22. Sibling Hatred

"Uh, uh, how did he do that?" Po whined and rubbed his head while Dr. Wu tried to put a bandage on him there. "Did Master Thundering Rhino just take each of the Peacock family aside and showed them how to beat someone up... ouch!"

"Don't worry," the lizard goanna reassured him and tightened the bandages. "You have a thick skull, so there won't be any permanent damage." He rubbed his chin and examined the panda from the side, which made Po a little uncomfortable.

"Uh, what is it?" Po asked uncertainly.

"This could also be a nice project for my research," Dr. Wu said Wu thoughtfully. "Don't you want to think again about what you want to do with your body after death? Your skull bone could be very interesting."

"Okay, that's enough for now!" Po refused. "I feel very honored by your offer, but no, thanks." He looked over at the soothsayer and her grandnephew who were standing next to him.

He and them were in one of the many rooms in the palace. After Dao accidentally hit Po's head so hard, they suggested to go to the palace, where Dr. Wu was able to patch up the Dragon Warrior. Now the panda lay on many cushions in a kind of parlor and endured everything with lamentations.

Ling frowned at the Dragon Warrior. "Why didn't you use your kung fu..." He wagged his hooves wildly and made a few awkward quick movements with his arms. "You could have fended off the stone easily."

Po was silent for a moment. "I… I don't know. Maybe because…" He thought about it. "Maybe because I was afraid, I would only make it worse." Po felt his fur ruffle at the thought of standing between the two fighting peacocks. Why hadn't he intervened steadfastly? Did he remember memories from back then? The resolution never to attack a peacock again? But it hadn't been difficult for him to hit Dao on the head, but then again, that had been an emergency situation.

The goat looked at the confused Dragon Warrior with pity. "Never mind," she reassured him. "Even champions and masters make mistakes. They don't always know what to do in every situation either." She gave him a gentle smile. "At least it didn't turn out worse."

Po smiled back wryly. "So, how are they?"

"I gave everyone a room," the goat told him. "Dao sends you his apologies again. He would be very sorry."

"Oh, no problem," Po waved it off. "Maybe it will even give me some enlightenment."

"Nevertheless, you should rest a little before you get up again," Dr. Wu advised.

"Alright." Submissively, Po laid down on the pillows.

The doctor rubbed his reptilian hands and turned to the goat. "Are they both keeping quiet, or do I need to give someone a sedative?"

The old lady shook her head. "I made it clear enough to both of them that there would be consequences in any next argument."

Dr. Wu raised his eyebrows skeptically. "And the white lord accepted that? Or at least, did he eat it up from you?"

The goat sighed. "I hope so, at least." She turned away. "I wanted to bring something to Dao anyway." She looked at the Dragon Warrior again. "Do you want to eat something?"

Po looked at her in surprise. "Oh, well, maybe a little midnight snack would be nice, but of course I don't want to cause any trouble..."

"Ling?" the old goat asked her grandnephew. "Could you get him something from the kitchen?"

Ling nodded. "Okay, I'll do."

Still a bit lost in thought, the old goat went into one of the rooms, where there was a large closet against the wall with some robes hanging in it. They were Lord Liang's clothes. Luckily, after the collapse of the palace, they were able to salvage them intact from the rubble. It amazed the goat that anything had survived after the destruction. She pulled out a blue robe, laid it carefully over her arm and closed the closet again.

"Did I kill them?"

She was startled when Shen's voice reached her from a little further away. She hadn't even noticed the white peacock because he was in the shadow of the window frame. Now the white peacock stepped into the lamplight and looked at the old lady with a serious expression.

"Well, what do you think? Did I kill them?" he repeated his question.

"How are you?" she answered with a question in return. Her breath caught when Shen raised his wing admonishingly. "Don't try to distract again. So did I kill them?"

The goat struggled to herself for an answer. "Shen, it was all just accidents and unforeseen events. It wasn't due to…"

"But if I wasn't born, would they still be alive?"

"Shen, no one can say this", she insisted. "No one can it!"

"You're probably right," Shen admitted indulgingly. "Maybe it would never have come to this if you hadn't predicted my future to my parents."

The goat's lips began to tremble. Then she turned away from him in a flash, ran through the door and slammed it behind her. Outside in the hallway, she walked a little further before she leaned against a pillar in the stairwell and gasped shakily for air. She had tried hard to suppress this thought, but the lord knew how to pass his pain on to others. Whether he felt better at this moment, no one could say.

