The trade of stories between Vaatu and Tai Lung stretched on for hours. From that exchange Tai Lung gained valuable information about the history of the world he now lived in and answers to questions that had wondered for a long time. It did not resolve everything he wanted to know, but it opened his eyes to a new path, possibilities and directions he had never considered before.
Vaatu had spoken of an ancient spirit called Wan Shi Tong and of the Spirit Library, a repository of knowledge that collected histories and secrets from both worlds. According to Vaatu, the library held more information than any other place in existence, a place where one could learn truths lost to time.
With that in mind, Tai Lung set his next destination: the Spirit Library. There was one immediate problem, Vaatu did not, or could not, tell him exactly where the library was. So Tai Lung began to travel through the Spirit World, moving from one strange location to the next and asking wandering spirits for directions. For the most part the spirits ignored him completely, as if they did not understand his words or simply had no interest in a human intruding in their realm.
He pressed on anyway. Eventually he reached a forest where, while walking, he noticed a smiling star of light glowing inside a dark cave. Tai Lung paused and called to the star spirit. "Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find Wan Shi Tong?"
Silence answered him at first. Then, one by one, a few red eyes opened in the darkness. A giant, spider-like spirit emerged: many-legged, fanged, its tail coiling like a scorpion's, from his head there was a horn-like extension with a smiling star at the tip. The spirit stepped into the light and fixed Tai Lung with a cold stare. "What is a human doing here?" it asked.
Tai Lung repeated his question. "I am looking for Wan Shi Tong. Can you point me the way?"
The spirit's face twisted into fury. "How dare you disturb me and ask questions, human!" It opened a great maw and spewed a fluid web that shot toward Tai Lung.
He dodged cleanly and said, calmly, "I apologize for the disturbance. If you know the way, tell me and I will leave you in peace."
The spirit did not answer. Instead it attacked again.
After a series of evasions, Tai Lung's patience snapped. Fire curled around his hand and then leapt outward, searing the spirit and startling it into retreat. It stammered in shock, voice trembling: "How are you able to bend in the Spirit World? You are here with your physical body?"
Tai Lung did not reply. He closed the gap between him and the spirit then with one swift and brutal strike, a rising kick that slammed down upon the spirit's head and crushed it into the ground. The creature screamed from the impact, shrieking in pain and agony.
Tai Lung spoke again, this time his voice was cold. "I tried to be nice. You chose violence. Tell me where I can find Wan Shi Tong and the Spirit Library, or I will destroy you."
Shuddering, the spirit spat out in a broken rush. "Do…DON'T! I will show you the way… follow me."
Satisfied, Tai Lung rose and began to follow the spirit deeper into the Spirit World. After walking for another hour, the spider spirit finally led Tai Lung out of the forest and into a canyon. The place was steep and sinister, its walls jagged and harsh. The entire gorge was swallowed in a dense, rolling fog that stretched endlessly inside. The fog itself seemed alive, shifting and pulsing faintly, as if it were breathing. Tai Lung narrowed his eyes.
"This is what you requested," the spider spirit said.
Tai Lung's sharp gaze fell on the creature. His voice was calm but edged with suspicion. "Do you take me for a fool? Where are we?"
The spider shook nervously, "O-of course not. This is the Fog of Lost Souls. When you are lost in the Spirit World and need to find someone, or someplace, you go inside it. Walk through while thinking of what you seek, over and over again, and eventually, you will emerge where you want."
Tai Lung's expression hardened. The canyon looked too sinister to be just a simple teleportation place. And yet… everything in the Spirit World was strange, unfamiliar, and beyond reason.
Seeing the doubt in Tai Lung's eyes, the spider added quickly, "This is no trick! I can go with you. If you stay close, we will both be pulled to the Spirit Library. But… it takes longer if two beings enter together."
Tai Lung's silence was too scary to the spirit, but then to the spirit relief Tai Lung finally said, "Go first. I'll follow."
The spider spirit scuttled down into the canyon, and Tai Lung stepped after it. Inside, the fog thickened until even their own shapes blurred. They pressed deeper, deeper into the fog.
"Keep thinking about the Spirit Library," the spider hissed. "If your mind drifts, this will take longer."
Time felt fractured inside the fog. Tai Lung walked steadily, focused, until suddenly his steps faltered. His vision grew hazy, and his knees dropped to the ground. His eyes stared blankly at the emptiness.
The spider stopped, then circled him silently. After a pause, it let out a low snort. "Foolish human," it whispered with venom. "The Fog of Lost Souls is a prison for your kind. It infects the mind, trapping you in your darkest memories and thoughts until you go mad. Enjoy your eternity." With that, it turned and vanished into the fog, leaving Tai Lung behind.
Within the illusion, Tai Lung was no longer himself but the snow leopard of his first life. He was back in Chorh-Gom prison, each arm shackled with massive stone restraints, his chi sealed, his body pressed down to his knees under the crushing weight of a great turtle-shell burden.
Before him stood Oogway, shaking his head with a sad look. Beside him Shifu with his back turned on him, silent and cold. And behind them, more faces appeared, his parents, Ty Lee, Mai, Azula, and his crew. All of them stared with disappointment and sorrow.
"Why am I here?" Tai Lung demanded. His voice was full of confusion. "Why are you looking at me like this? What is going on?"
Oogway's voice was calm but stern. "You have a darkness inside you."
Shifu, still refusing to look at him, spoke next. "You will remain imprisoned for the rest of your life."
Then his father's turn came next. "You brought us endless shame."
The words sank into Tai Lung, those words felt heavier than the rocks and turtle shell-holding him. He lowered his head. His mind churned, wracked with guilt and the memories of all the harm he had caused. The weight of shame pressed harder, and anger began to boil beneath it.
His head snapped up, rage flashing in his eyes.
"I don't know what is going on here! But once I am free, whoever caused this will pay, and that spider spirit will suffer for tricking me" Tai Lung said as his eyes darted around.
Oogway sighed and said "Decades had passed and anger still commands your actions"
Tai Lung froze, he remembered, he remembered the ruin his wrath had brought him once before. Slowly, Tai Lung steadied his breath. He closed his eyes, and as calm spread through him, his body began to glow with a faint golden light. When he opened his eyes again, they were calm, resolute.
"I have already understood and accepted my mistakes," he said firmly. "I will not repeat them. This must be an illusion. Even so, I will not allow it to control me."
The golden aura around him flared brighter. He forced himself upright, the turtle-shell burden and rocks straining to drag him down again, but it was not enough to stop him.
He pressed his shackled arms together. Blue fire erupted between them with explosive force, and in one surge he unleashed it outward, tearing through the prison and burning the illusion away.
The illusion shattered.
Tai Lung gasped as he returned to the canyon. The fog had vanished completely. Around him stood hundreds of humans, motionless, their eyes glassy, all staring into the void. Trapped souls who would never escape this place.
The spider spirit had tricked him. This place was no guidance to lost souls. It was a prison meant to trap human souls forever. He knew that now.
Tai Lung glanced back at the canyon's edge where he had come from, then made up his mind, he would find that wretched spider spirit and give him a piece of his mind.