At the wooden entrance of the village.
Tall wooden gates, three guards with leather armor were stationed in front of it. On the corner of their eyes, there were two carriages moving at a constant speed, approaching toward their direction.
"Is that Uncle Yolk? It's my first time seeing him personally." One guard stated his admiration.
Another replied with a sneer. "Suit yourself. Uncle Yolk is a busy man, he won't be here soon."
"Hehe, senior I am new here. And he's a man of noble. Without him, our village won't last long. Even chief regards him with equal footing." The guard showed an apologetic smile.
Uncle Yolk was a heroic man that saved the whole village when a disaster befell them several years ago. At that time, he was an outsider but eventually accepted by villagers due to his humble characteristic. Now, he was Lena's husband.
As the carriages arrived, a slender, medium-height man with the humble bearing reached out to the guards, effectively passing the examination of the guards.
And without uttering unnecessary act, he immediately continued, entered the village.
"I heard that Uncle Yolk will leave for three weeks, today is the second week and he already come back? Did something happen?" the most senior among the guards expressed his thought.
The others fell into silence for a moment.
"Just now... is that uncle Yolk?" asked the newbie guard.
"Yes, that is uncle Yolk. But... as far as I know, he is warm and amiable. Maybe his trip encounters some troubles." The senior replied as he stared at the carriages that showed no sign of slowing down.
---
The small carriages were enough to fill four people each. Uncle Yolk was inside the first carriage with other two people.
A humble voice sounded from the medium-height man. "I'll visit my wife first, you will go to Chief."
"Does he know this matter?" A bulky man asked as he rubbed his fingers anxiously.
"He doesn't but he will understand what to do to you. Just say my name."
The bulky man cupped his fist. "Thank you so much. I will give the information after we settle in."
Uncle Yolk nodded in reply. Not long after, they parted away.
On the way, he saw two female figures from afar. A smile formed on his face.
Lena was hanging clothes to dry them out. She smiled alone like a silly person while occasionally humming happily.
"Mother, you're weird!"
Ziya's words caught her off guard. Her face turned red as a tomato but she could maintain her composure, quickly turned her face sour. Of course, she smiled because she was thinking of her husband!
"Dear, isn't it a lovely day? Mother feels happy that the sun appears and clothes will dry sooner." Lena paused her activity, turned to look at her daughter with a smile.
Ziya gave an innocent reaction. "Oh.."
Lena furrowed her brows. "Are you not happy about it?"
"No!" Ziya answered it quickly.
Lena put the wet robe on her hand down and approached Ziya with concern. "Oh dear, what's happened?"
"Nothing." Ziya grinned and ran towards her while giggling.
Lena chuckled. "Silly child, come here. Give me a hug!"
Before they hugged, Ziya took a turn and ran past Lena, sticking her tongue out with a teasing expression.
"Father! Father!"
A loud giggle echoed.
Lena looked back and saw a humble smile from a man she loved dearly.
"Darling..." She covered her mouth.
"How are you?" With a grin, the man caressed Ziya's head as his eyes locked onto Lena. Ziya flew around, hanging onto the man's swinging arm.
The man's grin was similar to Ziya's. This pair of daughter and father was truly a pain when they were grinning. Both would melt Lena's heart.
Walked toward her, the man spread his arm, giving an earnest hug. Lena's cheek was moist with visible tears of joy that formed in the corner of her eyes. This was what life was all about.
After that, they exchanged small talk. Lena served Yolk's favorite food and Ziya glued to him from time to time.
During this, they hinted about a certain matter that happening on both sides. Because Ziya was still around, they limit their conversation to a certain extent. They couldn't overcome this girl's curiosity, thus restricted in advance.
"Dear, I heard Aunt Ziyun has a new toy made of bamboo. Do you wanna see it?" Lena asked Ziya.
"Is it another weird toy? Aunt will use me as an experiment. I'm not going." Ziya pouted. She coiled her arm, locking herself around Yolk's neck.