After the old goat had calmed down somewhat, she went into the room to which she had brought Dao. It was more of a guest room, furnished with tables, cupboards and a bed. When the goat knocked, no one answered. Worried, she opened the door and stuck her head through the crack in the door. The peacock had retired on a bed. However, he wasn't lying, but had drawn up his legs and buried his head in his wings.

"Dao?" she began softly. But the white peacock did not respond. She approached him cautiously. She wasn't even sure if he had even heard her now, so she called his name again. "Dao, are you alright?"

She reached out her hoof and touched his shoulder. The peacock flinched. Then he lifted his head and looked uncertainly at the goat, as if expecting a philippic from her.

But the goat just smiled at him and held out the blue garment. "I brought you something."

The peacock looked at the piece of clothing in surprise, which she was holding in her hooves.

"It was your father's robe," she continued. "It's not your color, but it might look good on you."

Dao looked at the blue robe first, then at his black one. But then, he let out a deep sigh and settled his head dejectedly on his wings again.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone," he whined softly. "I was just so angry..."

"Dao, I know," the goat interrupted him in a soft voice. "It's okay."

"Nothing is okay!" With a jerk, Dao jumped off the bed and went to the window. "Not only that suddenly my brother is standing in front of me, who I have despised like nobody else in my life, now I also land like out of the blue where I never wanted to go again!" With a gloomy look, he leaned up off the window sill.

The goat looked at him in bewilderment. "Didn't you ever intend to go back home?"

But instead of giving her an answer, the peacock turned to her. His face was covered by the expression of desperate helplessness. "There's a black hole in my head! I... I don't even know what I've been up to!"

The goat tried to calm him down again. "To be honest, we don't really know either." She was silent for a moment before continuing. "Maybe it's for the best that you don't know it."

But even that could not satisfy Dao and the peacock excitedly waved his wings. "This panda said that I had at least only hit him in the head, but I didn't cut it off! Did I cut someone's head off?!"

The goat looked down sadly. "At least that's what we were told... Wouldn't you like to try on the robe now?"

But their attempt at distraction had no effect and fell on deaf ears. Dao just walked past her and looked around frantically. "And I notice something else!" he yelled anxiously.

"What is it?" the goat asked calmly.

"This isn't the same palace I was in before!" Dao ran to a pillar standing near the wall. "I know this room! I remember very well that there was always a slight crack in this pillar. Now it's gone! Even down in the entrance hall, I still remember some slight wear in the floor. It's gone now, too! It is as if everything had been completely torn out and rebuilt."

The goat bit her lower lip. He wasn't wrong at all. But before she could reply, Dao ran to the window again.

"And then there!" He pointed into the yard. "This statue of Master Thundering Rhino! It wasn't there before either. Where have the masters actually gone?!"

The old lady felt her knees go weak. Dao didn't know anything about all the terrible things that happened after Shen's return. If she didn't know either, she wouldn't believe it if somebody had told her. She looked at the younger white peacock with deep sadness. But keeping silent would be just as wrong. Sooner or later, Dao would find out everything anyway. The only question was whether this was the right time for it.

"Why don't you say anything?!" Dao's excited voice brought her back. "Or don't you want to answer me?!"

The goat took a deep breath. "Dao, listen. You were... you were gone a very long time. A very long time. And times have a way of changing. A lot has happened." Gently, she laid his father's robe on the bed, then she walked over to the still confused peacock and took him aside. "Come with me. We're going to get some fresh air."

As the goat headed to the yard with the peacock, Shen peeked around a corner in the hallway and watched them go with a serious expression on his face.

The night didn't seem to want to end this time. At least, that's how it seemed to Shen. For a long while, he had been standing by a window on the fourth floor, watching the goat and his brother pacing up and down the courtyard of the palace. Sometimes they stopped and exchanged a word here and there, but it was the goat who was talking the most.

"What are they doing?" Po asked, coming down the aisle.

Shen gave him an annoyed side-glance. "Shouldn't you lie down?"

"Of course, I should", Po admitted. "But I'm still allowed to go to the toilet, right?" He noticed Shen's tense posture and bowed his head apologetically. "Sorry, that wasn't formulated very well by me."

He went to the window next to the peacock and saw how the goat was talking to Dao in the yard.

