Even though Tang Hong Bao, who was usually called Hong Bao, was shy and never really talked to the other red pandas, she was very close to Zhi Bai Hua, a giant panda, and thought of her as an auntie. In the early morning and late afternoon, she would go visit Zhi Bai Hua. Zhi Bai Hua was much bigger than Hong Bao and her fur was white and black. Hong Bao always thought that Zhi Bai Hua had kind eyes that twinkled in the sun.

One stormy day, Hong Bao visited Zhi Bai Hua at the bamboo grove that had a cave at the other side, where she lived. "Ni Hao. Hello, Auntie Zhi. How are you?" asked Hong Bao cheerfully. Zhi Bai Hua didn't answer. Hong Bao looked around and saw Zhi Bai Hua lying on the grass with her eyes closed. "Auntie! Are you ok?" Hong Bao frantically asked.

Zhi Bai Hua opened her tired eyes and made several coughs that sounded like a frog choking. "Oh, Hong Bao, there you are. Could you help me over to the cave?" Zhi Bai Hua said weakly. Frantically, she struggled to drag Zhi Bai Hua to the cave. Zhi Bai Hua was quite a big and heavy panda, so it took her an hour to drag her to the cave. The cave was empty and only had a pile of crispy, dried grass that made crunchy sounds when you stepped on it.

Once she had laid Zhi Bai Hua on a pile of dried grass in the cave she said," What were you doing out there in the cold, Auntie?" Zhi Bai Hua coughed something, but Hong Bao couldn't hear it. "I know maybe you need some bamboo and leaves," she said and quickly ran over to the bamboo trees outside the cave. After a few minutes, she returned with a huge pile of bamboo in her arms.

Zhi Bai Hua picked up a piece and chewed on it. Then, all of a sudden, Zhi Bai Hua fell back on the ground, and it made a sound that sounded like a gong. "I think my time has come, young one. I suppose I have caught a rare disease," Zhi Bai Hua said sadly.

"Is there a cure?" Hong Bao said anxiously.

Zhi Bai Hua said," There is one cure. The one who is sick must eat part of the sacred bamboo, found in the Qinling Mountains, within seven days after becoming sick or she will die. I'm too old to travel and you are too young, there is no hope for me." Hong Bao's heart broke and tears came raining down her cheeks. She couldn't lose Zhi Bai Hua, she thought. She just couldn't.

After she had said goodbye to Zhi Bai Hua, she climbed tree after tree to get to her home. Once she arrived, she grabbed a backpack that had a walking stick and some bamboo and bamboo leaves.

As she was leaving her home in the trees it started pouring and deafening thunder filled her ears, but she knew if she waited for the storm to pass Zhi Bai Hua would surely die. So she urgently climbed the strong, slippery trees, her heart breaking and tears running down her eyes because she knew that Zhi Bai Hua was in agonizing pain. All of a sudden, she lost her grip and clung desperately to the branch, but she couldn't hold on because the rain had made the branch super slippery. As she plummeted to the ground, a Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey grabbed her paw and lifted her back onto the branch. "Thank you, sir," Hong Bao said.

"No problem. My name is Mr. Huang. What is a young red panda like you doing in this rain?"

"I'm going to get the sacred bamboo from the Qinling Mountains to save my friend," Hong Bao said hurriedly.

Mr. Huang said," Well you best be on your way. I hope you're able to save your friend." Then, he went away.

It had been two days of hard climbing and Hong Bao hadn't slept in a long time, but she had finally made it to the Qinling Mountains. The air was misty and wet and the grass beneath her feet was as soft as a pillow. As she walked, a bunch of giant pandas came and started whispering and looking at her suspiciously. Then a giant panda much bigger than the rest came and bellowed," Who are you and why have you come?"

Hong Bao said shyly," I'm Tang Hong Bao from the Minshan Mountains and I'm here to get the sacred bamboo to save my friend."

"You mean this?" the panda said in a gruff voice and pointed to a huge bamboo tree that shined and looked like jade.

Hong Bao's face lit up," Yes, that's it...if you were to be so ki-."

