The last significant moments Da Yan could remember were Monkey God's utterance of the name "Malla" and the magic blue and white floral show the wizard Kadinkadinka performed. After that...nothing!

Are we stuck in a time warp? Or under the spell of an evil Taoist? he wondered.

"Where are we?" he asked aloud to no one in particular.

"Or should that be when are we? And how do we get back to our quest for the Lotus Lantern?"

He looked around for Jia Li and found her sleeping in the garden among the lotus flowers. He sat down beside her in a meditative position, practiced deep breathing, prayed to his gods, mulled over the puzzle of the scroll ~ though he doubted this "bear of little brain" would come up with the solution, for he was a warrior-poet not a pedant ~ and waited. For who or what he had no idea.