The Last Honor

20. A shelter

On the ship, which was still drifting further downstream, there was a depressed and extremely tense atmosphere. Everyone was happy that they could bring to safely and that Yin-Yu had reappeared, but nobody felt well.
Po was tormented by the thought that Shen might have complications. He wasn't a doctor and couldn't say whether the army doctor wasn't keeping anything from them. He could only hope the best for the family. And there was another dilemma that worried him at the same time. He just couldn't explain Chiwa's behavior. Well, if it was true that Xiang had murdered her sister, then she had a reason, but there was no reason not to go through legal proceedings and especially not to harass the others like that.
Exactly the same or similar questions seemed to go through the heads of the others when Po trotted to a corner of the deck. Yin-Yu was extremely happy to see the sky above her again and was afraid to go below deck, even if Shen was having an operation down there, but she couldn't help him at the moment anyway, just wait and the doctor do his job permit.
Thoughtfully, Po let his gaze wander over the part of the ship. Shenmi had snuggled herself into her mother's wings while Liu sat on the edge with Xiang. Xiang was still not receptive. He was still sitting there with his eyes open and said not a single word. He just stared straight ahead.
The old bull Huan was also sitting next to a couple of barrels, still panting from the whole race.
Hesitantly, Po approached him. "You are not used to such a march? Something like that keeps you fit," Po said jokingly, although he didn't feel like laughing. They were out of town, but who guaranteed that these geckos wouldn't spy on them after all?
The bull forced a smile. "To be honest, I might have needed something like that," he said. Finally, he said what he had been wondering all along. "But I didn't expect that Chiwa would do something like that."
Po frowned. "I think we all didn't expect that."
"Maybe not everyone," Liu interfered and both looked over at her in surprise. The peahen stood up. "But I'm pretty sure Xiang knew all along. But he never talked about it."
Po nodded. "That may be true, but was the act in the past on purpose or an accident?"
Liu's glance wandered back to Xiang. "That was definitely not an accident," she said in a firm voice, although she wasn't so sure about herself. "You can't judge him for that!"
The panda and the bull exchanged questioning glances. If Xiang could tell them at least what happened back then, it could be discussed, but right now it was nonsense to pass judgment on it.
Yin-Yu had listened to the conversation in silence and raised her voice now, too. "Maybe she's not that wrong," she said. "The way she behaved towards me..."
She broke off. Obviously, she didn't want to talk about it. But Po would have liked to know.
"What happened after you were kidnapped?"
Yin-Yu pointed at Shenmi. She didn't want to talk about it in front of her. Po nodded understandingly, but also a bit disappointed.
"I can only say one thing," Yin-Yu added quietly. "She's crazy."
"I noticed that," Po grumbled and leaned his back against the railing. "Who has lost his marbles in his brain like that and throws his long sleeves around?"
Yin-Yu looked down. "It's a lot more than that. And I'm afraid she'll kill us."
Po raised his eyebrows. "Well, then the only question is: what do we do now? We'll be easy to find on the ship. Where should we go or where should we hide?"
For a while everyone sat there and was silent. Everyone made their own thoughts. They only raised their heads again when the doctor came back on deck with the king.
"How is he?" Po and Yin-Yu asked at the same time.
The monkey rubbed his wet hands from washing his hands. "Fortunately, the bleeding was not in a vital organ, but he shouldn't do any sport for a long time..."
"Can I see daddy?" Shenmi asked.
"He'll sleep for a while," the doctor said.
"Don't worry," Po said. "I'll go with her," and took the little girl by the hand. But before he left the deck with her, he wanted to know one more thing.
"But what do we do now? We have to hide from her."
The king of the Huns shook his head. "I've already thought about that. We may also be able to cross the border. She won't be able to follow us there."
"The geckos had a permit for a transition," Liu said. "They can certainly smuggle their way across the border with a new ruse. That's how they kidnapped Xiang... By the way, doctor, couldn't you take a look at him?"
The monkey leaned over the torpid blue peacock and waved a hand in front of his blank eyes. "Shock. Definitely," was his prognosis. "The incident threw him completely off track."
"How long could it take until he comes out of this?" Liu wanted to know.
But the doctor shrugged his shoulders. "It's extremely different. You can only hope for the shortest possible time."
Po rubbed his forehead, not because of Xiang's condition, but how they could hide from Chiwa's geckos.
"Hey!" he cried. "What about the sheep village?" he suggested.
The others looked at him in surprise.
"The village in the forested mountains?" Wang asked.
Po nodded. "We hid there before, too."
"It's not too far from the city," Wang said.
The panda raised his head. "Maybe she will not expect us to be there and will assume we are further away."
"That could be risky," Huan objected.
"Not if we get out immediately and just let the ship drive on," Po said. "I'm sure that we can count on the secrecy of the crew and maybe by then we will have hatched a plan on how we can put a stop to her."
"You want to compete against her?" Yin-Yu had her concerns. "You saw her today. She is not a person to be trifled with."
"That's why we will have to come up with a plan," the Dragon Warrior replied.
"Can I see pappy now?" Shenmi urged.
The panda hugged her with a smile. "Sure, of course. We'll get out of the ship soon anyway. The sheep village is not far from here anymore."

