"Just one more. One more," Mantis told Shiren while Shiren was crawling up one more cracked stone until they found the next path able floor.

As Mantis jumped off him Shiren looked back the path they just came and saw how far he came. It was the approximately fifth path they crossed like this.

Destructed paths that tall and heavy creatures like Tigress would not have been able to pass trough. Either they would not have fit trough the small passages or they would have shattered the leftovers, like dry planks of wood or the thin twigs from the everywhere growing plants..

It only was mentally exhausting doing it over and over again, as well as seeing one and the same architecture. Perhaps they missed one secret entry or two but it was not worth continuing the very tight investigation.

Maybe the professor would have but in that case Shiren could have only respected his determination but he got tired of the same reputation of seeing stuff which did not like to tell him anything.

No books, no wisdom, just he and someone's legacy.

Could have been worse but it also could have been better.

The next area wasn't particularly different than the last one.

It's still the dark corridor, lightened by the cracks in the walls, or even entire holes.

It was very easy to tell where it went inside or outside dure to the huge branches of the one tree in the middle they still didn't manage to reach properly. The closer they came towards the tree, the more damaged and impassable the path became until they eventually had to turn around and seek for another approach while not even knowing what would awaited them there.

Although the surroundings didn't change, the smell went from the combination of cold stones and dry leafs to a more wet ambience like a rain was going tu occur.

Due to the lack of clouds it was a weird combination but in this realm he would not have wondered about it. Maybe they also just happened to approach a fountain near by.

Regardless of the case Shiren went up and followed Mantis who was already on his way to move inside of the next floor.

The huge amount of pure nothingness got a bit depressive to Shiren. He nearly did not want to follow Mantis and invest a lot of energy into another search that most likely would end up like the ones before.

But he was not an explorer so there was most likely a more fitting strategy he did not know about.

While following and watching the walls of this roofless corridor, it appeared that the wet taste in the air in fact announced rain. He did not mind getting wet but he did not want his bag to get wet so he suggested to Mantis: "Hey, Mantis. How about a short break until the rain is gone?"

He assumed it was not going to last very long since the sky still was pretty lightened with the sun's gaze. That normally meant to strong rain if any.

Mantis stopped and turned around: "Sure. Do you want a snack? I'm sure after that climb you have a bit of appetite."

Shiren did yet not figure out how Mantis was able to carry cooking stuff with him but on the other side he was a very strong person. Shiren agreed and they took shelter underneath some remainders of what once has been a roof.

Who needed stairs if the walls turned to stairs themselves?

"By the way," Mantis asked while they waited: "what is this little peace of metal you have found? Looks like broken."

Shiren started elaborating: "It is… I don't know. The only reason I have it is because I found it on the secred-" He stopped speaking, raised his head and one moment later Mantis was looking up as well.

"What is it?" he asked while Shiren was listening and looking for something in the air.

"I think I heard something," Shiren calmly answered and was trying to locate the source of the sound which he was not able to safely identify. It sounded like a bird in the sky; Something interacting with the air. Maybe it was just the wind but he did not want to risk anything.

And truly something seemed to come closer. Luckily Mantis stood calm as well and simply awaited what happened right now.

When it came close enough for Shiren to identify the source he peeped trough the holes in the roof and nearly startled when he saw the shape of the dragon flying over them.

He went excited very quickly. This was the dragon, an opportunity he has been waited for long now. A source of information and this time, he was planning to get them.

Viper was hesitant to this creature and did not ask a single thing last time she spoke to it.

"Was that-" Mantis started asking and Shiren already nodded without turning at him.

"Lets's move," he quickly said and tried to see where the dragon landed and luckily it was not far from here. It landed on a plateau where it was able to have a moderate view across the place.
Shiren didn't know about this place yet. This dragon truly knew this place way better than he did.

When he came closer he looked at the dragon's head and watched it's facial expression. It nearly looked a bit grumpy like it was unhappy about something that just occurred.

Also now being that close to the dragon he got second thoughts and he grew unsure so he took the last opportunity to back off again, hide behind a pillar and took a deep breath.

"What's the matter?" Mantis asked while Shiren leaned against the wall.

He tooled at him and answered: "I… I don't know. I think I have a bad feeling about this."

Mantis came closer and asked: "How so? It was your idea to talk with the dragon. How do you change your mind now? It's like right there."

But Shiren suddenly had so many things to consider. He thought about every bad outcome of this meeting. Suddenly he considered the option that Viper got talked down by the dragon when she asked about this land.