"It is not fine to eavesdrop on private family affairs," Shen lectured him.

Po shrugged. "Whatever. I can't hear anything anyway."

At that moment, he pricked up his ears because Dao just jerked away from the goat and seemed upset about something.

"How could she love him more than me?!" the peacock cried from below.

The goat walked up to him and tried to calm him down.

Po ducked his head. "It didn't sound good at all."

"Dao, it wasn't like that at all," the goat persuaded the annoyed boy. "She blamed herself too much. Maybe she just thought she had to do something good with your brother..."

"And for this reason, she just treated me like air?" Dao snapped at her. "I had always been like a stranger to her. I never did anything to anyone! And as soon as he comes back, he lays everything in ruins!"

The goat shook her head wistfully. "I know, a lot of incredible things have happened. And a lot has changed. In your homeland and in your family, as well as in the vicinity of others. I just want to ask you not to judge him now. After all, he now has to take care of a wife and children and has also learned to take responsibility."

"Responsibility?!" Dao looked at her in bewilderment. "Oh, great! How good that he's only now learning! Couldn't he has learned that from the start?!"

Before she could say anything, he just ran past her, somewhere around the palace. The goat was not so good on foot and could not run after him. She just stood there and looked sadly after him.

The goat didn't know where Dao had gone. Hoping to meet him somewhere, she went back to the palace. The panda came towards her in the entrance hall.

"Hi, that got a little noisy," Po said.

She looked at him in surprise. "You heard it?"

Po smiled sheepishly. "Well, only fragments. I mean, that doesn't mean that I listened. I mean, it was unmistakable. Still, he didn't sound particularly pleased."

The goat sighed. "How true. It really wasn't."

Po rubbed his neck. "How long do you think, it will take for him to… well, to process everything?"

She shrugged. "Hard to say. At least he's talking and reacting normally again. Although, to be honest, I'm worried about someone else."

Po looked at her questioningly, but knew who she meant. She worried about Shen just as much. Especially since he had apparently imagined everything differently, or at least, he had hoped that it would turn out differently. He was probably all the more disappointed that his own brother now hated him.

Still very upset, Dao ran up the stairs of the palace. He felt like he wanted to bang everything together. He ran and ran without a break until he got to the top floor. Gasping, lungs burning, he came to a halt on the last step where the throne room had once stood. But as soon as he caught his breath, he sat up with a jerk. Not far away, Shen stood at one of the large windows and looked at Dao in surprise.

Dao's eyes darkened. "Say, are you following me?!"

Shen wrinkled his beak. "It's my right to be here."

"Right?!" Dao repeated angrily and walked towards Shen with firm steps. "If it were up to father, you would have the right least of all to be here!"

Shen folded her wings tightly. "Maybe not after father, but maybe after mother."

Dao let out a growl. "You don't seem to be ashamed to mention her in your vocabulary!"

Shen's eyelids began to twitch nervously and angrily. "Nice! I didn't like her anyway. And that goes for both of them!"

Dao hissed sarcastically. "Tz, how fine the world is. I can't believe mother could love someone like you more than me! The whole town called you the "Butcher of the Panda Village"! Unlike me. I've never offended anyone, but you...!"

Shen flashed the hem of his robe around in a flash. "I never had any influence on what happened after that!" he corrected his brother sharply. "After all, it was you who ran away, or did I talk you into it?"

Dao's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. Shen returned the gesture with an aggressive posture.

"Hey!" suddenly a voice panted from the stairs. "Because of something like that... you don't have to fall... together by the feathers..." Breathing heavily, Po rested his hands on his knees. "Oh man! Those stairs… phew. We should... really... think about an elevator..."

"You are all what I needed now!" Dao complained.

Po looked at him in surprise. "Huh? Now what have I… done wrong?"

"You're protecting him too, aren't you?!"

Shen sat up. "Are you suggesting I let a fat panda defend me?"

Dao let out a hiss. "Would be possible with your ambivalence."

That was enough Shen. He raised his wings in a fighting pose, which Dao immediately imitated. Furiously, they faced each other, ready to attack immediately.

"Ooookayyyy!" Po said slowly, and stood between the two brothers. "Maybe we just had a bad start." He put his arms on everyone's shoulders. "But there's always another try." He gave Shen a pleading look. "Don't we?"

