Shiren laid down at the outside where the sun was about to set. It looked weird but he did not question it. Somehow it looked like the sun was at the surface but the light was just shining trough the sand. There was no real light source to look at.

He heard a waterfall somewhere nearby on another pillar that held the upper levels.

The air cooled down as it was going to becoming more and more dark every minute.

It felt weirdly wet, like he was inside of a forest, compared to the dry air from the desert he tasted at this morning.

Trough a hole in the wall he was able to seek for a nice little corner on the outside. He slithered and climbed up some broken rocks on the wall and laid down on a roof from a room below them. Shiren saw from this place.

He sighed and looked down to the wild garden. It was a wonderful when he looked at it, yet also a depressive view when he considered what it actually was or rather what it used to be, just like everything else he saw on this place so far.

Shiren mistrusted Viper. She seemed to constantly looked after him and talked about things that made him uncomfortable. She seemed to have her own sight on the world and did not accept Shiren to have another one. Dragons, this land, their behaviours…

Everything things they talked about a lot. He did not understand her way of thinking and neither did she understand his.

And frankly he didn't want to.

He did not want anything at this moment.

Only the professor being here made him somewhat comfortable.

No. That was not true. But he did not know why. He felt like he did no longer control his feelings properly. It was like he felt something he didn't knew where it came from, where it is, or where it would go. Maybe it had something to do with this place but he couldn't tell for sure.

But thinking properly in general was a hard task to do currently for him to do because he was tired from the long day behind him.

Right now he did not want to do anything crazy or overthinking any more.

A lot already happened in this day. Things he wasn't expecting.

This place was beautiful. Calm. Everything he wanted at this moment.

He found a place his ancestors apparently came from, he had this anomaly stuff from what he wasn't able to remember a thing from, they have discovered a potential dark past and he felt bad from seeing this land in such a bad shape. He wasn't sure but this guard at the entry said something him being somewhat special because of his bloodline? He wasn't able to remember properly what he really said. But it made him feeling a responsibility.

He wondered what made the former people of this land leaving it.

He told Viper and anyone else that he suspected the residents being wiped out by the people of the surface. That they came here after Fu Xi helped them and made sure such monstrosities would never reach the surface again.

However he was not super sure about that because hat would have meant they attacked here, made them retreat and in the aftermath forgetting about it entirely and only some snake tribes remembered it's legacy.

Each of those steps sounded very unlikely for this assumption.

Plus they fear the dragons. Even Viper had such fear before dragons and she was one of the most talented fighters in the world.

She said that the entire Jade-Palace had to fight to beat a dragon and at the end it was all about Po.

It always was about Po. He apparently was always the key to victory.

No wonder Tigress wanted him to come here after hearing about the dragon.

But that must not happen. Po defeated all his foes so far. Tai Lung, Shen, Kai, this dragon, and even people like Junjie like they were nothing!

Shiren heard all the stories before, how Po defeated every last one of them. One more brutal than the other.

From a quick end over an explosion to a slow and painful end. That's what Shiren heard.

That's what the dragon warrior was to him. The hero of the folk, and the nightmare of all enemies.

If this guy would come here, he would pretty much defeat the dragon as well.

Would he even listen to it?

Shiren had to advance before that happened.

But right now he was out of stamina.

He looked up towards the night sky that slowly but surely became visible while thinking about possible solutions about what he could do to save this land.

The only one Tigress was willing to listen to when it came to planning were the professor and her own friends of course.

So asking him would be something he could do but that was not reliable. There was no guarantee a conversation with him would be helpful.

Vanishing would make more problems than it would solve anything.

He remembered when he and his classmates back in the day of the war made their first assault on Wang Fu.

Crane spotted them from the sky high above and still was able to see Shiren from that distance. It would be next to impossible to hide before a dragon.

He closed his eyes, yarned silently and robbed his eyes.

Maybe when he slept earlier he could do something in the morning before the others would wake up.

He was about to go asleep when he heard a voice coming towards him: "I was wondering where you are," someone said behind him.

Shiren was able to define this voice as Yong's one.

"What do you want?" he asked tiredly without turning around. Instead he looked down to the garden while Yong came up to the platform.

Seeing it he again had the thought about how the people must have lived here and how they flet.

