“Hey, you guys see. Isn't that home there? But it's so dark...!” Lin Lin suddenly said.
They saw and sure enough. In the darkness of the night illuminated by the stars in the sky, the shadow of a house was visible to the left. As if given an order, the three of them approached the house and when they were in the front yard, it seemed that it was an old and unused temple.
"We rest here to spend the night," said Bu Sin with a relieved heart. Even if it's just an old and run down temple, it's quite tolerable and much better than spending the night in the middle of the road, in the open air.
They had just cleaned the dusty floor and sat down, when suddenly a fire appeared and dozens of people standing in front of the old temple holding torches! The three young people looked and were surprised to see that the fourteen were dressed like beggars!
"What do you want?" shouted Lin Lin who had jumped to his feet with his two brothers.
A short fat beggar grandfather, presumably the leader of the group because he was the only one who did not hold a torch, smiled broadly and said, "Sam-wi (You Three) have killed four of our men, now our pangcu (leader) calls Sam- wi facing."
Bu Sin was not surprised to face this group because she was already worried about the consequences of their actions on the river bank this afternoon. He was an alert and careful young man, but hearing those utterly contemptuous remarks, he became irritated as well. Even if their leader is a pangcu, but only the leader of the beggars, how dare to summon them to face like a ruler's attitude?
"Lopek (Old Uncle), what happened this afternoon was due to the mistake of your own friends who were about to commit a robbery, so we young people had to intervene. We have no business with your association, nor do we know your leader. If he has business with us, let him come here to talk,” he replied in a haughty voice and a calm demeanor.
The short fat beggar grandfather suddenly laughed. “Ha-ha-ha-ha, just being able to take down four of our useless men, you are already full of heads. Ah, you are like baby birds who are just learning to fly, not knowing the height of the sky and the breadth of the sea. Young people, our pangcu calls you to face it kindly, hope you understand and can appreciate this patience. Don't let me parents get involved in naughty kids, I'm ashamed to do that."
It was as if Lin Lin's chest exploded hearing these utterly condescending remarks. He jumped forward and shouted, “Arrogant old beggar, you think we are afraid of you? Let your pangcumu come alone, we will not be afraid. We don't want to come, what do you want?”
“Ho-ho, really like a frog in a shell! Young people, have you come from the territory of the Hou-han Kingdom in Shan-si?”
"Indeed we came from the Hou-han region, and we are the people of the Ho-han (dashing people), did you just find out now?" The articulate Lin Lin answered, ahead of her brother who was still silent.
Bu Sin understands that if she lets her younger sibling continue to come forward and act, things won't get any better, instead things will get even more chaotic! So he quickly advanced to face the short grandfather.
"Lopek, know that we young people travel only through here, not looking for trouble with anyone at all. It just so happened that this afternoon we clashed with your people because they were the ones looking for the case. We only stopped here to pass the night, tomorrow we have left this area. Hope you parents spend the matter. "
"Where are you going?"
“To the Capital of the Sung Kingdom.”
"Good! You guys came from the Hou-han territory to the Sung Empire's capital? Young people, come with us to face our pangcu.”
Angry too Bu Sin. This beggar grandpa is looking down on too much. Even if there were dozens of beggars there, do you think the three of them were scared?
"We're not coming with you!" he answered as he drew his sword, followed by Sian Eng and Lin Lin. These three young people were like three tigers showing their fangs, with swords in their hands ready to face the beating. They are not the least bit afraid!
"Wow-wah, really dashing!" the grandfather said, then motioned to his friends. "Catch them!"
Bu Sin spun her blade, threatening, “Back off you guys! Look at the sword!"
However, the grandfather had already lunged at him with a stick, also several beggars with their sticks attacked Sian Eng and Lin Lin who had greeted them with swords. A great battle took place under the torchlight. The three blades of the young She Kam's swords flashed fast like lightning flashing and in just a few moments the three mobsters had collapsed, screaming in pain.