What if this was a part of the realm the dragon did not want anyone to be in?

"We haven't thought this out yet, Mantis," Shiren simply answered, mostly to gain more time: "Like, what if the dragon gets aggressive? Do we have a save route to escape or anything?"

"Attack us? Where does this idea comes from? Maybe it is looking for us because Viper asked it. Maybe she realised her mistake? After all it looks like it's looking for something," Shiren sighed in confusion to clear his head and tried to think the most reasonable way right now.

His instincts have warned him so far to get too close to strangers that could potentially attack him and they had the most alarming ringing bells right now.

Something safely was going to go wrong in this conversation.

He took another look at the dragon from his cover. Luckily it was still investigating the area on the other side.

He didn't know for sure what to think about it. It looked calm and majestic yet it's face showed some sort of impatience. It was definitely on a task for something Shiren might not even understand.

Was it truly the best time to encounter it and try to speak with it?

"Well, I'm going then," Mantis decided and walked straight towards the creature, starting to greet it but the moment he heightened his arm for a friendly wave and said: "Good-" the dragon took fly again and flew away. With it's presence and with it the pressure gone, Shiren came out of his cover and went next to Mantis at the plateau, right to a wonderful view on the area.

Multiple levels, like five or six, were visible and all in all it looked like there was a giant explosion causing this place get destroyed like this. With a bit of fantisy there may have been a circle forming the destruction but the new plants made a good job at hiding as much as they could.

Wooden planks were keeping the ground of each level together and it was really the first time Shiren saw wood within the ruins, not counting the plants, gates or furnitures.

How was it the lover levels and structures were nearly only made out of a lot of kinds of stone?

Now he thought about it, this was the first time the ruins looked like actual ruins from the modern time like he knew buildings. Of course, he was not a builder in any means so he may have missed some very important details about it. It was very likely, Shiren was not paying the closest attention to the details.

Funny to think how Snakes made this place. Like, one grabbing the hammer, the other one putting in the nail? Or did a dragon grabbed itself a hammer and a nail?

He knew there were snakes capable of building but he barely saw those since they were very rare and the jobs were done by people with arms.

But even those were never making a house with more than one level.

Which made the entire building more impressive to him, and even more depressive to see it destroyed like that. People working so hard on this, just for it getting destroyed at the end like that.

"Well," Shiren commented as the dragon was gone: "So much about that."

Mantis went grumpy and turned to Shiren. "You know, if you would not have been hesitated, we might have our answers right now," he chuntered irritatingly.

"I never asked you to stop with me," Shiren argued to defend himself: "You could have talked with it,"

Mantis tried to argue: "I-"

But Shiren interrupted him as soon as possible before they ended up in an argument. Shiren did not want to fight Mantis right now: "We will see it again I'm sure and then you don't need to be considerate of me, okay? Sounds good?"

"I guess. But you should get your mind up in the future. Hesitation can be your quick doom real quick."

"Same goes for rash acting, Mantis!" Shiren argued back. He knew Mantis wanted to help and give good advice but Shiren remembered his fight against Junjie. A fight where he was too rash to get to him so he got stopped by his friends, or just recently when he wanted to meet the dragon the first time and Viper literally dragged him back.

Mantis looked at his eyes and answered: "Balance, Shiren. Everything is about balance." he replied and then started jumping down to the next wild garden that, other than the others, did not seem to be any sort of garden before.

First he wondered why Mantis suddenly went down there but he quickly realised there was a way to the inside of this place towards the direction of the big tree. But before he started following him over the cracked walls and ruins, which made it easy to climb downwards, he realised the rain was starting to get weaker. This indeed was a short rain, he just wondered how it started on the first place. But he stopped caring for an answer. At this place everything seemingly was possible.

Mantis leaded the way not directly on the most lowest level where the entrance to the tree was but instead one or two levels before it so they still had a moderately good view on the place.

He took his time to imagine the people living here. How this place must have looked before it got destroyed, the way the villagers went from A to B, how there was maybe one little meeting place and people once talked, laughed, argued…

How they run when this place fell. The panic they must have been trough, how many didn't make it at the end. He looked up to the upper levels. If once there were Dragons flying across this place, what did they do to ruin it? And where did they go?

There was nothing that made him happy here but Mantis dragged him out of his thoughts by asking for him: "You coming?"

Shiren shook his head and was back in the present. Mantis was already nearly at the lover level, waiting for him.

