Uncle did not abandon his struggle.
Waiting outside the entrance of Shendu's vault, his mind was a tangled web of thoughts. The statue of the Sacred Warrior, Lo Pei, had been brought into this vault only a few days ago. As one of Shendu's servants tasked with guarding the vault, Uncle knew this very well.
At the same time, he also knew just how immense Shendu's current power was.
A Shendu who had reclaimed all of his power was different from before, completely different. Not once in the past had the Shendu they defeated been at his full strength.
But this current Shendu had even defeated Lü Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals who specialized in countering him. And that was an Immortal who had once sealed away ancient Shendu!
Even he had failed, which meant what they were facing was none other than the complete Fire Demon who had ruled the world tens of millions of years ago. He was by no means comparable to the incomplete Shendu of the past.
Yet, Uncle still refused to give up.
"Uncle's teacher once told Uncle that choosing to walk the path of Chi magic means being destined to face the threat of darkness."
Facing the dim walkway, Uncle muttered to himself.
He did not dare to do this purely on a whim; Lo Pei's statue was merely a catalyst. Having studied Chi magic for a lifetime, no one understood the terror of ancient Shendu better than Uncle. Using a spell to separate the Rat Talisman from his body and thereby resurrecting Lo Pei, if it were only that, how could it possibly defeat Shendu?
The Rat Talisman was originally just one of Shendu's powers. Trying to use that power against its master was nothing short of a fantasy.
The crux of the problem lay in breaking the existing deadlock.
The balance of Yin and Yang was an unbreakable truth of this world; the Demons and the Immortals were like pieces on a chessboard, pulled and manipulated into conflict by two invisible hands.
Now, the Immortals corresponding to the demons had also vanished, and they too had been forced to become Shendu's servants. In this game of chess, the side wielding the white pieces had lost any pieces fit for use.
Uncle saw the situation clearly, which was why he intended to forcefully insert a chess piece into the board.
The second bottle of spell solution he gave Jade had precisely this purpose: to use a spell to temporarily cut off Shendu's perception and control over the Rat Talisman that was resurrecting Lo Pei. Come to think of it, this spell was also something he had recently learned from the stolen ancient texts; interlocking step by step, and at least everything had gone smoothly up to now.
It felt as though an invisible hand was pushing things along from behind, helping him.
Inside Shendu's vault, Jade looked at the revived Lo Pei with a face full of curiosity.
"Hey! I've heard of you. A powerful wizard… uh, a Sacred Warrior or something who sealed the big bad Shendu?" Jade greeted him with easy familiarity.
Lo Pei did not answer her question; instead, he pressed his palm against his chest, a flash of confusion crossing his face.
"The key to a matter is always hidden within. I can sense that the power of a past enemy is surging inside me," he examined himself and said.
"That's right!"
Jade snapped her fingers. The Rat Talisman's power to turn stillness into motion was truly miraculous, but most targets affected by it had no way of realizing that their present selves were not actually their past reality, much like what she had once done to the Super Moose toy. However, the targets "resurrected" by the Rat Talisman genuinely possessed their past memories and a portion of their power.
"Here's the deal. Uncle stole Shendu's Rat Talisman, and it's right inside your body. We need you to help us deal with Shendu."
"Shendu..." Lo Pei murmured. This familiar name captured almost his entire attention instantly. "He has been resurrected?"
"That's right!"
While speaking, Jade fiddled with a few treasures in the vault, gesturing as she babbled on:
"The evil Shendu has come back to life. He temporarily defeated the righteous Uncle and Jackie, and even the legendary Immortals were beaten by him..."
"Right now, Uncle is figuring out a way for us to defeat Shendu again, so he had Jackie steal Shendu's Rat Talisman, and then he had me, Jade, resurrect your statue."
Lo Pei listened earnestly to Jade's account, looking around the room before nodding silently.
Dressed in long robes and wearing a green crown, he stroked his beard in thought.
"The awakened bear has crawled out of its den, and the air is thick with dampness. The forces of evil are strong right now," Lo Pei chanted. "I can feel that Shendu's power is immense."
"Hey, don't get discouraged!" Jade bounced in front of Lo Pei. "At least you subdued him before, right? Let's do it again!"
Hearing this, Lo Pei shook his head slowly. He saw his current predicament clearly, and he saw the layout of the world today even more clearly.
"Shendu has reclaimed his power. He is much stronger now than when I stood before him in the past, and as for me..."
Lo Pei stared at his open palm. "Only the soul of the bear has awakened from hibernation; the power granted to me by the Rat Talisman is incomplete."
His voice sank. "We must find another way."
"Well, anyway, let's go out and see Uncle." Jade familiarly patted Lo Pei on the shoulder and led him toward the vault doors.
Reaching the entrance, she tried to walk through the wall as before, but the next second she collided solidly against it, letting out a cry of pain.
"The power of the spell Uncle gave us has faded. We can't get out," Jade's voice dropped dejectedly.
"Please step aside," Lo Pei called out from behind Jade. "The defenses here are not particularly strong."
Lo Pei stretched out his hand toward the door, his fingers spread wide. A scroll materialized before his palm, unfurling as it floated in the air.
"Energy Scroll," he whispered softly.
A green beam of light slammed into the door, forcefully blasting a hole straight through the stone wall. Lo Pei put away the scroll and stepped forward.
"Whoa," Jade stared at Lo Pei in surprise. "Looks like we recruited a powerful helper."
"Cough, cough." Uncle's cough echoed from outside.
"Jade…" he called out, dragging out the syllables of her name. "You kids are making way too much racket!"
"Uncle, I brought him out! It looks like he has something to tell you."
Amidst the dust, two figures, one tall and one short, gradually emerged. Lo Pei and Jade stood side by side before Uncle.
"The Jackie Chan Clan… no, I mean the Strike Team, assemble!" Jade announced with an excited face.
"Great Wizard," Lo Pei addressed Uncle. "We must find another way, a way to defeat Shendu once again."
"Sacred Warrior Lo Pei..." Uncle's eyes lit up. "Uncle has read every spell there is, but there is no spell that can defeat the present Shendu."
"I believe there will be a way."
At the back of Lo Pei's mind's eye surfaced the image of something he had envisioned, the only thing he could think of that could change everything as it stood now.
It felt as though some force was guiding him to seek it out.
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