"Mei was right", Tigress reported to Shifu right after she woke him up: "The scroll is gone. And with that…"

"It's okay, Tigress," Shifu answered while they were entering the main hall of the Jade-Palace. A place of many memories: The Hall of Warriors. Shifu took a look around and eyed up all the historical weapons, armours, pictures and other unique objects. After Kai destroyed this place the people of the Jade-Palace rebuilt this place as good as they remembered it. Luckily the legendary weapons were mostly unharmed. He remembered as Po and his father were playing at this place with all that stuff. Ironically this moment was funny to remember for him. This way all those weapons got actually to use instead of catching dust and getting cleaned or… destroyed. (Counted for one vase) "You can wake up Po in about few hours after you and the rest of the five are making the last preparations. Make sure your skills are on their highest today," Shifu said while inspecting a few weapons on a rack and he remembered how Tai Lung once threw this knifes at him.

Shifu felt bad for this. The tragedy with Tai Lung was his mistake. And this time it might be his mistake again.

For him, he was responsible for everything what happened in this place and the suffer of all the people during this war. Also the less spreading of the Chi and the knowledge about it's use. Especially the message: It is not dangerous at all. No more dangerous than Kung fu itself that is.

"Why are you so calm?", Tigress wondered. Shifu stopped inspecting the weapons and looked up to her before he answered with a comfortable smile in his face:

"Because I know who you are and what you are capable of. Or… No I don't. Forget about the second part," He moved on while explaining: "Whenever you go out for a mission, you outstrip my expectations every time. Not even I do know your limits and I don't think we will face them today, even if we loose this fight there will always be a tomorrow. It's always been that way."

Tigress looked at her master, took a deep breath and bowed to him without a word.

In the next moment, as a light noise shortly appeared on the outside of the door, her right ear moved, she looked at the gate and prepared to jump and fight whoever stood behind the gate right now.

Someone hesitated right behind the door before they heard a pretty quiet knocking.

"Easy," Shifu calmed Tirgess down and turned towards the gate: "Whoever is knocking will not attack us. Looks like our last reinforcements are arrived."

"What?", Tigress wondered and relaxed again: "Reinforcements? The alliance shut down our path to the outside world few day ago. Who do you expect to come?", she wondered while Shifu went to the gate and nodded the two gatekeepers to open it.

He shortly turned to Tigress and answered: "No one who could cause us any trouble."

Right before the gate was opened Yong said nervously while sharply looking around for anyone who could had spot them: "I told you they would not lead us in!"

Shiren turned to her, away from the gate, and said: "Don't worry. I trust them good enough to allow us at least to speak. If you are scared, the bushes are right there."

"Ehm, Shiren...," she said uneasily while seeing the gate opened from the corner of her eye.

"What is it?", he asked and as an answer Yong just turned around his head towards an open gate with one little and one medium sized persons. Shiren recognise both and wondered: "Tigress?"

She wondered: "They?", then turned to Shifu and explained: "Explain yourself, Master. As far as I remember I fought those people a few days ago," She turned to Shiren: "Except this… S- Wait. I know you."

"Seems like she is not the only one awaiting explanations," Lao said to Shiren. "Since… when…?"

"Contacts," Shiren simply answered. He did not want to tell a whole story right now.

"So, Shiren. You came back for which reason?", Shifu asked.

Shiren breathed and handed him the scroll which Tigress took. "Where do you got this?", she wondered extremely.

Shiren shortly looked at Tigress but turned quickly to Shifu again and said: "I came back to make a convention. I trust you the most not deceiving me while I try to do my thing."

"You go after him?", Shifu asked and Shiren nodded as a response.

"At least I will try. But I do not fight this war for you. I do not fight the alliance if I can deny it. Just everyone who stays in my way," Shiren answered honestly. He was not sure about what would expect him on that route but it was the only one he would ever choose. Though he betrayed the alliance he did not wish to fight it. At least not directly.

