บท 33: Reaching Gongmen City
[Tai Lung]
After leaving the Jade Palace, I made my way down to the village with my cloak covering my body so that no villagers panicked or freaked out when they saw me.
It would be a lie to say that I did not care about what the NPCs thought of me since I was the guy who wanted to be the Dragon Warrior, a hero admired by everyone, so the unjust perspective people had of me was a great annoyance.
It was truly baffling how they forgot the countless times I had saved the village and protected the Valley in the past. 25 years ago, the Valley of Peace used to be under the protection of Tai Lung and I made sure to extinguish whatever or whoever was threatening it.
I went on countless missions under Shifu and Oogway's order and even with my own free will. I was sent to settle disputes between Kingdoms, I caught criminals, killed Masters who had turned evil and saved many lives.
I used to bring prosperity and peace to not just the Valley but to China as a whole. As the future Dragon Warrior, I thought it was my duty to do such things. To protect the people and to serve the land.
I take pride in that. My father took pride in that.
I used my strength and I used my influence for them. I was a tool, diligently doing a duty which was never meant to be mine.
Gladly too.
With pride.
No, I was not a tool, I was a fool.
"Would it be possible for me to tag along on the carriage? I heard you guys were going to Guangzhou." I asked the cow lady with ripped muscles.
My past human self would've called her mommy.
Jokes aside, her posture and foot placement told me that she was at least trained in Kung Fu and her eyes which constantly scanned her surrounding with a certain level of intent hints at experience in battle.
We were currently in the vegetable market of the Village of the Jade Palace and using my acute sense of hearing, I heard her discuss her travel plans with a rabbit from far away and I instantly approached them.
Guangzhou was a trading town located a few hundred miles away from the village. The road leading there was good and wide so it wouldn't take longer than a couple of days to reach there.
Gongmen City was further down the west from there and since the road leading to the city was busy and long, I planned to travel on foot from Guangzhou onwards.
But for the first part of the journey, it would be easier to tag along in a carriage. Guangzhou was the main trading place for the village as it had a little bit of everything and they would buy things at a much higher rate than other villages.
So many traders and businessmen travel back and forth from the village to Guangzhou.
"I am willing to pay a dozen bronze coins." I said to the cow who just kept looking at me. She must be curious to know what I looked like under the cloak.
Not gonna happen.
"Honey!!" She called and pushed the carriage slightly and a small rabbit peeked his head out.
"Yes?"
"This guy wanted to tag along, even said he was willing to pay a dozen coin." the cow said to the rabbit which I now assumed was her husband.
"There is no problem at all from my side. You are the one pulling the carriage dear so whatever you say." the rabbit said.
"You heard him, get in." the cow lady said and I tossed her a dozen bronze coins which she later used to buy carrots for snacks.
I went behind the carriage and there were only empty boxes, making plenty of space for me to sit. It seemed they were going to Guangzhou to buy and not sell.
I had to wait a few minutes before the rabbit finished arranging the boxes and we were off to our travel. The cow lady said we would reach Guangzhou in two days.
"Oh by the way, my name is Jiang Liu and my beautiful wife there is Chang'in." The rabbit man said, pointing at his wife who was pulling the carriage.
I did not return the polite gesture and simply nodded without introducing myself. The guy seemed to take no offence but I saw his wife clicking her tongue. It seemed she was the fiesty one, the typical marriage between a hot-tempered and a gentle soul.
I sat cross-legged at the back of the carriage and spent my time meditating. But as the journey continued and we left the village, there was silence which prompted Mr Jiang Liu to start a conversation with me.
"So, where will you be heading young lad? I don't assume you want to go to Gunagzhau since you have the bare necessity for travel." He asked me. Guangzhou was a trading town and most people go there to trade, it seemed I did not look the part.
"You'd be correct in your assumption. I am heading to Gongmen city."
"Oh, the land of fair ladies and fireworks. Do tell me which one you are aiming for?"
"It's for business," I replied.
The white rabbit scoffed, "Like hell I believe that!! No one goes to Gongmen city for business."
Gongmen City was the land of fireworks and entertainment. So if you are a traveller wishing to go there, people would assume you were there to enjoy life. It held the same reputation as Las Vegas would in the modern world.
"So you got a maiden of your own yet?"
"No."
"Plans on getting one soon?"
"No."
"Well, as a married man, I can tell you that you are losing out." The rabbit said and looked at his wife outside who was pulling the carriage.
"Really? I heard it's quite a hussle."
"Bah!! Nonsense. There are jokes around that but in truth, we can never be happier." He said with a smile.
