Black Pearl Chapter 21

"Friend, is this black horse for sale? If it is for sale, how much does it cost?"

The man leading the horse widened his eyes at Hauw Lam, then he laughed, revealing that two of his upper teeth were missing. His six companions merely stood watching. Then Si Ompong turned and translated Hauw Lam's words into their language. Immediately, the laughter of the six men erupted, making the previously silent forest now noisy with their voices. Following this, the seven of them spoke loudly among themselves, laughing all the while.

"Young man, do you know what kind of horse this is, where it comes from, and where it is being taken?"

Finally, Si Ompong, acting as the spokesman, spoke with a lisping, stiff voice.

"This horse is a direct descendant of the Hek-liong-ma personally owned by our Queen"

"Who is your esteemed Queen?"

Hauw Lam asked, intrigued because he did not understand their language.

"Our Queen is the Sovereign Queen of Khitan."

"Ohhh..."

This startled exclamation came from Kwi Lan's mouth. However, when Hauw Lam looked over, the girl had already managed to suppress her feelings and was only watching attentively.

"And do you know where we are taking this horse? We are delivering it to Yen-an as a tribute item for the new leader of the Thian-liong-pang"

Hauw Lam was secretly surprised. It turned out this was no ordinary horse, and he realized that these seven men deliberately mentioned the name Thian-liong-pang to startle and intimidate him. However, he pretended not to know the Thian-liong-pang, even going so far as to say,

"Wow, why such a fine horse just as a tribute item? The ones you are riding are already more than enough for a contribution. If possible, please sell this black one to me."

Suddenly, one of them spoke in their language, his voice loud, pointing his finger repeatedly toward Kwi Lan, who was still sitting on the tree root. As soon as he finished speaking, the seven men burst into roaring laughter. All their horses were startled and neighed, standing on their hind legs, nearly throwing two of the men off. This made them laugh even louder.

"Young man, do you understand what my friends meant? Ha-ha-ha. You already possess such a beautiful mare, why would you still want to buy this black horse? What is the meaning of this black horse compared to your fair-skinned, beautiful mare? Ha-ha-ha"

The seven men laughed again, knowing that their friend Si Ompong had translated their words.

Naturally, Hauw Lam became extremely angry and annoyed. But Kwi Lan was even angrier. She hadn't understood the meaning of their words initially, but because all seven of them were looking at her and pointing fingers, she realized that she was the one being called the fair-skinned mare. She had been compared to a "Damned" horse.

Like a tiger, she leaped up, her hands moved, and green rays shot out from both hands, striking toward the faces of the seven men. Instantly, their laughter vanished, replaced by screams, and all seven tumbled down from their horses. However, with extremely agile movements, the seven of them quickly jumped back up and began speaking loudly in a language neither Hauw Lam nor Kwi Lan understood.

Now it was Hauw Lam who stared, looking at them with a bewildered expression. It turned out that the green rays that shot from the hands of the Black Pearl were the blades of grass she had been pulling out while sitting on the tree root. In her anger, the girl had attacked the seven Khitan men with those blades of grass. Although they were only green grass, in the hands of this formidable maiden, they transformed into an extremely potent and terrifying secret weapon. The blades of grass flew faster than arrows and were unavoidable by the seven Khitan men. Suddenly, their faces were struck by the grass, which stuck to their skin, causing a stinging and burning sensation. Furthermore, when the grass attacked, they were pushed by the force of the strike, causing them to fall off their horses. Now they stood, trying to remove the grass stuck to their faces.

"Strange and miraculous"

They grimaced as they tried to remove the grass stuck to their facial skin. It was all in vain. The blades of grass stuck as if they had been treated with magical adhesive, as if they had grown into one with the skin. One of them tried to use a bit of force to peel off the grass, but the skin on his cheek peeled off with it, causing incredible pain and stinging, and blood began to drip. They were astonished and in pain, especially the feeling of dread that made their faces pale. For Hauw Lam, the sight was utterly hilarious. Seeing them grimacing in pain as they tried to peel the grass from their faces, seeing how the grass formed green "patches" decorating their faces—especially the man who had insulted the Black Pearl, who had a blade of grass stuck across the bridge of his nose, making his face look utterly comical—Hauw Lam could not hold back his laughter.

"Hahaha-ha-ha, How funny!"

How funny!"

The faces of all seven of you are patched up like clowns, and these eight horses are so fine. You must be planning a horse comedy show, right? Excellent... excellent..."

Hauw Lam clapped his hands and jumped around, making the seven men incredibly annoyed. However, because they could guess that these two young people were certainly not ordinary individuals, they refused to engage further with words. Simultaneously, their hands moved, and the seven men drew their respective sabers, surrounding Hauw Lam with threatening stances.

"Aih... aih... haven't you learned your lesson yet? If this young Miss had wanted your lives just now, wouldn't you all be corpses?"

Hauw Lam exclaimed, stepping forward, then turning to Kwi Lan.

"Let me enjoy playing with them now"

Kwi Lan remained silent, her attitude indifferent. She did not look the seven men in the eye, but remembering that they were Khitan people, subjects of her birth mother, she had refrained from killing them earlier. Now she wanted to see the extent of the Rogue's skill, as she could deduce from the movements of the seven men that they also possessed high-level martial arts (ilmu silat).

"Defeating them without killing them—now that would be impressive,"

Kwi Lan deliberately said, her tone mocking, though inwardly she worried that the roguish youth might kill her birth mother's subjects.

"Oho, that's easy, just watch,"

Hauw Lam said, laughing, then thrusting his stomach forward in challenge.

"Come on, advance, what are you waiting for? Aren't your sabers already drawn? There are no pigs here to stab in the belly, no goats to slit the throat of. Here is my stomach, you can stab it, or here is my neck, you can choose"

He challenged them in an extremely mocking manner, closing both eyes, stretching out his neck, puffing out his stomach, and placing both hands behind his back. Kwi Lan was secretly amused by this attitude, yet also felt that this behavior was excessive and dangerous. If she had been challenged like that, she could certainly have struck down the reckless youth with a single move.

Apparently, the seven extremely angry men thought the same. They were already furious and frustrated, feeling they had suffered extraordinary humiliation, and now witnessing Hauw Lam's attitude and challenge, they were speechless with rage. These seven men were not ordinary people; they were highly skilled champions (jagoan-jagoan). How could they be helpless and suffer such insults when facing just two youngsters? Seeing Hauw Lam's posture now, they simultaneously charged to avenge the humiliation they had endured.

"Clang-clang-clash-craaashhh..."

Seven sabers that charged simultaneously toward a single target inevitably clashed with each other when their target suddenly vanished from the spot. They quickly leaped and spun around. It turned out the reckless youth was already behind them, and again the youth stretched out his neck and puffed out his stomach, but now his hand held a saber as well—a short, wide saber, like a butcher's cleaver. However, seeing the white light shining from the blade, one could guess that the poorly shaped saber was actually made of potent, select metal.

"Come on, stab again, hack again, why hesitate? My stomach and neck are getting itchy now"