The turtle considers the concern heartwarming, and is glad that he has not been forgotten.  He says that there is a thorn in his side, which he cannot remove by any of his own means.  This thorn is causing him such pain that he can no longer swim straight, and requests that you help him by removing it from his side.  This is probably a hint that it’s something rather more than a thorn, after all, Shen-zin Su is large enough to -be- a homeland for an entire people.  Surely, unless he’s talking of a branch broken off of Teldrassil or Nordrassil, this is rather more than a sliver of wood.

Aysa agrees gladly, but points out that the turtle is immense and she has no idea how to find the thorn (assuming it is, in fact, any kind of thorn at all).  Shen-zin says that the thorn is ‘in the forest where your feet do not walk’, which is a bit of an odd way to call it.  This seems to imply that either there are no Pandaren in the forest in question, or that any Pandaren there move by some means other than walking.  He further indicates that the forest in question, and thus whatever has stabbed him, can be found by following the mountains around his shell.  The calmer monk agrees to find and remove the thorn, making a promise of it- and Shen-zin thanks you as the balloon drifts away from his head.

Ji jokes that he has not brought his tweezers to deal with this thorn, and wonders how something like a mere thorn can hurt a being as large as Shen-zin.  After a few more seconds, though, the reason becomes plain- there is a boat, an air-boat, smashed into the side of Shen-zin’s shell, digging out a massive gouge and apparently even exposing a bit of the turtle’s flesh.  This is likely going to take the largest set of tweezers known to panda.

Clearly Shen-zin’s sense of perspective is just a touch warped by his immense size, as no entire airship could possibly be considered a mere thorn.  At least this goes a long way to explain why something jabbing a turtle this size in the side would actually have a noticeable effect, nevermind penetrating the huge bony shell of the creature..  Aysa exclaims over how large the offending object is, but Ji notices something else- the people around the boat are not Pandaren; they have no fur.  Aysa muses that the task may be a bit more daunting than she originally anticipated, and points out that you should let Elder Shaopai know what has happened and then plan what to do next.

The balloon comes to Mandori village, and you leap out to parachute down into the local tavern.  You’ll need to head down two flights of stairs to reach ground level- and then North into the Temple to see Elder Shaopai.