Like, leaving everything behind, just taking the most important stuff.

Shiren heard Viper saying today that there were some toys in the houses.

And when someone can make their child leaving their beloved toy behind they had to be in real panic.

Running for their life… in panic…

What made them doing that?

He was in such deep thought that he actually forgot Yong who said: "Sorry, your highness. Didn't mean to interrupt your meditations."

Shiren shook his head and focussed on listening to Yong now. But he was not in a good mood right now to talk a lot. "I was not meditating. But anyhow, since you are already here, you may tell what you wanted to say. I will listen," he ensured and slowly turned to her so he was looking at her from the side.

During the day she put a rope around her, ready to use it anytime either for traps or to travel trough dangerous places. At all she looked like to explore more than being just Yong. It reminded him when they climbed up the mountain of the Jade-Palace where Yong took charge of the expedition. The only difference being that Lao wasn't carrying her gears this time.

She looked at him, slowly came closer, sat down carefully on the cold stone, next to him and looked up.

"Just wanted to talk a bit," she said and then looked into his eyes: "If you don't mid."

Shiren looked downwards to the garden again: "I said that I will listen. But I can't guarantee to respond the way you would maybe like me to," he answered calmly. He wanted to keep things short but Yong did not deserve being treated rudely.

"Well… that's something I guess," Yong said and looked up again: "I can imagine how you feel. And I even feel guilty."

Shiren wondered and looked at her: "Guilty?" he asked.

That came a bit out of nowhere. He barely ever heard her saying that.

She nodded but did still look at the one brightly shining star: "Yeah. You know, I've abandoned my home. I left it." She sighed sadly and looked downwards. "And now I see what happened to you. An orphan without a home or family to return to."

Her view grew very sad and she said: "I'm sorry. I should have known but… I was too occupied with myself. And… I guess everyone was back in the day. It was a hard time for each of us."

Shren looked aside, looked where the source of the waterfall sound came from but he was still curious: "If everything appears that dark why are you still around?" he asked.

"Because I want to help you. I lost you. I searched for you. And I gave up on you. I failed myself. Now you're back but still in need of some help from an old friend, if I may say so."

Shiren wondered for one moment but he pretty much could answer the question for himself. After all he saved her life once when he stopped her life of a criminal. He was aware that the Jade-Palace told her that Shiren was close to death so it would be natural for her attempting to return the favour.

"Permission granted," Shiren answered. Yong seemed honest in that particular moment. Like, more honest than he knew her. He knew she made jokes from time to time and claimed to not being the best person to talk to when they both were still students.

But it was not the time now.

Sure it could have been a trick or something but if they would do such a thing just to break him later, he would be willing to risk it. It would be just another lesson.

But on the other hand, it was Yong. She was never really tricking others trough words.

He still would have not called her a friend at this point but at least he begun to trust her on certain things, like his life which was something.

She was not from the Jade-Palace. And she sounded like she truly understood him.

She chuckled and answered: "Way too kind, your highness. Ehm… yeah, the other thing I wanted to talk about…" she grew unsure about what, or better, how to say her next words.

Shiren waited patiently. It was not like he was in any sort of rush or anything.

"You know… I think I know that you… want to stay here, right?"

"You are correct," Shiren confirmed.

"So… What if… Tigress would decide to leave? … You… you don't have to answer," she asked carefully.

Shiren wondered. "You have changed," he said. "I can't remember you being that careful."

Yong did not feel offended by that. Or at least she did not show it. "How could you blame me? Let's just say, a lot of things happened. I mean, last time you weren't that… eh… well, lonely and uncommunicatively."

She made a point. Shiren sighed: "I just keep things simple.

Playing around and pretend you are fine does just no longer fit me. So yes. If Tigress would want to leave, then I would let her go. I don't really care where I am. As long as I can mind my own businesses. And this place is just perfect. Nobody wants to mess with me or anything. If the dragon sees me, it would at least not pretend to not want to get rid of me."

"Is it really that bad? Like… everywhere?" Yong asked.

"Do you remember Xun?"

Yong nodded and brought up some good memories: "Yeah. Misses Shu was nice to you all the time as far as I remember," she said.

Now Shiren came to his point: "At least she was the only one who never tried to stop me.

No, you don't have to start talking about what happened when we fought against Junjie.

