The Last Honor

14. Arrival in Mendong City

The last night's thunderstorm had passed, but the meadows were still damp from all the morning dew. The white peacock stroked the fresh green with its feather fingers gently and the drops of water glittered on his plumage in the warm morning sun. He sighed deeply. This whole area and that around him made him thoughtful. The panda was probably not so wrong that this environment constantly reminded him of Yin-Yu. There were so many events involved. Both beautiful and terrible.
The lord yawned. He had been awake for a long time yesterday. The conversation with the Dragon Warrior had kept him busy for a long time. Actually, he didn't think much of the panda and his advice. He was still a half child. At least that was how he behaved internally. But then again, he wasn't so wrong. Even Shen had to admit that he might be overreacting with his fear of doctors. But the nasty feeling from the past just couldn't get rid of him and he had made up his mind never to endure such treatments again.
The lord ground the drops of water and let them fall to the ground. Soon they would have evaporated from the sun.
The peacock sighed again. All this thinking gave him a headache.
"Shen!" A familiar voice called over to him from one of the many village houses. "Breakfast!"
Po waved the peacock over to him. Then the panda disappeared quickly back into the house.
Shen struggled to get up from the meadow and went to the dining room next to a small kitchen, where Shenmi was already sitting. Father and daughter hadn't seen each other today yet because the little girl had slept before he left the house. Now the peacock chick girl was sitting at the dining table, stirring a soup bowl with a spoon. When she saw her white father come in, she lifted her head and kept her eyes glued to him.
Po was also sitting at the table and was stuffing a few dumplings into his mouth.
Shen wrinkled his beak. He still found the panda's table manners repulsive, so he sat on the opposite side. He noticed Shenmi staring at him and smiled at her. "So... how are you? Did you sleep well?"
Shenmi looked at him sadly. "Daddy, are you dying?"
Po choked on his food and coughed so hard that he had to spit out the last two dumplings on the plate in order not to run the risk of choking.
Shen, on the other hand, opened his eyes in horror at his daughter's words. "What?! Who is telling you that?"
"You said, you were ill. Is it because of me?"
Startled, Shen leaned over and clasped her shoulders with his wings.
"No, no, no, of course not, and I'm not dying either. I will definitely be 100 years old or more."
The girl carefully raised the peacock comb. "Really?"
"Yes, of course. Now come on. You have to eat something." He took a spoon and scooped some soup out of the bowl and held it in front of her beak. "We still have to continue with the ship today."
"Is that where Mum is waiting for us?" Shenmi asked and let the spoon disappear into her mouth.
"Yes, we'll meet her there." At least Shen hoped so. He quickly took a handkerchief and patted the girl's beak dry, because something of the soup had accidentally gone wrong.
Po watched them both in silence and with a dejected look. The girl must have heard them talking to each other last night. Had she even slept?
He hastily took a bowl of soup and sipped it. When he put the bowl down again, a long noodle was hanging over his mouth.
Shenmi, seeing that, giggled. "Daddy, you are black and white now."
In surprise, Po looked at his nose. "Oh, well, and a little bigger."
He narrowed his eyes and tried to look like Shen. The girl laughed. Normally Shen would reprimand him for this, but for once he was grateful that the panda gave the girl other thoughts, because he wanted to forget the conversation from earlier as soon as possible.

"Wow, they did it well," Po said commendatory after examining the repairs on the ship.
One of the mountain sheep bowed. "It was an honor to do our former ruler and her husband a favor."
Shen, who was standing on the bank with Shenmi, nodded gratefully. "We really appreciate it. But now we have to move on. Come on, Shenmi."
He took his little daughter by the hand and together they boarded the ship.