Shifu ordered him: "Come here," as he went past him to the outside of the hall and stopped at the edge if the way. Shiren followed and caught a view of the beauties of this place and took a few moments to look properly.

The sun was rising up higher now and lightninged the whole valley with it's yellow shine and Shiren was able to see even further now and saw plenty of green forests, paths, fields and of course, the valley of peace which was now overtaken by the alliance. It still looked like a village but there was no deny the people out there prepared for a battle and made sure nothing got in or out that easily.

Perhaps the people living here would have needed a new name for this place now with the peace gone. It was a sad thought for Shiren but from all stories he heard, he already wondered why this place was called something with peace. That's what Shiren saw below the giant stairs.

"This is your target," Shifu said and turned Shiren's head with his stab towards a big building, probably some kind of villa or mansion in the western side of the village. It looked expensive and even had a tower on it. Shiren waved his classmates to him to have a look on their own. Shifu explained: "Junjie will be in there when the fights begin and watch their processing, ready to back off whenever the attack seems to fail but near enough to come here when the alliance is about to win. He is not a very honourable person." Shiren doubted this statement a little bit. How could Shifu exactly knew what Junjie was actually up to do?

"… Why are you so sure?", he asked and turned towards Shifu who still was looking to the village. His facial expression was strict thought Shiren saw a bit of hurt in there too. Shiren didn't wonder since this is one, if not the most legendary teacher and master of all seeing his village overtaken. Shiren knew this feeling. Seeing Shifu looking down to this village made him want to help. It was enough he lost his own village. Other should not suffer the same pain as he did. Shifu waited few seconds before he answered: "I know him better than anyone else. He is not that kind of person who attacks until he is sure about his victory. Oh, and also Crane reported to me Junjie took position there. Do you think you are capable of fighting him? Unlike us, he will not hold back to use his Chi against you." Shiren took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. This was a high expectation for him. He never expected to fight someone again who would be able to use Chi. He knew he was a coward and wasn't sure how this would end like when he finally would finally reach Junjie. A man with many experiences and guards behind him. Not to mention the Alliance which stood still between him and Shiren.

For now Shiren was not so sure if he could make it. All he did for now was just spreading out words. He was reflecting his current situation over and over again, not sure what to do.

He never fought without having someone who could save him if things would get dicey.

And everything he fought was actually not even his victory. Someone, mostly Jil made the majority every time. And the one time he was not fighting with her he was not even fighting. He tried to make his enemy go away of him. By persuade him and arguing.

He was not ready neither was he suggesting being able to defeat him. Not at all.

But retracting was no option. He would not allow himself to loose all the faith of his classmates he still got.

"I know we are ready," Shiren lied but sounded like he was actually believing it. Even if he would fail, he, at least would had tried. "The Chi is only dangerous if the victim is not able to resist physically, or caught out of surprise," he argued his statement.

Shfu looked in Shiren's eyes end seemed to believe him with saying: "Good. In that case we will entrust this to you."

"But you should be quick, Shiren," Tigress added: "If we will get bored, maybe I will catch him."

Shiren looked at Tigress. Her sense of humour in this moment gave him a bit of a brighter shine of hope. But also a feeling of shame. Now there was an opportunity for him being rescued by a master if he would mess something up. But this was the way it always was. This path Shiren could never grow independent. But right now he had to look comfortable, smiled and nodded. "Alright," he answered.

"Junjie is a red fox, right?", Lao, who still looked at the distance, asked: "Blue robe, dark aura, nasty grinning? In that case I see him already in there inside the garden, talking to some people. I assume this are not people from the alliance."

"Precisely," Shifu answered: "Good eyes. Now start preparing yourself," he said and went away.

"I'm glad to see you here," Tigress said to Shiren after she tried to requested his classmates to go to the area right before the training hall. She did not advise them to actually use the hall itself; Not just because it would be tool hard but also unnecessary to train on difficult terrain for their next battle.

