Blood-Stained Love Chapter 29

"Surely it was a cat, who knows how many entered and stole the food,"

Said the cook with the fat belly again.

"Hmph, if it gets caught, I will slaughter it, pull out its heart, and cook it with ginger and fermented sticky rice (tape ketan). Good for strengthening the heart and increasing blood."

Lin Lin's face paled hearing this threat, and due to her anxiety, when she shifted closer to the hole to peek more clearly, her head bumped the roof tile, making a sound. The two cooks below heard this and looked up, full of suspicion.

"Aha, the cat is up there!"

One pointed.

"How can that be? There's no hole, how did it get in?"

"Who knows, maybe it's a demonic cat (kucing siluman)?"

The fat one pointed his index finger upwards, directly at Lin Lin, then roared,

"Hey, who is up there? Cat or human, or ghost?"

There was no answer.

"Seems like a thief,"

Said his friend.

"Better call the guards, so they can be captured and showered with arrows."

"Wait a moment, who knows if it's just a rat or a cat."

He looked back toward Lin Lin while shouting,

"Heee, Who is hiding above the ceiling? If you are a ghost or a human, do not answer. If you are a cat, answer!"

Lin Lin listened intently, with all her senses, tense and heart pounding. Hearing this question, her mouth automatically answered,

".. cat.., uh meooowww.."

She was so nervous that her answer was chaotic.

"Wait, a cat can talk. Oh no... a demon (setan).."

The two cooks fled head over heels, colliding at the doorway and stumbling over each other.

"Heh-heh-heh,"

Kim-lun Seng-jin laughed and pulled Lin Lin's hand, leading her to jump onto the roof tiles.

"You are so funny, how can a cat speak like a human?"

Lin Lin's face was red, her mouth pouting.

"I didn't mean to. I was confused, and you were snoring comfortably, Grandpa (Kek)."

"Let us go to the armory (gudang pusaka)."

The armory was heavily guarded. Indeed, this warehouse was always guarded, day and night, because inside were stored heirloom weapons (senjata-senjata pusaka) and flags belonging to the palace.

"You go inside. I will take down those five guards, and while you are inside, I will guard the outside. Quickly choose the sword you like, but be careful, there are many traps there. I trust you can protect yourself."

Lin Lin nodded, and like two swallows, the old man and the young maiden glided down. The five guards simultaneously gaped when suddenly, standing before them was a bald, long-bearded old man accompanied by a young woman as beautiful as a celestial maiden (bidadari). For a second, they thought they were visited by some kind of demon (iblis) and fairy (peri), but the next second they moved to capture them. However, they were too slow. The old man's two hands moved, and the five men collapsed, paralyzed by pressure points (tertotok), unable to move. With a push of his hand, Kim-lun Seng-jin managed to open the locked door.

Lin Lin quickly jumped inside, but just as her feet touched the inner floor of the building, two arrows shot out from the left and right. Fortunately, this maiden had diligently trained the Khong-in-ban-kin technique, so her *gin-kang* (lightness skill) was much higher than before, multiplied countless times. The arrows were swift in their strike, but she was even faster; with an agile movement, she leaped forward between the strikes of the arrows, continuing ahead so that the arrows from the left and right flew past behind her back.

Ignoring the arrows, Lin Lin now stood in awe, gazing at the weapons displayed in rows along the walls. The beauty of those weapons was incredible. Spears, staves (ruyung), sabers (golok), swords (pedang), quarterstaffs (toya), and many other types, all generally choice weapons, ancient and made of sacred iron (besi aji) possessing powerful light and aura (hawa yang ampuh). However, Lin Lin's gaze fixed upon a thin sword hanging on the left wall. This sword was small and thin, its sheath made of tiger skin, its hilt small and decorated with red tassels (ronce-ronce). As if in a dream, her feet moved toward the left wall, then she extended her right hand, snatching the sword hanging on the wall.