The last part of the river cruise, the passengers were wondering what to expect in Mendong City. Shenmi was the only one who looking forward to the end of the trip. Shen watched her with a pained expression on his face. He didn't want to imagine what would happen if the worst case happened, and he tried to put that thought off as best he could.
Po didn't feel any different, even though it wasn't his wife. But when he saw the happy peacock girl, he felt extremely uncomfortable in the stomach. He couldn't bear to see anyone cry, especially no children.
After another five minutes, he just couldn't take it any longer. "AHH! When are we finally there?!"
"We are there! We are there!" Shenmi cried, completely beside herself with joy, jumping excitedly up and down the railing.
"Well, well, not so wild, honey," Shen tried to reassure her. Worried she might fall into the water, he took her in his arms.
Mendong City opened up before them. From the outside it didn't look very different like Gongmen City, only the high mountains in the background made the landscape look even more sublime.
They got off at the harbor and were greeted by the hustle and bustle on the jetty.
As soon as the bridge had extended and Shen appeared on the dock, people suddenly stopped in amazement. Po, who had just noticed that his provisions bag was already empty, looked around in astonishment when he looked into the many faces staring up at them. He rubbed his chin.
"Uh, do I have something on my face?" he whispered to Shen. He shook his head in annoyance. Only Shenmi waved her wing to the animals.
Finally, Po spoke. "Hello, I am the Dragon Warrior, this is Shen and this is Shenmi. We come from Gongmen City."
Again everything remained silent.
Po cleared his throat. "Uh, he's Yin-Yu's husband."
"Oh, ok," the crowd said and everyone turned back to their work.
The panda scratched his head in surprise while Shen walked down the bridge with Shenmi by the hand. At the jetty, a sheep was busy tying the ropes of the ship. It had only started work again when Po made his statement about Shen.
"Seems you don't have good memories with peacocks, do you?" Shen asked his question directly to the sheep, who in turn shook its head.
"I'm sorry, but since the Huns took over the administration of the city, we have been a little skeptical about new peacocks."
"But the reason is Xiang, isn't it?" the white peacock asked more.
The sheep shrugged its shoulders. "Well, he wasn't exactly a popular regent. We all admit that. Especially after his mother disappeared without a trace, he became totally unbearable for everyone." The sheep nervously adjusted his shirt. "But you shouldn't talk badly about others. I guess you want to go to the palace, don't you?"
Shen nodded. But Shenmi couldn't wait either.
"We want to look for mom," she said.
Shen tugged briefly on the wing. "That's fine. Come on, let's go now."
The peacock quickly pulled the child with it. Po followed them closely into town. The hustle and bustle on the streets were not different. All kinds of animals pushed carts, carried buckets, walked the alleys, or sold their wares in the houses and stalls.
Po held her nose in the air and sniffed. "Mm, smells like delicious food."
"Panda!" Shen reprimanded him angrily. "I would very much appreciate it if you could keep your urge, which is unimportant to this point in time, in control and concentrate on our reason for our visit. Shenmi! Stay close!"
He quickly grabbed the wing of his daughter, who had just run to a toy stall. Po didn't understand this reaction.
"Shen, why are you so nervous? She was only three steps away from you."
Shen turned to him harshly. "Panda! My wife disappeared in this town! And she was an adult. She, on the other hand, is still a child! How much do you think the probability is that a child disappears?"
Sobered, Po put her palms together. "Well, that may be true, but why should someone who kidnapped your wife take Shenmi with them now?" He looked at Shen questioningly. "Or do you think it could be again...?"
In Po crept up new fear.
"But he had this serious explosion accident, or is he again...?"
Shen avoided his gaze. "I only know that he survived the whole misery well, but he lost some mobility for it."
Shen made the impression that he was downright relieved about it. But the likelihood that Xiang might have hired accomplices for his plans was just as likely. Po didn't want to utter this thought unnecessarily because Shenmi was still within earshot and went first.
"Okay, so where is the palace now?" He muttered, and asked the people.
Some animals kept pausing as Shen passed, and each time they had to explain the appearance of a peacock in town. And it was the same reaction every time. And in the end, panda and peacock came to the conclusion, that Xiang was not popular with his people.
Suddenly Po stopped. "Aha, my archenemy."
Shen spun around, startled. He hid Shenmi behind himself, shrugged his knives and, ready to fight, looked around at the enemy with peacock feathers open. "Where?!"
But Po didn't react, just stared straight out.
"Steps" was his only answer.
In front of them a seemingly endless staircase opened up that led up the mountain. The palace lay on a plateau area that was just about halfway up the mountain.
As soon as Shen understood, he gave the panda a hard blow in the back.
"Just one more paralogy and you can go on vacation again!"
"Nice offer," Po said with a serious expression. "But duty comes first." He sucked in his stomach. "Let's go. Let's venture into crime territory."
Po took a step forward and touched the first step with his foot.

