"Alright...I still can't believe that you went toe-to-toe with the Qidan King and you won." Mantis said while riding on Po's hat, as the panda munches cheerfully on a dumpling.

"I don't think I technically won that fight, Mantis." Po shrugged. "His soldiers got in the way, and he found that unacceptable. He forfeited as a result, even when I kicked their butts too. I doubt it matters now, though. We both got what we wanted in the end."

"True. But it's still pretty mind-boggling that you picked a fight with royalty in order to defend royalty." Mei Ling added.

Po placed a paw on his chin while thinking about that statement. "Huh...I guess that is pretty weird."

"Though to be fair...that tradition was pretty messed up." Monkey said. "Glad you ended it when you did. And it's pretty good luck that Temutai is a man of his word. He may be a bit of a jerk, but he's no promise-breaker. That's what I kinda gathered from him."

"Yeah. Just break through that stubborn invisible shield that being a warrior king has placed around him, and you get an actually decent-enough guy. It really is weird." Po bli ked when he heard the sounds of pained groans and exhausted sighs. He noticed that those sounds belonged to a tired and excessively exhausted Crane, who was covered in bruises from his wings to his head. "Crane? What happened to you?" He blinked before remembering. "Oh! Fenghuang's flight training. Well, how was it?"

"Flight training...not doing so good the first time. She's...absolutely ruthless when it comes to teaching me how to fly her way..." he coughed before he adjusted his hat and sighed. "On the plus side, I lasted longer than Zeng."

"What happened to Zeng?"

"I can't feel my wings..." The messenger goose groaned as he lied on the ground in bandages, whike Fenghuang and Shifu stood over him. The former huffed at him.

"What are you, a fragile hatchling? We haven't even gotten to the serious flying yet and you're already starting to break apart."

"Excuse me for not being as durable as the rest of you!" He shouted, before holding his side in pain again.

"Hm...good point. I'm gonna have to work on that stamina and endurance of hours when I get the chance. Crane had his Kung Fu Training at Lee Da to do that for him."

Zeng realizes what this means for him, and he sighed in annoyance at himself. "Me and my big beak..." he grumbled, which made Fenghuang laugh heartily.

"Regarding the circumstances of Po's duel with Temutai, I must ask you something, Fenghuang." Shifu started, staring up at the owl. "I know that you taught Po some of the Impossible Moves. But just how many did you teach him?"

"Hm? Oh. I taught him seven."

"WHAT?! ALL SEVEN OF THEM?!" Shifu shouted in surprise. Fenghuang raised an eyebrow, before her by eyes widened with amusement.

"Oh that's right...you don't know. Or maybe I told you and you forgot. Doesn't matter much."

"Know what?"

"Gather around, children. Fenghuang has something interesting to tell you." The owl gestured to everyone with her wings except for Po and Mr. Ping, already knowing what she was about to say. "Originally there were only seven Impossible Moves, right?"

"Right."

"So while I was training Po on how to use some of them..." she smirked. "I created five more."

...

"...What?"

"That's right, Big Ears. I raised the maximum amount of Impossible Moves from Seven, to Twelve."

Shifu gazed at her in shock. He had always known that Fenghuang was formidable and was a gifted Master. But that...that was insane to hear. "T...T...Twelve? You from created five more Impossible Moves...?" He rubbed his head in an attempt to calm his growing headache. "But that should be...impossible!"

"EXACTLY!" Fenghuang grinned madly, which unnerved Crane and Zeng just a bit. "All it took was a little imagination and creativity on my part. I put a move in my head, develop it from scratch, practice it for a while, and boom! More Impossible Moves." She turner a proud smile towards Po. "However...Po managed to take an even more creative approach towards it."

"He did...?"

"Of course. Remember back when we got the primate on board? He said Wind Hammer instead of Thundering Wind Hammer. The trade off was taking away the power going with 'Thundering' so that 'Wind Hammer' can be use a bit more easily and quickly, as well as forming them to his benefit. As such, any of the moves can be tweaked with to better suit him." She closed her eyes. "Still, I always told him to be careful when using these Impossible Moves in succession."