Outraged, Shen pushed him away. "Why do I have to be so lenient with him?! He attacked me first!"

"Then just don't come near me anymore!" Dao snapped at him.

"You're lucky I got you out of the hell!" Shen countered. "Otherwise, you'd still be dancing like a doll to your Japanese friends!"

Dao grimaced. "I'd sooner let myself be feathered than let you pick me out!"

"Ho, ho, ho," Po interjected, crossing his paws. "Time out, time out! Okay? It's getting too personal now..."

"Shut up!" the two peacocks yelled at him at the same time.

Well, at least they agree on one point, Po thought, intimidated.

At that moment, the goat entered the room. When Dao saw her, he immediately ran towards her, looking at her pleadingly. "I can't stay here any longer! Everywhere around every corner, I see my mother! And him…" He gestured contemptuously at Shen. "I don't want to see him anymore!"

Shen's eyes widened, and Po was also concerned about this statement. The goat didn't seem to feel any different either, but she decided not to let himself go like the others. Someone had to keep a clear head. Especially since she was the eldest one.

"I suggest you go to bed now," she announced firmly. "It's a few hours until dawn. You should use this time to rest. Unless you want to keep fighting like two immature boys."

Dao seemed a little sobered that he wasn't getting the compassionate sympathy he'd hoped for from her. Shen didn't seem too comfortable with her bossing them around like little kids, either. But when the goat knocked decisively on the floor with her walking stick, the two peacocks gave in and both went into their rooms. When they were finally gone, the goat put a hoof over her face and sighed heavily.

Po looked at her pitifully. "Doesn't look like they'll be getting along well anytime soon," he said.

"No, unfortunately not," the goat agreed. "They are like their father. He was just as stubborn sometimes. Although they probably also have something from their mother. She also never allowed herself to be persuaded when she was convinced of something."

Po smiled mischievously. "Then they have at least one thing in common."

The goat looked at him good-naturedly. "But you don't have to stay longer and deal with their argument. By the way, don't you have to go back anyway?"

Po startled. "Good gracious! The festival! I totally forgot about that! Oh, no! Master Shifu will be so…" Po couldn't think of anything cruel at the moment, so he better not keep imagining what would happen if he didn't come to the Valley of Peace at all this year. "I have to go immediately!"

The panda turned on his heel and might actually have run away if the goat hadn't had another thought. She stroked her goatee thoughtfully. "Maybe you could take the two with you."

Po immediately stood stock still. "Huh? What? The two? To the Valley of Peace?"

"Dao can't stand it any longer here," the goat pointed out. "He needs a different environment."

"Wait a second," Po objected. "I can understand that he needs a change of scenery, but I think he not only wants to leave his homeland, but also his brother."

"Shen has to come with you anyway," the goat corrected. "After all, his family is still waiting there."

That made sense to Po. "Oh, of course! I almost forgot… Mm, wait a minute." Po frowned and rubbed his chin. "Mmm... That's it!"

"He should what?!" Shen thought, he had misheard while Po repeated his offer in front of Shen and Dao in the early morning. "That you both come to the Valley of Peace. Shen. Yin-Yu and the others are just waiting for you to come back. And me anyway." Po said this sentence with less enthusiasm. Just the thought of Shifu's evil eyes, reduced his happiness for the kung fu festival. "And it's also a good place to relax," he continued, looking at Dao. "It's also a way of getting to know your family. They are totally nice! You will love them! And especially the children!"

"Nice?" Dao was less convinced. "How can something nice come out of him?" He shot Shen a disdainful look, but before they could argue again, Po took Dao aside and looked at him pleadingly. "At least take a look! If you don't like them, you can always go." He put his paws together. "Please!"

Dao folded his wings and glared at the begging Dragon Warrior. You could see that he would have liked to say "no". But when the goat in the background gave him a pleading sign, he only reluctantly gave in. "Okay," but he gave Shen an arrogant look at the same time. "But only under protest. Just don't think I'm going to like you."

Shen raised his beak and snorted in agreement. "As you wish."

"But you shouldn't go on foot," the goat said in the tense situation.

Everyone looked at her questioningly.

"Dao should take it easy," she explained. "I'll ask someone to drive you in a cart."

"Oh, great!" Po cheered, who liked to abdicate a long march. "But… wait a minute. What do you mean with "you"? Aren't you coming with us?"

