Part 5: Obtaining the Antidote

Several hours passed before Mafa returned back to the two of us in our hiding spot. The whole time, Yu slept as the poisons effect was progressing, steadily throughout his bloodstream. I kept a vigilant watch for passersby. As a once wanted criminal known in China for ransacking villages, it was hard to trust anyone you didn't know.

"Finally you're back. You worried me," I said, seeing Mafa's shape appear out the faint light of the moon shining down on the beaten dirt path ahead of us.

"Oh come now Zhong. You've got to have more faith in me than that," he sneered back. "If it was not for me, then you'd be without a way to save your son. It took a lot of convincing, but Tigress agreed to help me."

A big sigh of relief escaped me upon hearing this news. Looking down at the little fragile pup in my arms, I smiled knowing that we would soon be getting Yu the help he needed.

"Soon son, you'll be better very soon. And then we go camping like a promised."

Mafa took a seat in front of me and he scratched the back of his head.

"Their is just one problem though," he stated. "I left out a few key details when I explained to her the entire situation."

Of course he did, there was always a missing detail that made this would make this more difficult that he didn't tell me about.

"And…"I said to him, meeting his eyes with my own, glaring him down.

"And… I forgot to tell her that the kid that needs help is the foster-son of the person who once served under Lord Shen as his second-in-command," he answered, laughing a bit.

Sighing, there was nothing that could have been done except for just accepting the fact that we would have to deal with that problem when it arose.

"Whatever," I said back, standing up. "We're going now. The sooner we get the antidote to Yu, the better."

After handing Yu over to Mafa, I grabbed my hammer in one hand and stashed it away in onto my back. I threw on my arm guards, readying myself for any sort of fight that my arise out of walking straight out into the open.

"You're seriously going to wear your battle armor when we are explicitly trying to be as quiet and out of sight as possible?" Mafa asked, confused as to why I wasn't would be wearing any sort of cover.

He had a point. I was traveling straight through the Valley of Peace and had no sort of cloak or cloth to cover my face in the event that we were approached by any guards.

"Damn it you're right," I cussed at him. "Well do you have any bright ideas?"

Once again, he smirked at me and threw me a black cloak that he had stashed away in his traveling luggage.

"Throw that over yourself and keep to the shadows when we to the entrance of the village," he instructed me.

This annoyed me immensely. He was treating me like a child and only because I had made the mistake of not bringing some sort of cover to wear.

"I'm not a little kid Mafa," I groaned. "Remember at that point it was I who was teaching you how to sneak about like a thief."

He gave me a smirk before he turned and started making his way down the path. We proceeded onward down the path, walking for about an hour before we finally managed to reach the first bridge to cross to enter the main part of the village.

"This village is beautiful," I remarked, taking in all of the sights of the naturally occurring foliage and waterways surrounding that contrasted to the artificial houses and businesses in such a peaceful way.

"There's its called the Valley of Peace," Mafa stated, as he took the first towards to entering the city. "You know the plan."

My nod toward him told him that I understood.

"The Jade Palace is not that hard to find. It's the temple at the very top of the mountain that overlooks the entire valley, so it is pretty straightforward. Stick to the east side of town as that is where the least amount of citizens are during the nighttime. It's a marketing district so most of the place should be empty," he explained.

"Alright, we should only be about thirty minutes at most right crossing through the town?" I questioned. It worried me that might not have had enough time to make to the temple. The clock was against us and we had no time to spare.

"At most, if you hurry and don't take your sweet time," he replied before taking off at a jog's pace across the bridge.

Throwing the cloak over my body, I pulled the hood over my head to conceal my face. Taking off in a sprint, I passed up Mafa and my son, breaking off down the path that split off to the right and into the eastern side of the village. Ambient light remained almost non-existent, save for the moonlight bouncing off the water in the river, making it easy for me to weave in and out of alleyways unnoticed by the few individuals who I assumed were either drunk or just heading from a very late day of work.

"These villagers are lucky they don't have to lifestyle I do," I thought to myself, casually catching glimpses of different families through their windows when I ran by their houses. Father's kissing their kids goodnight, mother's reading their kids a bedtime story, and couples of all kinds casually having their nighttime conversations as their kids peacefully slept the night away. This was the life I was unable to lead. After fifteen more minutes of lamenting about the better life I wished to lead for the sake of Yu, I made it through to the other side of the village and rendezvoused with Mafa.

"So this is it huh…," I said, looking back to him and my son.

"Yes this is it," he answered back. He pointed straight ahead of us.

"See the Jade Palace at the top of the stairs?" he asked. I nodded silently, giving the answer of yes. "The living quarters of the Furious Five are behind it."

"Well that's great," I commented. "And how exactly are we supposed to get into the complex at all with the gates closed without waking them up? Normally sneaking in wouldn't be an issue, but this is a place filled the some of China's most skilled martial artist along with the legendary Dragon Warrior."

Mafa looked to me and he nodded acknowledging that he had been very well aware of this fact.

"Just follow me," he said, walking up the steps. I followed him up the long one-thousand step stairway with my nerves growing ever more as we made it ever closer to our destination.

"Dad- Daddy," Yu murmured, his voice very weak.

