Where did Swat Hong and Kwee Lun go? In the front part, it has been told how these two young people managed to save themselves, ran out of the palace of The Kwat Lin and continued to get out of the city of the king of Tianan. They ran quickly using the darkness of the night, managed to get out of the fortress walls of the king's city because the guards who were in a victorious celebration atmosphere did not carry out too tight a guard.
After the light of the ground and they arrived in a forest far from the walls of the king's city, only then did the two stop in a state of panting.
Swat Hong threw himself under a large tree. His face was pale, his face and neck full of sweat which he wiped with the end of his sleeve. His eyes looked far away, and he was silent, utterly speechless, utterly motionless, as if in a semi-conscious state.
Kwee Lun also wiped off his sweat and sat still, looking at Swat Hong. Several times he moved his lips to speak but held back. This usually happy young man felt how his heart was being squeezed. He himself felt lost and deeply grieved by the death of Soan Cu, the girl he now knew was the woman he loved very much.
However, seeing Swat Hong's condition that he was forced to leave his birth mother to face death, he forgot his own grief and felt very sorry for Swat Hong. Seeing how Swat Hong seemed to have lost his memory, Kwee Lun was very worried. If left alone, this girl could get sick, if only her body aches would still be better, but if she was attacked by her mind it would be even more dangerous.
Finally Kwee Lun mustered up the courage to say softly and softly, "Death and life are in the hands of Thian, we humans can't control it, miss."
Hearing these words, Swat Hong turned and looked. However, his eyes remained blank, as if he didn't understand those words and only a doubtful voice came from his mouth, "Hmm...?" This voice trembled and those eyes pierced Kwee Lun's feelings.
So this young man then dared to go further with words that were more revealing, "Your mother died a mighty man."
A pair of eyes that had lost their shine widened, as if they had just come to their senses. The trembling lips moved, at first softly and louder, "Mother...? Mother..., Mother...!" Swat Hong burst into tears and called for his mother.
"Calm down, Miss. Calm down...." Kwee Lun comforted and knelt in front of the girl, but his own voice was hoarse and a little sobbing.
"Mother...! Why did I leave you to die alone...? Mother...! Hu-hu-huuuuuuuk, Mother!"
Crying is indeed the best medicine for her mind, Kwee Lun thought with great emotion. But when he saw Swat Hong pulling his own hair, he was worried. "Remember, Miss. Remember your mother's message... about the Ice Island heirloom"
Swat Hong looked up and saw that the young man's face was also wet with tears, he bumped into him. "Toaco...
ahhh, Toako...!" and she sobbed into the chest of the young man who she thought was the only friend in this world that was empty for her.
Kwee Lun closed his eyes and let the girl sob.
With a sob Swat Hong said, "Mother died... in front of my eyes... and I can't help her... hu-hu-huuuuuhhhh...... and Father is gone too, Suheng too... hu- huuuuuhhh what's the use of me living again? What's the point of me looking for treasures and returning them to Ice Island?”
Like someone suddenly going into a frenzy, Swat Hong wrenched himself from Kwee Lun's chest, then jumped up and clenched his fists. "Tell me, Kwee-toako, what's the point of all this? My father and mother are dead, and Suheng... the only person I love... he's no longer there...! Tell me, what need do I have to live longer?"
Kwee Lun remembers Soan Cu's death which shatters his feelings. However he suppressed his grief and said, his voice loud and excited, “Junior Hong, you shouldn't have a mighty person like you utter such desperate words! You are the princess of Ice Island! Whatever grief befalls you, you must overcome it with brave and mighty! I can understand the message of your late mother who was noble and valiant. If your family heirloom from Ice Island fell into the hands of other people, wouldn't that be very dear, dangerous and also humiliating? This heirloom has been saved by Miss Bu Swi Nio and Brother Liem Toan Ki. We'd better catch up with them quickly and I'll help you look for the Ice Island Treasure."
Those passionate words really awakened Swat Hong, pulling the girl out of the valley of grief that had almost broken her spirit. She held back a sob, took a deep breath and wiped away her tears, then looked up at the young man, holding Kwee Lun's hand. "Kwee-toako, thank you for your warning. I almost forgot about my assignment. It's true, having the courage to live must be brave to face whatever befalls us. You are truly kind, Toako. You yourself suffered, lost Soan Cu, but still comforted me"
Kwee Lun looked up and closed his eyes. "That's right... I love Soan Cu I
love him "
"And I love Suheng. How bad is our fate, Toako. However, you still have your teacher, and I am alone... Ah, never mind. I'm leaving, Toako. Hope you will be able to find happiness in your life. You are kind once and thank you." Swat Hong flashed and jumped away.