The short fat beggar gave the signal. Bu Sin, who had a watchful eye, saw how the beggars took out their bows and arrows! Dangerous, he thought.
“Eng-moi, Lin-moi, extinguish the torch with am-gi (dark weapon)!” he shouted and his left hand reached into his pocket, pulling out his secret weapon, the piauw (flying knife).
His left hand moved quickly, two sticks of piauw grabbed and heard the screams of two torch holders. Their hands were pierced by the piauw and the torches they were holding fell, then went out. Lin Lin and Sian Eng have also used their shrewdness with their secret weapon, namely fine needles. In a short time the torches collapsed and went out.
Bu Sin seized the opportunity during this dark time, beckoning to her two younger siblings. They understood that if the fighting continued and they were hit with arrows, they would be doomed. So quickly they used their ginkang, spinning their swords to clear every obstacle and a few minutes later they were gone from that place, running in the dark without knowing where to go. For more than two hours they fled into a forest and it was getting darker because the leaves of the trees were very dense covering the sky above them.
"Wow, what a shame!" Lin Lin gasped for breath. "We're running like three rabbits being chased by a tiger!" His voice made it clear that he was not happy about this escape, feeling irritated and curious.
Bu Sin and Sian Eng also stopped, sweating with the cuffs of their sleeves. "Wow, it's really dangerous," said Bu Sin. “Lin-moi, you are really just like the old beggar said, like a frog in a shell, you don't know how high the sky is! If we hadn't quickly extinguished the torches and they rained down arrows, do you think we would have been able to breathe by now?”
“Not necessarily, Sin-ko!” Lin Lin denied. “We still haven't lost, and even if we end up being beaten to death, at least my sword will be able to kill several opponents. At least there are several enemy lives that will be the delivery of my life, even dying is not curious. If you run around like this, you're really just called big curious!”
Bu Sin only smiled. He knew Lin Lin's mischievous and very daring character and he was secretly worried that this foster sister would cause trouble in the future. Because it was very dark and they couldn't see their way, the three young men then climbed up a tree and had to spend the night there like three cold monkeys! Lin Lin never stopped nagging. However, because they were very tired, they also fell asleep on a tree and only woke up after it was crowded with the sound of birds singing to welcome the morning.
When Lin Lin and Sian Eng opened their eyes, they saw that Bu Sin had already sat down and gestured with her forefinger in front of her mouth, telling them not to make a sound, then pointed downwards. They looked and their faces changed. Far below, about a hundred meters from the tree where they were hiding, they saw an old bum standing leaning on his cane. A hunchbacked grandfather, his hair messy and one eye blind. The beggar grandpa they saw in front of the inn, who was given silver money by Lin Lin and then spat the money into dents!
And in front of the grandfather, dozens of beggars knelt down, including the beggars who ganged up on them last night. They knelt down without even daring to move! The hunchbacked beggar grandfather sounded angry.
"You useless dogs!" he was heard cursing as he slammed his stick on the ground. “Humph, I'd better kill you all and work alone. What does it mean to have more men than his stupid dog?”
All the beggars shivered in fear and heard them begging for mercy and calling the old man ong-ya (king)! Bu Sin and her two younger siblings looked at each other. Their faces were pale. I wish that hunchbacked beggar grandfather was a very powerful king of beggars!
"Where were the Pek-ho-kai-pang members who made that noise?"
Like four dogs, four beggars crawled forward and knelt in front of the old man. Ms. Sin and her two younger siblings saw that the people were the four beggars they beat up on the riverbank in Wu-han City!
“Tch, this one claims to be a beggar member? Allow yourself to be insulted by young people. Cuh-chuh-chuh-chuh!” Four times the grandfather spat and the four beggars fell to the ground, motionless after their bodies twitched for a moment. They had died by that grandpa's spit!