"There are downsides to these moves as well?" Peng asked. Fenghuang nodded.

"Po definitely has some great creativity when it comes to shaping the Impossible Moves to his liking, something even I haven't thought of. However...the only serious issue is his stamina. He hasn't been using them as long as I have, so his Chi tends to burn out pretty quickly if he isn't careful. Hence why he collasped in exhaustion when the fight ended the time that it did. Don't misundstand when I say this. Temutai is a buffoon, but I have to give him some credit when it comes to fighting. Po did do serious damage but it would have taken much more to actually bring him down. Had the match kept going on despite the interruption, Po would have surely lost."

Viper's eyes widened. "Woah...really?" The owl nodded, causing Viper to look down in deep thought. She remembered that Po was getting batted around by Temutai all around the village for a bit, until he pulled out his Impossible Moves. Then he just fell on his back when it ended with him winning by Temutai's forfeit.

"So in some sense...Po kinda lucked out." Fung said.

"That's one way to look at it." Fenghuang nodded. "This isn't that bad an experience, though. Just has to work on his stamina, then he'll eventually get better. Thinking ahead won't hurt, either."

"I still have plenty of stuff to learn, obviously." Po said as he sat up and yawned, scratching his belly. "Hey, I almost forgot. Dad, how is the Noodle Cart going?"

"I knew it would do so well, Po! Look at all this loot!" Mr. Ping gleamed, holding the bags of yuan in the cart. "With enough time and work, we'll be able to upgrade it!"

Po's eyes began sparkling. "Sweet! It can have bigger compartments, bigger storage, good-smelling incense..."

"And a bigger banner, and more tools, and more spaced out..." Mr. Ping gasped. "It can be a method of transport, even!"

"A really cool ride!"

"It'll be a Super Noodle Cart with a Super Banner! AND SUPER WINGS!"

"A SUPER NOODLE CART THAT FLIES?! THAT'S AWESOME!" Po and Mr. Ping's eyes began sparkling, having full confidence in their ideas. Then their eyes slowly turned to Taotie, who suddenly felt uneasy.

"...What?" He asked, feeling awkward. Then he understood, and shook his head. "Oh...oh don't even think about it. I'm NOT placing such excessive modifications on a mere noodle cart!"

"Come on, Taotie!" Mr. Ping begged. "Be a pal! Its such a great idea!"

"When will wings on a NOODLE CART EVER be considered useful?!"

"For when I have customers in the sky. You never know with fliers these days."

"Yeah! How do you know people that can fly won't be hungry?" Po agreed, placing his paws on his hips.

Taotie stared at them in disbelief. "...There's...not a lot of things going around inside of your heads, is there?"

"What do you mean...?" They asked while tilting their heads in the same direction with a look of confusion on both of their faces.

"Bah...nevermind."

"Hey Dad...check this out." Taotie turned around at his son's call. Bian Zao pointed a distance ahead of them, which revealed a large palace with the outside appearance of a fortress. "Wonder who could be living in there...?"

Shifu lowered his eyes as he recalled the familiar fortress. "As I thought. The Garnet Palace. We may have to be careful if we're moving near there. This also means that we may be heading towards the village it's responsible for."

"So far ahead, we're already closing in on another Valley? How surprising." Song said in wonder. "But why do we have to be careful?"

"One of the fellow Masters, Master Mugan, resides in the Garnet Palace. She's modified it into some sort of fortress I see. We must try not to attract attention from her." He said as he began stroking his beard. "She must have gotten the message by now. So if she spots me...it won't end well for any of us. Which makes the cloaks made for me and Fenghuang all the more necessary. Conflicts with official Masters is something we must aim to avoid."

"Yeah...we got that part." Mantis said slowly, then pointed his foreleg at him. "But it appears to me that you have your own reasons for avoiding this Mugan person."

Shifu paused for a while, before he placed his hood hack over his head and began moving towards the Valley ahead of them. "We have...contrasting methods of teaching our students."

"Very contrasting." Tigress added as she walked beside him, tightening her scarf slightly. The look of anger on her face gave everyone the confirmation they needed. Tigress and Shifu have some sort of conflict with Master Mugan, and the latter wishes to avoid going through that again.

