A Guest in Pandaria's Jade Forest

From the moment their feet touched the flagstone path in the forest, Azar and his three companions entered the territory of the Pandaren. They walked slowly, savoring the unique natural scenery while admiring the ancient sculptures scattered throughout the jungle.

"This style is completely different from anything we know; it possesses a unique artistic conception. But why are there so many Mogu statues?" As a knowledgeable mage, Saruman was naturally curious about the unknown.

"This fully demonstrates that the Pandaren are a race that loves nature; they are unwilling to destroy the original environment. Furthermore, they possess great self-control. They did not become arrogant or complacent after defeating the Mogu, nor did they embark on massive construction projects to flaunt their achievements. In this regard, we Night Elf have much to learn from them," Azar said earnestly. He loved the simplicity here and the spiritual culture of living in harmony with nature.

"Uncle, do you know about these sculptures?" Maiev, the curious one, asked.

"I know a little. They are all statues of Mogu emperors; every emperor would erect a statue for himself."

"How many emperors did they have?"

"Records tell of the Supreme Emperor Duyang II—the Flame-Crowned. During his reign, he personally led an army to conquer the Krasarang Wilds, incorporating it into the Mogu Empire and completing the unfinished business left by Lei Shen. Legend has it that there is a pool in the Krasarang Wilds called the Pool of Youth. Feeling his age and fearing death, he used the pretext of rooting out local rebels to find the Pool of Youth, hoping to extend his life and his rule. Afterward, he ordered his new slaves to build the Duyang Dungeon in this hot, humid jungle and announced to the entire empire that he would never tolerate any act of betrayal. Toward the end of Duyang's reign, the Saurok, who had served as border guards, became increasingly disobedient. Whenever they grew tired of grueling warfare, the Saurok would openly defy their Mogu commanders. Duyang responded in the traditional Mogu way: he stripped the souls from all living Saurok in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Furthermore, he issued the same order to the legions still fighting on the front lines, an event later known as the 'Great Purge.' The 'Great Purge' triggered rebellions among the Saurok everywhere; some fled into the territory of the Mantid beyond the Serpent's Spine and were never heard from again, while others held their ground in the swamps of the Krasarang Wilds. To eradicate the rebels, Duyang sent his armies into Krasarang wave after wave, but with little effect. He failed to achieve his goal for the rest of his life." Saruman, with his vast memory, had transformed into a tour guide.

"A waste of manpower and money! Not a good emperor. Are there more?" Her evaluation was simple and direct—her signature style.

"Duyang II, the son of Duyang, was small and cruel. His frantic pursuit of his father's unfinished business and his obsessive quest to complete the Great Purge of the Saurok rebels led him down a path of no return, leaving his rule in shambles. When he stood on the edge of a towering cliff overlooking the Krasarang wilderness, he saw the distinct outline of the jungle, the completed Duyang Under-City, and the gradually perishing Saurok. But what he did not expect was that the remnants of the Saurok Fifth and Seventh Legions would set out from the Valley of the Four Winds in the dead of night, surround the cliff, and ambush his imperial tent, forcing him to leap to his death. No one ever found his body. The chaos in the inner court left the empire in a state of decay for the next two years, while the Saurok retreated into the wild, disappearing without a trace," Saruman recounted the history.

"Did he die so shamefully?"

"It was indeed that shameful," Azar interjected, thinking to himself, How the hell is this like Qin Shi Huang and his son?

"Keep going, scholar, don't stop." The more Maiev heard, the more interested she became, urging Saruman on.

"The subsequent emperors were not their descendants. The Guo-Lai Emperor consolidated the empire and continued to rule, but how he did it remains unknown. Everything regarding the Guo-Lai Emperor has long been lost; today, one can only reminisce about the glory of that dynasty in the Guo-Lai Halls located in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Next was the Moshen Emperor; there is even less information about him. Judging from the Shen Dynasty rubbings brought back from the Shadow Tomb in the Vale of Emperors at Kun-Lai Summit, soul-binding was very popular during the Moshen Emperor's reign. Then came the Meng'en Emperor, nicknamed the Tyrant Mad King. Books say he was the most evil and insane tyrant to date, so most information about him and the dynasty he established was buried by later rulers, with very little surviving. It is said that Meng'en once cherished a pair of scales; an obscure piece of ancient text on the scales suggests that he went mad only after losing them, thereby squandering his empire."

"They don't sound like good people at all."

"True, the ones that followed are not worth mentioning, but two must be noted. One is the Cao Emperor. Unlike the cruelty of his predecessors, he was a wise and gentle monarch. He accomplished two major things in his short life. One was spending great effort to purge the inner court, hoping to change the spirit of the Mogu race, though he failed. The second was issuing a decree allowing Pandaren slaves to read, write, and establish their own schools. This decree left an indelible and rich legacy for the Pandaren. The statue of the Cao Emperor still stands by the coast, greeting the rising sun and protecting the people he helped. The other is the last emperor, Laofei, known as the Slave-Binder. He was a monster, for even by Mogu standards, Laofei was a monster through and through. His specialty in punishing Pandaren slaves was tearing families apart. The children of slaves who offended him would be sent by Laofei to the Serpent's Spine to become food for the Mantid swarm to torture and enjoy. Because he committed every evil imaginable, this bastard lost his own empire!"

"We've been listening for a long time; it's time to come out, isn't it?" After explaining to his cousin, Azar shouted toward the jungle to the front left.

No sooner had he spoken than a giant panda walked out of the bushes, a machete hanging at his waist and a bundle of firewood on his back.