"Coming." he called to Mantis and made his way downwards as well.

After the tense climbing session over a huge cliff with only fog underneath it and old rusty roots, stones and planks that were about to break with the first footstep on them, this was a walk in the park in comparison.

The plants, stones and cracks perfectly made his way down even without the need of a single jump.

Also the nice spiral shaped decorations on the pillars, or whatever was left of them, made a pure invitation to crawl down on them. He saw them often times in the Jade-Palace and so here as well.

"Hold on," Shiren called down to Mantis and looked at him while saying that.

Mantis was already all the way down and stood on the middle of the big hall. At least it used to be a hall. Looking at him Shiren noticed something odd around Mantis.

There was something weird on the ground, some sort of yellow, nearly golden looking markings. And there were big yet sadly partly hidden under fallen pillars or the fallen ground from the upper level.

"What is it? Don't tell me you are illusionating again;" Mantis asked loudly.

"No, that's not it. Look on the ground," he explained himself and Mantis did just that but seemingly did not see as much.

As he was doing such though Shiren was rotating his head to get the right angle and figure out what this symbols could illustrate. He figured out the top was on the way towards the inside; Towards the tree.

From what he saw and interpreted the rest he was not able to see it was supposed to be a fang and some weird lines but pretty luckily he recognised this part of the marking. It was the top right corner of the painting and when he was right it was the fang spitting fire; The fire of the dragons. It was metaphorically seen of course and he knew this painting. He saw it three or four times now and it was symbolising the mighty Viper-Clan. The descendants from the dragons, carrying their flames in their venom. He sadly did not see the entire painting but now he had the image in his head, it was absolutely undeniably the markings from the Viper-Clan. That's also where he saw these paintings. He visited them a few times.

"Mantis, you won't believe it!" he shouted down to him excitingly and started to look for a way down while Mantis was wondering lost and confusedly:

"What is it this time? More trash? The key to an underground path?"

Shiren slithered down a fallen pillar, moved towards a rest of a wall, sliding the rest on a vine and jumped the last few metres: "This is incredible!" he spoke out loud and started to explain: This huge symbol here is the sign of the Viper-Clan!"

"The Viper-Clan?" Mantis wondered and seemingly expected more explanations.

Shiren continued: "You know, the people Viper is coming from. They, as each snake clan, have a sign. I don't know each of them but this is definitely the one from Viper's people. I saw it in Wang Fu when I was visiting them there. It can't be a coincidence!"

"I mean…" Mantis started discussing: "We kinda figured out there were snakes coming from here and they certainly are ancestors from you and Viper."

Shiren nodded and agreed: "Yes indeed. The nine childs of the dragons. Qiuniu, Yazi, Chaofeng, Pulao, Susanni, Bixi, Bi'an, Fuxi and Chiwen. It's not unlikely they had high influence around here so they eventually possessed things like…" he looked around the area: "these areas. Sort of palaces perhaps."

"So we just entered Vipers home? Man, we should have asked her. That's trespass."

Shiren argued: "Since the snakes left, this land rightfully belongs to the dragons. Unless you find a title deed somewhere among these ruins. But anyhow, that's what we were looking for. I'm positive we will find some more answers around here." Shiren started to look around again to get an inch on where to go next if not the obvious path first which he would have preferably went anyway.

"I have my first concerns about finding them honestly. I'm sure this place will not be nice to us finding out."

At one point when Shiren saw something moving trough the plants and Mantis saw his sceptical view, stopped and started trying to figure out what Shiren was looking at.

Shiren however did not bother paying attention to Mantis at this moment instead he focussed to recognise what's moving around there. And once he saw it, he was glad: "The wolf!" he said and went into the opposite direction of the hallway towards the big gate leading into the inside.

"Hey. Hey! Wait!" Mantis came after Shiren however he was very surprised about his immediate rush.

Shiren found the wolf he talked before with. Maybe he would have some answers for him now. Last time he figured out who he was and maybe this time he can tell Shiren more about this place.

If the dragon was too unknown, the wolf already has proven to be somewhat friendly.

Shiren rushed towards him and felt the old flat ground that once had to be a big arena for the Viper-Clan. Maybe another big meeting place but this days the only living forms that meet here are these plants.

He did not even pay attention if Mantis was following or keeping up. He trusted he was going to be fine.

"Hey!" Shiren greeted the wolf and it stopped walking and turned towards him. The wolf who was just about entering another dark, small corridor.