Fenghuang raised an eyebrow at this. "Woah, Big Ears. I thought you would be one to praise the Fish for all of her Kung Fu Skill. You came to blows with her?" She quipped slightly, only to be genuinely surprised when Shifu gripped Oogway's Staff in silent anger. "...I was just messing around...you fought with her?"

"...Almost." Shifu confessed. And he didn't say anything else about it, for the moment. Tigress visibly relaxed a bit as well. It was official. Whatever Mugan said or did to seriously tick Shifu off, it had something to do with Tigress.

"...So wait. Master Mugan is a fish?" Monkey scratched his head, which gladly broke the tense silence placed over them. "...well then."

"Thats all you have to say about it?" Viper sighed.

"So to recap...we gotta make sure we don't draw too much attention, right?" Song smiled. "I think we'll manage if that's all we have to do. Not a problem at all."

"Of course not. Not for you at least." Lian looked towards her. "We've all established that you're really good at being sneaky. Considering your...skills."

"I can't really be a thief if I'm not sneaky, now can I?" Song snickered. "It's about time we get going. Sooner we get around the Garnet Valley, the more better off we'll be."

"Yeah, she's right guys." Fung nodded. Song smiled as she began following the others. Fung felt his face get warmer as she walked past him with a just as warm smile. He blinked and shook his head. And now I'm blushing around her again. Jeez...

Shifu continued to move onward ahead of everyone else. This was the first time they would be crossing territory actually under protection from a Master. And due to his earlier send out to many other major figures in China, the entire Garnet Valley may be very well aware of his current status. If this was the case, he'll have to be extra cautious not to show his face. He hoped he would not have to remind Fenghuang to do the same. There will be some serious trouble in store for the group if they don't...

(Garnet Valley)

"WWWWOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHH! THIS PLACE LOOKS AWESOME!" Po, Monkey, Mantis, and Monkey beamed at the Village before them.

The houses here look much more well-built and sturdier than any of the houses in the Valley of Peace. They also reflect off of one of the major signature themes of the village, which is precision. It reflected a little off the citizens around here as well, as everyone seems to be cooperating effectively and From Shifu's description, this Valley is mainly based off what Mugan's Kung Fu Style is. Something he didn't reveal, as he was sure they could figure that out for themselves. Tigress was able to figure it out easily. And there was no doubt in her mind...that she was clearly not a fan.

Mei Ling was casually looking it over compared to everyone else, while sighing in what almost sounds like disappointment. Crane took notice of this immediately. "Mei Ling?"

"Ehhh...the place looks great and all. But..." she tilted her head. "These people. Take a good look at them, guys. Not a lot of them look pretty happy. They look...depressed. As if...I dunno. Someone really gave their spirits a serious beatdown and they retreated into their shells as well as being too afraid to come out of them."

"Wow. That sounds a bit...depressing."

"It does sound that way, does it?" Mei Ling shrugged. "But not to worry, we'll fix that soon enough!"

"No, Mei Ling." Shifu tried to dissuade her. "I know this is difficult to deal with, but we must remain out of trouble. If we try to object with whatever Master Mugan is doing to operate the village, we'll be creating conflict with her. We don't need that kind of attention at the moment, not with our current status."

"I agree with Big Ears. Mugan is certainly not a very likeable person in my eyes, but we have to steer clear of her agitation while we're unknown." Fenghuang said. "Though the idea of staying hidden for very long won't be coming true."

"What? Why not?"

"Take a look." Fenghuang gestured her wing to show that Po, Viper Crane, Lian, Monkey, Mantis, Peng, and Mei Ling have already taken off without much warning. Mrs. Yoon seems to have accompanied them. As expected, Shifu was not amused. His facepalm signifies this greatly. Also just as expected, Peng chuckled in amusement.

"Po stopped listening after a while. The others are off to keep him out of serious trouble."

"Youth...why is it wasted on the foolish..." Shifu facepalmed angrily.

Fenghuang chuckled. "You're not that skilled with actual good decisions yourself, Midget."

"Grrr..."

"Aww...don't tell me I've made you angry so easily."

