One by one, they stepped into the library.
"Sit over there, this may take a while." Su said, pointing to a nearby bench. Xian and Shifu glanced at each before doing as they were told.
"Are you all sitting comfortably?" Su asked. There was a strange glint in her eyes. "Good. Now before I start, I have a bone to pick with you guys."
"Pardon?" Shifu wasn't sure if he heard her right.
"Just a little while ago, I had the scariest experience of my entire life." Su said. "I was manhandled by a ginormous monster. When the Yeti left, and I was left alone with two knocked out grown ups, I had a little time to think about what happened, and how I ended up in that situation. You see, being smarter means that it's a lot easier to understand and cope with situations like these, or at least that's what Master Tigress told me once. And so right now, when I supposed to be shaking like the scared little girl that I am, I'm actually mad. I'm mad at you, Emperor Xian."
Xian blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"I didn't occur to me until a little while ago, but you put a lot of responsibility on my shoulders when you told me to find the Yeti's lair." Su said coolly. "I'm seven years old. Just because I'm apparently 'super smart'…" She did the 'bunny ears' gesture with her fingers as she said this. "Doesn't mean I'm perfect. I'm just a little kid who found something you grown ups overlooked. Why didn't you think to do the grown up work yourselves and try and figure it out for yourselves?"
"Uhhh…"
"But no, the moment I told you about the spyglass, you left it to me to do the rest of the work by myself while you wandered about like a doofus blaming Mr. Tujius for everything bad that happened. Either you're lazy, or you're scared that if you make your own decisions you'll make things worse."
Xian was speechless. Shifu gave him a slightly accusing look.
"I'm not looking for an apology or a make up present. But before I tell you what I've figured out, I want you to promise me that you'll start acting like a leader from now on." Su said. "I also want you both to promise that you won't laugh at the stuff I'm gonna tell you. Pinky promise?"
She held out her little finger.
As he wondered if he was really talking to a little girl right now, Xian held out his own finger and they shook. Shifu did the same a moment later, at the same time recalling Eagle Jr.'s words from the other night.
"I know how it feels to lose someone you care about. It can soften you or harden you beyond all recognition."
Obviously Su hadn't lost anyone she cared about during her encounter with the Yeti, but the red panda couldn't help but feel that something slightly similar had happened.
"Good." Su said, her features softening slightly. "Now remember what I said about not laughing."
She held out a scroll.
"As I said before, I'm not perfect. Most of this is just theories, and there is still a thing or two I haven't been able to figure out by myself." She said. "The first thing I found was this scroll. It was in the fairy tales section, but I think it will give you an idea as to why the Yeti is so determined to get rid of us."
She handed the scroll to the two adults. Xian unrolled it and read the contents. His eyes widened slightly.
"No way…"
He passed the scroll on to Shifu, who read it in silence before passing it on to Su with a puzzled look bordering on flabbergasted.
"Shambhala?" He asked. "You think the Yeti's lair is in Shambhala? The lost kingdom also known as the 'Place of Peace?"
He wasn't skeptical, not really, but he was waiting for an explanation.
"I know it sounds nutty." Su said. "But when I overheard you guys talking about the Yeti possibly hiding in some old ruins, I thought that maybe those ruins and this fortress are remnants of some kind of culture."
Shifu was about to ask her to explain further, when he suddenly had a thought. It wasn't uncommon for buildings such as farms, small villages or fortified complexes to be located relatively close to large cities. Take Gongmen City and its surrounding smaller villages for example.
"Xian, I'm beginning to think that Su may be on to something." He said. Xian stared.
"But- but Shambhala couldn't possibly be this far east." He said. "The historians don't believe this."
"Well none of them have found Shambhala, have they?" Shifu replied. "Su, how exactly do we find this Shambhala?"
"That's where it gets a little fuzzy." Su said. "I'm pretty sure this spyglass is meant to show you where the city is, but I don't really know how to use it."
"What do you know?"
"I know that in the alchemy section, one of the scrolls is pretty different from the others." Su said, and held out a second scroll. Xian took it in his paw, and frowned.
"This one feels heavier." He said. "Like there's something inside."
"I don't know how to open it." Su said. "I think there may be a secret compartment, like the one in Master Po's Shifu action figure, but I can't get it open."
