"You could have avoided breaking their legs..." I drawled, dragging wolves wrapped in a tent and tied with rope, while a line of others, who managed to get only broken arms, howling in pain, lined up to climb into the village. Lucky these idiots had shackles, and in huge quantities at that, so I only had to tie up the legless cripples.
"Listen..." The snow leopard suddenly looked at me thoughtfully, propping her chin on her hand. "... We could deliver them to prison together; it wouldn't even take much time—a day on the road, and we're there."
"Excuse me?" My eyes widened at such audacity. Helping to carry these idiots to the village is one thing, but why the hell drag myself to the city with them? I have nothing to do there—I managed to pick up some rumors from the villagers, updated my map, so what the hell? "What makes you think I'll go further with you? I have enough of my own business."
"Like what?" The girl smirked, lifting her chin.
"None of your business." I roll my eyes and relax my arm a little, as the idiots in the tent are groaning too loudly.
"Going to the Jade Palace for revenge, aren't you?"
"I haven't decided yet... But that doesn't mean I want to mess around with this bunch of trash." I answer a bit sharply, looking into the snow leopard's eyes, but she just remains silent... "Ah, screw you." I spit and start carrying the bundle of bandits on my hump, while the rest silently follow Xue.
Finally climbing the mountain, I notice a body—the elder, apparently, lost consciousness and, leaning against the wall of the house, was simply sitting on its porch. With his wounds, that's normal; the main thing is that he doesn't die, otherwise why did I save him?
"Hold this." The panther throws calmly, handing me the chain to which the bandits' shackles are attached.
I take the chain, and she heads to the unconscious man and sits down next to him. The girl's silhouette begins to glow with a cold blue color, and Chi begins to flow from her palms, enveloping the wounded man. Ten seconds pass, twenty, and finally, Chen opens his eyes.
"Huh? M-Mistress?" The elder jumps up in place.
"Is everything alright?" Xue inquires in a kind, calm voice, standing up.
"Y-yes, thank you so much, I am in your eternal debt, Mistress!" The goat immediately began to bow to the floor but was stopped by the snow leopard's gesture.
"No need, we need to leave the bandits somewhere temporarily, for a couple of hours; do you have such a place?"
"Yes, I think we can keep them in our warehouse. We store all food there in case of famine or bad weather; it's a very sturdy building." Chen nodded, pointing to that very "barn" where the residents had been hiding.
"Excellent, then let's go; I think your family will be glad to see you."
"Family? Right, Mei, Lin!" The elder jumped up and ran to the warehouse, and Xue approached and took the chain from my hands, after which we followed the elder, for whom the villagers were already opening the door.
"Chen! My husband!" As soon as the door opened, Mei rushed to him, knocking him off his feet. They collapsed on the ground, hugging each other. Lin ran up next, clinging to his father and crying. Quite touching.
All the other villagers also came out of the fortified building. Many of whom, having exchanged a couple of words with Chen, headed toward us, along with the elder himself, who had freed himself from the embrace. He approached us with a limping step, after which he bowed to the ground again.
"Masters! You... you saved me. You saved Han-Ya! My life... our whole village... we are in your debt!"
"Thank you, Masters!" someone shouted from the crowd, and dozens of voices supported them.
The wolves, meanwhile, watched this with horror. Ace's gang was completely crushed: the leader dead, and they themselves—cripples surrounded by jubilant "goats." Their fear was almost palpable; they huddled together, whining from pain in broken limbs and afraid to look up at me or Xue.
"Then I ask you to lock up the bandits for a while, and also, prepare a wagon if you have one. Better—two." Xue commanded.
"Yes, of course, right this minute, Master!"
Work began. The villagers, now emboldened, drove the bandits with pitchforks. The wolves, limping and whining in pain, trudged into the barn. There was nothing in their eyes but fear and misunderstanding of what would happen next.
In just a couple of minutes, the last bandit was finally inside, while the village healer treated their wounds.