"YOU WON'T BE GETTING IT THEN!!!" yelled the panda. The panda said thoughtfully, "Unless you kill that evil, despicable, no good snow leopard." All the other pandas started murmuring and nodding.

"Why must I kill a snow leopard?" asked Hong Bao

"Because every year that snow leopard comes here and demands five baby pandas and we're getting tired of it. We can't afford to lose any more. To kill the snow leopard, we will give you a sacred knife made of one of the rarest metals on earth."

"Why haven't any of you tried? You are big in numbers and could crush the snow leopard by sitting on it."

The boss panda grew quiet and said," We are too slow and too scared. Also, we don't want to get hurt or die. You only live once. We've sent a few of our strongest pandas, but they never came back. They were probably killed. I never liked them anyway because they threatened my thro- I mean they were troublesome. But, you are quick."

Hong Bao looked at him with disgust. He would rather send someone smaller to save his own skin.

After Hong Bao had taken a power nap and ate some bamboo, she was directed to the snow leopard's cave. As she went into the cave, she felt rough, sharp rocks pierce her paws and could smell the foul odor of blood. Hong Bao looked around the dark cave and saw hundreds of bones laying on the ground and the walls were decorated with claw marks. In the darkness, two glowing eyes appeared and a mischievous grin. Hong Bao gulped and suddenly felt a huge paw smack her face. She touched her face and felt warm blood on her paw. Hong Bao stared at her paw, dumbstruck. She tried to scream, but no words came out. The smell of blood excited the snow leopard and he laughed like an evil maniac and said, "I wasn't expecting a snack, but the more the better." As these words were spoken the snow leopard lunged at Hong Bao, but she quickly ducked and ran out of the cave screaming. As she left, a big panda troupe holding bamboo spears and shields came and with all their might rolled a huge boulder in front of the entrance, closing off the entrance just as the snow leopard was about to jump at them. From the cave came groaning and pounding.

Hong Bao took time to catch her breath and said to the panda troupe, "Thank you so much. I didn't see you guys with the other pandas earlier. Who are you?"

The leader of the panda troupe said," We used to be the panda village's strongest pandas and were sent a year ago to kill the snow leopard, but we found out we were actually sent here to die trying to kill the snow leopard by the chief."

"You mean that big panda guy who said that you guys died?" asked Hong Bao. "That's him, Chief Zhu, my uncle," said the leader.

Hong Bao asked," But why would your uncle want you to die?"

"I was to be chief and when he heard about it, he was furious. I asked him if he was okay about it and he said it was fine, but I guess he was still mad. So, I believe he wanted to get rid of me and my friends so there would be no other candidates for chief. It's a lot like that story, The Lion King. I almost forgot my name is Zhu Gong Shi."

Hong Bao said apologetically," I'm sorry your uncle tried to kill you and you lost your chance to be chief."

"Don't have sympathy for me because I believe that in life we must forgive and forget. I don't want to start a fight over a meaningless title because many lives would be lost. I believe you might need some help killing that snow leopard," said Zhu Gong Shi

Since Hong Bao was very shy and was used to doing things by herself, she turned down the offer and said, "Killing the snow leopard is my responsibility not yours."

After she said that, Zhu Gong Shi and his panda troupe left. As they left, Hong Bao started thinking about how to kill the snow leopard. Finally, she got an idea. This time she found a small hole in the cave barely big enough for her and went in. She was able to jab the snow leopard while it was taking a cat nap, but she still couldn't kill it.

She escaped through the small hole in the cave quickly and then climbed onto a nearby tree.

Again, she started thinking and thought "The leopard is too fast and I can barely hit it without getting killed. Then a brilliant idea came to her. There was a steep, rocky cliff near the cave with a rushing river below it that would bury anything that fell into it. If she could get the leopard to fall off then it would fall to its death, but she knew she couldn't do it by herself, so she called for the panda troupe and after a few minutes like lightning they arrived. "I'm sorry I said I didn't need your help. Hong Bao said as she blushed, "Will you forgive me?"