Shen's face was momentarily shocked when the goat shook her head. "I still have some things to do," the old lady said. "And I think, you're all old enough to be without me for a while, aren't you?"

But even Po was not enthusiastic about this idea. "You want to let me go alone? With them?"

The goat patted his paws reassuringly. "Oh, I'm sure you'll get along just fine once you're alone."

Po swallowed hard. "Couldn't the doctor come with us at least?!" Po suggested hopefully. "I mean, maybe I'll black-out after that hit on the head, or, or... Dao, maybe he'll get dizzy again."

Now Dao was a bit offended. "I'm not that unstable anymore!"

"Are you sure?" Shen teased.

Dao growled at him. "Yes, I am!"

"Don't worry," the goat said. "Dr. Wu will give you some medicine with you."

With these words, the goat turned away and simply left the three, who watched her in bewilderment.

"Do you really think that's wise, doctor?" Po asked, hoping to get some backing for the upcoming trip. He stood with the lizard goanna in Dr. Wu's house in a room where many medicines were stored. Whether in juice, drop, tablet or powder form. Po held a wooden box in his paws, into which the doctor stowed the medicine jars inside.

"Well," Dr. Wu murmured. "I don't want to hope that they start a war right away," and reached into a shelf again. "Here's a tincture for panic attacks, then a bottle for stomach problems..."

"Why don't you come with us?" Po asked. "It would be so much easier to have a medicine man around."

"Sorry," Dr. Wu refused his request. "But patients could arrive at any time. You never know."

"But you said, you hardly ever have patients," Po objected.

"I also never expected that a lost peacock would come to my practice yesterday," Dr. Wu pointed out.

Po pulled a face. "But surely, it's not every day that a missing heir to the throne turns up. If you could call him like that..."

"Here's an extra bottle for the lord's dizzy spells," the doctor interrupted Po's torrent of words.

"Do you really think, it's necessary that we need all this?" Po asked.

"You never know," the doctor said. "It's better to take too much than too little."

"If you say so," Po grumbled, glancing at the rack of jars filled with nothing but medicinal water, pills, and powder. A label caught his attention. He walked closer and took a closer look at the sign, which was already a bit yellowed.

"Royal medicine?" he read in amazement.

"Just another nickname on my part," Dr. Wu clarified him and stood next to him. "Whether royal medicine, or elixir of life, or even ... I'm still struggling with it. Although I've been making it for over 40 years."

Po's eyes widened. "Oh, is it that?"

"You guessed right," Dr. Wu said affirmatively and took out the bottle. "This is the drug I had to give Shen and Dao shortly after they were born."

The panda stared in awe at the transparent glass in which a murky liquid was swimming.

"I always prepare reserves," Dr. Wu continued. "Something like that goes to waste sometimes, and I always have to make new ones, then I always have supplies."

Po looked at him askance. "Uh, may I?"

"With pleasure."

Po put the wooden box down, took the bottle, opened the lid and sniffed. "Mm,.. ugh, smells very exotic."

"Medicine doesn't necessarily have to smell or taste good," the doctor said, taking the jar from him and putting the lid back on. "But it saves lives. And if something should happen, which of course we hope not, I always have something here."

With these words, he put the bottle back on the shelf.

A cart was already waiting in the doctor's yard. A hare was sitting on the coachman's seat and a bull stood in front of it to pull the carriage. With an effort, Po heaved the box with the medicines into the cart, while Dao and Shen stood at a suitable distance from each other and seemed somehow unsure whether they should really embark on this journey.

"Wouldn't you like to get into the wagon slowly?" the goat asked.

Both peacocks let out an annoyed snort. "Alright."

But when they wanted to climb into the cart at the same time, Dao pushed Shen aside. "Find your own place!"

"As you like!" Shen scolded and also gave Dao a shove. "I prefer to sit in the front anyway!"

The goat shook her head disapprovingly. "How childish," she murmured. When Shen wanted to jump onto the coach's box, she held him back.

"Shen, you should know that..." She paused, which made Shen sharp-eared.

"What should I know?" he asked inquiringly.

The goat hesitated. "That… that Yin-Yu wrote me a letter and I haven't answered her yet. So she might be a bit surprised that you're back from Japan already."

Shen lifted his beak. "Writing to her now would also be pointless."

The goat raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure?"