The village exploded with jubilation again, even louder than yesterday.
Now that the elder was home and the bandits were not just dead but captured, the air was filled with celebration again. The villagers enjoyed their newfound safety.
"Bring the tables!" shouted Chen, still hugging his son. "Mei, get that wine we hid in the cellar!"
Residents, laughing and crying, started running around; they were no longer afraid—neither of me nor the bandits. Someone brought a lute, and music flowed; children, who yesterday looked at me warily, now ran around my legs and asked to "show the huge flying tiger again," and my assurances that it was a leopard had no effect on them...
It was noisy, chaotic, and for some reason... not as annoying as I thought.
"Tai Lung, you will get nothing from revenge but emptiness in your soul, believe me, Shifu clearly didn't want this..." Xue approached me a few minutes later while I watched this bustle.
"..." She said it somewhat too emotionally, as if she knew Shifu... And that phrase about revenge... "I see you know a lot about this story; mind sharing where from? Did the old turtle reveal my full biography to every passerby?"
"No, I've known about you for quite a while; Shifu and I were good friends when we were in the Furious Five." The girl said, trying to make it sound casual, while simultaneously tracking my reaction.
Naturally, I knew about the past composition of the Furious Five, I even saw drawings depicting them, but firstly, in the poster drawing I had (yes, in childhood Tai Lung was a fan of the Furious Five, and especially Shifu), the snow leopard girl didn't look like Xue, at least in hair length—now the girl had quite short hair, and on the poster, it was very long, almost to her knees, and secondly, many snow leopards look alike, especially girls and especially masters.
"So, you want to stop me?" I squint, tensing my body. Who definitely isn't my friend are Shifu's teammates; I have no idea what he could have told them about me, but if they are all like my master, they will listen to the Wise Old Freak's words.
"Mmm..." The girl pretended to think. "No, actually, you've already shown that not everything is so bad, and knowing Shifu, it's surprising you snapped so late; I got tired of his tediousness after a couple of days of muttering." The panther smiled.
"I don't understand..." I am actually the most dangerous criminal in China, yet any follower of the Kung Fu path has a duty to rid this very China of criminals... In general, my confusion is hard not to understand.
"I didn't know you personally, Tai Lung," the snow leopard instantly became serious. "However, I remember letters from Shifu, remember his pride, joy, and sincere love for his son. And today, just like yesterday, I saw before me not a 'Crazy maniac dangerous to all China,' as Oogway called you twenty years ago at the trial, but, albeit a bit cruel, still a worthy master who protected the village and its residents from a gang of cutthroat slavers. Help me, and I swear I will go straight to the capital and demand a review of your punishment."
"..." What a cunning b... female. Words about Shifu, about his letters in which he, apparently, bragged about me... In short, with this crap, which isn't even necessarily true, the girl opened a wound in my heart. And what am I supposed to do?
Ah, damn it!
On one hand, the rage in me just screams, demands that I rush to the Valley of Peace as soon as possible and take MY scroll to show that Oogway was wrong, to prove that Shifu was wrong and I AM the Dragon Warrior, but... Should I trust my new acquaintance, who, apparently, is about 500 years old?..
"Fine, I'll help deliver this trash to the city." I sigh, closing my eyes. Anyway, this very city is only a day's journey away, and it leads toward the Valley of Peace. It's clear that on my own two feet I would be significantly faster, but a slight delay shouldn't critically affect anything.
Do I trust Xue?
Pfft, no, of course not!
One can talk endlessly about the kindness, honesty, and sincerity of Kung Fu masters, only once these very "masters" already betrayed my trust and ruined my destiny, after which they put me in prison for a 20 years! Shove your honesty and kindness up your ass!
But I don't want to provoke a conflict with her either, not now.
Right now my goal is the scroll and the title, and if there is a probability that a little help from my side will ensure me an extra chance for a successful outcome even in case of failure with the title... No, I am confident in myself, and the title will be mine, but logic suggests that a little insurance won't hurt.