"Okay, okay, we're almost there," the panda panted breathlessly. "Almost there, we are almost at the top... oh!"
Po leaned against the stone banister, completely out of breath. He was disappointed to see that he hadn't even made it halfway. Despondent, he gasped for air. "Oh dear. I'm sure you're fitter than me, aren't you Shen?" He looked up, but the steps in front of him were empty. "Shen?"
"Dad, are you okay?"
Po looked behind. Shen leaned against the banister, breathing heavily, while his little daughter worriedly tugged at the tip of his robe.
"Just leave it," the ruler waved off. "I just have to rest a little."
Po raised an eyebrow. He was close to propping up the lord as he tackled the next step again. "It's okay. Let's move on."
The peacock shook his head briefly, then he straightened his back and walked past the panda a little faster. No sooner had he passed him than he suddenly stopped.
"Anything wrong?" Po asked in shock. "Are you feeling bad again?"
"No, no," Shen parried. "I just thought..."
The peacock turned and looked into the distance. But there was no one at all. Still, he thought he had felt a look. Somehow.

"So this is your hometown?"
Fascinated, Liu let her gaze wander over Mendong City. She was standing with Xiang on a small hill on the outskirts of the city, from which one they had a beautiful overview. On the right was the river and to the left the palace on the mountain.
"Yes, it is," the blue peacock answered her question with a peeved undertone.
"It's beautiful," Liu said approvingly.
"Appearances can be deceptive."
She looked at him blankly, but Xiang didn't elaborate and changed the subject. "Nobody should see me. We have to go around the city outside."
Liu nodded. "Okay, where do we have to go then?"
She was about to take a step forward, but Xiang grabbed her arm roughly. The peahen looked a little intimidated at the peacock, who looked at her sternly.
"Just don't think you can nest here," he snapped. "As soon as I say that you go, you will go, get it?!"
She nodded. Then the two continued on their way.

Further up, on the top of the palace stairs, a snorting panda heaved himself up the last hurdle, groaning and moaning.
"No stairs," Po wailed. "Please, no more stairs."
Crawling on all fours, he rolled over the edge and landed on his back. "Yeah!" He cheered, completely out of breath. "I made it!"
He lay there for a brief moment, until a large shadow appeared next to him suddenly.
"Dragon Warrior?"
Po looked up in surprise. "Wang! Hey, old buddy!" With difficulty, Po got up from his lying position and panda and ox clapped hands.
"Not seen for a long time," Po said. "Today we have a real nostalgia day!"
At that moment, Shen and Shenmi also came over the stair threshold. Shenmi's feet were already sore, which is why Shen had carried her on his shoulder for the rest of the ascent.
King Wang recognized the girl immediately and smiled at her while Shen set the girl back down on the floor.
"But you grew up too," the ox said.
Shenmi smiled sheepishly and pressed a little closer to her father in his robe.
"Where's Yin-Yu?" Shen asked immediately. "Has she reappeared?"
The ox sighed deeply. "Not yet. As I said, she just disappeared. I received your letter yesterday, but I couldn't have reported anything new anyway."
At that moment, the manager Huan also showed up. The old bull didn't look confident either. Shenmi didn't like the whole mood at all.
"Isn't mom coming back now after all?" She asked softly and looked up at her father.
Shen didn't know what to say, which is why Po came to his aid.
"Don't worry," Po said. "Maybe she got lost. With so many rooms, it's no wonder. That's a real apartment complex."
The panda looked up in awe at the compact palace, which must have housed more than 100 rooms.
"Then we'd better take a look at this now," Shen said firmly, taking Shenmi's hand tightly. "Shenmi, you stay with me. Alright?"
"Can't we take a break first?" Po asked hopefully and fell tired on the floor.
But Shen showed no understanding for this. "Then just lie there. I'm going to look for her."
Disappointed, the panda stood up again. "All right, all right. I'm coming, but where should we start?"
Shen rolled his eyes. "Of course where she was last seen for the last time. So where exactly was that?"
That question was addressed to King Wang and the custodian. Huan bowed and pointed to the main door with his hoof. "Come in. I will lead you there."