"If I may say something." Song said. "We split up, maybe this is a chance to do a little recon, ya know? We're passing through, we might as well gather information. We might not want to get involved with Master Mugan, but we can at least see what she's doing. Because Mei Ling is right about the villagers. Something is very wrong here."

"It might help a little. And we could buy a couple things, too." Fung agreed.

"Buy items and sell noodles...what a splendid combination as always!" Mr. Ping grinned. He pulled on his Noodle Cart and began pulling it along. "Noodles! Ping's Noodle Cart coming along! Get yourself some delicious noodles!" He cheered. "I also have bean buns and fresh dumplings! Come up and help yourselves!"

Did ANYONE listen to me when I said WE MUSTN'T DRAW ANY ATTENTION?! Shifu thought angrily while rubbing a growing vein of anger and frustration on his head. It's like he was talking to a bunch of brick walls!

...or Fenghuang.

...His imagination wondered a bit as he imagined brick walls with Fenghuang's faces in them, while shivering. It was unfortunate that brick walls we're easier to break than the owl herself.

He sighed deeply as he pulled his hood over his head. "Regardless...we mustn't cause trouble. I doubt that Mr. Ping will be able to draw too much attention to himself. But just in case, we should accompany him nonetheless. Just to be safe."

"That would be best for the moment, yes." Tigress nodded, while wearing a nervous smile at Mr. Ping's view on the situation. It didn't seem to be a proper way to deal with their somewhat depressed faces.

She was in for a major surprise.

A sad and straight-faced sheep would come over to the noodle cart since he didn't have anything better to do. Mr. Ping nodded and handed him a bowl of noodles. With a sigh, he would take the bowl and have a sip with chopsticks. His eyes widened almost immediately as he allowed the taste to linger for a while. And when the wait ended, he snapped out of his depressed mood, and began eating the noodles as if he hadn't eaten in months. Everyone else around them stopped and widened their eyes in surprise at the sheep's sudden excitement. When he finally finished, he handed the bowl back.

"That...that was...FANTASTIC! Please kind sir, can I have more?"

"Of course you can!" Mr. Ping smiled. "Luckily for me I tend to come prepared. But I'm also gonna need some space, a lot of people around, ya know."

"Oh of course!" After some surprisingly enthusiastic convincing, some of the crowd made room for Mr. Ping and his cart, and he immediately went to work. His friends cleverly blend into the background so that they can oversee his progress in a somewhat safe manner. A couple minutes of fast-paced cooking that impressed Shifu greatly, Mr. Ping was able to hand out more bowls for the crowd around them, including the sheep himself. They watched him eagerly eat his noodles again, before slowly trying them for themselves. Then they too, found the reason why he was suddenly so cheery, and now they we're cheery too.

They have never tasted such amazing noodles before. And he didn't even hand out his bean buns and dumplings yet.

"Well look at that. Mr. Ping won them over with their stomachs." Bian Ziao yawned, scratching his back. "He's that good, huh? Wish I could cook that fast." He looked down in thought about that. "Maybe...meh. Why not?" With neither his father's nor Shifu's permission nor expectations, Bian Ziao pushed gently through the crowd and got to the noodle cart. He proceeded to wrap an apron around him and proceed to assist him through the orders increasing the amount of progress being made. More hands we're needed since they were serving a crowd.

"So much for not attracting attention." Taotie quipped. Shifu sighed and facepalmed, partially giving up on that now. They were distracted by the loud rumbling of a nearby stomach. They turned to Fenghuang, who shrugged her wings.

"What? I remember that he won me over with his food AND kindness. But I REALLY like his food." She admitted with another shrug. "He's the very reason I became a bigger eater."

"Regardless, there's no way we can avoid being found now. Leaving Mr. Ping behind is still too dangerous." Zeng said. "So we might as well...help him out. If any trouble comes are way, we can always run."

"Or fight." Fenghuang added.

"Fighting will make it worse!"

"Gah, fine! I don't really care for the fish but I don't want you all getting into crap, either. So fine. I'll behave for Mr. Ping's safety."