"Let this be a lesson. Once again something disgraceful happens I will kill all members of Pek-ho-kai-pang. Where are the leaders of Hui-houw-kai-pang (Flying Tiger Beggar Society), Hek-liong-kai-pang (Black Dragon), and Ang-hwa-kai-pang (Red Flower)? Let's go here!”
Three beggar grandfathers were seen crawling forward and kneeling in front of the hunchbacked grandfather. “Watch now. You must be able to show your service and devotion that you are helping me. I need Hek-giam-lo's hiding place. Search until you find it and let me know. If possible, find out where he kept the torn half of the booklet.”
"Okay, Ong. I will mobilize all my friends in the kai-pang (beggar's association)," they answered together in a very humble voice.
"Alright, go now. I am sick to my stomach looking at you!” the hunchbacked grandfather grumbled, and like the dogs being chased away, dozens of beggars left while dragging the bodies of the four beggars members of the Pek-ho-kai-pang.
Bu Sin and her two younger siblings shuddered. Even the usually stoic Lin Lin looked pale. But despite this horror, Lin Lin felt furious at that old man whom she thought was arrogant and cruel.
"Sin-ko must exterminate people like him," he whispered.
“Sssttt...!” Bu Sin intervened, but it was too late.
The old man suddenly turned around and walked over to the big tree where the three of them were. The old man didn't look up at all, but with a chuckle he said, "I once valued the lives of three young people but now they are worth nothing." Suddenly both hands pushed and....
“Kraaakkk!” The tree trunk was crushed and the big tree fell.
Bu Sin and her two younger siblings were not random people, but when they saw this they were very surprised. Quickly they mobilized their ginkang and jumped down before they fell along with the tree and were hit by branches and twigs. As soon as their feet touched the ground, the three of them had drawn their swords and were ready to face the magic grandfather. They understand that they will not be forgiven, but they are determined to fight tooth and nail.
“Ho-ho-ha-hah, don't know yourself... don't know yourself...!” Suddenly the stick in the grandfather's hand flew up, like a snake moving in the air and grabbing them. Bu Sin, Sian Eng and Lin Lin quickly raised their swords to slash.
“Tranggggg!” The three swords in their hands slipped from their hands, collapsing on the ground in front of them, while the sticks bounced back, flying into the hands of the hunchbacked grandfather who laughed loudly. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-hah!”
Bu Sin and the two girls were too shocked and amazed at the supernatural powers of their opponents that they remained motionless, standing like statues and apparently just waiting for the death blow to come. At that moment the sound of a flute, a shrill sound echoed through the forest, getting closer and closer. Bu Sin and the two girls couldn't listen any longer, their hearts shook and their bodies shivered, they had to use their hands to cover their ears. Even so, the high-pitched sound still penetrated and made my ears hurt.
The old man looked surprised too, then slumped away and left the place, not even looking at the three of Bu Sin as if he had forgotten that the three young people were there. The sound of the flute stopped and the three young people let go of their hands. A voice full of authority was heard.
“It-gan Kai-ong! You together with Hek-giam-lo and Siang-mou Sin-ni cowardly attacked Bukek Siansu and took away khim's books and tools. Even if Bukek Siansu doesn't care about or forgive you, I can't just let it go. Give me your book and your life!”
Not long after, Bu Sin saw these three people talking, but only their backs. He was a tall man, carrying a flute and walking slowly.
“He flutes...” Bu Sin thought of her arch enemy, her father's killer. Another time Bu Sin and Sian Eng
already attacked the man with piauw and needles.
The man walked around casually, as if he didn't know that he was snatching secret weapons from behind him. And the three young people saw clearly how the three piauw sticks and the seven needles hit right in the back of the body, but that person still enjoyed walking without noticing anything, as if all the secret weapons were just fallen leaves. A moment later he disappeared behind the trees.
“Let's chase...!” Miss Sin said.
