[3rd POV]
"This is fun." Mei said with a small smile hidden behind her mask as she walked along the road which led to Shigatse City.
Her guards were either far behind her or in front of her so it gave her a sense of freedom to walk on the road like that.
It was better than having to stay in a cage to be carried around in fear of the enemy harming her with arrows or sneak attacks. This time, the enemy was only one person so they didn't have to worry about such things.
Which gave her the opportunity to walk like this.
*Ting-ding-ding*
She shook her bell as it jingled softly. Then with her command, the air picked up pace and a gentle breeze blew on her. She felt much relieved as her body cooled down.
*Ting-ding-ding*
She did it again but this time, she felt herself getting lighter and she was able to walk with ease and a slightly faster speed.
Her powers were really convenient, she thought to herself. Although it had cost her much, it had also given her much.
She was on her way to Shigatse City on the order of the Emperor. Her main objective was something she had never done before and one she didn't even know how she would complete yet.
But she would do it anyway.
Because it was one of the rare moments where she actually had a reason for doing it. She had a genuine desire to complete her mission.
Her reward promised by the Emperor was something she wanted. To turn into a full leopard. She knew that it would not magically solve her problems, she was not stupid, but it was a start.
Another reason why she agreed to the mission so easily was because it gave her the chance to travel North. It was one of the few things she wanted to do in her life. To travel North and see if a place actually exists that she could call home like her father promised.
Maybe a secret village full of demi-humans like her? She could only guess.
And on the topic of guessing things, she wondered what Tai Lung would be like? The main objective of the plan was to take him down and from the effort the Emperor put into the plan, she guessed that he must be quite strong.
Which didn't really matter.
No one was strong in front of her nor were they weak.
They were only what she wanted them to be.
That was the authority she was born with. She could shape the world into what she desired, something which even the Emperor could not do.
They were jealous, that's why the Emperor tried to control her and why people hated her. That was obvious and she knew it.
Not that she cared, not anymore.
She continued travelling on the roads for two days until she reached the city of Shigatse. She had a rare determination in her heart to accomplish her mission as she went into the city.
Where she would meet the man who changed everything.
..
..
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[Tai Lung's POV]
I leaned on the wall of the ration house as I observed the people moving about in the market square. I had a grilled fish in my hand which I ate occasionally as I looked at the crowd.
This has become one of my favourite activities to do in the past two days I had been in the city.
Things had been slowgoing and peaceful till now. I think maybe my message worked a little too well because I have not heard a response from Tibet since then. They did not send an assassin, or send more soldiers to occupy the place near the borders again.
Maybe they have given up? Who knows.
But it's a good thing for us. I heard from the passing news in the market that Shen had finally conquered the kingdom of Wuyue, leaving only three more kingdoms until the full unification.
So that means I was doing my job properly. Although I have not done much, my mere presence was doing enough to give a headache to the leaders of the enemy.
Heh, must be tiresome. I wouldn't want to go against me either.
It was not even about what I did but what I could do that put a complete halt to the Empire.
I have not felt any soldiers spying on me either since this morning. It was impossible to escape my senses so they must have stopped keeping tabs on me, which just affirmed in my mind that they had given up, at least for now.
"It would've been great if they at least tried something though. It would keep me busy while also giving me the opportunity to weaken them before we eventually attack them." I said while nibling on the grilled fish.
I didn't like it, it was bitter and dry.
But fish was fish.
I've had worse in prison, which was nothing.
So its better than nothing.
"Hm?" I paused as my nose twitched.
I just caught a whiff of a scent which immediately intrigued my nose. Normally, I wouldn't react to any smell since the city was filled with infinite scents but this one caught my interest.
Almost instinctively.
I pinpointed where it was coming from and I realized that it was coming from outside the city, a little distance away from the main entrance. A new traveller maybe?
The scent was similar to Tigress but it was much more familiar to me and attractive. So a female leopard.
"A fellow snow leopard?" I asked myself. I have interacted with female snow leopards before, I have even met the Wu sisters and Master Snow Leopard who was Master Shifu's old teammate.
So I knew what the opposite gender of my species smelled like, whether in heat or not.
But this one was a little different. It was not a full snow leopard but there is a new smell around her. A new but familiar smell, and nostalgic.
I was interested but not interested enough to go out of my way to find her. But I did shake my head and activate my scent gland so that she could pick up my scent and tell that there was a fellow snow leopard around.
As a rare species of leopards, it was not often that we met each other.
Snow leopards have scent glands on their cheek which they once used to communicate with each other through smell in the endless expanse of snow.
I remained in my place and continued crowd-gazing for a while as I felt the female enter the city. She then started walking straight towards me and I felt her scent coming closer and stronger.
It seems she was interested in meeting a fellow snow leopard.
Nevertheless, the way she was coming straight at me and not stopping anywhere else was quite odd. Didn't she get caught up in the line of the entrance gate? Was she a noble?
And she just entered the city, shouldn't she be stopping anywhere else? It almost felt like I was her first priority than anything else.
"Odd." i said and my mind worked to come up with an explanation.
They didn't send some female in heat to seduce and assassinate me, did they? That'd be a funny plan. 'We can't defeat him through force so we shall use love.'
I chuckled and jumped on top of the roof before leaping off one roof to the other like a shinobi, making my way towards the female.
The city was big but with my speed, it took me no time at all to reach her,
And when I did....
I got the shock of my life.
.
.
.
"What the fuck is up with that chi!!!"
I guess my laid-back times were over because a huge mystery hahad arrived. One that broke whatever concept of chi and theory I had made till now. Everything was blown away by the nature of her chi.
This might be what I needed to finally make a breakthrough.
.
.
[IMAGE(Shocked Tai Lung) ]
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Author : Double like always