"Fine. You can have it. But if I ever hear a story about a flying little dragon in China, I will come get it." Aladdin climbed onto Carpet.
"Of course… I will be responsible with this marvellous ring. I will be on my best behaviour, as I have promised." Mushu stood up with a salute.
Cri-Kee leapt from the Carpet and landed on Mushu's shoulder.
"I almost forgot about you there, buddy. Sorry," Mushu gently patted his head with a finger.
Cri-Kee shook his head with a gentle sound, as though saying, 'No problem.' He knew Mushu and the others had a lot on their plate and wanted to help if he could.
As long as he continued being lucky, the culmination of his life would be a legendary tale passed down from one generation of crickets to another.
That alone was enough to humble him and make him glad to experience the journey.
Meanwhile, Abu sighed in relief that Mushu had kept his mouth shut and allowed Aladdin to reveal half the truth himself.
"I will be watching. I hope you don't break your promise," Aladdin responded.
He lied. He didn't have a way to watch Mushu twenty-four hours a day, but it was best to have the dragon think that he could. He gently tapped the side of Carpet, signalling for it to leave.
Mushu gulped, sweating profusely. But he still acted normal.
"See you later, Cri-Kee!" Aladdin waved at the cricket.
Abu and Carpet waved as well.
Carpet soared skyward.
"It's been nice knowing you, pal!" Mushu and Cri-Kee waved back until they disappeared into the clouds.
"Whew! That was close. I almost thought I would return to ground-walking Mushu," Mushu wiped the beads of sweat from his head. He slowly floated into the air, spun around rapidly, and shot up into the sky.
"Mortals… ground walkers! Bow your heads before the great and powerful Mushu!! Tremble before me!! HOLD ON TIGHT CRI-KEEE!!! WOOHOOO!!!"
Months later, stories would travel about the thunderous roars of a mysterouis being soaring above several regions of China.
The sun rose high above the sky.
The soldiers packed their tents and saddled their horses.
Although the solemn atmosphere that had rested upon the soldiers was no longer as strong because of Li Shang's and Mulan's strength, along with the rest of the troops under them bringing some assurance that they were able to turn the tide of the war in their favour, it still didn't completely remove the dread they had for the Huns' army.
Especially after they hadn't been spotted for a long time.
Even General Li couldn't help but feel uneasy about their current situation.
How could a force that had invaded them, slaughtered all of their soldiers, and threatened to conquer them suddenly turn silent?
Had they suddenly realised the foolishness of their unreadable actions and decided the best course of action was a silent retreat?
No! That was impossible!
Still, he couldn't figure out what was going on.
None of his Captains could figure out anything either.
They could only reach the Mountain Pass and hope that their judgments were right.
In another direction, Li Shang's horse trotted forward with Mulan beside him.
"Are you feeling better today?" Li Shang glanced at her.
"Yes," Mulan nodded.
"If you want to talk about anything that's bothering you, you can come to me," Li Shang said.
"Thank you, Captain."
"No," Li Shang shook his head. "Don't call me Captain… You can.. I mean, after this, whenever we are out of the battlefield, don't approach me as your captain. Instead, call me Li Shang and consider me as one of your brothers."
He sighed and scratched his exposed cheek through his helmet, realising he had blurted out unnecessary words in the heat of the moment.
Mulan chuckled and nodded in understanding. "Okay, then. I will do so. Thank you, Captain."
Li Shang wanted to correct her, but he quickly kept silent, realising that she wasn't wrong in the way he wasn't wrong in the way he had approached her.
"Okay." Li Shang nodded.
Soon, their horses picked up pace and dashed forward with the others.
Thousands of hooves thundered across the plain as the Imperial Army, led by General Li, charged towards the Mountain Pass to battle against the Huns' army.
***
Two weeks later,
The Imperial Army reached the Mountain Pass. It was also known as the Tung Shao Pass, a vast mountainous formation towering thousands of meters into the sky. It provided a narrow and dangerous route to the Imperial City, serving as one of the great borders and offering protection against invaders.
The soldiers took their carriages filled with weapons, explosives, and other supplies for sustenance and protection and kept a few of their items in a nearby village.
They donned their cloaks over their armour and sent several scouts ahead before treading into the snowy mountains.
The Imperial Army halted at the summit of one of the snowy mountain peaks.
"Haven't the scouts returned?" Li Shang asked in confusion.
It had been two days since the scouts were dispatched. Even if they failed to find something, they should have returned an hour ago or at least managed to send a signal.
Due to the climate of the Mountain Pass, it was easy to cover one's tracks. However, they were more familiar with this environment than the Huns and were prepared, so there was no way the Huns could capture their scouts as they had previously done before without alerting the army.
"No, they haven't," Captain Fan shook his head, bringing down his hand telescope. "Do you think they encountered something?" he asked.
"I doubt that. It's probably that they want to be thorough in their investigations before returning. Remember, we are dealing with the Huns," another Captain replied.
"General, I think we should spread the forces," Li Shang turned to General Li, who was silently holding the reins of his horse and staring into the distant snowy mountains with a deep gaze.
