27. Desire of revenge

It was already late noon when Po finally pulled himself up to move his legs. He had been waiting for Wang's return for hours and the whole sitting around made the dragon warrior nervous. He constantly had the feeling of being watched by someone and looked behind every bush.

Finally, he shook his head about himself. "That's ridiculous," he muttered. "Po, you need some distraction."

He stroked his stomach. But he had already eaten lunch. When the panda saw Yin-Yu next to the house with Shenmi, who was playing with some dolls again, Po gave himself a jerk and walked over to them.

"Hey!" he greeted.

Yin-Yu smiled at him. "Oh, hello."

"Did you hear anything from Wang?" Po asked hopefully.

But Yin-Yu shook her head. "Unfortunately no."

The panda sighed in disappointment. Then his gaze wandered down to Shenmi.

"And what about you? Everything okay?"

He still had remorse from what had happened today. But the girl seemed to have recovered well and even held up a doll for him.

"She's got something from her father," thought Po with a smile. Then he looked around searching.

"Where's Shen?" he asked.

"Over there," Yin-Yu replied, pointing up a hill.

Po frowned. Was the peacock thinking again? Gradually, the panda wondered whether he should think of a word for this kind of occupation of the white ruler. But Po rejected this thought again and climbed up the hill. Shen noticed him, but he did not greet him immediately. Only when the panda started to clear his throat, he reacted.

"What's your request, panda?" Shen asked in a calm, deliberate voice.

"What was this action from earlier?" Po asked.

"What are you talking about?"

Po shrugged. "Well, I thought you'd go for his throat."

Shen twisted the corners of the beak a little. "Panda, I'm not as uncontrolled as you think."

Po raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

The white peacock, folded his wings, offended, and looked at him sternly. "Did you think something else?"

"No, no, of course not. I just thought…"

Po had to think about back then. Shen's tantrum on the shipwreck in Gongmen City was still deep in his memory. Or Shen's destructive frenzy. In these days, he didn't care who he blew up. The main thing was that the way had been clear for his campaign of conquest.

"What did you think again?" Shen asked.

The panda waved it off. "No offense. I just wanted to find out whether I shouldn't worry about another war is breaking out between him and you."

He smiled slyly, which Shen found less amusing.

Po looked at him curiously. "Uh, what should happen to him now?"

Shen avoided his gaze. "That's a point we don't need to talk about."

The panda twisted the corners of his mouth. "In other words, you don't know. Or you don't want to think about it."

The peacock turned his back on him. "If that's the only reason you came here, then it would be best for you to end the conversation."

Po snorted, but he gave in. "Fine. But I still want to know something."

Shen raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

The panda stepped closer to him. "Have you already told Yin-Yu something?"

"What do you mean?"

"From your weaknesses. Did you talk to her about it?"

Shen sighed in annoyance. "No."

Po was not particularly upset about this short answer, but he didn't want to stop talking about it now.

"Alright, if you don't want to talk to her about it, but let me know if you're not feeling well. Do you already have something today...?"

"Panda!" Shen cut him off. "I appreciate that you obviously think to play my personal doctor, but I can still take good care of myself. In case you haven't noticed yet. I fought fights when you weren't born then!"

Po's face darkened for a brief moment.

"I saw the fights in my first year of life," he thought, but he didn't say it. He didn't want to let an old argument arise. Instead, he looked down ruefully. "Okay, but tell me if something is wrong with you. I don't want to be responsible if your wife has to mourn you."

With these words, he turned away and looked for a place in the meadow in the sun.

Shen watched him with clenched body. It annoyed him immensely that this panda was now behaving in a similar way to his family, who had kept him locked up. He was never allowed to be like other children for fear that he might get sick again.

His feather fingers dug into his robe. Then he looked down at himself. Why was his body failing him now of all times?

He screwed up his eyes. In moments like these, he would like to scream, but because of that everyone could have heard it, he preferred to leave his place and take a walk to vent his frustration.

