Chapter 7: Oogway's tale

Everyone returned to the Jade Palace, including Mr. Ping and Li.

They all gathered in the scroll room as Master Shifu searched the overflowing shelves to find the scroll he was looking for.

"Kai . . . Kai . . . where is it?" Master Shifu muttered. "There's so much wisdom in here, I can't find anything!"

After a few more minutes he let out a triumphant cry.

"Yes!" He pulled a scroll off a high shelf and jumped down to join the others.

"Behold. All the answers will be found within," he said solemnly.

He unrolled the scroll—and it was blank.

"What? Are you kidding me? Not again!" he fumed. Then he unraveled some more. "Wait, wait. Sorry. Oh, okay, here we go. It is written in Oogway's hand."

They all gathered around as Master Shifu read from the scroll.

𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐨, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐲. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐊𝐚𝐢, 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬. 𝐀𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐀 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐬.

Everyone gasped and looked at Po.

"Pandas?" Po said, looking down to the scroll, where there was a sketch of a group of pandas surrounding Oogway.

Master Shifu continued reading.

𝐘𝐞𝐬! 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐬! 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐢 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐊𝐚𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧.

The scroll showed a terrifying image of Kai sucking chi from the one of the pandas.

𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡. 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐊𝐚𝐢 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐦.

𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐦, 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐢.

Everyone stared at Master Shifu.

"Me? I can barely make a flower bloom. I'd need at least thirty more years, and a cave!" Master Shifu protested.

Crane anxiously flapped his wings. "Chi master. We need a chi master."

"He will continue stealing the chi of masters until he has consumed it all," Viper said.

"There is no choice. We fight," Tigress said firmly.

Po looked at the scroll, at the drawing of pandas huddled around Oogway, as the Five continued to talk.

Li looked from Po to Master Shifu, to the Furious Five—their faces frowning as they struggled to come up with a plan. Then Li stepped forward. "I can teach you, son," he said.

Po looked up at his father. "You can do this?"

"Of course," Li replied. "I'm a panda."

"That must be why the universe sent you here!" Po guessed. "Okay, so what do I have to do?"

"You have to come home with me," said Li.

Po's eyes widened. "To the secret village?"

"You must rediscover what it is to be a panda," Li explained. "You have to learn how to live like a panda. Sleep like a panda. Eat like a panda. Those hundred-and-three dumplings? I was just warming up."

Po nodded. "I've always felt like I wasn't eating up to my full potential."

Mr. Ping ran up to Li. "You can't take Po away from me! No, no, I want a second opinion. Shifu, open another scroll or something."

"I think he should go," Master Shifu said.

"Fine!" Mr. Ping snapped. "A third opinion! Monkey? Tigress?"

Po interrupted him. "Dad, you heard what Shifu said Oogway said: This guy can only be stopped by a Master of Chi. And I can only master chi by knowing who I really am. Well, I'm a panda."

Mr. Ping frowned. He couldn't argue with that. Po was a panda, and he deserved to be with other pandas, even if it broke Mr. Ping's own noodle-loving heart.

"I'll pack you a lunch for the road," he said.

* * *

Li and Po set out for the village at sunrise the next morning. The Furious Five and Master Shifu stood at the top of the Jade Palace steps and watched them go.

"Do you really think Po can master chi in time?" Viper asked.

"It doesn't matter what I think," Master Shifu responded. "It matters only what the universe thinks."

"So that's a no?" Mantis piped up.

Crane looked worried. "Master, what are we going to do?"

"You are going to find out where Kai is," Master Shifu replied. "Follow the trail of those jade creatures. But do not engage, for with every foe he faces, Kai becomes stronger."

"Why me? Is it because I asked?" Crane wondered.

"No," said Master Shifu. "It is because you can fly. Go!"

Crane gulped and put on his flat straw hat. Mantis jumped on the brim.

"Should've kept your beak shut," he told his friend.

"And take Mantis," Master Shifu added.

"What?" Mantis complained. "Oh man. Is it because I—"

"Yes," said Master Shifu.

So with Mantis perched on his hat, Crane flew off to find Kai . . . and certain danger.