I know you did it for a good reason. I would have killed that monster. And I would never been proud of it, I even would regret it even this day.

But whenever I was around people, the nicest thing they did was pretending to be gentle and trading me like just a normal customer. But deep inside they always knew the danger coming out of me. Did I protect those people? Yes, I did. And what was the gratitude? They feared me. They just stopped hiding it."

"… And others from your kind? Did you never see any other snakes on your way? Weren't you a good friend of grandmaster Viper?"

Shiren shook his head and went deep: "That had nothing to do with it. I was searching for my home. I never saw anyone like me. Not even Chang, my cousin. Since he left me during the war, I never heard from him again."

"You know, despite your brutality, I sorta respect that. Despite the fact you see everyone hating you, you never strike back. More so: You are helping them, even if they do not see it.

Thanks to you the Valley of Peace had nothing but you on their list of threats."

Shiren looked up and spoke on: "At this point I do no longer care what they think about me. I just did no longer know what else to do. I lost every goal I ever had. And now I have a new one. I have found this place. Now I want to know what happened to it. I can forget my hate here and start new. Maybe even bringing this place back to it's former glory. No longer having to fear people backstabbing me whenever I'm not careful for one moment. Don't get me wrong, I do not expect you to do anything like that. I know the Jade-Palace has it's honour. I just do not feel comfortable with all of them around."

Yong made circles with one finger in the stone and said: "Eh… yeah. I guess. I've seen as much. Just relax and sleep well this night. I think I will also leave you alone for now. Whenever you need something, just ask your old friend. And whatever you do tomorrow, I will come with you."

"Why are you saying this?" Shiren wondered and looked at her. She seemed weirdly honest. Her face was agreeing to her words. He saw the feelings of her words in her face.

"Because I can relate my situation to yours." She said while standing up and went away.

Before she left the platform again, she stopped shortly: "If we die here, nobody would going to miss us."

Shiren did not know what to think. Yong was weird. He couldn't figure out what she could think or feel or if she was even telling the truth.

Did she just want to earn his trust? But on the other hand, that would just not be like the Yong he knew.

Even when she was a thief, she was honest about it. She never had a reason to lie.

The Jade-Palace on the other hand made Shiren very uncomfortable.

They claimed to say they were here to support him and discover this land.

But he always expected them to plan something behind his back. Like they would decide about his fate and everything about their minds was just unknown to him.

Tigress was more focussed on the professor. For some reason she seemed to respect, but not trusting him. Shiren wasn't sure what to think about her. Shouldn't it be an honour to be with a high popular person on a mission?

Mantis mostly kept the expedition save, looked out for everyone and made sure nobody was left behind. But this could not be the only reason he came with them.

Crane was most of the time not even there. He did not talk or interact much with Shiren.

And Viper seemed at least honest. She feared something. Why else would a master be that vulnerable or emotional or asking question after question?

When the last sunshine disappeared from this place and the sunset came to it's end, someone lightened a lantern at the inside of wherever they were right now. Maybe some kind of centre of maybe the lower part of the city.

He heard them talking inside but he did not hear what they said. And at this moment he was too sleepy to try to listen. His eyes closed and refused to open again since it has been in fact a long day.

The temperature wasn't too cold yet so he didn't bother to go inside but curled up and laid down his head in order to sleep.

This time he felt okay to do so without checking the entire territory about potential attack paths from some enemies or potential escape routes, nor did he check for hiding spots.

He wasn't expecting being attacked during the night at all.

The only thing they knew about what could be a threat was a dragon and Shiren just assumed it wasn't nocturnal. For the first time for a lot of time he felt save to sleep on an open spot like this.

He barely realised it though.

He did not know when he fell asleep but he did not notice someone stopped by during his slumber and laid down some cold food to eat. It was probably warm when it got laid down.

The sun was already raising and started to lightning up this land once again.

The morning was quite cold but not as cold as he expected it since they technically were still in a desert.

Not just did this place messed with Shiren's senses on how the sun reached this place, it also broke seemingly everything regarding to it's location.

It did not care if there was a wall of sand between this place and the sun and it also didn't care if the desert was a special place when it comes to temperatures. The days weren't as hot nor were the nights as cold as in the deserts.

But he did not wonder. They could have been in another plane or something.