While the others pondered Pos's plan, the panda and the white peacock girl went downstairs to the large cabin of the ship.
Shen was still lying on the big table, covered with a blanket. They approached quietly. Po held Shenmi very close to Shen's head. The girl wrapped her wings around his neck. The white peacock didn't wake up, but he seemed to sense her presence. His breathing quickened for a moment, then it flattened out again.
Thoughtfully, the panda watched the daughter and her father. Sometimes he wondered how Shen was going to teach her that he once wiped out an entire village. But Po immediately rejected this thought again. One day, she had to know the truth, but not today.

As agreed, the ship docked at the point where they had already docked earlier. The passengers left the ship in a hurry so that the ship could quickly move on again. They couldn't afford a longer stopover.
Shen was carried on a stretcher, to avoid harming his fresh wounds. Liu walked with Shenmi beside him. The girl would prefer to be on the stretcher with her father, but Yin-Yu took her aside as a warning.
"Let your father sleep," she whispered to her. "He needs rest."
Po, who was also walking next to the stretcher that was carried by Wang and Huan, kept looking around.
No matter whoever was going to attack them, he was definitely not going to let anything happen to the family.
The two soldiers who had disembarked with them also dragged the blue peacock with them. Liu followed them with a concerned look, always keeping in mind that Xiang would regain consciousness during the march.

Fortunately, the mountain sheep had nothing against accommodating old guests again, only when Xiang was there, they were a bit surprised. While Shen was being housed in one of the houses, Wang thought that he would better isolate Xiang from the others.
One of the sheep offered a small hut that was mostly used for storing garden tools. Wang thought it was a good idea and the soldiers shipped him there as soon as some of the equipment was cleared away so that a corner could be found for the peacock where he could sit on an improvised bed at least. Then they locked the hut and the two soldiers positioned themselves in front of it.
After that was done, Liu couldn't help but approach Wang directly.
"What are you going to do with him if he regains consciousness?" She wanted to know from the king of the Huns.
Wang didn't seem to know what to think of the whole situation, which is why he gave a neutral answer.
"We'll wait and see," he said finally and went to the apartment buildings.
Liu looked after him with worried eyes.

Tongfu was not in a good mood when he scrambled up the mountain on the path that Chiwa had showed him.
"I hope it's worth the effort," he growled.
His friends followed in the same mood.
Suddenly a black figure jumped on a rock in front of the leader.
"Who wants to gain access to the realm of the dead people here?" a gloomy voice snarled.
Tongfu snorted. "Leave the humbug. Lady Chiwa gave the order that you and your pack fly us. And immediately!"
The figure unfolded its big wings. "Aha, Lady Chiwa, a nice lady. That she and her sister left her dead husband to us at the time was a nice gesture. Although his meat wasn't very tasty."
This black humor only bored Tongfu even more.
"Come on," the gecko urged. "I don't have the whole evening here, otherwise she'll light a fire under us."
The black figure stepped into the moonlight and revealed the shape of a vulture.
"I'll assume that there'll be something out of it for us, right?" the vulture asked with amusement.
The gecko rolled his eyes. "If that shortens the start of the trip, maybe she will offer you a small sacrifice. We'll take a few passengers with us anyway, so it won't be noticed if one is missing."
The vulture's beak clattered. "And where should the journey go?"
"Gongmen City."