Yin-Yu thoughtfully watched Shen walk away. Po lay several meters away in the grass and let the sun shine on his stomach. She sighed. She was glad that it was reasonably relaxed between the two and she hoped that it would stay that way for the future.

"Excuse me."

She turned around in surprise when she heard Liu's voice from behind. The young peahen looked at her in embarrassment and she rubbed her wings nervously.

"Mind if I keep you company?" she asked.

Yin-Yu nodded. "Of course you can."

Liu's gaze wandered to Shenmi. "I wanted to apologize again for all the inconveniences," she began. "I don't know whether things would have turned out differently if I had acted differently."

Yin-Yu smiled encouragingly at her. "That's okay. I know how difficult it can be with him."

Liu looked down. "Well, I don't know him long…" She looked shyly up at the lady. "How long had you been married to each other?"

Yin-Yu sighed heavily. She was reluctant to talk about it.

"Almost 20 years." She paused for a moment. "More precisely, 19 years and 6 months until I break off with him."

Liu dropped her head slightly. "And your married life… didn't go so well, did it?"

"Did he tell you anything about it?"

Liu shook her head. "He had never talked about that. The only thing he was good at was complaining about me."

Yin-Yu had to smile a little. "Yes, he's good at that."

Liu paused for a moment before asking more questions. "Why has it never got better between you and him?"

Yin-Yu had to think for a moment. "Well, he never let nobody come near him. We lived as distant in marriage as fire avoids water."

Liu raised her eyebrows. "Did you know he had nightmares at night?"

The peacock lady seemed to be surprised, but then she shook her head. "No, we never slept in the same room together. I wasn't even allowed to be with my kids at night. Each night, everyone had to stay in their own room. He always locked the doors. Now and then he even snuck around at night and checked whether the doors were really locked."

Liu's wings tensed a little. "Why did it still never work with him?"

Yin-Yu looked out at the landscape. "Even if he had been nice to me, I loved Shen first and that has never changed. Even if Shen had died, no one could ever have replaced his place in my heart."

She looked back at Liu, who again looked rather thoughtful. "So it was mainly because he wasn't the man you would have sacrificed every effort for."

Yin-Yu looked at her in amazement. "How are things with you?"

Liu blushed slightly under the feathers. "Uh, well... what can I say? I'm actually just his carer."

Yin-Yu wasn't so convinced that the younger peahen really thought so. "But you wish it was more, right?"

Liu avoided her gaze. Again she remembered the first encounter with Xiang. Was it just pity for him, or... or was she just deluding herself with the other thing?

"Hey, Wang is back!" Po shouted and ran past them down the hill.

"It's about time," the white peacock muttered, who was still within earshot and also went down the village.

Wang had already passed the first houses and looked at the approaching animals in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, it took so long," he apologized. "But most of my people were off duty."

"It doesn't matter," Po accepted his apology.

"However, it would be necessary to know what is going on," Shen intervened.

Wang nodded and got straight to the point. "As far as I can tell, storming the palace wouldn't be a problem. I can use so many soldiers that we could turn the whole city upside down."

"So and with what result?" Shen asked suspiciously. "With that, we can only get her to run away. I suppose she knows every blind spot in the city, right?"

The King of the Huns shrugged his shoulders. "Well, or you do what she wants and give her what she wants."

"You're not going to do that, are you?" Liu asked startled, who also came running.

Po rubbed his chin. "Or, I mean, if we can't catch her, then we would just have to lure her out."

Liu's eyes widen. "You want to use Xiang as bait? He won't accept that!"

"But when he knows that nothing can happen to him…"

"He doesn't trust anyone," Liu insisted on her statement. "He will say no."

Shen's eyes narrowed. "And how should we otherwise proceed if I could allow myself the question?"

Liu didn't know how to answer that at first. In the end, there was only one thing she could say: "You can't force him to do it. I don't think that's a good idea."