"She shouldn't prepare a party for him." With these words, he jumped up and sat down next to the rabbit. The mammal looked at him uncertainly, but it quickly turned its head forward when Shen gave him an evil look.

Po was ready and wanted to get in the cart as well, turning to the goat one last time. "Don't you want to come with us after all?"

The goat shook her head and pointed to the cart with a smile. "Now go. I hope will be comfortable with his family."

Po rolled his eyes. "Then I can only hope for a miracle."

"Wait," the goat held him back. Po thought the lady had changed her mind. He was all the more disappointed when she handed him a folded blue robe. "Here, take this with you. In case if Dao changes his mind."

Po nodded obediently and dejectedly got into the cart, being careful not to step on the long peacock feathers. Because the long feathers were also hanging down from Shen, who was sitting next to the coachman, while Dao was crouching at the other end of the cart edge and the panda was struggling to find a suitable place in the middle.

When everyone was finally ready, including Dr. Wu had gone into the yard when the cart started to move.

"Bye!" the old lady called after them. "Maybe I'll join up with you later."

"Later?" Po exclaimed in horror. "Why not now?"

"See you," the goat continued, ignoring Po's words.

Tormented, Po also waved at her, neither of the two peacocks gave her a farewell.

When the cart was gone from the yard, Ling leaned towards his great-aunt and looked at her questioningly. "Why didn't you tell him about Xiang?"

"I thought...I thought it best not to confront him about it," his great-aunt replied. "Not now."

Lin frowned. "Hopefully it won't be a flop. Otherwise, the Valley of Peace will turn into a Valley of War."

The cart drove down the country road and although they were surrounded by a peaceful forest, the panda thought he could almost feel the tension and the invisible hostility between the two brothers. Gradually, Po was becoming extremely uncomfortable with this silence and wanted to spread a little more cheer.

"Hey! Shall we play a hidden object game?"

Both peacocks turned to him with disparaging looks.

"How old are you?" Shen scolded.

Po ducked his head. "It was just a suggestion." Sober, he sat back down and twiddled his thumbs. Then he felt his stomach rumble a little.

"Hey, are any of you hungry?" he asked around.

"I'm full", "Eat it alone", he got as an answer from both sides.

Morose, Po took something out of the bag for himself. Gradually, he really felt like he was in a kindergarten and he had to play the babysitter. Pulling out the sack of provisions, he saw Shen's sword and Dao's katana under a blanket. Po swallowed and hoped those two weapons wouldn't be used during the trip. If need be, he would just have to sit on it.

Po pulled out a rice ball and was about to take a bite when a drop of water landed on his nose. "Huh, what...?" He looked up and now he noticed the dark clouds above them. Even more raindrops fell down. "Oh, oh. It's starting to rain."

"Congratulations on your realization, panda," Shen remarked sarcastically.

"Yes, and now what? We don't have a roof," Po explained. "We've got to shelter somewhere if we don't want to get our fur, or feathers, wet."

"There's an abandoned hut not far from here," the rabbit said. "We could stop there for a moment."

Po was relieved to hear that. "Oh well, better than nothing. Mmm, wait a minute. Abandoned? Could that maybe…?"

Po had not been wrong in his conjecture. Even before the rain really started, the cart reached a hidden cottage in the forest. The panda's mouth stayed open and he closed it again when he got off the cart. With wide eyes, he looked at the dilapidated building in which the unbelievable had happened many years ago.

"OH, this is the place we've been before." His gaze shifted to Shen. "Do you remember?"

"I'm not forgetful, panda," Shen slammed Po's nostalgia.

Po's brow furrowed in disgust. "It was just a question."

Dao joined them, but on Po's other side. "Is that the place where you almost went nuts again?" he snapped at his brother, since the goat had also told him this episode after Shen's escape from Gongmen City.

"You don't have to go in there," Shen growled back.

"Fine with me!" Dao agreed angrily. "I have no intention of going under one roof with you anyway!"

With these words, Dao turned away and walked over to a tree whose dense canopy offered him some protection.

Po looked at him in bewilderment. "Hey, don't be offended. Uh, Shen, say something." But Shen had also fled into the forest and preferred to remain under a tree. Only the coachman and the bull took shelter under the porch of the house, because meanwhile a real downpour had set in. The panda stood helplessly in front of the house and his gaze swung back and forth between the two brothers. Then he dropped his ears and looked up at the cloudy sky. He could only hope that the journey would be over very soon.