie leaned into her with Pan Tian still in her arms as her body shook with sobs.
Elder Shi coiled her tails around them both and stroked Jie's long blue hair.
They sat like that for a while and Jie slowly seemed to come back to herself.
Other elders trickled into the chamber and Headmaster Siluvius intercepted them, quickly ordering them about how to proceed and giving them something to do besides gape at Jie.
Already, he had those with water elemental affinity confirming the identities of the dead. No doubt he'd want her to verify their findings. But, for now, he was allowing her to focus on Jie.
For which Elder Shi was grateful.
Still, the looks Jie received from the elders were getting on her nerves.
"This place is dark and morbid. How about we take Pan Tian somewhere better, now?" Elder Shi asked.
Jie sniffed and after a moment, she nodded.
Jie stood, carrying Pan Tian's lifeless body in her hands.
Her robes were in a worse state than Elder Shi had thought and there was a large hole that exposed the small of her back.
Elder Shi withdrew a cloak from her storage ring, draped it over Jie, and fastened it in place.
Headmaster Siluvius met Elder Shi's eyes and in that single look, they communicated all that needed to be said.
He nodded at Elder Shi, gave out a few more orders to the other elders and, with another furious look at Kanev's blackened, headless corpse, he led the way back.
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