At that moment, one of the ox soldiers who had been standing at the foot of the hill to the village came running up. Wang looked at him in surprise.

"What is it?"

"There's a lady," the ox explained. "She says her parents are here."

Everyone looked up in surprise, but their astonishment was exceeded when a familiar face suddenly appeared behind the soldier.

"Xia?"

The peahen shyly waved her wing. "Hello."

Po's jaw fell open. "What are you doing here?"

"I guess something similar like Shenmi."

"Xia!"

At the next moment, Shenmi came running and ran towards her big sister, who took her in her wings. In the meantime, Yin-Yu had also gone down to the village and was right out of it to see her older daughter.

"Child, how did you come here?" she asked.

Po could only agree with her questions. "Yes, and anyway, how did you know that we were here?"

Xia put her little sister down and ran towards her mother without answering the questions.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she said with relief and hugged her.

Her gaze fell on her father, who, however, seemed less pleased about her appearance. She could see, he was surprised, but then his amazement turned into angry concern.

"Why did you come here?" he began seriously. "You should stay in Gongmen City with the others."

Po looked around excitedly. "Oh, are the others here, too?"

Xia gritted her beak lips together and forced a smile. "I'm sorry, but I had to come. I was worried about you."

Shen's eyes narrowed. "Apart from us, nobody knew that we were here and no longer in Mendong City. How did you find us?"

Xia nervously rubbed her neck. "Some people told me on my way that you had been seen here."

That caused a shock in Po. "Oh dear! If others have already seen us, then word will probably have got around. We have to act now before she comes in ambush. Maybe she is already here!"

"What exactly happened?" Xia wanted to know.

Po paused in the middle of his nervous talk. "That's a crazy long story."

Po reported what had happened. Xia already knew the half of the story. But when she heard the other version, she realized what was behind it. After the panda finished his tale, Shen could not refrain from voicing a reprimand.

"You see, you really shouldn't have come here."

Xia lowered her gaze. "Sorry. But I had to come."

"We'd better come up with a plan now," Po urged.

For once, Shen agreed to this. "Good. But best inside, not outside."

Wang didn't mind. "If you like."

While the others marched up to the upper houses, Yin-Yu turned to Xia. "Child, you must be tired."

Xia smiled slightly. "It's okay. Tell me one thing, mother. Where is Xiang exactly now?"

Her mother looked at her in surprise. "Well, over there." She pointed to the little hut further up. "But let's not talk about it anymore. Come on, I'll bring you something to eat."

She led Xia into the house. But before she stepped over the threshold, Shen suddenly appeared next to her. Xia looked at him a little scared. Her father's look was very serious.

"Did you come here on a ship?" Shen asked.

Xia swallowed. "Yes."

This lie gave her a stomach ache. To her relief, Shen just nodded and went to another house, where Po and Wang had already gathered inside. Liu came along too, just to make sure nothing was decided behind Xiang's back.

Xia watched her father a while longer, then her gaze wandered over to the hut.

Two guards stood in front of it. Xia narrowed her eyes. That made the whole thing difficult. She had to come up with something.

"Mother!" she called into the dining room.

Yin-Yu raised her head. "Yes?"

"I'll stretch my legs for a moment. I'll be right back."

She wanted to leave quickly, but Shenmi was still holding on to the tail of her shirt. "Can I join?"

But Xia refused. "No, you wait here. I will come back soon."

With these words, the peahen walked around the house then behind the hill and then she came near the hut at a walking but fast pace.

"Excuse me," she called to the guards. "I think I saw someone sneaking around."

The two guards exchanged puzzled looks.

"Seeing someone sneaking around?" one of them repeated in disbelief.

Xia nodded. "Yes, it was small and flaky. I think, it was a gecko."

That last word rang the alarm bells for both of them. "Where did you see him?!"

Xia pointed down the hill into the forest at the end of the village. "Down there. He disappeared there. Take a look. Maybe you will catch up with him."