Yolk caressed her. "Ziya, I have something to talk about with mother. I promise I'll play after it's over. How about it?"
"Okay." Ziya got off and gave a silly mock to her mother before she left. As if she said, "father is mine after this over."
Her parent let a sigh. It was tiring to take care of such an energetic kid.
They continued their conversation a few minutes before going to the barn. This was the utmost priority Lena had to show to her husband.
She explained briefly regarding the guests. Yolk then examined them with his method. It took over two hours to finish as they discussed and matched a few things to confirm doubts and eliminated some data in between.
The first purpose of this examination was to know their body condition, whether healthy or ill. They concluded that the guest was ill due to certain causes.
The second purpose, they wanted to gain more knowledge. Sometimes patients could be valuable property if they encounter a strange and worth-to-study case. These guests were one of them.
Although they wanted to do many experiments, they wouldn't overstep the boundaries and endangered patients' lives. That's an unwritten rule as the way to repay them for letting the examination happen.
The third was for their safety. The result of this examination would determine the safety of their family, it also meant whether they would continue the treatment or not.
In a rare case, a patient could be from a mysterious background that none can offend. Three solutions could be taken from it: to kill them, let them go, or cure them. Despite this, it was never easy to choose. All options had their own risk.
After throughout examination, they decided to take a break for a moment at lunchtime. Lena served a simple tea with bread and potato.
"This is you. Always be like this." Yolk said with a mixed feeling.
"What do you mean?" Lena said with a frown.
"Saving a stranger without knowing their background. I'm glad that I marry you," said Yolk while holding Lena's slender hand.
This stupid Yolk said that nonchalantly after going out for two weeks. Lena wanted to stuff his mouth with loads of bread. Obviously, she was flustered.
"To be frank, they're beyond my abilities." Yolk took a chunk of bread. He did not realize his wife's complexion. "Although I'm stronger than you, healing is not my main path."
"Are you teasing me?"
He gazed at his wife deeply and shook his head. "I am not."
He raised his hand and his glove with a silver pentagon embedded within shone faintly. A magical atmosphere slowly emerged in the room, filled with the energy emitted by the glove.
Lena watched it like an audience watching a magician show. Her eyes locked onto the silver pentagon that floated a few centimeters above the glove.
"You have a breakthrough?" asked Lena.
Yolk nodded in response. He lowered his glove and all of the magical show vanished without a trace.
"One. I've breakthrough One barrier." He emphasized it with his index finger. "Anyway, their condition is a mess. They have too many wounds on top of each other so it's quite hard to determine the cause of it."
"Yes. However, I noticed Totem ability in their body." Lena rebutted.
"True. The question is not about who but what. Your healing is top-notch but my analysis is better. Some scars are not made by humans. So maybe the reason for their coma is not human." Yolk pointed a visible scratch scar on Majo's chest.
"We can't let some possibilities such as they consumed certain herbs along the way," added Lena.
"Good point." Yolk approved with nodded. "For now, we can't tell Chief since we don't know their background. I swear he will chase this guest off if he knows."
"My brother? I can explain to him," said Lena.
Yolk held Lena's hand and looked into her eyes. "The village is not stable now. Your brother is an upright man, prioritizing village over everything. If he knows something can be a threat, he won't hesitate to get rid of it."
Deep inside her mind, Lena knew this. Her brother, the Chief, loved the village so much. He wouldn't let something that threaten the village, even if this threat came from his family.
She knew it so well that she hid the guest carefully. However, at this point she needed her brother's help; the examination made by Yolk and Lena couldn't find the answer of how to wake them up, so maybe her brother could give some insights.
"We have plenty of time, no need to inform your brother." Yolk looked at the window. He sipped his tea. "We will analyze a bit more and wrap it up. Ziya will be with me in the afternoon."
He stood up then turned around before saying, "oh, we can continue this the day after tomorrow. I'll visit Chief tomorrow."
Lena looked at the window and sighed. Hopefully, dragging her husband into this mess would not be a wrong decision.