"It's okay son. We're almost there," I reassured him. "In a little bit this will all be over and we'll be on our way to go camping. Just hang in there."

"Relax kid. We're about to meet Tigress," Mafa said. "Just like I promised."

A huge lump formed in my throat my legs stopped stiffened up immediately upon hearing this. It was impossible to for me to identify why it was that I was afraid, but I couldn't but to be regardless of the fact that I had encountered these fighters before.

"Yeah…," I half-heartedly agreed with Mafa.

"And to answer your question from before Zhong, she's gonna be the one letting us in. I've arranged for her to meet up with us. Just be on guard. You might have to deal with a bit of a surprise," he warned me.

"Surprise?" my question rang back.

"Not for you," is all he said. He reached the top step and walked ahead to the door.

"Not for me?" I questioned him again.

A loud knock, knock, knock echoed everywhere as Mafa banged the ringer against the large door. Paranoid of being caught, I turned tail in the other direction and bolted behind the trees and into the bushes. I looked back from my vantage pointed, watching as the door opened up to reveal Tigress.

"So this is Yu?" she asked.

"Yes," Mafa replied to her.

A concerned frown appeared on her face. The once fierce warrior took on the disposition of a worried mother looking after her own child.

She looked back up at Mafa.

"So this is the kid you adopted? I never pegged you as one to take in children as your own," she said rather surprised.

Mafa smirked a bit before rubbing the back of his head in a rather sheepish manner.

"Well..." he trailed on, "He's not my really my son."

"Well then who's son is he? Why isn't Yu's father here with us right-" she stopped as her eyes suddenly looked back over at myself hiding behind the bushes.

"Explain to me why Yu's father is hiding behind the trees," she demanded, now walking at me.

"Tigress wait," Mafa grabbed her arm, trying to stop her, but she shoved him off and kept heading my way. I had to do something, although nothing I could do would have helped. The only option I was capable of thinking of was jumping down the mountain, but that was just suicide.

"Show yourself right now!" she stated once again.

With nothing else to do, I complied with her orders. I stepped through the bushes and right in front of her where she could see me, front and center.

"Hello again Tigress," I said, meeting eyes the leader of the Furious Five.

"Wolf... Boss..." she stammered in absolute shock. "A criminal like you-" She stepped back raising one hand in a defensive stance while holding my son gently in her other. Reaching for my hammer, I detached it from my belt as I raised my hands showing I had no intentions to fight her.

"I know that this is a shock and that as a person I am not the type you would help, but please help us. I'm trying to save my son," I begged, dropping to my knees and kneeling in front of her.

She remained quiet and unmoving as I was lay at her feet, begging for her to assist us. Looking back up at her, with a few tears in my eye as at this point in time, I was utterly hopeless outside of her help.

Gazing back to Mafa, she took a deep sigh and finally nodded.

"Follow me inside. I will lead the way, but so help me if I see you try to run off and steal anything I will personally beat you until you are unconscious," she threatened me, grasping the scruff of my neck tightly with her free hand. I nodded, acknowledging her terms.

"Understood," I answered nervously.

"Alright then, let's go. You don't want Shifu finding us do you Zhong, Tigress?" Mafa said.

"No. I'd rather not," my answer came. The two of us followed Tigress through the training courtyard of the complex, trying our best not to make any noise navigating through the various equipment that was scattered across the ground.

"Why are all of these weapons lain across the ground?" Mafa asked.

I couldn't help but to comment as well. "Was someone just lazy?"

Tigress groaned a bit, and let out a low huff as she started up the steps to the entrance of the Jade Palace. "The Dragon Warrior, in all his greatness, was supposed to have picked up the training weapons that were used in today's children's sparring class, but he skipped out and fell asleep as usual, so now we're going to have pull his weight in the morning," she explained.

As hard as it was for me to admit, I sympathized with her. Yu had done the same thing numerous times before.

"That sounds like something my son would do," I chuckled a bit.

Mafa slightly laughed.

"Like father-like son," he smirked.

I cut him a hard look and he laughed at my expense.

"Mafa...wolf," she called us to both. Standing at the top of the stairs in front of the door to the chamber of the palace, pointed at the ground. "You two stay right here next to the door and keep watch while I retrieve the scroll."

"Alright," Mafa answered, reaching the top of the steps. I arrived right behind him and turned around, keeping a scope of the entire courtyard.

About fifteen long minutes of waiting, Tigress came back out from the palace. "I'm sorry..." she said, with an expression of pure shock on her face.

This was a first. The martial arts master Tigress, revered hero of China who hardly ever showing fear, was freaking out and distressed beyond belief.

"What is it Tigress?" Mafa asked, concerned.

She looked at him and then turned to me, tightly grabbing my shoulder with her free hand before handing me Yu and looking down at him.

"I'm sorry..." she said.

I looked at her, confusion abound between Mafa and me. We had no idea what she was talking about. Giving her a moment to calm down, Mafa slowly led her off of me and sat on the ground with her.

"Now Tigress," Mafa calmly asked her, "What happened in there? And why are you sorry?"

She looked back at Yu and a few tears escaped her eyes.

"The Dragon Scroll is missing," she said. "Someone has stolen it along with any antidote that might have been hidden with it."