"Thank you." Shifu sighed. His ear twitched slightly, but his face says that he's giving up on simplicity for the moment. Right now, I have to focus on keeping Mr. Ping away from hostile eyes since there's no undoing the attention now. I also hope the others don't get into any messes, either...

(Meanwhile)

"Well, we kinda sneaked off while Shifu was still talking. You think he'll be mad about that?" Mei Ling wondered, arms behind her neck.

"Nah, he'll be fine. After all, we just can't bring too much attention to ourselves. If we do that, we're good." Po says casually, having Viper gently wrapped around his neck. She was careful not to hang on too tightly. "So we just gotta pass through without looking too suspicious or cause any trouble. That's easy."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Po." Viper said as she gaze around at some of the villagers watching them walk by. "I can take a pretty wild guess and say that they've never seen a panda before. That's bound to get some of them wondering."

Po blinked, rubbing his neck. "Oooh...right. I haven't thought about that."

"Of course you didn't." Crane sighed. "Well, they've already seen you. So we should do our best...not to make it worse. Okay?"

"Alright, I got it. Besides, this looks like a decently peaceful place. What does it matter? I'm not causing any trouble, and I'm bothering anyone. Do they shouldn't have a reason to get hostile with us. Right?"

Lian tilted her head. "I dunno, Po. There's always the chance that we gotta expect the unexpected. That's an unexpected event that can happen."

"Do you have ANY idea how difficult it is to truly do that?" Mantis said. "Expect the unexpected. We don't expect a lot of things, you know."

"Bah. You're just being a bad sport."

"You think you can talk to me, Lian?! You're only 17!"

"Yep. And you're obviously an adult. A pretty small adult, might I add.."

"Why must you call me small...?"

"You get offended far too many easily sometimes." Monkey noted, seeing Mantis stare at the ground with slight sadness. "Usually you're up and ready to knock someone's teeth out when they insult your size."

"Yeah...but we can't draw too much attention. Plus fighting with Lian might be unfair. I can't draw attention to us. Because I tend to get kinda loud when I'm riled up."

"Your shouting matches with Lidong sure proved that theory right."

"Yeah...I wonder how he's doing?" Mantis asked himself wondering how his monster-sized friend is doing on his own. "Heh. He's gonna try to be on his best behavior. I hope he can pull that off."

"Hopefully very well. I want him to succeed." Mrs. Yoon smiled. "He could have never have gotten as far as he did without your friendship, Mantis."

"Huh? Well...yeah. I am a pretty cool guy to be around."

"Just barely." Monkey whispered to Peng, who couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?!"

"Guys. Might wanna stop arguing for a sec." Crane advised. "Check out who's in that prison cage" Crane's wing gestured to a metal bars cage to the side of them. Inside it, was a wolf in the usual Lin Kuei attire. He also looks like he's been beaten relentlessly and without remorse. Yet he didn't even seem to be bothered by them in the slightest. In fact, he doesn't seem to acknowledge his injuries much at all. He just glances at them time to time, then stares back at the ceiling. "I know the Lin Kuei are a bad bunch...but this one doesn't seem like he's associated with them despite the clothes."

"If anything...he seems to hate that he's wearing them. Why would he?" Mei Ling wondered. "He's pretty young looking, too..."

Mrs. Yoon was the only one who was completely wide-eyed in shock, as well as covering her mouth with her hooves. Her body trembled with worry as well as relief, along with wonder. She remembered this wolf all too well. Her memories played back as the most important pieces of the conversation replayed in her head:

"Those wolves that attacked me...they said your name was Ànyǐng."

"Yes, that is my name."

"Ànyǐng...hm...yes. I must promise to remember that name. I need to remember that name. I just feel...that it is very necessary to do."

"Tell them whatever you like. But for your sake and theirs...I was never here."

"You saved my life...surely you can at least meet them?"

"I hope you'll be alright...despite this horrific turn of events."

Mrs. Yoon understood now. This wolf saved her life from the Valley Of Peace massacre. His name was also on the list that Oogway made...

"I never thought our paths would cross again..." Mrs. Yoon whispered softly as she approached the cage.

"Mrs. Yoon, what's up?" Po asked, watching her walk up to the cage.