“It's no use, Sin-ko. It's impossible to catch up, "rebutted Lin Lin, who had been standing like a statue.
Bu Sin understands this, but seeing Lin Lin's attitude, she frowns. “Lin-moi, why didn't you attack him earlier? He killed daddy!”
“Not necessarily, Sin-ko. What is the proof? After all, I don't want to blackmail people without warning. The late father would not have been pleased to see him.”
Bu Sin and Sian Eng's faces turned red, “Lin-moi, what are you talking about? You don't help, you even criticize. If he really is Father's arch enemy, why do we have to use so many rules? It is clear that he is highly knowledgeable, higher than our level. Why do we need to be so contemptuous? What is necessary, we must be able to take revenge!”
Lin Lin took a deep breath. “You know that I would not hesitate to risk my life to avenge Father's pain. However, I don't believe that he killed my father. Just listen to his words towards the demon grandpa just now. It is clear that he is a good person, so he was hostile to the demon beggar grandfather named It-gan Kai-ong earlier. If we act recklessly and misunderstand, spreading slander against good people, won't it be even worse?”
"He refines, he's shrewd, there's no mistaking it." Sian Eng said.
"If he is our enemy, we will definitely meet again one day. Now we better get out of here!" said Bu Sin who was still horrified when she remembered her experience with the demon grandfather earlier. Quickly the three young people continued their journey, in the direction of the rising of the morning sun.
********************
Six simple men around a bonfire in the forest. They were game hunters who seemed to have had nothing to gain and spent the dark night in the great forest making a bonfire, sitting around it talking.
Suddenly they stopped talking and their hands groped for their respective weapons, namely long spears. Their eyes glanced in the direction from where they had heard the suspicious voice. Two people immediately put out the bonfire. Then they ducked and slipped behind a tree, approaching it with caution. Who knows tonight they will be lucky to get game animals that spend the night there.
But they are mistaken. The sounds they thought were being made by game, were probably made by three young men who had apparently just arrived and were trying to make a bonfire. A handsome man and two beautiful girls. One of the hunters, who had a short beard and was the leader of a group of six hunters, laughed, followed by his friends.
Bu Sin, Sian Eng, and Lin Lin were shocked. Quickly they looked at the six people who emerged from the darkness, their hands feeling the hilt of their swords.
“Ha-ha-ha, hope Sam-wi young people don't worry. We are just ordinary animal hunters, not robbers," said the leader of the hunter group.
"Cu-wi just startled me, appearing like this suddenly from a dark place," said Bu Sin, half reprimanding.
“Ha-ha, excuse us. We were talking there earlier, when we heard the voice of Sam-wi (Mr. Three), who we thought was a forest animal. I wonder how young people like Sam-wi are in the wild forest?”
"We are travelers who spend the night on the road," answered Bu Sin briefly. "Sorry if we disturb Cu-wi all."
“Ha-ha, it's okay... it's okay... this forest doesn't belong to us. At first I was surprised to see Sam-wi, who is so young, dares to enter this wild forest in the dark of the night, but seeing Sam-wi's sword, my amazement is gone. Come on guys, let's make a bonfire here."
They made a big bonfire and sat around it. "Tan-twako, you continue your fairy tale about the golden flute," said one voice and this voice was confirmed by another.
The short bearded man said earnestly, “Not a fairy tale, but reality. I myself have helped. Even though I still can't tell whether he's a human or a god, I've been very lucky to have his help.”
“Tell... tell...!” his friends urged.
Bu Sin exchanged glances with her two younger siblings. They had been suspicious of these six people who claimed to be hunters, but when they heard the mention of the name Flute Gold, they were very interested. Presumably it was the flute words that caught the attention. Isn't their big enemy someone who carries a flute? Because of that the three of them then listened, even though they chose a seat that was a bit far away, on the big rocks and always ready to be vigilant to guard against all possibilities.