"You got a bottle open a few days ago." Shifu replied with a raised eyebrow.
"That was a bottle, this is a scroll." Su replied. "Don't be cheeky."
Shifu bit down a chuckle as he gazed at the scroll.
"Xian, you've got claws. Look for a groove." He said.
Xian's brows furrowed as he fiddled with the scroll, running his unsheathed along its surface without tearing the paper. As he reached the other end of the scroll- click!
The end fell off like a bottle cork.
"Huh, guess you need sharp claws to get it open." Su murmured.
Xian tilted the scroll, and out fell a glass vial of dark liquid, wrapped in a thin roll of paper.
"Now we're getting someplace." Xian said with a grin, and unwrapped the paper.
On it was a sketch of a tower. It looked very familiar…
"Isn't that the tower at the top of this building?" Xian asked.
"It is." Shifu said. "Look, there's writing at the top… Horizontal- 40, Vertical- 105. And at the bottom… Horizontal- 52, Vertical- 50."
"What the hell does that mean?" Xian asked.
"We'll probably find out when we get to the top of the tower." Shifu said.
"Wait, isn't the air too thin up there?" Xian asked. "How can we get up there if there's not enough oxygen."
"I don't think that'll be a problem." Su said with a small smile, her eyes on the vial. "Read the scroll."
Shifu and Xian turned their attention back to the scroll they just opened.
Xintiao Plant.
The Xintiao Plant is a highly toxic plant indigenous to inner Asia. With dark blue tear-shaped petals, the planet is very beautiful, and very deadly. Its nectar when ingested has the effect of slowing the victim's heart to a stop. While one or two drops will merely slow the heart rate for a few hours with non-fatal results, the entire flower would have enough nectar to kill fifty people.
Xian slowly turned to look at Shifu.
"Master Shifu, what was that technique you taught Eagle Jr. so he could fly in high altitudes?"
"Using intense focus and concentration, he could slow his heart rate just enough to tolerate thin air." Shifu replied quietly. He stared down at the vial in his hand. "Because the slower the heart pumps blood, the less oxygen you need."
Shifu could practically imagine Po whispering, "Awesome!" if he were with them right now.
But he wasn't. He was out in the wilderness with Tigress and Viper with less than an hour before they would be engulfed in a lethal blizzard. If they were to find out if Su was right about Shambhala, it was now or never.
"Xian, meet me at the bottom of the tower in five minutes." Shifu said. "I'm going to get Crane and Mantis."
"What do I do?" Su asked.
"You stay here where you can rest easy." Shifu said. "You've done more than enough. Xian, come on."
"Wait, don't forget this!" Su handed Shifu the spyglass.
"Thank you. And good work."
Shifu and Xian practically ran out the room.
Xian spent the next couple of minutes anxiously pacing anxiously in front of the door that served as the entrance to the tower, feeling both annoyed and ashamed. On one hand, he had definitely not been putting the blame on others as Su had practically accused him of. He was well aware that it was his fault that any of them were here in the first place, and had been kicking himself mentally ever since. But considering that Tujiu was the one who persuaded him to authorize an expedition to the fortress in the first place, he had a good reason to put some of the blame on him.
On the other hand, she was right his cowardice. He had shoved a great weight on her shoulders the first chance he got, and he felt stupid for doing so. Just because she was wise beyond her years didn't give him the right to assume that she would do a better job than he could. The truth was, he had a feeling that any decision he made would only worsen the situation. After all, practically every course of action they had taken so far had ended in disaster. He had thought that they would all be better off if he left the decision making to smart people.
Until now.
At that moment he heard footsteps. Seconds later Shifu came striding up to him, followed closely by Crane and Mantis.
"Okay, now that we're all together could someone please explain to us what the heck is going on?" Mantis demanded.
"We're going on a little trip up top." Shifu said.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Somewhere at the top of this tower, there may be an object of some sort that will help us locate the Yeti's lair." Shifu said.
"You're kidding!" Crane said. "How do you know?"
"Long story. The air is slightly thinner up there, so whoever decides to go up will need to take a drop of this." He held up the vial. "It will slow your heart slightly so your body will require less oxygen."
"Wait, I thought the air in the tower was breathable!" Mantis exclaimed. "I mean, we went to the top room and we were fine!"
"That is why we've brought Crane here." Xian said. "Because of this vial, we think that we may need to go a little higher than the top room."