Just after Shiren told them to go Ku Zhan suggested him to not keep too many secrets before he left with the others. They looked to the distance while they talked.

"I don't fully understand how you got the scroll but you helped us a lot with giving it back," Tigress said.

"Why do you trust me like this?", Shiren asked directly. He was sort of happy but also confused. He was welcomed by Shifu, which was okay for him, but he did not understand why Tigress seemed to trust him. He wanted to know why they should not actually trick them or even remove them from their freedom at the first place.

He was with the alliance all the time; His classmates as well. Any yet Shiren did not even explain he read the scroll. He did not say anything about what happened. He wondered what this other red fox and this countless guards would think about him right now. It would need a few days to persuade every last one of them after what happened the last day. But at the same time he just took the trust given to him. He did not want to have any struggle now and was happy about anything which made his life easier now. Besides he was not able to change it.

"We barely know each other. In fact, we just met once," he explained his question.

Tigress crossed her arms and smiled into the distance. Her orange fur was shine gracefully in the early sunshine and her yellow cloth even seemed to glitter. She looked down to him while she explained:

"You impressed me back then on the mountain in battle. You made it possible for me to reach the Panda Village before Kai did. That's something. So you indirectly saved our culture that day as you fought Kai."

Shiren remembered that day. It was a few days after he fled from him.

Back then he was ashamed of himself being a coward like this and leaving his friends disappear. Yes it was very unlikely he would have made any critical difference but the fact he run away instead of fighting with his comrades was not satisfying for him at all. He did not want it to be that way so he followed the route of Kai and found him together with Tigress on a snowy mountain.

Without any hesitation he went between and gave Tigress some time while he was fighting him.

In this battle he had a strategy and a new goal.

He knew he was not able to defeat him and he just had to buy time so he tried to dodge as most as possible. He did not even attacked him once to avoid any counter-attacks from Kai.

The only thing he did was taking as most of the amulets Kai was warring as he could and tried to throw them down the mountain as far as he could. The whole fight lasted approximately eight to maybe twelve seconds but it was worth it for him in some way.

But still his mind was not clean even after that fight. At all he was able to fight Kai once more but he was not able to redo the past and deny himself from letting his friends behind.

Since then he were acting way more passively in order to avoid something like this happen once again. The fight against Kai was mostly Shiren's fault as he felt to comfortable. It was a mistake he never forgiven himself.

After revealing the truth to his classmates he was no longer sure how they feel about him and if he would have the time he would have a chat with them about it.

But right now he was too much under pressure and had no time for such feelings right now anyway. He did not actually know how much time he really had until the alliance would attack and he needed a plan.

"That would be no evidence to actually save the Chi after loosing it to Kai," Shiren argued.

Tigress nodded. "True. But just right now you gave me the scroll back while you could have given it to the alliance. This is enough of an evidence for me," Tigress said: "You should be careful when you face Junjie. He is not just a good fighter but also a brilliant tricker. I suppose he already made up some traps in his house there. Keep a close eye on your environment down there," she warned Shiren who nodded and answered:

"I already act on the assumption he is not someone who fights with fair cards on the table. That's why I need those four comrades I brought with me. We're kinda good in infiltrations and I am willing to trust them."

"Awesome," she answered with a smile: "Thank you. With you taking care of this foe we can keep our focus to the main battle. Whenever we are finished with this, we may join you."

Shiren looked to the villa again and said: "I hope we don't need your help. Hell, I can't afford to loose against this scum," He knew if he would fail this attack and the Jade-Palace would not be able to help, this could be his end. He was scared but the fear of loosing was stronger.

"Good luck out there," Tigress said and went few stabs back. "I will tell the others to not attack you or your friends. I think may have seen some of their faces the last days. I'm not sure about the details but as long as they are with you they are welcome here."

"Good luck to you too. And Tigress...," he said right as she left. She stopped and turned back to him.