"The world is cruel and lonely, you would be a damn lucky bastard to find a partner you can walk with. Someone to be with you every step of the way in this journey of life." He said to me, I could see the cow outside blushing as steam came out of her ears.
"I never thought of it that way." I said and looked at the odd couple. It was not rare to see other species marry each other or become partners. But as one might expect, they could never have kids together.
If they want kids, they either have to adopt or the husband - never the wife - hires a surrogate. But that was reserved for the rich.
That was why adoption was very popular. It was also why Po never found out he was adopted. In his eyes, it was not weird that his father was a goose because he saw many other kids with different species as parents.
Orphanage were a busy place with kids getting adopted all the time. Hence why Tigress was very pitiful to not get adopted as most adults were afraid of her strength.
Our journey went on as we had small talks. I was beginning to enjoy the conversation a little as Mr Jiang Liu proved to be a knowledgeable person.
He even told me about how he met his wife. Chang'in came to the village in hopes of getting into the Jade Palace as one of the students but she ended up in his arms instead.
She might not be a student of the Jade Palace in the end but she was trained in Kung Fu. Honestly, I noticed that quite early on.
"So you do not want to mess with her, or me for that matter. I may be small but my wife will fuck you up." he said with a laugh.
"It was because of her Kung Fu skills and strength that we never even bothered to hire bodyguards. She can take care of these lacklustre criminal all by herself." He said proudly.
"Strong, beautiful and kind. I really used up all of my luck by having her. Though the roads have been peaceful these passing months." He said, "I am glad since I never really like watching her fight although I knew she could take care of herself."
I smiled softly under my hood. I have been clearing the bandits and thieves camping in the Valley a lot so it was no wonder that there were lesser attacks.
Using inner peace to heighten my senses, it was not hard to locate the criminals camping in the forest of the Valley. I would use them to test my new techniques and take them out to help the Valley.
It was unacceptable that those criminals were disturbing my home. If it were in the past, no criminals would dare step into the Valley of Peace, fearing the wrath of Tai Lung.
Its always nice to see the positive result of the work you do, no matter what it was. People were happy and safe.
"I am glad to hear that." I said.
"Yeah. It has been a blessing for all of us travellers and traders. There had been no noteworthy robberies or ambushes. It had brought great prosperity to the Valley." He said with visible enthusiasm and a fond smile on his face.
I smiled too, a little proud and satisfied.
"It's really thanks to the Dragon Warrior. He has been doing a splendid job, just what you would expect from a warrior prophesied by Oogway himself. First, he dealt with Tai Lung and now he had brought peace in the Valley." He said.
"Yes, it is true. I have never seen roads as peaceful as the road of the valley these passing 10 months. It is truly a miracle that only the Dragon Warrior can achieve." His wife added from the front, still pulling the carriage.
"Oh..." I muttered and blinked. "I see."
" We are extremely lucky to have him." Mr Jiang said.
I got comfortable in my seat again, leaning against the inner wall of the carriage. I closed my eyes and meditated to get the wrong feeling off my chest.
The journey went smoother than expected and we reached the trading town of Guangzhou in two days.
I bid farewell to the two lovely couples and I made my way to Gongmen city. I did not follow the main road and cut through the difficult terrains and took a shortcut to Gongmen City.
But before reaching the city, I had to take a ferry to cross the Lake of Eternal Pearls or Pearl Lake. The road went around the lake but that would take an extra day.
But with the help of the ferry, I crossed the lake in a single night.
After nearly 5 days of travelling, I reached the metropolis city known as Gongmen city
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[IMAGE]
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IMPORTANT NOTE : So people are freaking out about the eggs. Consider them unfertilized eggs and other than straight up animal meat, they eat everything. Oh even fishes too.
I thought it'd be kind of obvious since you need eggs to make dough which is used for dumpling and even noodles.
And about the Tigress thing, she won't be the female lead. It was only natural that Tigess became the female lead and even I planned to have her but things didn't work out.
It didn't make sense for Tai Lung to see her romantically after his reconciliation with Shifu and he was busy training so romance should have been the furthest in his mind. So it was either he did not form connection with her at all or he sees her as a sister at the moment.
Female lead is still not decided but let's see, there are many snow leopard even the Wu sisters, the teammate of Master Shifu, and even the snow leopard in Crane's dojo. Even genderbend Peng, Tai Lung's niece.
But that will come later as I will focus the first two movie first. Romance will inbetween the second and third movie before Kai. And it will be a side plot than anything else.
This book is action and martail arts focused after all.
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And double Chapter to celebrate Easter Sunday!! 🥳🥳
Happy Easter everyone!!
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