Blood-Stained Love Chapter 19

Replied her older brother.

"What do we care if he wants to steal anything? What concern is it of ours, Koko? Even though I admire that valiant husband and wife, we don't know them, nor do we know what caused them to fight earlier, nor who their opponents were."

"You are right, Lin-moi. However, there is one thing that interests me and compels me to side with them. They are people from the Hou-han region, just like us. Who knows if the object stolen by that bearded man might be extremely important to the Hou-han Kingdom?"

"Sin-ko, you are siding with the Hou-han Kingdom? Don't you remember that Father fled that kingdom because of the tyranny of its ruler?"

"It wasn't a kingdom back then, my sister. Father was a loyal subject and disliked rebellion. But now that it has become the Hou-han region, I am not defending anything specific, but at least I should side with our own region, shouldn't I?

"Little sister Lin, if you are afraid, you don't have to come tonight. Just stay in the room; Sin-ko and I will go investigate ourselves,"

Said Sian Eng, who was displeased by Lin Lin's fussiness. Lin Lin did not get angry; instead, she laughed,

"Cici, if anything happens to you, who will help if I don't come along? Of course, I'm coming."

"In that case, stop being so fussy."

"Let's rest this afternoon. Who knows, tonight we might need to use a lot of energy,"

Said Bu Sin.

"I will order food from outside the inn."

Not long after, Bu Sin went out. When he returned, his expression had changed.

"They are also already in this city."

"Who?"

Asked Lin Lin.

"Who else but that husband and wife."

Hearing this, Lin Lin was intrigued, and they grew tense. Did that husband and wife already know where the bearded man had gone? Did they know that the man had taken something from them?

"Amazing, they managed to catch up here so quickly. It seems they won the battle earlier,"

Said Lin Lin.

"Do they already know the bearded man's location?"

"I think they must know. They are not ordinary people, but skilled individuals of the kang-ouw. It will be lively tonight; we will just be spectators while gaining experience,"

Said Bu Sin, and the three of them went into the room to rest.

The resident of that mansion was the family of Prince Suma Kong, and Prince Suma Kong was a prince of the Sung Kingdom who was still closely related to the emperor. However, because he had once committed massive corruption and was discovered by the emperor, he was dismissed from his position. Yet, considering he was still family, the emperor did not impose a punishment, merely relieving him of his duties. Prince Suma Kong then withdrew from the capital city, settling in An-sui city, living as a wealthy "pensioner" noble, owning a large mansion and vast rice fields outside An-sui city. Naturally, Prince Suma Kong secretly harbored resentment toward the Sung Kingdom, but because he was old and felt powerless, he entertained himself with various pleasures, no longer caring about state affairs.

However, the same was not true for his son, Suma Boan. This son was not a weakling. Secretly, he studied martial arts from a mystic figure, who was none other than the Beggar King, It-gan Kai-ong. Furthermore, Suma Boan secretly gathered strength, forming an alliance with the Wu-yue Kingdom in the south. Since It-gan Kai-ong himself was a southern figure who assisted the Wu-yue Kingdom, Suma Boan easily gained influence in that kingdom and secretly formed an alliance to jointly seek a good opportunity and, when the time came, overthrow the government of the Sung Kingdom. Suma Boan was over thirty years old and unmarried, yet he was notoriously wicked and lecherous toward women. He had many concubines; there were seven in the mansion alone, not counting those outside the estate.

The number of concubines still did not curb his mischief in harassing every beautiful woman who caught his eye, regardless of whether she was a maiden, a widow, or still married to another man. He was wealthy, and his martial arts skill was high, so no one dared to oppose him. In An-sui, he was known as a champion; his name was even famous in the capital city. In the world of kang-ouw, he was also not unknown, bearing his extremely arrogant nickname, Lui-kong-sian (Thunder Immortal). Suma Boan only had one biological sibling, his younger sister named Suma Ceng, aged twenty-seven. Suma Ceng had long been married to a prince and now lived in the capital city.

The servants in the mansion knew how vastly different the character of Suma Ceng, who had moved to live with her husband in the capital, was compared to Suma Boan. Suma Ceng was a woman of refined speech, gentle, kind-hearted, friendly, and helpful toward the servants. Conversely, all the servants' hearts cowered and they submitted in fear when facing Suma Boan. That night, in the inner room of the Suma family mansion, sounds of joyful laughter could be heard. Several young and beautiful female servants were busy attending to three men who were eating and drinking at a large table. These were none other than Suma Boan himself, It-gan Kai-ong, who was his master, and the long-bearded man whom Bu Sin and the two others had shadowed that morning.

"Ciok-twako, this time you have truly rendered a great service. Allow me to congratulate you with a cup of wine,"

Suma Boan was heard saying, laughing and raising his wine cup. The long-bearded man named Ciok Kam laughed humbly, raising his wine cup and saying,

"Kongcu praises me too highly. It was only by chance that I obtained that letter, not at all due to my merit, but relying purely on luck and the generosity of Ong-ya, who bestowed upon me several striking techniques. Therefore, I return my respects to Kongcu and especially to Ong-ya."

The long-bearded man gestured his cup toward It-gan Kai-ong while bowing.

"Ha-ha-ho-hoh, Ciok Kam is worthy of being our assistant. The letter he seized is extremely important, and it seems you will be able to use it well, my disciple. For this gain, let us drink to our hearts' content."

They drained the contents of their cups, and quickly a beautiful female servant—one of Suma Boan's concubines whom he trusted greatly and thus allowed to attend this meeting—lifted the jar and refilled the empty cups.

"Do not worry, Suhu. This letter detailing the alliance between the Hou-han and Nan-cao Kingdoms will certainly be brought by teecu to the capital city. Surely the Emperor will be delighted and extremely grateful to teecu, and I will use that opportune moment to seek a position. Let Hou-han and Nan-cao quarrel with Sung; let the dogs fight over a bone. Later, we will simply strike them down. Isn't that right, Suhu?"

"Ha-ha, you know more about that. How could an old man like me be capable of thinking about state affairs? If there is an opponent you cannot handle, well, hand them over to me. That is my part. Ha-ha-ha."

"Who in this world could possibly oppose Suhu? It seems that person would have to be born first. Isn't that right, Ciok-twako?"

"Indeed, Ong-ya's skill is like that of a heavenly angel. Relying on Ong-ya's assistance, there is no ambition that cannot be achieved,"

Answered the long-bearded man named Ciok Kam. Meanwhile, three shadows flashed rapidly across the roof of the large mansion. These were none other than Bu Sin, Sian Eng, and Lin Lin. Mobilizing their gin-kang, they leaped very carefully across the tiles. In the central room, they heard the sound of people talking and laughing.

"Lin-moi, you stand guard here. Your Cici and I will scout,"

Said Bu Sin. The siblings then used the technique In-liong-hoan-sin (Cloud Dragon Reversing Body). Without making a sound, both had flipped upside down, their feet hooked onto the edge of the tiled wall, their bodies hanging head-down like two bats. Lin Lin squatted on the roof, gazing admiringly at her two older siblings. In their inverted, hanging state, Bu Sin and Sian Eng saw shadows through the window—the shadows of three men sitting, drinking wine, and laughing.

"Ha-ha-ha, why bother fussing over little rats like that? If I hadn't remembered a piece of silver, they would have been corpses long ago."

This voice startled Bu Sin and Sian Eng half to death. It turned out to be the voice of It-gan Kai-ong. And they had actually come to this very place—truly like snakes approaching the snake-beater.