Immediately, the two ox guards ran off. As soon as they were out of sight, Xia quickly reached under her shirt and pulled out a dagger. She stroked it with trembling feather fingers. Suddenly she was afraid. But then she gave herself a jerk. She hid the dagger under the wing and opened the door of the hut.

Annoyed, the blue peacock got up when the door opened for the umpteenth time today. "My goodness! Can't you even leave me alone?!"

He froze when he saw his former daughter, not Liu, as he had expected.

"What are you doing here?" he growled at her. "Do you want to vent on your frustration on me now too? This is not going to work."

Xia narrowed her eyes. "I don't have time for a chat with you, which is why I want to make it short."

She pulled out the dagger. Xiang's eyes widened. "What do you want with that?"

"We will go to a place where we can talk undisturbed."

Xiang was a bit apprehensive at the sight, but he was nowhere near as scared as he was of Liu, Yin-Yu or Chiwa.

The blue peacock took a deep breath. "Well, well, where is my little girl who promised to be a good girl?"

He tried to suppress the panic he felt, even if his wings were trembling slightly. For him, Xia was still the intimidated little chick he'd forced obedience to do. He was sure that she would not break this obedience so easily.

It wasn't until Xia stared at him angrily that he wasn't so sure anymore.

"What are you?" he scoffed. "Do you really think you can stab me with it? Have you stabbed anyone before? Come on. You can't do that."

He laughed hoarsely, even if his voice was a little shaky.

Xia let out a snort. "I'm no longer the little girl that you knew back then and that you could order around as you please."

Xiang narrowed his eyes, but he kept his spiteful expression like a mask. "How nice. Then I'm curious how you want to get me out of here." He pointed to his lame leg. "You can laugh about it if you want. I can't run away anyway, but I can't go away either." He smiled coldly when he noticed Xia's hesitant demeanor. "Well, well, look at you. My upbringing with you doesn't seem to have failed."

The subsequent slap from Xia's wing dropped him to the ground. That sobered the blue peacock for the time being. Panting, he got up and looked up at Xia. The girl's eyes were wet, but she still held back the tears of anger. Instead, she grabbed her ex-father by the wing and dragged him up.

"Just one sound and I can hit harder!" she hissed at him.

Xiang rubbed his cheek with an annoyed expression on his face. "Your father is really an unabashed street bird."

Shenmi craned her neck. She found it very strange that Xia was allowed to go into the hut just like that. The little girl caught her breath when she saw Xia come out with Xiang, but Xia was dragging him more behind herself. Shenmi didn't know what to do and stayed in her hiding place in a bush. Xia looked around again, then she dragged the blue peacock into the forest.

"Now finally stop the nonsense!" Xiang ordered, but he fell on deaf ears with his former daughter. It might not have been a problem for him to knock Xia out of action with a few blows, but she still had the dagger in her wing, which prevented him from doing this.

After a while they came to a clearing where Xia put the peacock down. Xiang sat up a little on his good leg and stared at Xia. She in turn held the dagger protectively in front of herself.

Xiang chuckled mockingly. "Oh, come on. You won't dare. They will not be pleased that you knock down a defenseless person."

Xia narrowed her eyes. "Who says that I'm going to kill you?"

Before Xiang could even think about her words, there was a sudden rustling in one of the bushes. Xiang lost color from under his feathers when he saw the geckos emerge from behind a few bushes, followed closely by Laishi and a few other vultures.

"It's about time," Tongfu growled. "The job was starting to get boring."

Xiang's horrified gaze shifted to Xia. She in turn just looked at him without emotion.

"Y-you didn't do that!" he yelled at her. "Tell me you didn't do that!"

Xia looked away.

Tongfu, on the other hand, could only laugh at his despair. "And so I hope that it will be the last time that we have to catch you. - Grab him!"

Xiang jumped as far as he could and avoided their grips, but that wasn't enough. Had he been able to fly or run away, he might have had a chance, but it was an easy thing for the geckos to hold of him at the end.