Li Shang pointed at several snowy peaks in the distance. "If we can place our men there, there, and here, we can secure the opportunity to attack from various areas, taking advantage of our knowledge of the Mountain Pass."
"That's impossible! Separating now will only spread our men thin! Just because your troops have become elites of the elites overnight doesn't reduce the forces of the Huns' army," another Captain replied.
Some of the Captains agreed.
Others shifted their expressions into deep contemplation.
"What do you think, General?" Li Shang ignored the Captain and directed his question at General Li.
"We stick to the plan. Dividing our forces will only spread our men thin. Besides, I suspect Shan Yu wouldn't hold back this time around to seize the Empire for himself, so we shouldn't give him any chance. If the scouts don't return, send another scout," General Li replied.
Li Shang reluctantly nodded, sighing inwardly.
"I will send scouts from my men this time around," he said.
General Li nodded in approval.
The Captain whose men had been sent to scout frowned, but it was only for a brief moment.
Li Shang bowed slightly, then trotted his horse to meet with his troops behind them. He rejoined them.
"How is it? Are there any new leads on the scouts?" Mulan asked.
"No. They haven't appeared yet. We suspect that something has happened to the scouts, so I'm going to be sending some from our troops-" Li Shang was about to complete his sentence when a lieutenant rushed up to them on horseback. "Captain Li Shang!"
"What do you want?" Li Shang looked at the unknown man and asked.
"The General has given orders to halt the departure of the scouts. The scouts are returning. You have been summoned." As the lieutenant began to speak, Li Shang frowned, thinking that his father had changed his mind. But after completely listening to his words, he straightened his back and nodded solemnly.
Li Shang nodded. "I will be back," he said to Mulan before riding to the forefront of the forces.
Meanwhile, the lieutenant returned to his own force.
Li Shang quickly reached the forefront.
"How many of the scouts have returned?" Li Shang turned to Captain Fan and asked.
"Four. It seems that they got held up by something, as we had expected," Captain Fan responded as he looked through his telescope.
The Captain, who had previously frowned at the event that his men's hardwork would be undermined by Li Shang's own, smirked boldly.
Li Shang nodded. He took out his own telescope and looked through its lens.
He saw four Imperial soldiers running through the snow. He looked behind them and saw no one.
Li Shang stretched the limit of his telescope, zooming in.
While several of the scouts' faces were covered with scarves, one of them wasn't wearing a scarf.
His expression was filled with fear and distress. There was a red stain at the side of his cheek.
Blood!
Zooming out again, Li Shang looked at the scouts.
It was as though they were running away from something.
"The scouts are in danger." Li Shang passed his telescope to the General.
General Li collected the telescope. He looked through it and noticed the terrified, blood-stained scout.
General Li's expression turned grave.
The other Captains soon noticed something was wrong as well and looked through their telescopes at the scouts rushing in their direction. If it wasn't that one of the scouts had lost his scarf, exposing his face, they wouldn't have noticed the danger.
"Get the explosives ready. Prepare the soldiers for battle," General Li said, handing the telescope back to Li Shang.
"Shan Yu has arrived!!"
The Captains nodded and rode their horses back to their troops. However, a few remained.
Li Shang looked through his lenses once more.
This time around, he spotted a few shadows at the far back of the ground.
They were fully cloaked men, marching through the snow.
The Huns!
They didn't cover up their tracks to launch a surprise attack. They didn't stop the scouts from fleeing; instead, they sent them ahead.
It was as though they wanted to announce their arrival to the Imperial Army.
This was definitely the style of the Huns!
Li Shang tightened his grip around his telescope, almost bending its frame.
However, one thing he couldn't understand was why they were doing this despite being at a disadvantage, after the tactics they had carried out previously.
The other Captains who were keeping track of the situation also noticed the arrival of the Huns.
They didn't need to look through a telescope to see the dark spots in the distance, slowly painting the horizon.
General Li gripped his reins and turned his horse around.
Li Shang returned to his troops and announced, "The Huns have arrived. Prepare for battle!"
Mulan gripped her sword and nodded solemnly.
"Yao and Ling, remember the plan. Stay behind with the others and fire at the signal." Yao and Ling stepped forward and saluted respectfully.
"HAAAII!!"
"Everyone else, follow!!"
The atmosphere turned solemn as the army marched down the peak.
However, others remained, quickly unloading the explosives from the carriages and setting them on the edge of the cliff.
"Do your best. I will be watching if you need any help," Mushu whispered through the sacks hanging on the sides of Mulan's helmet.
"Thank you." Mulan moved her lips, gently tapping the sack.
Cri-Kee emerged from nowhere and pointed his legs at himself as though saying, 'Me too.'
"What are you going to do, Cri-Kee? Do you have a giant, ferocious cricket ancestor somewhere up your bloodline?" Mushu folded his arms and glanced at Cri-Kee, who was seated on his shoulders. "If that's the case, then you got the short end of the stick."
Cri-Kee pointed an accusing finger at Mushu as though saying, 'Take that back.'
"I'm taking nothing back. I'm Mulan's guardian. What do you think people are gonna say if they found out that the great Mushu let a cricket do his job? I will be the laughing stock of the town," Mushu retorted.