"Wow! So cute!" The moment Maiev saw him, she shouted. It looked like she wanted to rush over and pinch his cheeks; women must all be like this, unable to resist cute things.

"Excuse me, who are you? Why have you been following us?"

"I'm just a woodcutter, what are you folks doing?" the Pandaren asked with a simple, honest expression.

Hearing this, Azar almost tripped. Wait, a Shaanxi accent?

"We are here for sightseeing! Can you lead the way? We have no ill intentions, you should be able to feel that."

"Sure, follow me." He turned and walked ahead to lead the way.

Along the way, Maiev kept pestering the Pandaren with questions, and gradually, everyone became familiar. His name was Jiang Si, the great-great-grandson of the first leader of the Order of the Cloud Serpent, a famous Pandaren general. It is said that after Lei Shen died, the relationship between the Zandalari and the Mogu grew increasingly distant. Although the Trolls desperately needed the Arcane magic of the Mogu, the endless clan wars and the tense political atmosphere were truly repulsive. Once it was clear that the Mogu no longer had a ruler like Lei Shen, the Zandalari ceased their allegiance.

When the Mogu Empire collapsed, the Zandalari believed it was time to claim Lei Shen's promise: "a vast expanse of fertile land near the Vale of Eternal Blossoms." However, the Trolls argued endlessly over whether to use "diplomacy" or "violence" to obtain this land. In the end, Mengjazi, a descendant of the High Priest Zulasa, convinced everyone: the Pandaren had even overthrown the Mogu, so how could they possibly acknowledge the original agreement between the Trolls and the Mogu? The Trolls should launch a surprise attack to crush their will. Armed with mysterious powers and riding tall war-beasts, the Trolls raided the farming villages in northern Kun-Lai Summit, killing every villager they found. At that time, the Pandaren lacked the ability to resist the Trolls; they yearned for a peaceful life, and the only ones who could be called an army, the monks, were stationed at the Serpent's Spine to defend against the Mantid invasion. When the monks rushed to fight the Trolls, they found to their dismay that they were no match in either numbers or tactics. The Trolls rode Sky-Screamer or bats, diving from the air, and the Pandaren had no way to Parry such aerial assaults. Jiang Si's ancestor, Jiang, stepped forward at this moment. When the monks and the Trolls fought a desperate battle in the Jade Forest, Jiang and her Cloud Serpent partner, Luo, broke through the Troll lines, forcing them to retreat. This victory spread quickly throughout the empire, and people began to train Cloud Serpents. Before long, a team capable of fighting alongside Jiang emerged, and people called them the "Order of the Cloud Serpent," with Jiang as its first leader. The appearance of the Order of the Cloud Serpent turned the tide of the war, so Mengjazi decided to resurrect the Thunder King! A fierce battle erupted at Lei Shen's final resting place, the Tomb of Conquerors. Jiang and Mengjazi perished together, and the other Trolls were routed. This evil plan to resurrect Lei Shen ended with the Trolls fleeing back to Zandalari. The subsequent events were known to all four of Azar's group: strike while the iron is hot. Azar and Azshara joined forces, effectively removing the Zandalari's dying rule from the stage of history. The weakened Zandalari were no longer able to compete with the Night Elf for influence.

"In the decades after the war, people could often see Luo circling above the Jade Forest, as if searching for his old friend. Look! That is Luo." Jiang Si pointed to a long dragon in the sky while telling them of his ancestor's great deeds.

"We're here, this is my home."

We walked into a building with a Chinese architectural style. While we admired the beautiful structure, a group of Pandaren outside was admiring us. Who was whose scenery, after all? Perhaps curiosity is a trait inherent to every race.

"Move aside, what does this look like? You're making the guests laugh." Before long, a dignified voice rang out from outside the door. The newcomer was a middle-aged Pandaren, likely the village head or Chieftain. He shouted at the crowd while walking into the house.

"Distinguished guests have come from afar, and we failed to welcome you properly. Please forgive the ignorance of us country folk," he said, bowing with cupped hands to express his apologies.

"We are new to this precious land and have caused much trouble; I hope for your understanding," Azar replied, also bowing with cupped hands.

At this moment, Jiang Si came out from the inner room with tea. Seeing the middle-aged man, he said, "Uncle, these are people I met on the road. They don't look like bad people, so I invited them to be guests." He turned to Azar and the others, "This is my uncle, the Chieftain of our Jiang Clan."

"So you are the Jiang Clan Chieftain! Chieftain, greetings." Azar bowed again; one can never be too polite.

"Guests, please, no need for such formalities. We live in a remote area and rarely have outsiders visit. Today, we are fortunate to meet you all. If you don't mind, please come inside for a chat, how about it?" He stood up and said politely.

"We shall follow the host's arrangements."

We followed him outside. As he stepped out of Jiang Si's house, he beckoned a Pandaren over and whispered a few words. The Pandaren turned and sprinted away, his movements quite cute. Though he said it was his home, we actually arrived at the ancestral hall. By the time we arrived, many people were already there, and others continued to trickle in. Good heavens, there were so many people; it seemed every family had sent a representative. Before long, the entire village was in motion, everyone focused on one thing: hosting the guests from afar. Azar told the other three not to worry about anything else and just enjoy the exotic customs. The banquet began, and the enthusiastic Pandaren brought out bowls of wine, toasting one another with unrestrained passion. The four of them did not refuse, drinking every cup dry. After three rounds of wine and five courses of food, the atmosphere reached a fever pitch. Everyone was eating, drinking, singing, and dancing. What a scene of harmony and joy.