"Wait a minute! Hong-moi... let me help you "
"No need, Kwee-toako. I will follow them to Red Cloud Peak, then I will return to Ice Island... for... forever. Goodbye!" Swat Hong jumped very fast and in a moment he was gone leaving Kwee Lun who became limp.
This young man threw himself on the ground and only now could he not hold back the tears. Only now did he feel how much he had lost Soan Cu, how the world felt so empty and desolate. He took several deep breaths and thought of his teacher, Lambai Sengjin who was like his own parents.
He must return to Turtle Island in Lam-hai! Imagined by him how his temperature it would be astonished-
amazed to hear about all her experiences with the Ice Island family! With an empty and lonely feeling, the memory of his teacher was a speck of hope for the joy of his life and slowly Kwee Lun left the forest to return to his teacher who had been abandoned for a very long time.
Meanwhile, with his eyes still red from crying, Han Swat Hong continued on his way quickly to catch up with Swi Nio and Toan Ki. If he could catch up with them and ask for the Ice Island Legacy back he could immediately return to Ice Island and so on… somehow, he himself didn't know if he had any intention of returning to the mainland.
No, he will stay on the island, where he was born. Even if the island was empty, he would live in his birthplace until he died! Tears streamed down his eyes when he thought up to that point and remembered his suheng. If only his suheng was by his side, of course his heart would not be feeling like this. However, no matter how fast Swat Hong gave chase, he still could not catch up with Swi Nio and Toan Ki.
When he arrived at Red Cloud Peak, where Tee-tok Siangkoan Houw lived, he was only greeted here by Ang-in Mo-ko Thio Sam. The grandfather who was the head disciple of Tee-tok told that Tee-tok and his daughter had gone down the mountain for several weeks and that during that time there had been no guests, nor were there Bu Swi Nio and Liem Toan Ki as the girl had asked.
Swat Hong furrowed his brows. His heart began to wonder. Woe, he thought, lest he had chosen the wrong person to entrust with saving the Ice Island Treasure! Could it be that the two young people deliberately ran away from the heirlooms and hid! Suspicion was followed by anger in his heart, and along with this feeling his enthusiasm, which had previously been very low, arose. His life is still necessary and useful, at least he has to save the heirlooms from falling into other people's hands! This feeling of anger and worry gave rise to the feeling that he was still desperately needed to live on.
Holding back his anger, he said to the Tee-tok head disciple, "Should Bu Swi Nio and Liem Toan Ki come, please ask them to wait for me here. In two months I will be back to meet them."
Ang-in Mo-ko Thio Sam, who already knew about the shrewdness of the girl who had shocked the Red Cloud, nodded.
Then Swat Hong left Red Cloud Peak to take the road back towards the king's city to see if the two young men might meet him on the way. But all his journeys were in vain. Two months later, he again arrived at Red Cloud Peak and for the second time Ang-in Mo-ko (Old Devil of Red Cloud) expressed his regret that the two young people he was looking for had not arrived, not even his teacher had returned.
"I even feel uneasy thinking about Suhu," said the grandfather. "The situation everywhere is noisy with the war, but the temperature has been gone for so long and has not yet come home."
Swat Hong held back his anger. There's no mistake, he thought. Bu Swi Nio and Liem Toan Ki were of course treacherous, wanting the heirlooms for themselves. I have to find them and apart from taking back the inheritance, I will also beat them up! He said goodbye and then left again, along the way he cursed Mrs. Swi Nio who he had previously trusted.
“That she-devil disciple,” he grumbled. "The teacher is dead, now it's the student who troubles me!"
Swat Hong begins to search for the two men without success. For two years he wandered around looking for the two young people but strangely enough, no human knew about them. Finally the thought occurred to him that it was quite possible that Mrs. Swi Nio and Liem Toan Ki, who had previously been An Lu Shan's men who had turned back and were traitors, were afraid of the new government's retaliation and had fled to the west, to Secuan. Very likely!
This thought made him make a decision and he left for Secuan. While looking for heirlooms, he also wanted to help the Emperor, who was reportedly preparing forces to attack and reclaim the royal throne. He'd better help, he thought. Apart from filling in the blanks
his life, also to find Bu Swi Nio and Liem Toan Ki, as well as to destroy all of An Lu Shan's accomplices including Ouwyang Cin Cu. Given that his father was a descendant of a prince or viceroy, he was actually still of royal blood and still had a blood relation with the imperial family, so he should help.
--- ---
Meanwhile, in the capital that An Lu Shan had occupied, in the palace where An Lu Shan had made himself king, great things were happening! An Lu Shan himself was still continuing his violent and self-righteous disposition. One of his favorites is women. So once he succeeded in becoming Emperor, he never stopped every night to change whichever woman he chose and appointed, it didn't matter if the woman was still a girl or someone else's wife!