"Let go of me!" He yelled at them. "I will not go back!"

One of them held his beak shut while the rest began to tie him up.

"You're right about that," said Tongfu monotonously. "You won't go, but we'll fly you back."

Laishi giggled. "Nicely said. Not the last walk, but the last flight."

Xiang struggled like crazy. His last hope might still be Xia, but he could not expect any help from her. She didn't even look at him. In his distress, he wanted to scream, but when someone tied his beak, the effort was in vain.

"Come on, in with you!" With all their might, they packed the peacock in a large sack and tied the upper ends together.

"And where are my brothers now?" Xia wanted to know.

Tongfu grinned. "Of course you can have them."

He snapped his fingers and another vulture appeared with a small sack.

"Here you are."

The sack fell at Xia's feet. She stared at it in surprise. The bag seemed to be filled with something, but it looked a way too light. She opened it hastily. But all she got out of there were torn out little peacock feathers.

Horrified, she dropped the bag. "What have you done to them?! That's against the agreement!"

Tongfu shrugged. "Sorry, little one. You have to be content with these leftovers. But Miss Chiwa has other plans for the boys. The fewer peacocks there are in the world, the better for her image."

Xia clenched her fists in anger. "YOU DAMN…!"

At the next moment, she was hit hard on the back of the head. She sank to the floor, unconscious.

"But you won't say anything either," Tongfu commented dryly. "Nobody will know about it."

Laishi rubbed his wings. "I see today will be a busy day for me."

Xia slowly began to move again and the gecko wanted to end it quickly. He gave a sign to the other gecko who had hit her so hard on the head. He understood and reached for the dagger that Xia had dropped. Then he grabbed the girl by the comb feathers and pressed the blade to her throat.

Suddenly someone kicked the gecko so hard that he was thrown through the air. In the next second, a white bird stood in the gang's path, right in front of Xia.

Tongfu ground his teeth. "How the hell did he come here?!"

Shen positioned himself in the attacking position and hissed angrily at them. "Woe to you touch her again!"

The gecko gave a scream. "Carve him!"

Shen had hurriedly got hold of a stick in the woods and was lashing out with it at lightning speed. He could easily fend off the jumping geckos. But when Laishi and his gang of vultures also approached, the peacock was pushed to its limits. Nevertheless, he fought doggedly on.

Laishi soared high in the air and plunged into a nose dive. "I'll make a white bird angel out of him and hang him over my door."

Shen showed no fear of his attack. He took a run-up and jumped to meet the approaching vulture. But suddenly he wavered. He tried to regain control of himself, but his body no longer wanted to obey him. In his half blackout, he could still see the shadow racing towards him. But then the shadow suddenly disappeared from view when a huge blow catapulted the vulture to the side.

Shen stood trembling on his legs and stared at Po, who had suddenly appeared next to him, with his fists raised.

"Hey, do you want to get a rap over your knuckles again?!"

Tongfu called for retreat. "Let's get out of here!"

In a matter of seconds, geckos and vultures had gathered again. The reptiles swung on the birds and flew away with them. Po jumped forward and caught one of the vultures by the tail feathers, but the flight start was too fast, so that the panda only held a few feathers in his paws. Indignantly, he watched the gang make off through the air.

"Damn it!" he scolded.

He turned to the panting peacock. "Everything okay?"

Shen took a few deep breaths. "Don't worry about it," he uttered and his gaze wandered to the peahen lying on the ground.

"And what do you want to tell to the fine lady now?" one of the geckos asked Tongfu.

The gecko growled irritably at him. "We don't have to let her in on it. The main thing is that we have him."

He pointed to the cloth bag which one of the vultures was holding in its claws. However, he did not notice that he weighed a few small grams more. Without anyone noticing, Shenmi had clung to the cloth sack. The white girl looked down fearfully and held onto the fabric even tighter. She felt Xiang fidget violently in spite of his imprisonment in the bag. She screwed up her eyes and wished her father was at least with her.