Xia Ling looked back in alarm. Fortunately, Shang-Chi's driving was solid—at the very last moment, he sped off the road, and the collapsing ground gradually came to a stop.
"Phew!!"
Both Xia Ling and Shang-Chi let out long breaths of relief. The car was already smoking—clearly totaled—but at least the three of them were safe.
"What do we do now?"
Shang-Chi turned to look at Carl. The car was done for; there was no way they could reach any designated location now.
"Not a problem."
Carl replied calmly, then fired a fireball into the sky. In less than two minutes, a Quinjet appeared before Shang-Chi and Xia Ling.
---
Once inside the cabin, everyone's gaze fell on Xia Ling—more precisely, on the Hundun in her arms.
"What is that?"
At high altitude, the jet had already switched to autopilot. The group gathered together, and Natasha asked curiously.
"Hundun—an ancient ferocious beast."
Shang-Chi and Xia Ling didn't understand what Hundun was, so Carl explained.
"So it's dangerous?"
Tony reached out, curious to touch it, but Hundun immediately swatted his hand away with its wing and burrowed deeper into Xia Ling's arms.
"It's still just a juvenile. And… it says it doesn't like you. It won't let you touch it."
Xia Ling, the only one who could understand Hundun, acted as translator again.
"How big can this thing get?"
Tony asked, glancing at Carl. Among the people he knew, aside from Scott, only Carl could grow to enormous size—and Carl could reach hundreds of meters.
Not just Tony—Shang-Chi and Xia Ling were curious as well. They had no idea what Hundun really was, let alone anything about the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
"Well… just assume it can grow bigger than me."
Carl was the only one who could answer. This fluffy, seemingly cute creature was one of the Four Fiends of ancient times—hardly something harmless just by name alone.
He didn't elaborate further. Explaining it to them—especially the Westerners—would be pointless. Even Shang-Chi and Xia Ling wouldn't fully grasp it.
"What? Bigger than your transformed size?!"
Everyone exclaimed in unison, shocked. Even Tony's expression turned wary. According to Carl, this thing was one of the Four Fiends and could grow to a massive size—basically a ticking time bomb. If they didn't deal with it early, were they supposed to wait until it went berserk and devoured them all?
Still, Tony only stayed on guard internally. He wasn't about to suddenly attack Hundun—not with everyone present, and especially since they still needed Shang-Chi and Xia Ling to find Wenwu.
Seeing the tension, Carl shifted his tone.
"Relax. Even though it's called one of the Four Fiends, it's not actually aggressive. It has no head and no sensory organs—it can't even eat. What kind of threat could it pose?"
His reassurance worked. The group visibly relaxed. They trusted Carl—he wouldn't lie about something like this.
---
"So where are we heading next?"
They tacitly dropped the topic of Hundun and turned to the real matter at hand.
"Hundun says to keep heading east. But a plane won't work—we'll need another way to travel."
Xia Ling stroked Hundun as she spoke.
According to it, the shifting maze couldn't be seen from the air. Aircraft were useless—the only way into Ta Lo was by passing through the maze.
Natasha immediately set a course back to the Avengers base. After a brief rest, a large transport aircraft took off. In its cargo hold were two off-road vehicles.
Inside the plane, the group sat at the bar, drinking. Shang-Chi and Xia Ling looked troubled, while Coulson walked out of the cockpit.
"The flight path's set—straight east."
He dropped into a seat as Natasha poured him a drink.
"What's on your minds?"
Steve looked at Shang-Chi and Xia Ling. They had been like this ever since boarding.
"We're thinking about our father… and worried about Ta Lo," Shang-Chi said. "It's our mother's homeland. And he said he'd flatten it. We have to get there before him."
He was deeply concerned. Knowing Wenwu, if he said it, he would do it. If Ta Lo didn't let him open that gate, he would slaughter everyone without hesitation.
"Don't worry. This plane's top-of-the-line—we'll definitely get there before your father."
Steve reassured him. Shang-Chi forced a smile, but the worry remained.
---
A few hours later, everyone had retreated to their rooms to rest. The aircraft was spacious, with individual cabins for each person—small, but enough.
Suddenly, Hundun, who had been sleeping, woke up and began flapping its wings, repeatedly smacking Xia Ling.
She was already sleeping lightly and woke instantly. After communicating with it, she hurried out to wake everyone.
Soon, they gathered again at the bar. Xia Ling pointed at the projected terrain map.
"Here. Hundun says it's here."
Coulson pulled up a satellite image. It showed nothing but endless mountains and a vast forest—no sign of any village.
"Find an open area and land nearby," Steve began issuing orders. "Coulson, Barton, Rhodes—you stay here. The rest of us take the vehicles and move out."
The three nodded. Besides guarding the aircraft, they would serve as external support. Rhodes, with his War Machine armor, could fly, provide reconnaissance, and deliver heavy firepower if needed—though the armor was too heavy for this mission.
Including Shang-Chi and Xia Ling, eight people split into two vehicles and headed into the mountains. The off-road vehicles provided by Nick Fury performed flawlessly—handling the terrain like flat ground at high speed.
They soon reached the forest's edge.
But as they drew closer, they realized—it wasn't a forest at all, but an endless sea of bamboo. And there was no road ahead, only dense stalks.
"This… there's no path. How do we go forward?"
In the lead vehicle, Natasha was driving, with Xia Ling in the passenger seat and Peter and Steve in the back. In the second vehicle, Shang-Chi drove, with Sam up front and Tony and Carl in the back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~