One night, drunk and excited, An Lu Shan forgot himself and in a semi-conscious state he entered the room of his daughter-in-law whom he had secretly missed for so long. If sober and sober, he still holds back his heart's desires. But that night, in his drunken stupor, he cared nothing more and entered his son-in-law's room! Not a single human within the palace dared to disobey, and at that time, An Lu Shan's son was not there.
Filled with sorrow and fear, the young and beautiful daughter-in-law was unable to resist or rebel. While crying she was forced to let herself be hugged and kissed by the drunken in-laws. With a soft and cajoling voice he still tried to remind An Lu Shan, but a man who was not only drunk with wine, but also drunk with lust, didn't care about anything. The woman could only moan and cry, interspersed with the sound of laughter from An Lu Shan.
When the door to the room was forcefully opened from the outside by the prince, An Lu Shan was sleeping snoring exhausted with his face red from the wine, while the prince's wife was sobbing, kneeling on the floor. The prince's eyes darkened, his sword pulled out and in one jump he had stabbed his own father in the chest.
"Crappp...!"
"Auhhh... hiiii... you... you ?!"
Even though the sword had penetrated his chest, the strong-built An Lu Shan was still able to jump up and grab onto his son. But the dark-eyed prince dodged, his legs kicking so An Lu Shan was pushed down, making the sword go deeper. He twitched and didn't move anymore!
"Catch the killer...!!" This scream came out from the mouth of Shi Su Beng who together with Han Bu Ong had run into the room.
Shi Su Beng moved his sword and heard a terrible scream when the prince also collapsed near his father's corpse in a lifeless state because his neck was almost severed by Prince Shi Su Beng's sword! The whole palace was shaking. A flash meeting was held and Shi Su Beng who was considered to be defending the Emperor used this opportunity to usurp the Emperor's position! In this chaotic situation, Shi Su Beng proclaimed himself king and Han Bu Ong became his loyal aide viceroy!
Only the two of them know that all these events were indeed driven by the two of them! It was Shi Su Beng who aroused An Lu Shan's lust for his daughter-in-law. Even in his drunken stupor, it was Shi Su Beng who persuaded the new Emperor to enter the room saying that in the room he had prepared a beautiful woman like his daughter-in-law for An Lu Shan! And while the drunken An Lu Shan was raping his own son-in-law, Han Bu Ong secretly contacted the prince and whispered that a criminal had entered his room. So it happened as what had been planned by the two of them, namely the death of An Lu Shan at the hands of his own son and then the death of the prince at the hands of Shi Su Beng.
There was a change of power and massive changes in the king's city. Again Han Bu Ong succeeded
raised himself as his mother had dreamed of, namely to become a powerful prince, far more powerful than when his mother was still alive, namely to become the right hand of the new ruler who became his ally! However, the fall of An Lu Shan and the transfer of power to Shi Su Beng, still did not relieve the tensions in the royal city due to power struggles.
As usual, the new ruler appointed his own friends to high positions, made shifts so as to create resentment from friends who turned into enemies. Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that chaotic plots and intrigues to seize power arise, if necessary, in subtle or violent ways.
On the other hand, the rebels who now hold the reins of the kingdom have become negligent. They too looked down on the Emperor who had fled to Secuan, thinking that the old Emperor's family had completely fallen. Busy pursuit of personal ambitions makes them careless and pay less attention to defense so they don't know how the Emperor and his family in Secuan have formed a new force for revenge!
The old Emperor Hian Tiong, who was devastated both physically and mentally because not only was the royal crown stolen by the rebel An Lu Shan, but especially because his beloved concubine, Yang Kui Hui, had to be hanged by his own decision, upon his arrival in Secuan, became a broken grandfather and always drowned in sorrow. In this state of refuge, in Secuan, the imperial family and followers who were still loyal, accepted the Old Emperor's decision to appoint a new Emperor, namely the Crown Prince who had the title Su Tiong.
At that time, the remnants of the government troops who had lost the war against An Lu Shan, under the command of Commander-in-Chief Kok Cu It, also joined Secuan. Emperor Su Tiong then gathered strength from his people in the Secuan area, and asked for help from friendly neighboring countries. So mixed troops were gathered consisting of various tribes, there were even Turks, Tibetans, and then reinforcements from Arab troops arrived as a sign of friendship by Kaliphu. The troops were arranged into large lines and given heavy training in preparation for Emperor Su Tiong to reclaim his kingdom.
--- ---
Nothing important happened during Swat Hong's journey to Secuan. The girl who used to be cheerful and witty, whose face was always radiant and happy, now became withdrawn and there were lines and somber shadows on her face which was still beautiful even though she never put on makeup. Traveling for two years looking for his lost heirloom without success made him feel sad and also very curious. In his heart he promised that he would never stop looking before getting the Ice Island's heirloom.