He turned towards Shiren and looked down to him without any kind of emotional impact seeing him. "You," he replied and curiously looked at him.

"Yes. It's me, Shiren. I… I don't remember if you told me yours," he started talking excitingly while also trying to catch his breath again.

The wolf answered monotonously: "I have not. There is nothing to say. My old identity is no more so I don't use it's name. I am a guard these days. Nothing more. But according to formalities: Nice to meet you, Shiren. You have a new companion?" he asked and shortly looked at Mantis who made his way here but did not spoke up yet.

"This is Mantis," Shiren answered for him and Mantis started wondering but then greeted: "It's nice making your acquaintance, Mister."

The wolf looked down to him: "Mantis. One of the five holy fighters if I am not mistaken."

Mantis chuckled: "Holy?"

Shiren started asking: "What are you doing here?"

The wolf answered: "Checking the area. This part of the land changes the most of all. I'm here regularly."

Shiren started nodding and slowly calmed down again: "That's good to know. Then… you are familiar with all the surroundings across this area? Can you maybe help us out here? We are trying to figure this place out."

The wolf turned to him while he was speaking and then answered: "There is not much to say. The story says this was the last bastion before the war between snakes and dragons ended. There is not much left after they fled from here."

So it was a war after all, according to this wolf. Now it would been interesting to know where he knew that from.

"Is there anything you know that explains what happened? Like scrolls or pictures?" Shiren asked again and hoped to not get too close and personal just yet.

But the wolf kneeled down and answered: "I am afraid everything that did not get destroyed, vanished from time. I am sorry." Hearing this word from him sounded off. He was polite though although seemingly suffered from being alone for too long.

Shiren almost wanted to ask him about the trash he picked up earlier but he hesitated. It was laying in a hidden room and who knows how things might change when he finds out Shiren was in a secret area? After all there was nothing yet saying this wolf was not hiding anything from him as well.

He spoke so clearly Shiren went out of topics to ask quickly. There probably was nothing left to ask or to discover according to him.

But then he got one more topic to ask about:

"Hey, you live here for quite some time now, right? Do you know how this place works? Like… When we first came here, the entry needed my Chi to open up. Though I don't even know how to weal it."

The wolf hesitated for a few moments before answering to him: "I am afraid I can't say you anything about your Chi or anything in that regard."

Now Shiren slowly started wondering what this wolf even knew. Besides confirming everything is empty there was not much he said.

"But," he continued and got Shiren's attention again: "maybe there is a place that maybe can help you. It does not describe what happened here but it might answer your questions. Follow me," he said, went up and moved onward towards another entry on the sideways. Not the one leading trough to the big tree still but as long as it wasn't collapsed or close to collapse, each corridor was welcome.

Before Shiren was able to follow though, Mantis jumped on his neck which at first would have scared Shiren but luckily he got used to it during their climbings and he whispered: "I would be careful, Shiren. We don't know where he is truly leading us."

Shrien calmly answered him back: "I know. I will be careful. And I trust you to be too," he replied and followed the wolf with a curious feeling. No matter where the wolf might bring them, hopefully just to where they wanted to go, it would still be better than still wondering on their own to hopefully something plausible.

"Hey, Mister guard?" Shiren asked on the way which did not look as collapsed as every other but still a bit planted. It grew more and more dark in here with no light illuminating this place any more until the hallway wasn't even visible anymore. Shiren took one last look backwards, probably the last chance, to change his mind but he was determined to follow.

Shiren's heat signing pits, which revealed every heat signature near by still revealed the wolf to him though so he just followed this one sent and his ears to not get lost.

When it got way too dark to see he realised Mantis hopping on his bag again which Shiren silently tolerated.

"What is it?" the wolf asked back.

"Well," Shiren tried to explain his question: "Gonna sound weird now but do you know or do you see any like… violet strange… moving web with strands…?"

The wolf wondered: "No? Why?"

"Oh, nothing."

"You're talking about this anomaly again? Long time since you saw the last one," Mantis commented form behind.

"Well, I don't want to know how many I have missed," Shiren replied worringly. He still was not sure what they were or why. It was so easy to forget what happened there. But he just had the feeling left it was important.

"I'm sorry. I have the feeling you are awaiting for a lot of from me. But I can't answer the questions you're asking. Perhaps you are asking the wrong ones. I'm not a god nor do I live here for decades. But maybe there are other things you might want to know. Since you entered here I see you are trying to find something specific. Maybe not all of you are looking for the same but maybe there is a way I can help you two?"