"Thank you," Shiren said. Tigress waved and went on.

Now it was Shiren's task to do a plan. But first he would make sure all of his comrades are in top condition to fight.

Unexpectedly they weren't quite right before the training hall.

He firstly run into Xing who leaned against a wall and looked into the air, right to the south. Shiren looked around and figured out she was alone but also there was no trouble to see anywhere here.

"You okay?", he asked her. She looked a bit angry as she looked at Shiren and answered:

"I can't actually believe I did this. I just gave up everything I ever fought for… for this." She shook her head. "Oh, don't get me wrong, it should be a pleasure to have the privilege training side by side with the highest masters. But still… I still feel bad for my family."

"And that's okay. If we are success able on our mission you should be filled with honour, ending a war and saving a whole culture while fighting with the Jade-Palace," Shiren said calmly. He did not want to unsure her more than now. He did not know her family at all. He just knew about she was the only daughter in her family who wanted to fight though her family was rich enough to simply buy some guards, like they bought Huyuan. He never knew about her status.

"That sounds like we live in different cultures. Maybe in your home you are treated concerning to what you did. But in my house you get your honour by what you are doing. The point is: The way you did it. But I will do it if it must be done and nobody else is here to do it."

"Thanks Xing. I really appreciate what you are doing and honour your sacrifice," Xing's face turned like she was sick for a second and she greeted;

"… Whatever. You should make this work and thank me later. After we ended this stuff! I'll come soon after you. Just let me a few moments."

Shiren nodded and made his way further on.

The next one he met was Lao who just had a chat with a crane. Poor guy, Shiren thought and did not wonder that the crane flew away.

As Lao turned around he saw Shiren and waved at him.

"This entire place is incredible," he begun to talk: "I've never seen such an important complex made up by such low amount of structures in it. I still wonder though where they put all their serviners… Do you think they might tell me? Oh, maybe I can see their library and the Hall of Heroes and stuff. Sadly Crane was… well, we was kind and all but… not really interested in a deeper conversation with me."

Shiren smiled:"Give them some time. They might come back to you. But after the fight that is. We are nothing more but strangers here currently. You should get it memorized, Lao."
Lao nodded, annoyed: "Yeah, yeah. You are right. The saving of the Chi has the first priority. I have to study it. That's already a reason for me to do my best effort. Don't worry, you can trust me to not mess up in this mission. I suppose you already have some kind of strategy how we are gonna fight him, right?"

Shiren looked aside. He always had some kind of plans, yes. But he still did not figure out how to solve this particular problem. "Now that you say it… the fight against him comes after we got there. That means we first have to find a way to go there," he answered.

"That's right of course. The alliance might be everywhere. We can't tell for sure but when I can trust you with something, it is to have a strategy. I'm counting on it. Or rather, rely on it."

"No pressure. Thank you. I will maybe come back to you and ask about the alliance's positions later. You still have the best eyes here."

"I'm on it. Until then I guess I fly around and find out if I can find… man, maybe some food. Eh, don't worry! I'll come to my duties in no time!"

Shiren shook his head and chuckled as Lao flew up.

Next person he found was Yong. He wondered why they splitted up but he already guessed from Xing everyone needed some privacy right now rather than some preparations. This is the last possible quiet moment after all.

"Hey," she greeted him right as she went down some stairs Shiren went up. "Don't worry. I'll be right back. Just getting a tiny walk."

"Everything alright?". Shiren asked.

She sighed like it was more a growl: "I might be more alright than every one else of us. I did never care about the alliance or whatever. I have no loyalty-problem like Jil. I'm… free to do whatever I want to do and nobody can tell me otherwise."

That made Shiren worry. He knew pretty less of her origin before she became a merc and he wondered:"You truly have to home or someone you want to make proud or someone you want to fight for?"