"Good, then..." the panther began, but I interrupted her.
"I just have to get them to the city, right? Nothing beyond that?" I clarify, lest she hang some other crap on me. She thinks I didn't notice her bloodthirsty look at Ace—she would have killed him herself, but just used me. This woman is very dangerous.
"I... I'm not sure if Peng—the lord of Wei-Jin city—will let us go so easily, but... Yes, I ask only for help delivering the prisoners. I could go without sleep to watch them at night, but I don't want to risk it." The master admitted, looking away.
"Wait... More details from here." What the hell is going on and what mess have I gotten into this time?
"Ahem, I am ready to tell you why I ended up in these parts at all, but not here." Xue nodded at the villagers, who were already busy dragging tables to the square.
"Excellent," I sigh and start walking toward the forest, Xue follows me, and finally, descending the stairs, we stopped at that blood-soaked clearing with a pile of corpses. "So... What kind of shit are you planning to drag me into?"
"Ahem, after the disbandment of the Furious Five, the Emperor summoned us and offered service. Master Rooster went to the border, where wars are constantly going on; now the rooster holds the rank of general and protector of the North. Shifu stayed with Master Oogway; he always respected him and followed the old man. Master Elephant, as far as I know, opened a dish shop and is now enjoying retirement, and I became a Shadow..."
"I see..." I drawled, restraining myself from cursing at everything around.
Even by the name, it's clear who the Shadows are and what they do—security service, assassination squad, Shadows of the Empire. That's what those who know about them at all call them.
Their task is identifying and eliminating traitors, searching for corrupt officials, and suppressing any possible rebellions. They say that a thousand years ago, even before Oogway came, the Shadows slaughtered villages where dissatisfaction with the regime began to grow; they also killed any aristocrats who disagreed with the Emperor's opinion and did other dirty work. Legends, of course, but they don't appear out of nowhere...
Now, as far as I know, and I know a little, the Shadows rather play the role of internal security service, and don't engage in killing everything and everyone the Emperor points at, and the fact that the snow leopard confessed this to me suggests either that I will be killed soon or that she trusts me...
Anyway, I'm not planning to sleep. Not anytime soon.
"And why did you come here?" having digested what was said, I inquire.
"The city lord. Information came from one of the Shadows that he might be involved in corruption and bribery. Several villages in his domain disappeared completely; some residents were found among the slaves of a merchant. I had to verify this information and conduct a trial over the city lord, after which deliver him to the capital. Pity you killed Ace immediately—he could have been useful, but even so, exposing the city lord's true face is possible."
Yes, the Shadows also have the exclusive right to conduct a unilateral trial over any non-aristocrat in China...
"And you think he will attack us? And what's the point of him sending bandits with whom he collaborated? He could just release them and attack some village again."
"He worked with Ace, not his lackeys. All of them will have to die in their cells, for unknown reasons; that's exactly why they all received severe injuries—so the city lord could say they died on their own."
"Think he'll want to remove the executors?"
"Peng is cunning. That bastard is definitely capable of such a thing; we just need to watch them in the cells and catch whoever Peng sends to do this dirty work." The girl nodded.
"..." Seems like a sound theory, I can't come up with anything smarter myself, except... "Ace was a very meticulous commander, judging by his people and their discipline. Do you think he might have left any records?"
"Hmm... Compromising material on the people he works with, he could have left specifically so they wouldn't decide to get rid of him too..." Xue's eyes lit up.
"Good, then check their things, you definitely understand this better than I do..."
"Uh-huh..." The snow leopard wasn't even listening to me, already heading to Ace's body. And there are still all the chests to check... Looks like we'll only leave tomorrow...
Yeah, just got out of prison, and here are conspiracies at every turn...
Will I manage to solve this case and calmly continue my journey to the title of Dragon Warrior?