While traveling, he also heard about the death of An Lu Shan and his son. When he arrived at Secuan, at that time the new Emperor, namely Emperor Si Tiong, was indeed preparing forces under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Kok Cu It himself. Commander Kok deploys his assistants, namely subordinate commanders throughout the Secuan area for registration and acceptance of volunteers who wish to join the army.
One of his subordinates who was in charge of gathering reinforcements, even contacting foreigners from the west was Panglima Bouw Kiat. It was this commander in chief who had been credited with contacting the Arabs so that in the end Kaliphu (who ruled in Arabia) himself sent reinforcements. Bouw Kiat is based in a hamlet in the south and here he organizes his troops while entertaining troops from Arabs, a small portion of which as vanguard troops have arrived there.
Panglima Kok Cu It, who was clever, separated the foreign troops who helped him to prevent clashes. The reinforcements from Turkey were in the north, from Tibet in the south and from the east were troops made up of various nationalities.
One day, Swat Hong arrived in this area controlled by Panglima Bouw Kiat. This virgin was surprised when she saw that there were many foreign soldiers who were tall, had a manly attitude and had dark brown skin, sharp eyes and bad sideburns roaming the area. On the way, he saw a
foreign men who were tall and strong, holding gandewa and arrows surrounded by Han and Arab soldiers, laughing.
The stout thirty-plus-year-old man said in stilted Han, "Look at those birds! I'm going to take them down three at a time. Which one do you choose?"
Swat Hong was interested, stopped and looked up. He was secretly surprised and thought that person was arrogant. How could three birds that flew so high fly down at once if this person wasn't a skilled archer?
"Three from the front!" there was a scream.
"No, the ones at the back are the hardest!" said another.
The Arab officer smiled and his teeth were even and glistening white, his mustache twitching. "Let me take down the two foremost and last birds!"
The group of birds flying high had arrived right above them. The officer fixed three arrows in his bow, then pulled the string. There was a snapping sound and three arrows shot like three sparkling rays up. From below it was not visible how the birds were hit by the arrows, but it was clear how the two birds at the forefront and one at the rear suddenly collapsed down. When the three birds fell to the ground and everyone saw that the bird's chest was pierced by an arrow, they cheered and clapped their hands in praise.
"That's fine too," thought Swat Hong even though he understood that archery skills like that were only useful for long-distance combat and completely meaningless for face-to-face matches. Of course, they are quickly defeated by am-gi (secret weapons) such as needles, nails, piauw and others.
"Hi Miss! Applause for Officer Ahmed's shrewdness!" suddenly a man reprimanded Swat Hong. This man was a Han warrior and with a grin he clapped his hands and urged Swat Hong to join in the clapping.
Swat Hong didn't want to serve him, instead he looked away and continued on his way.
But the man jumped and blocked in front of him while akimbo. "Eit later
Formerly! Dare you insult Officer Ahmed? He is not only shrewd and a sniper, many women are crazy about him too! And you dare to look down on it?"
Swat Hong looked on with bulging eyes then snorted, "Get lost!" while moving on.
Seeing the girl who was so beautiful, what's more there were many friends who witnessed it, the soldier immediately itched his hands. He stepped forward, then reached out and managed to catch the arm of the girl who was currently upset. Despite being thinking about many things, Swat Hong didn't expect that soldier would dare to do such a dare, so it's no wonder that his arm was caught just like that. The girl's blood immediately rushed up until her face was red.
"And you insolent boy!" Swat Hong said, and once he moved his gripped arm, he turned around already grabbing the man's wrist and as soon as he glared, the man fell face down on the ground!
"Aihhh, dare you hit me?" The soldier was furious and quickly he jumped and crashed. "Plak! Aughh !" The soldier was thrown back and forth, his face swelling up.
Seeing this scene, the five first-person comrades soldiers became angry and charged forward. "Catch him, he's definitely a spy!"
Swat Hong was both disgusted and angry. Seeing the five people lunge and were about to race to catch and embrace him, his accomplices moved and in a flurry, the five people fell down and couldn't act anymore because they were screaming in pain. Of course circumstances it became noisy and many troops locked up.
But suddenly the officer who was skilled at using arrows jumped forward and rebuked him. "Back off everyone!"
After the retreating men stopped continuing their movement to gang up, the officer bowed before Swat Hong and said, "I beg your pardon, Miss. It's normal for troop men to be rude all the time. Miss is certainly not from here, if I may ask where are you going?" "
"Hmm," thought Swat Hong. "No wonder so many women are crazy. Indeed, this officer whose name is Ahmed is very dashing."