She shook her head without hesitation and answered: "No. No and no. I have an origin, yes, I was burn somewhere but that place is behind me as well as my family, my friends and my duties. As I said, I'm free to do whatever I want. And today I want to kick someone's ass who deserved it. If you excuse me, I need to make more preparations. Call me if you need anything. As always," she said and went up to go on but Shiren stopped her by asking:

"How are your wounds doing, by the way? I see you are in better condition now."

"Ah, yes. Almost forgot. You know, it's scary on the one side." She looked at her body shortly and talked on: "This tiny little mantis cured my wounds in just a few seconds. It's… the other side of the Chi we never learned about. And a… reason maybe to spare it."

"I think so too. Especially this is just the start. People still creating new techniques for Kung Fu. Just imagine if the same would go on with the Chi. Incredible what we could be capable of in the future."

Yong waved away, toured around and went her way on while she said: "Speak with Lao about that. I'm not up to discuss with you about that now. Excuse me please."

Shiren was not sure what to think about her. He was worried but he knew he could not change a thing so he went on, hopeful to see Ku Zhan anywhere. He was right before the training hall, training with his stab against a trees. As he saw Shiren he broke up his training and turned to him while Shiren came closer.

"Hey Shiren. I just had a talk with Monkey here. It was… incredible. He greeted me. Like a friend. I think… we made the right choice going here," he chuckled shortly and spoke on while walking around a bit on this empty place. He opened his arms and said:

"Now staying here… makes me asking what I was fighting the whole time. Or rather… why. I could had stay at home or better: Coming here right from the get go." He stopped in the middle of his sentence to walk and stood with his front away from Shiren. Shiren tried to explain:

"Ku Zhan, during the fights you have been trough made you to stay where you are. We know things we wouldn't know if we stayed home. You wouldn't even know Monkey yet."

Ku Zhan clapped his stab into his other hand which catched it. He spoke out loud: "Oh, spare me with Jil's wisdom. I know that well enough. It's just… hard to accept."

Shiren slithered to him again and stopped behind, nearly beside him. "Can I count on you when we are going there? I do rely on you. As always."

Ku Zhan turned at Shiren and answered seriously: "Hell, yes you can. I'm ready to fight for my home and pay everything back I had to do to this place. This Junjie should better flee while he still can. Today he will pay double. Tell me when we are ready to go out."

Shiren nodded. "Alright. So, are we going to train a bit?"

Ku Zhan's view went to the stairs. "Actually, eh… I'll let you handle this. You know, the talking part. I think you are good with that."

As Shiren turned around he saw Viper looking very sceptical at them.

"Yeah, why not? It's not like this could end very direly." But as Shiren ended his sentence he realized Ku Zhan was already gone with his stab and turned back to the tree. He sighed and turned to Viper who was already coming at him.

"I remember your face but Tigress told me to respect you. I'll do what she pleased me to do," she begun the conversation.

"Did you found your scroll?", Shiren asked. Viper was not in a good mood, especially as he mentioned the scroll.

"Oh, that one you refused to give me earlier? Yes of course. Mei gave it to me actually. I don't quite understand why you did this but… thanks. I guess. Highly I guess."

"Maybe to do you a favour?", he answered with another question. He had to be careful with his words so he tried to keep his sentences as sharp as he could. He did not talk to many snakes like her but he was aware of that she was way stronger than him.

"Don't be silly. I know it better," she said. Shiren squint his eyes shortly and tried to explain himself: "Listen, I don't know what happened with this scroll earlier. I got this from a tiny library back in Lu Lan."

Viper did not seem like she was satisfied in any way but she answered: "I'll still keep my eye on you. If what you're speaking is true, you should have no problem maybe visiting my father when this is over, right?" Shiren was not quite sure what she was talking about but having a look at Grandmaster Viper was a thing Shiren was already up to do.

"I guess I have nothing better to do anyway. I would be happy spending more time with him."

"See you there. Now if you excuse. I'm coming to late for my warm up," She said and passed by him.

"Always a pleasure," he said as she was already few metres away.