Black Pearl Chapter 23

She said that. Hauw Lam was astonished again. A girl with such high martial arts skill (ilmu), has never ridden a horse? This is truly extraordinary.

"Never? If so, that’s dangerous. You must learn first. A good horse will always rebel if ridden by someone who is timid about riding."

"I have indeed never ridden a horse, but who says I am afraid? Just watch."

With a single movement of her body, Kwi Lan leaped and sat upon the horse's back, with both feet hanging on the left side of the horse's belly. It was extremely awkward and stiff. Sure enough, the black horse did not rebel, because the horse only rebels if the rider is timid, whereas Kwi Lan was not afraid.

"Ah, that’s the wrong way to ride. How can you last long if the horse gallops?"

"Who says I can’t? Watch."

Kwi Lan pulled the reins and the black horse leaped forward and ran fast. Kwi Lan was bounced up and down from the horse's back, and because she was sitting sideways, she nearly fell. Quickly, she shouted loudly and her body leaped upward, then descended onto the horse's back in a standing position. Hauw Lam had already chased after them, grabbed the reins, and made a sound commanding it to stop. After the horse stopped, he shook his head.

"Wow, wow, you truly are amazing, Mutiara Hitam. But who in this world rides a horse while standing on its back? You will become a spectacle for people along the road, and that position is also extremely tiring. This is how you ride a horse. Look, I’ll give you an example."

Because Kwi Lan was indeed someone who possessed high martial arts skill (ilmu kepandaian), she mastered the lesson of horse riding in just a moment. The two young people then set off on their journey toward Yen-an. Kwi Lan rode the horse while Hauw Lam walked, playing his flute. Sometimes Kwi Lan would jump down and walk, telling the young man to take a turn riding the horse. If Hauw Lam refused, she would surely get angry. Similarly, sometimes the pure-hearted girl would tell Hauw Lam to sit behind her on the horse's back. Hauw Lam also complied with her wishes, so that within just a few days of traveling, the two had become extremely close friends, and secretly Kwi Lan felt increasingly compatible with and fond of the son of her foster aunt.

The city of Yen-an is located at the foot of the Lu-liang-san Mountains in the west, in Shen-si Province. This city is quite large and bustling, and formerly constituted the territory of the Hou-han Kingdom, which has now been conquered by the Kerajaan Sung and become a territory of the Kerajaan Sung. The Hou-han Kingdom was formerly known as a small but extremely strong kingdom. Especially when one of its war commanders was the late Jenderal Kam Si Ek, who was extremely skilled at organizing war strategies. After this general retired, the state of the kingdom also experienced decline. However, its position remained very strong because several years later, within the royal palace, there was Tok-siauw-kwi Liu Lu Sian, a powerful woman who became a "tante girang"

Indulging in lust within the palace with handsome young princes and commanders,

Beside this Tok-siauw-kwi (the biological mother of Suling Emas), there was also a royal concubine who was also extremely formidable (lihai), who was later nicknamed Siang-mou Sin-ni Coa Kim Bwee. However, since these two powerful women were gone, the kingdom declined further, and finally, the invasion of the Kerajaan Sung army brought down this small kingdom. Defeated figures, if their services were no longer utilized, usually gathered and formed groups that secretly opposed the Victor. Such was the situation in the former Hou-han Kingdom. People who possessed martial arts skill (ilmu kepandaian) then formed alliances and hid behind the facade of associations, becoming the *dunia hitam* (Black World) faction, secretly seeking opportunities to resist or at least undermine the government they disliked.

Among such associations, Thian-liong-pang was the largest association, and could even be called a kind of parent association. This was because many former commanders and figures of the Hou-han Kingdom joined this association. However, because there was no opportunity to fight the Sung government, especially after the truly patriotic commanders passed away, the spirit of the Thian-liong-pang association underwent a drastic change. The foundation, which was originally patriotic and driven by loyalty to the kingdom, changed, transforming into a *dunia hitam* foundation, and its goals strayed far, driven by the lust of anger and greed to dominate the world, wealth, great fame, and victory relying on strength.

Seeing this, the remaining Hou-han commanders mostly withdrew and lived in solitude in villages and mountains, awaiting death. Since then, Thian-liong-pang has been entirely controlled by *dunia hitam* figures. The Chairman of Thian-liong-pang is a former priest nicknamed Sin-seng Losu (Adept Star Grandfather). This priest, who originated from the west, was not only powerful (sakti) but also extremely famous in the *dunia hitam*, and although evil, he proved skilled at leadership, so that under his guidance, Thian-liong-pang became an extremely strong association. All members of Thian-liong-pang were generally trained in high-level *ilmu silat* (martial arts). Moreover, the grandfather's own disciples truly consisted of brave and mighty individuals.

The twelve chief disciples were so famous in the *kang-ouw* (martial world) that even great figures would not dare to look down upon the Cap-ji-liong (Twelve Dragons) of Thian-liong-pang. These twelve chief disciples, who were the favorite students of Grandfather Sin-seng Losu, inherited the grandfather's skills according to their respective talents. And what added to their fame was the secret weapon Sin-seng-ci (Adept Star Pellet/Bullet). Because Grandfather Sin-seng Losu was too old and senile, and also starting to weaken due to his age, his oldest disciple was appointed as his replacement—a tall, large man with a full beard and mustache, possessing strength like an elephant, and fitting his strength, he was nicknamed Thai-lek-kwi (Great Strength Devil) named Ma Kiu.

Ma Kiu was formerly a pig butcher, then lived in the south and became a member of the Beng-kauw. Since he was young, he liked learning *ilmu silat*, so when he became a member of Beng-kauw, he already possessed quite high martial arts skill (ilmu kepandaian). Due to the transgression of rules, he became afraid of his own shadow and also feared punishment from the notoriously strict leaders of Beng-kauw, so he fled north. In Yen-an, he joined Thian-liong-pang, managed to win the heart of its chairman, and became his disciple. Because his skill level was already high, he quickly occupied a position among the formidable (lihai) chief disciples, was later chosen as the number one disciple, and was eventually appointed as the replacement for his aging master, becoming the new chairman of Thian-liong-pang.

The large building that serves as the headquarters of Thian-liong-pang stands majestically at the edge of Yen-an city. It seems somewhat odd that the main road where this building stands appears deserted, and the building itself is far from neighbors. However, people would not be surprised to hear that the neighbors who previously lived near the building gradually moved away, so that the empty houses around that road constituted an area considered unsafe for the residents of Yen-an. Thian-liong-pang utilized this situation to expand their headquarters by forcibly buying the abandoned houses and yards cheaply.