“It happened in the Hek-yang-liu (Black Pine) forest, about three months ago,” the she Tan hunter began. “You know the forest is full of big snakes. I was going to hunt snakes, got orders for snake skins from a snake skin dealer and flower snake hearts from a drugstore owner in Wu-han city.”
"You are very brave, Tan-twako, hunting big snakes alone," commented a friend.
"I'm used to hunting snakes, enough with spears and arrows and gendewa. In just two days I was able to kill two thigh-sized snakes. However, on the third day, when I was drying the snake's skin and heart, four tigers suddenly appeared and attacked me. They were two old tigers and two young tigers. I quickly grabbed my spear and fought back, but how could I fight against four tigers charging at once? They seemed to be racing to pounce on me first. I could stab a tiger in the thigh, but by the time my spear was still in the thigh, the old male tiger had lunged and pounced on my left shoulder. I let go of the spear, pulled out the knife, but before I could stab the white hairy chest above my face, the second tiger had bitten the base of my right arm so that the knife was released, my whole body ached and I couldn't help anymore...”
The five listeners held their breath. “Twako, I thought all you could do was scream for help,” said one. These words, when spoken in an atmosphere that is not being tense, certainly sound funny.
“The forest is silent, please what does it mean? Besides, I'm reckless and ready to face death as a hunter!” objected hunter She Tan in a dashing voice. “However, it seems that the time has not yet come for me to die. At that time I was almost passed out, my vision was blurry. Suddenly there was a high-pitched sound of a flute. The four tigers seemed to be surprised, I myself felt as if my ears were being pricked by needles and I seemed to have fainted. But in that almost unconscious state I saw the shadow of a person holding a flute glistening in the sun. It was obvious that the flute was made of some glistening yellow stuff, of course a gold Flute. There was a loud noise as the four tigers roared and roared, then the tigers moved quickly, pounced forward, there was a quick fight that could not be followed by the eye, then I don't remember anything else..."
“Then what, Twako?” The five listeners grew tense. Also the three young people were listening attentively.
"How long I was unconscious, I don't know. When I opened my eyes, I saw the carcasses of four tigers lying here and there. Surprisingly, my shoulders and arms were wrapped in my own torn clothes, it felt cold and comfortable and I didn't feel pain anymore. When I examined the carcasses, I thought four of the tigers had their heads blown off. Wow, I had a big party, not only because I got tiger meat that strengthens the body, I also got four pieces of intact and beautiful tiger skin. I want to experience that one more time if the prize is so great.”
"So the one helping is the Golden Flute, the magic warrior we often hear about but has never appeared to anyone else?"
“Presumably so. Who else if not him can kill four tigers without breaking their skin? Who else is the warrior who brought the golden flute if not the golden flute?”
Without them realizing it, Bu Sin and her two younger siblings were now sitting near the bonfire. “Twako, who exactly is the Golden Flute? Is he a warrior who likes to help people? Or is he a criminal who likes to kill people?” suddenly Bu Sin asked.
The hunter she Tan smiled. "Who knows, young man? The actions of a prodigy like him cannot be known. About killers, it seems he really likes to kill. I once heard of a band of robbers at the mouth of the Yang-ce River of over thirty people all killed by him."
"Reportedly he once shocked the world of kang-ouw by killing two Siauw-lim-pai figures. It was really surprising, killing the robbers was the work of warriors but two pious hwesio from Siauw-lim-pai, why did they kill them?” said a big-nosed hunter.
“Also, when there was a commotion in the king's city because of the loss of the empress's pearl hong bird, people reported that it was Suling Emas who had stolen it. Some say he is an old man, an old man who dresses like an ancient scholar. Is this true, Tan-twako? When he helped you, what kind of person did you see?”
“I almost fainted and his movements were as fast as lightning, only his shadow was all I saw. But some reported that he was still very young, a young man dressed like a student. The only thing in the news was about her clothes. Of course he's a student."