He accepted the way this place was and was more interested in to explore it, instead of wondering about it's logic. Something would surely answer these questions sooner or later. Today was a day to explore.

The air felt wet just like the other day and he still was hearing the relaxing sound of the nearby waterfall.

It was a nice and constant sound that made a perfect atmosphere for a meditation. But he was not up to meditate right now.

He quickly ate since he realised he skipped the last meal during his sleep, looked up and wondered what might happen today.

If they would keep on continuing exploring… what might they find?

More villages? Or maybe, hopefully their first clue about what in the world happened here?

Sirhen made assumptions about what happened, yet he had to admit nothing of it was confirmed in any way.

Also every assumption had something odd on it.

The most often thing was that seemingly nobody knew about this place except for Viper and her clan and maybe some other clans as well.

But she never saw it with her own eyes, nor did she know where it was located.

Why was this land kept as a secret?

He hoped to find answers. He hated riddles but at least on one thing he could be sure was that Viper wouldn't know any answer on these questions. It just felt like she heard a warning about a danger without ever seeing the danger. Like a good daughter, trusting her ancestors.

Shiren finished eating and shortly after that went to the inside to check on the others.

He saw Viper and Crane sleeping in an edge of the room. Surely Manits was somewhat nearby them. The professor layed between some of his books and journals while Yong leaned against a wall during her sleep. Just Tigress was nowhere to be seen.

Surely she was already up and exploring the area.

"Hey," he heard from the right, the only place he did not check yet.

She stood, leaned against the wall and watched the sunrise that looked just like her yellow cloths. "Already awake I see?" Shiren asked while coming closer to her and also looked trough the half cracked window.

"Someone has to. Even if the dragon might not be dangerous, it's not wrong for one being awake while the others sleep."

Shiren took a deep breath, inhale the cold but fresh morning air. "You are their leader, right?" he asked.

Tigress looked at him wonderingly. She maybe was surprised about that question from out of nowhere, maybe not. Whatever might have been the case, she answered: "They trust me. Whenever I make a choice, they know I have thought it trough."

Shiren looked down a little bit, like he often did when he was thinking. He said: "Reminds me when my former classmates followed me when we turned to your side."

"You made the right decision. And they trusted your leadership. But just one day later everything was over," she said to the outside.

"…" Shiren looked over to Yong. Now Tigress mentioned it: Back in the day they followed him to the end. And last night she told him she would follow him again wherever it would have been he went.

Tigress caught his view and said: "I know it was you who took down Junjie. The people praised Po but he was honest to us. If you would have been with us a bit more, maybe we could have done something for you."

"I'm sorry," Shiren sighed: "But we did not."

Tigress looked at him: "Well, it's not too late yet, is it?

We have decided to give you a chance, Shiren. If you truly want to communicate with the dragon, you might as well try. These creatures are dangerous and you can not take a real fight with them once they have started it but I am sure it would give us the chance to leave before it attempts any violence, if it ever really would.

After all, you remember the guard on the entry? He seems to live here too and it doesn't irritate the dragon, so there might be good chances," she said to him.

Shiren looked into her eyes and asked: "… Why are you doing this? You're putting yourself in so much trouble for me."

Tigress grinned and answered: "Oh, it's not just for you. Do you think we aren't curious?"

She looked over to Viper before continuing: "Viper does not want us to know about this place, that's true and I trust her when she says so. But it's pretty much inevitable at this point. Whatever it is she want to not being known, I will make sure it will stay a secret when we leave this place. But up to this point I see nothing wrong looking around as long as it's not forbidden."

Then she turned back to Shiren and said: "I'm here to see those things all around us and explore this land as much as I'm allowed to. And what about you? I know, you are interested in this land but may I ask what happened between you and the professor? You seem to trust him very much."

Shiren looked at her curious but honest face. He did not attempt to make any lie here. She looked like she could see trough any lie he would put up.

"He saved my life once. He came to my aid when everyone else abandoned me or left me to die. He showed kindness and honesty when everyone else was just-"

Tigress interrupted him by raising her par and saying: "That's enough. I think I can imagine pretty good what happened from what you said. But there has to be more."

"What do you mean by that? It's the story. Nothing more," Shiren wondered. And he grew nervous. Tigress was up to know something and he wasn't sure what her goal was.