"Of course, we forgive you," replied Zhu Gong Shi, "So what's the plan to kill the snow leopard?" Hong Bao told them her plan as they nodded and smiled.

After the panda troupe had moved the stone and hid behind a rock Hong Bao went in front of the cave and yelled tauntingly," Mr. Snow leopard, come and get me if you can."

At first the snow leopard didn't care, but as Hong Bao started saying mean insults and teasing him, he became enraged and jumped out of the cave toward Hong Bao. He was able to scratch her and laughed evilly. He opened his mouth revealing razor sharp teeth and started going after her. Hong Bao climbed a tree and started teasing him again. This made him even more angry and as she climbed from tree to tree, he went after her. As they made it to the cliff Hong Bao hid in the tree's prickly leaves that stinged her fur. "You die now little panda," laughed the snow leopard and he turned his head side to side like an insane person looking for her. As he approached the cliff, the panda troupe jumped up from behind the rock and cornered the snow leopard at the edge of the cliff with their spears aimed at him. Then, Hong Bao, holding onto a thick, rough line hanging from the tree, swung from the line, and hit the snow leopard with a medium sized rock in the head, causing the snow leopard to fall off the cliff. The snow leopard was unconscious for a few seconds then opened his eyes and looked down and he yelled with fear in his eyes, "I CAN'T SWIM!!!" and he plunged into the water making a sound that sounded like a drum being banged.

As Hong Bao went back to the giant pandas she yelled, "I've killed the snow leopard with some help!" As she said this the panda troupe came up behind her and a few panda women came forward and said," Is it really you?" in unison. The panda troupe nodded, and the women hugged them and wept tears of joy.

All the pandas didn't believe this at first, but then they all started dancing, thanking them, and cheering. A lot of pandas pointed at her and cheered "She killed the snow leopard! She brought back our strongest pandas! Yay! She killed the snow leopard! She brought them back! We're saved!"

The Chief Zhu said," Young one you have done something no one else could do. You saved us! I now give you the sacred bamboo." But before he could give it to her, he saw the panda troupe his face grew dark and he demanded," What are they doing here?! I thought they were killed! They weren't supposed to come back!" All the pandas became silent and stared toward Chief Zhu. "I mean it is such a relief that they are back. I was worried sick," Chief Zhu said, half angry and half thankful. The other pandas looked at him suspiciously like an eagle, not sure whether to eat its food or not for fear of poison, they all started shaking their heads and whispering.

Suddenly, Hong Bao interrupted their whispering by asking," Do you have anything to say, Chief Zhu?" All the other pandas started nodding and yelling like an angry mob. Chief Zhu couldn't take it anymore and accidentally yelled in his fury, "I sent the strongest pandas away so that they would die and I would be the only candidate for chief!" The moment after he yelled that he realized that he shouldn't have said that and put his hand over his mouth to prevent himself from saying anymore.

All the pandas were angry and started charging toward him and yelling like a mad mob. Before they could get him, Zhu Gong Shi shouted," Stop!" They all stopped dead in their tracks and looked at Zhu Gong Shi. Zhu Gong Shi cleared his throat and said," We shouldn't take revenge on other pandas for then we would be as bad as them if we did that." The pandas thought carefully and decided that they wouldn't kill Chief Zhu but would make Zhu Gong Shi chief instead and let Chief Zhu start over again.

After Zhu Gong Shi became chief, he smiled at Hong Bao, and said," Great warrior you have assisted us and for that we thank you and reward you with this gift." Then, he handed the sacred bamboo to Hong Bao. She took the bamboo and said with tears in her eyes," Oh thank you! Oh, thank you!" After that Hong Bao said goodbye and thank you to everyone and left.

When Hong Bao returned to the Minshan Mountains she went to Zhi Bai Hua's cave and fed her the sacred bamboo. Zhi Bai Hua smiled and said," I feel so much better thanks to you."

Hong Bao blushed and said," Oh it was nothing. This is what you do when you care about someone. Later Hong Bao told Zhi Bai Hua about her adventure, and they lived in peace and happiness.