Mantis turned pale.
"You actually mean way higher, don't you?"
"Yes. Crane has been trained to tolerate high altitudes, so he's one of the best for the job. You up for it, Crane?"
Crane nodded. It was obvious he didn't like it, but a lot was at stake.
"Good. With the wind being so strong it's not safe for you to go by yourself." Shifu said. "That is why Mantis will-"
"I'll go." Xian spoke suddenly.
"Excuse me?" Shifu asked.
"I'll go." Xian said. "It'd be safer than Mantis going. Someone of his size and weight would get blown away in a second. I'll go with Crane."
"The hell you are!" Shifu snapped. He winced, a sign that the pain relieving tonic he had taken for his thrown out back was wearing off.
"Master, you can't just put me on the spectator's seat just because I'm the emperor!" Xian retorted. Crane and Mantis looked on, not daring to interrupt.
"What do you think this is, a chance to prove yourself?" Shifu demanded. He stepped in front of the door to the tower, blocking any chance of Xian entering. "This is an extremely dangerous mission and you are too important to be put at risk."
"I've heard this crap from you before!" Xian snapped back. "Mantis's size puts him at risk of being blown away by the wind and you're so old we don't know what effect the poison will have on you! Not only that, Eagle Jr.'s wing is still bandaged! I'm the best person to accompany Crane and you know it!"
"Leave it to the masters!" Shifu replied.
Xian remembered how he had stood by and done nothing, unable to help while the storage building burned, and his temper flared up. With a feral growl he struck out and snatched Shifu's staff and flung it a far distance down the corridor. Shifu retaliated at once, lunging at Xian with a spinning kick which Xian countered. The fight lasted for two seconds before Xian once more found himself holding a concealed knife to the red panda's throat, a move which made attacking impossible and stepping back the only option. Shifu did no such thing. He merely glared, while Crane and Mantis looked on with open mouths.
"Listen, Master…" Xian growled. "I've had it up to here with watching people die and not doing a damn thing about it. And I'm getting goddamned sick to death of you treating me like a helpless old fool! In case you've forgotten I've got a responsibility to this situation and it's time I started living up to it!"
"What are you talking about?" Shifu demanded.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Xian snapped. "I allowed Tujiu, a bird I knew from experience to be a deceitful coward, to talk me into authorizing an expedition I didn't fully understand, and in doing that I allowed that bird to cause the deaths of dozens of men who had families of their own! I've shirked my responsibility from the start, and no overprotective fuzzy tailed rat is going to stop me from setting things right!"
"If he responds to that, you're dead." Mantis piped up.
"Shut up, Mantis!" Shifu snapped, and turned his attention back to Xian. "Xian, you don't have to do this. You've already done enough to make up for your mistakes-"
"No, it's nowhere near enough." Xian spoke a little calmer as his anger faded and his breathing slowed. "I'm still shirking responsibility, but not anymore. Now give me that vial."
For a moment, no-one moved or spoke. And then, slowly, reluctantly, Shifu held out the vial.
"You had better come back in one piece." He said.
Xian nodded, lowered the knife, and took the vial.
"Remember, no more than two drops." Shifu said.
Xian opened the vial, tilted it slightly, and let a single drop of dark liquid fall and settle on his outstretched finger. After a moment's pause, he brought the finger to his mouth and ingested the poison.
For the first few seconds, nothing happened. Then suddenly Xian looked like he was about to freak out.
"Son of a…" He gasped and clutched his chest.
"Xian, what's happening?" Shifu demanded, looking fearful.
"I'm… fine…" Xian spoke slowly but normally. "Holy crap, I can feel it! I can feel my heart slowing down!"
"Do you feel light you are in any danger?"
"No, it's stopped. I mean, it's not slowing down any further. In any case, I think I'm ready for the thin air, now."
"Good." Shifu handed Xian the spyglass and the paper with the numbers written on them. "Remember the plan- climb up the tower, use the spyglass to locate Shambhala, and get back down before the poison wears off."
"Wuh-wait, we're looking for Shambhala?" Crane asked, but was ignored.
"No time to explain, we've got thirty-five minutes until your friends get caught in a storm!"
"Before they what?!"
Xian grabbed Crane by the neck and half carried, half dragged him through the door.