Tigress explained herself: "We brought you away from those who wanted to get rid of you. Mantis revived you back. And yet, you don't seem to trust us more than anyone else. Don't get me wrong, I'm not begging you to be nice or something but when we want to get to the top together, we have to trust one another. You understand what I mean?"

Shiren answered calmly: "I understand. Though I can't deny that I'm suspecting something."

He tried to read Tigress' mind when he said that and paid attention to her facial expression. But apparently she was good at hiding any kind of emotion.

It was irritatingly but it also reminded Shiren who he was facing. One of the most powerful people in all of China.

She calmly said: "Whatever it is you're suspecting us to do, I can assure you that nobody is planning anything bad to you. At least for now. I can't vouch for anything that comes after we are done here. But then again, I do not even know what will be once we are done here and what your plans will be. But at least until the end of our expedition, I am responsible for each one of us and I will protect everyone, even if you do not want it. Understood?"

He felt her power in her words. A voice that did not accept any doubts or any other answer than Yes. Shiren answered: "… Understood."

Tigress slowly turned to the outside again and said: "As I said, you can still be an introvert if you desire to but respect everyone around you. Accept their help when you need to, help them if they need you and don't plan anything on your own. That's everything I'm asking for."

Shiren turned around again and said: "Then tell Viper to stop-"

Tigress interrupted him again by saying: "I prefer you to tell her on your own. I'm not going between you two. I guess you understand her problem best. Since you are the problem."

Shiren turned back to her and defended himself: "But I am not like Fu-Xi!" He felt offended. He knew what she was talking about but he was not like the one who lost his mind.

Tigress looked down to him and said: "The people may see otherwise. I bet Yong can tell you about it. And Mantis and Crane are also there if you have any questions."

Shiren silenced. There was nothing to say anymore. Tigress made her mind and the only way to convince anything to her was proving it.

"Come to me if something troubles you. Until then," she said and left. Shiren looked after her, seeing her going outside trough another corridor. From what Siren saw previously, it was leading to a balcony. It probably was a great place to meditate.

Then he looked out of the window again thinking about a lot of things but concluded to concentrate on this expedition. If something bad would happen to him while he was distracted with something, all of his thoughts would have been in vain.

He still did not trust anyone and felt uncomfortable being around the people from the Jade-Palace but Tigress was a person he did not want to mess with.

And she was right with one thing: Alonely he would just miserably fail. Like he did always when he was alone, no matter how strong he became. The world always was more powerful than him.

He laid his head on the cold stone and wondered again. Despite the fact he wanted to concentrate on the expedition, he was not able to focus. His thoughts drifted away like they found no grab in his head.

Xing, Ku Zhan and Lao… what may they think right now? What would be when they would be here? Was there a chance Shang was still alive somewhere, maybe searching for him?

What would be if he would fail again? When this land was not supposed to be saved? What then? Going on the road alone again? Who could he really trust? What was his task in this world? His place? Who was he? Who was he supposed to be? Who did he want to be?

Questions he found no answers to. Questions he did not want to ask anyone.

He raised his head again and took a deep breath to calm himself again. He did not wonder like this for a long time since it never was important to him.

Here he did not need to be on guard to save his life any moment.

Me made a short meditation. Something about learning about inner peace. Something he once thought he mastered. These days he realized how quick things can change.

Did Inner Peace meant you could never get caught by surprise?

Did Jil ever found her Inner Peace? What was true Inner Peace?

He did not realise how long he was just sitting there while he asked himself all of those questions and wondered about them. It felt like just a few minutes but apparently it was over an hour when he woke up from it.

The sun left the surface and stated it's daily march across the sky.

"Excuse me, Shiren?" Crane said to him. When Shiren turned around Crane asked: "Have you seen Tigress somewhere?"

"Outside on the balcony, I think. At least that's where she went," Shiren answered.

"Thanks. Good morning," Crane greeted and moved along.

Shiren observed the area again.

Everyone but the professor seemed awake. Yong and Mantis were nowhere to be seen and Viper just moved outside trough the cracked wall.

Day two of the official expedition. He looked outside again, down to the garden and suddenly saw this wolf, the guard from yesterday just walking trough.

He wanted to go down in order to talk to him.

He called Crane.