Mantis straight away answered: "Oh, I'm fine for now, thank you good sir. I'm really just on the ride."

Shiren was sure Mantis spoke the truth here. He so far did not mention any way he wanted to go or any sort of thing he wanted to find. He only companied Shiren because he was a doctor. At least that's what he said so far.

However, Shiren tried to find a good question the wolf could know right now. "What do you know about the dragon?" he asked cautiously, expecting some kind of a suspicious view from the wolf, even if he did not see him directly in the dark.

He moved along, seemingly knowing exactly where he was. "She introduced herself as Shenlong to me. She allowed me to stay in this place as a guard. She checks on me from time to time but we do not have very deep conversations. She seems to not have an interest of any kind of connection to people like us. She often times just minds her own business, whatever that might be but it is not my concern."

"I see. Thank you. I have seen her recently but she made a very intimidatingly view."

"I'm not surprised people like you have never seen dragons before. They are mighty creatures but very peaceful as long as you don't enter their territory. But that's an attitude even the normal people share."

Shiren saw the first glim of light again on the corridor when he mentioned: "I know normal people can even freak out when they see snakes like me."

"Maybe we find a way to fix this here, what do you say?" Mantis replied when he heard Shiren bringing this topic up again: "After all, we are in the lads of the gods. Everything is possible."

"After all, that's what I am here for at the end," Shiren agreed and let this issue be for now: "Everything is better than what's going on in the world currently."

The wolf interestedly asked: "What actually happened to the world, if I may ask? The last thing I've heard was Shen going to move against Gongmen City,"

"Well," Mantis narrated: "when you're asking about world changing events, you may or may not have heart from Kai."

"Who?" the wolf asked curiously.

But Mantis waved away: "Nah. Just someone who wanted revenge on Oogway. I forgot his motives honestly. You should ask Tigress or something. After that the Chi got discovered by Po or Shifu, anyhow, the Pandas taught it to them. After that there were lies and misinformation from someone trying to invade the Jade-Palace. And now we're here. It's not much but I would bore you with more details."

"Maybe when we got time," the wolf answered and stopped in front of a room where slight light fell into the corridor.

"Here we are," he explained and leaded them into a chamber on the sideway, lightened from some holes on the roof. This kind of lightning never failed to impress him. It looked like what Shiren would have wished a ruin would look like. Decorated with moss around the corners and some meaningful art trough stone or paintings.

And he was sure without the wolf they would have not found this chamber any time soon.

He recognised one painting though: The formula, the movement of the snake using Chi. Step by step like a little comic. The same painting as the one in the first secret room.

But this time there was more. Still visible even with the pass of time.

All around the little introduction of Chi, in a circle around it there were multiple little pictures:

Snakes and they touched walls or furnitures like desks, items like perhaps spoons?

And they seemed to react on the touch in several different ways, shaping forms, glowing, but it was hard to tell since the paintings weren't that detailed and they were mainly made out of tint maybe.

If a snake did draw this, it had to be a real master since drawing is hard without hands and it requires a lot of patience.

Shiren learned to write but he never tried to paint.

And interestingly enough there were nine of these paintings in this circle. Nine circles, nine clans, nine children of the dragons.

There also was one altar in this room, or at least a stoned table or something but it was empty. There were signs something belonged there, something long, maybe a stick of bamboo? No shape that told Shiren anything. The corners of this room looked like there were perfect spots for some kind of holy storage; Things that belong in a place of rituals. Or the people of this place had other decorations or simply loved empty corners.

Shiren got the feeling after the war something happened to this place and someone took everything from everywhere they could carry.

Robbers. No sense of respect.

"This," the wolf started to explain: "is what I've seen many times in these lands now. It had a meaning in their culture and further investigations have confirmed that. It appears the snakes were able to use their Chi and used the power to shape this land with it.

I don't know how they did it but they managed to invent systems to unlock certain tasks when the right person is present. Each is dedicated to one specific kind of Chi. I don't know how they were able to do it, also I'm not an expert about Chi, I'm just theorising."

Mantis: "So it's like checking if the right person is there before it's activating. That means, Shiren, your Chi has the same pattern as your ancestors who lived here. Which is… weird since it would not be your Chi in that regard so it has to be more complex. But as I said, we are in the land of gods, everything is possible. If you tell me here are ingredients to turn you into a dragon, I would buy it."