The goat made it up to the bars,.placed a hoof on the metal cage, and said gently: "I knew it would be necessary...to remember your name. Ànyǐng."

The wolf's eyes widened considerably as he got up and stared at the on speaking to him. And no doubt, it was the same goat that he had saved back then. "You...what are you doing here...?"

"I'm the one who should be asking you that." Mrs. Yoon replied, her arm reaching out through the space between the bars. She saw the gazes that the others we're giving her, and she turned around to explain. "Young ones...this is Ànyǐng. He is on your friend list...and he's also the one who saved my life."

"WHAT?!" Po shouted loud enough for many people to hear, no longer caring about being detected. His gaze completely locked onto the young wolf before him. He slowly walked over to the cage and stared at the lock keeping it closed. "Mantis..."

"Right. Pick-a-lock." Mantis nodded as he hopped off Po's hat and directly onto the lock, and used his forelegs to carefully and accurately pick the lock. "One here...another there...ha! Got it!" Mantis cheered as he knocked the lock aside and the cage opened up slowly.

"Hey...where did you learn how to do that?" Viper glared accusingly at him. He folder his forelegs.

"Ah come on. Surely you'd have more faith in my natural skills than that Vi? Being stuck in a cage with Lidong not around to smash it open...I had to improvise somehow."

Ànyǐng was overcome with surprise as Po had him in a tight bear hug. He was unprepared for it, and also surprised that a Panda was hugging him. This was turning into a very strange well for him, in many ways. Po just kept the wolf in his furry embrace. "Dude...seriously...you have no idea how great this is. You're on my friend list...and you saved Mrs. Yoon's life. You're the reason she's with us right now. I...I gotta thank you immensely for this."

Ànyǐng didn't know what else he could do at the moment. So he stuck to nodding politely. "It...it was no trouble. I'm still feeling bad that I wasn't able to save more of the villagers..."

"Don't talk like that, man! Sure it's sad that the others are gone, but what matters is that you saved someone. No matter what, that's infinitely better than no survivors at all."

The young wolf looked up at the panda as he was gently set down, his eyes filled with surprise. "Really...?"

"HALT!" Their conversation was cut short by the appearance of a couple guards around in the area, a majority of them were rhinos. "Those guys set the prisoner free!"

"That makes them ALL prisoners then! In the name of Master Mugan!"

Crane facewinged. "How did I know that this would happen...?"

"Well there's no use complaining about not being seen now. Because they spotted us setting one of their prisoners free. But he's not a bad guy." Monkey shrugged. "Though I'll doubt they'll listen to us even if we explain."

"Then we just gonna have to fight and then run. Sounds troublesome, but what choice do we have?" Viper said, unslithering from Po's neck and onto the ground.

"Still think it's a bit weird." Mantis tilted his head. "You guys realize you work for a fish...right?"

"HOW DARE YOU CALL MISS MUGAN A MERE FISH YOU INSIGNIFICANT TINY BUG!?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING TINY AND INSIGNIFICANT?!" Mantis growled. "Forget not attracting attention! I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Trying to imprison the one of saved a close friend of mine..." Po said quietly as he pounded one fist into another. "You guys are going down! And Master Mugan is next!"

"WHAT?!" Crane shouted. "Why are we going after Master Mugan all of a sudden?!"

Mei Ling stepped forward, twirling her staff. "Its like I said, Crane. And the things Shifu said too. Whatever she's doing to these folk, it's making them miserable. Since we can't do anything about it until we find more information, we'll be taking it out on these guys."

Ànyǐng struggled a bit, supporting himself with a nearby wall. What the heck just happened? Everything was perfectly fine until they showed up to free him and thank them. Then all of they decided to pick a fight with Master Mugan? They sure we're a random bunch.

Except for Crane, who was raising his ears getting ready to fight, was quietly complaining about how rotten their luck gotten in such a short pan of time."I should have stayed with Shifu..."

They were supposed to not draw too much attention to themselves. But thanks to the separate actions of Po and Mr. Ping...you can see how well THAT'S turned out...Not very good.

...meh. They'll figure something out...

...probably.

See ya then.