So for the next several minutes of travelling, Viper went over with me on the map the locations of some of the most dangerous criminals and villains of the Jade palace. So far, I had known about not just Temutai (Big buffalo guy with anger management problems), but a banished scorpion named, believe it or not, Scorpion... very creative names some people have... (Celebrity who used weird druggy flower and became her own downfall. Have plenty of those back on earth) some kind of Lemur named Tong Fo (Short big eyed hothead) and a warthog named Taotie, who lived quite close to the Valley of Peace (weirdo with a son who has some sort of daddy issues). I had never realized how many enemies the Jade Palace had made, and how few of these names I had actually met. Hopefully I will never have to, but, come on, when has my luck ever been that good? Still, I paid attention as best I could to what she had to say about each of these guys and how dangerous they were, though it was mostly to waste time since it was at least another day until we reached Jinzhou, so yeah.
Even with Vipers little history lesson on the events of her experiences fighting these villains, some of which caused by Po one way or another, the time drew on more and more until night fell, allowing me to take the same routine as last night. Set up camp, prepare a fire, pretty much everything except sleeping itself. I suppose that wasn't too much of a surprise. Jinzhou was like a criminal hideout, so the closer we got, the more likely chance we would be attacked and robbed while we slept. The plan was four hours watch before switching positions, so you can only imagine how bored I was staying up watching the treeline for four hours. Unfortunately at some point, I accidentally ended up nearly falling asleep. The second Viper woke up and found out, I was scolded for it after receiving a wake up slap. Guess I did kind of deserve it... Anyway, when morning finally arrived, we set off at once and ended up arriving at the front gates of Jinzhou.
"Nice place". I commented dryly as I took my first glance of the city.
The whole place looked like the slums for all of China. Buildings and road were wrecked, the smell of booze was strong even if it was early in the morning, many of the animals passing us looked rather moody as though expecting a fight. The sooner we resupplied and got on our way, the better. The only building that stood out among the rest was a large castle type structure that stood taller than all the other buildings. Small towers stood at its corners, looking down on the entire city.
"Hey, Viper. What is that meant to be"? I had to ask. Viper took a good look at it before replying.
"Jinzhou prison. Our next location".
I slowly turned to her.
"Why is that our destination"? I asked, not understanding what a simple prison could offer us.
"Gongmen council informed them of our arrival and the importance of our journey. Since they're the only force in the area, they're prepared for our arrival, even ready to offer us the supplies we need".
I simply asked why we couldn't have just brought supplies from the city itself. All Viper did was slither aside and gestured for me to go to one of the stores across the street. I slowly but swiftly went over, to a simple fruit store and picked up an orange. It had a single bruise. Still, I looked up to the pig shop keeper that owned the open store and asked.
"How much for this orange"?
"Eight yuan". He replied gruffly.
...
I said nothing. Instead, I simply put the orange back in place and slithered away. That is some B S right there! Eight yuan? Seriously?! In the Valley of Peace oranges cost only one yuan, in good condition! As soon as I returned, I found Viper with a smirk on her face.
"So? Where are our supplies"? She teased.
I kept my mouth shut, trying to avoid saying anything I would have ended up regretting. Instead I slithered past her and headed in the direction of the prison. If I had turned round, I'd bet I would have caught Viper giggling.
After a few minutes of fighting through the crowds, we managed to get to the prison. Outside, guarding the large wooden door entrance were... gorillas... great. Just one quick glance and instantly I reminded myself of when I had been imprisoned within the Galadriel gates, surrounded by an army of these brutes, only to eventually break out and escape with my life. Still, I swallowed my pride and slithered forwards. It seemed that whoever was in charge must have already recieved note of our arrival as the guards were quick to open the huge doors for us. I managed to thank them and headed inside where I found myself at the end of a long stone hallway.
"I thought it was customary for hosts to greet their guests in". I chuckled mostly to myself.
Just like magic, a large hulking figure began to walk down from the other end of the hallway. Wasting no time, I also headed forwards to meet him halfway. Viper followed until we finally met the guard. Turned out he was another gorilla. Yippie...
"Ah, you must be Masters Mike and Viper, yes"? He asked in a rough, yet friendly voice. I nodded to his question. "Good. Come, come. Allow me to show you around".
While I didn't fancy the idea of a tour, I felt it would have been rude to decline. Instead I decided it would be better to wait it out and see how things go.
Eventually, I managed to find out that this particular gorilla was head honcho here and that his name was Yùzú (Chinese for jailer). Despite the size of the prison, there was not all that much within, only cell after cell. The higher the floor was, the more dangerous the criminals, the more guards placed. Yùzú turned out to be a little nicer than most gorillas I had encountered. Every now and then, he kept offering us a drink or asked if we needed to take a moment to rest after so many floors. Seemed I really jumped the gun there on what I first expected. Though it didn't stop some of the guards giving us, particularly me, harsh glares. Probably suspicious I'm sure. Anyway, we ended up reaching the very top floor and were about to head through the entrance before Yùzú put one of his large hands out to stop us from suddenly entering.
"I would recommend staying behind me at all times. There are many alarms inside and it is easy to trip one. Follow my lead and you will be fine". Was all he said before opening the door...
...
Sorry guys. This was meant to be up 12 hours ago, but my stupid internet decided to toy around with me and denied me full access to this site. After the last half hour of fighting, I have gotten it back on at long last. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Cheerio!