The sword was very light, but as soon as she pulled it from the wall, suddenly a large, heavy object flew down from above, rapidly descending to strike her. Because the object came so fast, Lin Lin, who already held the sword in her right hand, had no time to dodge. She was forced to summon the power of Khong-in-ban-kin; her left hand parried and... a loud sound was heard, the large stone descending was shattered by Lin Lin's parry, which was infused with the power of Khong-in-ban-kin. Startled by the loud and noisy sound caused by the stone breaking, Lin Lin quickly leaped out of the armory, and in the next second, she arrived outside the chamber.

"Grandpa (Kek), I chose this sword..."

She said, panting. Kim-lun Seng-jin widened both his eyes.

"Exactly! Do you know this sword? This is the Yellow Iron Sword (Pedang Besi Kuning), a sword seized from the Khitan people hundreds of years ago. Wow, wow, if this isn't called miraculous, I don't know what else to call it."

At that moment, the sound of gongs being struck rapidly signaled danger.

"Let's go!"

Kim-lun Seng-jin realized the danger if the palace experts (jagoan istana) came out, so he stopped playing around. His hand snatched Lin Lin's wrist, and they shot away, running as fast as flight toward the perimeter wall, leaping over the wall and gliding outside. It turned out that guards had already gathered outside, forming a siege. But the old man moved his hands several times, many guards collapsed, and they managed to flee, disappearing into the darkness. A few minutes later, they were back inside the ancient temple.

They sat near the bonfire. The old man drew the sword, and a blinding yellow light appeared. Suddenly, the old man's eyes were filled with tears, and then he kissed the blade of the sword. Lin Lin looked on in surprise.

"Grandpa (Kek), you once said that I look like a Khitan girl. You yourself said I have the teeth and nose of the Khitan people. Then you said this sword originally came from the Khitan people. Good Grandpa, what does all this mean? What kind of people are the Khitan? Do you know this sword?"

The old man wiped away two tears, then placed the thin sword back into its sheath, handing it to Lin Lin.

"Keep this sword safe and hide it beneath your robe. Now listen to my story. The Khitan people are a brave and mighty nation, a people who always wander because they wish to enjoy the freedom of nature, unwilling to be bound by anything. They were a great nation, living happily and refusing to be enslaved by worldly wealth and earthly glory. But alas, even so, the devil's desires still dominated hearts, and power struggles arose, where the strong wished to become leaders. In the past, the daughter of the Khitan tribal chief was my student. Tayami, ah, she was a good child, brave and mighty, and I was not disappointed to have a student like her. She was the only daughter of our wise, brave, and just king, who refused to submit to other kings, leading his tribe with full affection, bringing them to fertile regions. However, she had many relatives, and it was these relatives who harbored jealousy, wanting to seize power, leading to constant power struggles. I myself was unwilling to be involved; I disliked the indulgence of ambition to become a ruler and seek the glory of position. I once advised the king, who was my student's father, to simply yield, giving the leadership position to his younger brother who desperately wanted to be king. However, he refused, and instead grew suspicious of me."

At this point, the old man took a long breath.

"What happened next, Grandpa (Kek)?"

"I was still considered his external uncle, I was offended, and so I left my tribe, wandering alone, unwilling to bother with the affairs of the busy world anymore. How great was my sorrow to hear that my people were still fighting among themselves, leading to frequent bloodshed among the rulers. Finally, a war broke out between the Khitan tribe and the Sung Dynasty (Kerajaan Sung). A great battle took place in Shan-si. It seems the king's younger brother betrayed us, allied with the enemy, and our king fell, as did his daughter. Tayami, my dearest student. Poor thing, her husband, a brave, elite Khitan warrior, also fell. The rumor is that Tayami also fought bravely, carrying her young daughter. I deeply regret why I left her, only to suddenly hear that she had fallen and her daughter was missing."

The old man looked at Lin Lin's face with a pair of sharp, scrutinizing eyes. The hairs on Lin Lin's neck stood up. Never before had the old man looked at her like this.