"I wouldn't though. If there would be such a thing, why would there be snakes around any more? Unless there was and the snakes figured out and I don't want to continue this thought process.

So my Chi activated some door or something. Then I bet Viper would be able to unlock other things logically. But we are in the realm of gods so logic has no value here."

"Although," the wolf said and turned to Shiren: "I think you bear a very important Chi, Shiren. I suspected it from the moment you revealed yourself as the one unlocking the entrance:

You must be the emperor of this land. The leader of the snakes. Since-"

Shiren and Mantis both laughed hearing this, Mantis way lounder than Shiren's. Shiren chuckled: "Of course! What else? Me, an emperor! How glad I am for this empty realm with a dragon who would surely have no problem in accepting me! Oh, sorry, I did not mean to interrupt, I apologise."

The wolf stood serious and Shiren almost felt bad for him, the poor confused soul. "Remember the snakes lost the war so it indeed has no value for anyone. But I said I will serve this land and if you are it's ruler, then I would be your guard," he tried to explain but Shiren did not really believe him.

"Eh… seriously?" he asked and heightened an eyebrow.

Shiren did not want to believe what he just heard.

Some kind of special Chi, him being some kind of emperor because of his Chi or something. Nobody seemingly understood a thing, even the wolf it appeared.

He told things yet he also showed he did not understand.

Also he looked like he also needed some kind of help. Serving someone just because they suddenly appear to be a superior here in some way because destiny said so? Maybe it was not worth living as a loner as much as Shiren told the others he would.

Maybe it was not wise to let them leave when he would stay lonely behind.

And if he said the truth and he still was sane: It was surely nice to hear but as the wolf already said: Shiren would have succeeded an empty and broken realm, ruled by another, far more superior creature which was way sooner here than he was. This did not change anything to him Nor did he expect it to matter in any way. It was not like he earned this place by any means. Nobody would respect him except for this guy maybe.

The wolf asked Shiren: "If you would show the Chi real quick?"

That question was so uncomfortable the more he heard it. It sounded like everyone expected him to be able to handle it without any issue. But really, Chi. How on earth was it possible to wear your own form of life? Are you not also loosing it when you give it?

So many questions Shiren would not dare asking anyone ever. So he simply answered: "I eh… can't use my Chi yet, I'm afraid." Though he said yet, he actually didn't believe in it. The way he met it, it was a weapon. You can take it from others and you learn it to prevent it from happening.

Nothing made any sense. Shiren did not have any reason or motivation to be able making himself an even bigger threat than he was already.

The wolf seemed to be disappointed in his monotone emotional state: "What a shame… Then I guess you can forget everything I just said until you do. Have a look around, ask me when you have questions but otherwise I would be on my way now again. I still hope I was able to answer as much as you needed." Shiren now felt like he did something wrong just because he he was not skilled in something for a duty he did not even agree for. Maybe it was better this wolf was leaving now, it started to make him uncomfortable and he answered: "No, thank you. You did more for us than we could have wanted you to do, thanks. You were a big help."

He took a final look at Shiren and Mantis and then making his way out of this room, back to the dark corridor.

"Do you think he was serious?" Shiren asked Mantis. He wanted his opinion on a story that sounded like a drunken and made up plot.

But Mantis, who was surprisingly quiet the entire time answered calmly: "What do I know, Shiren? What do I know? I don't even know anything about this guy. He clearly was alone for too long. Isn't he also, like, a wolf? Don't wolves have packs?" Now Shiren remembered Mantis wasn't present when he met the wolf for the second time and he better did not say this wolf was a former follower of Shen. It could have been difficult.

Instead he just reacted calmly: "This one doesn't as far as I'm concerned. But let's have a closer look around here. This place looks interesting at least. Maybe we would be able to find something new here."

Mantis wondered not very excitingly: "Another secret room?"

"Yes," Shiren answered determinately: "He is too big to fit into the little holes as well, don't forget. I'm sure there is a lot to find here. If I would be the leader of this place and I would be in war against the dragons and I would loose… I guess the most reasonable thing to do with important knowledge I can't carry with me is to hide them in places the dragons can't reach."

He pulled out the little metal again. "Like this one." Now they found such a place like this, there was maybe a chance to find one secret place again.

"Keep on hoping, Shiren. But please don't be disappointed when things might not turn out as you want them to," Mantis gently warned him. And he was right. He would give it maybe one hour.

"Don't worry. I take what I can get. In like one hour we can go for the big tree again. Now let's get on to it, shall we?"